San Jose Bills Fan

LOL!!!

The irony of the Bills defensive line is that the two best players are probably the two guys the Bills drafted… not the big-name, expensive free agents. That's why in the Andrew Luck/3 Bills Trade thread, I had to keep mentioning Kyle Williams. When he's healthy he's among the league's best. That play he made on the screen pass two years ago against Pittsburgh was one of the greatest plays I've ever seen a D-tackle make. You mean, va… va… va…

Exactly. Once you overpay, you don't get good value anymore… you don't get what you paid for. Thus Tyson Clabo and Robert Meachem. Meachem is an excellent athlete but an underachiever in my book. Now maybe there was so much talent on that roster that he never got a good chance… or maybe it's something else.

http://www.gostanford.com/sports/m-footbl/mtt/howell_delano00.html And his combine performance… pretty average athlete: http://footballsfuture.com/2012/combine/s.html

Yeah, you're right. He's a lot stronger and has better instincts but a similar player, IMO.

Watching the Broncos-Seahawks game on Preseason Live. Excellent preseason game… both teams look sharp and polished… good intensity level in the game. Matt Flynn's numbers weren't very good but he played very well. All his throws were catchable and there were some drops and nice pass breakups. Russell Wilson looks excellent. So far he has 3 TD passes. As others pointed out to me before the draft, Wilson played behind the tallest O-line in college last year… his blockers averaged 6'6" tall last year and Wilson's yards per attempt and yards per completion were outstanding… in other words, he doesn't seem to have any problem seeing downfield. BTW, the natural comparison for Wilson is Doug Flutie and there are some similarities. However Flutie was about 190-195 and Wilson is a powerfully built 210-215 who breaks arm tackles and runs with power. Russell Wilson's mobility, arm strength, thickness of body, and resourcefulness remind me very much of the late Steve McNair. He's just a bit shorter but a very similar player.

I've been high on Glenn from the beginning and it seems obvious to me anyways that he's much more talented than Hairston. The Bills evaluators however are not infallible. In the thread on QBs we've passed on, there are some legit questions about some of the recent draft decisions. But yes our evaluators are better than they have been and every team makes a few mistakes each year. The real head-scratching pick for me this year was the Steelers taking Ohio State tackle Mike Adams. The Steelers draft really well but this is a guy who looks like a right tackle at best and the Steelers were trying to make him a left tackle before he got injured.

As I noticed about Mark Anderson a few weeks ago when someone posted a highlight package, he's an effort and coverage sack guy. He seems rarely to beat guys cleanly with a polished move. Most of his sacks come from the QB holding the ball too long, in my observation. I like his motor and athleticism but Anderson is not an elite player.

The Bengals have suffered significant injuries to 3 starters this preseason. With all the bad luck the Bills have had injury-wise the past few years…

Wow. So defensive guys. I have never said that Williams sucks. I have said that he has to play better… and he does. Also, close but no cigar is not a defense for a cornerback being beaten. Williams could have slowed and impeded Jenkins but he didn't. Ask Antoine Winfield how he would have played that ball.

Tempting to use the V word here…

They're both very smart, poised and lacking in totally elite skills. That said, they're not the same player either. Varying shades of grey and sometimes those incremental differences in the individual make a big difference in the game.

For the second week in a row, Glenn looked real good. And while they never showed a replay, the live video of his supposed holding call looked like a ticky tack call IMO.

Hmmm… that's a pretty vanilla post. Vanilla has been a running joke here the last two days.

Ha! Good one Bill. I would include both of you and eball.

Again: Also, I don't care if he's in position if he doesn't make the play. A good corner doesn't let a receiver get away with a subtle push in the back because a good corner slows down enough that there's no way the receiver will get anywhere near close to the ball. Just like a QB has to throw a ball where only his receiver can get it, a cornerback has to position himself where only he can catch it. If Williams is victimized on that play without learning, he'll be victimized many more times. It's like blocking out in basketball… position yourself where either you catch it or it falls to the ground. Leverage 101.

The hotels? If you bothered reading the thread you'd have seen that the Bills took Aaron Williams in the second round one pick before the Bengals took Dalton.

Cut Thigpen now? I thought we were going to re-sign Byrd, Levitre, and Urbik now. And I'd be up for it.

How do you know? Have you ever tried it? Wait… what?

Not only the endless interviews, but also during the BIlls possessions. And to make it even worse, the director insisted on showing the interview 90% of the time, only cutting away to show the bare minimum of the play. They could have done voice over video of the action or had the interview in an inset so you could still see the action on the field (presnap formations, who's getting off the pile, etc). We can hear the interviews. It was unnecessary to show virtually every second of them. Amateur production.

This regime has admitted to their mistakes fairly quickly in the case of Trent Edwards and Cornell Green. However of the players they drafted, they've given every benefit of the doubt to Troup and Carrington. It will be very interesting to see their treatment of Sheppard in a worst-case scenario. It's my unprofessional opinion that Morrison has played well this preseason… and I believe his best years came as a 4-3 MLB. JMO.

Let me qualify this post by stating that I'm an unabashed Bills booster and have tended to look at things optimistically. But I always try to look at things objectively. As with almost every discussion surrounding the Bills, I'll restrict the conversation to the period managed by the current regime. For one thing, I don't care to cry over spilt milk. For another thing, the new regime has been in place long enough that we can start to critique their work. The 2010 draft saw the Bills pass on Tim Tebow, Jimmy Clausen and Colt McCoy which is most likely a very good thing based on where they were drafted and how they've done so far. Only hardcore Tebow-philes would prefer Tebow to Spiller. The fact that the Bills drafted Torrell Troup who is looking like a bust, rather than Jimmy Clausen is irrelevant. Clausen will never amount to anything in this league. While Troup may prove to be a draft mistake you wouldn't mention Clausen as someone who should have been taken instead. Ditto with Colt McCoy and Alex Carrington. I do not believe McCoy will ever amount to anything in this league other than maybe a decent backup so while you'd rather the Bills drafted someone other than Carrington, you wouldn't say that person should have been Clausen. However, the following draft in 2011 is very interesting. Almost unanimously the Bills were lauded for the Marcell Dareus pick. His selection was viewed as pretty much a no-brainer. I personally love Dareus and think he'll have a great career. However the Titans had the conviction to draft Jake Locker (they stated their belief that he would be the next Brett Favre) at number 8 and the Vikings took Christian Ponder at number 12. You can't criticize the Bills selection of Dareus but it's interesting that the Bills coached Ponder in the Senior Bowl but didn't feel he could develop into a franchise quarterback. They say faint heart never won fair lady and there's a chance that in retrospect, the Bills passed on two franchise quarterbacks because they made the safe pick in Dareus. A case of no guts no glory? In the 2nd round of that draft, the Bills chose CB Aaron Williams one pick before the Bengals selected Andy Dalton. If this decision comes back to haunt the team, it'll be a major whiff because like the Ponder decision, the Bills staff passed on a quarterback whom they coached in the Senior Bowl. Other QBs the Bills passed on in 2011 were Kaepernick and Mallett. Passing on these guys doesn't bother me personally although the Bills did draft Kelvin Sheppard instead of Mallett. FWIW, Sheppard impressed the Bills staff when they coached him in the Senior Bowl. In the 2012 draft, the Bills took Stephon Gilmore when they had the chance (for better or worse) to draft Ryan Tannehill or Brandon Weeden. Like the Dareus pick in 2011, no one of any repute has criticized the Bills selection but if Tannehill or Weeden prove to be worth their draft positions, there's a possibility that the Gilmore selection may someday be viewed as a mistake. Also this past April, many believe that the Bills would have taken Russell Wilson in round 4 had he slid that far. He didn't. The Bills took TJ Graham in the 3rd round six picks before Wilson went to the Seahawks. It's still slightly premature but it's looking like the Aaron Williams pick might have been a mistake. Time will tell if the Bills erred on passing up Locker, Ponder, Tannehill, Weeden, or Wilson.

In other words I defended Sheppard before a down of football was played this year based on the testimony of coaches and players and because I didn't agree with your take, you're butt hurt?

There's two world's out there? Just optimists and realists? You're forgetting the third world where people say things like Lee Evans is gonna have more receiving yards than Stevie Johnson and that CJ Spiller is a comparable player to Shaud Williams… in other words… your world. I don't like the fact that Fitz had to call a timeout to avoid a delay of game (even though 36 seconds ran off the clock from the end of the first play to the timeout… like the refs wound the clock way too soon) and then later got called for delay of game. I don't like Kelsay again losing outside containment on 3rd and 2 allowing Ponder to get outside him on a bootleg to turn it into a first and goal. But one team called a flea-flicker last night and it wasn't the Bills. The vanilla allegations don't excuse the complete performance, nor are they baseless excuses.

I'll paste my response from the other thread here so I don't have to re-type it: I understand Johnny Hammerstick's questions about the Aaron Williams criticism but it has to be taken in the context of numerous reports of him struggling in practice, and his whiffed tackle last week which turned a routine 2 yard gain into a 9 yard gain. Also, I don't care if he's in position if he doesn't make the play. A good corner doesn't let a receiver get away with a subtle push in the back because a good corner slows down enough that there's no way the receiver will get anywhere near close to the ball. Just like a QB has to throw a ball where only his receiver can get it, a cornerback has to position himself where only he can catch it. If Williams is victimized on that play without learning, he'll be victimized many more times. It's like blocking out in basketball… position yourself where either you catch it or it falls to the ground. Leverage 101. Anyways, I've not given up on Williams but I've not been encouraged. Starting CB is a very unforgiving position in the NFL. You have to make plays and not give them up. Aaron Williams bears a pretty heavy burden of proof, IMO. Especially in the context of passing up Andy Dalton… who the Bills coaches also coached in that Senior Bowl.