John Cocktosten

I'd take an average looking cheerleader and a half eaten box of chocolates.

Well seeing that the Bills are in a division with the Pats and Jets...the grass is definitely greener over there right?

You're back! I thought you were over in Italy?

There are a couple of things that 3-4 OLBs need to well in order to be effective. -Change direction -Closing speed -Agility/bend -The ability to play in space -Be strong at the point of attack -Rush the QB effectively Unfortunatly Kelsay does not posses any of those other than maybe being adequate at the POA. However, it is not Kelsay's fault that he was put in that position and the Bills don't put a premium on drafting someone at that position when every other great 3-4 team does. He's a strongside end in a 4-3. He's a bad pass rusher who is routinely stunted by Tackles, has no counter moves and doesn't have the speed or agility to bend and turn the corner. He's decent at the point of attack and never quits on a play and that's about it. Buffalo fans have been watching such talentless football over the years that we convince ourselves that average players are good to above average. See Whitner, Trent, Poz and Lee Evans.

What's even more impressive is that you could actually sit through one of those games again. Btw, you do know that Kelsay is #90 right?

Patience is needed when executing a 13 year plan.

So your point is, don't take a scatback with the first pick of your regime? Agreed! This.

That's what people seem to be forgetting on this board. Tha Pats did have a ton of key Free Agent vets starting on their team when they were winning. Antwan Smith RB, Wiggins TE, M. Copmton OG, B Hamilton DE, A. Pleasnt DE, Vrabel, LB Bryan Cox LB, Roman Phipher LB, T Buckley CB were all Free agents who started in '01. When you say that haven't won a SB since they started getting aggressive. When they got Welker and Moss they scored the most points and broke every NFL passing record. Would you take a 16-0 season? Seriously SJF. As far as Ocho and Haynesworth not working out, people said the same thing about two degenerates, Moss and Dillon, that turned out to be great in a Pats uniform. Free will.

Merriman has 4 sacks in his last 3 years after being the most dominant defensive player in the game. If you can think of another defensive player who returned back to his prior dominance 4 years after being non existent then I will won't say "miracle". My point is, why not go out and get a sure thing rather than rely on a complete reclamation project. I like Spiller but we never needed him. RBs were not what killed us over the last decade. A porous Oline and a lack of pass rush is. He's never going to touch the ball 25 times per game. So why burn a pick on niche player when those guys can be had for next to nothing. See Reggie Bush and Darren Sproles. Not trying to impress. I was responding to someone who made it sound like Merriman was simply going to stick his hand in the dirt. It'll be a very similar situation to how teams started to get Kelsay in coverage last year. It's not as simple as it looks and that scenario will happen.

my man, have you ever had a baby keep you up all night? Swaddle, white noise, swing, bink....nothing! I'm surprised I didn't say granite.

Fitzbeardy is a stud.

If the Bills get production from Merriman it will be a miracle. He hasn't played in 3 years. Grant it, he was great 4 years ago, but name me a football player who hasn't seen the field in 4 years and returns back to his prior form? Merriman hasn't played with his hand on the ground since college. Come on. Let me give you a scenerio of Merriman with his hand in the dirt. Second and 2. Merriman is playing 7/9 technique DE in a 4 man front. the QB notices this and audbles. TE trades, defense adjusts and now Merriman is at 5 tech shading the tackles eye and covered by the TE and they run power at him......GULP. If you don't think that will happen all day than you should watch more football. Moats ain't running with the ones. Moats has been turned into some mystical All pro. The problem is that Bills fans haven't seen real talent so they cling to the hope 2.5 sacks. If he was so good he wouldn't have been moved inside.

So the defense is shored up now? I think good ol Buddy would laugh at that. Steve Johnson, Freddy, Lee, Roscoe were all on the roster prior to buddy. Brad Smith had 4 catches last year. Who are these playmakers that you speak of?

Let's end the craziness with the Steelers stuff. They have a system that they've been running there for a long time. Only the Pats and the Colts have been able to match their success and they all do it differently. Steelers and Colts draft. Pats are FA/draft/trade. I don't see the Bills being close to 9-7. They are in a division with 2 of the best front offices/coaching staffs in the league. Until they can overcome the Jets or the Pats they are not even close. And if you haven't noticed, the Jets and the Pats kill it in FA and aggressive trades. The D line is not very good. It has potential to be good. Beyond KW and Dareus, who should be great, there is a lot of question marks. LBs? No depth and no pass rushers.

Fitz earned the starting spot this year by his performance last year. If he sucks through week 6-8, then we'll talk. Gotta love Bills fan though. They are QB controversy co-dependent.

The Jets went out and got Holmes, Edwards, Pace, Taylor, Cromartie, Scott, LT.....that's why they are where they are. GB did a total rebuild in 08. Grant it the have AR but again, Fitz isn't the Bills problem. Packers '10 and '11 picks? OT and OT. Guess they're important. There were a ton of Tackles who went on to start from the 2010 draft. Buddy refuses to trade up or down by his own admission. Instead he picked a bunch of players who made zero impact. He should have anticipated a thin FA class. Pretty simple really.

The Bills were at the very bottom of the league in starts from their draft picks. Very few undrafted FA's become great players. That's why they have the draft. BTW, 12 tackles from Coleman. 18 catches for Jones. 18 solos and 2.5 sacks from Moats. Scary production.

The Jets lost 12 games in 07. They turned it around in one year. Same for the packer who lost 10 game in 08. Made the playoffs the next year. Merriman hasn't been a pro bowler in 4 years. He's played in a total of 5 game over that time. Oh, he's looking good after 5 preseason practices? Talk to me in week 8. Drafting tackles in the 4-5th rounds is not addressing the Offensive line. Kelsay is still on the team. D Ware, Harrison, Woodley, Phillips, Dumerville are his contemporaries. See the problem? TB went from 3 wins to 10 wins. I'd call that a pretty good turn around. BTW, they picked up their rookie RB as an undrafted FA who was cut in training camp by the Titans. I just keep reading excuse after excuse. Glad to see that you're happy with mediocrity.

I'm glad that you're sick of it but up until now he's done nothing outside of drafting Dareus (who fell into his lap) to make me think he's going to be any different from past disasters. -Cornell Green signing. -Kelsay extension. -Drafting Spiller when you have FJ and Lynch and a terrible Oline. -Failure to SERIOUSLY address either tackle spot in two drafts and FA periods. -Failure to SERIOUSLY upgrade the outside pass rush in two drafts and FA periods. -Instilling the belief in some fans (you) that it will take 3-4 years to rebuild when teams like KC, TB, GB and the Jets have all done it in 1 year. Same ol same ol at OBD. Buddy, wash, rinse, repeat...

The Bills were as bad as any team in the NFL last year and it wasn't because of Fitz. There was not one solid contributor to last year's team out of Nix's first draft class. Teams like KC, NE and TB all had 50 plus starts from rookies last year.

I did but I asked the guy for a link and he provided it. I'm not sure that it exonerated Nix completely but it sounds like Modrak/DJ's mess.

Maybe we wouldn't have to b*tch and complain about signing someone if Nix chose an Offensive tackle before the 4th round. Instead he chose to go with a scatback in the first when you already had two very capable RBs on the roster. The Superbowl winning Packers have selected OTs in the 1st round the last two drafts and had a 7th round rookie RB start in the playoffs and Super Bowl. The Bills were 7-9 in '08 before Buddy took over. The Packers were 6-10. How quickly can you rebuild? Their is Buddy's philosophy and then there is a winning philosophy.

I don't know, competition?

It's hard to argue against anything that Gailey does offensively. I am way more red-assed that Nix and Co. think that OT isn't important and that you can throw any old player on the outside to rush the passer.

That is the first time that I've ever seen that mentioned. I stand corrected.