John Cocktosten

The coaching staff is such a lame excuse when it pertains to the Defense. There is a reason guys like Fewell wound up with better teams...because they are good coaches. If the defense didn't perform like it did last year, the Billls would've won 1 game.

My main concerns with Trent are not his confidence. I remember watching an interview on PTI with him last preseason and he was confident and relaxed. My concerns are consistency game in and game out, getting the ball out of his hand and his inability to stay healthy. You can't have solid games like he did against the Pats and Bucs to open the season and then follow those up with horrible performances against the Saints, Phins and Browns. His whole career has been like that. ...and then theres his health....

Maybin would be the starter if the Bills played Temple, Coastal Carlolina and Syracuse this year.

...and now, deep thoughts....by Aaron Maybin...

Has THIS organization been successful rebuilding in the last 10 years? No, so the analogy fits perfectly. It's less about Nix and Co and more about Ralph without Polian.

Your post makes way to much sense to be taken seriously on this board.

In true Bills fashion, we wound up with another guy who played DE for Penn St.

Well said. I've always enjoyed your posts because I read them in Keith Richards current voice and secondly they are well timed, funny as hell and on point. I never remember it being so "pollyan-ish" on this board. Grant it, I wasn't around when Marv returned (I would imagine that it was a billlion times worse) so it might just be a "New Regime" phenomina . Laslty, I will take no satisfaction in another bad Bills season. What I will take satisfaction in is the "pollys" proclaiming, "NEXT YEAR IS OUR YEAR!"

"best" secondary is a saying a lot seeing that they have a grand total of 1 Pro Bowl. They are potentially very good but how about a pass rush? Depth at LB, both MLB and OLB? Your just assuming that almost everyone on the D is playing in a new position and they are going to fit right in? Hmmm. There are some negative posters on here for sure but their are many, I would include myself in this, that are realistic and get grouped with the over-the-top "negs"/"trolls". I am looking forward to seeing what this board looks like in December, not to say "I told you so", but I want to say how the "pos's" handles the inevitable.

He played back more before he got hurt last year and I thought he played his best football. I just feel he's to small, like Sanders and Troy P. to be up all of the time. They take a beating, taking on pulling Olineman and FB's. The problem is that Byrd looks to have some great instincts back there and showed what true ball skills are. That being said, if Byrd went down, I would expect Twittner (I had to) to step in at FS and do a good job.

More embarrassing than predicting a top 10 defense? More embarrassing than predicting Pro Bowls for 4/5th, year career underachievers? More embarassing than not knowing that the Bills didn't play C2 on every defensive play for the last 4 years? I would suggest that the "positive" posters are a bit more embarrassing than the "negs"/"realistic" posters because there is nothing to back them up. 10 years is a very good sample set to form an opinion on something....it's an organizational indictment more than anything.

Then why have a message board at all? Did it take a genius to figure out what prior regimes were doing was awful? And I did play at a very good college and i've coached little league, camps and high school so I do have a perspective. I can look at a guy and make an informed opinion. Am I a scout? No, but you don't have to be to have an opinion. By that logic, none of us can have an opinion on politics, etc. Lately, it seems that the only opinion welcomed on this board is "Nix is God" and "everything the Bills are doing is great". Anything else is called "trolling" or "negative". If the past ten years haven't made you cynical then I don't know what will.

5 year after being drafted and still excuses are being made for DW. The T2 excuse is my favorite because if you know anything about Fewell's defense they were in a true Cover 2 zone, which is what everyone thinks is the T2 is, less than half of the time. T2 teams play a true C2 less than half of the game because if they did, teams would be throwing for 500 yds per game. They moved Donte all over the field like SS do and before he got injured last year the Bills were more of a 4-2-5 with Donte playing around the LOS. When Donte plays around the LOS he runs into the same problems that Troy and Sanders do, they get hurt because they are to small to play in the box. LB's are 240-250 for a reason, because they have to take on blocks from 300+ lb men. A 200 pound S doesn't stand a chance game in and game out and all 3 of those guys have proved that. Donte will be Donte this year. He'll show some flashes of goodness, he'll be hurt for a couple of games, he'll run his mouth and be an average safety because thats what he's been for 4 years. AND IT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH HIS DRAFT POSITION EITHER.

It's been so long since the Bills have had a pass rush that I think some fans forget how important it is.

There are two major glaring hole in the D. The first that I can't believe that I haven't heard is the Depth at LB. If Poz or Davis goes down, who fills in? This is hardly a far fetched scenerio seeing that Poz has missed a few games in his career and now that he loses a D lineman in front of him he's going to have to be more of a plugger which isn't his forte. The second problem is the OLB position. As an OLB in a 3-4, there has to be some athleticism and fluidity to your game. The great ones are cat quick, powerful and versatile. Ware, Harrison, Merriman (before the injury) Dummerville and Woodley are all converted DE's from college who played with the athleticisim of LB's thoughout their careers. Kelsay has never been fast/quick and now he's asked to play in space? I would say Ellis falls under the category as Kelsay does and has shown absolutely nothing to this point in his career. Although I think Maybin will bust, he deserves a shot but how long will his leash be once he's exposed? Torbor is nothing but a roster filler and will contribute next to nothing on he field whether he starts or not. The rest of the OLB's are roster fillers. Undoubtedly the secondary is impressive and the front 3 has depth and potential. But the lack of outside pass rush WILL hurt this team during key spots of games just like it did last year. This team can't bring 5-6 guys every play because they'll get burnt to often. Lastly, there are to many players playing positions that they've never played before and it's going to take a while. There is some potential here but for those who are expecting a top 10 D, tell me you aren't shaking in your boots when the BB's travel to Green Bay for week 2....?

I'm not sticking up for him because he's an arrogant, dismissive jerk at times. He has zero conversational tact and is very unlikeable. That being said, I can relate to the frustration he feels with the Bills. In the paper he comes across as cynical and rightfully so, but on the radio he, like most on WGR, is/are unlistenable.

The reason why JS is so red-assed all of the time is because he has to cover this team. There are no stories, no great/relevant players and worst of all bad football. The only thing to write about is bad decisions, bad FO moves and bad drafts. If it was my job to cover this team I would've quit years ago because the end of the story is always the same. After a while, you have to realize that the "90's" Bills were an aberration. Jerry is miserable like everyone else when their job sucks. He just has more visability.

Dick Jauron went to Yale...

You think drafting a couple of guys from low level schools in the 6th round is addressing the LB situation. I don't think that's addressing anything but your special teams unit and your practice squad. You think the Bills were limited as to how many positions they could fill through the draft. I think they picked a bunch of players at positions that already had good players (Freddy, Williams and Stroud). I do think the Bills could have put a much better product on the field this year. And it seems like many on here believe that it takes teams 3 years to rebuild and are fine with losing. I believe that a QB, Tackle and OLB/Pass rusher are the most important players on a team and were available and those positions were not addressed until the later rounds where "steals" only come around a few times a decade. I've said throughout this post that Spiller is a great player. I thought Reggie Bush was great coming out of college to but he is pretty one dimensional and is more of a luxury than a feature back. That scares me about Spiller, will he be more Marshall Faulk or more Reggie Bush. So while I do think he is a great offensive weapon, thee were tackles and pass rushers all over the place too. We just think differently that's all...only time will tell who's right. Though according to many, it will take 3-4 years.

and AlphaDummy7

That one is tough...I mean it sounds like it should be spelled that way. I'm glad you don't like my posts because I couldn't imagine being in line with your logic. You have to show me where I made anything up and I'll be accountable....I'll be waiting....

Awww Alpha, you're so sensitive. I'm glad you're playing post police and stalking out my posts. Here's the deal, you get mad at me because I don't wear rose colored glasses and believe Buddy walks on water. Look at how you responded to my original post, not in a nice manner. Was there anything on my post insulting you? No, but you came out swinging and now you're crying about getting beat on. Your made up stories about Brohm and man-love for him were pathetic. For GOD SAKES, HE'S PLAYING THIRD FIDDLE TO TRENT AND FITZY! Did I exaggerate a bit about you proclaiming him to be the next KW, yes...it's called sarcasm, look it up.

That is exactly what happened... but they'll circle the wagons in 3 years!

Seriously, you come with Ellis and Maybin make the LB's better!?!? Really?? They have 3 combined seasons and ZERO sacks to show for them. Do they even have a QB pressure!?!? Davis is not a really good player, he's an average player. Really good players get more than 2 million dollars guaranteed in their contracts. I like Davis but he is SLOOOWWWW and will be nothing more than a 2 down LB because he is a liability in passing situations. Will he improve our MLB's? He should, he has no competition! What if Davis or Poz (never happens) go down, then who? You are making enormous leaps of faith if you are relying on Maybin, Ellis and Davis to vastly improve this team, but then again, you proclaimed Brohm to be the next Kurt Warner so what can I expect from you ADummy7.

I heard very little negatives about Carrington coming out except that he wasn't going to be able to provide an outside pass rush. He's a 5 technique, not an edge rusher.