WhitewalkerInPhilly

There, fixed it for you.

I don't know if Moore has had any experience playing a WCO. I would rather have Arizona's castoffs than Miami's anyways... Well, that's what you get for skimming the Wikipedia article...entirely my bad. I'm sure there's someone who bounced around for a while before getting really, really good. Still, I think Kolb fits Hackett's system much better than Fitz, has the arm for Buffalo weather that Fitz doesn't and is taking the money Fitz wouldn't. I'm willing to be proven wrong about the guy, especially if we're sticking with a run first system which takes pressure off the guy, and with an offensive line which (hopefully) doesn't give up 58 sacks a year.

This is pretty much my point...though I can guess you can argue that we have a QB now. Am I completely sold on our CB corps? No. But a reasonably priced sure thing for #2 or #3 CB gives us some much needed depth, especially considering what Pettine has been talking about with a nickel base defense. Considering how often our CBs are injured, I would happily take some insurance before taking someone in the late rounds.

OK, to be honest I was ready to bust every blood vessel in my body last night when I heard. But as the morning comes, and I've had the chance to sleep on things a little I have to say that it's not a bad move. Granted, I *want* a rookie to come in and surprise us all, and win the starting job but in the end I think Kolb may be a better QB than Fitz and we're getting him for less money...a lot less money. The phrase "$13M maximum" and the phrasing that was in the contract Fitz got offered makes me think that it's incentive driven. If the Bills don't see a rookie they like, oh well, there's next year. Kolb somehow becomes the next Drew Brees Kurt Warner, a journeyman who bounced around as a backup before slowly earning his stripes as the starter, we have him for one more year at a ridiculously reasonable contract. If the Bills find a guy they like, but want to give him a year or two to develop, same thing. If the rookie knocks us off our feet, he's in an affordable contract for a backup and we can let him hit the open market, or let him see what the value is for a 29 year old who wasn't started in two years. In the end, we no longer have to consider trading valuable picks to get Geno Smith at 8. We don't have to talk about trading Flynn from the 'Hawks. We can feel comfortable waiting for round 2 or 3 to pick a developmental QB, or even skipping QB completely if they think that Kolb, a WCO QB, is great in the system. Hey, I'm willing to let myself be completely surprised. Edit: Ok, I've been shown that my original comparison is wrong, and have substituted a much better one. Let's move on.

Well, I guess it's not too bad. Kolb will be injured pretty quick and we'll the rookie in there soon enough. There's going to be a rookie, right? Right? ... Excuse me, I need a freaking drink.

DOOOOOOOOOMED!!! Well, I hate it. I'm not even going to sugarcoat it, and everyone here damn well knows that they didn't want this. Even if he's not starting, it's still additional drain on the cap, and the man is not going to be our savior. If we are resigned to suck TJax can do that all on his own.

I am wondering if they would want him back at Safety. That way, Sheppard, Bradham and anyone who we pick up would be the ILB's. People have been saying that Pettine likes three safeties, so I wonder if he'll want Scott to fully embrace his role as tweener.

And now that we've Rule 34'rd it, there is a website that combines the two.

OK, now that I have a moment... As I've been thinking about it, I keep wondering if Scott is intended to be put back as a Safety. It was technically his position before getting moved to LB last year, and this would help alleviate concerns with our thinness at SS. With that, Sheppard and Bradham (or whoever we add in the draft) will be in the ILB spot. I really don't like having Anderson or Williams anywhere except OLB, and even then I would have reservations with having more than one on the field at a time unless we knew it was a passing down. Mario showed that he could stop the run, but Anderson has a lot to prove. I do suppose that Lawson might be able to work as a MLB, which would help the situation, especially if the WLB can be done by Bradham with backup from Scott. I really am curious to see what Pettine has cooking. Thanks. I'm surprised and happy to see that people seem to be enjoying it.

I may not have clearly mentioned it, but in this scheme the setup is 2-4-5. As such, there is no true tackle and you really stick with the NT and a DE, or two DE's. I can believe you can also run a 3-3-5, but then you have questions over who will be the NT, and what do we do with Mario Williams. Admittedly...yes. Yes to both. I am rather happy to have Byrd back, and happy with Gilmore. I think Seacry is pretty close a swap for George Wilson, so we're ready to go there, and I think that between Williams and Brooks we can get a decent NB, but without some reinforcements we are quite thin. The problem is that there don't seem to be any stud stutdown players in the draft past Milliner and I don't see any in free agency so I think we're stuck with it either way. And yes, the nickel's primary weakness is against the run. However, another subpackage out of the 3-4 is the 46, and we could play it with a lot of the same personnel. This would primarily act as our previous 4 man D-line front, with Lawson coming in for run support. It's not perfect, but I think you can argue that in the increasingly pass-centric league it makes more sense to gameplan against that first. I will get back to JBoy when I have time later today, as I'm enjoying all the Defense Talk too

Nice catch. I agree that if the Bills have a weak link in their front seven, it's at the ILB position, whether or not we go to a 3-4 or stay in 4-3. Now, I wouldn't hate getting Kevin Minter or *wince* Manti T'eo, provided that they dropped to 41, and still walked away with a decent QB option but I'm increasingly convinced that QB and WR will be first on our docket.

Well, we are talking about Two Bills Drive here. Whenever have you needed a reason? And yanked straight from the article I was stealing from referencing...but hey, it does the job. If it's good enough for SB News...

I have a couple of problems with this idea: 1) How do you pick which team you think is going to flop? Because if you're going to give them two first round talents, they may might not completely bomb. It seems like whoever bombs each year keeps changing, but who stays in the top 10 is pretty consistent. 2) There is real talent in this draft. It may not be quite where we want it, but if we are resigned to a flop year, I would much rather see a few talented rookies brought in and be built in anticipation. Trading back in the draft for more picks? Yes, this seems like the year to do it. Gambling it all on getting two picks next year, who might, MIGHT give us a shot at a franchise QB which we very may well get in the second round doesn't seem like the answer.

Hell, McShay even apologized for it. Of course, I don't blame him for the second round QB pick, but I have to deeply question his rationale for Warwick, especially with all of the holes elsewhere.

I have to give credit where credit is due, as this idea got sparking in a different thread. Since most topics are about why McShay is an idiot (an opinion I share) I thought I would move it here. I've been considering this question too. There's been a lot of guessing about what type of defense Petting is going to run but he has gone on record saying something along the lines of "hybird, multiple look" and in addition "base nickel" Manny Lawson seems to think that we're running a 3-4 from his interview. Well, what would that look like? Picture taken from Behind the Steel Curtain: Line backers from left to right: Sam, Mike, Will, Jack So, remember how people people have been saying "We can't play a 3-4, we don't have a proper Nose Tackle". Well, in this scenario, that's not a problem, as Kyle Williams and Marcell Dareus are ridiculously qualified for the job up front. In addition, look at the placement of the linebackers. If the Bills want to run their 4-3 nickel, all they have to do is plug Mario and Anderson at the ends and have them put their hands down. So who would go where? Well, what places are there, and what does each do? Jack Back (the Hybrid OLB/DE, Weakside outside): Mario/Anderson-Rushes,rarely drops into coverage Sam Back (Strong Side Outside): Manny Lawson-run stuffer, covering tight ends and RBs, possibly put Anderson in here if we're looking for an extra pass rush, Bradham as depth Will Back (Weak Side Inside): Coverage Back. Bryan Scott's only real qualifications are in this role, primarily on covering the four receiver or a tight end Mike Back(Strong Side Inside): Sheppard, maybe Bradham if they think he can do it and are willing to cut Shepp I'm not saying this is where everyone will wind up, or that we'll use this, but this does promise the flexibility that Pettine has been talking about, since it allows them to mix and match coverage, giving us the diversity of a 3-4, while mitigating our lack of a true 3-4 NT. Suddenly we don't look awful in our front 7. Not "great" mind you, but functional, functional enough to wait for a second or even mid-round pick to solve some of our other problems such as a lack of SS, WR, and QB. Thoughts? Questions? Berate me? Resources: http://www.behindthesteelcurtain.com/2009/9/21/1047264/the-2-4-5-and-1-5-5-revealed

Well, as I'm looking I don't think that in the end he's not a bad choice. Can I look at him and say "There's someone, ANYONE, in the draft who is better than him?" I keep thinking that I don't see it. Of course, there's the problem with his contract. He's being paid like a sure thing, while nothing is further from the truth. If he was willing to take less, I would say yes. If not, I say there is a lot less risk in getting a rookie with an incentive heavy contract.

I completely understand the reasoning. From what I can tell, he would rather like to stay in Washington. However, it seems that the Redskins don't consider him important enough to shell out big bucks for him. These trips are likely as much bargaining chips for Davis as they are prospective interviews. In the end, I'm not worried about the Jets outbidding us, because quite simply they don't have the money. They'll have *maybe* three million after their draft picks and they've already jettisoned a good chunk, if the not the majority of their starters. A second linebacker really isn't going to be high on their bidding list. In the end, I see one of two scenarios. 1) The Redskins ease up and make a competitive counteroffer. Considering that the 'Skins are in dire cap space problems and betting on a player coming off ACL surgery, I doubt it. 2) The Bills throw in more cash than he's going to get anywhere else, which is likely more than he appears to be worth, and hope that he plays above it.

Indeed. But I'm still too shaky with Barkley to care too much. Maybe Fitz is too fresh in our memory but I'm getting a little tetchy at the mention of, "Great football IQ. no long range , but can sneak it into tight windows". That sounds just like Fitz before his play took a swan dive. As much as I hate to say it, EJ Manuel is slowly winning me over, as there's a chance we can get him in round 2 and get a great WR or LB in round 1. Confirmation:http:// http://www.wgr550.com/Bills--Whaley-present-at-Barkley-s-pro-day/15901655

To me, I have to look at the entire field. And to be honest, I think it depends on the attitude in the front office. I think we can all agree that Buddy Nix is looking down the barrels of the firing squad. To me, the difference is how he reacts to it. If he looks on into danger with steely resolve, I think he waits until round 2. He takes a blue chip player, and make no doubt, there WILL be a blue chip player in a position of need available at #8, whether it be Dee Milliner, Jarvis Jones, Alec Ogletree or Cordelle Patterson. If, by some stroke of luck, Geno Smith falls into his lap Buddy will take him. If Buddy is panicking, I can see him picking whoever is best at the #8 pick. If so, we can make do with our other picks and pick up a bunch of UDFA. EDIT: I still like Tyler Wilson, and he seems that he will almost certainly there at #41, maybe even in the third round.

This *is* rather interesting. You know, I'm not the biggest Wildcat fan, but we always lined up and ran it up the middle on third and short and I've always questioned why, as our WR corps was steadily depleted, we never saw him being used as anything BUT the wildcat QB. In the end, we have tons of cap room, more than we need if we're only going after mid-tier guys.

Yeah, I must be full of it or you're just purposefully trolling. Was he off to a great start? No, but last year we were here saying, "Hey, seeing Spiller in the second half of the season shows we weren't wrong to draft him" and now, surprise surprise, we're lamenting that Chan didn't play him more. I still think the most disappointing is from Losman, since that was the year of Philip Rivers, Eli Manning and Ben Roethlesburger and he showed just enough of a big arm to give me hope.

I would be thrilled. I was an advocate for picking up Dustin Keller and even if Davis doesn't quite have the spring completely back in his step, he's still a major step up in a position of need and if we can pick him up cheap after being injured I'm all for it.

Is there anything else to confirm that? I mean, if so, I'm thrilled but Stevie could just be recruiting.

Holy ****, I didn't even notice...it's not like I announce that to the world everything time I post.

Look, I'm still going to be as skeptical as hell until I see a finished product that doesn't make me want to bang my head against the wall so hard the plaster shatters. That said...he gets it. He gets *it*. Every single one of us feels that 13 year drought in their bones and yet in spite of everything we *still* show up, we still care, we still lay out hearts out every year. Maybe it won't be enough, but this is the most passion I've heard out of a Bills coach in...well, my last memory is Marv Levy shouting on the sideline. What does that tell you?