ColdBlueNorth

http://msn.foxsports.com/video/college-football?vid=75054393-9606-4ad2-ae34-a0063a4f7874&from=en-us_msnhp&gt1=39002

No Ice Bowl - THANK YOU. My company was bought by an Pittsburgh outfit, and I have had all I can stomach of the Penguins and the Steelers. I was bracing for another onslaught of emails with pictures of Ben Rapelisberger kissing the Lombardi trophy. We have a pool now to buy some Packer towels and a Wisconsin cheese platter to send out to our friends in PA. Small-market team with the right attitude, drafting, and leadership. Are you taking any notes Nix?

This guy always sucks up two blockers - more in the Ted Washington mold when trying to compare him to other players. He is still fairly young and has plenty of gas left in the tank. This would be a quality move by our front office and may help recover the credibility they lost when they let Pat Williams go to MN. This approach would also give them more options at #3 to go DE, LB, QB, or trade down (i would love it if they could trade down for more picks). Though I still think that they could reach for a QB at the third overall pick. That being said, I also think that would be viewed as a slap in Fitz's face - if there was any chemistry on the offense that would be sure to throw a wrench in it. A later round QB pick would be viewed as more of a longer-term project and less of an indictment on a pretty solid season from Fitz.

I have a feeling that whoever they take will have unrealistic expectations on him...the difference between impact players rated in the 1st round just doesn't seem that great this year. No one just stands out as a clear-cut favorite.

I just don't see the Bills going for offense at least not early (said the same last year and RB???) - with all the young emerging WR talent that the Bills already have and Easley who will turn heads next year. What the Bills need is a freakishly strong, pocket collapsing, run stuffing, QB crushing D-linemen who will force double-teams and keep our linebackers clean to make plays. If we don't stop the run, teams are just going to continue to score on us, eat up the clock, and put our offense in a pass to catch up situation. That coupled with our offensive line woes means a long day for any QB who is taking snaps for our team regardless of where he was drafted. Fitz has a fast release and made our line look better than they are more often than not. The Bills need to be able to get opposing teams off the field so our offense actually has more chances to use the receivers we have.

Another person who gets it.

None of this year's crop of QBs is worthy of 1st round consideration yet this mock has them flying off the shelf. The Bills need defensive help and with the exception of Green, defense is the strongest position in this rather weak draft. I would be ok with them going for Cameron Jordan or Robert Quinn at 3rd, then grab one of the 2nd tier LB or DEs in the second depending on which they address in the first. Unless the brass feels that they really need an upgrade at Safety and are certain to let Whitner walk. If that is the case they will probably reach for one early in the 2nd. There is a bigger drop-off at safety than at LB or DE once you get to the 2nd - 3rd level of the draft.

I am pretty impressed. He has perfect size for a DE that can still play the run, excellent speed off the edge for his size, saw him work through some double-teams, holds his position well when moved to the middle and keeps blockers off him so he can still make a play to either side, longer arms and big hands that he uses well to shed blockers, solid tackler - good technique where he doesn't just try to knock guys down with his size rather he wraps up and drives them down or tosses them aside, great motor on all those clips - of course folks would need to look at full games to see if he takes plays off. If the last point is not a concern this guy would fill that need that Maybin was supposed to - a speed rusher off the edge with enough power to shed blockers, but strong enough to play the run. I am not sure if some of the upper-echelon defensive players that project more to the interior of a front 4 are as big of a need with Troup and Kyle manning the middle. It will be an interesting draft, but I like more of what I see from this player than some of the ones I have seen touted as legit defensive overall 3rd picks. the scary thing is his large frame which looks like it could put on even more muscle.

I like the fact that Buddy came right out and said, "We had gotten small around there -- 225- and 230-pound linebackers -- and it's hard to stop the run with that. We gotta get bigger." All the fans watching our linebackers getting carried 4-6 yards deep after their initial hit on opposing RBs, or watching RBs flat-out just run over them are finally being told that what we have seen over the years is not an optical "delusion". Really started to get annoyed with all the post game comments from our linebackers and DL about playing their gaps and fits better. Heck, most running backs are as big if not bigger than our LB core - that's not good. I guess it is unreasonable to expect them to say, "I need to get bigger and stronger so I wont be pushed around any more". Nix with the fix - this is a better front office... get'er done Buddy.

OK, that is just plain funny. May have to keep that on my signature line for a while... perhaps forwarded to a Patsies fan at work too. Sanchez did throw a beautiful fade in the corner of the end zone, looked almost as sweet as the pass Fitz dropped right in Stevie's hands for the non-win against Pittsburgh. What if Sanchez switched places with Fitz. You have to wonder how well Sanchez would have performed behind the Bills O-line, while the pressure mounted watching Brady and NE march down the field and score on each possession against our pathetic defense?

How about instituting a draft CAP for all teams, give the worst teams a higher cap based on record and current misery measurables to spend on more picks regardless of where they are projected in the draft... like a fantasy keeper league with a twist. A team could blow their wad on someone that they just can't pass up, leaving more players and FA for everyone else. Imagine the fun in the war room as you try to bid up a player that you really are not interested in to see how much you can get the other team to spend - or the teams that get caught in the wrong end of a bidding war. The NFL already wants and needs to limit the salary of rookies this would be a bit of a self-correcting system - teams could spend a lot on a rookie, but the winners would be those that spread their cap out over several quality picks.

Looked like a clean hit where the safety went right for the chest, but the receiver curled himself around the ball to protect it and took the hit on the chin. At first I thought it was Welker because he gets smacked so hard all the time on his middle crossing routes, but I think it was Tate. IMO Good hard-played football without a lot of overly-officious nonsense to detract from the game. One thing I have noticed in all the games is that the pass interference calls really are hard to come by in the playoffs - maybe it is like hockey where some rules get thrown out at the end of the year.

He looked like that one sack that drove him to the ground with his elbow behind his ear took some of the starch out of him...his reads and throws after that looked more like the QB play you see from QBs that gets hit a lot. He did hit a wide open guy in the back of the end zone, but the Jets D started celebrating a bit early.

Did anyone see that hit that was so hard that some of the Patriot logo when flying off the dudes helmet along with his mouth piece. When is that last time we saw hits like that from our secondary....

How did you like that intentional grounding to avoid the sack, when he spiked it two yards short of a prone Woodhead. Any other QB and the hankies would have been flying.

That would make too much sense, and the NFL can get downright stubborn about those alleged rivalries.

I feel that way too. The Jets are easy to hate, but they haven't been to the show for a while. I do not like the Patriots with their pick routes and consistent use of interference out of those "bunch formations" and screens. A Jets defender feigned confusion and picked a Patriots player crossing the middle and the Patsies start crying. Don't cry foul when a team does something once that you predicate much of your offense on. Rex was smart, and had his guys play man on them, hold those receivers up at the line of scrimmage and throw all the timing off. Sacking Brady 5 times did not hurt either. Green-Ellis and Woodhead on the cutbacks were also stuffed. Great defensive blueprint that all teams should employ against the Patriots, but you have to have two lockdown corners that can play right up on a receiver rather than most DBs that play 5-7 yards off the receiver, and a defensive line that can stop the run yet put pressure on the QB on passing plays. Their linebackers and safties did a fantastic job against the Patriots TEs as well. We are a few players away on the line, and I am not sure that our DBs are up to playing at that level - I have my doubts. I don't like the Jets, Patriots, or the Steelers, and I find myself rooting for Green Bay. Small market team owned by the town, with a good young coach, that works hard to put a great product on the field. I like it whenever that model proves successful over the big dollar, big market teams. Also you have to smile when all the Dome teams have struggled this year playing in the great outdoors:)

Tough to tell from just a few youtube clips. He's certainly disruptive and has a good motor - I did see some problems with him finishing tackles. He has shorter arms and seems to struggle wrapping up, but looks like a nightmare to block. Sheds linemen well, must be pretty strong because he regularly appears to be able to create space for himself. Although perhaps not worthy of a #3 overall I do not see a player who really is and I would be suprised if he dropped to the lower end of the 1st round.

the Seahawks would trade a lot to have him right now - their punter is stinking up Soldier field when they need him most. The Hawks lost one of their best players in TE Carlson when he went down. That was huge, and Carlson's backup is not doing anything to inspire any confidence. Regarding Moorman, I didn't hear that Moorman was injured this year, but maybe someone on The Wall has some info on that. I hope he comes back strong next year - as lame as this team has been he was my favorite special teamer. Too bad the Bills haven't used him on more fake punt attempts, more often than not the guy was money - at least it probably kept a few Special Teams coaches up at night worrying about defending that option.

I agree with everything here, and Whitner did hold a secondary of rookies and free-agents together playing multiple position. He has value and will produce in the right scheme. Some team will either pay him everything he is looking for, or he will be had for a bargain. If there isn't an upgrade in free agency or via the draft you keep him, if there is and he can be brought in you let him go. I did see several plays where he was expecting help over the top with Byrd and Byrd was very late getting there. Byrd had a very poor sophomore year. He wanted to roam more as safties do in the 3-4 and he said that this was the year we would see him shine and make a lot of plays. It didn't happen - and doubtful there is a number of excuses that come to mind, but I think that it would do Whitner well to test the market and have a new start. He always has had a lot of expectations on him and undoubtably it has weighed on him. Sometimes it is just better to start fresh, and Donte may want to consider that a cover-2 team fits his zone coverage abilities better. I don't think the Nix will get rid of a player that he feels is a good piece to the rebuilding puzzle unless he truely felt they could upgrade the position.

I think the Bills feel they have either addressed their rush linebacker need with Moats, or with the signing of Merriman if he comes back healthy. That leaves "Maybin the bust" the odd man out, and would most likely preclude them from addressing linebacker with the 3rd overall pick. My guess is that they either address the line with the 3rd overall pick or trade down if they can find someone who really wants a player early and is afraid that player wont last through the top 5 picks. The Bills need a big body that can stop the run, and do a good job collapsing the pocket. They could use an upgrade at the Mike position as Poz is not stout enough against the run, shows some problems getting off of his blocks, and has had a history of injury. TE is an area of need as well as the RT position. Wang is still a project, but has always projected more as a LT. Urbik could be the solution at guard if he comes back healthy, but that whole line needs to to a better job of run blocking - and the coaching staff has to do a better job of calling more running plays. Safety is another area that the Bills may look to early - there is no indication that Whitner will get paid what he feels he is worth. We need a safety that can create turnovers with some bone-jarring hits and interceptions from that position would be a nice change of pace.

So what's new? According to Whitner the Patriots have been laughing at the Bills for years... he made a big stink about being tired of it right before the Bills lost another laughable game to them. If teams like the Bills and the Jets want to stop the laughing, then they have to stop whining about it get stronger, execute better, and beat them on the field.

Wow. Ralphy is like 200 years old or something... I sincerely wonder if Ralph even knows when it is time to change his depends let alone has time to evaluate potential players in the draft. Have you seen this guy lately in front of the cameras... he is dazed, confused, and meanders down memory lane a lot. Has Ralph meddled in the past - what owner hasn't, but I truly believe this is a bone that has been picked clean. He "plays" tennis, or someone lobs balls at his racket, he attends charity events, spends much of his time in Florida sleeping or whatever "active" retired folk do when they are about to hit the century mark.

I agree whole-heartedly with everything you said - great post on Troup. The only exception is the notion that the Bills brass did not know what their proposed switch to the 3-4 would mean in terms of how poorly our existing players would fit and execute. I think they expected a poor year of up close evaluation of what players could make the transition. Just about every stop the Edwards has made was a team that was making the switch from a 4-3 Tampa-2 to a 3-4 base defense. I think they knew we were going to suck, but what new coach stands in front of the cameras at the beginning of the year saying we are going to make a big change and it is going to suck. If you read between the lines on the presser they gave out on Edwards at OBD in May they use a lot of words like "challenges" all code words for it will get ugly before it gets better. Gailey consistently refers to he and Buddy being in it for the long haul. It is a rebuilding plan, plain and simple, but coming right out and saying that your team is not going to be good for a year or two while we blow up this roster does not sell tickets. I think Edwards had an idea of what they had as far as players go, and after the Spiller pick we saw a whole lot of picks for the "D" in the draft. They knew they had holes to fill, and I am pretty certain they felt it was going to take more than one draft and an injured free-agent signing to round out this roster. And after a year trying to see what square pegs can fit in round holes, I expect another emphasis on defensive help in the draft and/or free agency.

Catavolos may be next in line... I like the guy and he is a great coach in a Tampa-2/cover-2 scheme and his entire body of work coaching is in that background the Bills drafted safeties and DBs to pull off that "divide the field in two" scheme. Of course all teams use a cover-2 now and then, but George seems lost when it comes to secondary play when used in a 3/4 defense; When trying to coach the secondary on reacting to the various zone blitz packages and having the DB's responsible for more man coverage with the free safety over top. Our terrible run defense covered up a very sub-par performance from our secondary getting burned deep, Bryd and Whitner taking bad angles, and stupid interference penalties in the red zone. I disagree with some folks about the talent we have with Bryd, McKnucklehead, and our other DBs. They may not be the brightest bulbs on the tree, but the skill is there if they can be better coached. IMO