thewildrabbit

I can't stop b!tching and whining over the fact the Bills ignored the O line until round five. I would prefer a trade for Brown or Gaither and would take Adams in a heartbeat as an upgrade over Bell, even if its to only to alternate between the two and give both plays. Adams may or may not have hit that proverbial wall that all vets eventually hit and retire. If I'm Nix it would be worth the investment to help the team win more games this season, unless of course they want to select Jake Locker next season

The NFL has become a passing league and the teams with the best passing games are usually among the teams with the best records. At this point I could care less who this Bills coaching staff selects to lead this years team as QB because all I can foresee is another year of failure to adequately protect him and give him time to throw. But! It is great to know they should have a good YPC avg again this season

Yea, what a lame excuse for a team to not get better.

Simply Google "highest paid positions in the NFL" you will find that the LT is the second highest paid player after the QB. Since my reference to 5th & 7th round draft picks was to Bell and Wang, I meant LT. http://www.economicpolicyjournal.com/2008/...ion-in-nfl.html

Yea well, I think your avatar shows your actual face... probably from smooching bandits butt. If you read the entire thread and my original post he is giving me grief on every sentence over nothing, all going back to our old QB vs O line debate. Just because the O line stats from last season show that the Bills were decent in run blocking doesn't take in account that Fred Jackson gained most of his yards after first contact. The Bills O line last season was the worst I've ever witnessed and that includes the 2-14 years. So in reality it punches a hole in nothing. He is insinuating that the Colts don't waste #1 picks on the O line,so why should Buffalo. That statement plus his run blocking statement tells me he thinks the Bills O line will be fine this season "as is".

There are a dozens of posters that defend every move the Bills make either right or wrong, there are also dozens who think the Bills will be just fine with Wal-mart tackles. Those 5th & 7th round tackles come way cheaper then #1 picks, just the way Ebenezer likes them.

What makes you think he didn't? I think the Bills did in fact try and trade up to get Bulaga and didn't because either they were to slow or the price was to high. The Bills were rumored to be trying to trade up in the first, and many were saying it was for Tim Tebow. I think it was for Bulaga and the fact that they were also interested Jared Gaither also tells me that they know they are lacking at the LT position. The fact that you think they are fine at LT are give me grief about it shows me what you know.

You guys can complain about the QB all you want, none of them will play well until the FO makes some trades or the coaches pull off some miracles and get the line to play 10x better

Wasn't it Gailey who stated Spiller makes the line better? Either way both are in for a rude shock when the "water-bug gets swatted at the line and can't make plays. I firmly believe that you build a team from the line up, if the line is no good then the offense is no good and will struggle in every area. About the only Bills coaches / GM that understood this were the ones who built the electric Co line for OJ and Bill Polian by getting C Kent Hull from the USFL and LT Will Wolford a first round pick in 1986, he already had a #1 pick in G Jim Ritcher Gee, a novel concept...drafting a LT with a #1 pick , only Bill Polian would be that foolish. Has the Bills O line even been remotely close to that good since the 90's Bills? Don't get me wrong, I like the Spiller pick... its just that Nix should have pulled a Polian** and drafted Spiller and then traded back up in the first and gotten Bulaga. ** Polian drafted Ronnie Harmon and Wilford in the first round in 86

If all the Bills needed was a great 3rd down back like Bush...

I disagree, the Bills wanted the smaller/quicker players to swarm to the ball in order to run the Tampa 2 properly, its main drawback is that it will always be susceptible to the run, which it was in Buffalo for four years. The defense against the run did get slightly better under Perry Fewell as head coach tho. So for me, it was the scheme that was bad with the Bills and not so much the players. Bigger and stronger isn't always better concerning pass coverages. This is a bunch of college coaches and assistants all learning to coach in the NFL, Gailey can't do everything. I look at this year as a learning curve for the entire team, so yea one- two wins... I wonder if RW will have patience to endure a 1-15 season

Someone at OBD seems to think that the O line didn't need any high priority upgrades last year or this year or they would have made some moves earlier during the draft. Don't forget we were waiting all last off season for the Bills to replace Jason Peters and they never did, even when the pads went on. Face facts, they scrood the pooch again this year by not drafting numerous players to upgrade the line. I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for this new staff to realize they :censored:ed up. Chan Gailey is under the delusion that he will get the Bills players to play harder for him then Jauron got them to, he couldn't be more wrong. Jauron was an ex player and a players coach and they loved him for it, and they played their proverbial hearts out for him week after week. Like Michael Lombarbi stated on the NFL network, "the Bills are tough to play and easy to beat" If the Bills were lacking anything during Jauron's era it was a proper offensive scheme, game planning and play calling from someone other then a rookie OC.

Wood isn't the only question mark on the line in my opinion, as horrific as his leg injury appeared he could still recover to 100%...maybe. Bell is coming off a torn ACL which some players never recover from, he only played 8 games before he hit the IR and if Hangartner struggled all last season with a bad back then what makes you think that won't be a reoccurring problem for him? To me the entire offensive line is a huge question mark with only Levitre as the only really solid starter, and he is just going into his second year. I just don't see how the offense and QB's can improve with so many questions to the O line. -------------------------------------------------------------- The entire offense seems predicated on Spiller being able to make plays and allow the linemen to get away with less ability because he is so special, at least that is what Chan Gailey seems to think. This isn't college anymore Chan, this is the pros and they will jam that little waterbug into yesterday at the LoS. Last time I looked he isn't Brandon Marshall who is so big and powerful he controls the line and doesn't allow himself to be jammed or taken out of his routes. Just because Spiller was a great player in college doesn't mean that will translate to the NFL. At this point I remain very skeptical about the offense for the upcoming season for the Buffalo Bills, I hope I'm proven wrong.

Now go back and look where some of those players were drafted to be "franchise" QB's, how many were first rounders or even 1st overall picks ? Most of those SB winning QB's didn't get the franchise moniker until they won a SB. both Montana and Brady weren't drafted as "franchise" QB's and won more then one SB 13 QB's were drafted in the first round and only 6 were first overall that actually won a SB I think Steve Young makes a classic case study in that he was drafted first overall in the supplemental draft and totally failed with his first team Tampa Bay as he went 2-14 2x, then went to a great SF team with a brilliant offensive minded head coach in Bill Walsh and he learned behind Joe Montana. Jim Plunkett was another highly touted college QB that was drafted 1st overall and failed with his first team in NE, traded to SF and they flat out released him. The Raiders picked him up and let him sit and recover from the poundings he took at his 2 previous teams and then played like a champion for the Raiders, who had a great O line and running game. Some of the greatest to ever play the game in Montana-Farve-Brady-Starr-Staubach were not "franchise" players drafted in the first round, and Kurt Warner was a walk on. All this did was prove that you need a GM that knows talent and can identify the difference between Ryan Leaf and Payton Manning, lets hope the Bills have one in Buddy Nix.

The thing is you don't need to draft a top QB to get one, look at NO and Drew Brees. There are lots of QB's who made it to the SB and won it and were not top draft picks, you don't necessarily need a "franchise" QB to win. The only guy I've ever seen touted as a can't miss that didn't miss was John Elway A dominate defense and power running game can help win lots of games, who knows along the way the team might just develop a franchise QB out of a young player, of course you need a great O line and coaching to be able to develop a good player into a great one.

What is Payton Manning going to make after he gets his new contract, 20 mill a year? What bonus money did the Raiders pay Russell and then cut him because he was lazy and had no work ethic to play better...40 mill? The Bills can't afford to screw themselves with a Russell 1st pick overall that fails. I'm thinking this franchise has a history of losing... but not bad enough to constantly get the #1 overall. So they don't often get a chance to fail like so many really bad teams that choose the wrong QB year after year. The SD Chargers took Ryan Leaf before they found Phillip Rivers, the Bengals took Akili Smith before they found Carson Palmer, Cleveland is STILL waiting to draft a decent QB -Art Schlichter- St Louis Cardinals- Steve Pisarkiewicz, QB-Raiders Todd Marinovich- 49ers Jim Druckenmiller- Redskins Patrick Ramsey...The list of flops is basically almost endless. Is Colt McCoy finally the answer in Cleveland, with his under powered arm? The only way the Bills can think they will pick the right guy is to KNOW they have the right guy at GM, it would make logical sense to pass on a QB this year and evaluate the talent before letting him choose a top QB, that is if you are Ralph Wilson

Naa, it is a farm club for the rest of the NFL... The Bills find them and train them and then decide not to pay them what they are worth so they end up getting traded or released. Pat Williams- Jason Peters- Antoine Winfield- Ruben Brown-Jim Leonard-Jabari Greer-Anthony Hargrove- Richie Incognito-Nate Clements-Justin Bannan

The thing is the Bills could sign Flozell Adams and rotate him every other series to keep him fresh and give the young players experience, that is unless he wants to much $$.

Everyone seems to be smitten with the same thoughts about the O line...all they can do is improve! No, they can easily play as poorly as they did last season even with no injuries, they can even play worse. It all depends on who the O line coach is and how much NFL experience he has and what kind of protection schemes he will install. Joe D'Alessandris is the new O line coach and he was an assistant O line coach in KC last year, let's hope he does a good job with this motley crew of greenies. http://www.buffalobills.com/team/coaches/j...7c-98463346bf27

Not from what I saw, 5 penalties, allowed 2 sacks 9 hits 11 pressures in 968 snaps. 2 games at LT and the rest at LG. He wasn't god awful for a rookie, but he didn't play really well either. All anyone can do is hope he improves with more experience and continuity from the players around him, then again he may not. The entire line is a huge question mark IMO.

I dunno about dead last, the Bills had Jim Kelly... They also had a #1 pick for the O line in Jim Richter, then top linemen in Will Wolford and Kent Hull from the USFL, Andre Reed, Bruce Smith, Fred Smerlas, Shane Conlon and had made that blockbuster trade with the Colts-Rams to secure Cornelius Bennent in 07 around Halloween. Pretty much every Bills fan knew the Bills would be much improved in 88, I know I did as that's the year I started buying season tickets

The entire line has a way to go...NOBODY on that line played very well last season and the Bills can only hope that everyone improves on the line with less injuries and some continuity. Everyone is thinking oh these guys will be really good very soon.... nobody knows that for certain, even the coaches don't know that for certain. Going into the season with so many young inexperienced players is a huge gamble.

A major part of playing QB in the NFL is the ability to retain confidence in yourself no matter what happens, JP clearly lost his when he was first yanked by Mularkey and replaced by Kelly Holcomb and then again by Jauron and replaced by Trent Edwards. He was always looking over his shoulder thinking he will get yanked again if he makes a mistake, he was so worried about making mistakes that it stopped him from playing from instinct and starting him over thinking everything. QB's look lost when they lose their confidence and JP sure looked lost his last years in Buffalo. The kid had all the physical tools to be a really good QB, a strong arm and he could make all the throws just like Jim Kelly, he just lacked the mental capacity and confidence of Kelly. Young QB's need someone to mentor them and help them correct the mistakes they make and they need continuity, the same coaches, the same system, the same play caller and the same scheme. All of those things constantly changed for JP. Then after Mike Mularkey left the Bills JP never really had a decent offensive mind to help him. Steve Fairchild never called plays in St Louis while he was the OC under Mike Martz, he called them in Buffalo and the fans couldn't stand him for it because he stunk, the game plans stunk....and fans were ecstatic when he quit. So what does Dickhead Jauron do? He goes and promotes the guy under Martz to run the very same scheme and calls the same type of plays Fairchild called. Then Jauron fires him two weeks before the season starts and promotes the guy under him...to call the same type of plays in the very same system It should be fun to watch the Bills offense this year as they finally have an offensive minded head coach who will be calling the offensive plays.

People just get sick up and fed with reading others pessimistic views about the upcoming season that is months away... I should think the coaching staff will get some basic idea of how well the offense can perform after the OTAS. Let's wait until preseason hits until we proclaim the season lost, just my 2 cents. I'm hoping that the coaching staff gets a long hard look at the team and brings in any free agents they think will help before preseason. Chan Gailey has stated he plans on instilling discipline and toughness to the team...what he doesn't realize is the Bills have been tough and disciplined more then he thinks, if they lacked anything it was proper guidance and coaching. "IF" he can deliver a proper offensive scheme utilizing mostly 3 step drop backs and misdirection plays then the team has a solid chance to be effective. Hey, maybe this HC and GM will surprise us all and field a really great offense.

CBS sportsline already has the Bills selecting Locker with the #1 overall next year http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/draft?tag=fas...nfl;NFL%20Draft It would make perfect sense to me if Gailey and Nix looked at the roster Jauron left them and then decided this isn't going to be fixed in one draft. Perhaps they do in fact have a plan to draft Locker in next years draft, who knows but them. All I can say is... even the best laid plans of mice and men