thewildrabbit

Really good point Most Bills fans just don't get the fact that the rookie O line coach did a poor job last season and now is faced with 2 rookies and a backup FA at center, nobody knows who the starting RT is ATM. The really sad thing this is we know who will be playing LT and he should stay at RT because he can actually be a really good RT.

You dolphin haters just show that you can't look at things objectively. The Redskins released Taylor because he refused to show for OTA's and told them he would work out in Miami and wanted to be with his family, even though the Skins would have paid him mega bucks to just show up. My take is he was watching the Dolphins make the playoffs last season while stuck with the hapless redskins and wanted to rejoin Miami. All the talk about his signing with the Patriots was most likely a ploy to make the Dolphins want to resign him. The Dolphins signed him for much less money then he would have made if he had stayed with the Redskins, like 2 mill vs 8 mill. Joey Porter had 17 sacks last season playing part time, this season he will play every down, and now the phins have Jason Taylor on the other side of Porter and not some scrub unknown. If Taylor is completly healthy I'd say the Dolphins will be even better on defense and may break some sack records Jeez,good thing the Bills just rebuilt that O line and lost Jason Peters, who was the only tackle capable of handling Taylor. I suspect Trent Edwards won't last 4 games this season Well, look at it this way,when the Bills get that first pick they can always draft TT. Wonder who the new HC will be?

Well I certainly feel better knowing that Ralph Wilson wanted changes made on the offensive coaching staff and Jauron did want to make any for "continuity". I was hoping to see Schonert and Kuglar replaced with more experienced coaches. The way the team tanked after Jauron received an extension last season and they way he completly tore up the O line this off season , I wonder if Jauron is hoping to get fired so he can sit back and get paid for doing nothing, not that he is really doing anything now. It would be nice to replace him and have a coach that would win more then 7 games in a season.

All college players are projects and nobody really knows if they can get the job done once the footballs start flying. The list of players that were drafted and don't make it to the first game is endless. This FO and coaching staff are really going out on a limb by stating that 2 rookies and backup free agent will start this season, not to mention that one rookie will be in a position he didn't play in college. Considering teams like the Patriots draft linemen and they usually sit on third and second string for a few years learning the system and technique while playing special teams,so when called upon there is no drop off between the starters and back ups. I can only think that the Bills should have gone this route 3 years ago and not wasted the time and money on Dockery and Walker. Can you say rebuilding mode unless they can get in an experienced tackle, there are still a few out there,Levi Jones perhaps? from scout.com http://profootball.scout.com/a.z?s=127&amp...rc=16&pid=3 Pos Pos Rank Rating Name Type Yr Ht/Wt College 2008 Team Signed Team OT 1 Orlando Pace UFA 11 6-7/320 Ohio State St. Louis Chicago OT 2**** Levi Jones UFA 7 6-5/307 Arizona State Cincinnati **** OT 3 Marvel Smith UFA 9 6-5/321 Arizona State Pittsburgh San Francisco OT 4**** Mark Tauscher UFA 9 6-4/315 Wisconsin Green Bay **** OT 5**** Jon Runyan UFA 13 6-7/330 Michigan Philadelphia **** OT 6 Tra Thomas UFA 11 6-7/335 Florida State Philadelphia Jacksonville OT 7 Stacy Andrews UFA 5 6-7/342 Mississippi Cincinnati Philadelphia OT 8 Willie Colon RFA 3 6-3/315 Hofstra Pittsburgh Pittsburgh OT 9 Kevin Shaffer UFA 7 6-5/315 Tulsa Cleveland Chicago OT 10*** Jonas Jennings UFA 8 6-3/335 Georgia San Francisco **** OT 11 Khalif Barnes UFA 4 6-5/325 Washington Jacksonville Oakland OT 12*** Tyson Clabo RFA 4 6-6/314 Wake Forest Atlanta **** OT 13 Donald Penn RFA 3 6-5/305 Utah State Tampa Bay Tampa Bay OT 14 Jon Stinchcomb UFA 6 6-5/315 Georgia New Orleans New Orleans OT 15*** Kwame Harris UFA 6 6-7/320 Stanford Oakland **** OT 16 John St. Clair UFA 9 6-5/315 Virginia Chicago Cleveland OT 17 Daniel Loper UFA 4 6-6/320 Texas Tech Tennessee Detroit OT 18 Ray Willis UFA 4 6-6/327 Florida State Seattle Seattle OT 19 George Foster UFA 6 6-5/332 Georgia Detroit Detroit OT 20** Ephraim Salaam UFA 11 6-7/300 San Diego State Houston OT 21 Oliver Ross UFA 10 6-4/327 Iowa State New England Arizona OT 22** Anthony Davis UFA 5 6-4/329 Virginia Tech St. Louis **** OT 23 Brandon Gorin UFA 7 6-6/308 Purdue St. Louis Denver OT 24 Adam Goldberg UFA 5 6-7/318 Wyoming St. Louis St. Louis OT 25 Marcus Johnson UFA 4 6-6/310 Mississippi Minnesota Oakland OT 26 Frank Omiyale UFA 4 6-4/310 Tennessee Tech Carolina Chicago OT 27 Rashad Butler RFA 3 6-4/293 Miami (FL) Houston Houston OT NR* Rob Petitti UFA 4 6-6/327 Pittsburgh St. Louis **** OT NR Trai Essex UFA 4 6-4/324 Northwestern Pittsburgh Pittsburgh OT NR Fred Miller UFA 13 6-7/314 Baylor Chicago **** OT NR* Kirk Chambers UFA 4 6-7/315 Stanford Buffalo Buffalo OT NR Zach Strief RFA 3 6-7/349 Northwestern New Orleans New Orleans OT NR Seth Wand UFA 6 6-7/330 Northwest Missouri State Oakland OT NR Wesley Britt UFA 3 6-8/312 Alabama New England New England make note of the one star for Kirk Chambers who was resigned

I didn't care much for him either as I'm certain most Bills fans were happy he left, the problem is... instead of hiring an experienced replacement he opted to promote the QB coach. Schonert had growing pains last season and it cost the Bills dearly in several games. Ralph Wilson wanted changes made on offense in terms of coaching and Jauron made a stand for continuity and kept Schonert. My take is it will turn out to be a huge mistake that Jauron kept Schonert, ultimately it will cost him his job.

Hi Tim, Can the Bills coaches honestly be thinking of starting two rookie guards, one of which didn't play guard in college, a backup free agent center and expect to have any kind of a stability on that O line this season ?

Like you stated it is a TEAM game, and Edwards will only be a good as his offensive line allows. It seemed like Jauron was starting off brilliantly in hiring an experienced OL coach and building the line with top notch free agent linemen while drafting for other positions. The bad started last year with the OC leaving and more importantly the line coach change. Now that his best O linemen is gone and the entire line is reshuffled with 2 rookies starting and an inexperienced coach teaching them, I think the team just took 5 steps backwards this off season. If Edwards manages to stay upright even one series I'll be impressed. Like I've stated in earlier posts, the O line is a disaster waiting to happen. If the O line stinks it will cause the entire team to stink. No QB can overcome a bad O Line, they won't be able to run the ball and all the fans will blame Marshawn. They won't be able to throw the ball and all the fans will blame Edwrards. The owner will then stand up and procailm it is lack of talent.

I beg to differ,The Bills won a few of those early season games last season because of Trent and his come from behind success. While he has Lee Evans and Josh Reed and Roscoe Parrish and no legit decent tight end. While all are good only of one which is a big play guy and that is Evans. This season should be better for the deep passing game simply because of TO The OC came out publicly and stated that they didn't have that 2nd receiver to take some coverage away from Evans. Opposing teams knew if they rolled coverages to Evans it took away Buffalo's big play and Trent would go dump off to Jackson or Lynch, sometimes Reed. The OC also stated that the poor play of the O line didn't give Edwards enough time to go deep very often. Looking at the current offensive line it makes me wonder why the bills don't pursue Levi Jones?

Marty ball He would take this team and hire the proper supporting coaches and be in the playoffs next season. He had Wade Phillips as his DC and Cam Cameron as OC in SD at his last job. He might even be in the cost range the Bills could afford! Cowher 9-12 mill a year some team like the skins are gonna open the vault for the "chin" Shanahan 7-8 mill a year Holmgren 7-9 mill a year Gruden 5-6 mill a year Marty 4-5 mill a year Heck, at this point I'll take 14-2

Jauron does know defense to some degree, but does he hire offensive coaches that are more clueless then he is about the offense because of job security ?

I like what Jauron did his first two years,the team played tough hard nosed football every week and the Bills were usually in every game. My problem with Jauron is his decision to promote inexperienced coaches on offense, and it really hurt the Bills big time last season, and this season the O line is a disaster waiting to happen and Edwards will take the brunt of it. Bobby April

Won Lost Ties Win % Finish Won Lost Win % Result CHI 1999 6 10 0 .375 5th in NFC Central - - - - CHI 2000 5 11 0 .313 5th in NFC Central - - - - CHI 2001 13 3 0 .813 1st in NFC Central 0 1 .000 Lost to Philadelphia Eagles in NFC Divisional Game. CHI 2002 4 12 0 .250 3rd in NFC North - - - - CHI 2003 7 9 0 .438 3rd in NFC North - - - - CHI Total 35 45 0 .438 0 1 .000 - DET 2005* 1 4 0 .200 3rd in NFC North - - - - DET Total 1 4 0 .200 - - - - BUF 2006 7 9 0 .438 3rd in AFC East - - - - BUF 2007 7 9 0 .438 2nd in AFC East - - - - BUF 2008 7 9 0 .438 4th in AFC East - - - - BUF Total 21 27 0 .438 - - - - Total 57 76 0 .429 0 1 .000 One winning season in 9 years speaks for itself... Jauron has had 3 years to bring in the proper talent, so don't blame it on the talent when the Falcons go from worst to first in one year, AND THE DOLPHINS won 1 game 2 years ago and the next year they take the division. It all about the coaching and it is always all about the coaches.

and as we all know in this life...you get what you pay for!

I disagree completly, If Jauron somehow manages to get the Bills into the playoffs he would become an instant god in Buffalo. WINNING SOLVES EVERYTHING! Let me repeat that, WINNING SOLVES EVERYTHING! I supported Jauron when he was hired because his background was that he ran a stout defense in Chicago, and he drafted Brian Urlacher, he also used a power running game with Anthony Thomas. His problem with the bears was he never did find a decent QB to run the offense, Jim Miller and Shane Matthews didn't get it done. Jauron did manage to win the division in 2001 and went 13-3 while scoring 338 points and allowed only 203. That one great year alone gave him some credibility to be a head coach again. But was it just pure luck, you know like the blind squirrel finding an acorn once? From my point of view Jauron did well his first two years in Buffalo considering the injuries that plagued the team. It was last season that opened my eyes as to what type of head coach he actually is... Famed offensive line coach Jim McNally retired last season and Steve Fairchild left to go be a head coach in college and instead of bringing in experienced coaches to replace those two, he hired from within the organization. The offense managed to get better in some regards but that was because of the play of Trent Edwards and Marshawn Lynch. Had Jauron hired someone like Cam Cameron (who was available) I believe the Bills would have made the playoffs last season. Those two rookie coaches didn't get the job done, the line played horrid at times and the play calls were the most bizarre at times. Now the entire O line is reshuffled and two rookies are supposed to start, and one at a position he didn't play in college, not to mention a backup free agent is the starting center. Which brilliant coach is supposed to get them to coached up in technique to play properly, the line coach who didn't get it done last season? The Bills have no real idea how these players will perform once the season starts,they are just hoping that line can get the job done somehow Should those two 2nd year coaches, Schonert and Kugler, manage to preform some miracle's and the line plays great, and the play calls change for the better, and Jauron manages to get the Bills to 13-3... fans in Buffalo would line up to smooch his buttocks

A pretty remarkable career IMO, he was one of the best O line coaches in the NFL After successful stints at Marshall, Boston College and Wake Forest, Jim was offered the offensive line coaching job with the Cincinnati Bengals, where over 15 years he tutored and mentored the line anchored by Pro Football Hall of Famer Anthony Munoz, who credits much of his success to McNally’s teachings. After leaving the Bengals he coached the offensive line for the Carolina Panthers, helping the team reach the NFC championship game in only its second year of existence. Later he coached the New York Giants offensive line, helping them to the Super Bowl in 2000. In 2004, the call came to come to Buffalo where after four years Jim concluded his remarkable career coaching the Bills’ offensive line to new successes. http://www.buffalosportshallfame.com/2008/jim_mcnally.html Peters was a tight end in college when he signed with the Bills as an undrafted rookie free agent in 2004. He was converted into an offensive lineman the following offseason and started the final nine games of the year at right tackle. Peters then made the switch to the left side in 2006, and earned his first Pro Bowl selection this past year. He was part of a revamped offensive line that allowed 26 sacks, down from 47 last year, and matched a team record by going three straight games without allowing a sack. You don't automatically become great after switching from tight end in college to tackle in the NFL, that is absurd. Someone taught him the skills he needed to excel at his position and make the pro bowl, that teacher was Jim McNally. Was it his fault the head coaches and OC's stunk while he was with the Bills?

McNally was the best, he took a FA tight end and turned him into the best left tackle in the NFL. What most people don't realize is one of the biggest factors in getting an O line to play well is simply continuity. Constantly changing positions every year results in lack of continuity and missed assignments. If McNally had a free hand in building that line he would have drafted instead of free agents. The entire point of my post was to point out the O lines poor last year was more then likely because of the rookie line coach. Jauron promoted from within rather then hire experienced offensive coaches, Schonert the OC and Kugler the line coach both rookies last year, and yet when he needs a defensive line coach he hires someone with experience. Good luck on Ralph Wilson hiring an expensive head coach like Gruden,Cowher or Shanahan,the Bills prefer to hire kmart coaches like Jauron

I don't,the O line coach is only in his second year and he didn't exactly do well with what he had last season. I have zero faith he will get a bunch of rookies and back ups to do better.

We all wish BB was the Bills head coach and hate him because he isn't, and we are stuck with his polar opposite, Jauron the perennial loser.

What gets me is the eternal optimism around TBD about the up coming year. Which bright mind decided to scrap the entire O line and rebuild it? I can understand the changes considering on how poorly the O line played against Kris Jenkins in that first Jets game, both guards and the center tripled him and he still went right by all of them. The O line warranted changes for certain but trusting that two rookies and a free agent can step in and do a better job in that interior is simply foolish. What happens when Vince Wolfork blows right by all three and kills Edwards,what then ? Under Dick Jauron the Bills went out in free agency 3 years ago and tried to build a dominant O line,they had the best line coach in pro football in Jim McNally to guide them and help coach the new arrivals. The did manage to bring in some very good talent and the Bills had the biggest line in the NFL. Last season McNally retired and a rookie line coach was brought in,anybody stop to think that might have been the reason for the poor play? So now the Bills have 2 rookie guards, a backup going to be the starting center,Walker moved to left tackle where he will certainly get beaten by the Dwight Freeny types, then another back up at right tackle. A second year line coach is supposed mold these players into a successful line? The Bills did have the makings of a great offensive line until Jim McNally retired. Too darn bad Jauron didn't start drafting top O linemen 3 years ago rather then free agents, the Bills might actually have a real chance to compete in the division this year. So yea, I don't see the Bills winning many games this season, the defense will be decent, but that O line will be a disaster IMHO.

Should the Bills really try and run the no huddle the Bills rookie's and young offensive linemen are going to get schooled by the seasoned veteran Patriots D line as they have seen everything. About the only way the Bills actually stand a chance against that Pats defense is to mount an effective running game, but they won't. Turk 'shotgun" Schonert will call pass plays until Edwards is either injured or starts dumping everything off to Fred Jackson. The Buffalo defense should fair better then the offense simply because they have more veteran coaches who know what they are doing to some degree. I have very little faith in the Bills 2nd year OC and 2nd year OL coach and the zone blocking scheme the Bills use.

How can you guys not believe this post? C'mon now, SKOOBY has already stated that his BMW is worth more then any one of your homes, why won't you all trust and believe in what he posts? No, this isn't his car: http://www.modifiedcarforums.com/images/ca...mw_crashed4.jpg

The only good thing I see about the opener is the fact that the Bills play in the HoF game in preseason,which should give them an extra game to prepare for the regular season. So with 5 preseason games and playing the Titans @ HoF -Bears home-Packers @ GB-@ Pitt- Detroit home, they should be more prepared to start the regular season, provided of course that they don't get any serious injuries to any key players. Those are some good teams they face in preseason and "IF" they manage to play well with the starters it might just give some hope towards how they will play against the Patriots. Also, Belichick is noted for his game plans against opposing teams AFTER the season starts and AFTER he can break down the film on what a team is doing on offense and defense and formulate the proper way to beat them. That said,the Bills do have a shot if the O line plays well enough to keep TE upright and the offensive game plan shows some departure from last years constant shotguns, and the Bills develop a power running game to start with. Once they can move the ball on the ground consistently they can throw any time they want. Seriously,nothing would make me happier then to see the Bills pounding the ball on the Patriots,playing smash mouth football and keeping the ball away from Brady.

Woodson mentioned he loved coach Dick Jauron and liked many of his quality's as a head coach,like many of us Bills fans. He did point out however that he is 19 games under 500 and has a horrid record as an NFL head coach. Marshall Faulk is the guy on NFL network that I think is a real Bills hater,but that might go back to his days playing for the Colts.

Bills fans don't want people wissing in their cheerios this time of year so your gonna catch some flack if you speak your mind on the 09 season. Although I tend to agree with the disaster statement because that O line has yet to play together and every spot on the line has changed, and yet... the OC is stating they will run the no huddle, constant shotguns again To all the Bills fans out there that think that rookie O linemen will step right in and play flawlessly, you are delusional. Usually teams draft linemen and they sit on the bench for 1-2 years before becoming starters, they do play ST though and back up the starters when needed.

wow,sad day for Buffalo indeed