metzelaars_lives

I thought so. I think Whaley has been an above average GM at worst and maybe even an excellent GM.

It's "devoid" of talent. And are you being sarcastic? Is that the sarcastic font? The Bills are extremely talented- I didn't know anyone thought otherwise. We have more blue chippers than we've had since at least the late 90's. As far as Cassel is concerned, I think a lot of people are confusing what some people THOUGHT was going to happen last summer with what they WANTED to happen. Nobody thought that Matt Cassel was a sweet QB and was rooting for him to win the job. Some people assumed he'd end up with the job because he appeared to be the safe(st), default option. Which is true. It was his job unless someone seized it from him, which, obviously, Taylor did. I told anyone who would listen that Taylor had won the job the Monday after the Steelers game. Just like I told anyone who would listen that it was in fact Cassel's job prior to the Steelers game.

It was definitely not at their place but your point stands and I agree.

This is not an intelligent thread. This is not a realistic thread. There is nothing redeeming about this thread. I'm sorry to be negative, I know I've been warned, but come on.

Agreed 100%. They'll all be factors. It doesn't really matter whose face they show on CBS at the beginning of the game.

The divisions are perfect as is. Good combination of geographical alignments while keeping rivalries intact. What the NFL needs to do more of is just leaving well enough alone.

Andrew Luck and it's not even close.

That's a good one. Are there really people in 2016 who think the Music City Miracle play should have been ruled a forward lateral and overturned?

Oh my God.

Up until this past year I would always say that I love the Bills like an immediate family member and the Sabres like a first cousin. Something weird happened in me recently though and I now care about the Sabres a little bit more than the Bills. It's not as if I won't watch every second of every game but I am so put off by Rex Ryan that he actually made me care less about the Bills. I guess I love the history of the Bills and my memories of growing up on the Bills more than I love the 2016 Bills. A lot more.

Good post. And like five of those EJ conspiracy theorists remain. There are actual living, breathing human beings who can type complete sentences that believe EJ Manuel is a better QB than Tyrod Taylor right now.

You saw it last season. As good a deep ball as any QB in the game. As good a runner as any QB in the game (with the possible exception of Newton). Avoided the big mistake all season. Finished right near the top of the league in TD:INT ratio, passer rating, yards per attempt and went 8-6 as a starter. All in his first season. Like I said, you already saw it. The question is can he replicate it and build on it with his opponents having more film on him and can he open it up a bit more. But by reading your post, you would think the guy sucked last year. And by the way, you are wrong about everybody looking good in training camp. If you recall, Manuel looked startlingly bad in 2014, which carried into the preseason and led them to frantically signing Orton in the 11th hour.

I could write a novel in response to this but I'll leave you with a couple thoughts. Number one, you are aware, of course, that Thurman Thomas led the league in all-purpose yards three consecutive years and owns an NFL MVP, right? And two, TBD fallacy #1 is that the Bills' OL always sucks. The Bills' offensive line was above average between about 07-08. It was as good as any in the league in 2012 (or whatever year CJ averaged 6 YPC). It was mediocre in between. At no point was the offensive line an abomination or preventing a running back from producing. In fact, quite the opposite, the Bills have always had good RB production throughout this stretch, no matter how bad they've been as a team. And Fred Jackson might be my favorite Bills player ever. But come on dude.

Here's a few: 1. Bills are top 10 fans, probably top 5 but not the best in the league as is so loosely thrown on around in Bills land. 2. Unless you are in the stadium after a meaningful score, the shout song is the cheesiest, most annoying, played out thing in the world. I am not in favor of abolishing it as, again, I love it in the stadium, but there is nothing worse than a 20 year old d-bag drunkenly yelling "hay-ay-ay-ay" in the parking lot or, even worse, not at a Bills game.

I don't have time to scroll through this whole thread but didn't somebody say that Fred Jackson, in his prime, was as good as Thurman Thomas in his prime? Or was that just like a dream I had?

Agreed. Other than both being hotheads, one guy has been uber successful everywhere he has been and his players hate him and the other guy has been a middling coach and his players love him. They are both buffoons though, I'll give him that. This one is pretty much factually wrong. Who are you people?

This is exactly the kind of thing I was talking about in the "not as interested in the Bills/NFL" thread from a few weeks back. Who gives a s**t? This is a classic example of the over-saturation of all things NFL in the offseason that turns fans like myself away.

Who is this Lorenzo Alexander character? Also I'm calling Gronk over Felton right now. He'll be just as good and save em a few bucks.

Some of the things Gugny has said about Taylor- and I couldn't make this up- include a) He is the worst (later amended to 30th best) starting QB in the NFL, b) Gugny is more skeptical of the Bills QB situation now than he was going into 1985, coming off a 2-14 season, losing Joe Ferguson and going with the Vince Ferragamo/Bruce Mathison platoon and c) EJ Manuel is a better QB than Tyrod Taylor right now.

I'll believe it when I see it on the field. Oh wait, he had an incredibly efficient first year as a starter already? Well, I think he's going to regress this year until you prove me wrong. Why? Alright fine, I admit it, it's because I'm still in love with EJ Manuel, OK? There. -like five guys on this website

This is exactly the kind of thing I'm talking about when I say I'm burned out on the NFL. Who freaking cares!?!?!

See I think this is rather harsh. For one, they had one of the better offensive lines in all of football last season. John Miller was a 3rd round pick who played fairly well through adversity as a rookie last season, he's fine. They'll be fine at RT. I actually think the team could be good this year. For me, I've just kinda lost a little bit of interest in the NFL totally regardless of whether the Bills are good or not. I just think the NFL has kinda jumped the shark for me.

Dude, no one's "disengaged." We wouldn't be on this site if we were disinterested altogether. I think some people are saying they just care a little bit less than they used to. You can't really will yourself to care more; you care as much as you care to care. Right now, for the first time in my life, the Sabres are more interesting to me than the Bills. And yes, it is largely in part to Rex Ryan being a gigantic dope. And yes, they are a very talented football team and I happen to be one of the biggest Whaley enthusiasts on this site. But sorry, Rex Ryan is kind of an embarrassing human being to get behind and say "I'm with him." He's really quite a joke actually. Exactly how I feel. Forgot to mention that I had been obsessed with the draft since I was in elementary school and this year I couldn't have cared less about it.

I've been meaning to start this exact same thread for a while now. I'm 37 and I've been a diehard Bills fan since my first game in 1985. I don't feel the need to give my Bills fandom credentials but needless to say I'm as big a fan as they come. My 2nd and 3rd favorite teams are the Sabres and the Colorado Rockies. I haven't outgrown rooting for sports teams because I care every bit as much about the Sabres and the Rockies as I ever have. But something changed in me last year with respect to the Bills and the NFL. When they got eliminated, I cared a little less and found it more amusing. I found it easier to cope with losses in general. I think it's a perfect storm of 1. the over-saturation/cheesiness of the NFL product/brand in 2016, 2. I hate Rex Ryan, 3. I hate Goodell, 4. the head injury stuff/loss of innocence about the game I used to love so much, 5. I follow Bills players on Twitter and very few of them are capable of stringing a complete sentence together... Don't get me wrong, I'll obviously watch every second of every game this year, I just care a little bit less than I used to. And it's evidenced by me not caring about every offseason article, ranking, etc. like I did even two years ago. I can't tell you how stupid it looks when people argue about where some nfl.com analyst ranked the Bills linebacking corps in May. It's literally dumber than a group of girls getting together to watch The Bachelorette.

The first four are almost not debatable. Specifically Bruce Smith #1, OJ #2 and then Kelly and Thurman in some order. Even though Kelly has the whole face of the franchise thing going for him, I'm inclined to put Thurman #3. He is simply a greater all time RB than Kelly is a QB. The MVP seals it. After that, I would put Reed but my Bills expertise really only spans from about 1984-present.