All_Pro_Bills

Gotta agree. If you're hired to do a job and your work is continually ignored by management, then you either tune out or get out. You don't stick it out for 10 years busting your ass to do an A1 job because there's no point. So I don't buy the de-linkage between poor scouting and poor drafting. The lack of identify is a compelling point. When you think about what kind of team the Buffalo Bills are what comes to mind first? I've seen mock drafts that have the Bills taking Green or Peterson. Both look like solid players. But you've also got to look at your weaknesses. IMO, the Bills #1 problem is stopping the run. How does picking either player help you stop the run? The Pats and Jets have run all over the Bills the past two seasons (Jets have rushed for over 1,000 yards in 4 games). How does a WR or CB help fix that problem? Sure you can address it later, just like they've addressed the offensive line problem in the later rounds for years. How's that approach worked out?

The question is do you have confidence the Bills are going to correctly evaluate the QB draft class and select the right guy? The top 5 QB that's going to lead this team to the playoffs and the Super Bowl for the next decade? I do not, therefore I'd rather they select one of the blue chip defensive lineman in this draft where picking an impact starter is more likely.

How hard will the laugh when he breaks the NFL personnal conduct policy for the 3rd time and sits out a full season?

The questions is will Harbaugh's decisions to leave Stanford for the Pro's cause Luck to re-evaluate his decision to stay in college? I suspect the answer is no but there's always the possiblity of changing your mind when $50 million is on the table.

I understand exactly what you're saying and agree an upgrade at QB needs to be addressed, at some point. But the implication is this team drafts yet another 1st rounder that rides the bench and contributes nothing on the field in year 1. Given the Bills situation IMO, that's unacceptable. This team can't stop the run, can't pressure the QB, and the offensive line needs upgrades at the tackle position (and others mentioned TE) to even be considered competitive next season. The defensive front 7 is dreadful and a few potential elite players that can assist in resolving the problem are staring you right in the face at the top of round 1.

A QB can only be a Franchise QB AFTER they demonstrate success at the Pro level. Since none of the potential draftees have a single down of professional football experience its hard to say any of them are the real deal. Maybe all 4 top QB prospects turn out to be great pro's or maybe none of them. More likely something in between. I haven't gathered any statistics but I suspect there's just as many 1st round QB busts as there are guys that turn out to be 'Franchise QB's'. The problem with the draft is you're not sure what you're going to get. The Bills have a high 1st round pick and must select an impact player, whatever the position. If they go defense or offense he's got to be a playmaker. He's got to dominate his opponent, win the one-on-one battles, and make plays, not ride the bench like many of the Bills recent 1st rounders. He's got to enable the offense to put points on the board or keep the opposition from doing the same. I'm no draft expert but I do know if you can't stop the run, rush the passer, and protect you're own QB it really doesn't matter who you have at the QB position. Drafting a franchise QB given the current state of the Bills would be like putting a professional NASCAR driver in a Yugo for the Daytona 500 and expecting a 1st place finish. Getting a great QB will lead to more victories only if you've got the support system and an above average team around him to succeed.

The coaches also need to be careful what they say so not to upset the Vegas book makers. The last spread I saw was the Bills getting 1 point. What would it be if the Jets needed the game? Maybe 8? If gamblers know the Bills are going to play their starters, the Jets are playing their backups plus the Jets have nothing to play for that would seem like a good bet from a risk/reward perspective.

Absolutely true. When the Bills were on the clock and Ngata was on the board I couldn't believe it. The guy we 'need' is still on the board and we are going to get him! Then the pick, Donte Whitner. Again I couldn't believe it.

It gets kind of comical listening the him and watching his facial expressions, if you've seen his routine on video. Guess no reporter has responded, 'Come on Bill, your team has beaten these guys what? 21 of the last 22 games or something like that? You're leading the conference and while they've won 4 of 6 their still a 4-10 team You can't seriously expect to come in here and leave with a loss'. Much of what he says about the opponent is also meant for his team. Because the true champion never takes any opponent lightly. Your mindset needs to be that you're always playing from behind, you're the underdog and complacency plus overconfidence, along with conceit are a fatal combination of traits to avoid.

I understand what your saying, he presents information to the decision makers and they make the final decision. The question is what is the quality of the scouting assessment? Not sure how we can know the answer to that question without being present during the evaluation. All we know for sure is the end result of the process which is the actual draft choices. However, I cannot envision a situation where a scout's superior judgement is consistently being overruled by a higher ranking member of the management team which then turns into drafting the wrong guy year after year...

Withholding judgement until I see a game where he gets 9 or 10 carries and doesn't get hit 5 yards behind the line of scrimmage by half the defense on every play. That said, its clear that FJ has learned how to run with these conditions, Spiller has yet to develop that skill.

All great points althought I still think they need to address the front 7 on defense in the coming draft/free agency. Still this team, players and coaches alike, has come light years since the first couple weeks of the season. At the onset of the season I thought this was a 3 year plan to become competitve. After the past 6 weeks I now believe it might be next year vs. 2012 assuming they are able to seriously address the deficiences in the offseason.

More than a poor choice of words it was a poor choice of communication medium. If they just called each other nobody would be the wiser about their conversation. The problem is almost everything said now is out on the public domain. So these guys need to be a little more aware of what they say and where they say it. Along with that we as a society have become overly sensitive about everything. It might come as a revelation to a lot of folks but you don't have to like and approve of everything other people do or say. All I ever hear lately is somebody crying the blues about being 'offended'. I get offended too but I just deal with it, move on and don't make a felony case out of what somebody might say or do that has absolutely nothing to do with me personnally. What I find most puzzling about all the PC police is how they preach constantly about diversity and tolerance but then they turn out to be the most intolerant of others. Their objective is to control everyone's thoughts and actions vs. truly being respectful and diverse. People on this board might agree or disagree with me, but that's just the way things go.

The O-line has been a surprising area of improvement over the past month. They still have trouble with picking up some basic defensive line stunts but that should come in time as the unit works together and improves coordination and communication that can only come from experience. Overall, a positive. Adding some starting talent and bench strength to the tackle position next offseason should be a priority. Offensive statistics since the bye week point to improvement with 3rd down conversion rate, number of offensive snaps, yards gained, and time of possession. O-line improvement may be the single largest contributor to the incremental improvements in the defense too. Instead of being totally gassed by the 4th quarter the D is getting more than a few minutes of clock-time between series.

This is the thing I find most troubling about the Bills current situation. As a fan I can tolerate a season or two of ineptitude if it's building for future success. The premise of rebuilding through the draft (which I support) is the players you draft are better football players than the players you have on the roster. But if your 2010 draft picks can't make it onto the field and you acknowledge your veteran players aren't good enough to produce then you're not rebuilding. All you're doing is creating the illusion of rebuilding and you're really just running in place. Going nowhere season after season. IMO, the only great draft the Bills have had this century is the 2001 class and maybe 2009 (jury out on Maybin but that's not looking good). This team hasn't made the playoffs in 10 years, 11 now building through the draft. The way the league is structured it’s almost statistically impossible to pull that off unless you're doing something so fundamentally wrong. I do have faith in Nix/Gailey because I think they're 'real' football guys but the 2010 class has me concerned. In retrospect, you could probably have done better than the Bills this decade by using more or less a ranked random probability system by taking Kiper's top 3 best available at the time of their pick, put their names in a hat, and pulled one out then choose that guy.

Successful organizations develop a balance and optimization of many objectives, business, personnal, customer satisfaction, product quality, community involvement, profitability, etc. Generally, businesses that focus on one specific goal tend to fail to deliver value to their employees, shareholders (if any), and customers. So sure, its a business but look at owners like Mark Cuban, Jerry Jones, Daniel Snyder. Personalities aside, you honestly believe our ownership has the same passion for winning as these guys? Look what ownership changes have done to just two franchises in our division, Bob Kraft and Woody Johnson. One businessman replaced another at the top but somehow the results were different. We might argue they are simply better businessmen than the owners they replaced but I believe the extra ingredient is passion. And passion for winning is lacking at OBD. You can argue the point that it's a business until the end of time but the basic fact is that to the fans it's not just a business. Maybe we should all treat it like it is, just like the Walmarts, Fords, etc., of the world. And if the fans viewed this like an ordinary business this team would be out of business already for selling a substandard product and sued for misrepresentation.

Really after all we've experienced during the past decade, is there anyone on TBD that honestly believe winning is a priority of ownership and management?

Fortunately, or not, these Toronto games are scheduled at a time when putting the team at a competitive disadvantage by trading home field advantage for revenue doesn't really matter. If it was a case of the team missing the playoff's by 1 game lost in Toronto I might get a little more excited about it. I think the big loser here are Rogers, the Bills football team, and Bills fans that lose one home game. It seems highly unlikely the sponsor is recouping their investment here. If their objective it to bring the NFL to Toronto full time I can't see how this series is helping that cause. While you lose a lot of the atmosphere of a 'live' game watching on TV it just seems the place is deader than a morgue. Whether or not these games 'help' keep the team in WNY is TBD but at this point it doesn't appear to be generating a lot of interest in the team north of the US border. Much of that I suspect has to do with 0-8. How can you blame them? That all said, I find it impossible to disagree with posters that have expressed their frustration with ownerships lack of commitment to winning and there does not appear to be any plan in place to plow the proceeds from this series into the team to improve the product. Ownership seems content to squeeze as much positive cash flow out of the franchise as possible with the least amount of investment sprinkled in with a little PR. Bottom line: Winning is not a priority.

We can debate the merits of Polian's specific picks and draft classes but you can't argue with results, winning. 13-3, 12-4, 14-2, and 5-2 so far this season. The decision to fire Polian and side with one of the finance guys was probably the biggest of many blunders perpetrated by our owner. That decision just points out where the real power in the organization was, is, and will be until ownership changes hands.

Unfortunately I think this is a purely academic exercise. A problem with no solution. I watched the 30 minute 'shortcut' replay of the game last night. They show more or less every play. IMO, after watching that, there is no way to stop the run with this set of players. The Chiefs had 45 rushing attempts for an average of 6.1 yards per carry. I can count on one hand the number of plays where the Bills D held the point of attack of got any penetration on the play. On most plays they were blown off the ball, as a group, 3 or 4 yards past the line of scrimmage.

+1 Forgot about that one, the elusive Chad Pennington putting the moves on Eddie and walking into the endzone. One of the low points of the Williams era produced by the 'coach on the field'. Equally sad was seeing Kelsay, who is described as a 'leader', getting singled up and manhandled out of the play by a TE. Something that struck me as pitiful yet humorous at the same time from yesterday's game.

I think you're description is pretty accurate and sums up his play yesterday. I personally like the guy and being kind of an underdog he's easy to root for. He's got the intelligence and moxy to be a great quarterback. But he lacks the physical skills of the tops QB's to go along with the brains and guts.

Assuming the Bills have the overall #1 choice and Luck is the 'can't miss' real deal franchise quarterback I agree you want to take him. My reasoning goes a little further than just the filling of this critical need. What it also allows the team to do is stop looking. How many draft choices and false starts have we gone through since Kelly retired? With that search ended, what it does is give the team the ability to focus its resources on fixing the other crtical needs on offense and especially defense. I like Fitzpatrick. He has 2 of the 3 traits a great QB requires. Football intelligence and the right attitude. What he lacks is the superior physical skills. IMO, most of his mistakes are caused by his shortcomings in this area, inaccuracy, arm strength and not mis-reading the play or lacking the fortitude to make a play. On a team that has a good defense, O-line, and running attack he would be quite effective. But they got to get it right. Taking a QB first overall is a high risk, high reward selection. Get it wrong and you're back to the drawing board a couple years down the road.

I'm not ready to label the draft a bust but you pose an intriguing question. One I ask weekly watching other teams. The answer resides at the core of the problem at OBD. Statistically, Bills management is at the left side of the bell curve when it comes to the capability of evaluating and acquiring players.

+1 We're all looking for the same thing, a good football team that gives an honest and solid effort every Sunday. IMO, a complete and fact-based chronicling by a national media writer of 'how did we get here' to the point where anybody would even raise the idea of an NFL team being beaten by a UFL team would be a worthwhile endeavor. Start with the day Polian was let go (and why) and take it from there. Look at the poor drafts, the dysfunctional decision process, the power structure within the organization, ownerships hand in this mess, the loyal but suffering fan base. Point the spotlight on what's really wrong here rather than ridicule the players. Layout a blueprint for turning it around and hold ownership and management accountable for making it happen.