All_Pro_Bills

His interaction with the NYC media could become a new source of entertainment..

Marrone did Pegula a favor by opting out. He saved the new owner from future second guessing about the decision to axe a head coach that just went 9-7. Now its a decision he doesn't have to make and he won't make the same mistake of waiting and hoping that he made with the Sabres. As for Marrrone, his business aptitude appears to be higher than his coaching ability. He leveraged improving a terrible Syracuse squad to competitiveness into an NFL HQ position and has now leveraged that position into coaching free agency where he will command a much higher salary. And while I'll give him credit for starting the turnaround of the Bills losing culture the shortcomings on offense, QB problems aside, were unacceptable and with the same crew in charge of the offense next year I couldn't see much hope for improvement. I think we can do better and will do better with an owner committed to spending and bringing in competent professional people to run the football side of the operation. For me, Doug opting out yesterday was a late Christmas gift. Happy New Year to all.

I'll wager you can find somebody better than Hackett even under the conditions you cite. For one, we have an owner who doesn't appear to be concerned or afraid to spend money to get what he wants. And Marrone will never fire Hackett no matter how putrid the Bills offense is because of his personal relationship. Its inhibiting his ability to evaluate the performance of his OC and to perform one of the functions of the HC. In business, that's a problem where there are clear performance issues and I think we can all agree the Bills offense has performed poorly for many reasons. One is the lack of an experienced and NFL competent OC...

If he leaves it might not be the worst thing. The Bills have 3 problems on the offensive side of the ball, QB, offensive line, and offensive coordinator. DM opting out is the only way there's a chance to improve the last. If Marrone opts out Hackett would go with him to his next destination as part of the package. I hope fans of the new team are going to be happy scoring around 17 points per game My first inclination afterwards would be to promote Schwartz to HC, Pepper Johnson to DC, and bring an NFL competent OC in while dumping most of the offensive coaches and retaining the DC and ST staffs. For the most part, the resurection of the defense has more to do with Pettine and Schwartz than it does with Marrone and lets not say the Bills didn't address the offensive line. They signed C. Williams and spent 3 picks on lineman while retaining most of the other offensive lineman. To me the problem is on the HQ, OC, and o-line coach not the GM.

Mike Glennon from Tampa might be available for the right price assuming the Buc's pick Mariota with the 1st overall choice. He's put up decent numbers with a lousy team and has the physical tools for the position. Something like a condtional 3rd or 4th in '16 that improves based on his performance might do it. Unlike most of the other QB options I don't see a lot of baggage or issues and the cap number is very low.

I think Mariota is the better prospect particularly because of WInston's behavioral issues and I'm looking forward to #2 Oregon vs. #3 Florida State at 5PM New Years Day. But I wouldn't do Joe B's deal proposal for either..

We need to acknowledge the Bills did attempt to address the offensive line last off season. They drafted 3 lineman, retained most of their players from '13, and signed free agent guard Chris Williams, a guy nobody else had at the top of their list. The problem is their effort, with the exception of Henderson, was a failure. But let's suppose the Bills 'fix' the offensive line this off season, sign a couple of prominet free agent lineman and draft a couple players too. And they have a good/great offensive line. We can agree they don't need an all-pro QB but the problem is whomever they go into the 2015 season with has got to display a minimum level of NFL competency. EJ has not shown that competency with any consistency and unless the team believes he can or has improved to that level no option at QB should be off the table. Its not a choice of fixing one or the other but rather both the line and the QB need to be addressed together this off season and the best possible option at QB needs to be found. If that's EJ then that's what we need to do.

Have to disagree concerning Mike Glennon. My view is he's put up decent numbers and has shown poise and command while playing for a crummy Tampa team. If the Buc's pick Mariota with the #1 they might be willing to part with Glennon for something like a conditional 4th rounder in 2016. But that's just one option the Bills should pursue and while a lot of the available QB's won't meet the cut nothing should be dismissed without the team doing some homework, all options should be on the table at this point. Even the CFL might be a place to look. While I'm not ready to give up on EJ and I believe its possible to learn to read defenses and progressions I'm not sure you can 'learn' accuracy. That and pocket pressence, appear to be his biggest flaws that might not be correctable. And they are serious problems if you want to play QB in the NFL. Will he come into training camp next year significantly better? Bradford and RG3 would be the other two QB's I'd evaluate first and right now I don't think veteran retreads like Cutler are going to be the answer. But a thorough analysis and evaluation process should tell the team what they need to know about each option. Other than that the team needs to consider the draft and I think we need to wait until after the draft combine to see what prospects emerge.

Culter signed a multi-year deal last off season and isn't a free agent. The Bears could release him or trade him but his contract is prohibitive. I just don't see Culter as a realistic option for the Bills for many reasons. With the Buc's likely choosing Mariota with the 1st pick I'd like to see the Bills make a fair offer for Mike Glennon. While he's not the most mobile QB, he's got prototypical size and arm strength and has had some decent success with a crummy Tampa team. Watching his play I can see a lot of poise and ability to diagnose and read the defense and go through progressions with the ability to deliver the ball with some accuracy. Maybe a conditional 4th round pick would get him? Other than Glennon, they might want to look at Mallet, Bradford or RG3. That's where I would start but my list is certainly not complete and who knows what the Bills are thinking...

I gotta agree with you here. For being an offensive guy I would have expected him (and the OC) to get more out of this group. QB issues aside, you have a pretty diverse group of receivers and running backs with specific talents but I didn't see any obvious customization of the offensive scheme to design and run plays specific to the talents of players like Watkins or Spiller or Goodwin to name three. And innovation? Its hard to use that word in the same sentence when describing the Bills offense. And the offensive line? Frankly, I don't want to hear the excuse there isn't enough talent here at this point. You've had a couple drafts and off seasons to correct the problem and I don't see any real improvement beyond lucking out with Henderson at RT this season. I just have to figure you don't know how to solve the problem. And if the problem is the front office and the head coach are not on the same page then that's item #1 for new ownership to resolve. Numbers don't lie. The Bills scored 343 points this season for an average of 21.4 points per game. You subtract out those two big games against the Jets and return TD's (3) and the average for the non-Jet 14 games is 18.7. That isn't going to cut it against teams that regularly score in the 30 point range. You can't expect the defense to play a perfect game every week. The offense has got to bail them out once or twice during the season. Overall, I've got mixed feelings about Marrone. I think he's done some good and has changed the culture surrounding the team and has things headed in the right direction. But can he take it to the next level in season 3 with the same offensive system and an overmatched OC? If he stays or goes I have a sense of confidence that ownership is going to bring in some top tier candidates rather than the bargain level choices we've had to settle for in the Wilson years. Whatever happens I trust ownership will do whatever it takes. I'm more concerned about what happens with Spiller and Hughes situations, what the approach is to the QB problem. and which free agents the team will pursue than I am about Marrone's status.

This seems to indicate the Front Office and the Head Coach & his staff are not on the same page here. An organization cannot function at a high level this way. This gets reflected by the product on the field. Clearly in order to resolve this situation one or the other, or both need to go. Internal debate and differences are a normal part of any business but once a course of action or a plan is determined then everybody has got to get behind it and the time for disagreement is over. Big priority for ownership to resolve..

This appears to be true, the play of the line as a unit and its individuals has deteriorated. And I'd suggest the Bills made a concerted effort to focus on the offensive line in last year's off-season. They signed Chris Williams (who wasn't rated high on the free agent board) and drafted Kouandjio, Richardson, and Henderson so this need wasn't ignored but rather it wasn't successfully addressed by the front office. So what should give us any shread of confidence they are going to do it right this off-season? Meanwhile, teams like New England, Green Bay, and San Diego, just seem to find guys they can plug right into the line up and continue to play at a high level.

Plug Watkins into that situation and I suspect his numbers will be comparable or better. Put Beckham on the Bills offense and he has a fraction of his current numbers. And further ... put Megotron on the Bills and he becomes the world's biggest decoy..

During the playoff drought the BIlls have had a long history of mismanaging the Running Back position. We had Travis Henry (2001-2004) but Donahoe jumped at the bait and took Willis McGahee (2003-2006 did not play rookie season) with the Bills 1st. Henry went on to have several productive seasons elsewhere prior to getting into too much trouble with the law. And McGahee moved on to a few more seasons mostly with the Ravens. Then we drafted Lynch (2007-2010) who wore out his welcome here and got traded for table scraps while Nix jumped to the podium in 10 seconds or so to draft Spiller (2010-2014), a guy advertised as having speed and elusiveness that rarely got to showcase that ability. Quietly through this Fred Jackson (2007-2014) has been a steady force. My feelings about sigining or not signing Spiller are mixed. If we're going to have the same offense with the same coordinator with the same set of plays next season he might as well go someplace else because they probably won't make effective use of him. If we're going to get some new blood on the sidelines managing the offense that can design plays to maximize the production of the players based on their strengths then I say re-sign CJ..

I'd like to see Hughes back but I also got to believe he's the beneficiary of playing with 3 potential pro bowl players and that has some real positive impact on his production. Kind of like the 4th Ghostbuster. Did it really matter who played the part (it was Ernie Hudson)?

I'm still on the fence with dumping Marrone but I think the Bills head coaching job is a very desirable position. Here's why: You've got an owner that is going to pay market, or maybe higher, to sign a big time coach. You've got an owner that is going to be willing to provide you with almost unlimited resources to get the job done. Assistants, equipment, scouts, you name it. This isn't a 3 year rebuild job. Not even a reload. Its a case of finding a QB and a couple blockers, along with installing an offensive system that is designed for the players on the roster. A championship level defense is in place and prospects for keeping it together for a few more years are good. Any coach that brought a Super Bowl championship to the hard-luck Bills would become a legendary figure, memorialized and remembered for all time. In 25 years people will still remember the guy and the team he coached to the title, you stay in some big-time college program you'll become an afterthought soon enough. Hell, you achieve the amazing and unbelievable feat of bringing the Super Bowl to the Bills and they might need to change the name of the trophy to you!

As a life-long fan yesterday's result didn't surprise me. I expected the Bills to disappoint us in some way one more time, in order to maximize our overall anguish, before the end of the season and this was it. Flopping against a 2 win team, a team that has played better and won the last two at home but still a 2 win team with nothing much to play for against a team that is supposed to be 'fighting' for a playoff spot. But given that I emotionally wrote them off after the back-to-back losses to Kansas City and Miami I didn't get too excited. After falling to 5-5 and looking ahead at the December schedule I figured they were finished, And now its 15 seasons and counting. 15 seasons! Its almost like you need to make a conscious effort to be that bad to miss the playoffs for that long a period. So onto another off season of optimism as the search for the answer continues. My only hope is new ownership 'gets it right' and makes the necessary changes.

You got to think Orton must have said that to himself "Hackett is the only guy in the stadium that thinks play action is going to slow the rush or hesitate the linebackers from dropping into coverage, Unbelievable". And at some point after 2 or 3 games he must have said to himself "I've been in the league a while now, I know what works and what doesn't, and this guy doesn't know how to game plan in the NFL or call and offensive game". That, having no confidence in your coaches, has got to affect your game. It's got to effect the entire offense. Is it the only problem? No, but its a big one..

I've seen enough of Marrone. I don't have any ill-will toward the guy but for an offensive guy the Bills offense is really 'offensive', as in awful. Hackett has been way in over his head since the start and his scheme is not working. We can't live through this disaster on offense for another season in '15. I would promote Schwartz to HC, promote Pepper Johnson to DC, retain most of the defensive and special teams staff and bring in an NFL level, competent OC and let him choose the offensive coaches with the new HQ. 1st order of business - identify a credible QB plan to get some competency under center, evaluate free agent offers to retain Hughes and Spiller while fixing the problem in the offensive line for real.

The Raiders defense is 25th against the run in yards per game and 8th against the pass so expect the Bills offensive braintrust to dial up 40+ pass attempts.

I hope Hughes and his agent understand that Jerry's performance and production are a combination of his abilty, the system he plays in, and the players around him. Playing with 3 potential all pro's on the D-line can make life a lot easier. I expect they can agree to a package that is fair to both sides and I don't see this as a 'Byrd' type scenario where the player was intent on going elsewhere. My expectation is Hughes is here in 2015.

I'll throw another name out there. Assuming Tampa gets the number one pick and goes with Mariota what about making a deal for Mike Glennon? 2nd year pro with a good arm some decent but not great numbers, and lots of potential. Career - 19 games, 364 of 619 for 4,025 yards, 29 TDs & 15 Ints with a QB rating of 83.7 with a not so good Tampa Bay team. Also see a lot of Eli Manning in some threads but there is no way on earth the Giants deal him anywhere. I would also take a look at Bradford and possibly RG3 if I could be certain his issues are specific to the situation in Washington.

I think we need to quantify what horrible means. His stats in San Diego 2002 thru 2005 are respectable and to me show a trendline of improvement. And remember the Chargers were playing 'Marty Ball' at the time so the running game had a lot of focus. Truth be told hindsight shows the Chargers didn't need RIvers and could have simply kept Brees and used that pick on another impact player. http://espn.go.com/nfl/player/stats/_/id/2580/drew-brees

No team has a monopoly on idiot fans and while 99% of fans respect each other and the game there's always a few that ruin it for the rest. What you likely experienced was the affect of alcohol on people with limited mental capacity.

Drafting another QB might be the way to go but we'd be looking at using a 2nd or 3rd round pick to do that in 2015. Which college QB coming out in the draft would anyone recommend? And as you stated it is going to take years with this approach. But how long can the Bills keep the strength of this team together, this defensive group? And isn't 15 seasons without a playoff appearance long enough? At this rate most of us will be dead from old age before the Bills make the playoffs. I'd we willing to take a shot at RG3 or Bradford if they're available as a 'short term' but at the same time look to the draft as a 'long term' solution because I think the best approach is not to do one or the other but rather both. To me its not one or the other but a combination that might yield success. I've stopped buying into the 'we need to wait 2 or 3 seasons' approach. We need to focus on the goal of winning in 2015 with a capable veteran (assuming that we agree that's not Orton) and also keep an eye on the future by trying to develop EJ or some other QB's via the draft. Hell, even look at the CFL. I'm wondering if the best QB in the Canadian league is better than what we have now?