HankBulloughMellencamp

Hey dere. Me and my fellow Polish Americans from Chicktowaga are still just glad we drafted dat guy Posluszny from Penn State, I tink. He was pretty good.

I would gladly wear a lapel pin identifying me as a charter member of the Kevin Kolb fan club. And I would sport it proudly on the basis of how #4 came across in his opening presser alone. His NFL credentials notwithstanding, he sure seems like a man of conviction and a strong team leader. He should add that veteran presence we will need in the QB room with an anointed youngster trying to cut his NFL teeth. We know very little about Tarvaris Jackson based on what Chan did (not do) with him last year, but I have also heard good things about #7's work ethic as well. Sounds like a nice recipe for baptising a greenhorn QB to me. I would really hope and believe that EJ will ultimately win the job by opening day in September. And if he does, I will still wear my Kolb button, because either Kolb or Jackson (or both?) will be right there sporting a fresh New Era lid to help #3 decipher what he is seeing once the games start to count. To me, Kolb is Fitz with a better arm, stronger leadership, and ultimately more upside (if necessary). So, a very good value and/or insurance policy that essentially cost us nothing but the money we wanted to pay Fitz to tutor the new guy anyway. And if Tarvaris ends up as the primary backup, he comes even more cheaply.

Enjoyable read, and what an incredibly detailed breakdown of Gilmore's rookie performance. It confirmed what I thought/hoped I was seeing out of Stephon in his rookie year. By that, I mean you can't possibly know how a DB moves until the camera finally follows the ball to the receiver he's covering. I don't think I am going very far out on a limb in saying that, based on this article alone, the author (@Cianaf in twitter-land) seems to know an awful lot more about scouting football than Todd McShay even pretends to know for ESPN.

To borrow a quote the Talking Heads, stop making so much sense like that here on TBD. People seem to enjoy hitting the panic button too much, and often in a way that resembles Montgomery Burns working the trap door button when an employee enters his office. Seriously, we know this guy can play; his absence has only given Searcy (who I am NOT sold on quite yet) A. Williams & the greenhorn draftees some time to get their feet wet back there. Byrd is a high-character vet, a pro's pro who was brought up in the game - and it shows. The apple certainly did not fall too far from the family tree. Jairus demonstrated a knack for the INT from day one, and he also creates his fair share of turnovers by stripping poorly protected balls loose. And from what I have seen, his tackling has improved by leaps and bounds since he got here. He will get paid, we just need to let the process play out. Exactly, if you walk into a dealership with the intent of driving something else out that day, the odds of you getting the fairest deal are not in your favor.

Not that it has anything to do with anything, but when the Bills formally hired Whaley as their GM, John Murphy had Whaley's former Pitt Panther teammate Ruben Brown on to share his thoughts on the move. Ruben called Whaley "the original Urlacher" because he played both safety and linebacker ... sort of a hybrid/tweener type like Urlacher was when he came out of college.

Great quote. It has been some time since we have had 2 guys that are this fast, athletic AND are seemingly engineered to play the linebacker position. I realize these guys are barely out of the incubator stage, but Bradham and Alonzo also come across as guys who relish the idea of flying to the ball and/or making punishing hits when possible ... we need more of that attitude on this defense. I was also intrigued with the idea of Dansby coming in here, not solely because of his experience but also because he has that kind of attitude/mindset. Any good defense you can remember on any level has it. I hope I am not Pettine our new D coordinator on the back to soon, but he sure seems to be trying to instill this sort of philosophy with our Bills. Last season's finale not withstanding, I do know that he absolutely owned the Jauron/Gailey Bills during his time in NY.

That's a little harsh on #12, bro. Jimbo took more than his fair share of shots to the head and/or solar plexus in his day, so cut the guy a break. He wasn't too bad on the ESPN set before he decided to spend more time on his Hunter's Hope Foundation. And he has pushed hard for more newborn screening nationwide - tough to argue with that one. His football camps have been enjoyed by and inspired greatness in thousands upon thousands of young players. And he puts on a wonderful (and completely free) Day of Hope every Valentine's Day at the fieldhouse for this area with very little fanfare, other than from those who attend and enjoy the day's events with their kids. Jimbo has accomplished about a thousand times the things you and I put together can rightfully claim in our lives. We all know that he was at times a rooster-sure and arrogant @$$ when he strode into town, as is also evident to those who saw the recent 30-for-30 on Elway/Marino. But he certainly matured over time into a true Buffalo-backer, to the point that he has resided here ever since he played. So to say his "post-career" is a complete mess is just plain ignorant. And you need to get over your assumed run-in with Jimbo while out on the town. After his playing days were over, I happened to line up and take a whiz a few urinals away from Jimbo back in the earlier days of Chippewa, at McMonkees of all places. I saw him tip the bathroom guy a cool 20-spot on the way out, perhaps paying back some of that bad karma he generated as a younger NFL gunslinger. By that time, he certainly was, and is, cool as can be. I also know someone who helped take care of Jimbo during one of his recent surgeries. This guy is not from Buffalo originally, and he told me some great stories about how Jimbo busted balls with other patients/hospital workers, and he said #12 made sure to give him a personalized football as a thank you. Get well, Jimbo ... the best damn QB we have ever had, and probably will ever have.

Not that I figured otherwise, but you have just essentially outed yourself as a genuine fair-weather Bills fan. And your "win a few games" requirement leads me to believe that you were quite on board with the Fitz deal at the time we beat the Skins in T.O., and by extension (pun obviously intended) I will also assume you were just tickled when Jauron was given one after a fast start with Trentative at the controls as well.

I see it like you see it. In retrospect, I am so glad Chan pissed himself down the stretch last year, or he still might be here. I know Greggo was a bust, but Marrone sure looks like the type of coach we have been dreaming about in Buffalo for a long time. I love the fact that he dips out there on the field with the boys. And it might be awhile before we can say EJ Manuel is legit, but I was loving Robert Woods when I saw what he looked like at the combine. Kiko Alonso jumps off the tape and did so in big games for the Ducks. Every pessimist on this board has cast TJ Graham, Alex Carrington and Aaron Williams aside, but imagine if those guys actually make plays for us this year. I don't think this is out of the realm of possibility by any means in 2013. This Kool-Aid Buddy Nix just made sure tastes good to me, and while it is no longer pennies a serving, I agree with your point >>> We are in really decent shape, salary-cap wise. I don't think Nix gets nearly enough credit for that. And it seems Littman/Overdorf will not need any Levitre to be sporting Wood over that reality for next year either.

Outstanding post ... I can not believe that someone is actually suggesting that because moneyball worked and Russ didn't do too bad/can't do any worse, let's get him back in the saddle as our GM. To hell with the guy we just groomed who actually knows/played/scouted the game for a living as opposed to selling tickets.

It's just another lame attempt to discredit Nix for any potential good he may have actually done. "But he traded back, and drafted guys from the west coast - not the SEC!!!" Child, please. The phone call to TB convinced me he was still very much in charge. And I, for one, have no huge problem with the job Nix did as a whole, other than to acknowledge Chan was not a good hire, and ask "where the hell is the baby?" But I can see the forest through the trees, too. I will certainly miss his forthright demeanor and good 'ol boy southern accent. Considering the sunshine Russ Brandon likes to blow up our butts in interviews, Buddy always made sense to me and really seemed as though he was as honest as he could be - even if the truth hurt. Fred Jackson certainly gave the impression that he was the same way with his players as well. Buddy simply had to rebuild the lines as job one, and I thought he did a darn good job of it while he was here. Other than later round and/or UDFA bloomers like Kyle Williams, Brad Butler and Jason Peters, we all but ignored those spots in the draft under Donahoe/Levy/Brandon - and it showed. By virtue of that, we wasted a ton of coin on marginal-at-best free agents like Langston Walker, Derrick Dockery, Tutan Reyes, Geoff Hangartner etc. Buddy actually found guys off the street who could play, and got them for peanuts. That's a 180 in my book, and the cap space it saved then enabled us to keep those of our own that we needed to keep. And based on what Chan/Fitz did together early on in Buddy's tenure, I have no real issue with the extension he gave Fitz - it essentially paid Fitz market value for being an NFL starter. And especially when you consider that Buddy built a relatively painless 'out' into the deal, it looked like a smart move at the time. And now in hindsight, when it became painfully obvious that Chan/Fitz were more of a mirage and just not going to get it done here, they were jettisoned. Buddy's won/loss record is not what we had hoped, but I hang the win-loss record more on Chan's bumbling way of handling the team during game action (ex: Tenn/St. Louis home debacles) than Buddy not putting the talent on the field for him. Was Buddy supposed to veto the pass play than Chan called in the waning moments of the Tennesse game that was in-hand? Plus, you have to admit, he planned his exit very well - if EJ Manuel stinks, the onus will be squarely on Whaley by the time we know that is the case. If Manuel shines, Buddy the GM may then get some of the credit I think he deserves from some of the armchair curmudgeons that prowl these reaches of cyberspace.

Another hindsight is 20/20, 'show me the baby' mindset. The last three years are mired in the after-effects of a universally acknowledged bad move by Nix - the hiring of one Chan Gailey. This led us into the "Fitz-is-our-guy" thing, which also meant we did not address QB until now. The criticism of that reality is well justified. But if you think the team Nix walked into is more appealing than the one he has now built, please tell me why were we only able to attract an unemployed retread/lackluster college guy in Gailey (out of left field, no less) with your 'preferred' team as 2010 beckoned? The 2013 team, as currently constructed, is viewed as attractive enough to lure Marrone, a guy that Cleveland and Philly were reportedly interested in before he essentially chose us. Time will tell if he is a good NFL HC, but in my opinion, this would be a hard point for you to argue about. Factor in the fact that the Jets highly accomplished and respected DC jumped over to our ship (against Sexy Rexy's wishes), and you can hopefully see the point I am making. And you talk a lot about schemes, but don't seem to understand that the whole 3-4 switch to a 4-3, then back to a 3-4 is not a Nix/scouting flip-flop, but ultimately another Gailey call that obviously went nowhere, much like each of his three seasons as our leader. Gailey's DCs were abysmal. But interestingly, it has had the net effect of seasoning our holdover guys like KW, Carrington and Dareus into (hopefully) useful weapons in the new Pettine hybrid-model defense. Talk schemes all you want, but to me, Buddy has a decent history of finding talent. And you are criticizing his handling of the offensive line? If there is one area that Nix has handled with aplomb, it has been that unit. Do you remember the contracts we gave to Langston Walker, Derrick Dockery, and even Melvin Fowler? Tutan Reyes? We now have relatively inexpensive guys across the front, and they have protected Fitzy well despite many key injuries. Another point you can try to argue by saying Fitz gets rid of it quickly, but the proof has been on the field. We were able to run it and throw it effectively under Chan, limited only by Fitzy's double-cheekers that topped out at 15 yards. Agreed, add in the fact that Modrak was director of college scouting or whatever for that first Nix year ... most of the draft work for the 2010 draft was already in the books when Nix got the GM gig. Of course that means Nix came back to Buffalo as a scout under Modrak in 2009. Dysfunction junction.

Whaley played football @ Pitt, safety/linebacker per wikipedia. Did you also know that Buddy Nix was the Head Coach at Tennessee-Chattanooga back when T.O. went there?

Well, sir, you basically put words into mine by suggesting that we all agree that Nix "bought high" on Fitz, which I don't agree with. I made the point earlier that if Philly had a similar 'out' built into the Mike Vick deal, I would tend to think that, especially with Chip Kelly in there, they would have exercised the 'out' by now. Hindsight obviously tells us all that Fitz didn't work out for us, but I was OK with the logic of the extension at the time of it based on the need to secure the guy we thought we finally found. I agree that we disagree.

The Nix/Fitz deal has been beaten to death in this thread, but based on the above quote from Sisyphean Bills, I would say that he was indeed referring to the money as well as the choice. It'd be super great for the owners/GMs if teams could just string guys along without paying them, let's call it "market value" for argument's sake, but at some point you have to pay guys what they are worth. Teams are still in the cat-bird seat ... if the player does not live up to the contract, you can always cut them. If the contract has good enough protections built-in, which I believe the Fiitz deal did, you don't hurt yourself with too much dead money if that option needs to be exercised. And the Jauron extension, while it played out in a similar fashion to how Fitzy's deal went, has about as much to do with the Nix conversation that evolved in this thread as the price of tea in China. It is much more analogous, in my opinion, to the extension the new UB AD gave to Jeff Quinn ... but I digress. At least most seem to agree that Sheppard was not ... not ... not good.

As were his stats and wins against the Raiders, Pats and Eagles at home, he was our guy, happy days were thought to be here again ... you seem to have perfect selective hindsight - don't you remember? All signs were pointing upward on the Fitz-o-meter at that time ... and he was being paid far below starting QB numbers. We all now know that Fitz fizzled once he autographed the deal, but if he hadn't, he could have commanded more at years end. It was a show of good faith and a way of locking him up more than a panic move.

Smell the (football) glove ... Any and all Spinal Tap references deserve to be celebrated!

As a greenhorn compared to some of you more prolific posters here at TBD, I enjoyed the discourse in this thread ... it is one that I have been longing to see on the Stadium Wall. Unheralded MLBs such as Mark Maddox, David White, Angelo Crowell, John DiGiorgio and perhaps even Garth Jax made more key plays from the middle than Kelvin. So at this point, we have clearly established that Sheppard was a bad pick, and Gailey was a bad hire for Mr. Nix. Whatever people now think of Buddy is more in the eye of the beholder based on their respective confidence in where the Bills are now headed. By no means am I satisfied with Nix's first three years. But SJBF's point about Modrak still being around as head of college scouting (or whatever he was) for Nix's first year is well taken. What a mess we were, who knows where Ralph's head truly was at the end of the Jauron era. But i really like what I see from the last two drafts in particular. I will say this about Nix ... every time I hear him speak, he usually makes sense to me. I don't religiously listen to his WGR show or anything, but when I do catch clips from it, I usually come away liking what I hear from him. And I admit that my bias might very well stem from the fact that I love his folksy southern accent ... reminds me so much of Roscoe P. Coltrane with his dog Flash by his side in the front seat. And there is my peace offering/alley-oop lob for you 'Nix-is-a-buffoon' detractors ... dunk away!

Can I ask, specifically, what have you seen from Sheppard that makes you think he will be anything at all for Indy? Were you simply not paying attention when he was starting for more than a year & making no significant plays? His tackle totals are downright abysmal for a MLB worth his salt, and I never saw him shed a block and make a play. And I do realize they took him out on 3rd downs for Bryan Scott ... please tell me how "we'd better pull that guy off the field on 3rd downs'' can be considered a good thing? I am confident that our defense will be much improved under Pettine, who unlike Wannstache, has proven that he knows what he is doing in this NFL day and age. And you will not miss Sheppard ... a used kicking net would have been sufficient in return. I do not think he would have made Marrone's 2013 final roster.

Where in the world is that coming from? The fact is, several other teams wanted Marrone before we grabbed him, the guy has a stamp of approval from Sean Payton, Bill Parcells, Herm Edwards ... basically anyone who has worked with him. And Bill Polian had him #1 in his potential head coach candidate que. And your explanation of how they came to decide to extend Fitz is laughable, and hardly refutes any of eballs points. He got paid quite handsomely for the year and a half he played under it, but was basically rewarded with market value for a QB of his ilk/stats if you look at it over the time he was named "the guy" by Gailey. Everyone talks about how much the Fitz extension was worth over the life of it (59 mil or whatever), but no one talks about the relatively painless out that was built into it, which they exercised. I give Nix credit for that. Ask Philly if they wish they had that kind of protection built into their Mike Vick deal. But OK, I get it, you think Nix is a bum.

eball, thank you for taking the time to put that excellent timeline together. I could not possibly agree with your perspective more. QB-wise, when you consider that Gailey was trying to save his arse last year by playing Fitz down the stretch in lieu of Tarvaris Jackson, we are where we are. To start Jackson would have helped the Bills for the future, but would have been a glaring admission of failure by Chan, and would have essentially guaranteed that he'd soon be walking the plank. And for what it's worth, that phone call to Tampa was quite humerous in how it happened, but I agreed with basically everything Nix said as he chewed the fat with Mark Dominick. The jury is still out on Nix, but I got the sense that he is still very much the guy driving the bus over there. All this talk of him stepping aside for Whaley is pure speculation and perhaps a bit premature.

Thanks, Kelly the Dog. JohnC - I understand your points about 'this is all on Buddy's watch' ... how do you feel about the Buffalo Sabres GM? Oh, nevermind ... I can't answer for what Seattle has done other than to say Pete Carroll has done a better job than I thought he might, and it sure helps when you finally get a QB who can play. It is so easy to say "we should have drafted Russell Wilson, and we should have taken Gronk over Aaron Williams" blah blah blah. What a miserable existence it must be to live totally in the past. As far as the record of Buddy, let me say that I dislike talk about the won-loss records of QBs - I find it to be disrespectful to every other team member. I totally understand why coaches are judged on their won-loss records, since it is a production business, as Chan has said often. But even looking at last year, Buddy had absolutely nothing to do with Chan not broaching the subject of discussing defense with his DC, Dave Wannstedt, because it "wasn't his place to do so" from week-to-week. Are you kidding me, Chan? Renee Zellweger had Jerry Maguire at "Hello," and Chan lost me at the exact moment I hear the clip in which he said that. Buddy also didn't squander all-but-certain W's versus the Titans and Rams in the Ralph like Chan did. Unless he was going to fire Chan mid-season, he could only sit and watch as Chan punted from the opponent's 34, and called plays vs. Miami that kept the ball in Choice's hands (and out of Spiller's). So Buddy sharpened the guillotine and dropped it asafp. And time will tell, but from early appearances, he was able to bring in a much better coach than his first time around. Every move since the season ended makes good sense to me. Hearing that he traded Sheppard, which you seem to agree with, was sweet music to my ears. Having said all that, I will freely admit that I usually do my best to enjoy the sugar rush every year. I see the Kool-Aid glass as half full, you obviously prefer to say it is half empty and the kids down the street get it more often.

Nice "big picture" interjection, SJBF. With the benefit of hindsight, scouting NFL players is quite easy, isn't it? Nix bashers always bring up Sheppard and A. Williams ... Troup and Carrington are also in the conversations. OK, so we know Troup and Sheppard have not panned out, but we still have a better than 50% chance to get good value out of Carrington and A. Williams. JohnC, you do realize that the hit rate on even the top rounds of the draft is probably less than 50% across the entire league, right? What do you think of his 1st rounders ... Spiller, Dareus, and Gilmore? How about our inexpensive starting LT, Cordy Glenn? Graham, Bradham, Brooks and even Sanders could very well be impact guys this year. I love the "hindsight is always 20/20" view of the junior Jerry Sullivans who lambasted Nix for drafting Spiller as a luxury, but now leave that out of the conversation ... (or worse yet, pretend they really wanted us to keep Marshawn here). At least Nix turned that mess into Chris Hariston. And his dirt cheap free agent acquisitions over the years (Urbik, Chandler, Rinehardt, Pears) certainly should count for something in the overall analysis. I am not saying Nix is the best GM ever; what I do believe is that the lack of talent on the Bills is not nearly as bad as people like to make it out to be, and I love the direction of the team since last year ended. Let's face it, Gailey turned into a very bad hire last year, Fitz fizzled out once pen hit paper, and so Nix did what he had to do as soon as he possibly could do it.

My thoughts exactly ... the first play Jerry Hughes makes for the Bills will tie him with Kelvin Sheppard for 1 each. The only play I remember #55 making in his entire 2-year run in Buffalo is the opening coverage sack he had vs. Seattle when he went unblocked. I barely ever remember Sheppard being anywhere near the play, and saw him dancing with blockers often. You just can't have that from your MLB and be any good on D. Hughes is simply a bonus, as I would have been happy if they just cut Sheppard outright. Now if we sign Dansby, I will send Buddy Nix a fruit basket and a box of chocolates.

I didn't mean to imply that Wilson and Kaepernick can't throw from the pocket as well. I, like everyone, have been blown away by Wilson's overall command of the 'Hawks, and Kaepernick fired some incredibly precise lasers down the seam during the 49ers run. And Aaron Rodgers is a pocket guy who is also an excellent scrambler - very difficult to defend. Watching Nassib, he reminds me of Rodgers quite a bit. My point was more that all this loose talk along the lines of "the NFL is changing; you need QBs that can run these new offenses with read-option stuff" is hogwash and has zero evidence of historical success. Now that Chip Kelly fella and his revolutionary signaling system w/5-hour energy tempo? ... he may be on to something. Then again, Marchibroda and Belicheat have already shown that kind of thing can work well.