Sisyphean Bills

I'd still fault Modrak heavily for putting him in the top 20 group. In hindsight, it is crystal clear Maybin shouldn't have been in the top 200, let alone the top 20. Modrak works for the team and collects a paycheck, no? He supposed to be an expert talent evaluator, no? So, why load the board up with dicey or flat-out bad picks, wash your hands of it, and let a room with the proven evaluation skills of Ralph, Dick Jauron, and Russ Brandon sort the wheat from the chaff in a pressurized decision making environment? There were plenty of reasons NOT to choose Maybin. Just watch the tape of him in the Rose Bowl.

Jauron had the final vote, but the war room was run by consensus at the time. There can really be little doubt that Modrak, who it is confirmed sets the draft board, must have placed Aaron Maybin in the group of top 1st round talent on that board. Suggesting that in such a consensus-driven process, Jauron simply went off and used his own draft board that nobody else in the room knew anything about is a laughably weak cover-up attempt.

Shawne Merriman isn't real thick down low either. Miller would be an edge rusher in the 3-4 and has some legit experience at playing OLB in the NCAA. (It wouldn't be a purely hypothetical exercise like, ahem, some players.) He's definitely in that tweener mode, but on the small side.

He's been the best player hands down at the Senior Bowl practices. As far as comparisons to Maybin: They have similar heights and weights. I think Miller is a bit shorter and got more in the saddle. Miller is a 4 year letterman at Texas A&M; Maybin never started a full season. Both are quick. Miller can dip and rip, split double teams, rush a two-way go, get through traffic, etc.; Maybin is and was purely a loop rusher and gets pancaked whenever he has to engage, he isn't athletic enough to play special teams. Is Miller stout enough to hold an edge or versatile enough to play in space at the NFL level? Who knows, but he looks like a football player and not like a track and field guy. I wouldn't take him at #3, but he's got 1st round talent at this point.

The Bills almost draft well, too. If you look at the 5 or 10 picks just after ours, there is a keeper in there somewhere. Truth.

Surely, Langston Walker made first team though. (What do you mean he didn't get a vote?)

Aren't you onboard with the moving Maybin to TE concept yet?

Or the players will form their own "league" and play flag football in the park. Aaron Maybin will hawk some peanuts to the fans sitting on their blankets.

Harris is a 3-technique DT who's explosion is deteriorating (yes, like Marcus Stroud). If we're going to play 3-4, he's not a good fit. If we're going back to the Tampa-2, you might get a year or two out of him then he hits the wall (yes, like Marcus Stroud).

You can't replace guys that can run fast. I mean look at what happened when the Steelers tried to replace Santonio Holmes with Mike Wallace.

Whitner was an early entry junior that had only started 1 complete season at Ohio State, which had a corps of NFL linebackers. Hype shapes perception is reality.

Maybe he'll even have the sack to call a spade a spade.

It said 16 years in the article that he misquoted. I assume it was a typo, btw. But, if you want to be ignorant, go for it.

1989-2004 is 16 years.

Maybe not.

But, he plays like Urlacher's jock strap.

But, Poz makes plays like that every series.

Collins done for the day.

It is what it is. There are no magic wands to fix years of dysfunction. Half-measures aren't going to get it done. Waiting isn't going to solve it. Pushing a few deck chairs around and playing peppy tunes isn't going to cut it. Throwing money around like confetti in free agency and signing all the big names isn't going to work. What I'm driving at is that the succession plan is unknown save for a very small group of people. When Ralph Wilson does pass on, what then? Does the team stay in Buffalo? Does it even matter what Nix and Gailey have done? In order to build a franchise, you want to be able to forecast current trends out a few years ... and for this organization that outlook is a big question mark.

OK, but Gailey has been out of the NFL 7 of the last 9 seasons. He was last with the Steelers in 1997. I'm hoping he does turn this pile around just like you, but I think it goes without saying that his contacts at the NFL level aren't exactly "current". This is reflected in his staff hires and in some of the mid-season replacement players that were brought in which had a certain Georgia Tech flavor. Things change in any business. There is no doubt that the roster will be turned over. It's even possible (not a certainty though) that the organization will get pointed in the right direction. The problem is that "the plan" is a long-range plan, but the franchise is not and cannot be long-range. Ralph will be 93 next season. Nix, albeit a youngster by comparison, will turn 72 in December. Let's be specific. We're following the San Diego Chargers blueprint for building a small market mismanaged franchise back into a competitive team in an economical and conservative way. The Chargers own plan has been in action for a full 10 years in San Diego and they still have not made the Super Bowl let alone won it. It took them 4 years to make the playoffs and 7 years to win a playoff game. And, things have gone very well in San Diego. San Diego has been lucky enough to find two great QBs, good skills players, good defensive players, good coaches and so on. (Comparison point: Drew Brees was drafted the first year Butler got there; the Bills took Levi Brown in the 7th round.) And, San Diego is in a division that is relatively a joke. That ought to be vaguely sobering "news".

Well, the game of football has evolved into a passing game. Spread formations, the short passing game replacing the running game, etc.; and, of course, the QB is central to running a effective passing game. It is a key position, no doubt. As far as the Bills, they aren't good enough as a team. The Bills scored over 30 points in 3 games last year and lost 2 of them. Fitz rose to the challenge this past year, but the offense isn't consistent and the defense was terrible. Is Fitz the long-term solution? Can he be a Rich Gannon, late bloomer? Or is he more of a Jay Fiedler? No one knows. But, he (or whoever takes the reigns next) will certainly need more talent around him if the Bills are going to be successful & compete for a Super Bowl.

I'm repeating myself, but bringing in someone with some experience is not a bad thing. We'll have to see how it turns out, but for those that count the chicks before the hens even start roosting, "SUPER BOWL!"

It's the ultimate team sport and the best team wins. Forget about all the hysteria swirling around the QB myopia, Hopeful. Case: Archie Manning. That guy was a franchise QB. Surrounded by garbage teams in a dysfunctional mess of an organization and before free agency, he was doomed to pilot a ship that was sunk before it left the dock.

The Jets/Steelers game will be a good defensive battle.

BTW, as I have said before, Wannstedt is an upgrade (certainly over DeMontie Cross and over George Edwards as well). That doesn't mean everyone has to subscribe to the mularkey that it took some sort of cosmic genius to figure that the defensive side needed some fixing and must improve.