Sisyphean Bills

Cody may be the better player, but let's face it. The Bills don't have Ray Lewis. They don't have someone that is going to focus Cody like that and kick his ass until he wakes up and becomes a better player. The Bills locker room is one where no one knows if the games were won or lost and we're just here for the ride cause the paycheck is nice. Troup may have a lower ceiling than Cody; but, hopefully the word that he is self-driven is accurate because the Bills are in a spot where they need that type of player.

Talking with S&C coach... S&C: Yeah, look how shiny the equipment is. The guys were just in here polishing this here thingie. Points to rack of weights. Guest: Polishing? Don't you mean lifting? S&C: Puzzled furrow on brow. Lifting? These thingies cost money. We want to keep them like new, not drop 'em and bust 'em! They're heavy after all.

They reached by doing the exact opposite of reaching? They took the BPA regardless of position, the exact opposite of reaching for a player, where reaching is taking a player because he plays a position one wants to fill regardless of his talent, value, or the other players available.

Yet, Myron Pryor had a more productive season as a DL.

You forget that Jauron was the head coach and he did want a very conservative offense and he did want it simplified. Steve Fairchild comes out of the Coryell line of offensive coaches and those principles evaporated over time to an offense that took few chances and played around the line of scrimmage making it easier for the defense and, yes, the defenses gobbled it up and slammed the door. I agree that we didn't have an overly talented offense, but I have to disagree that Jauron's risk-free philosophy was not in play and had no effect on the offense. It did.

A Jauron.

I'm sure he's not happy or settled with his position on the team (potentially losing his starting job to Byrd this year; the switch to a new scheme and new coaches). The writing has been on the wall so to speak.

Sort of why Doanhoe and Modrak were a good working couple. You had a guy that wanted to make all the decisions and a guy that just wanted to sit on his patio, watch a little film, and fire off a few notes in an email to the boss man and otherwise not be bothered.

I agree that this has something to do with it. He's a good country boy, and there is a lot of prejudice against that. Another strike: He's an old man in a young man's game. Another strike: he was just a part of the band behind bigger front names of Polian, Butler, and Smith. He had to pay his dues and wait his turn. And even now, despite training for the job amongst some of the best in recent history, he is totally unproven, a rookie GM. You lost me here. Brandon has been almost completely invisible since and during Nix's hiring and announcement. He's in total stealth mode as far as I've heard, so I don't see him still trying to be the face of the franchise. I've seen and heard a lot more from Nix. I'll wait for some sort of results on the field before declaring Nix the savior. Just the way I roll, I know.

C'mon, Doc. You're not stupid, so don't act it. You made a claim that there were no top-tier GMs available. There were and are unemployed GMs available, so your claim is weak at best, and intentionally misleading at worst. I'm not advocating jack ****, and you know it. Again, per your qualified definition of "true" GM. The fact is that Russ Brandon had the title and held the job and performed the same observable functions like any other GM of any other NFL team. If it makes you feel better to think he had no say in anything and zero input, then roll with it. But, we also know you have no first-hand knowledge that Brandon had no input behind the scenes.

There were and are people with GM experience that are not employed by an NFL team then and now. Whether they meet your selective qualifications as "top-tier" or not. When you claim Brandon had nothing to do with the football side of the business based on "the small test", you do know that he was given the title of GM, attended the combine and workouts, scouted players, was present and involved at training camp, talked about his plans to the media, etc. -- you know, the **** other GMs around the NFL do as part of their job as a GM.

Maybinot.

From what Brooks said, he had offers but he turned them down because they weren't in the right ballpark. Basically, Derrick wasn't interested in renting out his body as a stop-gap player for a little extra pocket change (by his standards). Edgerrin James did that and got dumped in mid-season.

It's not lost on everyone. It's just against the rules to keep posting the same thing ad nauseum.

Maybinot.

Compared to ... the moon Titan, yes!

I feel besotted for having clicked on this.

He was selling used cars when they called him.

Pretty succinct. Good follow-up to the post that said the strength of the Bills was that they had no players that were irreplaceable (so injuries were not a concern).

Hunh? Brandon was COO/GM last year. Ralph was Owner/President. This past off-season, Brandon got promoted to CEO. Nix got promoted from "National Scout" to GM and put in charge of "everything on the football side". Here's the Cliff's Notes: Brandon was not totally uninvolved as some would like to have it. Ralph gave him more responsibility in other areas, but gave the football side of things to Nix. This was a 180 degree reversal from just 2 years ago when Ralph announced that he didn't think the organization needed a GM and he and his inner circle could get by just fine when Marv's cursory GM-ship ended.

Urlacher of recent seasons is not a great example. He's missed tons of playing time due to injury, and when he has got back on the field, the injuries have sapped his game. If you want to rail against the Tampa-2, the fact that Tampa, Detroit, and Indianapolis all abandoned it last year and the Bills are abandoning it this year is proof enough. Lovie Smith is the only one still using it (I believe) and he's on the verge of being fired.

This doesn't add up. After 4 years of Jauron, the team was well suited to play his style-less brand of football, which has proven over time to eek out 5-8 wins with an average team bereft of stars and leadership. There is worse than 6-10; so, your point refutes itself. It wouldn't surprise me one iota if this team does get worse before it gets better. It's going to take time to develop the new defense. You don't just insert a NT, switch to the 3-4, add hot water, and, bam!, have a great run defense. Furthermore, the offense is, hopefully, going to have its pacifier and diaper removed as well. That is a great thing and long overdue. But, it's not clear at all that none of the problems with last year's team involved the players.

It's hard to find a good decoy in this league.

Actually, yes. Been there, done that.

Is that because he'd have too much sunshine blown up his posterior?