Sisyphean Bills

Who needs OL?

The good news is that there was some change with Buddy Nix being in charge of football and with Chan Gailey replacing one of the most losing HC's in NFL history. On the other hand, a 70 year old rookie GM and a 58 year old retread head coach with a OK-but-nothing-great resume working with a cupboard that was left pretty bare by the stupidity follies of Levy/Brandon and Dick Jauron in a "one traffic light town" known in other parts of the country mostly for rusting decay, vacancy, and blizzards doesn't really equate to a white knight on a white stallion with a scroll of amazing success stories in each hand. No doubt they are doing the best that they can with the cards they have been dealt, but that hasn't translated into any blockbuster moves or a new era of free spending and attracting the best free agents. Why would it? The money handlers in the organization are all the same people that got us to this point; and, there are better opportunities and franchises with much better track records in the NFL. Ask Mike Shanahan.

It might be worth noting that Haynesworth was playing injured most of last year. On the other hand, probably not.

He is the exception, obviously. He was a decent nickel back when he was here. Still, he spent most of his career playing for other teams. Patulski is often cited as being one of the all-time worst draft picks in draft history. He left a big stain across Bills-land. Hunter was an unmitigated bust as well.

Curl up into a fetal position and cry for their momma.

It's a Bills fan's most exciting day of any year. Enjoy it.

What's he worth? A 7th rounder? Probably not even worth turning off the Cartoon Network to fax over the paperwork in that case.

Yep. Jarious Jackson was quite successful.

What? You don't like shooting-from-the-hip drafting? "We really want this guy to be an impact player for us, so we're taking him. Besides Mel Kiper told me somebody else scouted him and thought he was good."

Gailey's offensive philosophy. Glad to help.

Donahue did get lucky with Thomas.

Bills track record with first pick Golden Domers is pretty suspect. Jeff Burris Tony Hunter Walt Patulski

I'm still trying to figure out how you know he is 17 in that picture and what the !@#$ that has to do with anything.

To paraphrase the Buddy, "He did it in high school and he did it ... er, well, 1 out o' 2 is 'half full' to the eternal optimist."

Jason Peters was always a freak athletically, but he could have easily fallen through the cracks because of his lack of preparation (in college) and questionable motivations, focus (which became clear when Smithers started throwing money at below average line mates). Peters needed to land on a team that was desperate enough to keep him for his ability and despite of how incredibly raw he was. He also needed a great teacher to coach him up from near-zero to the NFL quickly. The Bills were the perfect team for him; they've had trouble putting together an OL for over a decade and are continuously desperate to find any talent at OL; and, they had Jim McNally, one of the best OL coaches in the sport. Fortunately for Jason, he is once again being coached by one of the great OL coaches in the NFL, so maybe he can regain his focus and reach his potential. (Though many here hope he fails.)

Perry Tuttle, for one, was a major bust. (See also Tony Hunter, Booker Moore, and JD Williams -- the infamous "blind CB".)

Not to mention that he did have the #1 defense in the NFL in Buffalo at one point.

Probably the same reason they are talking about the "natural fit" of Ellis or Maybinot at OLB -- they all suck and fans are suckers for salvage work. (BTW, you're point about Davis is a good one.)

Is that like Twitterdee and Tweetdummy?

Kelly got injured several times towards the end of his career and the mounting injuries were a factor in his decision to retire. He was older, but he also was playing behind a much crappier line since the Bills were paying all their money to the stars and let the line fall apart. Who you care to label "injury-prone" or not is simply irrelevant.

Jim Kelly wasn't "injury-prone" when he had one of the most dominant OLs in the game in front of him.

The rolling stone in the anointment.

Drafting the next JP Losman is a guarantee. But not the one true fans really want ultimately.

Indeed. Looking at the string of royally !@#$ed up decisions, one could consider the possibility that some people were going out of their way and making every effort to get themselves fired.