Utah John

There was only one week the conference championship and SB XXV. That was enough time for the Bills to over-party and lose their edge. Such a sad waste of a golden opportunity.

Whaley had some hits and misses. Most of the misses were related to drafting players who weren't that good, and also to salary cap management which kept the Bills from holding on to their own good players. The Dareus pick was a mistake. He's a selfish, lazy, talented guy who has never lived up to his high draft pick, and who was rewarded with an immense contract that's killing keeping other players. The Watkins trade is running out of time to work out. Injuries have kept us from seeing what he can do. But that draft was loaded with WRs and to give up a first and a fourth plus our first that year, was way crazy even if Watkins was never hurt. On the plus side, Shady. Gillislee but the Dareus contract and stupidity about 2d round tags cost us him. So in return we get a rookie LB who odds are won't make the team. Always always one step forward, at least one step back. The worst part was hiring Wrecks, and that wasn't Whaley's fault. With better coaching and team discipline, the Bills had the talent to make the playof both of the last two years. People blame Whaley for not bringing in a franchise QB. Well, seriously, do you think he just forgot to try? There aren't many of those guys out there. He missed badly with EJ, and everyone knew it at the time. We passed up Teddy Bridgewater because we had EJ. We passed on Russell Wilson. Along with the rest of the league, we missed on Dak Prescott. OTOH, we also did NOT spend high draft picks on EJv2, EJv3, etc, hoping to get lucky. I remain convinced the Bills playoff drought is tied directly to the decision by Russ Brandon to move the training camp to his alma mater. The situation there does not lend itself to team bonding. The little town of Fredonia was perfect for guys going out for a beer together at one of the many bars after training camp practice. That's where teams are built, not with guys alone in their rooms with their headphones and smart phones.

Any interest in signing LeGarrette Blount? He had a very good season for the Pats last year. It would be nice to effectively trade MG for LGB plus a fifth, and stick the Pats with a $4M bill for a RB who might not even start for them.

Shady is a better back than MG but those tender hamstrings... MG could be the Bills' starting RB for most of the year. $4M isn't crazy for a starting RB. Pay him. And fire Overdorf for incompetence for getting the Bills into these situations.

So the Sabres tank two complete years in a row, and we suck it up and are happy about Eichel and optimistic abut Reinhart. The Bills tank one game and there's angst? Come on. The Bills season was almost over when they collapsed in Miami and were 4-3 instead of 5-2, facing the tough part of the schedule. It was really over when they collapsed against Oakland. Why not look ahead in the last game of the year? They should have played Cardale Jones the entire game. Give him some reps. The only reason not to do that was the risk of injury to a guy they think might turn out to be a good player eventually.

He made a lot of tackles. He also missed too many tackles. On a lot of teams, the D is designed to have the line occupy the blockers so the LBs make tackles. It's not necessarily remarkable that a LB would do that, or a sign that he's always where he needs to be. ZB was about as good as the rest of the D, on average. In other words, not good enough to pay a lot for him, which is likely what he thought he'd get.

The Bills haven't had a really effective strength and conditioning coach since Mike Mularkey canned Rusty Jones. For no reason except he wanted his own guy. Then Mularkey promptly fled and we were left with guys who were never as good as Jones. Someone was doing something right last year to keep McCoy and his tender hamstrings intact. Other than that, the Bills didn't seem any more physical than other teams. Not like the early 90s when they could physically wear out the other guys.

ZB is a slightly above average LB, who was a heck of a lot better than the guys we had before him. He had good games last year and some that weren't so good, but overall made a positive contribution. OK, now replace "ZB" with "TT" and "LB" with "QB" and see if the discussion looks familiar. Is ZB as good as we need to have in that spot? Is he just good enough to let us finish 8-8 or thereabouts? My point is those are not fair questions for any player, at any position. The fact is that both ZB and TT are better than any available replacements, and the Bills are better with them than without them.

I think half the teams in the league are in this middling morass of mediocrity. Too many holes every year to fill at the same time new holes appear. Drafting mistakes are difficult to overcome, and very few teams consistently nail most of their picks. We draft out of need and usually need particular positions filled in years when there isn't much talent at that position. Not every team needs DB help this year, but everyone should be drafting at least one DB because this is the mother lode year for CB and safety. This is not the year to use a pick on a QB, "just because we should always draft one". This is year is like 2013, when there wasn't much QB talent out there. We already have an expensive starter and a second year player. We need a competent veteran backup unless Cardale Jones made huge strides since the end of the season. There's your three QBs, unless you think Jones isn't going to work out and you cut him loose now. If you draft another QB in a later round, when you could be getting help for the OL, WR, or DB, what would you do with him or Jones? The Sammy draft was a disaster. I love the guy when his wheels are round, but using two firsts for the production we've had so far has killed the team's chances. The EJ pick was the right idea in the wrong year, therefore a bad move. Whaley tried to provide OT help but got two busts for high picks. He's picked lots of DBs but most can't play very well, and for 20 years we've struggled to retain the good ones we've had. In general, the Bills are much better at finding gems from other teams, than drafting good players. Is it the fault of the people evaluating college players? If it isn't that, what's the reason for the draft failures?

The worst have to be Maybin, Tuttle, Flowers, and McCargo. Others who played but not very well include Al Cowlings, Mike Williams, Manuel, and so far, Sammie Watkins. Players who have underperformed for their draft position have to include Dareus (3rd overall, I believe, and there are a lot of guys from that draft who were picked lower who are superstars.) Cousineau is on lists because he Montreal outbid the Bills, but he was an OK player. Not worth the overall #1. Finally, here's a provocative choice: Jim Kelly. Recent other threads want to acclaim Tom Brady as GOAT keep referring to his championships. Well, Kelly never won even one SB, with a hugely talented roster.(I'm not really serious about Kelly so don't have a heart attack)

The one move they could make that would convince me they're more interested in winning than in selling tickets, is to move training camp back to Fredonia. It's not a coincidence they haven't made the playoffs since they shifted to Brandon's alma mater. In Fredonia, the players spent the evenings at bars, drinking together and bonding. Now the training camps are just about learning plays and evaluating players. They leave there a bunch of players, not a team. Move back to Fredonia, and take away everyone's smart phones and tablets. No more withdrawing, it's time to become teammates.

I'm not even sure Brady is the best QB of this era. Peyton Manning tailed off his last couple years, but there was a long period when both Brady and Manning were playing, and it was neck and neck who was better, and I think overall that Peyton did more with somewhat weaker teams although with better receivers. You can't compare the Brady of this year with the Peyton of last year. Think back 5-7 years when they were both at the top of their games. Also Manning had that neck problem that cost him a year, and somehow came back still shooting cannonballs down the field. Era to era is tough. Someone else posted that if there was a minute to go and you needed a TD to win, they'd take Brady 10 times out of 10 over Montana. I respectfully disagree. I'd take Montana 7 times out of 10, Brady 2 out of 10, and Favre the other one. The guys on the lists who are Football Players -- tough men who love contact and the demanding physical challenges of the game -- are people like Kelly, Favre, Roethlisberger. Marino was my vote for GOAT when he played but like Brady he was not a smash mouth kind of player. I really admire and respect the guys who put their bodies on the line, more than the ones who think a game when their uniform doesn't get grass stains is a good game.

The Groy and Gillislee tenders let the other teams set the market value. That's actually fair to the players and to the Bills.

As to whether we're rebuilding, if we had traded or cut Shady, that would have settled the matter. But we didn't so we're going to try to win with whatever's in town by mid-summer. It's a great draft for DBs and the Bills could start three rookies in the DB. Not a path for success this year but could be very good in 2018. WR is a disaster now but could be upgraded quickly. We're thin everywhere else but not completely empty: pretty good on the O line, shaky on the D line, not sure about LBs (Ragland recovery?), OK at RB if Gillislee comes back. About the same as most other teams. Draft a WR in round 1. Draft 3 DBs with three out of the next four picks, with a RT the other guy. Pick up a warm body FA QB to back up TT until Jones is ready. Get depth DL and LBs as FA. In 2018, get the QB, new O line and D line talent, and another WR.

Well, if you remember, OJ went on a quest to find the real murderer of his wife and her friend. If he's able to produce that person...then yes. In other words, no.

The Bills have only six picks this year, and using one on another QB who won't be ready to play seems like a waste to me. Who would be the backup? Cardale Jones? Well, maybe, but he sure wasn't ready last year. So the Bills would need four QBs -- TT, CJ, a rookie, and a warm body veteran who can play if TT gets hurt. Not only a waste of a draft pick, but a waste of a roster spot. Bite the bullet. Go with TT, CJ, and EJ's replacement as backup. CJ could turn out to the The Guy, after all, but if we draft another QB, that new guy will take the coaches away from grooming CJ. I say, no QB drafted this year. Take three DBs out of the outstanding crop, plus a WR, an OT, and the BPA.

Good move. This year's is not the right draft to look for a franchise QB. Let's see if TT does well with a new offense and a set of receivers he can count on to get open. If yes, well no one will complain. If no, next year's draft is stocked with QBs, so that will be the time to move on.

I think the Bills are tired of bumping along at 7-9 or 8-8 year after year. They put together incomplete teams and lose games that winners win. Shady is a great back and the Bills are clearly better with him on the field. But they can't win consistently with a RB-centric offense. To be fair to Shady, who deserves a shot at a ring, the Bills should trade him to a serious contender. He's only got a couple of years left before the legs start to go, and he can spend those years watching the Bills finish third or fourth in the AFCE, or possibly turning a strong team into a SB winner. The Bills have been assembling a Camaro when they need a Corvette. Right now they have a Camaro with a couple of Corvette parts (Shady, Watkins) but they need the whole car to be effective. Better to be a Prius for a year and turn the whole thing around. Shedding Shady would hurt us in the short term, but help him and maybe help us in the long term.

The ex-Bill safety I'd like to see come back is Rambo. They never should have kept Duke and let Rambo go. Searcy, yes. Byrd, no. How many times does the guy have to stiff his team with fake injuries, before people wise up? He simply didn't want to play football. He wanted to make a lot of money and walk away completely healthy. That's not unreasonable but if you want to play in the NFL you have to accept the fact that you could very likely get hurt. Byrd wanted to have it both ways.

I think the point of the post was to try to fill a position of great need (safety) by giving up a player from a position where we're in better shape (LB). The 30,000 foot view is, well, maybe that's a good idea. Closer in, though, it's doesn't look so good. We're going to lose Lorax to FA (can't afford him). neither Brown is really that good, Ragland is an unproven rookie coming off a major injury. The smart thing to do is actually to draft a LB in the middle rounds, draft a safety high, draft an OT or G fairly high, swallow hard and hold your nose and bring TT back, and sign a FA WR or two (we lose Woods, but there are guys like him looking to leave their teams too). If Cardale is ready to be a fulltime, dependable backup QB, there you go. If he's not, what the hell are we keeping him for? Oh, also, and very important: trade Dareus. A hugely talented, selfish, lazy, inconsistent, waste of money. Dareus is killing the salary cap, and his lack of maturity and leadership is killing the defense. Send a message to the other players that being a high pick and having talent, but being a lazy jerk, won't cut it anymore. Use the savings to sign Gilmore. A very talented, good cover, lousy tackling (i.e., typical) CB who will be a perfect fit in the new scheme.

So you decided to keep the big car and sell the smaller one. Good move. The big one will be better in snow.

Here's another idea -- the Bills aren't making the playoffs this year, with or without Shady, so do Shady a favor and trade him to a contender. Let him make the playoffs and maybe get a ring. The Bills get a pick or a player and save a lot of cash, which becomes the #2 WR or safety they really need. And sign MG to a 4-year contract for $2.5 per year. Win, win, win, with the only loss the team's record, which won't be playoff-quality with or without Shady. MG isn't Shady, true, but his talent level is about on par with the rest of the team.

Apparently trimming back from three guys acting as Defensive Coordinator. (Wrecks, his brother, and the guy they were paying to be DC). Probably a good thing. I noticed the AFC Pro Bowl included K Williams, Gilmore, Z Brown, and Lorax. All played well. Dareus, Hughes, and Darby are also really good players. With this much talent, and such lousy performance by the defense, the problem must be, let's see, what could it possibly be? Oh yeah, the fat dumb guys on the sidelines.

Who's Dorothy? Well, have you seen Gilmore make a bone-crushing tackle? No, I haven't either.

Kemp was awful and to say otherwise means you were too young to actually watch him. That team won championships is spite of Kemp. Great coach, one of the best D's ever imo, and the Cookie G won it all That's mostly true, because back then home games weren't televised, and we didn't have the money to go to the games. I scarcely remember watching Kemp play but I've read a lot about the 60s team's success and subsequent collapse. I should point out that we had Cookie in 64 but not in 65. Saban traded him to Denver before the 65 season.