Ronin

Soon? It's been 6 weeks.

Well, OK, then they were better than '04 last season too then, right? Why are we comparing to 2004 anyway? That season was predicated upon wins over weak teams that were decimated by injuries leading to false hope for the following season. Also, I would argue that our OL is better now, the left side is notably superior, but as of now we have no idea who the starters are even going to be on the right side and the roster of choices is hardly encouraging. The '04 line didn't have that drop in talent from left to right. It probably is better today, but not because it's solid, only because Glenn, Incognito, and Wood are so good. That won't help against pressure coming from the right side or the rushing lanes being shut down over there. And when Clay's "better than" anyone it should be cause for concern. Agree with you on LB, and we have no ILB that can cover. That's going to be a huge issue as the season progresses. We in essence have a pair of 2-down ILBs and nothing else. No one that can cover there and play middle. Glitch in Whaley's draft process or just plain idiocy? Same for our Safeties, none are good cover safeties. That's going to be an issue all season. But hey, maybe Dareus can cover deep and Graham can rush the passer from the NT position. Ryan's so clever. Ain't that the truth! And now there's two of 'em blathering. They can make a Doublemint gum commercial. This season is either going to be really exciting or tank much faster than usual. We could be out of it by mid-October.

Bill Walsh wasn't a sitting GM at the time however, he was a washed up has-been. Edwards also wasn't a 1st-round reach pick, he was a 3rd rounder. People say all kinds of things, but reaching for a QB that no other teams, except for Philly per rumor only, and likely a fool one to get some GM like Whaley to bite, is an entirely different matter. Either way, that's an excuse for Whaley. The fact is that the pick was a huge reach and never should have been made. Two FSU student sports writers that had watched every game of Manuel's laid out very nicely exactly what all of his issues were prior to the draft. Those issues have played out perfectly here in Buffalo. Whaley would have been well advised to have read that and frankly, that's his job, which either he failed to do or which turned into advice that he in his "smarter by half" ways completey ignored and which more seems to be his mantra now. This is also why he didn't challenge the medical staff. He knew, or should have known without excuse, that many others out there, most in fact if not the vast majority, knew that Lawson would in fact require surgery. Having known that if he was insistent on pulling the trigger on Lawson, he should have made it clear that someone in the medical staff's job was on the line should their advice be wrong. I have a hunch that he's still not telling the truth, that maybe the medical staff gave odds/chances of his not-needing/needing surgery, etc., and that because it was at least 51-percent that Whaley considers that "cleared." Either way, Whaley's such a liar that he really shouldn't even be believed anymore. The Ryans may not be liars, they may simply be egotistical fools that think that just because they say something it's going to happen. Either way, it's a circus here. Carruci, regardless of whether or not you care for his opinions, summed it up succinctly in his recent piece; Then there's the Henderson thing with Ryan never even having bothered to reach out to Seantrel, then he'll scratch his demented noodle as to why Henderson might not want to stay here if he happens to have a great couple of seasons. I mean a team can only appear to be so foolish and idiotic without sacrificing respect around the league. We've passed that point. That's exactly right! Few QBs saw it coming, most don't even make it to 39. Many greats did not. A few, like Favre, tried, and had one successful season wedged in there, but only a desperate team would be willing to try that. If Brady has one good season in the next four in NE like Favre had at the end of his career, I'll be very happy if they keep him and don't move on. Having said that, IMO it's going to take either a really horrid season, ala Manning, or two mediocre ones to get NE to do something going forward.

His whole take is laughable. You'd have thought that we were getting the modern version of Randall Cunningham or something. Thanks for taking the few minutes to watch it, many here still argue Whaley's own words. Apparently three minutes is a bit too much in their crowded schedules to part with in order to hear from Whaley's own mouth the truth on the matter. I don't think that this is going to be the case. I suspect you'll see some diminishment of his play starting this season. We already saw it last season towards the end of the season, barring some news that he had an injury or something. After starting 10-0 the Pats went 2-4 in their last 6 and Brady's performance in the last five, essentially the last third of the season, was on average a fraction of his play in the first two-thirds. They went 2-3 during that stretch needing any win they could get to get homefield advantage over the Broncos. 3 of Brady's 7 INTs were in his last five games. In the first 12 games he averaged 2.6 TDs/game. In his last four games he averaged 1.25 TDs/game, less than half of that. His completion percentage dropped by nearly 3 points from his first-11 to his last-5. His yards-per-game dropped from 330 to 234 from his first-11 to his last-5. His rating dropped by over 16 points too, So did his YPA by 1.22. His TD/INT went from 2.54/.36 to 1.6/.6. if he were to play like he played in his last-five games all season this year we could expect to see him post approximately 3,700 yards, 25 TDs, and 10 INTs. I know that he thinks that he's going to be playing well into his 40's but Father Time may have different plans. He wouldn't be the first QB to think that, but no one's done it. I don't think he will either. The Pats are a .500 team without him.

How is the OL much better, it's the same as last season? How is TE much better, it's the same as last season and isn't even very good to begin with. Clay was overhyped. There's nothing after him. I see the weakest set of WRs since before the Kelly era. Strong on RBs. Questionable at QB with Taylor, absolutely no reliable depth at all. Manuel's proven useless and Jones is an enormous project that's nowhere near ready to play QB in the NFL and IMO never will be. OL is strong on the left non-existent on the right. Defense has Dareus, Hughes, an aging Kyle Williams who may be injury prone now as impact players. Then a few starters, by default, but nothing of note in the F7, and rookies and roster fodder. Solid CBs but weak interior coverage/S's. TE: OK, but hardly the best we've ever had. If Watkins or Taylor goes out we're screwed offensively. If Glenn goes down it'll cost us games. Defensively I have no idea how this team improves from last season, particularly now with Lawson out and assuming that he would have played to the expectations placed on him, which is a 50/50 proposition for draft picks as it is. Ragland is a 2-down ILB, nothing more. So is Brown, so who's going to play the passing downs on 3rd's? Well, they will, but neither is good in coverage. Neither are our safeties. That's a lot of key green area to leave open to poor coverage in the modern NFL, wouldn't you say? Brady, Mr. OTM, should have a field day against us this season.

Does Manuel have that big a cap hit in year four of his original four-year deal? I can't imagine given the rookie wage scale. Certainly not worth typing up a QB spot anyway. You have to remember that consuming one spot is an opportunity cost as it is. Manuel has no ability to win games, he's essentially useless as a backup QB. As to Whaley's 1st's, are you sure? For four 1st-round picks now, and an additional 4th-rounder, here's what Whaley has netted; Manuel, a BUST. Watkins, a ridiculous trade-up and another player that's one significant injury away from being all but a bust. And now Shaq Lawson, whom Whaley ignored known issues with to select a player that we'll be fortunate to see on the field for the second half of the season and even then not at 100% following shoulder surgery, and that's if things work out swimmingly. There's also no guarantee that he's as good as everyone thinks either, as with most draft picks. You still think that's OK and not horrible or bad? If you ask me, if he were the GM of any other team the same people supporting him here would be laughing at him in mockery. I don't see how anyone can possibly view that as anything other than highly questionable at best, which is not even "OK." Put another way, if his 1st-round performance continues like that, assuming he stays on as GM which I say he will regardless of what happens, will you be happy?

What I thought was comical was reading an article today that talked about a player that used to play on Ryan's D talking about how he had to have the right players in there to translate the D for the others and talking about that's how Ryan's D was so great in NY ....... oh yeah, in 2009. No mention that it went downhill from there sorely with scoring Ds ranked 20th, 20th, 19th, and 24th, all well below average for the math-challenged, and how we plummeted from 4th to 15th while in Portrait of Dorian Gray fashion the Jets leaped from Ryan's last 24th to 9th with practically the same talent and a rookie coach. The difference? No complex Ryan defense. Now factor in Rob Ryan whose performances are even worse and all of a sudden, apparently, they're ready to tell Belicheat to move over. The only thing improving on this team is the mound of bull **** that fans of this team need to step over in order to get to the truth. Oh, by the way, Whaley will never be the scapegoat, he has 9 lives, like a cat. Even he thought he would be fired, as he should have been, given Manuel, his pick as he himself states despite the denial of his very own words by many here, and yet, after the Watkins thing, after our overspending catching up with us, he's still here and has the support of many despite being the team's worst drafting GM during our playoff drought. Not to mention he's the one in the saddle extending that playoff challenge to historic as well as ongoing proportions after yet another playoff-less season this year. On any other team his supporters in Buffalo are making a mockery of him, but here in Buffalo, he's a golden boy and has done a great job. I mean who can argue, just look at his 1st-round picks since he's been in charge: For four 1st-round picks and a 4th-rounder he's gotten Manuel, Watkins, and Lawson. A BUST, a player that's one significant injury away from being a bust and nowhere near worth two 1st's and a 4th and not even the best WR in his draft class as well as a player that can't stay on the field for 16 games otherwise, and a player that will be all but useless in his rookie season. How can that record of excellence possibly be challenged. Again, if he were the Browns' or Raiders' GM there wouldn't be a fan in Buffalo not making a mockery of that track record.

Obviously we agree, I was just curious how you got to your 50/50 comment? I'd say the odds of what you said happening are closer to slim to none. It's highly unlikely. If Sammy can't play I'd all but pencil us in for having one of the worst few passing offenses in the entire league. I guess at that point we'd find out to what extent a largely rushing offense is capable of winning games. The problem with relying on rushing is that your D had better be tight, as in top-three tight. Once you get behind running the ball, without a passing game your fate is usually sealed. Everyone gets two drives a quarter after that, if that, and then it's time to sing "The Party's Over." You really think we're going to throw more this season, than last w/ Taylor? If we're missing Sammy it'll be a cold day before that happens. I doubt it happens even if Sammy plays much. We are talking about Greg Salas, the player that's been on 6 teams in 5 seasons, was released by both the Pats and Jets as two of them, who has played in only 27 games and has only 2 starts during that time, and that has averaged barely over 100 yards per season and that has not scored a TD in the NFL to date, aren't we?

How do we know this? The timeline for return from a walking boot for a Jones Fracture is 6-8 weeks which is exactly what it's been. Seems to me, that along all else, this is yet one more piece of evidence suggesting that it is. Screw inserted, time frame thus far both match. Some reports that it was the fifth met bone. Athletes with minor broken foot bones have been back in full operation much sooner than this. Just sayin'. I haven't read anywhere that it isn't. Agreed. The risk of not having him on the field is catastrophic. He'll be fine w/o practice assuming he can go full by then. I wouldn't put money on it, but that's the tack that they should take. Besides, better reps in practice for the other WRs and TT. Hopefully they can get something to mesh just in case or even if Sammy does come back, to bolster what now appears to be among the weakest cadres of WRs in the league.

Again, what do you base this on besides merely you're saying so? It can happen? Sure, it can happen, but what happens in a once in a hundred players scenario is hardly a 50-50 proposition as you just stated. Based on recent history I'd suggest that it's highly unlikely that Woods can do much more than maybe 800-yards and a half-dozen TDs in a superb season for him as a slot WR, which he may not even be able to play if Watkins can't go. I'd say that based on the same history of our current WRs coupled with historic NFL play of the "type" of WR that we have, namely track stars like Goodwin and Listenbee, it's highly likely that not one of those WRs posts more than 500 yards and a handful of TDs and that only because they'll be forced into a starting role. Crappy WRs don't just blossom into top receivers on teams with OL issues, questionable and uncertain QB play, and on a team that has built its offense around the run. Hogan was a contributor but not the type of receiver suited to Taylor's outside throw "talent," or should I say limited repertoire. He'll do much better in NE with Brady hitting him OTM if he gets a chance to play much. If he starts he'll post 800 yards. Either way, we're going to need one of our WRs to step up to more than the 450 yards and 2 TDs that Hogan had last year if Watkins a/o Woods can't play all 16. That's 3/4 WR contribution. Right now we don't have a WR on the team after Watkins that's a bona fide starting 1 or 2 given Taylor's limited arsenal of throws. Treadwell would have been a great fit for him given that he's one of the WRs in this draft that has knack for catching contested balls in traffic. Instead we got a player that isn't even likely to contribute in any significant capacity this season if at all and only then if his shoulder heals quickly.

To start neither of those guys is much better than average tops. Vasquez is known to be a poor run blocker, and since our entire offense revolves around the run this season do you think he'd be a good fit? Do you think he'll play for veteran minimum which is all that we can afford? I did mention that. Evans will be 33 this season and if you've done your homework you'd know that he's injury prone. As well, you think he'll play for the minimum? I don't. We don't seem to have money to pay anyone anymore.

Whaley clearly made Manuel his pick. Nix had nothing if anything to do with it. Anyone that believes that Nix had any power at that point is gullible. What team would leave a "GM" that the knew would be dispensed of immediately following the draft in place to make the picks? Only a fool would do that. Granted, there are fools running this team, but still, that goes beyond foolish. Also, why on earth would Whaley be protecting Manuel so badly if he wasn't his pick? That makes absolutely no sense and Manuel doesn't have a friend on the team otherwise. Ryan doesn't care for Manuel, no one does. He's useless, literally useless. Remember though, some people just want to see what they want to see and if reality isn't convenient to that they'll think whatever they want in order to deny reality. That's a good chunk of this forum, particularly on this topic. The reality is that with three 1st-round picks entrusted to him, and a 4th, we've gotten Manuel, a complete bust who we reached for, and Watkins, an injury-prone WR that isn't even close to being the best WR in his own draft class. Those are facts. And again, if Watkins isn't ready to start the season or has a nagging Jones fracture, now with Lawson out for a good chunk of the season, Whaley's 1st-rounders are Watkins' health away from being a complete joke. A really bad joke on the fans of the Bills, but a joke nonetheless.

See the previous post. If you want to deny reality nobody can prevent you from doing that. Nice of you to entirely leapfrog the basis for the entire argument. Key words: trending downward We are now maxed out on the cap due to last year's spending spree in free agency. We don't even have enough to sign all of our key premier players. As I've stated, Whaley's used three 1st-round picks (and a 4th) to grab Manuel & Watkins and Watkins is one significant injury away from being a cut above being a bust. The D has regressed, the O is not taking steps forward and if Watkins tanks again this year for whatever reason, injury, inconsistency, etc., then this O is going to be below average. You cannot have no viable WRs and expect to do anything, you cannot simply run 70% of the time, this isn't Oklahoma in the '80s. The point on the law of averages is that mediocrity is king in the NFL, going .500 is not difficult. But it's also more than Whaley. It's the entire culture. Either way, I believe it was Football Outsiders that did that review of the drafts since 2000 or something, and if you took the time to look at the actual data, you'd have noticed that Whaley has had the worst draft grades of any GM we had during that time period, including Levy. So no, I'm not tripping, you are.

Once again, Doug has personally claimed responsibility for that pick. You and others refuse to see the facts as they are. There's nothing I can do about that. Whaley even said that Manuel has the "It factor." How absurd is that. Any fool knows that the only reason why Manuel's still on this team is entirely because of Whaley, he wouldn't be on too many teams as the #2 if any right now. It's also not a stretch to suggest that we don't have a true backup QB that's capable of winning explicitly because of Whaley's favoratism over Manuel too. It gets really old discussing this with people in denial of the facts, it really does. But go ahead, keep denying it in favor of your predetermined position, just don't expect those that understand reality to agree. It's as plain as day what the truth is.

Well, free agency is essentially over now with all of the solid options long gone. Miller has quite the hill to climb to become even average on top of not being an injury puppy. That's a lot to ask any no one should have much faith in that situation re: him. He played so poorly last season and for sure massively inconsistently. I have quite a bit of doubt that he'll ever blossom into much more than a backup G. There's absolutely nothing concrete to suggest otherwise. You say "let's wait and see what they do to improve this position over the next few weeks before we pass judgement." Like what? What can they do? Be specific. Is there a free agent G out there that we can afford with a proven history of solid starting? I don't see what they can do. We have what we have. If they have extra cap money they need to put it towards Gilmore's contract.

And yet, RT/RG wasn't even a depth need in the Bills' list of Draft needs this year. Amazing, isn't it!! Instead, players at risk of missing a significant portion of the season and all of the remaining offseason, 2-down, ILBs, and depth DTs where we have probably more talent than at any other position on the team were the priorities. Yet, Whaley's a good GM. Got it. I still say that Treadwell in the 1st and Cody Whitehair in the 2nd would have added 2-3 wins to this team this season, particularly given the current post-draft circumstances. We're so blessed with great management for this team though.

Talk about over-hyping something. These are the kinds of things, generally speaking, that most players utter around the league this time of year. At the beginning of last season the over-hype was far greater here than it is now at the same time. This statement has zero value. This team is in show-me mode, straight outta the gate. Prove it!

Based on what, specifically? I mean just "your thinking so?" Seriously, what do you base this on? Also, allow me to ask, suppose these players were on say Cleveland, would you be saying the same thing? In fact, let's take Cleveland's WR cadre of crap and look at it as their roster currently exists: Apart from Travis Benjamin, who had about the same type of season that Watkins had last year, they have Taylor Gabriel, Dwayne Bowe, Darius Jennings, Ranell Hall, Terrelle Pryor, and Marlon Moore. Do you expect one of those players breaking out and becoming a player of importance too? If so, what's your definition of "player of importance?" Seems to me that Hogan was of at least some importance last season as the prototypical type of player that catches most types of passes in this league, but everyone seems to be poo-poo-ing his loss. Just curious your rationale here.

That's funny, in a forum that seems to specialize in snarky, condescending posts, I read yours that I responded to as the same. Perhaps a mirror would come in handy. Otherwise, if there was any misunderstanding I'll apologize for my share of it, good posters that actually enjoy intelligent and well substantiated discussion are difficult to come by. As to this issue, read my post above. If this were not a Jones fracture, don't you think that the team would have made that clear? They'll paint a rainbow over a turd field, I'm sure they would have. But here's the thing, based on what we know about the treatment thus far, it mirrors that for a Jones fracture. I don't understand why people give an organization so much trust when that same organization has breached their trust time and time again. Our FO is hardly a class act much less an honest one. Not saying you, but some people are just so gullible. It's one thing to remain positive, it's another to hope against all hope that injury prone players like Watkins remain 100% healthy so that our passing offense doesn't completely collapse because absolutely no one in the organization saw WR as even a depth need much less a greater one. Of course the reason for that is everyone was genuflecting before Ryan and his must have A+ talent to get B+ performance mentality and too busy playing yes-men. We will now pay the price for this this coming season. Reality is reality no matter how anyone, especially the FO, tries to spin it.

I suppose there's a small chance that that's correct, but common sense dictates that it's an extremely minor chance. There are too many things going against Sammy for this to be the case. To start, the treatment thus far mimics that for a Jones fracture perfectly. Second, with a FO that's prone to lying to us and sugar-coating everything, they really shouldn't get any benefits of the doubt. Third, if it were not a Jones fracture, don't you think that this desperate FO would make that clear? I do, I don't think there's any question of that at all. Lastly, given Sammy's injury history, and back to my original argument, it's starting to look as if it's not this then it'll be something else, he's fragile, clearly. Here ya go geniuses; http://www.dynastytradecalculator.com/sammy-watkins.html Otherwise, see above. If you guys want to believe everything that the team says, when clearly they lie and have lied thru their teeth to us, feel free. They haven't earned that right to be believed however. As well, if you choose to believe nothing but the blue skies rainbows and leprechauns version of any info that's not out there, also feel free. Expect to be disappointed however. There actually is good info out there, it takes a few seconds of effort to actually get it sometimes tho. I understand if you don't have the time. As you were.

And we thought that wasn't possible after last season. Predicting what's going to happen to this team this year is made easy by these clowns. Let's just hope that Pegula steps in and makes some deep and serious corrections following this season. We know he won't get rid of Brandon due to his nepotistic ways, let's just hope that Whaley's not in the same privilege. The Ryan Bros. may as well be Ringling Bros. and speak for themselves. They don't even have to be given the rope to hang themselves, they'll rush out and buy a 5-year supply and pre-made gallows.

Sounds like Pegula hasn't done enough to keep some semblance of control of this team. Either we're going to skyrocket this season, ... [awkward pause] ..., or the management and other control of this team are on the cusp of completely unraveling. Everyone can make their guess at which it will be. Here's a hint though, if the former, then it should have happened last season.

OK, but you won't settle for that either. Three 1st round picks on his watch, used for Manuel and Watkins. That's a helluva hole to dig out of. The rest of his drafts don't dig him out. Then there's this 23-25 record he has with what appears to be headed for a sub-.500 record this season. I'm not sure what you judge him by, but that's how GMs are judged in this league. Not to mention his stubbornness in hanging onto Manuel, his lone-ranger approach to letting FredEx go, and now this nonsense with Laswson. That's called a pattern. In this case it's also called a symptom. Causing symptoms are root problems. Perhaps if we dwelt on the core problem, then those symptoms wouldn't exist. Many of us expected Pegula to make the tough decision(s) and get rid of the problem(s), but he chose to act like Wilson II and did the exact opposite, dug in on them. So here we are. WEEEEEEEEEEEeeeeee.................... Agreed. Ryan had players last season that had logged 54 sacks a year prior and could only get 21 out of those same players. With some of those having left, he still has players that logged 35 sacks in 2014, but of course "he has no talent on D." Of the players that logged those 35 in '14, he managed to get 12 from them. And he says he needs talent. That should speak for itself.

I agree with you for the most part, but my point on W/R going after the season is simply that nothing official has been stated but that it's the prevalent viewpoint that if we don't make the playoffs they're both gone. All I'm saying is that I don't see anything concrete to that effect. In fact, I see to the contrary with Pegs giving Whaley that 3-year extension, IMO unearned. As to Whaley, here's the thing, people credit him for no-brainer picks and trades. Hughes for Sheppard was a nothing-for-nothing trade at the time, neither team knew what they were getting, we essentially lucked out. Darby, the best cover-corner in that draft, with our need for cover corners, was also a no-brainer in the 2nd. What's more important is how he's done in his six seasons with the team on our 1st rounders, and OK, we'll dismiss his first three years as Asst. GM/Dir. of Personnel, but in the last three years for three 1st-rounders (and a 4th), he's gotten Manuel and Watkins. That's hardly good. It's also terrible value and Watkins is one more injury away from being all but a bust. If we don't go at least .500 again, then Pegula's going to start losing fans again and we'll slip into the same mode that we were in during Wilson's reign of ignorance, nepotism, and incompetence. Maybe we shouldn't have hired Ryan so that we wouldn't be Cleveland 2.0. Keep in mind that our playoff drought is now longer than any that Cleveland's ever had, and ours is presently ongoing to date in the modern era with no end in sight. And a longer playoff futility. Agreed. If we weren't Bills fans the same people defending this team would be making a mockery of it. Like most, I too drank the koolaid last year. I bought into the notion that Ryan was hamstrung by Idzhik etc. Jets fans calmly said wait and see. Well, turns out they were right. Ryan's part of their past problem, not part of our solution. I mean they had a rookie head coach come in and damn near put the team in the playoffs and had them playing much better than Ryan ever did, on D particularly where essentially the same D improved from 24th to 9th in scoring, clearly partly due to the addition-by-subtraction of Ryan. Meanwhile, consider things such as the following which I haven't heard one person mention, media or fan. Ryan claims, on record, that last season he tried to implement a hybrid defensive system between his and Schwartz's and that this year it's going to be all his. Well, OK, but Schwartz didn't have DEs and DTs dropping into coverage, so apparently that was part of Ryan's hybrid half, ... it must be since it wasn't part of Schwartz's. So, either we can expect more of the same, and perhaps devious move to say rush Darby UTM from the NT position too and more fun even, or Ryan's lying, or he simply doesn't know what he's doing and talking about. Those are the only choices. I'm not thrilled with any of the three prospects, the first and third for obvious reasons, the middle one because I don't care to be lied to as we have now since Polian's departure.

He's been at least Asst. GM/Director of Personnel since 2010. I realize that most people dismiss that, but it does have relevance despite wilful dismissal of that fact. There isn't a GM or coach that we've had that hasn't promised playoffs during that time, including Whaley & Ryan. Hell, last year you would have thought that Ryan was running for POTUS given what he promised. Of course none of it materialized.