PDaDdy

I agree and apply the same philosophy regarding Lee Evans. Since the early 90's every time this team gets two WRs that appear to be pretty good we cut one loose and then complain that the guy left behind isn't as good as we thought. Good teams have multiple good WRs not one pretty good guy that gets double covered constantly.

Man I knew this would happen. Now that there is no Lee Evans stretching the field and drawing double coverage Stevie looks rather ordinary doesn't he?! I'm not saying Lee was the best WR the Bills have ever had but some people don't realize the contribution that some of these guys make that aren't statistically tracked. I can't wait for the "Stevie Johnson is not a #1 WR" argument. Of course it won't be from the same people that continually tooled on Evans claiming he wasn't a #1 WR. They did this even though he was really good when he had a QB that could get him the ball deep, really fast and a super class act. I used to think it was just some of the idiots at the top that continually try to run talent out of town. I now realize the fans are as much or more to blame than the front office. It's this idiotic bashing of good players that is at the heart of our problem. We have so many below average guys why people spend time bashing the better performers is beyond me. Fans have called for probowlers and above average performers to be run out of town because they want fair market value for their skills. IT'S NOT OUR MONEY!!! It's Ralph's. He is cheap enough without our support. There is one indisputable truth of team building in my opinion. Good teams keep their probowl and above average talent and bad teams trade or release their's. How many years have we spent draft picks restocking the same positions over and over? When you get somebody that works and does the job...KEEP THEM. Save your draft picks and focus them on positions that SUCK! If a guy busts his ass and turns from UDFA to repeat probowler pay the damn guy market value for his services. SERIOUSLY! Really think about that! I'm not saying these guys are the best ever but we have let the likes of Antowaine Winfield, Willis McGahee, Pat Williams, Jason Peters, London Fletcher and Nate Clements leave town because we didn't want to pay them. Those guys are ALL still playing well enough and are starters at their positions. NOW think of how many draft picks we have spent replacing those guys every few years! Just looking at first round picks. We have spent 2 first round picks on DBs. We spent 2 first round picks on RBs. We spent 1 first round pick on DT. (Love Dareus by the way) Imagine if we kept those solid to probowl players on our team and spent draft picks on actual positions of need like RT, G, LBs, pass rushers or WRs? We could be contenders with something we haven't had in a very long time. DEPTH! You can't build depth if you keep using your picks to restock the same 3 or 4 positions ignoring others or using quantity over quality with lower draft picks. Instead of using the draft to fill our holes we create the same holes over and over again because we let our good talent walk. CAVEATS 1) I was actually ok with letting Nate Clements go because he wanted an ENORMOUS amount of money but would have been ok with retaining him 2) Please spare me the "Player X didn't want to play here" BS. If we took care of them financially and didn't dick them around they would have stayed.

The answer is simple but it won't help us this year. We lost our top 3 speed burners at WR so we have no true deep speed threats (4.3 speed accept no substitute). The WRs we have left are having trouble beating press coverage that defenses seem to be using on us to screw up our timing and delay routes. Our line can't hold up long enough to account for the screwed up timing and delayed routes. On top of that our line is getting even worse due to injury. They are not capable of a power running game if we even tried. All of our RBs not named Fred Jackson COMBINED average 2.8 carries a game. This is despite the fact that Spiller has a 6.3yds/carry average vs Freddy's 5.6 yds/carry. Both are GREAT numbers but for some reason Spiller gets approximately 2 carries for an entire freaking game. You can't run a power running game with that kind of disparity. Freddy wouldn't last the year. What does that leave us with for this year? In all likelihood a lot of disappointment. Doing anything different is better than the results we have had the last 2 weeks. Try to run the ball more but use all of our backs not just beat the crap out of Freddy. Try going back to those stacked WR formations that allowed some of our guys to get off the line clean avoiding the press. OH....how about this? NEVER NEVER NEVER come to the line with an empty backfield formation. NEVER!!! We give away TOO much presnap information and teams figured out how to beat our empty backfield set. Instead set the RB behind the QB. See what the defense gives you AND THEN if appropriate motion the RB out to a WR spot to see how the defense reacts to get some presnap information. Make every play look the same and then motion people to their eventual spots to see how the defense reacts. I seem to recall some Lee guy that was better and faster than Donald "Stone Hands" Jones.

Add to that some blitzing to speed up the Fitz's clock and there you have it.

Man I hope you are right. I mentioned in another thread that we really need to get Spiller involved in the run game. It is nearly impossible to take a guy like Jackson off of the field but we can't ride that horse into the ground. We need Freddie in December when and with any luck beyond. The last thing we need is Freddie tired or hurt at the end of the year. That is NOT the time to start seeing what your other RBs can do when you actually give them meaningful touches.

Agreed. It's nearly impossible to take a guy like that out of the game. At the end of the day winning the game is what matters but I would just hate for us to be in the thick of things at the end of the year and Freddie ends up being burned out, tired or even worse HURT.

+1 That is a strategy for success......that being said and to your point of running... A lot of people love trashing first round picks who aren't superstars in year one but we really need to start getting CJ more involved in the run game. It's really tough to take a guy like Jackson off the field but if we want Freddie to stay healthy, rested and be effective in December we need to slightly reduce his touches. As well as keeping Freddie rested we need to know if CJs effectiveness will improve with more touches. I really hate to make the comparison but let's not Maybin him. Maybin was not what he was advertised to be but apparently with the right coaching and when actually given time on the field on SUNDAYS he can be effective which we missed out on. Let's not run CJ out of town without seeing if he will step up if the coaching staff shows a little faith and puts him in at RB more during live game situations. If we want Freddie to be fresh at the end of this year and for a few more we can't keep whipping that horse to death.

Don't say that. How are people going to trash Dareus and our defense's performance if we got sacks in the first half without blitzing?

Not a chance. I might actually list him as the worst.

Despite the downplaying of the effort for a myriad of reasons including "it was the Redskins" I think that Dareus definitely did make a difference at the NT. Besides the fact that the numbers overwhelmingly support this and the testimony of his teammates seems to confirm that he was a difference maker there and had a HUGE game. KW is great. He is a probowl 4-3 DT. That being said he is without question still undersized for an ideal 3-4 NT. Now THAT being said I don't think it was that KW is out of place at the nose as much as his health has been an issue for a lot longer than we knew at first. I think it limited his effectiveness. The NT plays in less space than a DE and just pushes the pile or knifes through to the QB or runner when the opportunity is there. Long story short I think a healthy 6'4" 346 lb Dareus made a difference over the 6'1" 301 lb injured and gimpy KW. Perhaps you are trying to preemptively address all of the talk about moving Dareus to NT and KW to DE. You could make an argument either way. Keeping things flexible from play to play to mix it up might by far be the smartest way to approach it going forward. If not for anything else it would give us options and keep the offense guessing. Hightower was their top running back technically but that was changing from week to week even before his injury. Shannahan hasn't had an unquestioned #1 back since Clinton Portis but most would say his last #1 guy was Terrell Davis. Fred Davis their TE is their top TE. Chris Cooley was slowly giving more and more ground to Davis even before his injuries. True, Santana Moss was their top WR but it's still Santana Moss. Can't we enjoy this victory instead of trying to find fault with it and take credit away from a great game by a rookie filling in for a probowler?

Internet forum poster have basically been trashing Buffalo first round picks since I can remember. Seriously! Other than Dareus what other Bills first round pick hasn't been maligned or even worse run out of town with the villagers chasing with lit torches and pitch forks? *PS I don't count Eric Wood because fans would love him if he were absolutely terrible and can't be objective. They associate his draft with the Jason Peters trade.

5 Years playing 29% of the games with terrible statistical performance compared to his first 3 steroid fueled, injury free probowl years? Pretty much says it all doesn't it? I mean what more do we really need to look at? Does anyone really think this latest operation is going to change the last 5 years of performance?

Holy delusional batman!

Was it a good idea signing Merriman? 5 Years playing 29% of the games with terrible statistical performance compared to his first 3 steroid fueled, injury free probowl years? Obviously, it's a no brainier.

Maybin was also well worth it. He showed the team that top drafted players are not given a free ride and given a starting position. It helped change the culture of this team to one of the no name heroes that nobody else wanted that were given a chance to play regardless of where they were drafted. Maybin served as proof of that. He was an energetic try hard guy that inspired those around him and gave his teammates and fans someone to hate and focus their frustrations on while others were able to develop out of the spot light. Thanks you for giving Buffalo a chance and not refusing to sign with us. We were blessed to have you. Don't you know that Merriman held his hand and forced him while he was signing the contract?

LOL. Nice

Well good luck to them if they were willing. Just because someone else wants to buy a broken down muscle car to try to rebuild doesn't mean I will overpay to outbid them.

Veteran minimum! Even then it's not necessarily a "good" risk. It is a gamble though. "Gambling" implies something that is a bad risk but you take a shot at it anyways. I didn't think we should have taken the risk we did and I was very vocal about that LAST year. Taking a "gamble" with a fraction of the money that this guy was given and a promise that if he plays out an year for the most part healthy he would be resigned to a legit contract? That would have been a much better way to go about it. You could have even written the contract to be based on statistical performance that couldn't be realized if he was on the bench, rehabbing AGAIN or on IR. Basically we could have been paying him veteran minimum while he rehabs instead of millions. That is only if you are inclined to "gamble". Seriously man. Don't be THAT guy. The guy that never has anything to add or takes a stand themselves but only lives to try to pitifully shoot down everyone else's thoughts and ideas claiming they can't possible know what they know or feel the way they feel. All day long you say I'm wrong but you can't tell anyone what is right. I'm sorry you are paralyzed by indecision and supposed lack of information but I am not. 5 Years playing 29% of the games with terrible statistical performance compared to his first 3 steroid fueled, injury free but probowl years, it's a no brainier. Sorry that is not enough information for you but I will accept those obvious facts and assess the risk to be a bad one. I will always take a stand. Guys like you only take a stand against guys like me but really end up saying nothing. I hope in your personal life you are not paralyzed with indecision because you don't have an overwhelming amount of information to make a decision with.

If no one has told you before an investment of unknown risk is inherently bad. I define a "GOOD" investment to be anything that has a reasonable expectation of success given the cost benefit analysis. ANYTHING else is "BAD". You have to make sure the squeeze is worth the juice. How can someone look at the last 5 years or terrible statistical performance and gamble that he would perform like his first 3 years injury free and on the juice? That is literally a hail mary. I don't know if your doing it just to keep the discussion going but I can't fathom how that is not considered to be incredibly risky by itself. If we now throw in the cost benefit analysis we are going to be paying Merriman at least another 3 million dollars and that is if we cut him and he is not on the roster next year. What was the Bills expectation of performance? 50% of his former statistical performance? 60%? 75%? They were looking at spending a few million dollars on a guy with a 1 in a million shot for getting and staying healthy to at best be a shadow of his former self. Those are just my assessments of it being a bad investment. As you mention in a rather academic, philosophical, ungrounded approach it is difficult to assess that risk but not impossible. The best people that argue against my stance can do is claim that no one can evaluate that risk. LAME!! As I said before if you or anyone else really thought it was worth it and they were using their head not their heart, step up, be a man and make that evaluation and explain why. I have and did before provide a very clear and reasonable assessment of the risk involved and why cost vs benefit made no sense either. I think history has obviously shown I was right. He didn't suffer some big hit. He wasn't crumpled up. He is old broken down from steroids and his body just failed him under the very limited rigors this year of no OTAs and limited training camp and preseason. He limped it into week 5 and they shut him down for the year already. Come on man?! In the salary cap age every dollar is important. Yes the Bills have decided to stick with their cash to cap strategy. That is a few million dollars spent to cap that could have been used to "HELP" sign a Ryan Clabo say or any other number of players we weren't successful going after or perhaps didn't even approach. Also please do not buy into the we are rebuilding through the draft 100% strategy. We sign PLENTY of free agents. Unfortunately they are all just cheap role players not difference makers although Barnett does look pretty good. I believe he did come relatively cheap though.

Actually to an extent yes. I think the Bills did do some due diligence. They might have even realized that his injuries would be difficult to come back from. They may have researched the likelihood that players come back from these injuries. That all being said I TRULY believe at the end of the day Nix gave him a good old boy hand shake deal between two former Chargers after a verbal a assurance from Merriman that he would get back to form. Nix was likely heavily involved in drafting the guy and I don't think he was being objecting. I think his vision was clouded by past glories and probowl level play while looking at the 5 year injury case, steroid user. Hey if people owned up to it and said I have no clue whether it is a good risk or not and they were going with their gut and wanted to roll the dice, I'm cool with that as being someones opinion. Posters telling everyone it was a good risk is wrong, inaccurate and as you say impossible for fans to assess. Therefore as stated an unknown risk you are going to spend a few million on is inherently bad. To back that up here is an article from profootball talk that discusses how bad the contract is financially. Before the season started the argument was about how much money would he actually make if he didn't make the final roster. Well lookie lookie since he was cleared to practice and made the final roster and played games it looks much worse. http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2011/10/26/merrimans-contract-gets-worse/

GOOD GOD +1000!!! Seriously. How people couldn't see this coming is baffling. Hope with your heart as I did but think with your head. All the "it's a good risk" talk was just delusional.

You seem to know something about assessing risk, cost benefit, and tolerance/aversion. You should see the truth of this statement then. ANY RISK YOU CAN'T QUALITATIVELY OR QUANTITATIVELY ASSESS IS A BAD ONE!!!!! If you can't even take a guess based on his injury and substance history over a relatively long sample period of several RECENT years then it is a BAD/undefined risk. I also hate to state the painfully obvious but we now have the benefit of hindsight. $10.5 million contract, little impact on the 31st ranked defense, last game played week 5 and put on IR during a freaking bye week. Can we at least agree in hindsight it was a bad idea?

Fair enough. I felt that he was worth keeping but you bring up a great point that the Chargers weren't really sold on him because of the Chad Pennington style shoulder surgery and he was a late bloomer. I think he really only had one really good year there and Rivers was already on the roster. At the time I guess they didn't view it as dumping a superstar and they weren't going to sign him to a big contract with the #1 overall pick QB(sort of) waiting in the wings. I made my point again on Merriman because some people still don't get it. Uh...ya...2 of the last 3 years and he missed a LOT of games in those 3 years. It's what have you done lately not what did you do 4 to 8 years ago. You get that. He has been great so far and I hope he stays healthy but I believe I read something to the effect that GB was concerned about the recent injuries, liked their current guys LBs and didn't want to resign him for any considerable contract.

Eh, just $10.5 million over 2 years. That doesn't get you much these days.

Barnett has been pretty good for us absolutely. Probowl super star no. Green Bay cut him because they have guys they are really happy with. Don't forget Barnett is an injury risk too. I obviously wish him good luck and good health but he has a history.