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I have been saying this since training camp - Brian Brohm should be getting a chance here. IF YOU ASK, HOW CAN OFFENSES RAN BY TWO TOTALLY DIFFERENT COACHES LOOK SO TERRIBLY SIMILAR? My answer - Trent Edwards! Trent is shell shocked! As soon as he senses pressure he runs and his first impulse is always to dump it off. He looks down his recievers, and he almost always looks for a receiver who is standing still. HOW LONG WILL THIS TEAM ALLOW ONE GUY TO RUIN THEIR COLLECTIVE EFFORTS? Our defense looked pretty good. Sure, our O-line didn't, but as I've said previously, Brohm has a quick backstep away from the snap, has a quick release, a very fast throw, and he is decisive. After the first drive after the half I thought we'd see Fitz in there. I just can't believe Gailey and Co. will allow one QB to ruin their season. I think this performace validates what most of us think - Edwards is ruined. He's damaged mentally. The only question that remains is, How long will the fans support this team with him at the helm? Shouldn't we get a chance, before next year, to see what Brohm can do? I mean, we already know who Fitz is. Let's see what Brohm has. I really believe if we would have put Brohm in there at the end of the third quarter we'd of rallied.

It's nice to get a little validation... in regards my thoughts on Moats - here, only a week or so later, Gailey goes on record saying they planned all along to try and move Moats outside - see BuffaloBills.com, Gailey's Miami game prep. interview.

I consider myself a pretty clear headed, realistic Bills fan - if that isn't an oxymoron these days - and I think the Bills Match up pretty nicely against our Division rivals this year. We've been close to beating New England in recent games, and I think they're worse this year and we're better. We beat the Jets last year and I think we can handle Sanchez and their running game, so we could concievably out-score them. Miami - I think we're pretty even with them on offense - it's a wash, and on special teams I think we have the edge. On defense, I like our secondary over theirs, their linebackers over ours, and I think the D-lines are pretty even. So, it should be close. That said, the games outside our division are brutal this year. Our whole division has tough schedules, though, so I'm not ready to concede to our finishing last this year. Sure, it could happen, but I wouldn't be surprised if any team in this division finished in first, or last, for that matter. I see it as a very tight division. I'm hoping we have more talent that will show up on Sundays than people are giving us credit for, and that Gailey will keep us alive in some games by keeping our players playing hard, and with some good game planning. The season's here - it's exciting, and the games are still to be played, and stranger things have happened.

One thing that came to mind immediately when I read that - if Miami tanks this year, they'll be big going after one of the QB's coming out next year - they're not going to go, with all the expectations on that team, for more than a season without a franchise caliber QB. I don't know about other Bills fans, but I get pretty nervous about other teams making better or quicker moves come draft day on the QB front. I know we haven't played this season yet, but next year looks like the perfect year, with some really good QB's coming out, to go get a star - and we could use it. But, it's not hard to imagine the other six or seven teams in need of a QB out bidding us, unless we are so bad this year that we don't need to worry. I don't think we'll be picking in the top five next year, though, so it makes me a little anxious. I really hope we do whatever it takes next spring to get our guy.

I'm going to be optimistic and say 8 on the year, one Sunday to open up the year with against the Phins. Sure, he could tank and get like 1 or 2 sacks this year, but he must think about Orakpo going after him, not to mention linemen like San Diego's rookie, or Green Bay's, and feel like he's got to prove people he was no joke. Because, I'd have to think, given the new regime's lack of attachment to former picks, that he's got this year to show off his skills or bust. So, 8 is a realistic wish, hopefully more.

My take: I'm glad everyone is putting down the Bills - really, when you think about what value that stance has for us, it can only be positive - the players are going to be pumped up to prove people are wrong about them personally, and wrong about Gailey's coaching. Also, people will overlook us; it's in the way people think - the coaches on other teams won't overlook us, but the players around the league do, and they're the ones preparing and playing. As for how we will do: I think we are going to be a better team. I just don't understand why the "people in the know" keep putting this team down so much. I could be wrong, we could actually go 2-14 or be one of the lows in the league, but what I see is a team that will be more prepared, and more united than last year. A healthier team, and a more talented team. A team with more to play for. And, no one will know who we are as a team until the season's almost over. I don't think we're deep playoff material, but I think we could surprise teams this year and end up, at best, 9-7 or 10-6, if all the stars aligned.

I'd say, without a doubt. If Spiller gets the starting nod all season, gets 15-20 touces a game, then there's no way he doesn't get 1000 yards this season, unless he gets hurt for a long period of time. 15 touches a game for 16 games would mean he'd need 4.17 yards a carry for 1,000 yard season. That average is about where he'd be at, I think. Now, if we're a running team to the extent that our talent might dictate, we could see Jackson and Spiller getting 1,000 yard seasons. It wouldn't be hard to imagine us averaging 30+ carries a game, with Jackson getting 15 as well. So, it's possible. I'm inclined to guess, though, that Gailey would use his best runner heavily per game - so Spiller might see 70% of the carries when he's starting, and if he gets hurt or needs a rest then Jackson gets 70%. That's how I imagine it - with our "starter" ending up with 65-70% of the carries by years end.

I know Buddy will say they're always looking to improve the team, so you never know. Especially with injuries always a possibility. I'd bet someone is quick to sign him.

I'm not the best coached or most knowledgeable guy on the real x's and o's of football - it just seemed to me that OLB's are usually so often converted DE's from college - guys usually running around 260 - 280 lbs. I know inside linebackers are more like 240 - 250 lbs, which is why I thought he might be able to use his straight line speed more advantageously to us as an ILB - just an idea. As for thinking Moats was bigger - I don't know off hand about weight, but his arms look much bigger than Maybin's to me. I know fans always have great ideas - why don't we do this, or that - and it wasn't really a likely idea - I was just curious about the weight thing - that ILB's are lighter than OLB's, I thought, so why not allow Maybin to use his skills there?

I was thinking about our linebackers, and how a lot of people don't think we'll be able to pressure the QB enough this year. I could see, in my mind, plays we have had this preseason, see Maybin running past the Qb, Moats getting close, and this occurred to me: Maybin is often being pushed by the Qb, he's going so fast his momentum and light weight relative to the tackles makes it easy for them to push him out of the QB's path. How would Maybin fare coming from straight on? If he were rushing from an ILB spot, would he fare better? Do his skill sets allow for him to play on the inside? And Moats - maybe he's best fit for the inside, we do have Coleman and Batten on the outside, along with Ellis, who are young and have potential - but Moats, he looks pretty big and pretty quick, kind of reminds me of Orakpo. Would Moats work on the Outside? Maybe switch the two? It's just an idea - does anyone think it could work?

I think we'd be jumping to conclusions here if we made claims about any position's level of talent at this point. I think we have to give it three or four weeks - and, ultimately, when the season's over we'll know who needs replaced - there are guys that might "come on", rookies, the last half of the year, so we do have to give it some time. Also, I don't believe we've seen, even remotely, the kind of defense we'll be using this season. I think the main schemes haven't been shown - and, so going by mere personnel - you've got to like who we have on the line clogging up O-linemen, freeing up holes for Poz, Davis, Mitchell, Maybin, Ellis, Kelsay, Coleman, Moats - those guys will make plays. Not to mention, we have some tough safeties and corners who can get after the QB. I'm so optimistic about what we haven't seen yet - I really get the impression, and the guys on defense have implied it, too, that the meat of our scheme, and we have to assume all it's blitz packages, will be a surprise to everyone.

I think our F.O. sees the line as a 2 or 3 year project, certainly not something that will gel and remain unchanged by this season's end. If Bell becomes a good LT then that will free us up to needing only a RT, and maybe a center or G, and then there's the need to always improve the reserves. I have said before I think we can look forward to having a very good O-line by the beginning of next season, even if Bell and whoever is at RT turn out bad. We could pick up two good starting quality tackles in next year's free agency and draft, and even a good G so that Wood could move to center - all next year, if we needed and wanted to. So, we'll just have to wait and see how these guys develop. One last thing - sometimes - and you see it around the league (sure, there are exceptions, but there are a lot of guys to support this) that quality starters for good O-lines come from the 4th, 5th, 6th, and sometimes even 7th round. Just because Wang is a later round pick doesn't mean he can't become good - but in either case it's just a matter of time and development, and luck. So, I think our O-line will look much better by the beginning of next year's regular season.

A few things come to mind: Maybe Trent Edwards has looked better than any of us are willing to give him credit for? If the coaches looked only at what he's done since their arrival, what if he has played the part of a good NFL QB, and not merely an average or below average one. I think part of the reasoning for Brohm being considered as doing so poorly is that people say to themselves, If he can't beat out a bad QB, then how good can he be? But, he also hasn't unseated Fitz, from what we know - maybe Brohm is #2? Also, I've seen the play of Brohm, and I've been saying on these boards - he looks good. His arm strength and velocity on the ball is way better than our other QB's. He gets that ball there, and a lot of his incompletions or even int.'s were the reciever's fault. He also has shown good decision making and good scrambling ability - and I like that he'd rather be a pocket QB, and isn't prone to running out of fear. Now, is he great? Obviously not, but he's shown me in his play that he looks like he could be a weapon on an NFL team, not a liability. I'd bet if he were let go he'd be sought after by 5 or 6 NFL teams. That is a good measuring stick - fans might say he's not that good, but the professionals who know better, I think, see him as being still very much a promising young QB.

I would like to be the first here to suggest that all this media neglect and all the predictions of our being terrible are Really Good for Us right now. I'm glad the rest of the nation seems to think this way. And, lets face it - Buffalo and the Bills has been an afterthought for a long time. But, I think Nix and Gailey (although I do think this is a 2year rebuild for them) are secretly milking all this Bills are going to be terrible talk, too. I see Gailey as the kind of coach who is going to try to take teams by surprise with certain schemes and with as much secrecy as possible - in a good New England kind of way, as opposed to Mularky's trick plays - and I think they love how low everyone's expectations are of this team. I can say another thing - as much as the players around the league might buy into it and overlook the Bills right now on the schedule as legitimate opponents - the coaches who are watching game tape and preparing aren't thinking that. I'll bet the coaches of the first few teams we play don't like the Bills game that much, for a number of reasons: It's obvious the Bills haven't shown much of anything on Defense this preseason - so the teams facing us are going to see a lot they haven't been able to prepare for. Also, We have some weapons! Byrd and our secondary can take it to the house! No opposing team is looking forward to that secondary. Spiller and Jackson are going to be tough to handle, when you factor in we've got now three or four home run threats that can be on the offensive field at a time (Spiller, Evans, Parrish... three, at least). And, finally, if a team beats us it's expected to. If it loses, then it just makes their coaches look bad. Who'd want to have to deal with that? No credit for winning, but all the blame for losing. So, let them talk - I'll take the advantage it gives us - teams that have been on the other end of it would love to be overlooked starting the season.

I know we have a reciever at Tight End, and Coffman is pretty limited to recieving, but he looked good coming out of college in that capacity, and we do only have 2 currently. It might be nice to have the option of another good reciever from that position.

Why do people suggest we go after Guards? I think it is pretty clear - we have one guy backing us up there, and one of our guys is coming off a very serious injury. I think we need to have someone who can play center in there - so I think we'll see someone added in the next few days who is either a center, or C/G. Pittsburgh let a guy go who would fit... I've seen a handful of guys listed that could come in here and be upgrades to our O-line situation, so yeah, we should look at who's available.

If I were to bring him in I think he'd replace Fitz - merely because Brohm is promising as a true pocket passer, and Troy seems more mobile, more along the lines of what Fitz gives us, but hopefully more accurate. So, I'd love to see us with Edwards, Smith, and Brohm. It's starting to look like the Bills are handing the team over to Edwards, though. If he regresses it doesn't look like they would look to keep either Brohm or Fitz at QB, but just go after a franchise QB in next year's draft. I really see more in Brohm than a lot of people on this board, it seems. He's looked pretty good to me, and I'd give him a chance as a starter if Edwards were to falter. But, if Brohm is close to being good enough, and Smith is very similar - they're both thinking they want and deserve starter jobs. Edwards, Smith, and Brohm would be a team with three guys thinking they're 1st string. So, I think our F.O., merely for that reason, might stay away from Smith and go with Edwards or next year's first round pick.

I agree with the thoughts on the O-line: as long as we can stay healthy, then the less kept the better, since the starters we have at tackle aren't as promising as we'd like, it only would seem logical that keeping players below them would be lessening the overall talent of the team. As for the DB's - I think it is a case of keeping best talent and knowing that in doing so there will either be a cut or two to make room for aquisitions over the next few days, or trade options as some teams are very weak at DB - otherwise solid playoff contenders, too. I was curious about Ellison - because it seems like Scott, our safety, kind of does what we'd want Ellison to do; namely play LB on obvious passing downs. With Scott it's a strenght for the team because he doubles as a safety, and is a solid player at that position. With Ellison, it seems like he is a luxury on this squad - unless he is just much better than I can see - I know he's smart and knows his assignments, and that it is his size that is his weakness.

We've got to consider that at least two of these positions will change over the next few days. The Bills F.O. has to have a pretty good idea on who will be released from other squads that will improve us - so, for instance, Hartwig?? from Steelers - a center - was just released. We could go after him and have a solid back up there. I'd be surprised if we didn't add another C/G and a T, and maybe we've got to consider someone like Troy Smith now, too. I think we'll see a little change soon. I'd say the only surprises I have so far are seeing Chad Jackson and Bell getting cut. I was hoping we'd keep Coleman and Moats - as I'm high on both their potential, especially Moats, who looks like he'll be a monster LB for us for years. Bell - I think if he makes it through waivers we'll put him on practice squad.

Time will ultimately tell - but this is how I see it: Trent can make plays when he doesn't have a tricky blitz or multiple pressure coming at him. If he has time, he can make a play. But, when under pressure we've seen him fold, rely on the RB to a much too predictable percent - other teams will have those tendencies down and look for the picks. I hope Gailey has truly transformed Edwards confidence, and how he deals with pressure, because he's going to see a lot more of it in the regular season than he did in the preseason. I'm not sold on him totally yet. His throws, too, are not as quick, powerful, or decisive as Brohm's. Trent's throws take a little time to get there, so he's got to anticipate where the reciever will be and put it on the money. If the defense has an idea of where it's going to go, theres a chance they get there first. So, all those things could go wrong for Edwards - and, he might really evolve into a Montana type QB who has the touch and the handle. As for Brohm and Fitz - I see fitz as a faster version of Edwards who is a little smaller and a lot less accurate - his accuracy is his real flaw - he just is always on and off, unpredictably. What separates Brohm, in my opinion, (and, I secretly think Edwards really fears Brohm much more than Fitz - I think you can see it on the sidelines, that Edwards knows he's got Fitz beat, but he can't duplicate some of what Brohm does), is that Brohm has a quick drop from the snap, makes quick reads and decisions, and then the ball shoots out of his hand like a laser. What I saw last night looked to me like good QB play - the best, I think, we saw all night from either team. He took the running lanes when there were good ones to take, he took chances when he was flushed out of the pocket, but not crazy risky ones. He got the ball to recievers at the right spot and on time in most cases ( a lot of drops and bad WR/TE play cost Brohm a great night). Another thing, and this was big to me. Our line isn't that great, and they are going to have penalties that set us up with 1st or 2nd and 20. Usually, when that happens with Edwards, we run it, or try to get back 5-8yrds at a time passing underneath - we take what they give us. But, when Brohm was in that situation, he repeatedly got us back 10-12 yards and set us up with managable 2nd and 3rd downs. Throw in there Edwards history of doing poorly against 3-4 teams - and we'll see whether or not that has changed - Brohm might have the skill set necessary to - and different from the other types on this roster - succeed where our other guys cannot. So, I say keep Trent, Brohm, and Fitz, or Trent, Brohm, and Brown.

This is what I'm seeing - Edwards gets the starter spot. Fitz has a similar style or type of throw - not really fast, or hard, but a kind of lofty touch pass. Brohm, on the other hand, has bounced back from a few holding penalties with really hard, fast passes that get him 10-12 yards like a laser, and then it's back to 2nd and 8 or 9... If I were Gailey, I'd see what Brohm has as a real alternative to Edwards, if Edwards tanks. Brohm looks to me, anyway, like he could be really good. So, here's to hoping I'm seeing it as Gailey is seeing it.

After watching most of the Detroit game and the previous pre-season games, I like Brohm over Fitzpatrick. Actually, I'm starting to wonder about all this pessimism with our QB's. When I watch them perform compared to a lot of the rest of the league with Gailey calling the plays and running the show, these three don't look too bad. Actually, Edwards has looked good. Fitzpatrick has looked average - I'd say - we know his weakness is consistency and accuracy, but he's an average second stringer - and then Brohm. I think Brohm looks better than any of the Detroit QB's, and better than maybe even some starters in the league. I don't think there's any way Brohm gets cut - his arm is too strong and he's shown good accuracy and good decision making, and he's run well, too. He looks good - and eager to be good, faking the running routes and following through with the fakes - reminding me of how P. Manning does the little things that make him so much better when tallied up. I'm not down on our QB's. I like Brohm the best of all of them, though. His arm is for real, and he's got a quickness about his drops and his decision making is, at least, confident and sure.

Well, there are a lot of positions I'd like to see good play from. I think firstly we have to hope the O-line plays good in all facets of it's game. Then, we want the QB's to play good behind the good line; if the line is playing bad, then it'll be hard to judge the QB play. Our recievers will have a good chance to show what they can do against a good secondary. We know our running game will be fine, so I want to see how the offense works, all around, in the passing game. On defense, I'd like to see the 3-4 look as it's going to be on a lot of downs. I want to see our OLB's getting to the QB. I want to see Troupe and Williams playing NT. I'd like to see Ellis, Maybin, and Coleman at the LB spots, along with Moats on the inside, and Carrington at DE. I know it's a lot of guys, but I want to see how they look in their respective positions. We can't really take too much out of the game on account of game planning, but, there are some things that do translate into being able to predict success later in the season - like how Spiller runs, for instance, or whether the recievers get after the ball. Do the linebackers cover well, get after the QB, tackling... So, good fundamentals.

Kyle Williams hasn't gotten a lot of credit yet, but he's been acknowledged as steady. Fred Jackson, though, seems to me to be very, very underrated. I've heard quite a bit about Chris Johnson leading the league in total yards, and everyone recognizes him as being in the top two or three running backs in the NFL. Well, everyone overlooks that Fred Jackson had the MOST total yards last year of any player in the NFL. Sure, he got a lot of it in the return game, but he did have over a 1000 yards running, had a good chunk recieving, and then the return game. And, he split the carries with Lynch. Not to mention, when you watch Jackson play you've got to give him a ton of credit - he just makes plays, and with a poor O-line. Where would Chris Johnson or Adrian Peterson be with the Bills line? He deserves to be Nationally known. I'd bet, though, that theres about 25 teams in the NFL that would like to have him instead of their present RB.

This has been talked about quite a bit already - but to repeat my opinion: If I'm our G.M. taking over this past year and I'm looking at this team for the next 3-5 years, I might pass on the QB's in this past draft if I think the one I really like will be available to get the following year. I mean, it'd be tough to justify picking a QB in the first round, or even second, if you don't believe he's the real deal, only to use your following year's first rounder on another one - like Nix said, you go backwards if you waste a pick on a position that needs filled the next year again. That's the only way I like the moves we made this offseason - and in that light it does make good sense. And, I like the positions we did solidify with our top three picks - RB of the decade to come for us, DE and DT to sure up our D-line for the next 5-7 years. As for our QB's this year... well, I'm confused a little. Really, I'm worried that Edwards will do just good enough this year to make us hesitate on picking a legitimate star QB in the first next year. I don't want to hang our future hopes on this guy - even if he does good this year. But, I think if he were in a few other systems around the league he'd be an o.k. QB. Brohm, though - I wish we could see more of him to know what he's capable of. I'm thinking we could find in our crop of QB's a back-up QB for the next few years. Does Brohm want to take on that role? Edwards? What if Brohm's light goes on here in Buffalo and he were to light it up? Would we avoid going after a QB next year? That's the skicky part of our current QB situation that I just don't know how to respond to, because there are supposed to be three or four QB's coming out next year that could be upper end, franchise types.