BillsPhan

We don't need celebrity charities. We need a billionaire ownership group that wants to keep the Bills in Buffalo. Other then that, it should be no problem, right? Is there a "Robert Kraft" of the Buffalo or Western New York area quietly living amoung us, possibly a season ticket or suite holder at the Ralph for years and years, ready to swoop in the week Ralph dies and outbid the evil groups from Los Angeles, San Antonio, Las Vegas or the dreaded Toronto areas? Long live Ralph Wilson, because we can joke about Elton John singing for his favorite sports teams and Rocketship 7 reunions all we want. But personally I would rather see Jim Kelly introduce us to these wealthy friends of his and have something more then jokes to lean on when thinking about what will really happen to our beloved Bills when our 93 year old owner passes away.

Chris Kelsay will "somehow find his way" to 12 sacks this season and Trent Edwards will "somehow pass his way" to 31 TD's and the Bills will "somehow win thier way" to the SB Championship. Why not? I mean with mega successful coaches like Chan Gailey and George Edwards leading the way, how can we possibly lose our usual.....9 to 11 games a season??

From Buffalo News article recently, Chris said: "They were talking about the transition to the 3-4 and how I wouldn't make the transition to stand-up outside linebacker," Kelsay said. "They're not the only ones who put me into that category or stereotype me in that way. I just use that as fuel to the fire. I feel like I've always been able to do what I put my mind to." Yeah Kelsay sure does achieve his goals doesn't he? I mean how hard is it to "put your mind to" racking up about 3 whole sacks a season for 7 years?? And to think some media experts think he won't be able to transition to OLB? Just because he has zero quickness, has never played in space during his NFL career, and completely disapears for quarters at a time during any given game, why would anyone think he couldn't play outside linebacker?? I'm sure Chris can "put his mind to" missing at least 5 good one-on-one tackles against fast running backs around his end per game, and to continue his "pace" of 3 sacks per season, and to never being able to cover a back or tight end for more then one half of one second in pass coverage. And for all of those goals he will most certainly "attain", I'm sure the Bills will continue to pay him his 4 Million Dollars per season, right??

Listen, Buddy Nix and Chan Gailey have come into Buffalo with their own agenda, and it has nothing to do with high profile trades or free agency for the 2010 season. The rumored lock out for 2011 has something to do with their thinking regarding signing expensive FA's, I'm sure. But they don't think they needed to sign any of them, and we can't do a damn thing about it. The only GM - Coach combo that has scraped together a winning season during these last 10 years in hell, was Donahoe / Mularkey in 2004 when they dropped to 9-7-0 the last week of the season. You don't think Buddy and Chan know that? They know how small the shoes are to fill at OBD, and they intend to take their time and use their NFL experience in scouting and coaching to try and mold a winning franchise together that might stand a chance to last 5 to 10 years down the line. Let's hope against hope that Ralph lives long enough to see their "long term" plan become reality. As far as that scap heap of a FA list, forget it now. "Year One" of Nix/Gailey has begun, and the team is assembled. I hope for their sake they can surprise all of us with the second 9-7-0 season and a semi-serious run at a playoff spot this year!!

Of coure you should be an expert on steroid use, with a picture of Rick Flair as your avatar.

Chad Simpson sucks and won't even make this team? Who are you to predict that? And don't CFL football players at least wear full pads, and start plays from the line of scrimmage, just like they do in the NFL?? And you make a great point, every rookie does have to learn new NFL playbooks and most struggle to even contribute much their first or even second seasons in the NFL. And yet you turn around and think a rugby player can make the transition into the NFL faster?? Forget about Greg Inglis ever playing NFL football. His agent is simply trying to make him seem more valuable while the rugby teams struggle to get under their salary caps on the other side of the world. If rugby players were that amazing and could make NFL teams that easily, why do you think we have never heard of one doing it? At least I don't remember hearing about one going from pro rugby to NFL football.

You have got to be kidding right? A Pro Rugby player with zero American football experience thinks he can play NFL-level football as anything other then a kicker?? What's even more pathetic is Buddy Nix showing inteterst in converting this guy. He thinks he can play linebacker or be a kick returner? (Or at least that's what Inglis's agent thinks NFL teams think he can play). Inglis has never put on a pair of shoulder pads or run an American football play from the line of scrimmage, and he can just fly on up here, spend 3 days running around the practice field, and take a roster spot away from one of the 53 players who will end up making up the 2010 Buffalo Bills as a linebacker or kick returner? First of all, just how many kick returners does Chan and Buddy think they need to have on one team? With Chad Simpson recently being signed, I don't think I'm going out on a limb here to say that the Bills are set at punt and kick off returners, without bringing a Pro Rubgy player into the mix. Secondly, the last time I checked, linebackers in the NFL have to be pretty damn well versed in reading offenses and understanding defenses before they can get on the field. Being a "big guy who runs fast with no pads on" might be a good start to becoming a linebacker in American football, if you are an 18 year old kid walking on to a mid major college with a red shirt year to start learing how to read a damn defensive playbook!! but I don't hink the Bills can afford the luxury of making a crazy signing like that and simply "coaching him up." to eventually play linebacker on their brand new 3-4 defense! I liked the Andra Davis signing, and if the Bills think they need even more FA help at linebacker, I would be more impressed if they just brought in Adalius Thomas for the next three years, then to sign a rugby player project that couldn't possibly even learn to play linebacker for three years.

Well said. I am extremely critical of the Bills these days. However we had season tickets for the Bills in our family from the time I was about 8 years old in 1967, at the real Rock Pile, until I finally gave my own seats up the year Jimbo and Kent Hull retired in 1996. There were some pretty horrible years we suffered through between '68 and '96, but not once did we ever even consider "not renewing our seats because the Bills sucked." And I have friends and family members, a tad younger then me, who bought their first season tickets together in 1980, and have renewed every one of the past 30 seasons themselves, and still wouldn't think of giving them up today. I'm just an old guy now, with two teenagers at home and our Sundays are pretty hectic. Neither my wife nor myself will ever forget the years we went to every game and loved every minute of it, but we are beyond the season ticket scene, and have been for years. But even with that said, I can agree with you that after 28 consecutive years of my life having season tickets for the Buffalo Bills, anyone that cancels their tickets because of a bad year or even because of 10 consecutive bad years, while they still want to and can go to the games, are not real fans at all.

First of all, I would have felt better if Gailey cut Edwards and Fitz the day before the annual meat market in Indy started, which was the day Gailey promised he would have been finished watching all the film of those two idiots, and would make his "decision." Secondly, out of those three guys you mention above, I would have loved to see Nix sign any two of them, or even Pennington himself plus one of the three above, since Chad was also a free agent until he finally decided to stay in Miami. Culpepper was in Indianapolis acting as his own agent and he even told the media he would love to help re-build Buffalo. I really don't care if these guys don't have much left, at least all of them have had success in the NFL and still have enough experience to help a young team grow up! Edwards and Fitzpatrick are what they are, bad back up options in the NFL. Nothing more, nothing less. Like I said, I hope Brohm ends up beating them out.

...that's OK, most of the readers out here hated you saying it more. Your humor was way too odd, but your take on the Bills was not bad. The stupidest comment from OBD this off season has been Chan bragging how this team can make a quick turn around much like the Dolphins from a couple of seasons ago. Stupid, or just egotistical, take you pick, but Gailey and his staff seem to think they can take their "system" of training and coaching and turn any team around into a winner, while they don't bring in any real new talent at all. Here's one slight difference between those Dolphins and these Bills...Miami brought in experienced Chad Pennington to run the offense, while Gailey thinks he can convert on of his hold over QB's into a field general as good as Pennington was that season for Miami. Good luck, Gailey on that one. Now Pennington might have fallen down the depth chart in Miami because of his weak arm and injury problems, but he had one hell of a great year two seasons ago, and the Dolphins took advantage of a brand new "scheme" with that Wild Cat look. Not to mention the fact they started the number one pick in the entire draft at LT, while the Bills didn't invest in a LT unitl the 4th round themselves this year. So in reality, I cannot imagine a Miami like turn around for the Bills this season, despite the fact Ralph is "paying millions to the experts to build his team."

Chan and his Georgia Tech / Chiefs "Chan-Gang" of assistants will "coach 'em up." Just like they will coach up the same 2 loser QB's from last year, and Brohm. Now I'm hoping they give Brohm a chance to rise up out of this QB muck, but on the other hand, Chan and Buddy did not bring him in, so who knows if their egos' will allow Brohm a fair chance?? Levi Brown may actually get more reps since he was drafted by our new guys.

You are quite the "expert" on lazy bastards. There is one basic problem with your "ass"-sesments of those players. They are all very young and early into their NFL careers. You might want to watch Vernon Davis this season. My guess is that nobody will be calling him "lazy" as he begins his second full season under Mike Singletary. And why would you write off Heyward -Bey so soon? Now that the Raiders have someone with the arm and experience to get him the ball, he may just lose his "lazy" moniker this year too. And as for Gaither, I hope like hell the Bills make the trade and get him in here in time for the first mandatory mini-camp. Despite being the "lazy bastard" you labled him in Baltimore, he still was the starting LT for a playoff team that kicked the crap out of New England in New England, and although he may have missed that playoff game due to injury, (I don't remember if he played or not in that game), he still helped the Ravens win enough games during the season to get into that game in the first place. Now that's the kind of experience the Bills need. And in todays' NFL, injuries are more and more prevalent. Just ask Erick Wood. You want to call that kid a "lazy bastard"?? Yet he went down with a season ending injury himself. In a "battle" with Demetrius Bell and our new kid "the Wanger", I'll put my money on "lazy bastard" Gaither any day.

I don't think Spiller should ever return one kick off or one punt during his entire Bills' career. If this kid has "Chris Johnson-like" size and strength, he should get get at least 20 carries per game, and let Freddy filter in with another 10 - 15 per game himself. If Edwards ends up the starter, you won't have to worry about him getting his catches, he'll lead the Bills in receptions until Trent gets his annual injury. If Chan Gailey is as smart as people on this board make him out to be, the Bills should become a top 5 rushing offense for 2010. That will keep his lousy QB's from losing games all by themselves, it will keep his brand new 3-4 defense from being on the field the entire game, and it will keep his Bills in just about every game they play this season. RUN and STOP THE RUN. That's the entire mantra Gailey should be preaching to his coaching buddies from his past, that are now in charge of our down-trodden Bills. Chan and Buddy have decided not to sign any talented offensive skill position players in FA this year. They kicked T.O. to the curb. Evans is now back to being our number one WR unable to get open, with nothing but a bunch of unproven kids playing opposite from him now that Reed is gone too. Same three unproven QB's plus Levi Brown to throw them the ball. Yes sir, it seems like "Ground Chan" would be the most successful offensive strategy our head coach/offensive coordinator should adopt.

This trade is an absolute no-brainer win-win for both teams. The Bills Beat looks like a nice Bills source of info, although I have no idea what credibility it has. Even if Gaither is not quite up to being Pro Bowl left tackle level yet, he is still young and is the best LT the Bills would have had in camp in God knows how many years. To trade a 2nd round pick from next years' draft for a LT with his NFL experience and potential is like stealing for Buddy Nix, in my humble opinion! So I am hoping that the Bills Beat really is the first source to get this trade rumor RIGHT!

It might make sense to different GM/Coaches around the NFL, but not our Buddy & his Chan Gang from GA. Tech. They are eager to do better with last years' mess of an OL. Chan's Gang will "coach 'em up", and throw the "Wanger" into the mix, from his "lofty" 4th round draft position. Same deal with the QB's from last year. Chan will "coach 'em up". Older veterans with useful years still left need not apply to the Bills.

Well that's great news then! That means that Nix is confident that Chan will convert one of those 3 QB's into one good NFL caliber starter. One that throw about 10 - 15 more TD's then Ints's, complete at least 60% of his passes, and be able to either hold onto 4th quarter leads, or lead the Bills to 4th quarter comebacks. And Chan will be able to accomplish this feat, with basically the same OL that DJ and Fewell suffered with last season. Yes sir, I'm sure glad Buddy and Chan get paid plenty to eat, drink and live Bills football, because they have one hell of a job ahead of them coming up this season.

Nix says;...“The point I’m trying to make is that those guys that are in the draft we see them do all those things, but we don’t know how they’re going to handle adversity in the NFL. We’ve got three that are here that are the same way. So why not see if they can do it? That was our thinking.” We Bills fans can take issue with that statement, in that we have already seen if "they" can do it, and "they" can't. Trent can't feel the pocket closing in around him, can't stay healthy, and can't throw the ball down the field. Fitzy can't do any of those things much better then Trent, and as a bonus, he has a worse arm. And Brian Brohm was already Colt McCoy a couple years ago, highly rated coming out of college and drafted in the 2nd round to compete for the Packers starting job or at least take over the Packers back up job after Favre was traded. His only competition in training camp for two straight years was a 7th round after thought, and both years he lost out to that guy for the 3rd spot, until the Bills signed him off the Packers scrap heap. So what Nix and Gailey are really saying is, we know better then all of you Bills fans, and we are good enough to make a starter out of these three, so shut up already. Ok, then, this is not a Buddy-bash post, since every time I question the guy, his defenders come out in force out here. All I'm saying is Gailey had better be every bit the offensive wiz some make him out to be with these three guys.

Good point. I think Polian was promtoed around December of 1985. I don't remember if Bledsoe quit or was fired first. Bruce, Andre Reed, Darryl Talley, Freddy Smerlas and the all time greatest back up QB in NFL history (of course I'm biased), Frank Reich, were already here waiting for Polian to bring Jimbo to town in 1986.

Why are you so upset that I thought Gronkowski would have been a nice pick for the Bills at 41, when the Pats took him at 42?? You think the Bills are smarter at drafting then New England? You don't think it would have been great to have a real tight end drafted by the Bills and have him be from the Williamsville area? It's not like I'm saying the Bills should have drafted Naaman Roosevelt in the second round instead of signing him as a FA, this is a local kid that the Pats took one pick after Nix took Troup. Secondly, exactly zero draft experts thought that Terrel Troup was the best nose tackle in the draft. Most publications had him rated around the 8th through 10th "best" DT in the draft. It's great when the draft gurus say the Bills made a smart pick by taking Spiller but you get all "WTF do they know" when just about every one of them say they reached with the Troup pick. Please find one draft expert that thought Troup was a better pick then Cody. And I don't even care about the draft experts. I'm just saying that it would not have been so "horrible" for Nix to have drafted Gronkowski instead of Troup at that point in the draft. And oh by the way, since like you, I am a life long Bills fan, I certainly hope that Nelson "tears it up" this season. But I will watch how Gronkowski does in New England, too.

No, "we're" not peeved about anything. If you took the time to read my entire post, you would see that I liked the Troup pick anyway! But when the Pats decide a local kid from Williamsville who happens to be a tight end with good hands and good size and can even block is worth their second round pick, I take notice. No sooner do I post about that, I have the people on this board slamming the local kid like he's a sure-fire bust. He's injury prone, his back is beyond hope, Nix was smart to stay away from him while the Pats were stupid to waste their second round pick on him. Really?? The Pats were stupid to draft this kid in the second round? These are the New England Patriots we are talking about right? The same Pats that have owned the Bills since the turn of the century? The same Pats that have won 3 SB's while the Bills have had ONE winning season, right? Well all right then. I will stand corrected. I will expect Gronkowski to barely even make the Pats team, while our group of tight ends will step up this season and combine for at least 700 yards receiving, at least 8 TD receptions, and will also become excellent blockers at the point of attack.

First of all, I love the way everyone out here thinks that Chan Gailey and his "genious offensive mind" will be able to mold all these holdovers from last year's number 30 ranked offense into a good offense. Tight end is not a serious need? I'll believe that when whoever ends up starting, can play three straight games as a good blocker, a good pass catcher, and figures out how not to get injured. Secondly, I would wager that Bill Belicheck and staff in New England gets paid "Bigger Bucks" by their owner to assemble and coach their team. I hope by the time the Pats play the Bills next year, Brady doesn't end up torching the Bills for 3 TD's to Gronkowski from the red zone, while Chan is rotating his smallish tight ends the whole game while they end up catching 3 passes for 13 yards between them.

When our kids were younger, they used to love to watch "Angels in the Outfield", with Danny Glover playing a hilarious role as the frustrated California Angels manager with anger issues. In one scene, he's in the empty Angels Stadium stands talking to his owner and he says; "There's a thing called talent, and they don't have any!", talking about the lousy team his owner straddled him with. Those eras you mentioned, picking out just one man from each, all had much more in common....other players with lots of talent. Where would O.J. have been without the Electric Company and Lou Saban deciding young QB Fergy needed to hand him the ball 25 - 30 times a game? Chuck Knox had the number one defense in football and an exciting offense led by Fergy and Joe Cribbs and Jerry Butler. And Jim Kelly? Bill Polian and John Butler supplied Jimbo with a Hall of Fame coach, a Hall of Fame running back and a Hall of Fame defensive end - and more Hall of Famers to come from his era! And lets' not forget another Hall of Fame reciever who spent the last 5 years catching balls from Jimbo - James Lofton! I believe Buddy Nix has a keen eye for real football talent, and within a couple of years it will start showing up. I have serious doubts that Chan and his gang from Georgia Tech are the right coaches, but I will reserve judgement on that after the first couple of seasons.

It's kind of tough to play smash mouth football when neither of your tight ends can block anybody.

So New England drafted local Williamsville star tight end from Arizona, Rob Gronkowski, with the 42nd pick of the draft. I'm sure many of us missed that, because we were all on-line trying to figure out who the heck Torell Troup was, the 41st pick of the draft taken by our own Buddy Nix. Let me say for any draft-gurus that knew who Troup was and think you should flame me for not knowing, I could care less. However, after looking him up on-line and reading about what other NFL personell thought of him, I liked the pick after all. This huge kid can end up being our next Ted Washington for 10 years, if he stays healthy, and that is certainly a good thing! But let's go back to the Pats, with all of their success over the past decade, deciding that Gronkowski was worth drafting right after our pick in the 2nd round. Wow, congrats to young Rob - and I wish him nothing but success in every game but two every year of his NFL career!! Last year Barnam and Bailey Russ Brandon went out and signed T.O. to desperately sell tickets after a boring off season and it worked pretty well. But this year Russ handed the keys over to a true football man, and I think overall Buddy did a good job in his first draft. But tight end is certainly still a "need" position for our Bills, right? Who is the starter this season, and what has he accomplished in his NFL career to date?? There were big nose tackles still available, and some rated higher by the draft experts then Troup, into the third and even fourth round of the draft. Nix could have drafted Gronkowski in the second round, and sure, after Spiller, many fans might have thought he was crazy. However, he did not draft an OT until round 7 anyway, and like I said, he could have easily addressed nose tackle later in the draft......and.....he certainly could have sold more tickets and brought home a great "local kid" story to boot! I'm hoping Nelson steps up and takes over TE full time this season, to help our passing game. But I will be watching Rob Gronkoswski with New England, and if he becomes established as the starting TE before someone in Buffalo establishes himself, that would have been a very cool opportunity missed by the Bills.

Buddy Nix, our GM hired only to "win games", signed undrafted OL Cord Howard out of Georgia Tech after the draft this past week. Cord feels right at home coming to Buffalo, as he said, “I feel like it will be, I’m not going to say easy, because you’ve still got to work wherever you go, but at the same time you’re still comfortable with your setting,” Howard said. “I have my same offensive line coach, my head coach, my offensive coordinator and my strength coach there. So it’s basically being reunited with my beginning.” Isn't that nice for Cord? However I would have felt better if Georgia Tech might have at least defeated Georgia once during Chan and his gangs' career together there! Great job, Buddy. Nothing like turning down "hundreds of phone calls a day" and ending up hiring half the staff from a college program that was mediocre at best, could not recruit the best athletes from their own state, and never sniffed a conference or national championship. Nothing spells Super Bowl coaching staff like that resume', huh?? Read more: http://www.ledger-enquirer.com/2010/04/29/...l#ixzz0mgtCp8De