nostyle126

Know who's game would FLOURISH in a dome? Trent Edwards'. With the right talent around him and a good OC, he could be a good dome QB. He needs ideal conditions though, because he doesn't have a cannon arm to play in bad conditions.

I'm not convinced. He has thus far shown that he is an adequate CB that can play in the NFL...but superstar talent? I've seen very little in the way of his coverage skills to indicate he's anywhere near being a future all-star.

Obviously domes provide better conditions for QBs. But if domes were that big of an advantage you'd see dome teams in the superbowl EVERY YEAR. From a statistical perspective you'd have been more accurate to post "Coincidence that dome teams usually don't get to the Superbowl?", because statistically they usually DON'T. Keep in mind, dome conditions are great for the home team's quarterback AND the opposing team's quarterback. Both QBs benefit from the climate-controlled conditions. It would be a stronger argument to point out that domes trap in sound and therefore make for a louder, more hostile environment for opposing QBs. Minnesota has long been known as the loudest place to play for just that reason. So if you're looking for what role a dome might play in helping these 3 teams, that's probably a stronger argument than climate control.

My biggest problem with Maybin is that I think this is a case of the scouting staff having the wool pulled over their eyes by a one-year wonder college player who prepared specifically for the combine to get drafted high. Maybin didn't even play one full year of college ball. He only had ONE thing going for him...his first step and speed around the edge. He was undersized and struggled against the run. He has no other moves to beat offensive linemen. He has never proven he can even stand the test of a full season. Then, he went through a special combine training program to artificially pack on some mass and train specifically for the drills he'd be facing at the combine. Of course it did wonders and his combine workout was great. The result? Some NFL team was bound to be suckered in by his one amazing partial season at Penn State and his incredible combine workout. That team? Yeah, you know the answer to that.

There is no way the Buffalo Bills would become the "niagara frontier" Bills if a stadium were built in Niagara Falls. Just like they're not called the "orchard park" Bills now. Niagara Falls is part of Buffalo's metropolitan area. The team is the BUFFALO Bills. So feel free to build a new stadium up there but the name won't change, I can promise you that. You make a good point though. Why not push the Federal gov't, who is currently giving away money fresh from the printing presses (don't get me started on INFLATION), to fund a new stadium? Did you guys know that the old Aud was built with similar money? In response to the Great Depression the Federal gov't pumped money into public works projects just like they're doing now...and Buffalo got some of that money to build the Aud. http://www.bisonshistory.com/memorial-auditorium.htm

I'm not sure I understand your comment...you hope Maybin develops as "quickly, and has just as much impact", as another guy we drafted who has done NOTHING with his career so far and missed this whole past season with an injury? Was that really the comparison you were looking for? Look, I have virtually no expectations for rookies. Maybin lived up to my expectations. I'm not calling him a bust yet but man he's got a long way to go. He better be prepared to put in a lot of hard work because his game is far from polished.

I think the Bills draft just fine. - Roscoe Parrish

You're making way too much sense for obd.

They did try, but not much. I shouldn't say they tried him at OLB, but they zone dogged with Maybin in coverage. He looked lost in space and surprisingly unathletic in his lateral movement.

Ha. Bills fans were taken aback by the Williams pick. It came from left field. It wasn't even his natural position. The moment we drafted him people questioned the pick. That's not hindsight. Now THAT'S hindsight AND conjecture. It's a fair point that it has only been one season for both of them. So mark it down. I said on draft day and I say again now that Orakpo is a better player than Maybin, and I believe their production will show that over the remainder of their careers. I don't think people were saying you can't take a S top 10. To the contrary, I think people were drooling over Huff. The general concensus is that once Huff was drafted we panicked and simply took the next best safety on the board, even if he wasn't projected to be drafted for another 20+ picks, if not a full round, later. They find talent deeper in the draft, but the reason the Bills are short on game-altering superstars is because they keep striking out on their first round picks.

I misspoke with Ted Washington. I mean Sam Adams and Pat Williams. I really don't disagree with you that much. The 3-4 is more versatile in that you have a more athletic LB on the field instead of a less athletic DL. That allows you to more successfully zone dog without being exposed (like when we've seen Ryan Denney in pass coverage, for example). I get that. But the 3-4 is only as effective as the guy running it. Just lining up in a 3-4 is not a magical fix for this team, and I get the feeling too many people on this board think that a switch to the 3-4 is all we need to do. Even once we have the ideal personnel for a 3-4, we still gotta have a brain running it the right way.

+100

It is really jaw-dropping how they miss, particularly on 1st rounders, because these aren't "hindsight" bloopers. We ALL questioned Mike Williams over Bryant McKinney. MOST of us questioned Maybin over Orakpo. Most of us also felt Whitner was a reach, and so on, and so on. It's not like we're rewriting history here. I was screaming at the TV when they drafted Maybin instead of Orakpo. Now I'm not proclaiming to be a football genius, but apparently my spidey senses knew something, because one guy went to the pro-bowl and the other had a total of 16 tackles.

Simply not true. Our 3-4 defense was the team's achilles heal for a long time. It was actually a lot like the Saints' defense of this year, which looks great when playing with the lead but is exposed in tight games. We went to the 4-3 with Ted Washington and Pat Williams in the middle and had an outstanding defense for a while. I agree with you there. Lousy QBs and teams that were not pressed to throw the ball because we rarely had the lead. While I admit that our passing D numbers are inflated, I still think we have a good bit of talent in the secondary. That's debatable. I agree with you about the 3-4, but a 4-3 can be solid so long as the front four is dominant. Look, there is a very simple point to be made here...regardless of formation, YOU MUST PRESSURE THE QB. If your front four can't get that done, then it doesn't matter if you have 7 guys in zone behind it. SOMEONE WILL EVENTUALLY GET OPEN. So whether we go 4-3 or switch to a 3-4, what matters is that we admit that our D cannot get pressure without blitzing! Time to put more pressure on our secondary by blitzing more frequently. That's my take. It's not that you're missing guys on the roster, it's that the roster is missing guys for the 3-4. The switch would require the addition of a NT and at least one more linebacker, if not two.

I can't even recall seeing our CBs use bump and run.

You must work for the government.

and as for the spread offense comment, just wait until the Pats line up three WRs to schobel's side and he's supposed to somehow chase Welker around in space.

Lining up in a 3-4 doesn't instantly mean you're sending pressure. You can still only rush 3 if you want. Send another man and you're still only at 4 rushers...that's not even considered a blitz yet. If the goal is to get "pressure from all angles" this can easily be achieved in a 4-3. Some of you seem to think that the 3-4 is a magic want for pressure. You're oversimplifying things. And here's a newsflash for you regarding Maybin. If he's ever as good as we expect him to be (as a first round draft pick) he WILL get double teamed, whether he's in a 3-4 or a 4-3. Maybin needs to put on mass regardless. A 250-pound DE is going to struggle in a 4-3 as well as a 3-4. But he can become, say, a Derrick Burgess type (260 lbs) and rush the edge in a 3-4. I can see that. I said we'd play him at DE out of lack of bodies as much as anything else. If schobel sticks around we'd have him and Kelsay at DE and push Maybin out to OLB so he could rush the edge. Again, none of this is ideal for our personnel. Bills nation is simply demanding 3-4 for the sake of "change" much like this nation voted for Obama for the sake of "change"...but sometimes you have to be careful what you wish for.

A spread is a dramatic example of how an offense could force the defense into an uncomfortable formation that would put Schobel in space against a receiver. Advantage: offense. Of course there are other situation in which TEs would create mismatches without being in a spread offense. As for Stroud and Williams, neither is ideal for a DE in a 3-4. If you want an example of a prototypical 3-4 DE it's Richard Seymour. That's the kind of athleticism/build you're looking for.

Tyson Jackson is a freak and not a typical DE. He is built like Reggie White, a rarety at the DE position. Most DEs are less power, more quickness, like a schobel, or (prototypically) Bruce Smith. Schobel at OLB would be HORRIBLE. Teams would run spread offenses, forcing Schobel into coverage against, for example, Dallas Clark. how do you think that would work out? Even Maybin, the greek statue he is, is not quite athletic enough to be a bona fide outside linebacker. If we switch to 3-4 we would put Kelsay and Maybin on the ends (assuming Schobel is retiring) and we'd need a massive body in the middle, which we don't have right now. Wilfork would be a f/a option. Then we'd need an ILB to go with Poz. Mitchell and Nic Harris could play outside, but that is a pretty weak linebacking corp if we don't reinforce it via free agency or draft. This would be a pretty mighty overhaul.

I don't understand when you guys think we should move our DTs to DEs. They're very different positions.

Very true. Also, the 3-4 has a natural weakness in what they call the "bubbles" between the NT and DEs. The 3-4 has its flaws, for sure. Couldn't agree more.

I think a lot of the frustration is because for many years now the majority of fans have questioned management's decisions but ultimately said "I'll give them the benefit of the doubt...I'll have faith that they know better than me"...and time and again we were right to have our doubts. When donahoe hired Gregg Williams, we all had doubts. We were right to. When Whitner, Lynch, Maybin, Losman, McGahee, and a slew of other players were drafted, we had doubts. We were right to. This isn't a case of hindsight being 20/20. It's a case of Bills Nation putting their faith in a front office that has made an art form of messing up personnel decisions. Bills Nation is sick of it.

The anger is passion. In many cities, a losing team results in apathetic fans. In many cities, fans simply make fun of the situation. Buffalo is more passionate than cities like those. That's why you feel this negativity about the team right now. It is passion.

There were times he didn't even wait to get hit.