hondo in seattle

As a former soldier who participated in all the privations and dangers associated with ground combat, I have to disagree with characterizations of the Air Force as the "chair force." My brothers and sisters in the sky deserve respect. And I don't understand why it's not okay for Kap to disrespect the flag but it is okay to disparage the veterans who risked their lives for that flag. Then again, I don't know why it's okay to disparage people in general. We disagree. Big deal. Intelligent, well-intentioned people disagree all the time. We don't need to attack people who disagree with us. Personal attacks accomplish nothing. The Bills have lost 475 games since their inception - 53.4% of their games. We all share that history of false dreams, broken promises, and disappointed hopes. We've all suffered through some - or all - of those losses together. All of us on this board bleed red, white and royal blue. Our shared Bills fandom has already given us enough poop to deal with. We don't need to add to that already immense load by throwing poop at each other. IMHO.

I'm in the club that says we should keep drafting QBs until we find one we can build a team around. Personally, I think we should draft a QB every other year. And, in my mind, this is the off year. Between it being a weak QB class and the many other pressing needs we have, I hope we wait until 2018.

Good recap. Thanks. Until he showed up on the Bills radar, I knew almost nothing about the guy. People are hyped about Zach Brown because he was a productive player year last year and we're thin at LB. If we already had 3 studs LBs to man McD's D, there'd be less hype.

Buffalo Bill RB trivia. In 1969 our staring RB (OJ) and his backup (Mini Max Anderson) were both hurt. So in comes 3rd stringer Preston Ridlehuber. Ridlehuber's NFL career had been undistinguished until that game except for one shining special teams moment when he recovered a fumble and returned it for the winning TD for the Raiders at the end of the infamous Heidi Bowl. The Bills need just a couple yards for the first. Head Coach John Rauch, making use of Ridlehuber's background as a college QB, draws a play in the dirt with Ridlehuber throwing a short pass to the TE to keep the drive alive. Instead Ridlehuber heaves long for a streaking Haven Moses who scores a game-wining 45 yard TD. Rauch grumpily tells him, "Be glad it worked." Ridlehuber usually wore #37 but was wearing #31 on that play because his regular jersey had ripped off earlier in the game. The Bills unofficially retired #31 to honor backup players who embody the "spirit of the franchise." #31 wasn't worn again until the 1990s.

Mini Max was our starting RB the first game I ever watched on TV. He got hurt running down the sideline and the announcer speculated that he swallowed his tongue. I was maybe 9 at the time, just starting to play football, and had nightmares after that about swallowing my own tongue and never being able to talk again. Granted, Mini Max wasn't a great back. Nonetheless, we've had some good ones over the years. For whatever reason, we fair much better at finding franchise backs than franchise QBs.

Agreed. I'm getting old and my memory isn't what it used to be. But as I recall, we brought 72 WRs to camp last year. Maybe more. I thought for sure one of them would step and prove to be a legit #3 behind Sammy and Woods. Just one out of the teaming legion of WRs Whaley got for us. I was wrong. So I'm a little cynical about this year's crop of wannabe's. We have 0.5 legit starting WRs on the team - Sammy gets hurt a lot and cannot be counted as 1.0. While I'm pleased with the Holmes signing, I still think we need to supplement these signings with a high draft pick.

I get what you're saying and agree with much of it. But I did hear a GM say that he wanted at least one Pro Bowler out of each draft. He didn't care if his Rounds 1 and 2 picks were busts if his Rounds 4 and 5 picks are both Pro Bowl caliber. You're not going to always hit on Rounds 1-3 - there's an element of chance with every choice - and don't need to. But you do need to get some impact players out of the draft and we haven't got enough.

Your quick comment on 2013 is a little misleading. I think we drafted 8 players in that draft. All of them made the team. Most - if not all - started at least one game. They all played and contributed. Kiko was traded for McCoy - a Pro Bowler - who is still on the team. So we got a highly productive Pro Bowler out of that draft. Though I agree if your general point is Whaley is better at acquiring NFL players from other teams than he is at drafting. In any case, wasn't 2013 Nix's last draft? As soon as Nix retired, Whaley made some big changes in the personnel department. In other words, it was Nix's scouts putting together Nix's board until he officially retired after that draft. Whaley was not the de facto GM prior to actually getting the title.

True enough. Whaley has so far proven himself to be better in free agency than in the draft. Being good in free agency is not a sin. It means his pro scouts do a good job of identifing NFL talent. But his college scouts haven't been as successful thus far. When our college scouting becomes as good as our pro scouting, we'll build a great roster.

You draft the best guys you can and hope to get a few good years out of them. Depending on the market, you then resign some of your draft picks and letter others walk if the price isn't right. That's the plan at all 32 clubs. The only real argument is if the price was right. The Pats thought the right price was 5 years, 65 mil, 40 mil guaranteed. I can see both sides of the argument but - to me - that's too high for Gilmore. I understand why Whaley didn't counter with a higher offer. http://www.spotrac.com/nfl/new-england-patriots/stephon-gilmore-9820/

Before the end of round 2, I want a WR, CB, LB, and RT. Maybe a safety and QB as well. Is that possible?

Going all the way back to Cookie, the Bills have almost always had a good RB to tote the ball. Someone to throw the pigskin around has been the issue.

I don't "cry." I just don't understand why you continually need to resort to ad hominem attacks when people don't agree with you. I think you should logically present your case without attacking people. And I'm sorry I insulted the president. When I was an officer in the army, I took an oath, "I will not lie, cheat, or steal; nor tolerate those who do." Character means a lot to me. So it disappoints me when we as a nation keep electing politicians with questionable characters. But, admittedly, none of that disappointment should show up on a Bills message board. It's irrelevant. And that's kind of what I think about Kaep's protests. They're irrelevant to him as a Bill. The only question that matters to me is would he be a capable backup. I am convinced that he's not starter material. I'm not convinced he can't be a valuable backup in the right system.

I'm not sure how I'm using it as a shield. I mentioned my vet status to show I'm sensitive to the idea of respecting the flag and all it stands for and yet would still support Kaep as a Bill. As for politics, I don't agree with Kaep or Trump. I think Kaep should stand, I think Trump should be a better human being, and I think Rex - as our HC - shouldn't have publicly supported a very divisive politician. But that's just politics. If Trump had bought the Bills, I'd still be a Bills fan. If Rex had stayed with the Bills, I would have wished him many Super Bowls. And if Kaep puts on a red, white and navy blue uni, I'll root for him. The thing about Kaep is that he was actually hoping his actions would actually help make America a better place. While I think his protest was misguided, it was well intentioned. As others have pointed out, many football players are guilty of doing things that aren't well intentioned. Yet we still cheer them on when they wear the colors of our favorite team.

I'm a combat vet and while I don't agree with Kaep's refusal to stand for the national anthem, I do get he's trying to make a good point. Last year I cheered as enthusiastically for the Bills as ever, despite the coach's support for a racist egomaniac. I'll cheer the Bills again this year if Kaep is on the sideline. What's interesting about Kaep is that his skill set is similar to TT's. In other words, if TT got hurt, we could still run the same offensive scheme and game plan.

So many to choose from!

Last year, we began the offseason with so many WRs that I thought somebody - just one of them - would emerge as a legit #3 behind Sammy and Woods. And I was wrong. This year I expect nothing and will be pleasantly surprised if Listenbee, Holmes, or someone else steps up and does better than expected.

Some think NGU was Jim Kelly. I'm pretty sure Fitz was not NGU. Go back and read his posts. NGU did not write like a Harvard grad with a Wonderlic score of 48.

Leroi ends every post - IMO - In My Opinion. And he does have a lot of opinions. And sometimes they're even right. Like when we said before the 2016 season that EJ wouldn't be on the roster and Cardale would be the #2. Or this year when he said the Bills were moving on from TT. Or again this year when he said we were hiring Steve Wilks for DC. But as I recall, he did correctly guess once that the Bills were hiring Rex Ryan.

Classy kid. Worked hard. I wish him well.

Around longer? Really? We've got some people here with incredible Bills history. DC Tom was Tom Sestak's middle school football coach. When Butch Byrd was just a kid, he once asked for 26CornerBlitz's autograph. John From Hemet taught Mini Max Anderson how to tie his cleats. YoloinOhio was selling peanuts at the Rockpile when he heard Mike Stratton's "Hit Heard 'Round the World." Slammer, you're just a youngster compared to some of our veteran posters.

When we picked CJ years ago, many fans were unsurprised. Nix had made it pretty obvious. Since then, I find that it's been hard to guess the direction of the Bills on draft day.

I don't think so. We have one legit starter who's often injured. We need another legit starter - better yet, a difference maker.

I get the point. But we need enough players to fill a roster! We had something like 31 free agents going into the offseason. And then we cut some players on top of that. That's a lot of holes to fill.

I'm sure they're giving this a lot of thought but we have no idea what the plan is. Maybe a trade? Surely, there will be more FA signings especially after teams start to trim down. I think the approach ought to be: assemble a good roster before the draft and not rely on the draft to deliver this year's starters. And then whatever you get from the draft is gravy. Right now, we sorely need another WR and a RT. And I can't say I have a lot of faith in our current secondary. So I'm wondering, how many starters can we get out of the draft? UPDATE: Rodak just announced that the Bills have signed Andre Holmes.