RealityCheck

Couldn't EJ just open both eyes at the same time?

This could have been leaked by Byrd's camp.

Having watched Evans play, I rarely saw him get separation without a push-off of some kind. The stop watch doesn't alter how I view his history of getting open. I don't see it translating to the NFL.

Where would Mack play on the Bills roster. Isn't he a strong side LB? Would Kiko, Spikes, Mack be a solid LB group from weak to strong side? Does it mean drafting a MLB later in the draft?

Tuck has too much Mitchell in him.

TJ is a track guy playing football.

Link?

I like Kony Ealy too. He seems like a solid player with real upside. I think I like him best after trading back a few spots. It appears that there will be some serious talent available at 9.

I wouldn't mind the Bills trading back to pick up one of the solid 2-gap DTs to play along side Dareus to blow up the middle. What do you do with K-Dub you ask? Move him around constantly between DE and DT. If they chose to run some of that wide-9, you would have 290lbs. plus at DE that have a great burst with two 350lbs. with some shake in the middle. Kyle lined up wide with a head of steam on the RT sounds damn nasty with the right guys in the middle.

I know what you mean. I think that Schwartz should look at what Wanny did anyways. Wanny provided a lot of film on what clearly doesn't work in the NFL when running a 4-3. Given Schwartz's 4-3 mentality, it may shock him out of certain illusions pertaining to his own scheme.

TBD is way to small of a sample size to make generalizations from as a fan base. That being said, the majority of TBD posters aren't in favor of what you are suggesting either. It is important to keep in mind that the majority of us on this forum grasp very little of what even happens on the field, much less the business side of things. Based on how much time some people post here while working at their job, their focus should probably be elsewhere to begin with. Until this team has an obvious stud at QB, they had better be cautious about getting to tight against the cap. It does not appear that the salary cap is due to rise substantially any time soon.

I could not agree more. I am a fan of Byrd's, I am wearing his jersey right now, and I would love to see a team give him 10 million plus per year. I doubt the Bills are the team to do it, and I would not blame them. If they were gonna drop 10 million a year on someone, then I can think of a couple of FA DEs that I would prefer. Fans need to understand that teams that make playoff runs have genuine gamers at QB and a variety of players who vastly outperform their pay. Sometimes it's the QB that is one of those guys. No team sniffs the playoffs by paying all of their contributors fair market value. If Byrd is franchised again, my gut tells me it would set the stage for a trade before September.

Chandler is a FA. I hope that someone gives him a big contract, but I don't want the Bills to be the ones to do it. Chandler has literally bounced off of his own ceiling when he tore his ACL. Sad but true, he was below average at blocking before the injury. He has just as many negative plays as positive plays. That won't help this team reach the playoffs. If the Bills are going to sign any FA TEs, I hope that they can at least run block at a high level. Good run-blocking TEs can make plays too when paired with an accurate QB. Given EJ's poor accuracy and difficulty punching it in at the goal line, the run blocking skills wouldn't go to waste. The entire TE group for the Bills was a liability last year, regardless of what they were asked to do.

1 Super Bowl win between the 3 of them.

Fitz who?

Very cool article. Thank you.

The problem with the point of this thread is that all of the factors involved in making any kind of informed opinion are a bit fuzzy at best. Given the lack of x's and o's knowledge amongst football fans in general, I doubt that anyone here can explain how Hughes was utilized this year in terms that don't include the phrase "passing downs" and resemble a coherent thought without vast generalities. There has to be some posters out there willing to explain some schematic bread and butter about how Hughes was used and what exactly would prevent Schwartz from keeping 10 sacks on the roster going into camp. Also, Schwartz runs nickel, dime, dollar, and quarters defenses regardless of his base the majority of snaps averaged out over his career. Why the fixation on the "wide 9" that will only see the field about 45% of the time? IF the Bills start heading to the 4th quarter up 2 scores, that percentage will start to free fall. Teams are not that exotic out of their bases anymore. The only thing that made his base 3-4 under look exotic was the clever alternating of rushers and coverage drops when not blitzing. The nickel was where the fire works happened for Pettine's D, both good and bad. Hughes and Robey appeared to thrive in the nickel. Is the Nickel defense really the lynchpin of this conversation, not the "wide 9"? I am being pretty vague too, but can someone out there explain what exactly these coaches are drawing up? I get the feeling that most of these younger coaches can run any kind of defense they want, and that "want" is really the issue. What does Schwartz want to do? What does he feel he needs to do? What does Marrone want him to do? I doubt that Schwartz was handed any sort of autonomy in the overall defensive scheme. Marrone wanted Pettine for a reason. He himself spoke at length about his personal desire to have a multiple front, pressure style defense. As for Hughes trade value, it is not high right now simply because it is cut time leading into FA. The week of the draft will likely begin an uptick in his trade value.

Just win. I don't care how.

I agree too. I didn't think you implied anything else either, I was just throwing my 2 cents out there.

It seems to me, having watched all 3 QBs last year, that the coaching additions on offense have a lot more to do with how much additional help they think these QBs need versus Hackett needing help in game prep. Hackett's play calling can be frustrating, but EJ's accuracy, health and decision making is the biggest weakness of the team. Another season of poor QB play and it's all for naught.

The best way to help EJ and the defense given their penchant for running on first and second down early and often is to scrap the no-huddle approach as a full time weapon. The no-huddle in my opinion is best suited as a dynamic within the game. It offers little strategic advantage when the opposing team can bet the house that you will run the hurry-up the entire game regardless of the score, quarter, and down and distance. The Bills lost the T.O.P. battle by heavy margins early in games throughout the season. They would be better suited functioning in a more dynamic, clock-related offense that changes the pace of their attack on the natural flow of the game. Predictability is the achilles heel of any scheme in the NFL. If they want to run the football so much, which I completely agree with, then why not come out using the full play clock and smash em in the face without helping the opponent put immediate pressure on the defense so early? When you catch them in some mismatches then bang, start to pick up the pace. The hurry-up can be used in a much more dynamic and effective fashion than the Bills version. The Patriots are very effective at changing the pace of the offense throughout a game. Another concept is that you can't always run to setup the pass. Sometimes you have to pass to set up the run. Again, it all comes down to them running what amounts to Steve Fairchild's offense but faster. Faster at getting off the field. It didn't work then and it won't work now regardless of the fast pace. EJ also seems to have Trent Edwards disease. Against man coverage he can make a few plays. Against simple zone coverages, he hesitates and checks it down, or takes a sack.

Seattle's front 4 collapsed the pocket consistently into what would amount to a noose comprised of about 9 players averaging 300 lbs. a piece. Plus, when they got their hands up to knock down a pass they were literally a few feet away. Manning was crushed psychologically throughout the first quarter, and the O-line was straight man handled. The Broncos obviously came in thinking that they were gonna run September's offense and ride Manning's arm to Disney World. The Sea Hawks to a man literally seized this opportunity and played full speed with anger. Some teams know how to capitalize on a bye week, some teams do not.

This thread has revealed something to me. Ralph would be insane to have invested heavily in the team's roster over the last decade. 4 straight Super Bowl losses have set the hook deeply in all of our throats, and we keep swallowing more line. Ralph has underinvested to the point that he has the NFL forking over hard cash for small market teams, he sells out home games to hockey fans, he has Schumer and Cuomo trying to give him tax dollars for renovations, all under the guise of a scarecrow that may or may not cast the team into Californication. Now, a bunch of fans are gonna try to raise 170 million dollars to hand over to the latest member of the billionaire boys' club, INTEREST FREE, because they believe that a snake bitten football team is going to leave for more expensive pastures. The cost of acquiring new fans in a new zip code is going to make the move non-viable if that zip code is not in Western NY. The Bills are here to stay in Buffalo, even if we donated 170 million to help them leave.

This is a ridiculous idea on so many levels. A charity fund for an NFL team with the goal of raising at least 100 million dollars. The very idea of getting into the no-interest loan business with the NFL as the beneficiary is absurd. Then again, it's your money, not mine.

Who is Tim Graham?