stony

If he plays only 25-30 plays like Chan has stated, I highly doubt he makes the impact you suggest. At this point in his career, Merriman is not the difference between a top 5 or top 10 defense. I would point to our very, very inexperienced CBs as having the ability to make our defense leap into the top 15.

Entire Bills starting defense in = two Redskins three-and-outs. Calm down people.

It seems so. It was apparent on Twitter yesterday that he had changed his plans.

I get the argument he's "less used" than other backs. I won't even begin to refute this. All I'm saying is that Fred Jackson will not be a Pro Bowl caliber back in his mid-30s like some on here seem to believe. This is not a bad thing. It's simply a reality those enamored w/ Fred must realize. Some people seem to think because he hasn't led a normal running backs life he gets to roll back five years of his life. The whole "Fred is 31 + he's got less touches = he ain't slowing down a bit" argument is a bit far fetched. I hope Chan realizes this and gives him less touches early in the year so he's fresh when were pushing for the playoffs in the crappy weather late in the year.

IDK John, Steinbach is a damn good player who probably would have made a few Pro Bowls if he hadn't played for the Bengals and Browns his whole career.

Says who? What evidence are you making these observations from? Have you played in NFL Europe or the Arena League? It silly to pretend it had no impact on him because there's no way of actually knowing. Almost as silly as chiding someone for comparing Matthews and Willis.

I'd agree with you but I also think Foster is a much more complete back than any one of those Denver RBs were (although not as dominating as TD was). It doesn't knock him "down." When healthy he's the best hands down. Go look at MJDs roster and show me his support cast.

1.Foster 2.Rice. 3.MJD 4.McCoy 5.Healthy AP 6.Freddy, Chris Johnson, Gore, Forte, Jackson

To be fair, all WRs are generally "me first" types. On another note, he ran a sub 4.45 and impressed at Seahawks camp. They're working on a contract according to ESPN FWIW.

actually...according to Rich Cimini ‏@RichCimini Chippy today: Revis, Cumberland brief shoving match, Maybin steps in. #Jets

You kind of contradict yourself. By your logic, it makes sense to pick the Pats because of the past too. It not cowardly, it's simply a smart choice. Plus, cowards punch women and steal purses from old ladies. It's just a sports prediction.

I worry about the injuries of the Oline. Pears is still hurting and, Wood doesn't seem close to 100%, and despite some good youth/promise, LT is still a question mark IMO.

He's 100% correct. When AP came into the league he had Matt Birk (6X Pro Bowler), Steve Hutchinson (7X All Pro), and Mckinnie before he became a fat pile of crap. I would definitely say AP's early success was due in large part to his line.

I see what you're saying here but the opposite could be totally true as well. Good teams build from the inside out, something our FO has finally started to do. We'd all probably agree Ryan should have been drafted over Long. Today QBs are at a premium.

Pretty sure Kelsay was w/ the 1s during minicamp. Anderson will have to beat him out for the position, right now it's Kelsay's to lose whether fans like it or not.

I've gotta agree with you on this. We all like to make fun of Ruben because of his propensity for timely penalties, but at the end of the day, he was one of the better lineman ever to play for the Bills. It's so "Buffalo" to rip on a player who was actually heralded by the media and his peers too. I find this very ironic given everybody's eagerness to play the "no respect card" by the media at any given opportunity.

I won't disagree with you, but if I were the Jets, Pats, or Phins that's exactly what I would do until they stopped it. It also negates our best feature, our pass rush.

Until we can stop the run, I'll go with run the ball down their throats. I think we have the ability to be very good against the run. But it still scares me.

Classic!

I feel like Merriman could have absolutely no impact...and I could see him having a big-time impact with 6-7 sacks if things went right.

The minute Josh Reed dropped the wide-open flea flicker from Drew during the Pats season opener I said "one day, after this sad-sacks career comes to an end via the waiver wire, he'll probably rip on our city because he'll be embarrassed for his entire adult life."

I've said a few times he was our best player on Defense last year. I don't think he'll be the best S next year, but top 5 is OK for me. The one highlight I really remember was when McCoy had like a 30yd run and Byrd absolutely blew him up in the open field. I know it was a huge gain, but it was a snapshot into how much his tackling has improved.

Nahhh. Bills have been getting good pub even by ESPN lately.

Agreed. We'll rarely see the same three on the field a lot together I would think. A lot of Scott, maybe even Merriman with his hand up in passing situations. As for Sapp, Dareus reminds me a lot of him.

I was offered something to smoke last night in a bag that had a barcode at the Phish show.