obie_wan

on the other hand, if Peters is out for an extended period, Edwards, Lynch and the entire offense will be hamstrung.

The Bills were 7-9 with the Pizza boy at MLB. Upgrading to Poz is not that big a deal. Without consistent QB play, the team will flounder

4 shall not be counted . . . and 5 is RIGHT OUT

how can you argue with fortifying the OL? oh wait- they did not do that either. sorry

don't worry with carpet baggers like Hillary protecting New York's interests, you have nothing to worry about

Are you implying that Lynch was involved with Vick's dog fighting ring wihich is why he could not have possibly been driving his car?

There would be no discussion of paying Peters the proper amount for a LT IF the Bills were not forced to pay obscene amounts to the LG. If that money was paid to Peters, there would be no uproar. But not to worry, the Bills have converted another TE (Murphy) to LT to take Peters place. Maybe some day they will actually draft some OL to play the interior of the line so they won;t be paying megabucks to the wrong OL positions.

he was going to be fired by Cowher

Ruben was drafted as a LT which is what he played at Pitt. The plan was to move Fina to C. It didn;t happen but they found a spot to start Ruben anyway. That's what happens when you draft quality OL

To be fair, most of the TE help was for the benefit of Walker on the other side. The TEs did not take up permanent residence on the left side until Chambers took over at LT.

You are correct that the Bills have magic dust when picking CBs. they can get good production from a CB in the 1st round all the way to undrafted free agents and guys off teh street. This ability with CBs is uncanny. Yet it is the exact opposite with OL. They have no ability to identify good OL which goes to a systemic problem in the organization. Due to this imbalance, the Bills wold be much better served by spending a few higher picks on OL that are more likely to be productive, than trying to rely on the magic dust - which seems only to work for the Bills on CBs

of what you could see of Trent between the snow flakes in that blizzard, you are right- he did not look great.

just to clarify about "enough" The Bills have spen 3 picks out of 44 picks in the top FOUR rounds in the last 10 years. Interestingly, the current regime has use ZERO picks in the top 4 rounds on OL. Sure they spent a bazillion dollars on free agents because they had no choice. by spending fewer high draft picks on CBs and DBs, the Bills may have a few more quality OL to plug in as starters and quality backups. Players that typically produce for 10+ years instead of the 4 year and gone track record of CBs

and Kirk Chambers is starting at LT

sounds like the "treadmill to nowhere" cut players and create holes where there were none before thus diverting resouces from improving other areas .

that plan works for the OL also just not in Buffalo

over the last TEN years (44 picks), the Bills have drafted 3 OL in the top 4 rounds. Playoff teams have drafted double and triple that, and have made those picks count. 2 of the 3 Bills picks were a reach for a RT at #4 and the illustrious Preston of the Yukon in round 4. The 3rd pick was Jennings who is was not kept. Most teams that make improving the OL a priority make the playoffs. The Bills haven't on either count That is why they spent $75 mil on free agents and still have zero depth # of OL picked in rounds1-4 % of picks on OL Rnd 1-4 % of picks on OL Rnd 1-7 BILLS 3 7% 14% BEARS 6 13% 14% CHARGERS 5 13% 21% COLTS 5 12% 16% COWBOYS 7 17% 18% EAGLES 9 19% 18% GIANTS 4 11% 12% JAGUARS 7 17% 15% PACKERS 6 12% 17% PANTHERS 8 20% 21% PATS 7 16% 16% RAMS 6 13% 19% SEAHAWKS 9 20% 17% STEELERS 9 21% 19%

because they continued to cheat in 2007. they ran an HGH program to keep their ancient LBs on the field they stole audio signals they used mikes on their LBs to relay real time info to react to stolen offensive play calls. The Pats had far more sphisticated cheationg methods than the outdated videos.

Bills have to get to the playoffs first and their philosophy of ignoring the OL is a big reason they have not made the playoffs this decade

The following is a summary of the Bills drafts for the last decade from 1999-2008. It may be more relevant to start in 2001 since that is when the current draft team took over. However, the philosophy of ignoring the OL did not change. Note that the inability to identify quality OL is a critical problem systemic to the organization. The Bills need to find someone who has a clue as to what attributes make a good OL because they have been failing miserably for 10 years.- and have basically given up trying to draft OL starters. Maybe Kugler is the answer. Note that over the last 10 years the Bills have had 44 picks in the first 4 rounds. Even though the OL makes up 23% of the starters (5/22), the Bills have used a whopping 3 picks over 10 years on the OL in the first 4 rounds. The lone 1st rounder was total bust Fat Mike Williams. Jennings was a quality pick and is evidence of what can be discovered with mid-round picks. Preston of the Yukon has proven his incompetence on the field, although maybe he is hiding his greatness for future play at C. With only UDFA Chambers, Gaddis and TE convert Matt Murphy on the roster, the Bills in 2008 again failed to pro-actively the LT spot earlier than the 7th round. Maybe Ramius and VOR can find a few NFL playoff teams that have a worse record than the Bills in stocking the OL. I couldn’t from the teams below.Note the Giants have drafted the fewest OL – could there be a connection with the great McNally overvaluing his players and not pushing for reimforcements? # of OL picked in rounds1-4 % of picks on OL Rnd 1-4 % of picks on OL Rnd 1-7 BILLS 3 7% 14% BEARS 6 13% 14% CHARGERS 5 13% 21% COLTS 5 12% 16% COWBOYS 7 17% 18% EAGLES 9 19% 18% GIANTS 4 11% 12% JAGUARS 7 17% 15% PACKERS 6 12% 17% PANTHERS 8 20% 21% PATS 7 16% 16% RAMS 6 13% 19% SEAHAWKS 9 20% 17% STEELERS 9 21% 19% 1-4 5-7 Total Picks Starters Picks Rnd 1-4 Total Picks CB 6 5 11 9% 14% 13% S 4 2 6 9% 9% 7% OL 3 9 12 23% 7% 14% QB 2 0 2 5% 5% 2% RB,WR 12 9 21 18% 27% 25% DL & LB 13 13 26 32% 30% 31% TE 4 3 7 5% 9% 8% 44 41 85 100% 100% 100% Here are the bills picks: 2008 - Buffalo Bills Rd Player Position 1 Leodis McKelvin CB 2 James Hardy WR 3 Chris Ellis DE 4 Reggie Corner DB 4 Derek Fine TE 5 Alvin Bowen OLB 6 Xavier Omon RB 7 Demetrius Bell T 7 Steve Johnson WR 7 Kennard Cox CB 2007 - Buffalo Bills Rd Player Position 1 Marshawn Lynch RB 2 Paul Posluszny MLB 3 Trent Edwards QB 4 Dwayne Wright RB 6 John Wendling DB 7 Derek Schouman FB 7 C.J. Ah You DE 2006 - Buffalo Bills Rd Player Position 1 Donte Whitner SS 1 John McCargo DT 3 Ashton Youboty CB 4 Ko Simpson FS 5 Kyle Williams DT 5 Brad Butler T 6 Keith Ellison OLB 7 Terrance Pennington T 7 Aaron Merz G 2005 - Buffalo Bills Rd Player Position 2 Roscoe Parrish WR 3 Kevin Everett TE 4 Duke Preston C 5 Eric King DB 6 Justin Geisinger G 7 Lionel Gates RB 2004 - Buffalo Bills Rd Player Position 1 Lee Evans WR 1 J.P. Losman QB 3 Tim Anderson DT 4 Tim Euhus TE 7 Dylan McFarland T 7 Jonathan Smith WR 2003 - Buffalo Bills Rd Player Position 1 Willis McGahee RB 2 Chris Kelsay DE 3 Angelo Crowell LB 4 Terrence McGee DB 4 Sam Aiken WR 5 Ben Sobieski G 6 Lauvale Sape DT 7 Mario Haggan LB 2002 - Buffalo Bills Rd Player Position 1 Mike Williams T 2 Josh Reed WR 2 Ryan Denney DE 3 Coy Wire SS 5 Justin Bannan DT 6 Kevin Thomas CB 7 Mike Pucillo G 7 Rodney Wright -- 7 Jarrett Ferguson -- 7 Dominique Stevenson LB 2001 - Buffalo Bills Rd Player Position 1 Nate Clements CB 2 Aaron Schobel DE 2 Travis Henry HB 3 Ron Edwards DT 3 Jonas Jennings T 4 Brandon Spoon MLB 5 Marques Sullivan T 6 Tony Driver DB 6 Dan O'Leary TE 6 Jimmy Williams CB 7 Reggie Germany WR 7 Tyrone Robertson DT 2000 - Buffalo Bills Rd Player Position 1 Erik Flowers DE 2 Travares Tillman FS 3 Corey Moore OLB 4 Avion Black WR 5 Sammy Morris RB 6 Leif Larsen DT 7 Drew Haddad WR 7 DaShon Polk LB 1999 - Buffalo Bills Rd Player Position 1 Antoine Winfield CB 2 Peerless Price WR 3 Shawn Bryson RB 4 Keith Newman LB 4 Bobby Collins TE 5 Jay Foreman LB 6 Armon Hatcher DB 7 Sheldon Jackson TE 7 Bryce Fisher DT

I kjnow this is difficult for you to comprehend. My point is the Bills have failed for the last 10 years to draft OL. They have relied on trying to find diamonds in the late rounds or UDFA or by overspending on free agents (most of which have under-performed) LT is the 2nd most important position on the team and should be treated as such. Although the Bills finally conceded their past strategy was a huge failiure and overspend to buy an OL last year, they have no one on the team capable of backing up LT. It would seem prudent based on the last 10 years of history, that the Bills could have squeezed an OL pick into the draft prior to the 7th round. They can't even move Butler to LT in an emergency because replacing him with Preston of the Yukon creates a black hole in the middle of the line. The Bills are willing to rely on Chambers, Gaddis and converted TE Matt Murphy to take on the premier pass rushers in the NFL if Peters gets hurt (which he is right now). If forced to play, the Bills will need to shift the TE help from Walker to the left side and keep backs in as well which will totally cripple the offense again. It is clear you can't totally replace Peters with a like talent. Price was quite functional in this role a few years back, but they have nothing now. you, Ramius and the boys agree wholeheartedly agree with this short sighted philosophy of ignoring the OL - unfortunately, I disagree.

In the Bills case, it is more difficult than for most teams since they limit their resource spending to 7th round draft picks and UDFA

unless you get injured, then you get squat

YES Dockery is overpaid for his performance last year. He did not sustain his blocks and they were not able to consistently run the ball to the left. Part of that is not his fault, since they paid him to perform like the top guard in the league which he is not. But that's what happens when you are forced to overpay free agents

Maybe his wonderlic score was inflated. a rocket scientiist he is not as a great athlete, he can press cover the best WRs. However, the Bills are obviously concerned about his abilty to learn and adapt to the zone concepts and techniques of the cover-2.