richNjoisy

This is WAY too positive a post to TBD Please prepare to be reamed. Seriously, there are many many unknowns on this offense which makes it simply impossible to discern at this point in time how good they actually might be. You mentioned the new offensive line as the only question mark. You were right to mention them because it is a HUGE question. Certainly, it is a good thing that there are new faces since last year's line stunk. But until they actually start opening holes and giving Trent time to throw, one has to be cautious in predicting anything other than "improving but with a learning curve". As to RB and WR - you are correct in pointing out that the Bills are VERY strong there. We are looking at three decent WR's (Parrish, Hardy and Johnson) fighting to get on the field at all. I, too, like Trent but he has shown flashes of incredible ineptness (inaccuracy) and takes WAY too many hard hits even when he see the guy coming. He is an injury waiting to happen on every play. On the other hand, he has shown the ability to destroy blitzing teams and is at his best when under the gun. These are indicators of potential greatness. He is still a question mark in my book. Also, he has yet to defeat the spread (multi-DB) defense. He plays much better when the defenses attack him. I blame this on terrible coaching since having tons of time to throw should be an easier situation.....but not for Trent (so far). We also do not yet have a proven TE. I do not believe this offense can excel without a decent TE IMO. Lastly, you cannot put this offense ahead of the Cheatriots. Never (until we finally beat the bastards that is) -RnJ

Huh indeed. I have no idea what this might mean. None.

Update from Tim: Bills | McGee's injury not believed to be serious Wed, 27 May 2009 12:01:57 -0700 Updating a previous report, Tim Graham, of ESPN.com, reports the shoulder injury Buffalo Bills CB Terrence McGee (shoulder) suffered during practice Wednesday, May 27, is not believed to be serious, according to a source.

via Chris Brown See update below!!

please leave the weasels out of this. What have they ever done to you?

I for one - even though I have been keeping track and your track record is ummmm "poor" - still appreciate the post (whether true or not). It certainly makes the sad death something easier to bear. I really feel sorry for Ralph -one should never outlive one's children. If Ralph does this as you describe it, I will be grateful to him for the rest of my life. Here's hoping your story is not only truly something your heard from a reliable source but it also true in its description of Ralph's intentions. Jim Kelly did state last year that, "Money is not the issue in keeping the Bills in Buffalo". I have always felt that if money is not the issue, then there is no issue. -RnJ

down! Damn - what an accomplishment. Pay the man. Pay him well. --->"below 400 lbs" !! From kffl.com: Redskins | M. Williams feels he can start at right tackle Tue, 05 May 2009 09:35:54 -0700 Zach Berman, of The Washington Post, reports Washington Redskins OT Mike D. Williams is confident he will be a candidate to start at right tackle for the team, assuming he can manage his weight. Williams has already lost 55 pounds and has worked himself below 400 pounds.

Look - it depends which Peters plays for Philly: if it is the 2006 version - eagles probably win the trade war. If it is the 2007 version, then it is a tie or a slight edge to the eagles (= decent OT but at exorbitant price). But if they get the 2008 version (12-14 games, 10+ sacks, 5-10 penalties) then the Bills are big winners simply because they won't be paying the guy 10+ mil a year. It may take 2-3 years to know if Wood and/or nelson are any good. I am hoping we will have an idea THIS year but it is rare that rookies play well. (but not unheard of)

I noticed this a lot last year too. It seemed we always ran better to the right than to the left. Frustrated the hell out om since that was the Peters-Dockery side of the line.

CINCINNATI BENGALS-Signed Laveranues Coles, WR; J.T. O'Sullivan, QB; and Jeremi Johnson, FB. Re-signed Cedric Benson, RB; Darryl Blackstock, LB; Chris Crocker, S; DeDe Dorsey, WR; and Jamar Fletcher, CB. Agreed to terms with Tank Johnson, DT, and Brandon Johnson, LB. They were at ~ $95 mil in mid january and the cap is ~127 mil. I seem to recall Coles was $7 mil per year or so?? My educated guess is that the bengals are around $10 mil under. Andre Smith will cost them some change. BUT, I think they can afford Levi. Of course, they would not be able to sign any more FA's

The list of bad game day decisions for Dick and his coaching staff is so long I doubt anyone here can recall them all. It is NOT JUST BAD PLAYERS. There are certain "rules" that I can't figure out why this coach and his staff can't seem to figure out such as: 1.) if the run is working. Keep running. 2.) if the opponent is out of time outs and is behind, don't give them the sideline pass. 3.) if you are deep in your own end zone near the end of a half or game and your are ahead and the opponent is out of time outs, run the ball. 4.) field goal % goes way up when you get the distance to 42 yards or less. 5.) When windy weather is a huge factor - GENERALLY - run into the wind and throw when it is at your back. I also have never seen a coach who is worse at challenges. My God he even challenged the number of players on the field and got THAT wrong. He is AMAZINGLY bad -so much so - that he does not challenge when he should and challenges when he should not. Why can't the Bills pay someone - anyone - to sit near a phone and a TV and buzz him when to challenge? That method could not possibly make things worse. It has also seemed that the players have very little passion on the field. How many times have you asked yourself, "do I care more about winning than they do?" (I mean a LOT MORE). One thing about TO - he hates losing. I doubt he will sit around quietly when the other team runs up the score or does a cheap shot. my 2 cents

I saw this last night from bengals.com No update as of this morning: "JONES NOT CUT: Kenny Zuckerman, the agent for left tackle Levi Jones, said Monday the club told him last month that they would trade him or cut him before the draft. But Zuckerman admitted Monday he's getting conflicitng reports from the team after head coach Marvin Lewis appeared on NFL Network during the draft and made it sound like Jones is sticking around. Given Jones' salary for '09 is in excess of $3 million and they drafted a guy with the sixth pick in Andre Smith that is going to start at left tackle or right tackle, the question could be if the Bengals want to see how Smith responds in workouts before they do anything. " I do not know the Bengals Cap situation aka do they have the room to sign there rookes, and keep Levi PLUS do.did they have plans on signing any more free agents? In any event, the situation is worth watching...

per profootballtalk.com: "Per NFLPA records, Jones is under contract for four more years, at base salaries of $3 million in 2009, $3.75 million in 2010, $4.55 million in 2011, and $5 million in 2012." Again, IF the Bills can make the trade on the cheap...make it. We DO have the extra 6th rounder from the Uggles. ..just a suggestion

Just so people think that these numbers were averaged, they were not. Levi has started 10/16 (2008) and 23/32 (2007-2008) and 28/48 (2006-2007-2008) so, yes, he has been injured, at times,each of the past three years, he has started 23 or the last 32 games and played in 25 of the last 32 games. As to trade vs wait for release: trade is of value so you get his current contract and you do not compete against the other 30 teams for his services BUT you have to give up something for this. I would not offer a 5th. I would offer a 7th and maybe make it conditional. FYI: Jones' current contract: On July 25, 2006, Jones signed a six year, $40 million contract extension with the Bengals. The deal had $16.3 in guarantees back in 2006. I would imagine much of that was already paid. I assume his contract pays about $6 mil per year for the last 3 years. In my opinion, if they accept the 7th rounder, and he passes a physical, I would make the deal. He MIGHT get way more than that on the free market

http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/story/10706885/rss Gosselin has consistently had the highest % correct (although last year was around 41%) CBS' Clark Judge is ALMOST as good as Goss. What a shocker, there mocks are very different! -RnJ

I totally agree with this - from your mouth to God's ears I hope. I am STILL hoping Ayers might fall to 28 but English is very capable my current projection is Pettigrew - Ayers - Unger

Right now this might be interesting - take Pettigrew at 11 and then trade up to grab Oher or Brown or Ayers (pick plus Roscoe to #22 like you suggested)

Boy, people are throwing around the words "stupid" and "ignorant" this morning. TE the lowest priority position? Says who? TE - a pass catching/blocking TE - are RARE. All the good ones are playing pro basketball. Give a decent QB a TE like that and he will move the chains. Again, and again and again. I hope you get to see what Pettigrew and do for Trent. With a decent TE sacks plummet too. He's always here to dump off to. Kelly with Metzellars was incredible.

Who are reading here that is saying the OL is not a glaring weakness? Do you see Andre Smith as a guaranteed "hit" or Oher? The question is value at pick 11 and the strength at each position of the draft. Reaching for OT's has been going on for years now but with marginal results. Even your point about Peters fits - he was undrafted. He was not even an OT in college - he was a TE. I agree that OT is a huge weakness but the Bills can still get a quality OT at pick 28. Pettigrew, arguably the best TE to come out of college in years, will be gone by pick 28. This will all be decided tomorrow. I would love to grab A Smith at 11 and pettigrew at 28. All for it except I don't think Pett will be there. Eben Britton or Will Beatty might be there or Ayers as a DE.

NO we haven't forgotten but Pettigrew will not be there at 28. I sure hope tomorrow you will be arguing that he would have been and we should have waited as opposed to saying, whoops! didn't see him going to the Jets at 17 or Eagles at 21 or Patriots at 23. A decent upgrade to the DE will be there at 28. This draft has many many 1st round DE choices. There is only one great TE

I respectfully disagree - pass rush is indeed one of the Bills weaknesses but so is the offensive line and so is the TE spot. I see them all as being "needs". In this draft, which appears to be "not exceptional" but loaded with many "decent" prospects, I see TE as the one "need" position that has only 1 "great" prospect: Pettigrew at TE. That is why I would select him then target DE and OT at picks 28 and 42. I see a decent prospect there at pick 28. At 42, same thing but obviously a "projected" lower prospect. The OT weakness, IMO, was there when we had Peters - he would probably have been preparing to hold out until week 10 or the Bills would have given in and paid him 10-11 mil per year. THEN - I would STILL not be sure how well he would play. Pettigrew can block and take dump passes - Lynch has been IMO a big disappointment in the passing game - he simplyh drops too many passes. Pettigrew solves that problem and can stay in for every down. I hear you on the pass rush but the Bills need to score. Our defense was not the reason we lost last year. We lost because we couldn;t score. Of course, if we sc ore more this year, our defense may "compensate"

He's been my guy too. If Andre Smith is there and (of course) Pettigrew - would that change your mind? I still wouldn't. I would take Pett at 11 and then wait until 28. Ayers could fall, Brown could fall. Britton should be there. Oher won't . Beatty should. English should be there Johnson too. Lots of decent options. The Ayers thing has me intrigued. Some have him going as high as 10, others as low as 28.

pettigrew will not make it to 28 if the Bills want him, they have to take him at 11 I hope they do and then grab Ayers at 28 (if he's there that is)

I definitely dispute the opinion that Ralph doesn't care about W/L except from a profit viewpoint. But, his desire is only one necessary condition required to building a winning franchise. Look at Snyder. I have no doubt he wants a Super Bowl and has spent exorbitantly every year since he took over the team. Washington has even sniffed anywhere close to a championship. Dallas has also spent like crazy but has not been anywhere close in a decade. MANAGEMENT/SCOUTING is one huge problem. And I also wonder sometimes how much LUCK is involved. Do any of you think the Cheatriot run would have even started without 6th round pick Tom Brady? Thurmon Thomas fell to round 2. Andre Reed was what round? House Ballard? Wasn't Bolden a 7th round pick?? Was this brilliant skill or luck? I am not saying luck is more important than good management but it does matter...it seems. Last is good coaching. That has been missing from Buffalo since we (rightly) fired Wade Phillips. Wade is a mediocre coach but is 10X Jauron (at least). Belicheat cheats and is a certified !@#$ but he can coach. Parcells, etc This is one huge complaint I have about Ralph - he refuses to recognize the importance of good coaching. -rNj

Stafford, J. Smith, Curry, Sanchez, Raji, Monroe, A. Smith, Crabtree, Orakpo, Maclin I pulled this from his wednesday "chat rap" This would leave Maybin, Brown, Oher, Pettigrew, Ayers there at #11 I'd take Pettigrew