Turbosrrgood

I think to assume his rehab didn't go well because he couldn't rehab at the Saint's facility due to the lockout is a little ridiculous. Why not bring him (or SOMEONE) in to compete...Worst case is we have depth, or cut him and we are exactly where we are now. Best case is he is healthy, and provides us with a proven quality OT.

Yeah I don't think Nix went "out on a limb" that wasn't the point of my post, clearly Nix wasn't ready to own up to Davis being a bust yet. Now we have seen him, he is the exact same player he was in SD...An injury prone disappointment, let him go and lets see what the young prospects can do.

He has had some injury problems, but is supposedly healthy now. He was a quality starter on a great offense, I think it would be worthwhile to bring him in to compete. At the very least we need depth. I don't think he is washed up like McKinnie or Flozell.

That combined with the fact that he has hand's of brick, and average at best speeed...This doesn't bode well for him. At some point Nix has to realize he made a mistake back in SD, and there is no fixing it. No need to bring the mistake to Buffalo... Naaman didn't really impress me last year, but so far in camp and the 1st preseason game he has looked like a real NFL WR. I don't see how he could get cut regardless. I second the comment to keep Hubbard, despite his DWI... Now I'm not a GM...But I would imagine that Davis won't exactly be lighting up the free agent market...He will be lucky to get another shot in the league. This is a moot point IMO.

http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news?slug=ap-saints-stinchcomb He would give us a proven starter from one of the best offenses in football. Keep Pears as depth, or at least have a competition. This fixes both our starting problem and depth problem...Yes he was injured last year, but is supposedly healthy now. I don't think Stinchcomb is our OT savior, but why not TRY to improve. At the very least we would have depth. If Pears (Wow, we are relying on him?) or Bell get's hurt, we have no one that has shown the slightest bit of ability. I know this just "another" OT post, but IMO he is a much more viable option than Mckinnie, Flozell, or the other "fat injured" guys..

Pears looked ok in pass protection, better than I expected. At 6-8 he has a massive wingspan and can still move. The only concern I noted from the game is that he gives up ground quickly, and looked vulnerable to the bull rush. He also showed no power on run plays. We only got to see him for a few plays so it's hard to make real judgement, but for now I'll give him the benefit of the doubt. Our bigger concern starting wise is at RG, Urbik didn't look good at all, and Mansfield Wrotto looked like a lost child on the football field...Wilfork and Haynesworth will eat these guys alive...Then have Fitz for dessert... Personally I would still like to see TOP LEVEL OT's on this team, not guys that can just hold their own. But for now at least Fitz might have a chance to survive. Yup, when the best thing you can say about our line is that "hey, they didn't get destroyed this time", you may have issues.

Agreed, I wasn't impressed last year but Carrington looked good with his added size. He looks determined. Heard really surprised me as well....Unfortunately Troup looks exactly like he did last year, the o-line moves him around with ease, and he doesn't use his size well at all. Heard looked very strong and aggressive, he was very quick off the line as well. The 2nd/3rd string o-line had problems with him all night. Troup against those very same lines simply got owned. Heard also showed the ability to sniff out the ball carrier and make tackles, something Troup does not do.

Definitely a bad showing by Florence last night during a mostly good showing by the rest of the starting defense. Having said that I still like Florence, he looked very good to me last year even though we had no pass rush. There was one play against Barber I think, where he looked very "Whitner-esk" in trying to shoulder tackle him and then bouncing off. He will be fine though.

Understandable He got pushed back, but did not get beat. He has really long arms, and seemed to use them well. This was too small of a sample to make real meaningful judgement so take it for what its worth. My impression from that game wa that he looks to have the ability to control speed rushes, but not the bulk or strength to handle strong bull rushes. I did not see any player beat him, but he did get pushed into the pocket a few times. I had a bad impression of him based on his history, so for me it was a "decent" showing. Obviously we need to see more Oh, from other threads...I thought you were replying to someone from this thread. If people are saying Easley is a bust, I agree with you that that is a little ridiculous. We have seen a few plays in 1 preseason game...I don't know how anyone could make a logical "bust" judgment on him yet. That is definitely overboard IMO. Plus the guy was a 4th round pick...A 4th round pick after 1 year of being injured is a "bust"?

That reasoning doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me, 9 out of 10 posts are rants about how bad Kelsey is. I'm obviously in the minority. I have said many times that I don't think Kelsey should be an OLB. I would be happy to have someone out play him, hasn't happened yet. I DO think Kelsey looks decent when playing on the line, as he did towards the end of last year and last night. I DON'T think Kelsey is great, just that he gets an undeserved amount of hatred on a team that has many players worse than him. In general though, I am very supportive of your thinking that we need to upgrade his OLB position.

Just because I forgot to mention them doesn't mean that they didn't look good. Heard looked very good to me, as a matter of fact he was the player that stood out the most to me of the 2nd/3rd teamers. So you are right, he should have been mentioned. Batten got a lot of playing time and wasn't a factor at times, I guess I just want to see more of him...He has a lot of promise though.

Carrington will likely see some situational playing time at OLB with his main role probably being a rotational end, but at 306 lbs don't expect him to cover TE's or tackle RB's in space any better than Kelsay. Id like to see Carrington take Dwan Edwards spot more than Kelsay's. Edwards is ok, but maybe Carrington can become a playmaker. For Kelsay being so hated, he sure get's a lot of air time on these boards...He has to be the most commented on player doesn't he?

I don't think that anyone said, or in anyway suggested that Easley looks like a bust, did I miss something? He is one of our better prospects at WR (although completely unproven).

Nice post. I was thinking the same thing during the game. Yes it was just one preseason game against backups I know, but he looked pretty good. He was playing next to Troup on a few plays, and of the two I thought Heard Looked much better (I know mentioning Troup without praising him isn't allowed on this board and I will be flamed, oh well). He was physical, aggressive, and knocked down a pass I believe. The o-line struggled to move him even with double teams (They seemed to move Troup no problem). I'd like to see more of him, but if he looks like he did last night the rest of the preseason the Bills would be hard pressed to cut him. He was one of the only 2nd/3rd stringers to really stand out. The starters looked good obviously. The Jasper pick was fun and interesting, but I considered it a low risk gamble. He was unlikely to make the team and will probably be on the practice squad this year. If he spends that time learning and improving his conditioning, he would be more likely to make a push next year.

I would agree with most of this. I thought Pears looked ok, but I am certainly not ready to crown him a capable starter yet. Who gives us the O-line depth? I just don't see anything special out of Davis, certainly not better than our young guys yet. I like our WR depth, I would just like to see someone stand out as a starter, luckily we have 3 more pre-season games to try and figure that out. I was hoping to see more Nelson at starting WR. Gailey had said Easley was going to see only limited action due to his training camp injury. I was happy to see him look healthy though.

Hah, what this guy said. I would say watch at least the starters play...It seems most people thought they looked pretty good, including myself.

I basically agree with this ^ Seriously though, this team has been bad for so long...Let us enjoy the small things when we get them even if only for a week, such as our first team units looking pretty solid last night...

What was the point of your post, I said the exact same things in the OP. These were nothing more than observations on, YES THE FIRST PRE-SEASON GAME. I am aware of that. Simply pointed things I noticed in this game, combined with thoughts from last year and training camp. It was mostly positive. I was looking to see if other Bills fans had other opinions, not meaningless responses...

This is a clueless statement. He looked good last night. You obviously didn't watch the end of last year either. Yes he struggles in the open field and in coverage, but he is a decent DE and plays ok on the line (if last night was any indication he will be playing on the line more this year). He's no all star, but he is unfortunately our best option on a team with no LB depth. Coleman and Batten were invisible last night against 2nd/3rd stringers.

I was unusually excited to watch the first preseason game due to all of the new players, and many question marks on this team. The game made me re-think some opinions I had before the game... READ THIS -> Obviously this is one meaningless preseason game, it doesn't mean much I know. Players/coaches could completely turn these opinions around by the start of the season. Here are some thoughts anyway based on the game/last year/camp. I am not a pro scout, nor claim to be. These are simply my opinions and in reality mean nothing. Feel free to add, counter, or ignore... In General -Gailey has a clue on offense -Brad Smith will be key, especially if he can learn to actually throw (how was he a QB?) -Our starters are ok, our vet starters look pretty good. If we can stay healthy, I think we can compete. If not, we are screwed. -We have almost no depth (not a surprise) -After Stevie Johnson I am a little worried about our recievers, Namaan looks to possibly be the best of the rest...Thats not a good thing. -Our starting LB's could actually be a strength, not weakness if healthy -Our o-line is as bad as advertised - Pears looked decent in pass protection, but needs strength. Got pushed back on pass plays, no push on run plays. Wood, Levitre are fine. The rest is a mess. -Special Teams, why did we let Bobby April go again? Specific players Looking good Merriman - If you watched the game, you would have to be blind to not be impressed. He dominated every play...PLEASE STAY HEALTHY Dareus - Small sample so far, but he looks to be the real deal Kelsey - Everyone hates him, but he looks just fine when playing on the line. Flame away. Andra Davis - Looks like his old self, exactly what we need in the Middle...again PLEASE STAY HEALTHY Carrington - Could be a factor Spencer Johsnson- Good to know we have capable vet's on the D-line, one position with depth (DB too). Barnett - We haven't had a combination of speed and skill at this position in a long time. Fred Jackson - our unquestioned #1 Not looking so good Mansfield Wrotto - Please cut him immediately Troup - I saw the same troup I saw last year, no push... The 2nd string o-line moves him around at will...Flame away Torbor - I am not sure he is worth keeping as a backup, give the young guys a shot. He looks lost. McKelvin- Looking like a bigger and bigger bust every play...At least let him return it, he's good at that. Buster Davis - Sorry Nix, this guy was a bad choice when you were in SD, he's still a bad choice. Get over it and let him go...

Wood is our starting center and should stay there IMO...The only real high quality player on our line (yes, Levitre and bell are ok)...To the point of the OP, RG is a complete disaster for us, Urbik looks lost and Mansfield Wrotto has absolutely no business being on an NFL practice squad, let alone active roster... Pears looked decent in pass protection, but looks somewhat weak, I can see him getting bull rushed...Also he got NO push on run plays.

Yeah he was borderline for me...The guy can throw and makes a ton of plays...BUT he makes a ton of mistakes too, and he is the opposite of clutch, at least so far in his career. I suppose even with that he could be an upgrade over Fitz, depending on how you rate Fitz.

Yeah obviously there are no locks no matter where you are picking...Yes you can nab great players later in the first, and occasionally later in the draft. BUT, many special players come early in the draft. The Bills have been hoping to get a "diamond in the rough" and "bargains" for way too long...We all know how that's worked out...I'd love to see us actually go for one of the TOP players, particularly at QB. I think we got the TOP player in the entire draft this past year, which we couldn't have done picking 10th +. Personally I'm not satisfied winning 5-9 games a year...I don't see anything to celebrate in getting your 5th win in week 12 (unless it helps knock the Jets out of the playoffs) I'll pass on all of them, not much of an upgrade over Fitz if any.

I like Lee, and would have preferred to keep him, but some people are over reacting. Lee was basically an after thought on our offense last year (yes, i know he stretches the field). It's not like he was a critical cog. The problem was he had a one dimensional game, down the field. He was less effective underneath, and despite them constantly trying fade plays to him, he usually disappeared in the redzone. We could have used him, but we have some promising young guys that have a chance to step up to. Plus we will have an extra pick to play with too...

That could make this a pretty good deal depending on who it is, if anyone. It's no secret we desperately need help there.