MarlinTheMagician

I started the other thread on Matthews' character so I thought I would read up on Gaines. Seems like he is the same type of guy, and fits their scheme. Too bad he has skinny ankles and short arms. Kidding aside, he is physical, which Darby was not. Darby could cover, but his lack of physicality always seemed a weakness - even in his good year. Seems there is a plan - we got a physical player with character who fits their scheme, hooray! OVERVIEW Team captain. Bench pressed at the combine but was medically excluded otherwise (pelvis). ANALYSIS STRENGTHS Good muscularity and thin ankles. Fills aggressively and supports the run. Likes to hit. Plays with confidence and carries a swagger. Good attitude and football demeanor. Competes hard and brings energy to the field. Good eyes and route recognition. Has experience matching up with slot receivers in nickel coverage and has returned punts. Very good career production on the ball. Proven special teams coverage defender. WEAKNESSES Is short and short-armed. Plays a lot into the boundary. BOTTOM LINE Strong, physical zone corner with the toughness, awareness and football IQ to function highly in short spaces. A solid tackler, Gaines plays bigger than his size and takes a professional approach.

And this year should show if TT can be that. If he can't, we have the dry powder to make a run at getting one In the meanwhile, I will take a team with guys like Boldin and Matthews and Zay and Shady. Even TT - incredible work ethic. If the players with good character that you have are not good enough to win you can upgrade the talent through the draft and free agency, but you build a TEAM. If you have a bunch of Percy Harvin/Dareus/Mario types, the team culture will defeat you regardless of what you put on the field.

Our receiving corps is worlds better. Maybe you don't remember last year. Seems like TT was pitching it to street free agents every week. We had that tall dude from the scrap heap that could only catch a 3 yard touchdown pass, Walt Powell, Woods who was a statue after an 8 yard out, Glass Goodwin. As a group, what a pile of junk. And we had to breathlessly read articles every week about Sammy's foot praying he could come in and salvage the mess. Yuk. Love this group in comparison.

I will take high character players every time. I believe it is an essential of a winning formula. Because Dick Jauron failed you doubt that? Players that have low work ethic become out of shape and get hurt. Players with low character get suspended. Seems we have a D tackle that would have taught you that.

I liked Sammy and wish him the best. But I like this trade for a host of reasons - I know there is a thread on that. What I would like to note in this thread is that with Matthews we get a player of exceptional character and intelligence. A team leader. Google it - I was going to paste in an article on this point, but there are SO many I did not. He is disciplined, he is an incredibly hard worker, he gives back to the community. He is a chiseled, bulldog of a receiver - I can't remember us ever having one quite like him from a physicality standpoint (Moulds maybe, but he was almost more like Sammy with his downfield ability that I don't think Matthews can match). He is a great teammate- check it, article after article says he was one of the most respected men in the Eagles locker room. He is compared to Jordy Nelson, which I would take in a heartbeat. His story is similar to that of Zay Jones, he worked extraordinarily hard to become what he is and I think he reflects what the new administration wants on the field - and in the locker room and off the field. We should welcome him with open arms. A Buffalo kind of guy. Lunch bucket. Go Bills!

Logan, O'Leary, Gragg and Annen - we should be able to find a #2 from that lot. Though Barnage would be nice!

Agree on this - my major disappointment in Tyrod is absence of points in crunch time. But this year is worth seeing to see if he can fix that. So glad they signed him. Can develop Peterman, look next year, without the pressure of oppressive levels of suck.

I don't understand the Tyrod hate. He takes care of the ball and can put points on the board. He is unconventional - doesn't help in some of the ways a QB usually does, and helps in other ways a QB usually doesn't. But he is a leader, a good guy, has a high compete level. I am hoping he can take a step forward this year and maybe we don't need a guy. I don't agree it is "proven" you can't win with him. Our defense couldn't stop Orchard Park High last year.

Good point on Annen too. I have no idea if he or Gragg are the better prospect. I like O'Leary's competitiveness, but he seems too small and slow. Annan and Gragg LOOK the part to me. Remember Matthew Mulligan? Did that guy have pictures of Rex or something? What a zero - can't believe he got so much PT in Rex year 1.

He is all of 26 years old, and he was a developmental choice, so we knew it would take some time. Now is when he should be ready to start paying some dividends (a year delayed because of injury last year).

I am not saying he is All-Pro potential, but has not been on the team long enough that he ever got a full shot. I think he would have had that last year but for the cheap shot vs. Skins.

Hope we sign him back. Play in London was poor, but laugh can't be over-interrupted. Could have just been embarrassed. Run the highlights on his Twitter, in addition to that embarrassing play in London there are some deep seam catches that we could use.

Barnage likely the better choice, but other poster's comment that Jacksonville will be "all-in" on him seems logical. Can't hurt to bring Gragg into camp on the cheap. Looked like he was doing quite well last year until the cheap shot against the Redskins.

Always liked his athleticism. His Twitter says he is healthy. Never has been any kind of problem, shows up every day. Any chance we retain? I like him for TE depth better than a lot of the dumpster dives. He is still young. Supposedly has a workout for the Colts scheduled. I suspect he would catch a lot of passes from Andrew Luck.

No way. Take the two years on Tyrod and draft a QB. Let Cardale and new QB fight it out for "next up" if Tyrod doesn't pan out. You still don't have many $$$ tied up in the position compared to most teams. I am not prepare for Rob Johnson 2.0.

Fish stink. Bills 31 Vermin 10

I think this is exactly right. Pick a wideout. Let Sammy earn a contract or walk. if he can't stay on the field we can't pay him what he will want.

Fan is for fanatic! Bills will rock the Steelers, bust the Brownies, squish the Fish and jam the Jets - then PLAYOFFS.

He's nuts.

Go Bills! Big win this week - then Brownies and a Fish Squish and playing for the show in last week vs the Petties! Starts with Pittsburgh. Bills 31 Pitt 17. Flame away.

Completely agree - Taylor is a gamer and keeps us competitive. He has had some failures, but the offense puts up points and he has a crippled receiving core. Jawbone down the guarantee a bit.

Bills win, 34-28. Darby back makes a difference. Haters gonna hate, but we don't suck. We don't have the back-end to stop a premier passing team (which will be a problem with Pitt for sure), and our offense is very scheme-oriented and not suited to playing from behind. Weaknesses yes, but I don't get all the hand-wringing, hating and despair. I expected to lose at Oakland, they are very good. I was shocked when we were up 24-9. And not shocked when Carr brought them back - as has been his history. We are not that far from beating teams like Seattle and Oakland on the road - that is a big deal. If we had a healthy Woods and Watkins I think those games both could have come out differently. Throwing to Glass, Hunter, Tate and a gimpy out-of-sync Sammy is not exactly giving Taylor his best chance. Don't mean that as excuse making, certainly Tyrod could do more, for sure. People are so quick to declare that he sucks though; I have watched numerous sucky quarterbacks for us, and Tyrod is miles from some of those guys. He ain't Machine Gun Kelly either, I get it. BTW - what about trying Robey-Coleman at free safety on obvious passing downs and move Graham to strong. Granted, he gets abused by tall tight-ends sometimes. Let Seymour take that gig. But I think Robey-Coleman has the vision and closing speed to play free. He is an athlete and he has hops if the play is in front of him. Does the board think his height makes that out of the question? I think he could be a ball-hawk on the back end of a kind we have not had since foot-man left for the Aints. One other thing about Robey-Coleman. Dude is a baller. For a little guy, he hits like a truck. Put him in back where he can see the play develop and draw a bead on the ball and on receivers.

Schwartz, but I would keep Rex another year.

Okay. Yes, 10-6 is a successful season. Why - we would have a good winning percentage and be showing progress.

Absolutely! Perhaps we are conditioned for low expectations, but how many times in this franchise's history have they had three non-losing seasons in a row? I can think of (i) 1963-66; (ii) did we have a winning season in '76? if so, 1974-76? (iii) 1980-82; (iv) 1988-1996. I am doing this from memory, so I may not be exactly right. But by Bills standards 9-7, 8-8 and 10-6 would be a period of epic prosperity! We have only had three non-losing seasons in row three or four times in 56 years. I have watched 51 of those years - those that have become fans during the playoff drought have not lived how truly dreadful our Bills can be. Most of these teams have been fairly competitive. At least I feel this front office is trying to win and has some clue on how to do it. I don't see a need to tear it down. Keep Rex, renew Tyrod and draft a QB. Keep developing Cardale and the draft choice and see what happens with Tyrod. He is an unusual talent and a hard worker - perhaps his passing improves. The one thing I have not liked though is his lack of accuracy at key points in the last two.