Dan

Thanks.

Excellent read. Thanks.

True. What I found most interesting about the link to the Tampa forum was that Skoobs initial post and those 2 posts were identical. I'd guess... he googled, got that link, and pasted with no further evidence to support the opinion. Hence, right (or so it appears) but for the wrong reason (i.e. he really didn't know; just copied the first thing he saw). To insert a little logic into the thought process, I would suggest that the article where TO stating he was clocked at 4.6 was during his college career. So, through workouts and training, I'd say we can assume he clocked a little better at the combine. However, being 35(?) he's probably slowed down. So, I guess 4.6ish is about as good as you could expect; although, its entirely possible that he's slower. For whatever it's all worth. Actually, I see 40 times as kinda like GPA. When you're coming out of college, employers will often consider your GPA as a means to measure your ability. However, once you've been in the workforce for 10+ years, does it really matter that much any more? It's far more important to look at the past year or 2 and see what you've done.

Seeing as I as bored and googling anyway, I thought I'd give it a shot... the general consensus seems to be about a 4.6 for TO. Nothing too solid though (its a shame there's not some kind of NFL Combine archive). However, TO did state that he ran 4.6 while at UTC. TO didn't exactly take Chattanooga by storm at first, catching just six passes as a freshman. "We had to do our 40s [40-yard dashes], and guys were clocked at 4.4 and 4.5 [seconds]," recalls Owens. "I got clocked at 4.6, and I knew that was slow. So I just kept lifting weights." Link. Another interesting find while I was looking... Post #2 (first line) and #3 look rather familiar. Looks like ya may have been right but for the wrong reasons, Skoobs.

I'm sorry, but you keep stating this. I try not to read all the stuff about the potential sale of the Bills, so its very likely I missed it; but is your statement based on personal knowledge of Ralph's will or was it published in the Buffalo News or something? Just really curious.

Well, first you generalized the 3rd down conversion rate to 40% to claim that we couldn't stop people on 3rd down. Then when pointed out the actual numbers, you disregard these facts and hold fast to your opinion. Then you contradict yourself by stating you don't generalize, which is exactly what you initially did. And ultimately resort to name calling rather than find alternative facts to defend your position in an effort to cause general disruption as opposed to intelligent conversation.

hmmm... from this thread alone, just a few contradictory, factless statements clearly meant to cause disruption.

Hence the plethora of contradictory, factless statements clearly meant to cause disruption.

Facts really suck when you're trying to make crap up. Excellent post.

Didn't PacMan get a year's suspension and he wasn't convicted; no jail time. IMO, there's no way you can have a player convicted of a felony, do jail time, and not suspend him for at least a year (if not longer). Anything less definitely points to different sets of rules for different players. The league has already set the precedent that suspension is not dependent upon jail time served. So, to say he's already served his debt; therefore, no suspension, is unfounded. Also, I think you can largely remove the type of crime from the scenario. IMO, Goodell has an easy decision. Were you convicted of a felony? Yes. OK, then you get 2 year suspension. Next. Although, I must ask, does anyone know of any recent players that have been convicted of, or plead guilty to, felony charges and was not convicted? It'd be a worthwhile comparison, assuming there's a modicum of consistency in Goodell's decisions.

Yes, in July, it's apparent that the LT in particular is the only missing piece on our team. Get it done.

CHECK IT. I'm calling it now. Nelson is a bust because he hasn't started a single game. Obviously the coaches don't like what tey see from him. Hardy, too, because he hasn't caught a single touchdown since he got injured - LAST YEAR.

Yes, I agree. All that gaze upon the Chroise in action will smile in amazement at the wonder of records falling with each pass.

Excellent work! Thanks. Man, I love watching Lynch and Jackson run.

No love for Midnight Rambler? Most anything on Exile - perhaps one of the top 3 albums of all time. For my tastes, which lean more bluesy, the Stones are the beginning and end of rock bands.

I think Walker's success, as well as that of the entire line, comes down to one person. Trent Edwards. On any given pass play, he'll have Evans, TO, Reed/Parish/Johnson, and a RB/TE as dumpoff. Someone will be open. The key, however, is recognizing the coverage and/or blitz package pre-snap and making the throw quick. How did Warner survive last season with the horrible Gandy at LT? How did Manning survive 2 years ago with a rookie LT? They did it by making good pre-snap reads and getting the ball out quick. If Trent is dropping back and scanning the field for an open receiver, we're screwed regardless of who's at LT. I would love to hear that in camp someone has a clock on him... 1, 2, 3, throw. It should be that quick. I'd like to give an honorable mention to Shonert. If he can call a decent game, develop a few plays that aren't diagrammed in the first 5 pages of Football for Dummies, maybe we can actually keep a defense guessing a little. Thereby, giving our line a slight edge because defenders can't just stack the line knowing exactly where the run is going.

Seriously.... do you start a new thread for every random thought that pops in your head?

I would say that right now, we have the best team in the league - by far. We're completely unstoppable. However, I reserve the right to change my opinion once they start playing games.

What's even better is he starts off that very same post stating that our 2 previous DL coaches were yellers. Two coaches that we all know did little with our line. Now we have a "good guy" coach - and before training camp even starts, he's already sick of him. Brilliant.

With JP (both of them) gone, it's nice to see that we've firmly placed a new guy on the top of the "run them out of town" list.

I was just pointing out that the thread posed a few questions about the past season and what happened. I'm not sure that we need to go all historical as to why the Bills sucked up the last half of last year. Yes, I agree, there have been a string of bad decision's that half led to a string of bad seasons. But, Polian, Butler, TD, Marv have little to do with last year's failure. IMO. Do the Bills trouble start and end with Ralph? Perhaps. Jauron is by all accounts an inadequate coach in this league. His teams have largely under performed. I would wager that a new coach could keep this exact team in tact and be in the playoffs. If that were to be the case, does that have any bearing on the past 10-15 years? Or does it reflect a single bad decision right now to keep Jauron. To get back to the original post, why did our season tank? For me its simple. Our players are not being put in positions to win. And that lies on the coaches. All teams seem to get a few wins on luck and I would argue that's what we got early on. But when the level of competition got tougher, our coaching staff had no answer. They could not inspire our players nor could they come up with the right decisions to match our opponents. As the season progressed, it became more and more clear each week that the Bills just weren't prepared for the team they were facing.

So you're saying we sucked it up in 2009 because Ralph let Polian go some 15 years ago?

That article, along with the latest video on bb.com, is really eye opening. It sounds as though our defense and offense have been run like a high school team, for years. They're just now learning... “I think the tendency is with everybody in the NFL you have an initial move and a lot of times you get stuck,” said Williams. “And you don’t know where to go from there. And the things that he’s been doing are teaching us how to have those answers if our initial move is neutralized.” ?? The Offense is just now learning how to change plays at the line and that it's hard to process all this information in a few seconds? My first reaction, quite honestly, isn't one of enthusiasm for the upcoming season. It's one of disgust and amazement. How can a DT that's been starting for 3 years not realize that he needs to have something after his initial move? Or Edwards is just now being able to change the plays at the line? Isn't this stuff that every team in the league does? It's no wonder we've looked so inept and bland for 3 years. How can they ever expect to win consistently when the opposing team recognizes the play or defensive set and audiblizes - and we do nothing in return? So basically, our team has been coached to go out there and try hard. And that's about it. Is it just me; am I wrong in my take from those 2 pieces?

I'm thinkin you'll be fine. Based on the way this team played last year, by about 1:15 on Sunday you'll be able to get a few good hours of solid sleep before waking up and driving home. So no worries.

I would say.. Trent needs to learn how to take a hit. All the best QBs get hit, but if you watch, rarely do they take a direct hit like that. They sense the hit coming and move up, back or somewhere so its not a direct bone crushing hit. Replay the exact same play, but imagine Trent taking a few small steps to his left or back just prior to the throw and Wilson still hits him but probably without the concussing effects and Trent still completes the pass. So I would say Trent needs to learn to anticipate the hits (as well as his receivers getting open) better. However, you could say that about most all 2nd year QBs.