maryland-bills-fan

Forget that any newly picked up RB will have only 6 days to get ready. If we have e RB's this coming weekend, if we win, and if one or two get hurt, we need to have somebody else lined up. Maybe a real good guy who is green in our system would be the pick, because he would have ~ two weeks to get ready. Does that expand the cast of possibilities?

Never ever give any credo to Walterfootball about the Bills. I have been following the draft for years and they always always bash the Bills in their pre-draft analysis and then continue the same, regardless of who the Bills picked. Go to their websight and look up the last couple of years and see what I mean.

Heh? Big Ben is out for 3-4 weeks. The Ravens are 0-3. Both those teams have mountains to climb and its only the start of the season.

Marcus Thigpen Scouting Report Position: RB Conference: Big10 School: Indiana Hoosiers Year/Status: Declared Jersey Number: #2 Height & Weight: 5'9 - 193 lbs. 2009 NFL Draft Prospect Scouting Report: Marcus Thigpen, RB, Indiana Marcus Thigpen, who is also a sprinter for the Hoosier track team, isn't one of the elite backs in the country. He is however, always a threat to score every time he touches the ball. Thigpen averaged 6.7 yards per carry this season, even though he only averaged just under 8 carries a game. He also averaged 18.1 yards per reception and 22.4 yards per kick return, further illustrating his game breaking speed. Thigpen played running back in high school and was moved to wide receiver for his freshman season, after redshirting in 2004. He was moved back to running back during the spring of 2006, and has been Indiana's starter ever since. His experience at receiver has made him a valuable asset in the Hoosier passing attack. He serves as the safety valve for quarterback Kellen Lewis, and has taken several of those check down passes for huge gains. Thigpen has recorded 1621 yards rushing for his career, and scored 9 touchdowns on the ground. He has also caught 84 passes for 1028 yards and scored 9 touchdowns through the air. At 5'9" and only 193 pounds, Thigpen isn't big enough to be an every down back at the next level. However, his big play ability gives him a good chance of making a team as a return man and a third or fourth option in the backfield. Thigpen has averaged over 20 yards per return each of his four seasons, including a national best 30.1 average during the 2006 season. His 3 kick return touchdowns also led the nation in 2006. Thigpen is a late round prospect who should expect to hear his name between the late fifth and late sixth rounds. Marcus Thigpen's Pro Day workout may have shot him into the mid fifth round range for a team looking for a return man. He ran a 4.47 second 40 yard dash, had a 35 inch vertical leap, and broad jumped 10 feet 6 inches. http://fftoolbox.scout.com/nfl_draft/profile_display.cfm?prospect_id=1696

They are going to use a lot of 2 and 3 TE sets, so they will use the TE more than most teams. Also, I wonder if we may see one of the TE's playing a backfield position, either as an extra blocker or the second string fullback. Maybe O'leary is headed to the practice squad with a later waiver after other teams have picked their PS players and adjusted their rosters?

The Bills will pick a cornerback in the bottom of the first round. This will be with their first pick (if the season goes well) or after a trade-down (if it doesn't). The second round pick will be an interior lineman or linebacker- BPA. They will trade up to get an extra pick in the 3rd or 4th round.

Ok, a few questions about the rules and such. [1] In a 3 TE scheme, I believe that you have 3 TE's on the line of scrimmage, continuous with the tackles/guard/center. (Otherwise the guy split out is a wide receiver, regardless of what his usual job description is). [2] In this formation, the innermost "TE" (of the two TE's lined up next to each other) is not an eligible pass receiver. (true?) [3] In this formation, if the outer 'TE" in [2], after lining up adjacent to the inner "TE", the splits out or goes into the backfield, then the former "inner" TE (now an "outer TE) is eligible to receive a pass. (true?) Does he have to report in to the official (if his jersey number is strange) or is he (with a TE #) okay to catch a pass? I would think it neat, if we one of these 3 TE's is somebody who is not thought of as a pass catcher. Offensive tackles can certainly report and catch a pass but they are not a physical type known for fine motor skills. Some of the pass rushing defensive ends would have a physical profile to be a good, surprise tight end. They are often good athletes and have the size to shed blocks and block, as well as the speed to chase down quarterbacks or go down the seam. Jerry Hughes, Manny Lawson or Mario could play this and not give up any size compared to a regular TE.

Could we package Cassel and a wide receiver for some quality offensive line depth? Or a 2-3 type draft pick to build that for next season?

Well, this problem is better than the problem we had before!

Keep looking around for a place to trade Cassel for a 3rd or 4th round pick. You have to take some risk somewhere. We would also like to use the roster spot for a WR, TE, or safety, where we have quality backups.

bs

My Bills hat from 1969 and my PJ's.

We did that the year before and he was fine at the end of the previous season. Then he got boo-boos on the bottom of his feet at the start of training camp (funny, but not during the summer off) wanted a TON more money and "held out"- just starting to play several games into the year. Reading between the lines, I thought it was clear that the injury was phony or minimal and he was (without saying for the record and lawsuit) that he would do the same thing again. Toxic.

I actually am going to disagree with this about the DL need. I don't think we need to use one of our early draft picks on DL. We have the luxury of a couple more years with 3/4 of the present starters and some of the rotation guys look strong as well. We can try a couple of lower round picks on DL and look for development prospects on practice squads, free agents and roster drops. We have time to sort through a number of these guys and might devote a PS or 40man roster spot for the right development guy. We can still with a high ceiling prospect who needs some time to develop and groom the successor.

Let's think about this statement. The special teams and the defense are NOT part of the team and if they do good, they create the false impression that the Bills are good.

Let's keep some perspective. We got ahead in the jests game and stayed ahead. The defense was whomping up on the jest offense from the start and the offense had to do nothing more than not turn the ball over in order to win the game. They had no turnovers. We had lately scrambled the offensive linemen and have a lot of rookies in the mix. Keeping it simple is a good thing to do while they learn on the job. We had two substitute running backs who needed to get their feet wet and not fumble handoffs and plays. Doesn't keeping it simple make sense? The two running backs who were out are the skills running backs while the guys who played are the smash-mouth guys. I think they used plays that those guys were used to running and also that fit their running back skill sets. Do you really think that Dixon would be good on a bubble screen? I think they stayed with plays those guys were familiar with, rather than trying to make them run Jackson/Spiller plays that they had never run before. I'll bet if they tried running scatback plays with Dixon and the failed, that our posters would be all over the coaching staff. Now we have 2 weeks to make up and put in a wider selection of plays and to practice them. We also have 2 weeks to maybe get Jackson back and get Tanner into the mix. Seems like a good plan to me. Maybe low on style points but some posters want style points and risk a loss, rather than a booring 20 point win.

Have patience. There is a big difference between college and the pros, as you know. We went for size- and those guys may have been able to get away with undeveloped tool kits in college, but may need some coaching up in technique, better strength training and physically some growing still to come. Men peak somewhere in their mid 20's or between 20 and 30- a 21 or 22 year old probably still has some room to grown. One or two more of these young'ens may become good or adequate starters.

Okay, here is a poll on predicting the Bills end-of-season record. One power ranking for the NFL right now is http://seattletimes.com/html/seahawks/2024865732_nflpowerrankings26xml.html 1 (1) Broncos ::::::::::::::::::::::::::: week 14 LOSS away 2 (3) Eagles 3 (4) Cowboys 4 (6) Colts 5 (7) Cardinals 6 (2) Chargers loss week 3 7 (9) Patriots loss week 6:::::::::::week 17 LOSS away 8 (10) Packers ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::week 15 LOSS 9 (12) Ravens 10 (5) Seahawks 11 (8) 49ers 12 (15) Lions week 5 win 13 (11) Bengals 14 (17) Bills 15 (18) Chiefs ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::week 10 WIN home 16 (22) Dolphins:won week 2:::::::::week 11 WIN away 17 (13) Bears 18 (23) Steelers 19 (14) Panthers 20 (26) Rams 21 (16) Browns ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::week 13 WIN home 22 (19) Saints 23 (20) Texans loss week 4 24 (27) Washington 25 (21) Titans 26 (24) Falcons 27 (25) Jets won week 8::::::::::::::::::::week 12 WIN home 28 (31) Jaguars 29 (28) Giants 30 (29) Buccaneers 31 (30) Vikings won week7 32 (32) Raider::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::week 16 WIN away We are 5-3 now and have yet to play 5 teams that are “weaker” and 3 teams that are “stronger”. If the rankings are accurate, then the prediction is 10-6, which should get us into the playoffs. Realize that our defensive line should allow us to bully the weaker teams on the schedule and might give problems to the stronger teams on the schedule. What is your vote?

I guess I don't fit in here. I like that we won the game. I can't get any traction on diss'ing the Bills because of a lack of style points.

I wonder if we just did what we had to do to win this game. Keep it simple and learn. Control the jets pass rush (ranked #4 for yards lost on sacks and #6 on sacks), by running right at them. Grind them down and tire them out. We have two weeks until the next game and I am going to guess that there will be new playbook. KC will not have any tendancies to prepare for and will have to adjust on the fly. (?)

Gee, how horrible. I rather him celebrate after moving the ball 85 yards, rather than after a 4 yard catch.

Gotta say that great defensive LINE play makes linebackers look good.

We have a lot of young people on the offensive line, who might take 2-3 years to develop into something. 3 tight end formations gives some pop to the running game and, being an unusable formation, can give some mismatches and unexpected plays. A zone stretching, fast past catching tight end doesn't fit this very well unless he is a real good drive blocker as well.

The jests are tied for 5th in the number of sacks this year (20) and are 4th in opponent yards lost by sacks. It is their highest rating for anything. Did running up the middle so much help out our struggling offensive line in preventing this from being a dominate factor in possibly losing the game? We had how many turnovers?

Yes it is. Think about it. Just a coincidence. The jests defensive line sets up to stop another run up the gut. The DB's lean in. Watins runs into open space. Gee, we had a pass play called and had no pressure on our QB. We only scored how many points? We only threw how many interceptions and lost how many fumbles with the 2nd string running backs and had how many mental mistakes on plays that lead to big losses. What a friggin failure!!!! We only won by.......?........................But we lost on style points, big time.