maryland-bills-fan

A couple of things. One is that we are looking for a not-typical linebacker. Most of the attention these days is on somebody who is an edge rusher and we have that covered with our front 4 or 5. We are also not looking for somebody who stays in a defined gap and takes on blockers. Our stunting, pressure pass rush will leave opening is unexpected spots and we need somebody with smarts and speed to cover a lot of territory. So we can get along without one the splashy edge rushing OLB and CJ appears to have that capability. There are likely a bunch of other guys that I and most of us don't know about who could do this job.............. A second issue is that we gotta gotta gotta get a big goloot at right tackle to knock defensive linemen on their kister. That will let Spiller get outside and also let him run inside. We did almost nothing outside the right tackle in running last year......A third is that RB's and WR can be found in lower rounds and we actually have a decent young core. They will look much better if EJ is secure in the pocket when he does pass.

The two biggest needs are a roadgrader ROT and a fast smart ILB to match with Kiko. Get the OT in the first round or take Mack or CJ. (LB). The opposite in the second round. Everything else is a distraction.

I’m going to discuss first, the needs of the Bills in the draft, then the players at the top of the draft and finally, what I think the Bills draft strategy should be. ============================================================================= Assuming EJ will be allowed to develop and that Marlin Briscoe (err I mean Thad Lewis) is thought of as a good backup, we will not be in the QB search in the 2014 draft. The strategic choices that Marrone has taken as to the flavor of the offense and defense is pretty clear. The defense is going to have a fierce attacking pass rush with a lot of stunts, disguised formations and people flying in from odd places. The cornerbacks will do close early coverage to prevent the QB from releasing the ball quickly, which will give the pass rush time to sack, knock-down or flush the QB. Safeties will be safeties with well-defined support responsibilities. There will be holes in the front 4 because “gap control” is less important than penetration and disruption. The linebackers will have a lot of unscripted holes to after runners and escaped running quarterbacks. Speed and instinct will be at a premium for the linebackers. Where we were weakest last year was against the run (because of the lack of gap control) and against downfield tight ends (who outran slower linebackers and were not well watched by the safeties). The offense is going to depend upon controlling the line of scrimmage and getting a lot of touches for the running backs. EJ will not be asked to pass his way down the field, but the passes will be mainly medium distance and mixed in with the runs. The speedsters on the team does give the Bills the option to go 3 vertical routes with superior speed to punish defenses that start to crowd the box. We were not successful at controlling the running game last year, although we kept trying. Pears at ROT and Legarsky at LOG are below average players and have to be replaced. If we can roadgrade block from tackle to tackle, then all these other options become effective and we have an offense. Urbik is only adequate at ROG, but might look better with a very good player to his right. Asper, McClain and Unga are okay development players and have the needed size, but right now they should only be counted on for depth. A fast, pass catching, seam busting TE is always nice, but now that is a luxury rather than a requirement. The Bills pick 9th and there are a certain number of players who will not be available to them, which reduces the options considerably. First there is DE Crowley, (1) who will be gone, then there are adequate starting QB’s who have 5-6 teams wanting shots at them (2), (3), & (4). There are 3 good offensive tackles and for sure at least two of them will also be taken (5) & (6). Let’s just forget about these guys and let those teams scramble and trade. There are two more spots before the Bills pick and I think that the best 6 players available there are Mack (LB), Evans (the top big WR), the third Offensive Tackle, Ebron (a big speedy tight end), Gilbert (CB) and Barr (3-4 OLB). I think that Mack and Evans are the best of the lot. If Mack is there, we should take him in a heartbeat. If forced to choose from the short list I would go with the OT and shore up that position. I would expect Evans to go to Oakland, but if he is there I would like to see the Bills trade the pick for him and move down to pick up another 2nd or third round pick. The rest of this short list has players that other teams would move up for as well and trades should also be entertained. What I would like to see is the Bills move down 5-7 places and take CJ Mosely a ILB with speed and instincts to pair up with Alonso. This would solidify the hole in the front 7 and give us a awesome defense. I find mixed predictions for where he would be drafted. He does look like Alsoso. In the second round our own pick should be for the best available G or OT. Moses (Virginia), Richardson(Tenn) or Gabe Jackson(MissStat) Sula-Filo UCLA) are players who might be available. By this means we fix the two biggest problems on the team, with players of value at the position. Not sexy, not clever, just identify the problem and address it. There are a couple of wild cards in the mix here as well. One is the spare “change” that we would get from a modest trade down (maybe a 3rd rounder) and the other is the Byrd situation. In my opinion, we don’t need the top free safety or even one of the top 7 free safeties and especially don’t need to overpay for him and make him the second highest salary on the team. We should sign or franchise him and them attempt to trade him for what the market will bear. I would be happy with a low 2nd round pick this and next year. That would be a salary dump and should be immediately turned over to resigning somebody who won’t take 5 game vacation.

The Bills would get a comp pick at the end of the third round- pending other FA gains and losses.

We have two great defensive tackles in kyle williams and darius. Troupe, and Heard, We have adequate defensive ends in Kelsay, Carrington, Johnson and Dotson. We need to go 4-3 and pick up a rush linebacker to go along with Barnet and Sheppard. The rest of our linebackers are either average aging veterans or young guys who have had their chance but not made any impact. Batten, Coleman, Davis, Moats, and Morrison are depth players if anything. Zack is our man in the first round. The it is OLB again, QB or TE.

This list is from the GBN draft page. As of right now, I think there are only two pretty sure hits and a bunch of duds. 1 CAROLINA Cam Newton QB Auburn 2 DENVER Von Miller LB Texas A&M 3 BUFFALO Marcel Dareus DT Alabama 4 CINCINNATI A.J. Green WR Georgia 5 ARIZONA Pat Peterson CB LSU 6 ATLANTA (from Cleveland) Julio Jones WR Alabama 7 SAN FRANCISCO Aldon Smith LB Missouri 8 TENNESSEE Jake Locker QB Washington 9 DALLAS Tyron Smith OT Southern California 10 JACKSONVILLE (from Washington) Blaine Gabbert QB Missouri 11 HOUSTON JJ Watt DE Wisconsin 12 MINNESOTA Christian Ponder QB Florida State 13 DETROIT Nick Fairley DT Auburn 14 ST. LOUIS Robert Quinn DE North Carolina 15 MIAMI Mike Pouncey C Florida 16 WASHINGTON(from Jacksonville) Ryan Kerrigan LB Purdue 17 NEW ENGLAND (from Oakland) Nate Solder OT Colorado 18 SAN DIEGO Corey Liuget DT Illinois 19 NEW YORK GIANTS Prince Amukamara CB Nebraska 20 TAMPA BAY Adrian Clayborn DE Iowa 21 CLEVELAND (from Kansas City) Phil Taylor DT Baylor 22 INDIANAPOLIS Anthony Castonzo OT Boston College 23 PHILADELPHIA Danny Watkins OG Baylor 24 NEW ORLEANS Cameron Jordan DE California 25 SEATTLE James Carpenter OT Alabama 26 BALTIMORE Jimmy Smith CB Colorado 27 KANSAS CITY from Atlanta thru Cleveland) Jon Baldwin WR Pittsburgh 28 NEW ORLEANS (from New England) Mark Ingram RB Alabama 29 CHICAGO Gabe Carimi OT Wisconsin 30 NEW YORK JETS Muhammad Wilkerson DE Temple 31 PITTSBURGH Cameron Heyward DE Ohio State 32 GREEN BAY Derek Sherrod OT Mississippi State Second round # Team Player POS School 33 New England (from Carolina) Ras-I Dowling CB Virginia 34 Buffalo Aaron Williams CB Texas 35 Cincinnati Andy Dalton QB Texas Christian 36 San Francisco (from Denver) Colin Kaepernick QB Nevada 37 Cleveland Jabaal Sheard DE Pittsburgh 38 Arizona Ryan Williams RB Virginia Tech 39 Tennessee Akeem Ayers LB UCLA 40 Dallas Bruce Carter LB North Carolina 41 Washington Jarvis Jenkins 5T Clemson 42 Houston Brooks Reed LB Arizona 43 Minnesota Kyle Rudolph TE Notre Dame 44 Detroit Titus Young WR Boise State 45 Denver (from San Francisco) Rahim Moore FS UCLA 46 Denver (from Miami) Orlando Franklin OT Miami 47 St. Louis Lance Kendricks TE Wisconsin 48 Oakland Stefan Wisniewski C Penn State 49 Indianapolis (from Jacksonville thru Washington) Ben Ijalana OT Villanova 50 San Diego Marcus Gilchrest DB Clemson 51 Tampa Bay Da'Quan Bowers DE Clemson 52 New York Giants Marvin Austin DT North Carolina 53 Chicago (from Indianapolis thru Washington) Stephen Paea DT Oregon State 54 Philadelphia Jaiqwuan Jarrett FS Temple 55 Kansas City Rodney Hudson C/G Florida State 56 New England (from New Orleans) Shane Vereen RB California 57 Detroit (from Seattle) Mikel Leshoure RB Illinois 58 Baltimore Torrey Smith WR Maryland 59 Cleveland (from Atlanta) Greg Little WR North Carolina 60 Houston (from New England) Brandon Harris CB Miami 61 San Diego (from NY Jets) Jonas Mouton LB Michigan 62 Miami (from Chicago thru Washington) Daniel Thomas RB Kansas State 63 Pittsburgh Marcus Gilbert OT Florida 64 Green Bay Randall Cobb WR Kentucky Pretty typical results. I think we need 4-3 OLB and DE's more than a Fritz replacement for next year.

If the draft were held right now, the Bills would pick #15, which shows improvement over picking 3rd last year. We have 5 games left and I expect they will win two more games and finish, just below 500, at 7-9. Yea, I know we have been at about 500 before and never got anywhere, yadda yadda yadd, but it does look like there is a plan and a direction this time. Notice that they young guys are being developed and getting a lot of playing time, rather than plugging in and staying with older veterans who are not getting better. For next year I do not see taking a wide receiver early in the draft. We have Roscie and Easley(?) coming back from injury, a couple of young players who might break out, and Brad Smith to work as the 2nd, field stretching wide-out. First round wide receiver draft picks are always the flat out long pass game breakers and we do not have the QB or the offensive line to really make use of such a guy. On the offensive line, we will not draft a offensive lineman in the first round. With Pears, Harriston and Bell, we have three adequate tackles and they are young enough that one of them may really impress as they get more experience. I also have hopes for Jasper to come in next year, make the 53 man roster and be very good. Even with injuries, they have held up okay so far. There is enough potential and enough bodies in the pipeline so this is not a great need area. With respect to the interior of the line, We are in very good shape with Levtre & Wood. Urbik and Rheinhard are okay at the other guard, so the most we might see in a change next year is a 3rd or 4th round draft pick used. Tight end has one adequate player in Chandler- we might see a BPA pick at interior o-line or TE with a 3rd round pick. What we do need is to rethink our defense. The overall plan was to go to a 3-4 defense, but were were and are lacking the edge rush 3-4 linebacker. Merriman was a gamble that was worth throwing the dice on and it didn't work. Batten & Moats were late DE draft picks from small schools and it is clear that they are not going to be top notch talent. Carrington is out of position playing there, although I like to see him getting the snaps. Kelsay is serviceable and is some strenght on the edge as well. Of the rest of characters on the roster, (Morrison, Coleman, Davis. Tobor, White)- they are not quality, but bottom of the roster depth. So what do we have at outside LB? Kelsay is the only, slightly above average OLB. We are okay on the inside with Sheppard and Barnet. Now look at the defensive linemen. We were starting to go towards a 3-4, but along the way, something unexpected that is good & is bad happened. Kyle Williams turned into a force in the center of the defensive line, but his size really prevents him from being a standard 3-4 nose tackle. We drafted a great big spacehog defensive tackle in Marcell Dareus and although he is big enough and strong enough to work as a nose tackle, he is fast and penatrating enought that it would be a waste to use him just as the immoveable rock in the center. We have Heard and the (so far) disappointing Troup as depth.... IF WE GO BACK TO a 4-3. We would have an excellent interior there. At DE we have Carrington, D.Edwards, Spencer and Kelsay and they are adequate with some upside in Carrington and some pass rush ability from Kelsay (6-4 260). Here is what I see us doing. We have been dealt two aces in K.Williams and Dareus. Gailey has shown himself willing to work with what he has. If he has oranges, he makes orange juice. If he has apples, its apple juice. If he has two superior and complementary defensive tackles, he goes 4-3. We will be drafting about #20 next year. In the first three rounds we take 4-3 OLB and DE's. We put in a new defensive co-ordinator. The smaller 4-3 OLB's help our pass defense. We take a QB in the 4th round.

I agree. Some posters really stretch to find something worng. If you have a QB who is ponderous and needs a lot of time to make his passes ,,,, well we have a lousy o-line for that. If you have a coach, who draws up plays that take a lot of time to develop,,,, well we have a lousy o-line for that. If you have RB's who need a power running game set up for him and clearned out holes and can not figure out which option is suddenly what is happening, so he needs to have clearnly defined holes........ well we have a lousy o-line for that Above are three ways to compare our o-line to other situations where they will come up short. BUT If you have a QB who is quick in getting out the ball out, a coach who can put in a system that does that and a line which can stuff the early rush and block & get down field for plays associated with these,,,, then we have a good o-line- even with the injuries. If the right tool to use is a hammer, then don't bring me a screwdrive and B word like hell that there is a slotty-pointy thing on the end.

Lets be honest. He is a long shot to become a better than average or even average NFL starter. What round was he drafted at? We were weak at LB when he was drafted and had little depth and that helps him stay on the roster. I hope we found a diamond in the rough but the odds are against it.

Suh's excuses would not fool a 3 year old. He should be suspended for muliple games. If he is allowed to continue his cheap shots and if the league allows it to continue, then the players will protect their sport and careers. Years ago, cheap shots like that which are beyond the boundaries of what is acceptable, would be retaliated with by similar punishment to suh's best teammate on offense. For example, in baseball, it takes the form of hitting opposing batters- most effectively, not the offending player but the leader or best player on the other team. (Let him enforce the unwritten rules within his own team). I think that in football, the punishment for retaliation cheap shots against the other team's QB or other star, would be handled much to agreesivley by the NFL. What we will see instead is Suh's knees will be artfully hurt by one lineman tieing him up and another "accidently" falling backwards at his knee or ankle. The !@#$ thinks he is a special, superperson to whom the rules do not apply. I would not want him on the Bills.

He is an offensive tackle in training.

Looks like Fredie is on IR. I guess the Spiller bashers are happy.

I guess you are a billionaire because you knew what all the lotto numbers were going to be. Freddy is an unreal RB. Let me say that again. Unreal. The 95% probability expectation would be that an ageing, small college RB would be running out of steam in 2011 and need a replacement to keep the Bills going. That Freddy has been unreal and is still healthy and looking like an all-pro is not what the best guess from 2-3 years ago would have happening now. The RB gets the ball on a third to a half of the plays. It is a position to keep superior players in place at. I have no problem with Freddy still performing.

what Buftex said!

[1] Our Kickoff return team is getting a lot of practice, with 27 repetitions in the last three games. [2] You will be able to buy Bills gear on e-Bay with good selection and great prices [3] We have a glimmer of reentering the Luck sweepstakes. sob homer

get the year right1

We played the jests the first time after they were coming off of a bye and had 14 days to game plan against us and get over bruises and sprains. For the second game, they had a Thrusday night game and now have 10 days to game plan against us and get over bruises and sprains. Does that give them an advantage to get two such significant advantages against the same division rival? You bet it does. Screwed again.

Yes, they should use Spiller out of the backfield. They should line up both Spiller and Freddie and then put Spiller in motion. Let Fritz audiabilize to which side he should go after he comes up to the line of scrimmage. That would get Spiller in space and add a bit of confusion and some extra options to what play could happen.

I got no problem with the Bills trying the option. If we use a gimmic offense to win three games (and then everybody figures it out) and then use a different one to win three games (and then everyone figures it out) and .......... The rules change. The types and expereince of the players coming out of college change. Different things are going to work at different times. Teams work to gather and teach their defenses to play a certain way and draft players for those positions. If you change the offense, they no longer match and are playing at a disadvantage. Does anyone have a problem with that if the Bills are the ones with the advantage?

Ah, the Bills bashers are coming back out of the woodwork! Gailey was using the bunch formation a lot early in the year, teams have figured out the counters so it doesn't work well .....but by magic he is supposed to make it still work. I guess these posters didn't see how Dallas was jumping out a lot of players to the outside and kept some of the quick passes to actual negative yardage. Our offensive line is presently a mash unit, and we have 2 WR's out for the year and 2 hobbled. Gailey will come up with something.

8-8 or 9-7 is what I expect the improvement to be for this year. If we beat the fish twice and the Broncos, we make 8-8 regardless. Win against either the jests, pats or titans and we have a winning record. We might not make the playoffs but we have moved from the cellar dweller group to the middle of the road group and are knocking on the door of the playoff teams. It is progress and as we improve, the jests and pasties are going to age and we will pass them in our division.

Dr Trooth: Please identify you source that Jasper doesn't have a heart for the game and refused to take the job of nose tackle. Or are you just blowing smoke.

I still think that the Bills did some shell game with getting Jasper onto the practice squad. They staked out a claim on him by having a scout visit him repeatedly and by being realistic in telling him how much weight he had to lose. They gave him an achievable figure and he more than made that. Then they showed faith in him by drafting him, rather than picking him up as a FA, where they probably could have gotten him as well, since they had the inside track. Then they showed him to the world as a nose tackle in the preseason, where he didn't look too good and when he was a cut at 53, he wasn't picked up by anybody. Then they plucked him up from the waiver ASAP and he was happy to be coming to Buffalo, where he knew people, the system and had friends. THEN they started training him as an offensive lineman on the PS. Nobody can see how well he is doing at o-line, so nobody is going to pluck him off our PS and keep him on their 53 man roster. We have a free year to get him ready for next year. He is an unusal physical person, very big, very strong and well balanced. (I don't know where somebody above was talking from in saying his legs are tiny. The fellow can dunk a basketball without a running start and at his size......). Wait until next year. I am looking at him as somebody, if he had transferred to a big name school for 2 years, could have been a late 1st round pick, with what he may be next year.

Gailey has been dealt a poor hand and is doing pretty good. Teams now have figured out how to stop the short passing attack and there is not a hell of a lot else in the offensive playbook. There is not a good "plan B", not because of lack of courage to try something new, but because there are not the people to make something else work as well. We will see some new wrinkles but don't expect the Red Sea to part in the next game. Be happy that we stole a few games early. We won't pick first in the draft, but have taken the team off of the floor of the bad teams and crept into respectability. We are getting into the position where a few key players and some luck with injuries and other team's downslides can take us into the playoff team bracket.

My take at the beginning of the year was that the Bills were improved and a solid 8-8 team, with a good chance at 9-7 and an outside chance (baring injuries such as the loss of A.Williams, K.Williams, Merriman, Bell, Parrish and possibily others) at 10-6. We would need luck with the development of some new players and everybody performing well. It looks like we are right on schedule for an 8-8 or 9-7 season. We have some obvious holes at OLB and offensive line depth and could use a studd defensive end. What is the big surprise? We were fortunate that Fritz & Gailey's smarts on offense got us a couple of wins based upon a smoke and mirror offense. We don't have the horse up front to win with a pounding ground game, Fritz is below average on the long ball but superior elsewhere and our defense still can't get off the field because of the lack of a pass rush. We are still in a rebuilding mode from the start of a very bad team but at least there is a rational plan and common sense being applied. I have been mocked for early on for predicting a 8-8 or even winning season, then insulted for not trying to whip the horses into a frenzy along with the newbie bandwagon people, and now that they have jumped off and gotten involved back again with hockey or college basketball or pornography, I feel I'm left alone still rooting for a (for real) improving team. Let's hope the Bills right the ship, think up new ways to entertain and confound the opposition and show player improvement to build upon for next year. Go Bills!!!