Nihilarian

I'd pass. I'm so sick of running QBs in the NFL as they usually get figured out and beaten with a few exceptions. As exciting they can be in college they tend to not do so well as a pocket passer. The Panthers just fired their OC in an attempt to develop Newton into more of a pocket passer. Russell Wilson is the only exception and even he needs a better line to protect him. Six QBs might go in the first round and I'm hoping Buffalo takes one of five that don't want to run all the time. Baker Mayfield is a runner too, although he uses his mobility to buy time to make plays like Wilson. Him I want! No to Jackson.

The Biggest problem with this team was a lack of quality GM, coaching, and scouting dept to find a high caliber talent in the first place. Second, to allow him to survive long enough to develop properly. Trent Edwards looked like a young Joe Montana at first (2008) and after several severe concussions behind bad lines with terribad coaching(Turk Schonert, AVP), a bad scheme ( A WCO QB in a Mike Martz deep passing scheme) he became a bad QB. Just like JP Losman, EJ. Shoot, EJ didn't even have the luxury of a QB coach in his first season in Buffalo, nor did he have a veteran QB to help show him the ropes. All he had was an OC who had never been an NFL OC previously. Talk about a ridiculously stupid way to develop a QB. To draft a rookie QB in the first round only to not give him the proper means to develop. He was supposed to sit for a season to develop and even that wouldn't have helped at all with nobody to teach him. EJ stated he learned far more from watching Kyle Orton prepare for a game than from any coaching. This new HC, GM, OC, and scouting dept should be able to determine a high caliber QB from the top six and then draft, develop him properly. This, for the first time in nearly a decade.

You guys want a running QB? So why draft one as RG3 is looking for work and for that matter so is Geno Smith, Colin Kaepernick...anyone? Anyone? Anyone else recalls what the Redskins gave up to move up to #2 to draft RG3... I think the entire reason the FO hired Deball was to move away from the running QB scheme to a more of a pocket passer. PLEASE, no more running QB's. BTW, the story on why RG3 no longer has a job in the NFL as a QB. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/dc-sports-bog/wp/2014/11/19/chris-cooley-rgiii-was-so-bad-i-cant-assess-the-rest-of-the-redskins-offense/?utm_term=.fb6baf15092c Griffin’s throwing motion “He’s short-arming the ball,” Cooley said. “He has bad technique, he’s not setting his feet right….He has the yips. He does have the yips, where the ball’s just not coming out of your hand right, so now you’ve aborted all technique, because you don’t have a feel for the ball coming out of your hand, and you’re getting this shot-put throw action. You’re aiming. He has the yips. He does. He just does.”

Last year Siemian started 10 games and won 5, he threw 12 TD's, 14 INTs...all with a QBR of 29.8. Why on gods green earth would this team want a QB that turns the ball over with that frequency? The Bills already have Peterman who could do that just as easily if that is what you are looking for. What made Tyrod Taylor so tolerable was his ability to not turn the ball over but then he would take chances in passing into tight windows either. I'd rather have Tyrod over Fitz, Siemien or any QB liken them that has that many turnovers. Hey, Geno Smith is out there and I'll bet he is cheap!

Welp, he just successfully killed any chance of any NFL team signing him... Geno Smith was once a second-round pick with promise, but he's been hurt by inaccuracy and an inability to grasp the mental part of the game. He still has potential at just 27, which is why I'm giving him two stars, but I don't have much hope for him. http://walterfootball.com/freeagents2018QB.php

Another mans garbage...

Mayock stated that he thought Wentz could be the next Andrew Luck and he had Wentz first overall. https://www.sbnation.com/nfl/2016/2/23/11100878/nfl-draft-2016-mike-mayock-carson-wentz-andrew-luck-jared-goff I can also recall Mayock banging the drum for Joe Flacco. Mayock was also smart enough to have Aaron Maybin tied for 5th best OLB that year and he had Orakpo, Cushing, and Matthews ahead of him. It's all a crapshoot really and so much depends on where a QB goes, who his coaches are that develop him and what kind of system is he placed in. The Bills drafted Trent Edwards a WCO QB out of Stanford and forced a Mike Martz deep passing scheme on him with clowns like Turk Schonert as his OC.

I could see Denver, Arizona if they miss out on the Captain Kirk sweepstakes.

Jackson does scare me with his hitting a big throw after a few bad throws. Reminds me of Geno Smith! Why on earth would the Bills want a lesser, more turnover version of Tyrod Taylor?

It is an issue that opposing QB's used to talk about it a lot and it also made trouble for kickers. It isn't always that way but on certain days you had better have a cannon for an arm or that ball is going sailing. I'm speaking from experience too because I had season tickets for a number of years and now my son has had some for the past 10 years.

The thing is Ralph Wilson had a choice to have his team in Miami or Buffalo and he chose us. He also had many offers to sell the team and move to different cities especially in difficult times and he said no! Jon Bon Jovi had heard RW wasn't that well in 2013 and wanted to buy the club then. RW said NO!. I'm not 100% sure but I think he left an edict with Brandon that after he passed away to not sell the team to anyone who had intentions of moving the team. The man had his faults but he also had great virtue and that was loyalty to Buffalo and the fans here. When the Buffalo Bills went to a super bowl the very frugal owner paid for every Buffalo Bills employee to attend...loyalty. The Buffalo Bills did win two AFL Championships before the merger and it could be the reason he didn't push harder to win a super bowl.

Haha, so true.Most of these talking heads have no clue. Let's hope this new Bills GM with new scouts knows their QB's. Thanks. Trust me, at first glance I was thinking "no way do I want the Bills to draft this kid" with his accuracy issues. Then after digging deeper and looking at his 2017 season and listening to his coach I've come around. I looked at the poor team he was on with a bad line and receivers that couldn't catch a cold. He would throw a rope right to them in the end zone and they would drop it. Don't get me wrong as he made a lot of bad plays too. I think that can be corrected with some proper coaching. He still might end up as a bust if he goes to Cleveland who will pound him into dust. In Buffalo, I think he could be another Kelly as he is a bit of a gunslinger and a big tough guy with a cannon for an arm. The Bills need a QB with an arm like his to cut through the swirling winds at new era stadium. He played at Wyoming so snow won't be an issue as it is with those California boys.

Ralph Wilson was a great owner in his own way. He loved the Buffalo fans and knew he had to keep ticket prices low so they could afford to go to NFL games in Buffalo. Wilson was a very shrewd businessman who was also a very frugal and cantankerous owner who needed to keep the Buffalo Bills profitable in order to retain ownership. There were times over the course of the team's history where Wilson was almost forced to sell all or part of the team or move the team like Browns owner Art Modell was forced to do. His close friend Al Davis was forced to sell part of the Raiders as were other owners. One of those times were in the late 70s in which the team couldn't have home preseason games because the team was so bad the fans wouldn't attend. 1976, (2-12).1977 (3-11) Bills fans wouldn't attend games and season ticket sales were at their lowest in the team's history. The team hadn't beaten the Miami Dolphins the entire decade of the 1970s. The Love canal, jobs leaving Buffalo as the steel mills shut down. The air was bad due to the mills, the weather. Buffalo was a tough place to live as even the national media would make fun of the city. Wilson was worried he would be forced to sell or move. In 1978, Wilson, a notoriously frugal owner went out and hired ex-Rams HC Chuck Knox and made him one of the highest paid coaches in the league. The team was in the playoffs within two seasons and the stands were filled again. After 1982 Wilson let Knox leave for Seattle where he soon took them to the playoffs. 1984, 1985 saw the team back to back 2-14 seasons and fans in the stands with bags on their heads and again Wilson was facing a desperate situation. Luckily, the Bills GM suffered an unfortunate injury was replaced by Bill Polian who prompted Wilson to make Jim Kelly the highest paid QB in the NFL at that time. The pendulum swung the other way and the fans were back in the seats. Sadly, in his later years, it seemed like Wilson was content with a mediocre team as long as it kept making a profit. After all, he had other hobbies like collecting fine art, racing horses and tennis. It looked like as long as the team was profitable and fans were in the seats there was no real incentive to hire the best and brightest coaches or build another winning program. Be grateful the franchise now has some new owners that are billionaires who are more concerned with winning over profitability.

My personal opinion is that there is another Carson Wentz in this year's draft and although he isn't a day one starter I think given quality development he would be ready by mid-season. I agree with Mel Kiper is the best QB in this years draft and Mayock has him listed as his #2 QB. This QB was even running the very same offense for the very same coach that coached Wentz in college. From that coach, “He is about impossible to tackle,” Bobo said. “He makes play after play with his legs and his arm. When he scrambles, he scrambles to throw the ball downfield, and I’m not talking about in the flat; I’m talking about deep shots, 40-, 45 plus-(yard) ropes to backside receivers. “Countless times over and over the last two years, this guy has made plays to win ballgames. He’s a truly, truly impressive kid.” “He’s been a great student of the game, he’s a great leader, and he’s the ultimate competitive guy,” Bohl said. “… Statistics aren’t everything. It’s how you lead, how you handle adversity, how you respond. And that kid? I’ve been very impressed with him this year.” https://www.coloradoan.com/story/sports/csu/football/2017/11/02/wyoming-qb-josh-allen-a-physical-specimen-csu-football-coach-says/825858001/

What I was referring to was Brandon owning up to anything that happened on the football operations side of things. In 2013 Brandon did take full control of the football operations and stated that Buddy Nix will still be in charge of the draft and football operations. However, Brandon stated he will have final say on decisions. It's that final say that we fans will never know about! He also stated, "This brand has been tarnished and it's unacceptable," Brandon said of a team that has had one winning season since its last playoff appearance in 1999 and went 16-32 under Gailey. "I will leave no stone unturned in taking this organization to a world-class level." Now, that never happened! Don't get me wrong here as I never wanted Brandon fired. I just wanted him to have no part in the football operations. He is a master at filling the stadium seats and was instrumental in moving the training camp to St John Fisher. Plus, he did some other good things for the team. Being the Buffalo Bills GM wasn't one of them and him having complete autonomy over the football side wasn't either.

Show me a link to this horse hockey as this couldn't be further from the truth. Russ Brandon never publicly owned up to anything, ever! He was a master of unaccountability otherwise known as the king of the eels, slippery and elusive. As a matter of fact, every time someone would post in this forum and blame the guy for even the slightest thing one of his shills would jump to his defense and state he never was involved in the football side of operations. Which of course, was a lie! I firmly believe Kirby when he states that Brandon never made any of the drafts picks himself. From what I understand usually it was a consensus with both the HC and chief scout (Tom Modrak) involved in the final choice. After Modrak was fired it was either Nix or Whaley and the HC. Still, Brandon had great influence over the football side of operations and with Rex Ryan, as HC it was let known that Brandon was in the Bills cut room meeting and on the phone to players. The simple fact is that although Brandon didn't make the final call on who to sign as a free agent or who to draft. His presence in his position kept the team from hiring an actual NFL GM who could attempt to right this ship in turbulent seas. Time to stop living in the past with a thoroughly dysfunctional mess that was the old Buffalo Bills pre 2017. Think of it, the 2014 Buffalo Bills field one of the very best defenses in their history (#4 ranked) with Jim Schwartz as DC and what do they do? Let Schwartz leave and hire a head coach that hadn't had a winning season for five years. That same Jim Schwartz was the DC for the 2017 super bowl champs defense (#4 ranked). Who hired Rex Ryan you ask? Why the Pegula's of course! Let's also not forget that Russ Brandon told the first time NFL owners "that they would know who to hire" after the interview process. Brandon also told the Pegula's to "not let Ryan leave the building". Be grateful that these new owners hired a good head coach and give him absolute power over the football side. That new HC hired a GM to help him. When the team fired Whaley they also fired all the scouts and hired new scouts. This NFL franchise should now be run like a real NFL franchise for the first time in over a decade and no longer a dysfunctional mess. We can't go back in time to change anything so let this stuff go and look to the future.

I wasn't faulting him for not wanting to play for Cleveland as I wouldn't want to either. Just pointing it out. Rosen isn't the first QB to say he won't play for a particular team. John Elway told Robert Irsay up front he would never play for the Colts if they drafted him. So what did the Colts do, they drafted him anyway. Elway said he would rather play baseball for the Yankees and he outright refused to play for the Colts which forced a trade. Jim Kelly chose to play for the USFL rather than play for Buffalo. Eli Manning told the Chargers he wouldn't play for them which forced a trade to NY. Kelly Stouffer was drafted by St Louis and refused to ply for them. Rich Gannon was drafted by the Patriots to be a RB and so he held out until they traded him. Bo Jackson refused to play for Tampa Bay. I'm sure I missed some as those are all I can think of atm.

I did link the article. But if one isn't enough then here is another from ESPN. http://www.espn.com/nfl/draft2018/story/_/id/21863509/josh-rosen-prefers-new-york-giants-cleveland-browns-hesitate-enter-draft-cleveland-commits-him The kid has warts, whats new. At this point, I'd prefer Mayfield, Allen, or Darnold. JMO

Rosen: It does sound like he has a burning desire to win and yet (UCLA 8-5 in 2015), (Rosen only played in 6 games in 2016), UCLA went 4-8, (2017 UCLA went 6-7). Rosen has publicly stated he would prefer to play for the NY Giants and not play for the Browns. Durability is a concern with two recent concussions and shoulder, hand injuries. He also has a reputation for being difficult to coach. Sounds like his classmates don't like him much either. Too many red flags for me at this point. The Combine and pro days may change this though. http://www.sportingnews.com/nfl/news/ucla-qb-josh-rosen-2018-nfl-draft-doesnt-want-to-play-for-browns-prefers-giants/10evc0o70y39g1qbnprje4myd8 No question the kid can spin a football.

I wouldn't be upset if the Bills took Mayfield, Allen or even Darold with his small hands. I like Josh Allen because of his size 6'5'' 233. After watching him in the Senior Bowl I was very impressed and he looked nothing like the QB the talking heads were saying about him with bad accuracy and no touch. In fact, he was the opposite in the second half of that game throwing with touch and into tight windows. The thing that helped make Jim Kelly so great was his toughness as Buffalo is a blue-collar town, we embraced him. Josh Allen reminds me of a young Kelly, Big Ben the way he was able to shed sackers and make plays with his arm. He might not be a day one starter but I feel a quality OC, QB coach could have this kid at a franchise level in no time.

I agree with all this. Just remember that Denver went 5-11 last year with a new defensive-minded head coach and they don't have nearly enough cap space to compete with the 5-11 Jets or the 0-16 Cleveland Browns. Far, far too much uncertainty in Denver in my view. Like I said, my first two choices would be Jacksonville if they choose to move on from Bortles or Minnesota and the Vikes would hold the sway due to who the OC is in Minn vs the Jags OC. I think Buffalo has an honest shot mostly because they made the playoffs last year with an actual winning record (albeit luck played a big part) Cousins is said to be a very bright guy who studies teams coaching staffs, rosters, and front office. Buffalo has a great RB in Shady McCoy and a stout run game that can help take pressure off a QB. I may be a bit Buffalo biased but Buffalo checks a lot of boxes and after hearing that if he signed here that the Bills FO would then spend all those early picks in improving the current roster All Cousins need do is watch that AFC playoff game between Buffalo and Jacksonville to see that the team is only a better quality QB away.

Some of you can complain about a hall of fame Buffalo Bills coach who was asked by the owner to help him out as GM for a time. But, I gotta tell you that the org was a dysfunctional mess before Levy became GM and it stayed that way until recently when the Pegula's hired McD. Thankfully! Whaley was nothing more than Russ Brandon's "yes man" and so was Buddy Nix. Neither was really qualified to be an NFL GM. Nix, a 70-year-old retired chief scout hired to be the Bills GM. Whaley was the Steelers pro personnel coordinator before becoming Bills GM. Whaley's claim to fame was an inadvertent email with porn he sent to a Steelers assistant coach that was forwarded to a large number of high-level NFL employees including the NFL commissioner Rodger Goodell. Tom Donahoe was fired by the Steelers after he lost a power struggle with Bill Cowher. So what does Bills owner Ralph Wilson do? He not only hires Donahoe to be GM but he also steps down as team president and promotes ole Tom to take his place as team president. Donahoe did pretty good in his first draft and then swung a trade with NE for Drew Bledsoe in his second offseason. Donahoe even had the right idea to build a better line to protect Bledsoe but then he showed his ineptitude that got him fired from Pittsburgh by drafting Mike Williams #4 overall who was a bust at LT. This when future all-pro Bryant McKinnie went #7 to the Vikings. This was the first nail in his coffin. Hiring first time HC Gregg Williams as was another nail as was first time HC Mike Mularkey. After the 2005 season, the Tom Donahoe experiment was over and Wilson was back as team president. You know the team is screwed up when the marketing guy is listed as the GM for three years from 2008 to 2010. Arron Maybin was drafted during that time...does he own that pick? Time to stop living in the past with a thoroughly dysfunctional mess that was the old Buffalo Bills pre 2017. Think of it, the 2014 Buffalo Bills field one of the very best defenses in their history (#4 ranked) with Jim Schwartz as DC and what do they do? Let Schwartz leave and hire a head coach that hadn't had a winning season for five years. That same Jim Schwartz was the DC for the 2017 super bowl champs defense (#4 ranked).

Direct TV was being such weenies to us after being a 15+year customer with no discount so we bailed to cable last year. I was also upset that they dropped the shortcuts that I could record and watch later on during the week when I had more time. I watched the red zone channel this past season and didn't miss the NFL package at all. Meanwhile, I saved a ton with spectrum as they gave us all the movie channels for free just for switching from DTV. Went from 5 Mbps to 70 Mbps internet speed and a landline all for around fifty dollars a month less. I'll never go back.

This sounds about right! Levy even stated that he left it to the Scouts and Jauron to have the final call on picks. I know why the team picked Whitner and that was to replace SS Lawyer Milloy who Levy thought was all about the money. However. McCargo was a big mystery as to why they traded back up into the first round for that bum. I think this speaks as to just how bad the Buffalo Bills scouting dept was back then. All I know is I hated Asst GM Tom Modrak for his draft selections. I get the impression that picks like McCargo was his idea. Modrak a former Steelers scout like Donahoe, Whaley who also worked for them. With such weird draft choices, I used to wonder if people in the Bills scouting dept were being paid by Robert Kraft too.

My take is Denver went 5-11 last in the division last year with a first-year defensive minded HC who was almost fired at the end of the season. Elway realized he had given him bad QB's to work with so I think he is giving him another year to see what happens with an upgrade at QB. Like Cleveland and the Jets, I feel Denver is more than a QB away from taking the AFC West as they face an improved Charger team 9-7, the Chiefs and the Raiders who just hired Gruden. Denver HC fired his OC Mike McCoy during the season (week 10)and replaced him with their QB coach in Bill Musgrave who is not an upgrade in my view. Denver has a decent receiver corps and but their offensive line is bad and their vaunted defense was 22nd in points allowed last year. (#3 in yards). I feel a quality QB like Cousins will want to know what he is stepping into when he goes to a team and Denver just has so much uncertainty.