TigerJ

What's this with a Chicago Tribune report that Jauron may hire John Shoop, Oakland QB coach and former Chicago OC, to be the new offensive coordinator? Jauron's going to get a bad reputation around the league if he hires people only to fire them a few days later because he decides he likes someone else.

Mario is a quintessential LDE. I should be equally comfortable in a 4-3 or a 3-4 allignment.

I was out of the country when the hiring of Jauron was announced and only heard about it yesterday. I approach it like I do most things. I can't do anything about it so I'll give him the benefit of the doubt until he proves to be the wrong choice, then I'll hope the Bills run him out of town. It's quite possible he'll succeed. I agree, spidey. Green Bay made the biggest bonehead hire for head coach of anyone. What were they thinking?

There has of course been talk about Alex Van Pelt. He would not be a bad choice.

Besides, Jim Bates, the last guy to serve as DC in Green Bay, is very good, and one would presume Mike Sherman would favor him as a guy he knows well.

Old imcompetent position coaches never die. They simply get recycled to other teams. Carl "The Mouth" Mauck, may he rest in peace, please!

When it comes to the draft, I guess everyone is an expert in his own mind. I freely admit that I form my opinions mostly by reading the opinions of other people on available athletes. I too am not urging the Bills to take D'Brick. It think the D-line deficiency is even more accute than that of the O-line. That's mostly my own opinion, based on the fact that Gandy really played pretty well all things considered. The fact that Buffalo was close to the worst in the league defending against the run after ranking near the top the year before speaks volumes. I think DT is the most accute need on the Bills, though I understand the rationale of hoping a monster like Mario Williams drops. Now on to D'Brick. He's had some minor injury issues I guess, but who hasn't. I don't think there is any comparison of D'Brick to Mike Williams. They are completely different players. One negative on Williams coming out of college was that he had played right tackle in college (which happened to be the blind side of the Texas QB). There are a few technique differences, the two positions essentially beibng mirror images of each other. You basically switch sides for eveerything you do. Whether the demands on Williams at RT in college were the same as for a LT is debatable. It depends on what defences did. If everyone switched sides so Williams always faced the other team's best pass rusher, it should not have been difficult for him to play LT. Obviously he never made the switch and it further became obvious that he was struggling some at RT. I don't know whether it was lack of dedication, lack of intelligence (he didn't have a superlative Wonderlic score), or just plain lack of talent. In any case he is a physical monster, hardly the lean type of tackle D'Brick is. D'Brick's forte is said to be pass blocking while Mike Williams was run blocking. D'Brick is supposed to have superior technique. Mike Williams was not a great technician but was supposed to have brute strength. I think the assertion that D'Brick is going to have trouble agains overpoweringly strong NFL defensive ends is weak. DE's in the 4-3 defense are typically in the 260-270 pound range. They mostly try to beat tackles with quickness and speed. D'Brick's alleged athleticism and quick feet should enable him to match up vs NFL speed rushers far better than Mike Williams, or Marcus McNeil for that matter. Three-four defenses typically have much bigger DEs, in the 300 lb. range. That's still not a whole lot bigger than D'Brick. Occasionally you'll run across a Reggie White (RIP) who combined phenomenal size and stength with quickness and speed. Virtually everyone struggles with a hall of famer like that. I don't see that as a reason to prefer McNeil, who will struggle versus small speed rushers like Dwight Freeney. I suspect D'Brick probably has a frame that can support another 20 lbs without losing quickness. If I didn't want the Bills to go defense in round one, I'd love for them to get their hands on him. In any case, I think D'Brick is a long shot to still be available by the time Buffalo picks, so the whole debate is probably moot.

This pretty much reflects my opinion on the subject. It's not going to happen.

There are lots of stories out there. Peter King is sure they'll hire the best available OC to be a head coach. I think what it comes down to is we'll know for sure when the Bills announce it.

Boy, you and I aren't on the same page.

You sure went to a lot of trouble for a joke.

Sounds like it was started as wishful thinking by someone who wants Houston to draft Vince Young because of the local connection.

It's an interesting idea, but Jim Kelly doesn't have to do much of anything, and certainly not this.

Buffalo has already re-signed Tory Woodbury (training camp last summer) and signed Craig Ochs who graduated from division 1AA Montana last year. That doesn't mean they couldn't draft another guy and bump someone they've already signed, but they're definitely not putting all their eggs in one basket. Way under the radar is right. I googled his name and came up empty. Usually you'd expect something to pop up in old high school records or something.

Either Wright or Kiwanuka from that group. Probably I'd lean toward Wright as a need pick.

I don't think TD is incompetent in the least. Every GM makes some good decisions and some bad decisions. There is no oracle that a GM can consult that will tell him if a decision he's about to make is a good one or a bad one. TD has made lots of decisions as GM of the Bills. He's had input from staff people at one Bills Drive, some of whom he has hired. A number of those decisions that have turned out to be wrong also turned out to be pretty important. The biggest was the hiring of Gregg Williams. Gregg Williams may yet turn out to be a decent head coach some day. I think it almost a no brainer that he'll get another shot. He just wasn't ready. The Gregg Williams era delayed the rebuilding of a winning tradition, and may ultimately cost Donahoe his job. There were other decisions that turned out ultimately to be bad. Acquiring Bledsoe was probably on balance a bad decisin, but there were good things about it. He was great for ticket sales when the Bills sorely needed a boost in that area. He probably was not as washed up as he appeared to be in Buffalo, the evidence being a better overall performance in Dallas. Buffalo, with its recent history of terrible offensive line play was not a good fit for the immobile one. Then there was the drafting of Mike Williams. It's difficult to say Donahoe should have known better. Williams was very well regarded coming out of college. What it amounts to is that there is a certain amount of luck that goes into being a successful GM, and Donahoe has had more bad than good. He has not helped himself with some unwise words about fans. Fans can be temperamental. They can be downright rude sometimes, but a GM needs to know that football is fan driven. If you don't at least appear to respect them, you are dead meat. Moreover, Donahoe appears to be just about as arrogant and controlling as his reputation suggests. His defensiveness has built something of a fortress mentality at OBD. I'm not suggesting that Donahoe should not be fired. Whether luck or skill, a GM must ultimately be accountable to the success of the team on the field or lack thereof, and the Bills have had far too little. On the other hand if Ralph Wilson chooses not to fire him, it doesn't, as some fans suggest, doom the team to mediocrity in the future. Donahoe's luck could turn around and the decisions he makes in the coming offseason could be just what the Bills need to turn things around. Moreover, Losman could be ready to blossom next season and embark on a multi-probowl career. I'm not predicting it. I'm not predicting it won't happen either. We just don't know.

In all seriousness, links to free online information about players at need oppositions for the Bills might be helpful.

Since the Bills crapped their pants I can't muster enough interest to visit an enemy board, especially the enemy board of a team that has only three wins. Granted, the Jets have more of an excuse than the Bills, going through QBs like they were disposable drinking cups, but I'm just not interested enough to make the effort. It's not fear, believe me.

The quote doesn't necessarily bother me. I think it is a little like when the QB gets a play from the sideline. If he looks across the line of scrimmage and sees that the play he has is just wrong for the defensive alignment, he can audible. If think the defense likewise is supposed to line up in a certain way, but as the play develops, instinct is expected to kick in so that the players adapt to changing circumstances.

By March 31st a fully accurate and guaranteed mock for those whom the Bills will draft. If it comes out one day late we wwon't be able to believe it, so it must be on time.

Joel Giambra would attempt to regionalize management to reduce duplication. He might suggest that Pittsburgh, Cleveland and Buffalo could have the same management team and scouting department. That way it would save money for the owners.

I haven't been able to watch a singe game, but that record is impressive. They still have to solve Ottawa though.

I'm puzzled by this hiring. Turner Gill was a running/option QB at Nebraska. He was in player development at Green Bay, whatever that is. Will he try to turn UB into an option offence? I'm not at all in favor of that. That may be a short term way to generate some success, since I don't think any schools in the MAC run it, but long term, I think the option has pretty much outlived its usefulness. Plus I think it does a disservice to any young players who might have pro aspirations. The option offence will not give them good preparation for the pro game. If Gill does not plan to run the option where did he gain the backbround to run anything else, or is he going to depend on assistants to do all of that rather than have input. I won't condemn the hiring outright, but it definitely leaves me feeling skeptical.

No.

In theory, if Buffalo had the sixth overall pick, and had a willing partner, they could trade down to the thirteenth spot and pick up a second round choice.