Gray Beard

Ali and Kareem were before 9/11. That was a game changer. Maybe not justified, but it makes a difference on perceptions. My father in law was drafted twice in the 1950s and 1960s. Ask him what he thinks of Ali, and then stand back. He gets pretty upset and animated for a guy in his late 70s.

No, of course it doesn't hurt to take a look. I was being facetious. I am upbeat that they are also looking at a LB and a WR. They are looking for talent in areas where many people feel there are needs.

An offensive lineman with back issues. Who am I to ask what they are thinking?

Good to know. Thanks for the info.

Marcellus Wiley. Now I'm depressed. I always liked him.

A quote from Merriman: "I have been advised that it would be in my best interest to undergo surgery as soon as possible in order to prevent a major injury" Based on this, I would say you are correct, he did not blow out the tendon, and I would assume that he would be able to rehab in a year or less. This is good news in my opinion, because I think he played pretty well for the first few games of the season. I think he knew the difference between when to rush in for the sack or tackle for lost yards, and when it makes sense to stay in position and hold the edge. That comes with experience, and experience will be important for helping the rookie that should be drafted this spring to take over for Merriman in the future.

Since Spiller is not a big, every-down guy, and Choice hasn't been terribly impressive, and Fred is 30 years old and coming off an injury, I think they may decide to go after another big back in the draft or as a UDFA just to be safe. I hope they wait until later in the draft (or after the draft) to do it, because there are other positions of need that should be addressed with the first several rounds of the draft. I am also curious what went wrong with Johnny White. He was drafted in the Nix/Gailey era, but they never use him. Is he a disappointment, or are the coaches just too set in their ways to give the new guy a chance?

Both last year and this year, whenever anyone subbed in for Fitz, the sack fest began. Fitz is well practiced at getting the ball out quickly, and a sub just doesn't understand how critical it is to get the ball out quickly. With practice a sub could probably learn to get rid of the ball quickly, but so far nobody has been in that position long enough to learn. Fitz has time to make one or two reads, and then he throws the ball. Most of the time I think he goes with his first read. He is also called a gunslinger because he throws into tight coverage so often. I think that is because he doesn't have the luxury to wait and be sure that somebody is open, he just throws the ball and hopes for the best. Fitz is also reluctant to throw it away, which actually leads to sacks and interceptions that a quarterback with a different mindset might be able to avoid. He is also rolling out more which keeps the play alive, but his accuracy suffers (that's a scary thought) when he tries to throw on the run. I am mostly talking about Fitz adapting to life with limited time in the pocket, but I also believe that the O-line has been better this year. If one or two more reliable guys can be added for depth, the O-line will become pretty darn good. I also think the run blocking has been much better this year.

My only concern is that sometimes a blown achilles tendon can take two years for a complete rehab. He may be able to play after one year, but he won't be comfortable or full strength until the second year. I think that was the case with Takeo Spikes, and everyone thought he was done. I have a coworker who blew out his achilles, and he was in a cast/brace for months, and then was limping around for several months after that. My coworker was almost twice Merriman's age, but the long rehab situation may be something to think about before putting a fork in him. He may, just may, come back and be effective a year or so after you write him off.

When Fred got hurt, the Bills lost their big, powerful every down back. I think it would be interesting to see how the statistics work before and after Fred was hurt. The Jets have some big backs that can pound out first downs pretty well. The Giants also did until recently, but I think their backs are running out of gas. I have a gut feel that Chan was too pass wacky even before Fred was hurt, and after Fred was hurt he had a built in excuse because Spiller and Choice are not big bruisers. They would go pass wacky as soon as they were down by any margin, which often created 3-and-outs, which just compounds an already bad situation. What scares me is that I can almost see the Bills going after a big bruiser of a back (Richardson) because they may believe that they can't pound out the yardage with the players that are currently on the roster. Using McIntyre to open up holes might help, but Chan is reluctant to do that, and having two backs work together to create and then go through a hole without the defense figuring it out and stopping it is a little more complicated to pull off.

+1

They may feel that they don't need Brady to beat the Bills. This isn't the same Bills team that beat them in week 3. Rest him for the playoffs.

There have been a few people who claim that other team's second stringers are better than Fitz, and many of those people consider Fitz to be second string talent. I don't see how gambling on somebody else's second stringer is a better plan. The one downside to drafting somebody and waiting to see how he works out is the risk that if he doesn't work out, then you have to start over. Kind of like Brian Brohm. He was drafted in the second round by Green Bay, but after two years in the league it was determined that he wasn't going to work out. That's why Brohm is in the UFL, and Chan went out and got Thigpen as a safety net, but from what I can see Thigpen is not even a good emergency back-up to Fitz.

Oh man. You make some good points. I went from thinking that this was a no-brainer to being seriously concerned that this will drag on until some other team makes a better offer. If they play hardball and refuse to go over $6M, Stevie will be gone and then they will be looking for two starting caliber receivers instead of just one as they are now. This reminds me of one of those boot camp or prison movies. Dig a hole, fill it in, dig it again. Like Cool Hand Luke. Or maybe it's just Sgt. Carter and Gomer Pyle.

I'm genuinely curious. Maybe I should start a new thread. Where does the next QB come from? In my opinion, Fitz is making average QB pay, and he is an average QB. What is the scenario for dumping Fitz and getting a different QB. - Trade 2 years worth of picks to move up in the draft? (ain't gonna happen) - Go after a FA with $20M a year instead of $10M a year for Fitz? (ain't gonna happen) - Pick somebody with potential in the 2nd, 3rd or 4th round? (I like this approach, and keep Fitz for a year or two to see how things work out. But that involves keeping Fitz for a few more years, which is apparently unacceptable to many people.) There are many people who constantly beat the drum that Fitz is terrible and the team needs a new QB, but nobody seems to be able to explain how that happens.

I feel pretty good about this. I was under the impression he wanted $9M. This is a no-brainer. I refuse to believe that OBD could mess this up.

and let's see if the draft of 2012 is as good as the draft of 2011.

There was a whole thread that covered it pretty well on this forum already. Many people have noticed, and most are upset/disgusted. linky

Agree 100%. I also think those segments with Gruden one-on-one with a quarterback are awful. I keep thinking that the QB must want to just get up and leave. It's a rite of passage or something. You are the QB on MNF, you have to put up with a one-on-one with Gruden. I change the channel and wait for it to be over.

"Hey rookie, you get to cover Wes Welker this week." You have to be competitive and confident to play in the NFL. If it was me, I would be sick to my stomach just thinking about it. I wish him well if that match-up happens, but it's almost a win-win no matter what happens. If Welker schools him, that wouldn't be a big surprise, it will be a learning experience, and not too many people would hold it against him. If he holds his own, people will be impressed and he will get more respect going forward. I'll be watching to see if that turns out to be the match-up, and I'll certainly be rooting for the rookie.

Pay him like a Fitzpatrick, but not a Fitzgerald. I like it!

Man. Read the comments at the end of that article. People are real jerks. I thought he was popular and appreciated. I guess I was wrong based on those comments. I hope he comes back, and I would pay a little extra for him in spite of his lack of size, lack of breakaway speed, lack of maturity, and propensity to drop key passes. Letting him go and creating yet another hole to fill seems like a bad idea. I guess I come from the school of "the devil you know is better than the devil you don't know."

I've looked at all the press releases and injury reports, and I can't find any explanation for putting Rayner on IR. Is it just a technicality since it is the last game and they want to try somebody new? It seems like a lot of hassle for the sake of a different kicker in a meaningless game. I hope at some point there is some additional information out there somewhere to explain this.

If he actually uses a fullback then that is one more thing he does better than Chan. (Chan not using the fullback is one of my personal pet peeves)

Hopeful you are right on the money, as usual. I could not have said this any better. The cronies as coaches and old favorites as players who end up getting preferential treatment are undermining the development of many of the guys who seem like they have more potential and are deserving of significant playing time. Dumping Levi Brown in favor of Thigpen is one of the most frustrating moves that Chan has made. Levi Brown may or may not have had the ability to be a great QB, but he was at least as good as Thigpen (actually, I think he looked much better against the scrubs in the second halfs of some preseason games). I assume that move was done strictly because Chan felt that he wouldn't have to explain his system to Thigpen, but I feel they dodged a bullet by never having to put Thigpen in when the game actually meant something.