Mikie2times

Pinning that colostomy bag on one player is like saying it was all Bledsoe’s fault

The Bills defense was 1st in the league in 2003 and 2004 in average yards per play. That statistic is a much better overall indicator of success then yards per game, but if you want to go by yards a game we ranked 2nd both years. From those numbers a logical assumption would be that the defense is pretty good, but as you pointed out the strength of your opponents does matter. So I visted FootballOutsiders.com Who created a ranking system that pretty much destroys every other in existence. It's so good in fact that a major media outlet in Fox adopted the rankings for it's power rankings. I'm not going to get into the details oh how exactly they do it because you can check out the link, but they do include a heavy adjustment for strength of schedule. According to them the Bills ranked 7th in 2003, and 1st in 2004 in total defense. So now we have actual facts that say our defense was pretty damn good those two years, and we have a ton of evidence to support that our defense is pretty awful this season. The DE's remained the same for both the good and bad defenses, while the DT's went from Adams and Pat, to Anderson and Bannon. Sounds a little more logical to me that it’s the DT’s.

Seriously

Seems pretty close to the team I would like to see assembled. Here are any changes I would make to the starters. WR- David Givens for PP LT- One of many candidates available in the First Round LG- Gandy C- LeCharles Bentley RT Peters DT Grady Jackson (Assuming we stick with the same defensive philosophy) Notes- Ngata is the guy I really want at DT in the draft, I would also like to see Allen replace Clements if we trade him or he walks. Ideally I would like to trade him to get back in the first round which you have us doing. Good Job

That’s not right, we would lose common opponent tiebreaker which comes before the conference tiebreaker in games played within the division. Essentially we need to win out and win the division tiebreaker, because we have no chance at the common game tiebreaker anymore.

Depending on how you look at it anything’s possible. Buffalo is either 2 games out of a division tie (only winning the tiebreaker if NE loses to Miami or the Jets, and the Bills beat Miami, Jets, and NE). Or One game out of the 5th pick in the draft. As of now the 5th pick has 3 losses, and going by the current draft order the Bills SOS is only more difficult then one team in the top 18 picks. That team is the Titans who have played a schedule .001 points more difficult then Buffalos. For those that don't know reverse strength of schedule is used to break draft order ties.

The difference between a 4.9 and a 4.53 is massive. The fastest players in the NFL run around 4.3's at the combine, which is about two tenths of a second faster then Watson. Peters is four tenths of a second slower then Watson, so take the difference between Watson and the fastest players in the league and multiply it by 2, and that’s the difference in speed from Peters to Watson. As for game speed that is the reason Peters can't play TE. The 40 measures straight line speed, which Peters does exceptionally well at for such a large man. But the 40 doesn't properly measure his football speed, which for a TE would be snail like. He doesn't have much agility, or acceleration, and doesn't move in and out of his cuts with any fluidness. That is of course measuring him against other TE's, for OL he fairs really well in all of these areas. They stopped giving the heaviest kid the ball around elementary school for good reason. If we did start him at TE he would be a slow glorified OL, with no good knees left from DB's cut tackling him. We already have a couple TE's that fill that role; the goal is to find one that can give us more then that (Everett PLEASE!!)

C- Its Teague’s last contact year and I would be surprised to see the Bills work out a deal to keep him. The Saints OL hasn't exactly been great this year but LeCharles has built a solid reputation, and is a player I really want the Bills to pursue. RG- CV is a solid player who's getting old, and it would be difficult to count on him much past next year. With Bentley at C, Preston can take the experience he got this year at RG and be groomed to replace CV after the 2006 season. LG- I'll gladly take Hutch but with Alexander not around to use up Seattle’s Franchise tag Hutchinson will probably get it. Gandy's most recent action before signing with the Bills was at LG in Chicago, and unlike some I feel like he has been one of the Bills best OL this year (I know, not saying much). I say we move Gandy over to LG, and explore LT options via the draft. LT- If PP has first round value so does Nate Clements. I'm not delusional about how much Nate means to the Bills, he is an outstanding player and top 5 NFL corner. The problem is a CB loses its value, just like many other positions will, when you’re getting killed in the trenches. Replace Nate with Will Allen, or Jerry Azumah, and trade him away for a 1st rounder we can use to address LT. RT- Peters has looked like a converted TE in his first few starts, but who really expected him to look much better then that at this point? The Bills already have a ton of holes to fill on both lines so hopefully by the end of the year Peters will show enough at RT that we don't need to find a replacement. DE- Back when this defense was among the best in the NFL the combination of Chris Kelsey, Ryan Denney, and Aaron Schobel led the charge at DE. Now when this defense is among the worst in the NFL a more experienced Chris Kelsey, Ryan Denney, and Aaron Schobel are again leading the charge at DE. The point is the high motor guys aren't killing us at DE. It wouldn't hurt the Bills to add talent at this spot but OL, and DT is a much more pressing matter. DT- If Grey's around we need a fat SOB to eat up blockers, Grady Jackson is not an elite DT, but he is a fat SOB that can eat up blockers. For his partner I make Haloti Ngata (Oregon’s DT) our first round pick. Jackson, Ngata, Anderson, and Edwards will certainly be more effective then what we have at this point. In just about every scenario I can come up with have Rookies, and FA's filling a big part of the equation. This rebuilding probably won't happen overnight, or be complete by 2006. That said we can still make the lines strong enough to not be such a glaring weakness, and hopefully start the foundation of good line play or years to come.

2006 Draft Order The top 4 spots seem like they will be filled by Houston, SF, the Jets, and GB. All four of those teams are really struggling, and all have 2 wins. After those teams it really is anybody guess right now. The Bills come in at #10, and as of now have played the easiest schedule out of the higher picking teams, that means all tiebreakers go to Buffalo. My guess is we end up anywhere from 5-13. Also note that Tennessee will be drafting very high likely giving us two top ten 3rd rounders.

Orton has been horrible; his QB rating is 62.5, that is even worse then JP's. Since they keep winning people think he is protecting the ball and letting the defense and ground game win, but he's not even doing that well. He's thrown 11 INT's, which is around the bottom of the league in that category. Grossman has already played in more games then Orton, and has shown more in the games he's played. You add a decent passing attack to that team and they're a legit threat to win the Super Bowl.

I know the record with Orton, but he is running a watered down offense and has basically not messed up enough to cost them games. That defense is phenomenal, and approaching the class of the great Baltimore defense years ago. Call me crazy for messing with chemistry, but Rex played well when he played, and can make all the throws. Put him in and have him run the same watered down offense. He's more capable and seasoned QB then Orton, and with that ground game, and defense, could make them NFC favorites.

Not counting the fumbles those two years Travis had were very solid, and same goes for Willis last year, and this year. I just think everybody from announcers to fans seem to place Willis in a category that’s too high for him yet. When you compare what he is and isn't able to do on the field his statistics aren't the only thing that is similar to Henry. Both are power players, who lack the speed and explosiveness to create. Neither one of the two posed a big threat on 3rd downs, and while McGahee is better then Travis at protecting the ball they both fumble. That nasty stiff arm Willis has gives him the edge over old school Travis, but it's not by much, and certainly not by as much as you would think.

I know a lot of it has to do with the line, that's why I compared him to Travis who played behind a very similar nightmare.

McGahee is a pretty good back, I just think his popularity at the U and injury built his star power more then production did. Back in 2002 and 2003 Travis put a couple good seasons together. He did fumble an insane amount of times, but in many other areas he was as productive or more productive then Willis. That’s not to say that Travis should be here or we should have never drafted Willis, I'm just comparing these players because of similar offensive lines, and because we seem to view the two players overall talents differently. We know now that Travis peaked out, and Willis is still getting better. If at some point Willis can regain his explosiveness to match his power I have no doubt he will become an elite player. It's just that right now he doesn't have that aspect in his game, and his yard per carry average reveals that. The line could certainly help Willis out but then again nobody was singing its praise when Travis played either. The Middle Column represents what McGahee's stats would be if he saw the amount of carries Travis had in 2002-2003. For receiving stats I based the middle column predictions on the average amount of receptions compared to rushes the players had. Willis McGahee (2004 and 2005)...Projected.............Travis Henry (2002 and 2003) 499 Rushes ............................. .656 Rushes.................656 Rushes 2023 Yards................................ 2657 Yards. ................2794 Yards 4.05 AVG................................... 4.05 AVG ...................4.25 AVG 17 TD. .......................................22TD......................... 23 TD 39 REC.......................................51 REC.......................71 REC 288 Yards....................................377 Yards.................. 467 Yards 0 TD........................................... 0 TD......................... 2 TD 5 FUM..........................................7 FUM.........................18 FUM

We win a low scoring game Carolina 13 Bills 17

Teams don't practice full contact at game speeds during the regular season. Offenses only face real game speeds in game situations, so even if you face a talented defense while scrimmaging that defense is really only going at 75%. Plus when you break it down the Bills run game, and run defense don't go full contact, so that in itself really lowers the ability to simulate the rushing attack. In the passing game the QB can't get hit so the line doesn't face the difficult blitz and stunts we see in games, and if they do, real pressure can't be simulated. The one area it can sometimes help is in line play. Individual players can work on techniques with the offensive lineman. If you got a lighting fast speed rusher it can really benefit your LT to see that speed in practice everyday. Then again that also depends on your players contributing to the team in these areas; TO aside most players have no problem doing this.

By design Nate is usually locked up one on one with the teams best WR. He is going to lose some battles under these circumstances. Elite corners get the most difficult assignments, and all of them fail on given plays or games. Nate has certainly had his fair share of miscues, but like I said before he is still the best CB we've had in 15 years or so. By reading this thread you would think he was some bum we can replace with a FA fill in. I bet he shuts Steve Smith down tomorrow.

I'm sticking with Ngata

When you think about the scenario you really start to appreciate just how much of a crap shoot the draft can be. We judge TD on his selections, but who knows how many other stars the Bills nailed down on the value board only to not be in a position to select them. I bet we take Ben at that spot, and from what we know at this moment I would take Ben over Lee, and JP. While it's true that the Steelers have a great running game if you've watched the Batch, and Maddox experience the last few weeks it's clear Ben is not just some play action scrub. He brings a different dimension to Pittsburgh and when he's on they can beat anybody in the NFL. That said we might have even more luck then Pittsburgh if JP Losman develops. He is more physically gifted then Ben, and in term of raw ability (running, passing strength, Mechanics) he looks like a top 5 guy. In addition Lee Evans will at the very least be an incredible #2, and possible #1 during his career, and has some of the best hands in the NFL.

No NFL team will allow one player to hijack them, and certainly not one that has a coach the caliber of Reid. Besides even if the NFL was like the NBA what evidence do we have that he will ever be satisfied with his coach, QB, and team? At first he was thrilled with McNabb, Reid, and the Eagles, just like he was with Garcia, Marucci, and the 49ers. It took a little while for his antics to show up in SF, but not so long with Baltimore, and Philadelphia. He simply has no track record of being happy for any length of time, and lately the length of time has dwindled down to days. Is a team supposed to fire the coach every two years at the expense of one player? Why have a GM if TO's around to make the decisions for you, what an arrogant POS.

Dude read the link Webster Guy provided, the evidence against TO is astounding, and the majority of it is toward Andy Reid, and the Eagles organization, not McNabb. Are you going to now claim that if Andy Reid truly wanted to win he was put his feelings aside and let TO play? You have to draw the line eventually.

Even if it was for entertainment the guy either completely lacks judgment or just doesn't care. I mean how the hell did he expect people to interpret his original comments? Most children don’t crave attention TO does, he’s a 4 year old boy who happens to be a hell of a receiver, and that’s what he will be the rest of his career.

This Nate Clements bashing is hilarious, the guy has ONE horrible game in basically his entire career for Buffalo and now he sucks. If ripping on Nate until the seasons over makes not retaining him easier for people to deal with then so be it, but he is still probably the best player on this team right now. According to this link Footbal Outsiders Buffalo is #4 in the league in shutting down a teams #1 WR. In the meantime Nate has done that while pretty much playing on an island all year. He's routinely shut down #1 WR's for several years, including completely dominating Chad Johnson last season. During his time with Buffalo many top WR's have called him one of the most difficult corners to face in the league, including one of the guys that this thread says will tear him up (Johnson). If Nate truly sucks I challenge you to name a better Bills corner in the last 15 years, and that’s saying something considering the Corners we've had. Winfield and Odoms are probably the leading contenders, and Nate probably sees a contract twice the size of Winfield’s while Odom’s disappeared after he left Buffalo. Nate is one of the best corners in the history of this franchise and this thread really goes to show how extereme people can act based on one game.

Owens, a wide receiver for the Philadelphia Eagles, started things off when his comments in the current issue of Playboy became public. In the article, he was asked whether he thought Garcia was gay. "Like my boy tells me: If it looks like a rat and smells like a rat, by golly, it is a rat." A day later he was furiously backspinning. "I didn't say that he was gay," Owens told reporters. "The conversation and the interview were loose. To my knowledge, I'm not sure if Jeff is gay or not. I've seen him out — he had a girlfriend when we were in San Fran. There's been a recent report that he has a girlfriend now. That was the extent of it. Everybody's going to make a big deal out of it. It wasn't like I came out and said 'Jeff was gay.' People asked me similar questions about Steve Young. Everybody is going to have their rumors."

Good post, I was also thinking about how much this ruling could help our situation with Willis. If nothing else it should bring Rosenhaus down a peg, and will probably keep him from doing anything to extreme for awhile.