Bob in STL

Understand the perception because there were a few times when we needed him to boom one and he did not. I recall he was frustrated by this as well. Punting in Buffalo is difficult, as is punting in the AFCE. There were only 6 other punters with more attempts. Both of these factors will adversely effect a punting average from scrimmage. If you look ONLY at punting average then yes, Moorman was near the bottom of the league. Then look at inside the 20, inside the 10, return yards, touchbacks, and fair cathces and he is ranked in the upper 25% in all categories. He still had great hang time, and there were no long returns or blocks on him. Just about every veteran on our defense (except Kyle Williams and Drayton Florence) has a worse year than Moorman. Look at Spiller and Evans on offense and you can talk about underwhelming performances. Throw in Trent Edwards, Marshawn Lynch, Cornell Green, and the entire cast of TE's.

Positives that I see for 2011-12: 1. Second year with the same coaching staff. This will help emensely, last year everythuing was new change from Jauron to Gailey and Co. 2. Last years rookies - I think Spiller and Troupe should really start to blossom. If we get improvement from David Nelson, Carrington and Moats that would be huge. 3. The defense should be better with the transition to 3-4 behind us. Wannestadt will help. Dareus will help. What needs to happen: 1. Development of last years rookies and a contribution from this years rookies. Easley and Batten could be a pleasant surprise too. 2. Fitz improving and learning to win the close ones. 3. The emergence of real leadership, not just talk, but leadership on the field and in practice. With very few exceptions I would like to rid the roster of the Jauron era players. Concern areas: 1. The OL should be better with Bell and Wood healthy. Nix and Gailey seem to like players such as Pears, Urbik and Wrotto. We need one of them to become a solid starter. I still see weakness and inexperience at OT. 2. Once again nothing at TE. 3. LB is still a concern especially if Merriman does not return to form.

Please. Moorman had an off year for him but to put him in the same ranking as Edwards, Green, Stroud and Maybin is not fair. Moorman is not going to get cut, these guys already have or soon will be (Maybin).

You will never have to deal with the stress of explaining it to her, don't worry.

The think the following five Bills had very good seasons: 1 - Kyle Williams 2 - Andy Levitre 3 - Stevie Johnson 4- Ryan Fitzpatrick 5 - Roscoe Parish - (cut short by injury)

Some good points but I do not see veterans at key positions. Look at the vets by position: QB - Fitz is a vet and the undisputed starter now. I think he had a good season last year and can get better but still not convinced he is the man to win the close games that you called "quality games". We have no reliable backup should Fitz go down. WR - Parrish is the only vet, he had his best season last year but is not a big difference maker. OL - Hangartner is a vet and he may not even start next season. The rest of the line has little experience but Wood and Levitre look like a great foundation to build on. Both tackle positions remain marginal. RB - good veteran experience with Freddy. Spiller needs to conbtribute something. TE - we have nothing here to speak of. DL - Stroud cut, other vets such as Edwards and johnson are not impact players at all. Kelsey is average at DE and poor at LB. Kyle Williams is the the only true veteran star on the team. LB - very weak unit last year. They added some interesting talent in the draft but more questions remain with Merriman and Poz and their string of injuries. DB - veterans Florence and Whitner could both be gone. Veteran McKelvin is not impressing anyone. Veteran McGee looks to be slowing down. Veterans Wilson and Scott are good as back ups. No wonder we drafted 3 DBs? I am not seeing any reason to increase the rankings based on an overall poor cast of veteran talent on this team. I think the biggest area you will see improvement from is the stability in the coaching staff and the improved game planning from Chan and hopefully from Wannestadt. Still, until they win the "quality games" they are not going to move up in the rankings. BTW - I don't put any stock into these rankings. As Buddy and Chan say, you are what your record says you are.

They drafted 3rd base on their past record. Why does 28 and 31 sound wrong? Speculating on our draft is not proof of anything. What have they done to show otherwise?

Yuo are too lenient. Try this: A: Probowl player B: Contributor Solid Starter C: Contributor D: Played for a few years and bottomed out D: Had potential, but something happened F: Never accomplished anything

Ranked in order: 1) Levitre '09 G - B+ good player that will get better. 2) Byrd '09 S - C+ great rookie season, last season was dissappointing, seemed to play very deep and was not a factor. Jury still out. 3) Posluszny - '07 LB - C+, OK MLB, injury riddled. 4) Parrish - '05 WR/PR - C+ good punt returner, decent receiver, potential to be better if they use him like they did last year. 5) Kelsey - '03 DE - C OK defensive end, average player when not at LB. 6) J. Reed - '02 WR - C OK third receiver, good blocker but had trouble with drops for awhile, expected more production. 7) Denney - '02 DE - C serviceable backup and rotation player. 8) Hardy - '08 WR - F we were looking for a big receiver and we found a a bad football player instead. Average score = C- , only 4 legitimate starters (Levitre, Byrd, Poz, and maybe Kelsey). Overall - many below average players as a whole from the #2 spot when i would hope for an average score of B; fewer busts than the #1 picks. Another reason this team has been losing. rouns 1, 2 and 3 have been mostly horrible for along time. As noted, lots of better players passed over, even at the same position we were drafting from. This is were I have a problem with Modrak since his job was to grade them.

I doubt he could make the team after a year off. He is simply not into playing and putting in the work that it takes.

Great post and you hit on something that I have been harping on for years with this team. You cannot have a surplus of leadership because real leadership is not about rank or control. Real leaders inspire by the way they conduct themselves and go about their business. In sports, leaders are the few that refuse to lose and cannot make peace with not being the best they can be. True leaders make others better. They make the sum greater than the parts. Leaders step up and make plays at crucial times. They want the ball. They set high expectations and those expectations become the way the organization conducts itself. It becomes a belief. We will win on Sunday. Because we expect to win on Sunday we will prepare to win on Sunday. Looks like we are starting to draft players that fit that description. I hope so. Do not confuse leadership with talking and fancy speeches. Leaders do not have to talk a big story, or tweet, or make videos. Leaders make the big plays that count. They work harder than the others and this forces everyone around them to work harder and step up. In the Polian/Levy/Butler years we had lots of players like this.

Brandon runs the business side which includes marketing, league committees, and administrative. The CEO title implies he is responsible for the books and for meeting costs and earnings projections. This is a business and it is run like a business. Nix runs the football side which includes player personnel and coaches. Nix has full reign here. He is responsible for putting a quality product on the field and winning games. The only part in question is who sets the budget ... as in the dollar amount paid to players, coaches, facilities and other staff? I still think Ralph still has final say in this capacity. Someone has to decide what the payroll looks like. Given this is true, Ralph has control of both Brandon and Nix and thus ultimate control of the team. This should not surprise anyone.

I would have put #42 Butch Byrd ahead of #24 Booker Edgerson. I put them both ahead of Robert James who only played a few season of football. All were great players no doubt.

I think Hansen was a very, very good Bill but the Wall should be reserved for the great ones. There are several on the Wall that I question. Bennett defintely should be on it. Lou Saban should be the next on it.

I never heard or read anything where Nix said he has offered a #1 next year. If he was and didn't take it then he just might have blown our chances of getting a "franchise QB" next year. Having two first rounders would help immensely. Am I ok to stand pat at that spot and draft a corner? I don't know what the offers were. I heard that the Bills had first round grades on Williams and maybe they did not have them on any other remaining players? I do not have a problem drafting a corner, a critical position in todays NFL, but I would prefer to trade down and stockpile some picks. As for Nix and his comments about so many offers to trade. How come the past GMs claimed they could not get offers to trade down and all of a sudden Nix is getting 15 calls per round? I simply don't believe any of the pre or post draft rhetoric.

Modrak may have just run his course as all people do in the NFL but does anyone think it odd that the majority of the players drafted were scouted by Nix and coached by Gaily at the Senior Bowl? Ok, on average the best players come from the South and Gailey coached the South but still Modrak and his cronies had 12 months to scout the entire country and Nix selected a large number of players that he and Chan looked at first hand. Makes me think they did not like Modrak's work in comparision to what they did in a few short weeks at Senior Bowl. BTW - now is the best time to make the change as they new year starts for scouting next years draft.

Yes, Like Ralph did with Donahoe and Modrak.

Aaron Williams? Don't you think you should at least see him play a game?

Worst: 1. Maybin - zero production 2. McCargo - a handfull of tackles one season, otherwise zero production 3. Hardy - 1 TD reception, otherwise zero production 4. Mike Williams - started ok and then got lazy 5. Losman - we reached to get him in the first round.

Wood, Levitre, Byrd, McGee, Butler, Stevie Johnson, ...???....

1985 and I don't even have to look it up.

When does the UDFA season start and what is keeping the Pats* and Cowboys from cheating right now?

Bucky Brooks was a bust. They say it takes on to know one.

Bad draft. D+ is my grade. You cannot blow the first 3 rounds like this. First rounder McKelvin is inconsistent at CB and as a return man. not a natural player. Picks 2 (Hardy) and 3 (Ellis) gave us zero production. Horrible. Pick 4 - Corner has been a good backup and a decent nickel back. Pick 4 - Fine -injured and whatever talent he had never emerged Pcik 5 - Bowen - Injured and never got a shot Pick 6 Omon - why did we pick him? Pick 7 - Bell - Great developmental pick that looks like a servicable LT, not great at run blocking but when healthy is a good pass blocker. Can improve with time Pick 7 - Johnson - Great pick. After sitting on the bench for a few years he looks to be a solid #2 WR. Pilc 7 - Cox - did nothing.

TE, OL, OLB and don't forget to sign more DBs.