Bob in STL

People -- What is going on with the Urbik love? Urbik is a developmental player. He was inactive for all 16 games last season. He is not going to step in and take anyones job. He is a backup depth player that has potential someday. Unless we get hit with injuries, that someday will be next year after he has a full training camp. He is not the second coming of Billy Shaw, or even Glenn Parker. Today, he is not better than Hangetner so there will be no moving of interior lineman to accomodate a place for him. Does it make sense that if we has that good, good enough to start, that Pittsburgh would have kept him?

Can you imagine if he takes the opening kickoff to the house on Sunday!!!!!

Good news whatever "very good camp" actually means. I saw all the preseason games and he looked ok. He did not make a lot a plays but he held his own. He is young and learning a difficult position. No way he makes more of an impact than Spiller this year. Maybe in a few years but I expect Troup will come along slow and steady, just like Pat Williams did. Spiller is much more likely to make a impact starting in game 1.

Little or no meaning? True, it means one win, just like winning in week 8 or week 16. No difference. However, this game means more because this is a division game. So in your "grand scheme" beating a division opponent should definitely mean more.

Com on now. I just learn to pronounce Joique Bell.

Trades are very rare. They were common in the 60s and early 70s but now they are rare. Salary cap and free agency have something to do with it but even before that teams tended to stay with their own players. Teams rarely ever trade within their division. I am sure there are more sophisticated methods than mass email to get the word out. Email is a crappy way to communicate. Picking up a phone and talking is much more effective as you can learn as you talk and you can develop relationships (network). Pretty much everyone in the business knows everyone else. Many coaches and FO people have served on several teams. There is a "good'ole boy" network just like in any other businesss. Final comment ... Sage Rosenthal was nothing but average or less. His availabilty was not a big deal to any of the teams. It was not like John Elway was on the tading block. If I were trading a player I would look for the best offer and not try to make some secret deal that was "good enough". I would also try to keep the media out of it, futher supporting one-on-one discussions.

Good point. I thought he looked promising and would like to see him on our PS.

Pils, this guy hasn't proven to be an NFL player yet. But at least we have something more than Cordaro Howard as a backup G/C. Just keep in mind neither of them have any real experience. Hope they both develop into something. BTW -- I lived in Germany in 1985 (called West Germany way back then) and the blonde in your avatar looks like a old flame of mine. (Cue up Bruce Springsteen: Glory Days).

Levi Brown - dumb thing to tweet. The internet leaves a stain. It never ceases to amaze how young people today use the internet to tell the world how they feel. I see people incriminate themselves in email all the time at work. I see it on Facebock, Twitter, etc.

Both guys are developmental projects. Surprised we have not signed Levi Brown yet.

Why do so many people care what these publications say? Are we all of a sudden that soft? What do you expect? The Pats* have been kicking our butts for 10 years. The Dolphins have been improving and made the playoff two years ago. The Jets made the AFC Championship game last year. Buffalo needs to win some damm football games and then people around the country will start to say "Hey, they are getting good". Until then whats the point in worrying about predictions? Worry about getting better players on the team instead. I love the Bills but our team is either weak or unproven in so many areas. Why is that hard to see?

The misses may not even be Modrak. Who says the Director of College Scouting picks the players in the draft? Modrak evaluates and recommends. We don't actaully know how many times Modrak has been blown off or listened too. From the time of Donahoe's departure until this year the draft was been lead by a committee consisting of Brandon-Levy-Jauron. Wilson is involved in the first pick. He likes to know what is going on and he wants the option to concur with it or direct otherwise. It is Ralph's team. Nix had a lot of say about last years draft and he clearly went on record in distancing himself from the Maybin pick. This year he had full control but with Ralph's presence you wonder if anyone ever really does. Given all of this I think it is impossibe to evaluate Modrak. He is well respected around the league and if Buffalo fired him he would get a job somewhere else for sure.

Nix upgraded the two positions in most need, G/C and TE. We now have a decent veteran backup at G/C and a TE that can block and help our OT's. Your idea that Nix would bring people in for show and then not sign them was childish. It show how far people will go to criticize. Guess you cash to cap theory was wrong. BTW - There is no cap and the Bills are below last years cap.

Because Clausen or McCoy or Pike or Lefevour or "fill in the blank" would have ended up in the same place as Levi Brown .. fourth on the depth chart. To make matters worse we would have used a roster spot to keep them. Next year we draft a QB.

Troy Smith is not an upgrade and by the time he learns enough to play the season is over. I think Brohm has more upside and I am not talking big upside here.

Ok. Now the Joique Bell fan club can live on in the spirit of Yonel Jourdain.

I don't care if these guys are even adequate or not .. we really needed more bodies at G/C and at TE. Now I can stop my rant.

It is hard to get inspired by your speech after reading all your negativity for months on end. To your credit you have been very consistent and you are one of the many unhappy die-hards. If you ever get a job leading people please remember it is more important to walk-the-walk than to talk-the-talk.

Pretty harsh stuff. I think we are better at QB, RB, LB, CB, and S than you do. Can't argue with TE, they are terrible. WR is better if Parish does something to contribute. DL could be better if Troup and Carrington develop or if Mc-Slug-go ever decides to contribute. I just hope we are a C on the OL, it could be a lot less if we have any injuries at all.

Do we really need 10 LBs and 6 safeties? ST is not the reason we kept them, we cannot possibly dress them all. In camp they had the equivilent of ~3 OLs. They decided that nearly all of the back ups were not good enough to keep. That in itself is a planning and a talent evaluation problem. I still do not buy that adding a veteran C/G is hard to do. Not saying the person has to be ready to play in one week or even in two weeks. This is a contingency move that will pay dividends as the season progresses. Recall the injuruies we had last year. We were forced to bring in several guards, Simmons and Incognito come to mind. They were thrown out there within a week of joining the team. I think we should bring in a veteran interior lineman now. This is just so basic and to hear fans justify and rationalize this roster amazes me, especially after what happend last year. How quickly we forget.

Thanks for that info. Facts are what we need here. I really hope they add some depth to OL and TE.

I know that we have lots of opinionated and excitable people here. We can all see that some stories take on a life of their own (examples: trade Lynch, Whitner's a bust; draft Lefevour; trade for Gaither, cut Kelsey, etc. ). So now you expect "accountability"? What do you want? Do you ant all the "Brohm haters" to line up and apoligize because he did in fact make the 3rd string? Actually, I find some of that stuff entertaining and I enjoy the passion of the fans. When I tire of it I stop reading it. What we need are less threads like this that dwell on the past, deal in "I told you so", and call people out. Like you, I too do not wish to be negative, just adding my opinion.

Hard to believe that. So we really go into the season with 3 back ups, two of which are rookies? Ho do you like this scenario? Hangartner gets hurt in the 1st quarter. Wood slides to center and Cordaro Howard takes over at RG. That scares me. I like the kid and he may develop inot a solid starter but I saw him play in preseason and he is not ready for prime time. What if Levitre or Wood get dinged next? Who plays left gaurd or center? You have Meredith or Wang, both of them are tackles. My lord I have to believe that there is a veteran C/G out there that can help us. Heck, even Chambers is availabe to back up G/T. No .... We really need a one veteran to backup C/G and a backup TE that can actually block somebody and help our tackles. I would settle for that. We have plenty of "QB projects" with Brohm and Levi Brown(expect Brown will make the PS).

Um. He is really good and Pro Bowl material. Now lets see him stay healthy and make the Pro Bowl. OK? Agree. If you are a college player you are probably better off being a UDFA than a 6-7 round pick. That way you can select which team you go to and you can pick the one that needs you the most. Cordaro Howard (UDFA) beat out Kyle Calloway (round 7) and it was not even close.

Finding a starter is unlikely, especially at the critical OT position. Teams do not cut staring caliber OT's. It will take weeks for the new player to learn the playbook and the system anyways. Best you can do right now is add depth.