Bob in STL

Or drafting McCoy, or trading for Gaither, or any of the many great ideas that spawn on TSW.

I am from Buffalo. Grew up there. Went to college in Rochester (kind of a boring town). Live in St. Louis now which is a very nice town. Been a bunch of places in between. Still LOVE Buffalo.

Stupar - not that impresssive. Best we have, but not much. WRs - Chan called them out last week and for good reason. Still need a number 2. That person is not on the roster. I think Troup was a reason that our first string defense had no penetration or run stuffing. Good looking rookie alright but he is a step down from Kyle Williams at this point.

Thank you for the pictures of my favorite city. I was there for one week this summer. Besides visiting friends and family I went to the Taste of Buffalo, partied at Sunset Bay, toured Grey Cliff (Frank Lloyd Wright), visited Albright Knox Art Museum, hung out on Elmwood Ave (Lunch at Panos), went to Lewiston Art Park (saw an awesome Derek Trucks concert for free), and also went to the Italian Festival on Hertel. Had a great time and will be back for the home opener.

Every LB or DE better be able to play the run first. If not they will play 1 down in 4. If you think it is wise to use pick #11 of the entire draft on that then so be it.

I don't know why Kyle Williams was out but we sure missed him. Andra Davis looks good against the run and really bad against the pass. Ellis, Maybin, Kelsey - someone has to get to the QB. Torbor looked OK until he got hurt.

If they cut Green that makes Meredith the RT. Our backups will be Wang and Chambers. Please God no. Not again.

I do not say things automatically. I have seen all of the games and recorded the first two. I will watch the third game on Monday (again), and record it. Maybin plays as a situational pass rusher with the first string. In the second half he has been playing almost the entire half and it truly is against a large majorityt of 3rd and 4th teamers. He has not put any pressure on the QB while playing against a first sting LT, that includes rookie LT Trent Williams. He did pressure the Cinci backup (O'Sullivan) at the very end of the first half yesterday, causing an intentional grounding. He has showed some promise as a pass rusher in the second half of each game, he had some nice moves yesterday. His play against the run has been shoddy. He does not hold the point of attack very well. I am not trying to blast him. We need him to develop and I hope he does. I still wonder why we took a project like him with so many good players on the draft board that year?

Brohm has a good showing in game 2. For that reason I think he gets a long look in game 4. Next game you will see Edwards in the first quarter (2 - 3 series), Fitz in the second quarter, Brohm in the third and maybe Levi in the fourth. If Brohm plays well in game 4 then he sticks as the #3 QB and Levi goes to the PS. For that reason you may not see much of Levi at all. No sense in letting other teams see him. Kelly, I think we have to match the offer AND move him to the 53 man roster.

I don't think Green even played in the first game. He played only a limited amount in the second. He played yesterday and after a bad start he held up ok. Number 68 on Cinci was schooling him for awhile. Our tackles are below par and the offensive play calling is going to have to compensate for that. Sad thing is Green is still way better than Chambers. Meredith has not challenged Green for the job as of yet. It is what it is unfortunately.

You made two more great points. 1. If we can start the top 5 offensive linemen each week we will be so much better off (same for all teams). They may not be great but they will get better as a unit just by playing together. We are already seeing fewer mistakes. Still a long way to go. This is our biggest area of concern on offense. Not Edwards, it is the OL. 2. Spiller. He might become a special player, one that makes others around him better. A small hole and he could turn it into a big gain. He gets outside and in open field and DBs fill their drawers.

Right on. Pre-season or not, you can see a more evolved approach to running a team. Again, i am talking about adjustments that are made in real-time. It has been a shamefully long time since we have had a staff that can do that. Fair enough. Real games will tell the story. I think we might be pleased with the product as time goes on. This team needs to stay healthy, and if they do I think we can win anywhere from seven to nine games and be competitive every week. Injuries will be a difficult to overcome as we have very little quality depth (except at DB and RB).

Too funny. Give him a math lesson next.

In the first half our Defense did not pressure Palmer at all. Maybin plays on passing downs and he was not a factor. He had a good game against the scrubs in the second half. That tells us where his development is. I see improvement and skill but he is still a project IMO.

Seems like everyone has started with a clean slate and he is trying to use the talent he has. Novel idea.

I like Mankins and I like Wood. BUT. What has Wood done to be annointed the next center? Hangartner is playing fine. Wood has to get his game back. Why change two starting positions at this time. What inside info do you have that says Wood would be an improvement at this tme? If we could make such a trade lets shore up the tackle position instead. This just in .... We have very little experience, skill, and depth at OT. Why would be trade a high quality RB to New England anyway?

Never heard of Williamson but he shows his incompetence. Yes, Mr. Williamson -- trade a Pro Bowl player to "teach him a lesson". Great idea.

One of the most disturbing and frustrating things about the Jauron era was the apparent lack of ability to adjust. Whether is was the first half or the second, it seemed liked we never had a Plan B. Some of our players and even some opponents have alluded to this issue as well. Here are some quotes from yesterdays game that mmake me hopeful that our new coach can do a better job in this area: 1. About the offense: "They were playing the run very hard to start with," Gailey said. "After we saw that, we figured we had to throw it a bunch to soften them up a little bit, and I thought we were able to do that." 2. About the defense: "They're still a work in progress," Gailey said, "like the offense is a work in progress and special teams are a work in progress. We've got a lot to get better at, everywhere. We did some good things, and we've got to make adjustments quicker and faster."

I guess he was not a "players coach" to everyone.

You cannot just dismiss QBs from the first round just because of risk. Risk is always a factor and there are busts at all positions. QB is the toughest position to draft but do not exclude round one or you may miss out on the next Peyton Manning. Remember Elway, Kelly, Marino, ...

Sure does. I hope your right.

If I was picking a team from scratch Bobby April would be my ST Coach.

1. The QB 2. The entire OL 3. The LBs

Well you named about 7 excellent linemen from the good old days and today we have 3 that are a work-in-progress and a bunch of retreads. It doesn't cost anything to be hopeful. I don't know why you think Bell has more upside than Ken Jones had? If he is simply just as good then I am happy. Wolford was drafted in the first round by Polian to be the LT. His first year he played at guard for grooming, a luxury our neglected OL does not have.

The Pats* are a veteran team and they will be ready to roll. It will be their ofense that carries them. The Jets and Phins are still young teams and both have question marks. The Phins will not surprise anyone. They are not that good. The Jets are interesting. Lots of talent but a sophomore QB that is still learning. They have some weaknesses, their own hype being at the top of the list. I think we can hang with all the teams in our division if we get good play out of the OL and if our defensive front 7 can actually play the 3-4. As usual, it is in the trenches were we could be outmanned.