silvermike

If we were going to target those two positions, I'd say we should have taken Dustin Keller in the first and Eddie Royal in the 2nd,

I wish him all the best, but I think it's a longshot. And it's little consolation really, to Browns fans that they once had Belichick. Even if they had kept him on, he would have become the head coach of the Baltimore Ravens for his glory years.

I'd happily bring in Drew Willy if he's on the board in the 7th round. Match him with someone like Leftwich, and we'd at least have depth and hope at the QB position. I'm never opposed to bringing in a late-round QB with some upside, but I would never trust him to be a backup QB. That's what the 3rd QB slot is for. Someone to take a chance on.

I really think that the best way to build a good defense is to be consistent in a scheme, and that there is little intrinsic merit in the 3-4/4-3/Cover-2 debate beyond what best fits a certain set of players. If you're a reasonable GM and are in a scheme for 3 years, you should have talent that fits it best. However, there is something to be said for trying to go against the grain. Tampa won a Super Bowl, so there was a flurry of T2 teams over the course of the next few years, and the cost of the key players in it (rangy MLBs, penetrating DTs, superstar SSs, etc) went up. But before Tampa did it, they could pay just a little bit less for the guys at those positions, and have better average talent and more money to spend on the offense. The 3-4 worked similarly for the Patriots for a few years, but that ship has definitely sailed now. There was a point where those DE/LB tweeners that make such great pass rushers were heavily undervalued, and teams could scoop them up at a relative discount. Once the 3-4 got popular again in the past few years, Belichick has mostly had them playing a hybrid form that regularly switches from 4-3 to 3-4 and back. But the point of all this is you gotta be ahead of the curve; if you're not, and we're not, I'd say the best solution is to play a base defense and target the best players available. For what it's worth, Fewell's T-2 is not nearly as blitz-averse as the Indy/Tampa version. And the Creep Formation that we've seen a few times is actually a bit innovative. Our goal should be to worry less about scheme and more about talent, and hope that we have a coaching staff that can take advantage of it.

Late-round route runners seem to get a certain edge on top-15 speedsters every now and then. I'm for it.

Metz came before McKeller - he was traded her in 1985, then McKeller was drafted in 1987. Meaning Jay Riemersma is the only marginally competent tight end the Bills have picked up in now 22 seasons. And he had one season with over 50 catches or 500 yards.

The problem is that the Bills are constrained by the standard language of NFL contracts and the latest CBA. Peters can dishonor his contract, and the Bills' recourse is strictly limited by what the other owners agreed to (Ralph did vote against this, but probably not over this point). They can fine him a certain amount every day. That's it. Well, they can fire him, but they can't keep him from then getting another job. The holdout issue needs to be addressed, but the Bills can't win the war here. They need to get the league to adopt a solution.

The thing about being a Bills fan is that without any glimmer of success in a decade, all you have to go for is spite. It feels to most of us like the Bills won't be a playoff team next year anyway, so might as well be a losing team who gave the finger to some guy who was acting like a jerk than a losing team who accomodated some guy who was acting like a jerk. That's fine for fans to think; it's satisfying. It's when the front office acts that way that we find ourselves in such a long slide.

Here's the question I have about tight ends: Who's the best one we acquired since picking up McKeller 20 years ago?

Key factor here: The Bills played crummy teams. Against this schedule, yeah, maybe we could go 9-7/10-6 next year. But we don't have it again.

I agree that a late round QB should be a staple, but it shouldn't be anything you plan on working out. An injured starting QB means you need a veteran backup, not some longshot prospect.

Paradoxically, Kelly coming to the Bills in 1983 might have prevented the Bills Super Bowl run. A few more wins in 1984 means no Bruce Smith, and the defense never rises to the same heights. Maybe draw out the Stephenson or Bullough era, and then there's no Marv Levy.

A Kelly season in '97 would have been ugly. He would still have been better than the chumps we brought in, but not enough to make a playoff run. And by '98, he'd be lucky if he could still walk and talk at the same time.

Parrish might get a 4th. Trading the other two would be stupid.

Kelly had remarkably crummy stats in 1988. I was going to say something sarcastic until I looked: 59% completions and 15 TDs to 17 INTs. Total rating: 78.2. That'd be good for 28th place this year - between JaMarcus Russell and Kyle Orton. And while passer ratings were lower then, Kelly still only finished 13th. He had had, however, two top-ten seasons in '86 and '87, and rebounded in 1989. Still, though Kelly didn't get the big numbers until they hired him Ted Marchibroda. I wonder if a bigtime offensive coordinator would help Mr. Edwards?

Preston is an idiot, and he beat out Fowler, which goes to show something. Never mind the crummy blocking, how about his aborted snap and his time-running-out decision to start a fight.

yes, nothing is more disappointing than being consistently competitive for a decade, with a ring to show for it.

If you think about it, Metzelaars came aboard in 1985, and McKeller joined up in 1987. In the proceeding 21 years, the best tight end the Bills have acquired was Jay Riemersma. In twenty-one years.

Get a good center instead of the belligerent bead curtain we started at the end of last season. Watch in amazement as the guards start looking better. Then pray for Edwards and Hardy to show real improvement while Schouman and Fine, plus a new acquisition, ensure that Robert Royal has no place on this roster.

Also, there's this: Our offense will always be bad as long as Schonert and Jauron are in charge of it. I think Fewell could actually run a good defense.

There's a ton of talent out there at the mike position. Locking that up, and flanking the signee with Poz and Mitchell sounds like it would put us in great shape quickly. Add a little depth there, and that position is set - we'd be all right on defense except for the front line. That's where we need a true star, and that's where we'll need to go this draft.

I used to think our defense was pretty good, but I think their stats are inflated by this murderer's row of QBs: Matt Hasselbeck with no WRs, David Garrard, JaMarcus Russell, Marc Bulger, Kurt Warner (scorched us), Phil Rivers, Matt Cassell, Old Man Favre, Chode Pennington, Brady Quinn, Tyler Thigpen, Sean Hill, Jay Cutler (scorched us).

The bottom line seems to be that we don't get the most out of our players. We invest high draft picks in late bloomers, are unable to retain talent in their prime, pay players for their unproductive later years, and fail to take advantage of the skills of players on the roster. This is 100% a front office/coaching problem.

I'd say just about every team in the league is two great DEs away from being a top-5 defense.

Remember, the Bills declined even to tender an offer to Jimmy - he was an RFA. It would have cost us $972,000 to keep him this year.