dave mcbride

Jeff George is a ridiculous comparison. Seriously, stop with that.

Not even close. Rosen is genuinely smart, and his father is a surgeon. Jeff George got a 10 (not a misprint) on the Wonderlic.

Rosen is majoring in economics and wants to eventually get an MBA. I could see him staying in.

But that's not really the point. One may think that this team is as poor as Levy/Jauron (although obviously the jury is out), but I'm talking about structure and approach. The coach is in the driver's seat.

I don't think situation compares all that much with any of the previous regimes even if the results end up being similar. The reason for this is simple: the head coach hired the GM. This is a new-ish trend in the NFL, and the Bills are at the forefront of it (I'm excluding Bill Parcells and his disciples here). If you're going to compare the Bills with other organizations, look to teams like SF, KC, and (less recently) Seattle -- places where the coach runs the show and not the GM. For the first time in modern Bills' history, we have a situation where the coach is truly in charge. The previous two Bills coaches weren't in charge but wanted to be, and the results in terms of how people worked together were ugly. I have no idea whether this approach will work. Pete Carroll and Bill Belichick are both phenomenal at what they do, although they go about it differently. Same goes for Parcells and Coughlin (like Belichick, a grad of Parcells University). I have little expectation that McDermott will measure up to these guys, but one never knows. In any event, comparing them to Levy/Jauron or Donohoe/Williams seems to be missing the bigger picture. Again, the results may end up being the same, but it's a very different organizational structure than what we as Bills fans are used to.

AJ Green is the primary reason why Dalton looks competent and a significant reason why the Bengals almost always make the playoffs (even if they do unbelievably boneheaded things in their losses). Green is the difference maker on that team -- he is THAT good. Without him, the Bengals are a sub-.500 team.

Probably just Quan being Quan. Remember this???

Randy Moss had what should have been the game winning catch in February 2008. And even on the Pats very final possession, he cleanly (and shockingly) beat the guy covering him for what would have been an 80 yard TD pass if Brady hadn't underthrown him. So, no.

Don't be so sure it'll be "early." They were 15th in defensive DVOA last season and 7th the year before. They are talented on D, and they now have one of the best DCs ever (Philips). They have also undergone a massive upgrade on offense with Watkins/Woods. Gurley, despite his stats last season, is one of the best pure RBs in the league. It all depends on whether Goff takes the next step, but Goff, who did not impress last year, has real talent.

I recommend not arguing with him.

They are NOT out of shape. Sheesh.

+1.

He basically produced exactly like jordan matthews (both were drafted within two picks of each other): good number of catches, low ypc. But the Giants are fine with that because they actually possess another receiver who can beat people over the top. Bob Woods is a similar comp and was also drafted at almost exactly the same spot. All are solid possession receivers who fill importanr roles provided they play across from a number 1. Woods and Shepherd have that now in Watkins and OBJ.

I took "better shape" to mean "better football shape," which is a whole different thing. Watkins is cut like a greek god at present, but in terms of on-field reps and hitting, I can see him being a little behind.

Early second rounder, actually.

Donohoe willingly dumped big Ted for being too fat, based on the rec of his noob coach who was wedded to a system. Tomlin wasn't given free reign, as far as I recall, and he didn't essenetially hire his own gm. That's the situation we have in Buffalo. -- McDermott HIRED the GM. That aimply can't be compared to the Steelers' situation. I actually think McDermott has potential, but the way he has started on the personnel front has me concerned. I have seen this show too many times before.

Yup!. People miss the fact that we're going to have a lousier entertainment product this year. "Wait 'til next year" is a meaningless (and indeed pernicious) philosophy w/regard to this organization. I always joke that if the Bills win the SB, I will never have to watch another sporting event again in my lifetime (and I'm not even really joking). Of course, I fully expect to hooked up to a respirator in 2050 watching them lose to the Jets and complaining on a message board about some stupid trade the team made.

Call me crazy, but I'd say the shameful refereeing was far more impactful in that Dolphins' game.

AZ will go with Drew Stanton over a guy who doesn't know the offense (AZ's scheme is very from Buffalo's). Flacco's back going out is unlikely, but if it does, yes, he might fit. But then the Bills won't have a quarterback.

That could happen, but it's highly unlikely. Also, the closer you get to the season, the less viable this solution is. If Philip Rivers goes down, I could see trading for Tyrod. But that's really the only viable possibility, at least in my opinion.

yes, and they signed a guy who knows the system inside and out. They didn't have to give up anything except for money either.

I'm not saying it's going to happen, but it is the case that seemingly every year some undertalented team gets off to a fast start (e.g., the Bills in 2007 and 2011). Then the talent problem emerges. Teams figure out what to take away, and said teams go 2-6 the rest of the way because they have players that can't overcome gameplanning that targets their deficiencies. Again, this seems to happen every goddamn year.

The Vikings starting QB suffered a catastrophic and possibly career-ending injury. It was a move made out of sheer desperation. The Ravens aren't in any sort of situation like that, and neither is any other team at present.

I don't understand your first sentence (seriously). I'm not talking about stupid Ryan quotes (your second sentence) or stupid Ryan coaching (your final sentence). My guess is that the current Bills staff is possibly good and as a baseline *competent* based on past results. Excellent talent helps teams win more than JAG talent does, assuming the coaching is NFL-competent. Having a bad coach is admittedly a spanner in the works vis-a-vis my argument, but I don't think that's the case anymore. It was the case last season, admittedly. Relatedly, Watkins was playing hurt even when he was in there. He wasn't nearly 100 percent, even in the Miami game. See my point about the coaching above. Plus: the final game shouldn't count, and last I recall, the Bills won that Miami game but were royally screwed by the refs in particularly egregious fashion - 2 blatant no-calls in in the end zone for PI (8 points surrendered) and not granting a TO to Ryan on that kick.

No one is trading for a starting QB at this point. It's too late to learn the offense.