1B4IDie

From the ILB concern thread: http://forums.twobillsdrive.com/topic/146540-ilb-position/ I don't think you are correct about Ron Brooks or Sanders. Sanders is the only O-Lineman with LT athleticism on the roster. If he develops to his full potential he will be the starting LT. He has a higher ceiling than Glenn. If he doesn't reach his full potential. He will likely be depth and hopefully can be a swing Tackle and possible starter at RT. Brooks will be on the field a lot in 2011. It is likely he will be in Nickel and Dime packages (which we all know is what is run a majority of the time in the NFL in 2012) He could even lock down the #2 Wide CB position considering the junk heap that currently occupies the roster at CB. I also disagree about Tank he is NOT going to beat out Shepp as a starting MLB and I doubt he plays OLB; so the only way he becomes a household name is if he is the next Steve Tasker, because Special Teams is where he is likely going to see any PT.

Right agree over time would be interesting, but to my point. You're trying to look at the causation between how many M&Ms the person has and whether or not they get up and go to the next room (playoffs.) I'm not trying to blow up your analysis; I'm trying to strengthen it. It would be interesting to see someone look at these numbers over time and see if there are real predictors of playoff success. Stats can be meaningful or meaningless. For Example The last 3 years. There were 9 training camps that were held in the State of New York. 3 of those teams made the playoffs. Does that mean if you hold your training camp in the State of New York you have 33% chance of making the playoffs? (the Answer is No; there is no causation but there is a correlation between the two) I think you're on to something but would like to see this done where the resulting information has some more meaning. The question is, is there a causation with being above average in certain stats and playoff appearances. The Answer so far is, In 2011 Being above average in First Downs seems to have some importance as an indicator, and YPC over the season seems not to have some importance as an indicator (#32 in ypc won the Super Bowl)

#7 overall has 4.5 ypc; #32 overall has 3.5 ypc. There isn't a big enough difference in ypc over a season for it to have meaning.

I disagree. Not to mention you need more than 1 year's sampling to have even a slight hint at what stats are meaningfull when it comes to making the playoffs. The Top is arbitrary, so you would want to look at the SD of each ranking, and probably not even in the ranking but the real numbers behind the stats. #1 might have 12 forces fumbles and #10 might have 9.

40-60% playoff means the stat is meaningless at predicting playoff appearance. Seems like first downs are important.

Really? You're scared about ILB? Does that mean you wake up in cold sweats about OLB? My advice is let the Defense brew. Its still not a finished product. NO one on the planet knows what's going to happen at OLB, ILB, and depth at D-line. The only starters we know on Defense are Mario, Kyle, Darius, Gilmore. The rest of the Defensive starters are question marks. BYRD and Wilson will probably come out as starters but Searcy and Scott will see significant PT. Other CB is a ? Nickle is a ? BARNETT IS likely the starting OLB and Shep is likely MLB. But if Sheppard struggles then Barnett will be MLB. Then it comes to the long list of DE/OLB depth on the team. Some guys will rise to the top in the 4-3 some will fail and get cut. NO ONE knows right now in June. And honestly it probably wont be settled until October, best case. So lets sit back and watch pre-season before we get scared or terrified. There is lots of young unproven talent on Defense and guess what? This is exactly where you want to be in year 3 of a complete franchise rebuild. You actually have NFL worthy bodies, now lets see who has NFL quality execution and who can survive NFL quality competition.

I took that to mean coaching style. LEE is a technitian, where other coaches may be focused on other aspects of practice and preparation. I don't believe it means that he had no one to work with.

All that's true except he cant actually catch. Imagine you gave all you mentions plus the ability to catch. That's what id prefer. There were some other injuries that added yo the decline. It wasn't just jones.

Way off, six at most and Brad Smith. Stevie, Graham, Nelson, Hagan, (SMITH but listed as 3rd QB) and then Aiken, Jones, Easley, Martin, Roosevelt, Clowny or Session for the final 2.... My guess of that would be Easley and Jones with then Aiken and Session hitting the practice squad. You're forgetting the starting #2 WR Derek Hagan

You bring a good point and that is really the scariest thing. Fitz doesn't have a 16 game season. He has an 8 game season. The schedule is backloaded for a November December Run. They can be 3-5 and still finish 11-6. So if the team is 3-5 and VY is working hard in practice, what is going to happen then? You can wear the MFIC hat all you want, if you don't get Ws that hat is going to get blown away real quick. Since you mention the MFIC hat:

I'm on this too. Hagan will emerge as the #2. I'd put money on it. Nelson will have some good numbers again too. He can't be covered by a LB and can't be covered by a Saftey and seems to have a good relationship with Fitz. I wouldn't be surprised if Nelson finishes second in yards and TDs. Chandler #1 in TDs. SJ13 #1 in Yards and Nelson coming in second at both. They will flex Graham out, he won't be just a slot receiver. He will also probably come in for Hagan in some packages. I think he will be used slightly differently than Roscoe, but yeah basically agree that you can call it "Roscoe stuff" or "T.O. stuff when we had T.O" or "Donald Jones" stuff when we thought Donald Jones might be fast, or "Lee Evans Stuff." When we need someone to run a fly route they'll try to run that with Graham. So I guess I would call it "Lee Evans and Roscoe Stuff."

Here are the fact. 2012 Salary of the aforementioned players: Shawne Merriman $2.5 Mill http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/player/shawne-merriman/299873?q=shawne-merriman Chris Kelsay $2M http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/player/chris-kelsay/140497?q=chris-kelsay Mark Anderson $2.5M + 6M/4 signing bonus so he would count ~4M towards the cap in 2012. http://www.buffalorumblings.com/2012/3/27/2906144/buffalo-bills-mark-anderson-contract-details and well you have Mario Williams ~$14M http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/player/mario-williams/401223?q=mario-williams Obviously you have Mario's contract but not really much to see when it comes to Kelsay, Merriman, and Anderson they all should all be able to fit under the cap with tons of room left.

I'd start by looking at the actual numbers before getting worries for no particular reason at all. Merriman's 2012 salary is low.

They have this neato tool for fantasy football geeks. That lets you plug in your players and league settings and then rates your team. I like to do it each year, just because the suggestions for possible pick-ups are interesting. Their ratings and analysis are not top of the pile when it comes to the cottage industry of fantasy football advice. This report is worrisome. Calling McKelcin, and Florence solid and saying that Ruvell Martin has good hands is a joke. They're clearly just completely BS-ing and have no idea anything about on the field play.

Seriously. Its actually the best idea. I think they had the "Fastest Man" competition too, which was the Marquee draw. They can have fastest D-Line, LB, CB and O-Lineman as sub categories. Also they should consider flag football. I don't think the fans really are demanding a brutal all star game played at a playoff intensity level. They just want to have some fun before the off-season.

NFL.com has a live ribbon, and the ribbon. When a team enters the red zone the box in the ribbon for that game changes to Red when the team is in the redzone. Just get an old computer and hook it to an old monitor and go to NFL.com. Viola you have your 2012 "scrolling Ribbon" just way more useful. Red Zone Channel is where its at, for 4:00 games when the Bills are over, or 1:00 games when the Bills are on at 4:00 or all day when the Bills have a Bye. I like what they do there, its working.

Seems like a simple matter for technology. Just block the silly site completely. The punishment should be a few days suspension leading up to being ground up and put in the freezer for constant abusers.

Thanks for doing the research. I tried to make the point earlier just not nearly as thorough. Good work. Yes the patriots were able to get miles out of Harrison, Curtis Martin, Fred Taylor, and Randy Moss but they're actually better at growing and drafting their own talent. They also start and play a lot of young players. They get thrown in the fire early and if they can't hack it. They have no problem cutting the youg player, drafting their replacement and moving on. They do this rather heartlessly and quickly. Doesnt matter if you're a second round pick. You can't prove you can play in the NFL. The Pats will send you packing.

I don't think you understand the Patriots model. They're actually a very young team. There a few notable retreads at Saftey, RB and WR other than that everything else is home grown.

To summarize. The Bills need not develop young players on there roster, instead they should get guys ChanOverChin has heard of in his Fantasy Football league. Plexico is over the hill, I don't think he adds anything to the red zone offense that cant be accomplished with David Nelson and Chandler. It would be a poor decision to add a player like Plex. Like Nix said "players with the needle pointing up." Plus don't sleep on Lee he actually has good hands and size, just not any type of NFL speed or quickness. DE depth and OLB is a huge mystery right now. There are a ton of talented players and this will all get worked out through training camp and the early part of the season. Some will thrive n the new 4-3 system; right now no one knows who that will be. Harriston is not a rookie and will battle hard for that starting LT spot with Glenn. Zebrie Sanders is the dark horse in the battle. He is the only one that had LT athleticism. My guess is 2013 Sanders is LT and Glenn is RT.

There are two more options 5.) Buy Sunday Ticket Streaming, no DirectTV service required. from DirectTV (If you are in area that doesn't receive a signal or a HoA that won't allow dishes) 6.) Buy Sunday Ticket Streaming through the PS3. I chose option 6 last year. Worked great. There was a problem week 2 but I was in Buffalo for that game and wasn't effected but got a credit anyway. I am going to choose option 5.) this year because it offers more flexibility when traveling and I have a computer with HDMI out hooked up to my flatscreen for home use.

Jarron Gilbert looks like a man without a position though. He is a 3-4 DE. At 6-5 288, is he a 4-3 DE? I don't know if he is a 4-3 DT The OP does point out that Wannstache does have a predilection for speed. So maybe he Gilbert can be fast depth at DT, If he is flexible enough to play 4-3 DE and DT then being a utility D-Line player gives him some additional value. I hope they have some pools at training camp so we can see if Gilbert still has it.

Vick is a Lefty. Bell can handle playing LT for a Lefty just fine. He might even go to the Pro Bowl. Who cares. Call me when he protects the blind side.

Tank Carder is #45? Well I guess he'll be a full time special teamer.

Thank you. Yeah. We do need Soldier Grapfruit on this squad. That was still a sick block.