Luxy312

My vote is for Klingon. Qaw the Jets!

At 5-10 and only 186 pounds, McKelvin isn't suited to play FS. At FS, Byrd outweighs him by almost 20 pounds. At SS, Wilson outweighs him by 30. McKelvin simply doesn't have the physical tools to play safety.

First and foremost, it means more pressure on the quarterback. The model for beating our in division rival Patriots is clearly putting pressure on Brady. When he gets hit and rattled, he makes mistakes. When he has time, he's as good as anyone. Second, but almost equally important is being able to stop the run. There were far too many times when the defense of years past had the opposing offense at third and medium to long and they pick it up with a long run. That has to stop. If this defensive front-4 is as good as we think they will be, it will be a game changer.

For the first time in 3 years, I bought the Sunday Ticket. I certainly hope to get my money's worth and I hope it starts with a week 1 thumping of the New Jersey Jets.

I really don't think you can compare Mark Anderson to Kelsay. Anderson has never been a full time starter in his career and still managed to be a double digit sack guy twice (including last year). In Kelsay's complete seasons as a starter, he's only gotten between 2.5-5.5 sacks. That's not very impressive even when he was the full time guy. As far as being a "run stopper", this team has been absolutely awful against the run and for a long long time. 27th in Y/A last year. 32nd the year before that, and 30th the year before that. The numbers don't support your suggestion that this is something that Kelsay has excelled at. More to the point, Kelsay has played the LDE position his entire career. Suggesting he can suddenly play RDE (where Anderson will start) is a bit of a reach. Right now, Kelsay is set up to spell Mario and behind him on the depth charts on the left side, whereas Merriman is set up to spell Mark and on behind him on the depth charts on the right side.

Just the fans, who pay for the tickets to see the games and want to see the best product on the field for their dollar as possible.

Not a big deal. You can find the contract details on Rotoworld. I did get something wrong with my numbers though. I thought the contract extension just covered 2011-2014 for the $28.2 million. It was actually a 4-year extension, but represented a 5-year deal. What that would mean: 2010-2011 - $10.630 million for the two years in cap hit (don't know the breakout between the 2 except the $2.2 million per year prorated bonus). 2012 - $5.700 million 2013 - $5.925 million 2014 - $5.945 million Not quite as pricy as I thought, but still too much for my taste for a backup DE.

You need to actually look at the reality of the situation. This is what the contract was: 4 years, $28.200 million total with $11 million signing bonus. 2011 - $6.230 million base salary + $2.750 million prorated signing bonus. $8.980 million cap hit last year. 2012 - $3.500 million base salary + $2.750 million prorated signing bonus. $6.250 million cap hit this year. 2013 - $3.725 million base salary + $2.750 million prorated signing bonus. $6.475 million cap hit next year. 2014 - $3.745 million base salary + $2.750 million prorated signing bonus. $6.495 million cap hit in 2014. Do yourself a favor and do some math. $28.2/4 years = $7.05 million per year. Not only is it over $5 million, it's over $5 million EVERY year. Definitely baffling.

Prisco is the typical idiot he is every preseason. I find it hard to listen to him, much less read his drivel.

I get the "culture of character" mentality, and do know that Kelsay fits that mold. However, I don't get $11 million guaranteed or $28 million over 4 years for a part time defensive end. Don't get me wrong here. I'm not saying I don't like Kelsay. He's as blue collar, lunch pale as it gets. I'm just looking at it from the perspective of cost-benefit and can't get there on that basis. Kelsay was an awful linebacker. Hopefully he'll get some opportunities to spell Mario and keep him fresh and prove me wrong.

I was thinking exactly that. Maybe he will simply focus on special teams and not be anything but depth for nickel and dime packages.

Shiancoe is purely a depth move for the Patriots. Not a big deal really. He doesn't bring anything to the table that the Patriots don't otherwise already have. Kind of a yawner!

I'm with you on Kelsay. I really just don't get it with him. He's had modest success at best and never really stood out as being dominant in any aspect of the game. I thought for sure he was going to be cut in 2010 when his contract expired. Instead, they give him a 4-year $28 million deal with $11 million guaranteed. It's absolutely baffling to me.

I was just looking at the depth chart this morning and it looks like it will be Gilmore and Williams starting at Cornerback. McKelvin has slid below McGee and even Justin Rogers on the depth chart. Has anyone seen news on this? Is McKelvin going to be relegated to special teams duty?

This is just my opinion, but obviously making the kick gets them the first Superbowl. In terms of the rest, the Redskins crushed us, as did the Cowboys in their first win. I do think we would have (and quite frankly should have anyway) won the fourth Superbowl. I would have them going 2-2. Still, it's fun to wonder. Winning breeds confidence. Let us all not forget that the most dominant team in the AFC against NFC opponents during the regular season for those 4 years collectively was our own Buffalo Bills!

When all is said and done, what Nix is saying and what he's doing is a refreshing change. As someone else has stated, you don't draft guys early with the expectation that they're simply going to be "depth" at their position. If they end up being depth because of what they've done in free agency and subsequent drafts, that's fine, but they better be solid backups. There are currently 83 players on the roster and that will have to be 55 by the start of the season. If Troup and Carrington don't step up, I say broom them. They had potential when they were drafted, but that was going on 3 years ago.

Not really. Individual bets are for those that think they can make money off of gambling. Parlays are for people that realize that gambling itself is a sucker bet and don't care if they put a small amount of money down here or there with the chance to win big.

The entire Bills team could say that Fitzpatrick has improved and it wouldn't matter to some of these guys. They're just a bunch of "Debbie Doomsayers". There's always an excuse. Honestly, I'm not sure why they bother with the optimism that is shared by many in the offseason. It would be much easier if they just curled up into a ball in a dark corner and waited for another disappointing season to start.

I looked at the over/under for wins for the season just last week at the Green Valley Ranch (just outside of Vegas) and was surprised to see the Bills sitting at 6.5 while the Dolphins were at 7.5. I get that the Dolphins had the best defense in the division last year. That's not disputed. They allowed 121 less points than the Bills on the season. That's over a touchdown a game less than the Bills. However, they've completely turned over their coaching staff; they lost their best player in Brandon Marshall; they have major quarterback issues; and they're starting a brand new defensive scheme. I would parlay the Bills for the Over and the Dolphins for the Under here.

As noted, most recently Tony Romo and Eli Manning (2 Superbowls).

Let's see. He helped Tony Romo improve and become a starter. He helped Eli Manning cut down on interceptions and bad throws. Fitzpatrick has said these things about Lee so far: "I knew I had a long way to go with my mechanics. I just didn't know how to find that person or how to improve at it." "Nobody's really ever taught me how to do it," Fitzpatrick said. "So now for a guy to come in and say, 'This is why you're missing that throw,' he's going to be a very big help for me this year." Lee's impressed by how quickly Fitzpatrick adjusted his throwing motion to hit a receiver's back shoulder -- something Fitzpatrick had been inconsistent with. By opening his left hip, Fitzpatrick has also been more accurate in completing deep passes to his left -- something most right-handed quarterbacks struggle with. You can rip on Lee's 38 years of coaching experience, but I'll assume he's been coaching this long because he's good at it. I'll also take Ryan Fitzpatrick's word over that of an armchair internet warrior. Thus far it pretty much has been fish meeting said barrel as eball said.

I believe the general rule is "year 3". This isn't too surprising to me either. None the less, there have been a lot of recent rookies that have come out and made an immediate impact.

He has the "trust me a leprechaun told me" defense. LOL.

He has had some starts. Regardless, if you don't like 2nd rounders, then let's look at 3rd rounders that have been starters. Ellis Hobbs, Nick Kuczar, HOF Curtis Martin, Teddy Bruschi, Todd Collins, Brandon Tate, Greg Spires. That's guys just in the last 10 years. The point is that these guys contributed as starters. Not everyone drafted later are HOF material like Martin, but it doesn't matter with the Patriots.

This could change of course, but this is what I think will happen. Chandler Jones is already taking all the first team reps in what we've seen of the camps so far. Pencil him in right now as the day 1 starter. Rob Ninkovich is listed as the SLB on the depth chart, but I don't believe he holds on over Dont'a Hightower. He was the second first round pick of the Patriots and if he's not starting day 1, he will be and very quickly. Far more talent than anyone else they have on their roster at that position. Mayo and Spikes will of course play the other two LB positions. The third starter I guess I should really qualify as a situational starter. I believe you'll see hybrid CB/FS Tavon Wilson on the field in Nickel and Dime depending on what the opposing offenses are doing. I've watched a lot of Big-Ten football and that kid played great against much better teams. Similar to Mercilus. Many had him the 3rd or 4th best DE in the draft. I think he's going to be something special for Houston and could turn out to be the best at his position. Take it or leave it, that's my two cents. The Patriots always seem to find gems later in drafts that turn into starters. Ridley, Gronkowski, and Chung are just some recent examples.