Bill from NYC

You left out the part about selling tickets. Was this an oversight, or do you think that selling tickets (more money for RW) had nothing to do with Spiller being selected at #9 as a situational running back?

Sorry Dan, I respectfully disagree. Nix/Gailey rushed to the podium to draft Spiller at #9. In 2011, they took A. Williams with the 2nd pick in round 2, and Nix openly stated that he had "numerous trade down offers in every round." We will never know, but he might have been able to draft Williams AND acquire a first round pick in 2012. The 2nd pick of round 2 comes with a price. At some point, a team has to build a foundation. And I don't know of a great or even very good team that was built upon running backs and dbs. At this point, we have little to no pass rush. But Mr. Wilson is already talking about receivers. If we let SJ walk and draft a 1st round receiver, nothing will change in all probability. Why would it? But, a flashy wr will sell tickets. And if after 2 years he has a very good game, people will call him the "bpa" and a "good pick." Mr. Wilson is a genius.

Mallett is said to be a top 5 talent with a 10 cent head. There were substance rumors, etc. Without this, he could have been a top 5 pick. He makes throws that only a couple of people on earth can make. If he gets traded, it will be because he is acting out, and Bellichick is not going to put up with bad behavior. He doesn't have to. I was all about drafting him last season but unfortunately, that ship has sailed.

Sometimes it works out well to let an injury prone player walk. Jonas Jennings is an example of this. That said, I am OK with the Bills keeping Bell. He is, as you said, "pretty good" when he is on the field. It would allow the team more room to fill the void at LB. I want them to pay SJ as well. But none of us should be surprised if Bell continues to get injured.

One of the wins came against the Redskins, and their OL was decimated. And the Bengals game was disturbing. Their rookie qb is a good one, but we gave him all day and made him look great. There are other examples too. And truthfully, a team like ours should never throw out the possibility of trading down. I would love to see them stockpile first and second round picks instead of trading them away for players such as McCargo, Losman and Poz. All we have is hope, ya know?

I fully agree with all of this. But may I ask.....do you think that he is hurting? I for one do. Again, I really do know that he lacks the desirable amount of arm strength in virtually all categories. But, I have never seen him with this little zip. He was struggling yesterday to make really simple throws, or so it seemed to me. What I do like about Fitz is his mental and physical coordination. He doesn't look like an athlete, but he is one imo. But in Buffalo, one needs a bit of a gun, which he does clearly lack. Imagine him with the arm of RJ or JP! This leads us to the draft, which sadly, I think is a done deal. It looks as if Ralph wants a wr. However, do you see any "franchise qbs" that will be available when we pick? You follow this more than I do. If there are none out there, I am about LBs in 2012. Upshaw reminds me of a perhaps even better Woodley. I think Hightower will go in round 1, and I like Nico Johnson more every time I watch him. Sheppard scares me. Imo Barnett is the only legit LB on this team. Not good, ya know? I hope your Christmas was great! Please send my best wishes to your wife and the crew. I will be sending you a PM soon.

Pass rush is a must. We are fielding a 3/4 defense that has not one credible OLB. It's amazing that we won 6 games.

Obviously I am not doing a good job of making myself clear. Of course we need good players, but a foundation needs to be built. How many games can a team win with great RBs and DBs, but no pass rush, and problems at OT and QB?

Thank you. Drafts are about building a winning team. They are not about whether or not a particular player is "good."

Fitz does need to step into many throws. This is a fact and when he does, he has a nice short to medium range fastball. Yesterday he did not. He threw one out pattern on the left side at the feet of SJ, who appeared to be open. I think the poster who states that the truth will come out about his condition is correct.

1) Congrats to Spencer Johnson on the big play. He is a high effort guy who is playing out of position. He looked really happy and I felt good for him. 2) I was ready to say nice things about Bell, but then I saw him walking off the field once again. Wow. 3) McKelvin is probably one of the fastest players in the NFL. 4) Call me an apologist, I don't care, but I cannot believe Fitz was throwing at full strength. His arm isn't THAT weak. 5) SJ and Nelson were getting open today. Sorry Mr. Wilson, receivers are not our biggest problem. Not even close. 6) Another probowl level game by Levitre. They need to rip up his contract and give him a new one. 7) Dwan Edwards is a player. He was personally responsible for one of the picks. 8) Hey CJ, nice game!!! He made people miss, and this is obviously important for smaller backs. Yes, he made some nice moves, and did so both on running and pass plays. 9) "I have seen where the wolf has slept by the silver stream. I can tell by the mark he left you were in his dream. Ah child of countless trees, ah child of boundless seas." 10) Kelsay? He played his heart out today and compiled some good numbers. 11) I got a text during the game from a huge Packer fan. He said that Raymer cost them a playoff spot years ago. I believe him. 12) The entire secondary played well today. Amazing what a pass rush will do for these guys, no? 13) Merry Christmas to all on TBD and you loved ones!!! It was nice to get an early gift from the Bills. 14) GO BILLS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

They are a bit slow, but they get open. They aren't THAT bad. Look at our OLBs. That IS a very, unspeakably bad unit. Our pass rush makes rookies and scrubs look like Joe Montana. Every single year I can be counted upon to ask for blockers in the draft. I still want them, but our biggest need is OLB. We have none.

>>>>>We've got to get receivers. If he hasn't gotten anybody to throw to, he's not going to win many games,"<<<<< This is a very depressing statement by Mr. Wilson. It reminds one of Spiller "adding excitement." It also makes me want to not waste time thinking about the draft this season. Mr. Wilson is a genius. He knows JUST how to play to the crowd. There will be a horde of posters who would be thrilled with a first round receiver. And if it after 2 years he has a 2 touchdown game it will be the fans, not Mr. Wilson calling for "patience." And they will justify the idiotic selection. We will have a question mark at QB, no pass rush, and a dime store LT, but a shiny little new toy to sell tickets ala Spiller. This sucks.

I think that Marv got more room from Mr. Wilson than anyone in the history of the franchise. He trusted Marv; this is evident. And he gave him a lot of room to help screw up the team. What do you think?

Yes. When Polian/Butler drafted these guys the pieces were in place. They had drafted a great QB, an OL, Thurman Thomas, Andre Reed, and a pass rush that included Bruce Smith. And btw Butler/Wade signed Bryce and Big Ted. Levy, ever the idiot, was drafting players such as Jeff Burress instead of guys to fill the void as these great players aged. Additionally, he was outcoached in superbowls. This is beyond dispute imo. When he came back and brought in Jauron, the 2006 draft speaks for itself, wouldn't you say? And it never got better. Every draft that Levy/Jauron were involved in was not good. The free agent signings were even worse. But, the above is merely an opinion. If you want to talk about how great Levy was for this franchise, I am willing to listen. It's all good on this end.

Yes, but the Bills only do this with defensive backs and running backs. It is absolutely impossible to build a winning team this way. I mean 0% chance. And by the way the 2 culprits are not Gailey/Nix. It's obvioulsly Levy and Ralph. When Polian left and Bruce/Andre/Thurman/Kelly were starting to age, Levy went full scale after defensive backs. He did the same thing in 2006 with his idiotic conterpart Jauron. Some day people will see just how much Levy damaged this franchise. Ralph likes "excitement adding" ticket selling running backs. It's obvious, no?

http://www.nfldraftscout.com/ratings/dsprofile.php?pyid=84728&draftyear=2012&genpos=OLB http://www.nfldraftscout.com/ratings/dsprofile.php?pyid=10128&draftyear=2007&genpos=de Who reminds you of Woodley?

Again, I don't hate Spiller. I hate that the Bills used a #9 to draft a small, situational running back to play behind a weak OL, in order to "create excitement." In other words sell tickets. I am not one to try and form a consensus. In fact, I like dialogue. I make the contention that Spiller was a dumb selection for this team. Not as bad as Whitner, but very bad. One other thing....it IS exciting to watch a running back with speed to get through a hole and score a td. On his first touchdown, Spiller had a hole that a truck could have driven through. Levitre and believe it or not Rhinehart paved him a highway on that particular play. Fans can point to runs like this and justify neglecting the foundation of a football team. But a lot less people noticed who threw these key blocks. Those guys win games, but they don't really sell tickets. Hopefully, the Bills will draft better and solve their problems.

It is possible that you are correct. But what I saw today from Bell was a soft, weak, small little ineffective football player.

It is a place that seats 5,000 people. We have a bunch of people going, and it would be great to hook up. We will talk, ok? Pears looked good on a couple of runs. Bell looked very bad. VERY bad.

1) How freaking smart is Simon? Seriously. He told us that Dwan Edwards could play. He did. Look at my thoughts from last week. Thank you SDS for providing us a site on which internet posters know more than the people who actually run this football team. And yes, D. Edwards played a very good game. 2) Bell sucked today. He flat out sucked. Please, disagree with me if you will. Let's discuss it. I make the contention that he was a bag of s&^t. 3) It was sad watching Fitz today. 4) The Grateful Dead is back due to John Kadlecik. Got my tickets for April 7, 2012 in Wallingford, Ct. if anyone cares. 5) One more shout-out to Marcel Dareus. He's a great kid. 6) Spiller had a great statistical game. If anyone wants to blast me for calling this a stupid pick, you really should do so. It's all cool. 7) I am proud to be a Bills Fan, and always will be. You will never read a post from me about giving up, etc. It's too late for this. I watched the game today with some great people. Diehard Bills fans and great friends. It's all cool. 8) They need to re-sign Urbik. Seriously, he is good. he belongs on our roster. 9) GO BILLS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Let's hope. But I will be looking at clutch, game saving/winning plays more than stats. And btw I might be alone in this, but I am hoping for some wildcat from Brad Smith. Enjoy the game.

I can't see any other choices. Whether it involves reaching a bit or trading down, the Bills abslutely have no pass rush whatsoever from the outside. A legit pass rushing OLB would take blockers away from Dareus, which could potentially make him a literal star. Even if they do fall in love with a qb, they will lose if they do not dramatically increase the pass rush. As for LT, it depends on how much they think Bell is worth, and how many more years they are willing to wait for him. Hairston looks like a RT from where I sit, but who really knows? Pears was a good signing. It's nice to have another body who can play but imo the LT position is far from solidified.

Spiller will have a good statistical game today.

And the year before the Colts got Manning, they drafted LT Tarik Glenn and RT Adam Meadows in rounds 1 and 2. Still, if you think a QB will be great, it's rough to pass him up because they are just so rare. That said, the Bills need pass rush and a LT. They don't have credible OLB on the entire roster, and this is unimagineable imo.