Pyrite Gal

Why is being the fastest RB to 2000 yards rushing as a Bill merely average? It does not make him the best Bills RB ever, but I am simply curious what he would have needed to do to be more than average.

Being a future is now kind of guy, I actually found your subject title a bit troubling at first as it seemed to imply on the face of it that the major aim of the team is rebuilding for the future. Yet, upon further examination of the details, I think this was a false impression on my part. Of the 32 players you name actually 22 of them are entering at least the thrid year of being a pro while the remainder consist of the usual number of draftees (maybe even a little less than the norm since our draft was relatively small in number last year. Clearly a team needs to keep an eye on the future as one day soon it will be the present, but I think that the Golden Boys' first desire is to win NOW. This primary need stems not only from the age of our owner and our GM, but the team missing the playoffs 5 years in a row. This goal will be a tough one to reach this year, but if the team is competitive (I think it will be though it will lose a lot) and the funny shaped ball bounces the right way for them, I have no doubt they will sacrifice the future for a chance at immediate benefits. I think here in real life this is the way it should be for a team.

Yep, that will be a big factor in him winning the popular vote among the HOF committee along with top 10 stats amassed due to longevity, a few dominating years early in his career, taking a team to the SB, playing an essential role in a must-win game in an SB wining season, getting thrown aside by NE (for a better QB in Brady) but coming back to merit a Pro Vowl with our Bills, and then getting tossed under the bus by TD but coming back to getting a starting job with Dallas where he QB'ed the team to a winning record. I do not think he even needs an SB win to make the debate on the committee whether he gets in on his first ballot or has to wait. With any vote it likely will depend on the competition and unless Favre retires the same year he does, my guess is he goes in on his first ballot.

Ny last year do you mean the second half of last year? I know the attention span of our society is shortening but I don't think we have yet found a way to consider half a season a full season yet. There is some logic to considering the second half of the season more predictive than the whole season, but if so then is his 5.1 y/c avg. and 100+ yd day rushing in the last game what we should consider most predictive. Perhaps folks want to analyze this and discount it as against the Jets but if we are going to get into parsing, then general comments should bring into consideration broader issues like the OL, the failure of the OC and other issues that folks who may simply dislike WM's personality should take into account when making broad statements. hs ranking needs to take into account that the reality simply is that he is the fastest Bill ever to 2000 yds rushing in hos two seasons of active play. This does not mean at all he is a better RB than OJ or Thirman, but certainly i think merits him some benefit of the doubt until we see his production on the field.

I disagree. There are several ways they are different than the norm in society which may be relevant to this topic. 1. Wealth- Pro football players have large incomes and that can be a real factor in making it harder for a partner to break away from them if they are abusive: A. Leaving them may save your life but it means getting rid also of a large income source. It doesn't (shouldn't in the view of many) make the difference but is a real factor. B. A threat from them to make life difficult for the partner or any children needs to be taken more seriously when their is $ to buy lawyers to make this so. 2. Pro football training- The steroid/HGH issue fits in here, but even for the "clean" athlete they are trained to be aggressive and violent or they fail at the game. Some can turn this off when they leave the field, but certainly pro athletes hacve discussed that some of them have difficulty turning off this aggression at times and get used to getting strokes for solving problems through violent activity. This is different than the societal norm. 3. Pampering- Pro athletes often live a life of basic regimentation where even basic decisions are denied them and they are told when, where and what to eat at training tables. They are told when to sleep and exercise at camp when they have curfews. They are told what to wear and how to act as they represent the team. Most athletes tend to overcome this regimentation and deal normally with people, however, even if athletes have the same tendency as normal society to engage in spousal abuse, there are a number of ways they are treated quite differently than normal folks which can result in this poor action. Do you really believe pro football players are treated the same way as the rest of folks in society?

I definitely agree and would add that many posts here seem to miss the boat in that they only look at the FG % of a kicker as a measure of his performance. Making FGs and in particular making them at crunch time when the game is on the line (or the season in the case of a great kicker like Vinateri is concerned) is the most key and a high profile measure. However, even when folks were calling for Lindell's head after he missed a should make short kick that was a big part of the ST implosion which played a key role in that lost (along with an ST fumble by Clements, an ineffective O led by Bledsoe, and a D which could not stop Pitts back-ups) folks failed to remember that Lindell was simply outstanding in other key parts of placekicking even in the 2004 season. A big part of the outstanding ST performance that year was Lindell kicking them to the appropriate place and to the approrpriste height for kick coverage every singke time as we gave up no kick return TDs and even few long gains that year. Doing this perfectly with half the games in the tricky winds of the Ralph was simply outstanding and difficult to replace work by Lindell. In addition, on the few critical times he was called upon to make an onside kick, he actually gave the Bills a chance to recover 1 of the 3 times (Baker did not make the play though he got his hands on the ball in the Pitts game and getting a chance off a bouncer is all you can reasonably ask of a kicker), missed on 1 of his 3 shots, but most impressive even recovered a surprise pooch kick himself which sealed the deal against the Fins. Lindell arguably had a good but worse performance in 05 than 04 as he did improve a lot in the high profile area of making longer FGs, but he did not luck into a bunch of on field kick chances as many Bills games were not that close and some poor execution in ST tackling produced a bigger return problem. Nevertheless, the ST ended up with a very good ST statistical ranking and Lindell was a part of this in addition to his improvement in high profile areas. He did a very good job for a bad team last year, and a good but inadequate job in crunch time for the Bills in 04.

I disagree in that while QB concerns is always a big factor in how the team does, it really strikes me as at worst a tertiary concern of ours. There are other issues pivotal to the results this team produces (good QB play is certainly necessary but is far from sufficient in and of itself to gurantee good performance) which are bigger questions for our team. The three parts of the game (again all are necessary and none are sufficient alone in order to win a bunch): They are not co-equal but all must click and at least no be a vulnerability in order to go deep in the playoffs: 1. D- The lead need is to stop the run- Both pass D and run D are again necessary but not sufficient, and this is the biggest ? on this team. Is Jauron with Farell's leadership enough to turn our switch to a Cover 2 into a D which keeps games close so we can be competitve. If not, it makes little difference how good the O is because we will always be playing catch-up and the opposing Ds will tee off on our O with the blitz. The big issues I see are: A: the DBs look very good with recent past team leader in turnovers produced Vincent schooling on the field immediate starter Whitmer, needs a year to let his mental game catch up with his physical talent Yobouty (who can replace or put us in strong negotiating position with tagged NC) and his eventual replacement Simpaon (this year if Simpson is good and next year if he is a normal second day draft pick). B. The LBs also look very good if TKO comes back and even has some depth with past starter Posey joining Fletch, Crowell, and a weakened TKO. The LBs will be key as they will have to be primary run stoppers with our penetrating DL and Fletch using his many years of skills to make the Tampa 2 version of the Cover 2 work well. C. The big question though is how our DL performs as the top 4 DTs on the depth chart max out at 304 lbs. They probably can penetrate and disrupt the pass, but the LBs will need to back them up big time to stop the run when they guerss wrong on the point of attack and the get taken out of the play. Overall, if we can stop the run, I see us putting the opposing O into 3rd and longs where our Cover 2 eats them alive. This is a big question though and the braintrust will need to do some good playcalling. 2. ST- This unit will need to perform at the level they have the last two years where this Bobby April led unit was judged first in the NFL in statistical performance. Given Marv's emphasis of ST and a good draft which produced some depth behind immediate likely starters Whitmer and probably McCargo, I am not worried about this key unit. 3. O- I think that the QB performance is actually not as big of an O worry as: A. Will the OL have the depth to perform this season. This year's likely starters (Gandy, Reyes, Fowler, Villarial, Peters) are better than last years starters (Gandy, Anderson, Teague, Villarial, MW), but the back-ups are pretty thread bare as Prestin seems to be the only likely starter quality player among this group. B. Can we produce an effective O scheme which apparently will be an attempt to imitate the high-flying St. L style Fairchild comes from.- Its possible as Evans, Price, Parrish all offer tremendous speed, In addition, the potential RAC ability of former RB Reed evens poses the chance he may return to his rookie form. However, they key IMHO will be if WM can do a imitation of a shadow of Marshall Faulk pass catching ability to match his good overall season (with a production drop-off the second half) rushing performance with recieving chops. Overall, while I think at QB, neither JP, Holcomb, or Nall is likely individually to be adeqiate at QB, it is more likely than not that ONE of these players (whomever it is I do not care much) will be adequate to run an effective O. The QB competition will be interesting as JP and KH offer different likely styles within which they can suceed (IMHO it will be best if JP steps up his game in that he throws a better long pass than KH. If he gets control of himself and the game he can pick apart opponents with good variations of throwing deep and dumping off. KH can make this work as though he is not much of a deep threat, he can be productive potentiallyIF the receivers can do good RAC and his dump offs turn into long gains. Nall is simply a wildcard, but it is likely 1 od these three will be adequate IF the OL and WRs work and if either of these two units do not work then the QB will also fail). The bottomline is that I am less worried about us finding an adequate QB among these three than the other two offensive keys working out OR even if they do work out I see a bigger ? in whether we can effectively stop the run.

Generally, I agree that I like Preston at RG more than Villarial in the long run, but right now is the short run (particularly for the Bills as I think the Golden Boys Ralph and Marv will put a premium on winning now while they are still on this planet- they will not ignore the long run completely, but particularly while there is a premium for the team in a football sense for winning now the short run will be the primary emphasis) that makes the big difference. My guess is that Villarial will not last the whole season in some significant way. What used to be nicks for him he played through are now injuries which knock him out a couple of starts or limit his effectiveness when he is in. However, I suspect that part of the reason he skipped some OTAs completely is that they/he knew he only has a certain amount of football left in him and they decuded to burn this football focus and snaps in pre-season/regular season rather than at voluntary practices. I think he likely starts until he cannot play anymore and then Preston takes over for him. My sense is that Preston is also our plan B if Fowler does not work (I think he will based on his play but there must be a plan B for everybody. Preston on the depth chart at LG is interesting as perhaps he is the plan B for Reyes as well.

They should hold a contest to find the next John Facenda.

Rico- Whats your thoughts regarding the Villarial situation?

Perhaps, but I really doubt they cut: 1. The team leader (on a bad D yes but the best producer on a bad team) in turnovers received last year as he tied for the team lead in INTs with McGee and tied with a couple of other players in fumbles recovered. 2. The switch in scheme goes away from demanding our safties play as run stoppers as the blitz might come from anywhere in out zone blitz to safeties playing more of a centerfield pass coverage in the Cover 2. Milloy was clearly a better tackler but the safety duty will move toward TV's pass coverage strength he developed as a Pro Bowl CB. 3. The acquisition of a bunch of talented rookie DBs means he is a likely goner next season, but now plays to his strength as all of these talented rookies will benefit from the on field coaching and example of TV. Further, his election as NFLPA Prez shows he has garnered the respect of his peers as a stand-up guy. While some folks hate unions for ideological reasons, the fact he us NFLPA Prez actually makes him an unlikely target for retribution even if Ralph is ticked about the new CBA, if the re is any hint to players that TV is gone becacuse of his union activity, the likely implication for the Bills attracting future FAs may not be good. Trashing TV might make some feel good ideologically but it may well be bad football. 4. The fact Milloy was cut rather than TV was probably made for the good football reason that our new scheme fits TV better than Milloy, but contractually it also was testimony to the fact that there is only a few hundred K saved by cutting TV rather than the multi-millions gained by cutting Milloy, There is little contractual reason to cut TV. The only way I see TV getting cut would be if he suddenly hit the wall as older players sometimes do and his production drops off drastically. However, given his team leading numbers for turnovers recieved last year, this drop-off would have to be really sudden as he was more productive in some regards than his peers on the team. Whitmer will be an immediate starter and getting the on field coaching from TV will be good. Youbouty is a first round physical talent who dropped to the 3rd round as many felt he could use another year of college to learn the game. He will get that year sitting and practicing with the Bills. Simpson looks like a talented player though he was taken on the second day. He likely could force his way into the line-up by mid-season but this still speaks to TV's value as a starter as the season begins. TV clearly has lost a step (or two) since his early days as a CB star. However, the speed to guard the fastest WRs means one can lose steps from this great base and still adequately play safety. Even with the Cover 2 demanding that the safety cover some field, it looks like that with Farrell we will employ a version known as the Tampa 2 where TV will be asked to cover 1/3 of the field rather than 1/2. A cut of TV can happen but looks pretty unlikely for a number of football based reasons.

ESPN seems fully aware of this as they clearly present this as their "opening" power rankings. Reality is certainly going to determine a lot. Its off-season and the boys are sitting around post NBA abd NHL season looking for off-serason stuff to do. What better amidst going on vacation than to try to reach a group consensus amidst guys who all sports fans wish they had as much time ion their hands to watch and think about games. It would be nice to see where individual "experts" are in their predictions about how they think the season will turn out. However, i doubt that folks like Clayton will subject themselves to the embarrassment of showing how wrong they often are.

But if a player's only motovation is to maximize bucks and winning the SB is of no or limited importance to him then he is doing exactly the right thing to accomplish what he thinks is important. As fan, I think that a balance can be struck and a player can find both a way to give himself a reasonable shot at the elusive goal of winning an SB and still make something like what the market will give him. Its people who advocate one extreme or the other that I think are a bit out to lunch (though certainly part of this equation and reality is that there is no reason to care what I or any other outsider thinks). In general, the justification for no amount being too much strike me as foolish when overpaid athletes trot out lines about taking food out of their kids mouths, Great as it means their kid will only be 85 lbs. overweight instead of 86 lbs. overwieght. However, I have little trouble with someone like a Jim Kelly etting every dime he can to buy any hope for a kid like Hunter or to rain silly baubles on his wife to east the trial of taking care of their kid while he is off on the road with the boys (the same is true IMHO for a player like Flutie with an autistic kid). Alotof this comes down the the societal question of how much is too much.

Like Everett, Brad Cieslak is simply unproven in any game situations as a position plater beyond the sense from the current coaching staff that they are high on Cieslak but probably as a back-up blocking specialist to Royal. The irony here is that while Cieslak could well end up being second on the depth chart because he is a better replacement for Royal if he get hurt or needs a blow. Everett may well get more PT than Cieslak as his style as a dast shifty receiver may be more in demand if the Bills are looking to create mismatches in coverage. A 3 WR set which sits Shelton and brings in Parrish to team with the speed of Evans and Price offers real headaches for a DC as in theory all three of these players would draw his fastest cover guy if you are going to single them. If Evans proves fast enough to draw a double then the DC is likely forced to play a zone as Price if he recovers his 2002 Bills #2 form also demands a double and Parrish (Reed in the old days) would then get to feast on an LB or the 5th DB of the opponents. When you add the speed rep Everett brings to the mix it is downright scary for the opposing DC on 3rd down. I hope both Cieslak and Everett show some talent and if so we will likely see Cieslak most on ST or in goalline packages.

Throwing long a lot may also have beeb a sign that the Bills needed to put points on the bosrd because they were behind and trying to catch up or if they were locked in a tight game and JP needed to establish himself and the Bills O, Meanwhile, judging from Indy's and Denver's record, they were pften ahead and rather than throwing long and risking the INT or stopping the clock they did not throw long as they sought to burn clock. Also, the stats that you use need to make some showing of how many of these long gains from passes were in fact accurate long throws or were they short quicl hits where it was the WR who great RAC work.

I think clearly we are worse off without Moulds skills as a receiver than if we had them. He is simply a far better WR than Price, the young Parrish or any other candidate we would have for #2. I think Evans had surpassed him as the go-to guy in our O abd he seemed to have better chemistry with JP than Moulds had. However, I think there can be little rational argument that he is a better player than any other Bills WRs by far. However, even though Moulds is a better player physically than any other #2 candidates (and still is comparable to Evans as though Evans has more speed and appears to have good hands, Moulds has more experience as a proven #1 than Evans and probably more athleticism than Evans), his meltdown when Evans was JPs chosen target in the Miami game and really helped most by being a decoy allowing Evans one-on-one coverage raises issues whether theough a better athlete than Evans he is in fact a more effect player for te Bills. Volumes were spoken with the lack of public support the team and even NFLPA union president Vincent gabe to Moulds when he was suspended. I think that this was a sign not only that Moulds was really cheesed because a younger player had surpassed him, but his teammates were pretty unsympathetic to his actions. As far as double-teams go, I actually hope that Evans draws a bunch of them rather than him being isolated. Just as the primary value which Moulds provided the Bills against Miami was that he had buirned them so many times over the years, they were forced to let Evans get the single. I hope Evans in fact regularly draws a double that frees up Price and Parrish to destroy the opponents.

HOF'ers get in based on a vote of a committee composed of team owners, league muckety mucks, the media and I believe former players. I think everyone agrees this system is not perfect in terms of selecting players purely based on achievements, but as folks value achievements on the field and off for a team differently folks seem to be satisfied with this imperfect process. Like any vote, to some degree this is a popularity contest among very knowledgable voters, and like it or not being perceived as a likable stand-up guy while not guranteeing or being the prime reason for entry does count for a bit in terms of how votes are finally cast. The critical question is now whether glitzy stas compiled by longevity gurantee a player a spot in the HOF (they do not) but do these longevity stats play a role in getting a player considered (yes they do). Bledsoe's cumulative stats (where longevity clearly played a big role though this is a good thing for his case as you hang around when you are healthy and judged productive by your HC), a few dominating years, and has had success above the norm (he led a team to the SB and play an essential support role for Brady on an SB winner) should all easily get him considered seriously for this honor. Once he gets into the voting, then two of the big factors will be: 1. Who else is up for a vote. The HOF committee has actually been pretty good IMHO about not having the same slavish devotion to the QB being so critical to achievement as many on this board are. They do skip honoring any QBs some years. Nevertheless, QBs get both inordinate credit and inordinate blame for their teams records and like it or not they will not go 20 years wirhout honoring QBs. If Bledsoe is eligible the same year as Favre he likley gets left out. However, if Favre retires after this season and Bledsoe hangs on til the end of his current contract he may well have little competition for the honor. 2. Once it gets down to individual choices by voters, the stats and numbers which got a player there is joined with folks general opinion of a player. As most acknowledge Bledsoe is viewed as a nice guy and his wearing a ring which like it or not he deserves and teaming with Parcells to get to the Show will hold him a good light/ Ironically, the fact he was cast aside by the Pats and came back to win a Pro Bowl reserve nod and then cast aside by the Bills and came back to QB a Boys team that certainly has competed in the softer NFC for a playoffs spot last year and may even get in this year. Sorry to folks who judge this as being a Hall of Performance rather than a Hall of Fame, but DB appears pretty nuch a lock to get in IMHO and maybe even on the his ballot if the retirement datess play out correctly for him and he gets to the playoffs again.

This thread got so long i could not resist even though its title and much of its content has little to do with the Bills prospects of the future (ie, the real deal as far as the starting QB is that appears the braintrust will make this choice based on who wins the competition on the field between JP, Nall and Holcomb rather than hand the jpb to a player whose on field production and health does not deserve the starting QB job). 1. TC got the job when he was not yet trained to be an adequate NFL starting QB because Ralph and Butler blew the assessment of how long Kelly would last. 2. Butler gave away too much for Hobert when he realized the TC could not do the hib. 3. The Bills signed RJ to an extension before he demonstrated he was not injury prone and Flutie was more of a winner anyway. 4. TD stupidly extended Bledsoe after his horrendous 2003 and then added insult to injury by handing the job to JP when Bledsoe played better but not adequately in 2004. The good news is that at least rhetorically it will not matter much at all who hates JP, KH. or Nall among fans and the media, but instead these players will compete on the field. Reality is still reality so JP is the first among equals because of his contract. If no QB distinguishing himself among these three, JP will likely get the call. I disagree in that i think Holcomb has some upside, but unfortunately his upside is as a back-up QB who has had some good episodes and will not rock the boat to demand a starting job h is almost certainly no capable of handling beyond a good episode here or there. 1. If Jauron/Farrel find a way to stop the run with undersized DTs. 2. If April gets the same production from the ST he has gotten the last two years, and 3. If the O can minimize errors while it learns to effectively run an O like the high-flying St. L crew. then Holcomb can potentially play a positive role. However, this role is likely to be as a back-up in a few episodes for a rejuuvenated JP, less likely but possible as a back-up in a few episodes for a learning to start at QB Nall or less likely but possible as a mistake minimizing but still effective due to run after the catch from short passes QB. One of these three events coming to pass is actually more likely to me than all three QBs utterly failing. However, even with one of these three stepping up, the OL will have to improve its back-ups or avoid injury, AND, the WRs will need to be well utilized to take advantage of their speed but some limitations for each individual, AND Fairchild will have to call plays and produce receiving abuility from WM as he is slotted into the Marshall Faulk role. The bottomline IMHO is that Holcomb does have some upside but I hope that JP (or Nall) are adequate enough we never test this.

Are you insinuating that these "men" who have led the little time which has passed in their lives past the age of consent willfully fallowing orders about what to do on some fairly basic elemental items (where and what to eat at the training table, when to sleep unser team curfews, when to walk and when to run) can all or even mostly be called adults. Its not so much that an adult should be required to motivate themselves, its that these boys should be able to motivated when told to be motivated as they are given outlandish adult compensation for playing a boys game (all received at an age (even less for the LeBron's of the world. What surprises me is that people are shocked when they act like children. Arrested mental development to produce extraoridinary physical development is what most of these players are about.

I actually tend to be a future is now kind of guy myself when it involves other people's money and investments. While my persomal investment strategies revolve around concepts like getting rich slowly and pay yourself first and arcane tactics like dollar cost averaging, I am quite happy to see Ralph run the team I root for with a strategy that passes up a long-term team building strategy which is better than short term tactics but still has a small chance of success to see the team roll the dice for a strategy that is more likely to be competive sooner, but has even a smaller chance of ultimate success. The Bills are rolling the dice that: 1. Jauron can bring to bear the same D skills which brought him NFL Coach of the Year honors to somehow run an effective D with a plan of making the Cover 2 work with undersized DTs. A. I like the older skill players we have at DB and the younger talented players we have acquired for them to teach lessons to by example and by word. B. I like the active talented skill starters we have at LB that will have to do a great job of reading plays, know opponents tendencies and figure whether to emphasize run stopping behind an underweight DL, or pass coverage in the mid-zone undernesth the CB press coverage and S centerfield duties. Particualry with the acquistion of Watson i like the depth at LB if TKO is slow to come back. C. I do not know enough about football to see how Jauron/Farrell are gonna stop the run with our undersized penetrating DTs and our high motor DEs. However, Jauron has forgotten more about making a D work than even the most football literate TSW poster remembers and he MAY make this work. 2. The ST performs as well as they have the last two years. This seems quite possbile as Marv emphasizes the import and drafted and signed folks with ST in mind. 3. The O will find someone to run things from JP, Holvomb and Nall and has a ton of speed from the WRs so that it is possible they can do their version of the the high-flying St. L crowd that Jauron came from. A key here is that WM will need to show similar skills as a receiver that he has shown as the fastest RB top gain 2000 yds rushing in Bills history. As this O will also have to hit paydirt with an OL that has better starters today IMHO than they had last year (if someone wants to claim that MW and Bennie Anderson will be sorely mssed feel free) but a key for the Bills will be not only for Jauron, Farrell, Fairchild and April to be very good but for this team to be very lucky with injuries as there are not proven good back-ups yet on the Ol or at RB. It seems quite conceivable to me that this team should be competitive in what I guess will be 13 of 16 games. If we get lucky and that works out then we will see how this funny shaped ball bounces and whether Phil Luckett and his ilk blow the call on a few coin flips in ways that advantage us.

I think you answered your own question as to why the first two Bills picks were going to be an SS and a DT and not geared toward the important tasks of builing an OL or solving QB issues for the long term. I think the botomline driving decision making is that while you have a vision focused on 2007 or 2008, Ralph and his employee Marv have a vision that is focused on 2006. Like you I think they realize that this team will not have even a snowballs chance of making the SB this year, and almost certainly not even make the playoffs. However, i think that you differ from Ralph in that his personal pride as a team owner makes winning now a priority for him it may not be for a more far-minded thinker. He made the choices to trust in Butler who for whatever reasons did not resign with the Bills and he hired TD in a flash to address this opening. This hire proved to be a disaster if you count making the playoffs as a sign of success. He appears willing to take chances to try to get back soon rather than build for the long term even if those chances are small, that an intelligent longer-term thinker such as yourself would not take. Another difference between Ralph and you (and likely between Golden Boy marv and you) is that while you have a vision which plays out in 2007 or 2008 is that actuarially while they will probably still be in the same positions regarding the Bills at that point, there are no guarantees they will even be on the planet. I think the future is now for them based on wanting to put butts in the seats every year in their business and wanting to win while they are breathing in a way that does not even allow them to invest in a strategy which will beging paying off in 2007 or 2008 rather than right now. They established a virtual certainty that the first two picks were going to be an SS and a DT when they cut Milloy and Adams. When these moves were made any thoughts of the draft being geared toward taking the best available player (even if a mutant like Davis had somehow slipped to #8 or a great player at a loaded position for starters like Hawk had slipped, we likely were going to pick an SS and DT. This team and the now would have been so bad with the team moving to the Cover 2 with pass coverage liability Wire as the best SS choice on the roster and Anderson being the lead DT to run stop so Triplett can use his penetration skills, the die was cast. I think the answer to you question of why would they chose an SS and DT when you longer term team building logic pointed looking elsewhere is that the braintraust simply has different time frames for their logic than you do.

I really extremely really doubt this is going to be a wonderful team. However, for me, I think one's attitude toward the team's prospects and how one chooses to be react to the team's prospects says a lot more about the fan than about the team. Both a pessimistic view of the prospects or an optimistic view about its future are legit in my view. One of the neat things about being a fan in the NFL is that we all have a free choice whether to take the prospects are be hopeful about them or conclude that the prospects are bleak. However, the good news is that the team is undefeated right now and that in the NFL where worse to first is possible like never before while a bleak view of the future is almost certainly the "smart" assessment to make, it is simply the real case where the difference in performance by a bad team and a good team while clearly different is not that far apart. NFL athletes operate at such a high level (even the less good one's) that differences in production can occur because the oddly shaped ball happens to bounce a certain way, the athletes get inspired by some unfortunate occurences (the Pats for example I believe owe their first SB win to their starting QB Bledsoe getting his lung collapsed and Brady coming in as the starter and the team truly becoming a TEAM. I think they owe their 2nd SB win (which came after they missed the playoffs completely bookended by these two SB wins) to boy genius Belicheck completely misreading how to handle the Milloy situation leading to members of the team publicly calling him out as a fool, but injuries like the one to Colvin again led to these men becoming a TEAM). Its simply legit for folks to either judge this team as half empty or half full (or 3/4 empty and 1/4 full) because they are the same thing and it really says a lot more about the poster which perspective they take at this off-season point than about the Bills. There are legitimate points of debate. Is it really a half-empty or half full situation or alternately a 3/4 empty/1/4 full situation. However, the starting point posters choose to start from simply says more about how the poster chooses to ROOT or participate in this game. This is particularly true at this off-season point where reality is not set at all and the team rosters are still not settled at all. Personally, my approach is not to draw any conclusion about this team being a likely success or a drop-dead certain dismal failure this year (there will be plenty of time for that as the team approaches if last game 5-10 and we are thinking bout draft prospects from at positions 6 to 10 or we are 9-6 and potentially can make the playoffs with a win and some help). Instead, my approach is to ask WHAT in fact needs to happen for this team to get as many Ws as it reasonably can get. At this point, I see this team likelty being at least competitive with a reasonable shot at winning probably 13 of 16 games, This does not mean I think they will go 13-3 as it strikes me as fairly reasonable that they will lose at least half these 13 which if that means they lose 7 of the 13 plus the 3 losses they finish 6-10 and the one game improvement over last year's record is a pretty disappointing season in my book. However, unless the poster knows football so well that they have a record of predicting that NE would win the SB in 2001 after their starting QB got nailed, or that this SB team would miss the playoffs the next year, and that this team which missed the playoffs would win the SB the next year, its hard to take these predictions of DOOM or glory very seriously. Even if one does not operate at these extremes of failure and success, I think there are few (if any) folks who had the Bills going 9-7 in MM's first year (with much of the 9 coming in an incredibly unlikely 7 game winning streak) AND then also had them plummeting to 5-11 with him losing his job last year. Anyone whose views of great doom this year or alternately anyone who predicts a playoff berth is simply hard to take very seriously. Again, I am not saying that the nuts and bolts are so indeterminate that prediction is useless or not interesting to discuss. That's what TSW is all about Charlie Brown. I'm just saying that the more extreme the prediction (3-13 or 13-3) the more laughable it is. Overall, I think getting a grip means: 1. While WM ain't the team, how he will do will determine alot about how we will do (unless folks see Thomas or Gates unseating him). My sense is that while there is reasonable stuff to be troubled about (his production outage in the second half of the season), there is also a great deal to be hopeful about as well (he is the fastest Bill RB to rush for 2000 yards, he has not exhibited any serious recieving dropsies in college or during his brief pro career which makes it quite possible Fairchild will be able to get him to be passable (though not great--yet) in the Marshall Faulk role of a new Bills O. In fact, the quality of the OL play (which seems to have better starters than MW and Anderson this year than last but is pretty thin for back-ups) will have more to say about determining WM production than his quality as a runner or whether he attended OTAs or not. 2. I think folks will be really disapointed if they choose to ROOT for WM because they are looking for leadership or because they choose to have sex with him and risk becoming a "baby momma". However, he can still be a very productive Bills RB and a pleasure to have on our team even if he is in no way a team leader and is simply a me guy (ala Bruce Smith). All this OTA and personality stuff obviously relates to productivity on the football field, but far less than production relates to productivity of the football field. If folks really want to get a grip then they should simply wait and see if he produces when handed the ball and whether Farichild can develop and run an effective O (given the larger questions than WM productivity that OL and QB performance provide). I think posters actually show the clearest evidence of getting a grip when they show that they are ignoring all the soap opera dime store psychology stuff and instead waiting the short time now until we get to see the team on the field. 3. Lastly. the neat thing about the Bills family compared to a real family is that while one does not get to choose your blod relatives, you do get to choose to be a member of the Bills family. I defend my real family because I have no choice. My mother, father, and sister and brothers will be my family whether I like it or not (though we all can transgress and there are some limits to my support such as I probably will not lie for them if they kill someone. However, being a part of the Bills family is all by choice. Here too the legitimate criticism and horseplay negativism are part of the game and the fun. However, if all folks have to say is about DOOM and particularly if all they have is negativism at this point when the team is undefeated so far this season, there is a legit question as to whether folks might best not let the door hit them on the way out. Its only reasonable to be somewhat negative about a 5-11 team which has missed the playoffs 5 years running. One of the neat things about the NFL is that we all are free to get enjoyment from this product any legal way we want to. However, it simply says a lot more a bout the poster who gets their enjoyment from living only in the DOOM world. Real life is too unpredictable to really have any certainty that this is what the future holds for this team.

The silliest thing about the anti-Lindell rants is that as best as I can see from a football judgment standpoint, even with a credible case to be made against Lindell after the 04 season as he missed a chip shot FG in the Pitts game which highlighted an ST failure in that game (along with Clements laying a PR on the carpet) and a D meltdown highlighted by an (inability to stop the run and third down conversions by a Pitts team run by their 2nd and lowe string back-ups) which joined with an inability of this Bledsoe QB'ed team to make for a dismal failure). However, even after these Lindell issues, it was still a close call whether he was a good enough kicker to keep because he simply excelled at other crtical partys of his job which were a key to us pulling off the substantial win streak which left us just short of the playoffs. In 04 Lindell deserves great props for: 1. Being the placekicker on the #1 statistical ST in the league which did not give up a single TD return and even few if any long KRs that year. Lindell was essentially flawless that year in kicking it where he was supposed to kickoff to at the proper height to give the coverage guys ample time to get downfield and make tackles. Yhis was a team which relied heavily on directional kicking to produce great coverage results and particularly in the winds of the Ralph this is no simple task. Folks routinely focus merely on the placekicking game as the FG % is easy to see, but as it is guaranteed that a team if going to kickoff at least once per game and actually as the Bills kept scoring points during the streak, they kicked off multiple times per game, kickoffs were a big part of the placekickers work. Yet folks blithely say cut hom or suggest alternatives like Edinger with little or no mention about how this replacement will be at being the initiator and a key actor in the coverage game. 2. Another crtical role for the kicker is in shooting for onisde kicks. My recollection was that in '04 the Bills called upon Lindell to do this 3 times. In one the other team recovered, but in the emphamise Pitts game he actually bounced the kick properly so the first wave of the opponents hands team missed the ball and Lindell did his job and Baker had a shot at recovering the ball but missed his chance. Giving his players a chance to make plays is really all you can reasonably ask of a kicker. The other chance was really a work of art by Lindell which really stuck a fork in the Miami team we were playing. Qw jumpe out to an early lead but behind the effective first half rushing of former Bill Sammy Morris, the Fins were looking to get the ball to open the second half and make a game of it. Instead, Lindell not only led the ST unit in convincing the opponents they were going to kick away, but he pooched it himself the proper speed and disatance so he made the recovery himself 10 yards downfield and managed to get it the necessary 10 yards prior to any Bill making contact with a Fin as is required by the rule. Lindell demonstrated that he could be a force on this play which played a role in 3 close games. 3. The chip shot miss was an egregious and difficult to forgive sin. However, the wrap on Lindell for the most part was not that he was inaccurate in 04, but actually that he had not demonstrated long range accuracy in games or even in practice to make the Bills HC confident in him. Again outside of the chip shot miss, he actually had proved to be quite accurate forthe 40 in and it was longer kicks which was the question. The most impressive thing about Lindell improving his accuracy last year was that he did this while his team remained the #1 statistical ST and he showed no signs of losing his outstanding performance ability in other critical placekicker jobs. If he stayed when his accuracy problems made it a close call when joined with his very good performances at other essential parts of his game, means that with a solution (at least last year) to his placekicking problems it is not even a close call whether he will be kept.

My sense of this team having a competitive and even productive season is not going to be most determined by a QB emerging who plays like a stud, but by: 1. Jauron proves to be such a defensive genius and Farrell steps up to successfully design and play call for the D that they prove able to stop the pass with the switch to a Cover 2 (which will likely be more of a Tampa 2 with Fletcher showing the field range he has shown to rack up more tackles than any other player over the last 5 years to divide centerfield duties with the aging but a;so experienced Vincent and the young talented Whitmer) and also somhow stop the run with an undersized DL. 2. The ST which has been reinforced by Marv's ST committment continues to be one of the most productive STs in the NFL for a third year in a row. 3. The O simply makes few enough mistakes to luck into wins produced by the D and ST while JP continues to learn the game, Nall learns to be a starter, or Holcomb does a good Trent Dilfer imitation with a low-mistake O. I do not see (yet) how we are going to stop the run with our top 4 DTs on the depth chart maxing out at 304lbs. (Jauron and Farrell are going to need to pull off some schematic trick to make this work as the DTs appear to be more penetrating types and the LBs are going to have to play run support as run stoppers). I think the ST will do OK with Marv getting draftees like Ellison and depth like Bowen and resigning folks like Aiken. The has some potential actually with a lot of speed at WR that i can see how they will try to imitate the Rams high-flying style our OC comes from. he will have to get some pass catching production to match his running numbers out of WM to make him play the Marshall Faulk role. Its actually quite possible to me that the Bills will be quite competitive this year if they keep games close and the oddly shaped ball bpunces the right way at the right time. However, achievement of a good result (a winning record) is gonna be tough unless Jauron is even more brilliant than his past NFL Coach of the Year honors.

I think you are taking the correct football perspective in looking at this. The question is not simply whether Bledsoe was an adequate NFL QB to bring this team to the playoffs (he was not IMHO) but the question of whether to cut him or not after the 2004 season was whether he was better or worse than our alternatves as QB. I would have cut Bledsoe after the 2003 debacle performance by him (it was pretty clear he was not likely to lead this team to a playoff and the cap implications of extending him made TDs actions silly), but given that TD made the stupid move of extending him, it was a question for the 2005 season of whether it was better to go with DB, JP or someone else we could obtain. I think it is clear from JP's disastrous performance and also my sense that the D which at least was statisitcially impressive in 2004 felt that the Bills braintrust had turned 2005 into a pre-season like learning session for JP rather than giving themselves their best (though bad wih Bledsoe at QB) chance of winning that we fell apart last year. The football irony is here is that once I think TD made the foolish decision to extend DB (there must have been someone better available at the time though I have not looked as other options were not even a realistic consideration by the Bills) we would likely been better off simply going with him last year rather than pursuimg the failed JP as starter course.