Dibs

But they performed at a horrible level while not in a spread formation. If they are going to suck either way, why not open things up a bit so the playmakers at least have more of a chance to make plays?

I'm actually very fearful. Lee Smith is an unristricted FA......and I have heard no news from the Bills FO about him. Typical Bills.....always letting our best FAs walk.

Maybe.....but he performed extremely well in 2013(similar stats to 2014) when we were using a Ryan style D.

QB OG DE (Hughes is a FA) RB (Spiller is a FA) TE S (Searcy is a FA) DT

Rather than simply thinking a view like that, you could go through the stats and actually see if it is correct. If you were to go through the stats you would find that since 2000 nearly all of the SB winners have at least had some areas on D that were largely deficient(not dominant).....that most Ds overall were not dominant.....and more teams with bad Defenses have won than dominant Defenses. Times change. I personally think the reason is more due to the concept that it much harder to build a dominant defence than in years past......but that is pure speculation. The reality is that many more teams are now winning the SB without dominant Ds.

Doesn't the fact that we had good success using a Ryan type 3-4 system in 2013 somewhat allay your concerns?

It is all in this link: http://overthecap.com/cj-spiller-mysterious-player-option/ Apparently the option was misinterpreted early on and incorrectly re-reported by all sources. Essentially the 6th year option was extremely unlikely to come into effect and was used mostly for cap off putting reasons.

No he isn't. The optional 6th year became voided......he is a FA.

Gee, that sounds rather painful. Is pigeon holding something akin to squirrel gripping?

For his 6 years at the Jets their YPC D was ranked 4, 3, 7, 21, 1, 6. I don't think anyone can reasonably argue that his defenses can't stop the run.

I don't think that this point is reasonable(unless we also think that FJ is a fumbler) as CJ has fumbled a similar amount to FJ over the past 3 seasons. CJ: Fumbled 2.1%, Lost 1% FJ: Fumbled 2.8%, Lost 0.9%

Thanks, I thought I was missing some good stat site. Good job on the number crunching.

Can you provide a link as to where you got this information? Not questioning its validity......just asking as none of my reference sites list it & I would like to have it in my saved links. Also.....for a comparison, can you list the same stats for FJ?

Hopefully Rex will be the Man.......but I am finding it difficult to get past my feelings that a top Offensive minded HC could have given us a chance at the SB within 3 years. Go Bills!

Your earlier hyperbole aside, I fully agree with you on this subject. I would go further however and sugest pick #36. Apart from the one notable acception in Wilson, there has been no top QBs selected after pick #36 in over a decade. There has been a couple of guys with a few good years......and a handful of mediocre at best starters......but no franchise guys apart from Wilson. Pick #36 also makes sense as the worst teams are usually without a franchisd QB......and if there isn't a viable QB to be had in the top 4 picks in the draft, those teams select with their 2nd round pick.

Egad....that'll learn me for reading only the first and last sentences. Sorry Boolay.

Have I lost touch with the English language? How was that hyperbole? Furthering to that.....what on Earth does "Whaley creds to trade for qb" mean?

I assume you mean "can't win the SB without Elway(or equivalent top 5 QB)" because as many have shown, he certainly can win without Elway. As I see it, the Bills have a SB calibre Defense......and what I mean by that is that the D theoretically is good enough to allow a QB to Dilfer a SB win. What Shanahan has regularly shown post Elway is that he can get good production(regular top 10 with top 5 running games) from his offenses regardless of the talent level(give or take). At a different time I would not be keen on Shanny.....but at this particular point in time I believe Shanahan could have a good chance to actually get us to the SB before our defensive window closes.

This actually shows admirable qualities for a coach. At that point he was hoping/expecting to get an extension(for himself and his staff) and likely viewed that he would remain HC with more responsibilities(winning the power struggle over Whaley). That speach could have potentially had some effect on the deciscion making process of our impending FAs. Of course in retrospect it provides fantastic irony to how things played out. What a crack up.

It is quite posible that Snyder directly ordered him to do so(or applied great pressure). Either way it is a black mark against Shanahan to be sure.

Well, you know what they say. Too many cocks spoil the brothel.

I think that is a little misleading. A large majority of HCs who win the SB retire after their tenure with the SB team. Also, the first-timer thing was far more prevalent in times of yore. Half of the last 12 SB winning coaches were on their 2nd (or 3rd) HC gig. Prior to that it was nearly exclusively first-timer coaches.

Kyle Shanahan is the OC of the Browns. They would have final say on whether he can come here as an OC.

I've been contemplating this posability for a while too. It certainly would be the most desirable scenario for Bills fans......unless of course Marrone actually is a very good HC(which we will find out soon enough). It is far nicer to think that Pegs and Whaley had their respective fingers on the pulse rather than being caught out having their fingers up their arses.

I know it goes fully against Bills tradition but I am starting to feel that the events recently will be the luckiest thing to happen to the franchise in 20 years.