4BillsintheBurgh

They also released Faneca last year and M. Smith as well this year. They still won the SB, but their rushing totals were way down this year and a part of that was the loss of Simmons. It's the classic "at the right price" scenario, but I think he would be good to have as a backup/possible starter.

I say get used to us being right up there.

No, the JP who couldn't go from the primary read to the second or god forbid, third, instead just looking for something downfield, probably waiting for the FB to get past the safety so he could hit the bomb.

Sure, but teams have only so much ammo to make the move. Does his body of work warrant (even with a great combine) someone taking a chance that he is a franchise QB? I guess everyone has an opinion on that, hopefully someone in the 17-20 slots pays up for the chance. I assume the Bills will be fielding calls whoevers available at their spot.

I didn't even touch the "crap" part, at least until now.

What was that about a dirty Sanchez?

I think in that scenario we could be offered a trade down, but with the teams that are after us (Den, Was, NO, Hou and SD) we would probably get the trade down value for the 15th slot instead of the 11th. Then the trade partner (say the Jets) would make the same offer to the Broncos and on down the line until they their got their player or upped the trade offer right before a team that needed a qb would pick. We need to have someone fall to us that Den, Was and/or NO covet, we don't, and someone in the 15-20 range really wants. Possibly CB Malcolm Jenkins if Hou, SD or NYJ were involved? Does Philly with an extra 1st rounder need a db? Of course some will say we won't pass on the db......

He just needs to stay healthy.

Good luck stopping that.

How about Peria Jerry in the first instead of Pettigrew? From your board he looks like an even bigger reach, but if he can play I'd like to see him next to Stroud. Do you think a decent 4-3 DE has a better chance of falling into the second round with all these teams looking for 3-4 personel?

No TE's in the first or second until we make the playoffs.

I think preston and ellison are in line before kelsay for bad play. Well, your grandma must be better than Ellis and Bryan, because I didn't notice either of them making a ton of plays. We'll cut people when someone on the roster outplays them, it's pretty simple.

I think player personell is the biggest difference. Everyone's on the same page and they know how to identify talent. For example moving up in the draft to get Polamalu. The move was really questioned here, but when you'e right it works out. If Polamalu turned out like McCargo, I think there would have been fan dischord even with quality ownership etc in place. Fans in Pgh are spoiled and I would love to see the Steelers fall flat on their faces, but unfortunately they haven't. We'll see how they progress, because the 2008 draft didn't add much to the team this year. They were also down 3 starting olinemen from last years team but didn't need anyone from the 2008 class because of the talent they were able to find in later rounds of prior drafts or off the street. Buffalo never had the recovery post steel industry that Pittsburgh had. We also have CMU cranking out highly skilled computer professionals and that has helped the local economy. So they don't need 80,000 seats (even though they could fill that sized stadium) and can sell enough corporate boxes to make money.

Not only post game - mid week - any time. This year he pulled that team together when Willie Parker spoke out about not getting the ball enough. His response was excellent and he went in front of the media on a day that he was not scheduled to do it. And he did it without slamming Parker too badly. No way DJ comes up with that. I would argue that the rest of the hours of the week are far more important than the gameday calls anyway. While most people like to point to this or that call, there are many plays in the game and any one of them can determine the outcome of the game. The mindset of the team is infinitely more important than the calls made during the game.

Gameday yes, but you should listen to some of his press conferences. His attitude and demeanor is what makes the difference.

Are you sure you want the job? I would assume it would go something like this: You're hired! Your first meeting - You: I think we can do this, and this and this. Then we can do this and this and this. Ralph: That sounds great! I calculate that with the cash to cap methodology you have 12 million to spend on FA contracts this year. We'll get into the details of "cash to cap" at a later time. Have fun! You: Hmmm. How about we resign Peters and Jackson and then turn our attention to the draft and hope somebody falls to us. Edited: You: It's no wonder we can't get a quality football guy in here as gm!

So your name is actually Ritchie Rich??

Maybe some chicken wings would be more appropriate.....

Can you say Jim Kelly?

I think it is a four year plan that we need to see through. That's why Marv signed a bunch of guys to those 4 year contracts (walker,reed, denney, etc), to have enough talent that they will replace them through the draft. I think they're behind schedule, but hopefully they will add their 2 FA's, sign Peters and draft a couple of starters on the first day. If they don't win in 09, we will have enough young talent as a core for someone else to work with. I'm really hoping this leads to a shake up with Modrak/Guy, but it just seems like Ralph isn't going to spend a dime he doesn't have to.

He did pretty well the year after Noll left, does that count?

Unfortunately the ads were too irritating for me to put the time in to read the whole article, especially since they had managed to spread the content over 17 pages.

I'd like to see Russ Grimm or possibly Jack Del Rio if he gets canned.

How can you have a great T2 defense without a pass rush from your DL????

I'm not sure, but Edwards will have an offseason to address 8 men dropping into coverage and I am hopeful he will get better. Defenses adjust pretty quickly, and young qbs tend to take longer to overcome problems they have. I included qb in the first round choices in case the coaches don't think he will improve. I think Steve Johnson has a great chance to contribute more considering how much he did this year, and hopefully Hardy will earn some more time, but that's the biggest question. That's a good point about the money invested in DE, but I saw that Greer may be looking at 7 million a year this offseason. I'd hate to think that if a good DE is available we would pass because of money, but I can believe it. The Pittsburgh Pirates have been doing that (and sucking) around here for years. I'd like to see LB, C, d or o lineman in order in the first three rounds. The Steelers have been playing without their 2 starting guards from last year as well as their OLT for most of the games this year, and that was without any help from their draft class last year. I think we need to have that kind of oline depth before we go for a dynamic TE. Imagine if we had Walker/Whittle/Fowler/Preston/Chambers starting on Sundays.