JohnC

The Bills have been in a position to draft a good qb prospect a number of times the last few years. Wilson, Carr and Bridgewater were on the board when we were in position to draft a qb. Wilson was still on the board in the third round for us and Carr and Bridgewater could have been selected with first round trade downs. But that's history so it is futile to lament about it. What's different for us this year is that we have a legitimate franchise qb prospect in TT. He has shown enough (at least to me) that he can be a good qb in this league. So the urgency to use a high pick on a qb isn't the same this year as it has been in previous years. My position on the draft is simple: In general just make good selections regardless of the position. The higher the ranked player selected the chances of the player making the roster increases. Although I would not be displeased if Whaley used a high pick to select someone who could play RT. The miss on the Kujo pick has left a void on the right side for the past few years (including this year). My position on Rex is well documented so I won't belabor the point on what I think of him. Good coaches adapt to the talent on hand instead of forcing the organization to reshuffle the talent base to adapt to the coaches' preference. Eventually this HC will be jettisoned and the roster re-make will again be a work in process.

I don't see Whaley selecting a qb in the first round. He has said it a number of times that it is a priority for him to end the playoff drought. Odds are that he is going to use his first two picks to bolster the defense that Rex mismanaged last year. Cook certainly would be a good selection for Denver, and if he is still available a good selection for Dallas in the second round. What also needs to be noted regarding Cook is that his receiving corps was not very good. His receivers were not adept at getting open.

The odds of the AG charging the officers is as great as you agreeing with WEO on any issue. I'm sure you know the definition of infinitesimal.

The AG's office was asked by one of the parties involved in the case to review the case. So they will review it. There is nothing usual about how the AG's office is handling the case. The office will review this case and come to the same conclusion that the Philly's DA office came to. Keeping this case alive to any extent does no one any good on both sides of the case. This is America. You are entitled to act foolishly even when it is against your own interests.

Don't apologize or be hesitant to tell your story or offer your thoughts on this subject. On the Manziel saga your thoughts are not only relevant but they are also very poignant. It is often forgotten how the destructive behavior of an addict affects the family and people who care for him. From what I have read about the Manziel case I don't get the sense that his father is divorcing himself from his son and his problems. I get the sense that he is at a stage where he is watching his son spiral out of control and doesn't know what to do about it. He has futilely tried everything he can to help his troubled son. And nothing has worked For Johnny Football the issue is no longer about his football career and how it has been impacted by his behavior; it is now at the point where it is about life and surviving. For the families, especially the parents, they never have peace while their loved one hasn't found a way to deal with their addictions. Getting an unexpected phone call late at night has to be traumatizing before even answering the phone. For those who are harshly judgmental and lack compassion they should be very thankful that they haven't had to deal with such a complicated and consuming problem. If you open your eyes and look around you will see that it has affected a lot more people than you think.

The main point I am making with regards to TT is that the GM doesn't know what his long term value is at this point. If TT doesn't demonstrate that he can go through his progressions and complete passes in the middle of the field this season then his value is diminished. That's all I saying. I agree with you that the team is dealing with a tight cap situation so the GM is not in a position to tear up his current contract and lock him up even if he wanted to. But that isn't my point with respect to TT and Whaley. My point is simply Whaley doesn't know what his value is and this is the season he should find out what it is. We are not disagreeing. We are coming at the qb situation from two different perspectives. One deals with the contract and the other deals with the talent level.

I don't have the stats on Cousins but I do know that for the second half of last season he was consistently good. I'm not making the case that he is going to be an elite franchise qb. But I do believe that he is going to be a good franchise qb. The GM for the Skins franchised Cousins because they couldn't work out a long term deal. But in franchising him that certainly is an indication that they value him because placing that gilded tag on him is in itself a significant price to pay. With respect to TT's contract there is a primary reason not associated with the business side that Whaley has to consider: What caliber of a player is he? None of us know for sure until we see if he takes the next step up this year. As I have said on numerous postings I'm a Taylor advocate. But I still don't know for sure whether he takes the next step forward. If Whaley knew for sure that TT was a lock in moving forward in establishing himself as a very good starting qb he would have signed him sooner to a commensurate contract rather than wait because it would be cheaper.

It is not a fair comparison to say that TT outperfromed Bridgewater in their first years. Although it was TT's first full time as a starter he has been in the league for a few years. So Bridgewater's performance in his first year doesn't bother me. I thought Bridgewater did make a significant improvement in his second year. I'm not a Cutler fan and never have been. He's just too detached as a qb for me and he has a quirky personality that is difficult for the coaches and his teammates to get through. As I stated in my last post I am an advocate for TT but I can't say at this point that I'm sure about his prospects. He needs to show me that he can make plays from the pocket and that he can go through his progressions and throw to the middle of the field. What I can say about him though is that if we didn't have him last year it would have been a disaster. I'm in the Md/DC areas so I get to see Cousins more than most. I believe that he is better than how you categorize him. In the setting he is in he can be a good qb. He is smart, an accurate passer and has a decent (not great) arm. side note: If TT deserved to be on the same list that Kirby put together Whaley would have given him a long term contract. He didn't . I'm aware that the Bills have cap issues but if Whaley was very sure about TT a deal, even if it was a bridge deal, would have been worked out.

Gotham Bill, Whaley basically took a one year gamble on a player who had explosive talent and personality but was fragile. There were early indications that he was worth the gamble. It didn't take long for him to quickly fade due to injuries. I give Whaley credit for at least trying to find talent instead of taking a more passive approach.. He didn't work out so we move on. Nothing ventured--not gained.

I think you are inflating your grade on TT in your comparisons. We are hoping that TT can attain the level of most of the qbs you cited. You are premature in now putting him in that category. That is what we are going to find out this year. Would I take a Derek Carr or a Teddy Bridgewater over TT? With not hesitiation, yes. I am not one to be overly critical of TT. Quite the contrary. Considering his prior playing experience I thought TT not only played well but exhibited enough qualities to be optimistic that he can be a good qb in this league. As far as I am concerned this is the tell year in which he demonstrates that he is capable of making all the plays that a franchise qb in this league should make. Side note: I wished the Bills would have drafted Derek Carr. We could have moved down in the first round and still have been in position to select him. I like him a lot. I think he is on the verge of transitioning into being a really good qb.

Fox once had the patriarch of Duck Dynasty on one of their shows and asked him questions about foreign affairs. When he was asked questions about the Middle East he made the comment that those countries were in turmoil because they didn't accept Jesus Christ as their leader. Fox had a person who was a regular go to guest expert on foreign and security issues. That guy was a fraud who ended up being arrested. http://intelctweekly.blogspot.com/2015/10/fake-conservative-fox-news-ct-expert.html

Your point is well made. But until Pegula entered the picture this organization in general under the prior owner was run in a second rate manner. Before you get to the issue of talent you have to invest and build a first rate football organization. That wasn't done here. Bringing in Marv Levy (a good man) to be the head of your football operation made no sense. When he left he was replaced by Brandon, a top tier marketing man. No franchise that has a habit of having those caliber of football people managing the operation is going to succeed in such a highly competitive field of endeavor.

Pettine who worked with Rex in New York was able to utilize the individual talents on the DL and adjust his approach to defense compared to what was used in New York. Although he blitzed a lot more than the Schwartz defense the bottom line was both defenses, although different in philosophy, were effective. The failure of the Rex system when compared to Pettine's defense was that he wasn't able to utilize the individual talents on the DL By stifling the full throttle rush of the defense he exposed some of the limitations of our LBing corps that were masked when the DL played a more attacking style. It seems to me that Rex was more insistent on having the defense adapt to his preference in defensive philosophy than modifying his philosophy to better utilize the talent he had on hand. You are accurately describing Rex's approach to the defense compared to Wannstedt's. But it is interesting to observe that Pettine who coached under Rex was more flexible when implementing the Rex influenced defense when he was in Buffalo than was his mentor.

Could you please change your picture on your post. It is gut wrenching and an unappetizing sight to see in the morning. Is the sloppy look still fashionable?

Rex's influence in bringing in TT is overstated. TT had a more recent relationship with Kubiak at Baltimore. The Broncos with Kubiak as their HC offered TT more money than what the Bills offered him. He signed with the Bills because he believed that he had a chance to compete for the starting job here rather than compete for a backup position in Denver with Peyton as their starter. In hindsight if TT would have signed with Denver he not only would have garnered plenty of playing time with the Broncos in their SB season because Peyton was hurt last year but he probably would now be the starting qb on a SB team.

My understanding is that the Predators have the rights to him for a period of time. After that time the college player becomes a free agent. So at a set date (soon to come) Vesey can sign for any team he wants to.

The more events that happen at the arena will have the spillover effect of bringing more people downtown and near the waterfront. This once barren area is now a very active area that is not only bringing in people to socialize but also being a place where people want to live. What is impressive about what is going at that location is not the dramatic increase in development but the steady and consistent level of development leading to further development. That is a more sustainable approach to building up that area. Or another way of saying it is that is organic growth.

The seating capacity at the arena is approximately 18,600. In my view that is a good crowd for indoor lacrosse.

Edmonton could be a good landing spot for Chad Johnson. They need a goalie and more talent added to their defensive corps. They have a lot of high end young talent on their lines. There is a lot of talk that they are willing to trade a player such as Taylor Hall to strengthen their area of needs.

The rebuilding script is a time tested formula that most rebuilding teams follow. One of the worst positions to be in is being in the middle of the pack. Too high to get the best draft talent and too low to be a serious contending team. Toronto was one of those organizations that didn't believe that their fan base and Toronto media would tolerate a strategic plummet to better position themselves for a rise. So the franchise ended up muddling along for a generation and made no one satisfied. It must be recalled that Pegula tried the free agent route in his first year of ownership. It was a disaster and a waste of money. Once the organization settled on a rebuild strategy and added to some of the young talent that Reger already brought in the rebuild was accelerated.

The Bandits had more that 17,000 people at the game against Rochester. Buffalo is usually at the top or near the top of the attendance rankings.

I don't see it the same way as you do. Most of the personalities on WGR were in full throttle support for the tank job. And that negative encouragement lasted for two full years. The Buffalo News coverage was tame in its criticism of the Sabres over that deconstruction period compared to how the tenor of the response would have been in other hockey markets. From my vantage point everyone was aware of what was being done in Buffalo and most were in agreement as to what needed to be done. Most isn't certainly everyone but the consensus sentiment was slog on and do what you have to do to get back to respectability.

The Leafs have done everything right in the past year or so. The first step was to get rid of their high contract veteran talent and get as much as possible for them. They did that in rather short order. The next step is to get an infusion of young talent and then develop it. That is what they are doing. Mike Babock is not a soft or enabling coach. He is going to hold even the young talent accountable and make them earn their playing time. They, as the Sabres do, have a master rebuilding plan, and they will adhere to it. Everyone in the organization, including the ownership, know what they are in on and all are bought in. I'm a Sabres fan. But that doesn't mean that I root against the Leafs. As a hockey fan I want the Leafs and the Canadiens to do well because it is good for the game.

The Ennis interview was compelling. I'm rooting for him to return to form. He could be a tremendous addition for one of the top two lines.

I want to see Toronto get back into being a contending team. That will enhance the rivalry between Buffalo and Toronto. Although right now from a league-wide hockey standpoint the games might be intense they have little meaning to them. In general, I think the NHL is bolstered with good Canadian teams. The hockey media coverage in Toronto is so intense that it falsely led the Toronto organization to believe that their market wouldn't tolerate a total rebuild. So they ended up muddling along for a generation instead of doing the dirty work of a serious rebuild that would have gotten them back into contention sooner. Toronto, as like Buffalo, is committed to a total rebuild. That is the right approach to take. The advantage we have is that we started the process a couple of years sooner with our efforts now starting to bear fruit.