BobChalmers

If we include "won't be back" with "cut", then Choice plus Thigpen are the two guys who were clearly just "Chan's guys" from prior relationships. They never did close to enough to convince a neutral observer they belonged on the team and are gone. My prediction: Kelsay wil take a pay-cut and stay. McGee will probably retire. If he starts camp healthy though, don't be shocked if he wins a job in camp. None of the LB's other than Bradham are safe. Fitz is gone if they get a veteran FA, probably stays if they don't - too risky with the 2013 QB class to count on the rookie being the answer. Wild Fitz prediction: Fitz agrees to run the read option - putting his not-so-young body at risk to keep his NFL starting job!! That's not out-of-position, that's called hitting the age "wall". Go back and watch the game at New England. Brady engineered an entire TD drive by going to wherever Barnett was on the field EVERY SINGLE PLAY. He was the single weakest link out there and it showed game after game.

But you'd agree that no QB's should have been taken in 2007, right? Trent Edwards turned out to be the best of that bunch. How are some so certain that there even is a decent QB in the entire class? And if there isn't, how is it inconceivable that teams may be smart enough to see this?

OK - so let's talk about that one game though - what DOES it mean, and why did he look so bad? There were multiple plays where he got to the ball-carrier unblocked and still couldn't make the tacklle, and even more plays where he wasn't just betaen by the blocker but looked completely helpless trying to disengage. Obviously he can't play like that in the NFL and be even remotely a good idea at #8 overall. It seems to me he is either horribly overrated based on prior weak competition AND/OR he was badly unprepared after the layoff to play in the most important game of his life. Which of those two possibilities makes him a good pick as a MLB at #8??? Geno Smith has been in the 20's on their big board for a while now. And the Senior Bowl. Von Miller really solidified/improved his standing in that game - had to play out of position as a 4-3 DE and he still was terific.

When someone gives a crap about the hideous Cleveland Indians mascot/logo, I'll take complaints about the Redskins name a lot more seriously. Funniest in this exercise in PC - people complaining about the Florida State name and mascot, and the actual Seminoles tribe telling the complainers to shut up.

Because other people's trash is significantly better than our finest.

LOL!!!

They are all pretty bad, but you got stuck watching the NFL Network team, which is probably the worst. I feel my IQ slowly declining each time I listen to them. There are a few people worth listening to on all of these football shows, Ron Jaworski and Adam Schefter are two - but unless you are tuning into Jaws' show NFL Matchup, there isn't a thing worth making time for.

An entirely sensible position. I expect you to be derided soundly for it here on TBD.

Yup - this - as badly as they need LB and obviously QB help, Milner is a beast and Pettine's defense puts a lot of pressure on the CB's. Having said that, I would probably rather get help at LB and give Brooks or Rodgers another year to show me something - or heck, re-sign McKelvin and let him try to step up again. After next year, if they are still hurting for a CB there will be someone worth getting.

In retrospect, the best QB in the entire 2007 draft is a toss-up between Trent Edwards and Kolb. It was really that bad. No, I do not want to reach for some junk QB with a #8 overall pick.

Good one! RALPH IS CHEAP I didn't quite make it out from the various interviews - is Pettine's father retired? I am probably mixing up the stories between his father the PA HS Coaching legend, and Hackett's father, the NFL offensive mastermind. At least one of them is mostly living in Florida these days.

Well, Norv's track record as a head coach is pretty awful. He's always (I believe) been a very successful OC. Why one would think Norv's mentee will be a better HC, I can't say, although it's as much about personality than experience, so mayube he will be.

And hardly anyone even read your sensible statement, apparently, because they still went on about it after...

33 is plenty - part of the problem may be that he looks a bit young even for his age. If he was in his 20's the question would be more interesting. I thought both his and Pettine's interviews with Chris Brown were very impressive. The more you hear about/from Pettine the better that hire gets - what a coup for the Bills! Nothing is for certain until they start cranking out NFL wins, but where we are right now I'm extremely satisfied.

1. He goes by Stevie. It's generally polite to call a person what they like to be called. 2. No you dont want him to stop sticking up for Fitz (unless you aren't a Bills fan). They are still teammates, and dissing him in public would be idiotic and really bad for the whole team. It's fine for us to complain about the players. Very very bad for them to do it (publicly).

That many QB's taken THAT early from THIS lousy QB class seems insane to me. QB's were great last year - there still were only 4 gone by pick 40. (Luck, Griffin, Tannehill, Weeden) Having said that - I suppose the strategy could be to play it by ear - see how many (IF ANY AT ALL) go when it's the Bills' pick at #8. If the answer is "3" you "reach" and get your guy. If it's one or zero (more likely than 3) then I think it's safe to hang on a bit. You can always (try to) trade back up with someone who doesn't need a QB if there's a run, not that that's a great position to be in.

SNAP! ... wait, that's the team we are rooting for...? <sigh> Well, I guess the idea is that their comments might give us warm fuzzies about their enthusiasm to work in the off-season, not that it's necessary for us. The downside to being the fan rather than the participant - we want desperately to know how it's going, but our knowing not only doesn't help achieve the ultimate result (winning), in some cases it can even hurt. Marrone really stressed in his otherwise uninformative press conference that he was going to talk to all the players before he says much in public. That's the right answer, but it's not much fun for us.

This understatement alone is very different this time around. Even the folks who were generally enthusiastic about the Gailey hire (yeah, I was one of them) were really taken aback by the George Edwards choice at DC. Gailey was clearly not a defensive guy - hiring a clipboard-holder like Modkins for OC was not unreasonable since Gailey already said he was calling the offense, but to hire someone with such limited credentials to run the side of the ball the head coach doesn't pay attention to - that raised a ton of red flags for everyone, as I recall. The Pettine hire is the absolute opposite of that (along with Morrone's clarity that he's the coach/CEO of the whole team). It's really hard not to like the direction that shows - such as it is so far.

This - and it really is different this time from three years ago in terms of the national response. Sure, Chan Gailey had Cowher praising him, and the one comment from Jerry Jones, plus Pioli sort of complimenting him, but that was about it, and there was a whole lot of "huh what?" and "really?" from most of the observers - particularly nationally. 1. Gailey was not in demand by other teams which was very different than Marrone. Marrone was on multiple teams' radars, and I strongly suspect the Browns got burned and probably ultimately wanted him after the shine wore off Chip Kelly and his demands. 2. Marrone's list of vocal supporters arround the NFL is MUCH longer - Payton/Edwards/Parcells... Brees, Mawae, and other OL. 3. It's clear that the Bills' job was viewed as a good one this time around - and Pettine's signing on quickly is further proof of that. He could have stayed with the Jets, and he could have held out for a job in his home town (Philly) or elsewhere. He's seen the Bills up close for years and believes they have the defensive talent to be better quickly. He wouldn't have come to the Bills otherwise, given that he has made it clear his ambition is to succeed as a DC (on his own) so he can get a head coaching job. Sure - as always, we won't really know until they play the games - and yeah, there's always some level of optimism for the new guy - but there really is more reason for it this time.

I actually see Fitz' play as just the opposite. He would have been significantly worse w/o Gailey's schemes - where would Fitz' yardage numbers be w/o all those screen plays Gailey emphasized so much? I remember Fitz playing for Jauron - that was really ugly. He has a weak arm, poor accuracy, and often makes poor decisions at critical times. Not much of that is coaching.

This

Patrick Willis and Calvin Johnson.

Hehe - 'tis true. Pettine's defense is closest in style to Greggo Williams' scheme - modified old Bears "46". Remember how the Bills had to go out and get Nate Clements and Antoine Winfield to play in his scheme? The defense leaves them out on an island a lot. Gilmore's fine, but they need another. Haivng said that, they are SO desperate at LB I'd rather hold off a year at CB and see if Brooks can step up.

After the last two drafts, I don't think moving up 1 round to get a QB you like is going to be viewed as a big deal even by the draftniks. Noone saw Ponder going when he did, and Tannehill was considered somewhat reachy. There are a few more that I am forgetting. My point is - the word is out there that you have to "reach" a bit to get the QB you want - which by my defintion isn't really reaching at all. It really just means the positional value of QB's has gone up even higher than it has been. All the success of recent youngsters only reinforces that.

Geno Smith was the first QB at #23 in the last Kiper big board. Kiper has Nassib as his #5 Senior QB Glennon is the only QB in his first round big board. Yeah - I think that's kind of the ideal fit.