BobChalmers

Not me man - gonna call "I told you so" on that one - sorry! At the time I believe I said "don't be the last team to go with the 'popular' system - be the first team to catch the next wave", and for precisely the reason Gailey is hinting at: If more teams are going 3-4 you have more teams to compete with for the same types of players from a fixed talent pool. There are like 3 or 4 legitimate defensive styles out there - the smart play is to use which ever one is the least popular. Maybe that's part of why the Pats* switched to 4-3. Sadly, I fear the Bills may be a little late on this wave too.

Clausen 2nd rounder, showed next to nothing as a rookie. Ponder #12 overall. Looked pretty good. There is no comparison whatsoever.

THIS - Moorman 2+ yeras ago was a legit pro-bowler, who often lost out barely to Lechler(sp?) of the Raiders who was also amazing. Moorman's play dropped off a bit - coincidentally or not - when April left and DeHaven took over. That could just be age - I'm not ready to blame DeHaven. I do think - subjectively - that Moorman was noticeably better this past season than he was in 2010.

Mario! They are both too small except as 3-4 OLBs.

Not me - Kellen Moore looks like a "system QB" to me. Popgun arm too, if I remember right.

THIS - and I'm not even one of those "it's all about the QB" - but the better QB has been winning all the playoff games - except for NYG over GB, and in that game, Rodgers looked/played rusty and Manning was on fire. Brady beat Flacco and Tebow Flacco beat Yates Yates beat Dalton Tebow beat an injured Rothelsberger Brees beat Stafford, then lost to Smith in an upset Manning beat Ryan and then Rodgers as I mentioned above I understand a good defense can make some elements of a QB's game look bad, and a bad defense can make a QB look good, but just fomr watching their own actual play, the QB who played the best (made the best looking throws, decisions, etc.) seemed to win just about every game.

Agreed. Big difference is that Stevie is a taller than Cruz, and has shown the ability to sky for some balls most WRs could not catch. They list Cruz at 6'0" and honestly, I think that may be a generous to say the least - he looked absolutely tiny in the huddle next to Manning who is 6'4". The difference looked like a LOT more than 4" to me. Stevie looks and plays like every bit of his 6'2".

I am pretty sure he had both feet down before the ball was knocked out. It was very close though. Regardless, it was a great play by the defender to hit the ball so immediately - I'm not calling it a "drop", although clearly you'd like a WR to have stronger command of the ball when it gets to both hands. The FG was brutal. You can't miss a 32-yarder in the NFL. I suspect it's mostly that he had multiple times during his tenure with the Bills where he could have whined/complained about the quality of help he had on offense, but little to no word of that ever came out. And Evans was barely open either - which is why the defender was right there to knock the ball out of his mitts. Evans is washed up. The Bills knew this and got a free 4th round pick for him. His only game was speed, and now his speed is just mediocre.

Because we had the worst OLB's in the league and our best DL was hurt. Not sure I understand why there is any confusion about this. Only way they need a top DT is if he's going to play NT and Williams will move to DE and they play a 3-4 all the time.

Money and a chance to start. Recruiting by current and former Bills players. As is Mario Williams, though he's hurt.

What moves are those? Dwan Edwards who did his job and can now be cut without loss? Merriman? They didn't really make any moves at OLB or NT other than those two, which is why they struggled with a 3-4, missing arguably the two cornerstone pieces of the defense. Troupe is the only guy who they drafted that makes no sense now - and his failure to play well/stay healthy probably has a good bit to do with them wanting to play 4-3, since his busting means they still don't have a real NT they can rely on. Dareus and Williams will look great as a pair of 4-3 DT's. That's also Spencer Johnson's natural position. Kelsay obviously belongs at 4-3 DE more than OLB. If he's too slow for what they want, Carrington can lose the weight they asked him to add and be a 4-3 DE which was his natural position too. Sheppard and Barnett can both play. I guess we can agree they haven't made as much intellectual/training/experience gains because they are switching schemes, but you didn't want to stick with the Tampa-2 did you? I don't think Wanny's 4-3 is going to look anything like Jauron's did.

A little - but, no, a 3-4 DE or 4-3 DT is not your main source of a pass rush. The fact that Dareus led the team with 6 sacks is an indictment of the rest of the team, not an argument that he is a big-time pass rusher. He's fine - I just mean they got a DT (Dareus) instead of a pass rusher like Von Miller. Pretty tough to judge Mallett too. Personally I wouldn't have used a 3rd on him.

And his backup LT was injured the same game the starter was. And even the #1 WR when on the field was playing hurt with a bad groin. Fitz clearly does have accuracy issues - you can't blame the multiple times he missed a wide open SJ deep on anything but Fitz. But it's also fair to say there were plenty of other problems too. Nix already spelled it out - he's going to get a second top WR, depth at OT, and aggressively address the pass rush all THIS OFFSEASON. Nix and Gailey have also spelled out that they are sticking with Fitz for 2012. If Nix does all that, and they have a little better luck with injuries, it will be on Fitz to lead them to the playoffs IN 2012. I don't think anyone at OBD disagrees with that, nor should anyone at TBD.

I suspect our positions aren't that far apart - and more importantly, Nix has made it pretty clear he's on the same page. The only exception I would take is that IF Bell could be healthy, they would be fine at OLT - upgrading anywhere is nice, but a healthy Bell is a solid player. I object (partially) to the notion that the pass blocking has all been scheme/Fitz. Game 1 the Chiefs moved Tamba Hali away from Bell to across from Pears because Bell had him completely shut down. That's not quick release - that's Bell totally defeating top NFL pass rusher. Nix said flat-out they will draft an OT - because Bell can't stay healthy. WHEN they draft one will hopefully be driven by who's available when they pick in a given round. Given that they are committed to Fitz for now, they have four spots to look at as clear "needs". Two of those spots are both pass rushers - they need two more than they have - OLB's or DE's depending on the formation. One of them, again already pointed out by Nix, is a top WR added to Stevie - ot two if they can't resign Stevie. I'd priortize those three players ahead of displacing Bell and Hairston, but acknowledge that the uncertainty there says going OLT isn't a bad move. Apparently this makes me a homer - but Nix said he was going after improving the exact same positions I would have had him target. He said he's going to do it THIS OFFSEASON. If Nix doesn't follow through, we can all jump on him. If he does what he just said he would, why would I not be happy with him?

Can't address every position at once. Again - who would you have had them draft last year after Miller was taken?? Are you arguing they didn't need Aaron Williams in the 2nd? It sure didn't/doesn't look that way by the end of the season - he's now the Bills' #1 CB. Does my liking those two picks make me a homer?? Troupe certainly looks like a bad move - but the biggest problem for the team going in to 2010 (and still after) was the run defense. It's only because they've done some work to shore up the run defense that the lack of pass rush can now be singled out as THE defensive problem. They'll address it this year, big time, and if they don't screw up the picks the defense should be pretty sound.

Very good point. TE's in particular might seem undervalued though, based on how dominant they have been in the league this year. The other interesting thing about drafting 1st round TEs - they are almost never busts - far lower bust liklihood over the last 20 years or so than any other position - which probably goes hand-in-hand with teams taking them later than they should. Agreed - BUT The Bills already have a very good OL. Anyone who doesn't think they do seems to me as having not been following the team very closely the last two years. Maybe it depends on what the definition of "quality" is, but they got pretty good results even with a lot of injuries. They did just finish the year with the fewest sacks allowed AND were among the best rushing teams - particularly impressive given that they were badly behind in a lot of games. Gailey's scheme and Fitz' quick release are some of that, but there were also a lot of plays where Bell and company made highlight reels for Brian Baldinger on NFL network. They have VERY good C and G's - among the best in the NFL - and they are young with lots of room to improve. Factoring in their youth, I wouldn't trade Wood/Levitre/Urbik with any threesome in the league. They are 1st, 2nd, and 3rd round draft picks, respectively - so it should come as no shock. Pears is a decent starter at RT who they just extended - I doubt they want to abandon him already. (edit: although I'm not sure why they extended him - he's definitely the weak link, particularly on pass blocking) As Nix has said - Bell is excellent WHEN he's healthy - problem is can he stay healthy. Hairston is still an unknown. If you don't think Bell will find a way to survive a season AND you aren't convinced Hairston will improve enough, then they should look for another answer at OLT. Nix seemed to be implying he at least intends to bring in another option. A lot depends on where they stand as FA happens. If they re-sign Stevie as they seem to intend, and add the second stud WR Nix said he was targeting, then that's really not a need at all. Same to a lesser extent with the pass rushers they need more than anything. I imagine once they are in the draft it will come down to quality and who slips to them. If the #1 guy at OLT (Reiff?) slips to them at 10, and FA went well, I would imagine they take him. OTOH, suppose the top 2 OLT prospects are gone - well they sure don't want OLT #3 with the #10 pick - that's how we got Losman and McCargo as reach 1st rounders - yuck.

Too bad for Brady that Flacco won't be in coverage, eh? Why oh why do people see every game as QB vs. QB??? The Ravens D has a good chance of dismantling Brady. Their offense should be able to handle the Pats sorry defense. No gaurantees - but I actually think the Ravens will dismember them. Remember the AFC North was 4-0 vs. the AFC East this year. Not sure why you don't think the Giants can match up - they have the exact matchup the Pats can't handle - same as the Packers. That front 4 will make your pretty QB look really bad if you don't have a serious run game to keep them honest.

The issue - as Nix was getting at in his press conference - is that Bell can't seem to stay healthy at all. IF he could stay healthy, as Nix also said, Bell has all the tools you want - and he's shown them. The issue is - will he ever make it through a season? If the answer is no, then drafting a good OLT is an upgrade. Use the FA money you save not resigning Bell on your WR (Jackson, Bowe, etc.) or pass rush help (Mathis, Williams...?).

Yeah - I agree - this is ridiculous. Buddy Nix controls all the picks. Wilson knows winning is the best way to sell tickets, and everyone in the front office is on board with that. By your ridiculous reasoning, they would have taken Green last year instead of Dareus, right? Or a QB like Gabbert (they hadn't paid Fitz yet)? Why didn't they? They took a big solid DL of the sort who is going to anchor the team for years - EXACTLY like most of the people here have been begging them to take. But now less than a year later, you've convinced yourself that stupid Ralph Wilson is going to force Nix to take a WR?? (Which we all agree they need as well, btw.) Yes - ridiculous at least. Oh yes - and Demetrius Bell has been the subject of at least two different film sessions on NFL Network talking about what a great job he's been doing. None of that matters - "the Bills suck... Ralph Wilson is cheap and senile... our OL is the worst in the league..." It's genuinely tiresome, as well as flat-out stupid. This team is a strong pass rush away from the playoffs - period. A top WR added to Stevie would help. Health on the OL would help - particularly LT. Nix said point blank he intends to address all of that this off-season, and that he thinks filling those holes is all they need from the personnel side. He's right.

My - how convenient of you to choose "the last two years" and even at that you are wrong. As we all would like to forget - 3 years ago they took Maybin as their 1st rounder. Two years ago they took Carrington in the 3rd. (They needed to do a better job against the run back then too, btw) Oh - and this just in - they drafted this season's leading sack-man in the first round this year. Yeah - he's more of a 4-3 DT type, but that still helps the pass rush. Pretty sure they'd have gone with Von Miller if he was there and Dareus wasn't. Other than that, you made a lot of sense.

Amen. And seriously - when you consider just how AWFUL the Bills' passrush was this season, you have to think they really aren't that far away. They were doing most everything else fairly well. Not that adding passrush talent is trivial - every team wants more - but still... Add just two good players at OLB and this team is an entirely different animal.

Takes attutide + understanding + teaching ability to be a good coarch. No question on his attitude - if he has the depth of understanding and ability to teach others, he'll do great. Don't know why he doesn't start at the college level though to pr0ove himself.

I'd be extremely happy with that. The Browns gave up on him WAAAAY too fast. Bizarrely so, IMO. No clue why he didn't get more of a chance in Denver yet - but that would be awesome if we could steal him before the Broncos wise up. I doubt seriously the price will be that high that it's not worth taking a flyer.

Yes - and every player on every team that wins a Super Bowl is better than every player who isn't. This is the same logic that says the only way to measure QB's is by their w/l record extended to a whole new level of complete idiocy. If only the Bills had Timmy Smith and Doug Williams instead of Thurman Thomas and Jim Kelly - who knows how great the Bills could have been.

Yeah - this OP confuses me to heck. I guess the assumption is Williams returns to NT so Okoye is replacing Edwards?? We need to sign another DT??? Because Kyle Williams and Marcell Dareus are the weak point of the team??? If we go 4-3, we have among the top DT combos in the league. If we stay 3-4, we should get an actual NT so Williams and Dareus can both play DE. We need 4-3 DE's or 3-4 OLB's.