BobChalmers

Too bad Lee Evans hasn't been that guy for the past two seasons, then he might have been worth keeping, eh? A 40 catch/4 TD deep threat is no threat at all and not doing any good as a decoy, much less as an imaginary #1 WR. Evans has been mailing it in for three years now - I don't doubt he may pick up his game for a season with the Ravens, but he wasn't doing it for the Bills, and he didn't deserve to start over the younger guys.

A lot of that probably had to do with a new staff coming in not really sure what they had to work with, and feeling like they needed to try out the veeterans first to see what was what.

Agree with all of this. I was surprised Coleman didn't beat out Moats - although Moats certainly was looking like a player during the season last year. As for Kelsay, I have to assume there were a lot of people who turned off their TV's after 0-6 or so last year (and who can blame them?). Some have chimed in that Kelsay only succeeded when he switched back to a 4-3 DE but I've been rewatching last year's games and that's just not true - he was improving as an OLB too. Watch the preseason games this year and it's clear Kelsay's got OLB figured out now and is playing very well. I've never been one of his defenders before, but if he carries his play this August into the regular season people will stop complaining in a hurry.

My thoughts exactly. Glad about Aiken and Jasper - disappointed (and a bit surprised) about Coleman.

Prediction: You're going to be eating crow on that one this season. I've been bashing Kelsay too - but he really looks like he's got OLB figured out now - I don't expect you to believe me right now - just hold that thought for December and we'll check in again.

I guess Yeatman is happy now that he ditched lax for football at UMd. He never got to the level they were hoping for when they brought him over from Nother Dame to play attack for the Terps, at least. He did miss out on playing with Md. in the NCAA lax national championship this Spring, but I suspect playing for the Pats* will be a fine compensation!

31-0, in fact. Beat the crap out of them. Of course, by the end of the season, they avenged that loss - but still...

How in Hades do you get "ol worse"??? Are you that broken up about the cutting of Hanny? Or are you pining to get Green back at ORT??? Honestly, that's just weird. "te worse"? Because we don't have Stupar?? Admittedly we lost some potential at TE with Nelson - but that was potenital still - not actual production.

As others have said - the upgrade is Fitz starting instead of Edwards. Smith will clearly have more of a positive impact than Brown, Brohm, and Edwards did combined. Along with Dareus, I'd add the extra 30 pounds on Carrington and Troup and say a significant upgrade. Davis was the best LB on the team last year when he was healthy. People don't want to hear it - but Kelsay looks MUCH better at OLB this year with a full season to adjust. Sheppard and a healthy Batten are further upgrades from last year, and Morrison is legiitmate quality depth (unlike Torbor and Ayodele). HUGE upgrade for the LB unit - even if Merriman misses time...! Williams >> Corner. Hopefully we'll feel like Wilson >= Whitner. I'd call the DB's more of a push for now. Punt returns are still good - but clearly it's a no change. If Moorman bounces back from arguably his worst season, that would help. If I told you last November our starting LB's included a healthy Andra Davis, Kirk Morrison, Sheppard, Batten, and Moats, you'd have been thrilled with the upgrade over Torbor and Ayodele. Sure Merriman and Barnett are good and a big upgrade, but they aren't the whole upgrade, so the overall upgrade is hardly "fragile". Evans' 40 catches 4 TD's/season are pretty damned easy to offset. He is no loss - sorry. My pet golden retriever is an upgrade over Evans. The OL core of talent on the team improves every year they can stay healthy and play together - Bell-Levitre-Wood are still babies for NFL O-linemen. There's every reason to believe they just keep getting slowly better for the next several years through experience. This ignores that last year, while adjusting to the new schemes, and starting Edwards while showcasing Lynch for a trade, they started 0-8 and finished 4-4, and that they had 3 losses in O/T to playoff teams. This was already a 5 or 6-win quality team last year. This year they are a 8-8 or 9-7 team easy, based on my belief that the defensive upgrades have been huge and they will be in the top 12 or so defenses in the league. Of course, how many wins all depends on how things break and who stays healthy. Also, don't forget Wanny's addition to the coaching staff. Next April they will draft either QB/OT/WR depending on who steps up and who doesn't this season. Going into next season ALL the talk will about being a real playoff contender.

That's just crazy-talk. Batten has been playing with the 2's and sometimes the 1's. He's currently the #3 overall OLB on the team behind Merriman and Kelsay. No way in Hades does Batten get cut. Moats has barely been getting playing time with the 3's and been outplayed by Coleman. It's not hard to figure out who's staying and who's probably gone. Easley isn't going anywhere - at some point this year that's your #2 WR, friends. Davis is gone.

So you haven't seen all the stuffs at the line or all the 3-and-outs the _starting_ defenders have been getting this preseason? Or do you think you saw that last pre-season when it was starters on both sides? Worse than the Dolphins on both sides of the ball??? That's just bizarre - considering all the defensive upgrades SINCE the Bills kicked the Dolphins heads in near the end of last season in Miami when the fish needed that game to stay in the playoff hunt. Henne is freaking atrocious and Sparano is as good as gone, btw. The Dolphins may well get Luck - they have 1-15 written all over them.

They've been stuffing opposing run games. Last pre-season the starters were getting shreaded on the ground and that carried over to the regular season. I am surprised that hasn't been obvious, but if it's not to you I apologize.

1. The article is supposed to be about the quality of the QB's - but he downgrades Fitz based entirely on his WR corps? WTF? 2. He has Henne above Fitz, so he is an idiot. Clayton is really dreadfully stupid.

I thought they'd stay about the same, and offered the caveat that the adjustment to the 3-4 might be an issue. As it turns out they started off horribly, but as they adjusted to the system and the personnel they had, they finished at about the same level they had been. 7-9 7-9 6-10 then 4-12 with three O/T losses to playoff teams isn't a dropoff. The improvement of the LB's has been massive. That plus Dareus plus a year of physical development for last year's 2nd and 3rd round picks (Carrington/Troup) mean the defense got a lot better and it's totally obvious to anyone watching the last three weeks.

I thought they'd stay about the same, and offered the caveat that the adjustment to the 3-4 might be an issue. As it turns out they started off horribly, but as they adjusted to the system and the personnel they had, they finished at about the saem level they had been. 7-9 7-9 6-10 then 4-12 with three O/T losses to playoff teams isn't a dropoff. The improvement of the LB's has been massive. That plus Dareus plus a year of physical development for last year's 2nd and 3rd round picks (Carrington/Troup( mean the defense got a lot better and it's totally obvious to anyone watching the last three weeks.

This would be a concern 6 months ago - today not so much. You do know they hired Dave Wanstedt as an "Assistant Head Coach" as well as ILB coach, and he will be holding Edwards' hand all season, right? Dareus, Merriman, Bigger Carrington, Bigger Troup, Healthy Davis, Barnett, maybe Sheppard (we'll see) and a full season to get the new system down. If you've seen the preseason games where the #1's have stuffed every opponent's run offense, you must know who they added to the roster and seen how well they're doing. Merriman probably will not play all 16 games. He has inspired the rest of the team, and will significantly upgrade the pass rush when he's in there. To the original poster's point - every game he's in, the Bills will be a lot better because of it. Leadership in the center of the defense was mostly Davis last year, regardless it wasn't the problem. Speed was a problem. Did you see Fred Jackson blow past Poz in coverage fior a big reception last week? THAT used to be our problem - now it's Jacksonville's problem. Barnett can cover - that's why he's on the team. First off, when it's a 3-4, most of the pass rush is coming from the OLB's - that's where Merriman and Batten come in. As far as the actual DL though, Williams who already did provide plenty from his spot. Dareus has already shown he can. Carrington if he plays DE looks good 20+ pounds bigger, and Spencer Johnson has been a beast. Better run defense and pass rush will make his job much easier. In the defensive backfield. What does McKelvin have to do with them being better? Do you think a 3rd year #2 CB got worse this off season? McKelvin/Florence/McGee + Williams is a pretty nice set of CB's most teams would be jealous of. With the massive improvements in the front 7 the DB's will look great. I thought they'd stay about the same, and offered the caveat that the adjustment to the 3-4 might be an issue. As it turns out they started off horribly, but as they adjusted to the system and the personnel they had, they finished at about the saem level they had been. 7-9 7-9 6-10 then 4-12 with three O/T losses to playoff teams isn't a dropoff. The improvement of the LB's has been massive. That plus Dareus plus a year of physical development for last year's 2nd and 3rd round picks (Carrington/Troup( mean the defense got a lot better and it's totally obvious to anyone watching the last three weeks.

Hehe - he did help - but Nix is the one that got Merriman here.

And you keep ignoring the TAKEAWAY component of that stat. Takeaways are precisely HALF of that statistic, btw. ALSO - a really large proportion of INT's are thrown by QB's under duress - typically playing from behind. Teams who are behind in the score during the game also tend to lose the game. In other words, the fact that QB's throw more INT's on losing teams, while implying a correlation, does not imply the direction of the causality.

Sorry - it's a pretty silly topic. By the way - didn't Wood pretty much own Suh last year?

In all seriousness, I have always thought he looks a bit like one of the Wayans brothers!! With his helmet on - I don't know - but it is defintely not Thurman. Thurman Thomas was much more elusive, and a much better pass catcher.

The Bills are better than that this year. Keep in mind they were 3 O/T losses to playoff teams away from being that 7-9 team LAST season. Additionally - they threw away the first half of the season trying to learn how to play 3-4 with the wrong players, starting Edwards for 2 weeks, and starting Lynch for a month so they could showcase him for the trade everyone knew was coming. 10-6.

Can't agree with your basic premise - sorry. Merriman will be a big help, but the addition of Dareus and a year of physical development by Carrington and Troup PLUS the healthy return of Batten and Barnett's coverage ability >> Poz will be more important.

So you weren't nervous when we beat them last year in a real game, but you're nervous now for a series or two in the preseason?? Fitz came out of 4 quarters last year just fine and with a W. Honestly, why are so many Bills fans willing to be irrational in their doomsaying?

As others have said - we clearly do not have a Drew Brees. He was highly regarded out of college, and awas considered a slight steal at the top of the 2nd round. There has been no point in Fitz's career where he was valued at the level of the lowest point of Brees' career.

When healthy, Davis was our best LB last season too, which is why the loss of Poz was no big deal to me. Yeah - given that Moats was a stand-out (but small-ish) pass-rushing DE in college, which is why it was weird trying to force him inside and there's every reason to believe he'll continue to project better as a 3-4 OLB.