BillsVet

RW's ownership of the team is clearly holding it back from becoming relevant again. As much as the team remains in Buffalo with him alive, it cannot move forward either given the restrictions on hiring top level management types. By this I mean, no one wants to work here with an owner and his hand-picked people who will sue a recently fired coach (Wade), name an octogenarian GM (Marv), replace him with a marketing/business guy as GM (Brandon), re-sign Jauron when no one wanted him, and hire a septuagenarian (Nix) to be GM when previous moves don't work. And people wonder why no self-respecting GM or HC will come to Buffalo.

Yeah. Credit the Packers for trying to transition from the (as of 2005) 36 year old Favre when they took Rodgers 24th overall. Cincinnati had Jon Kitna when Palmer was taken first overall. You don't spend first rounders on a QB, have nothing but a concussed Kevin Kolb behind him, and not expect that first rounder to get the starting nod. To BADOL's point, you need elite QB play and I'm not seeing improvement fast enough to believe they'll be a playoff team in 2014. I fear they'll eschew QB in the draft on account of collective egos and allow more talented options to go by or try to find some veteran cast off.

Brandon said everything was being reviewed after the Toronto debacle. Perhaps he'll consider firing himself now. BTW, is TO available? It worked last time. Lol.

The last QB I can remember not playing from the start was Carson Palmer in 2003, and yes most expected Manuel to start even with Kolb signed. EJ rarely puts a pass where the receiver can make the catch and run. He also seems to make a lot of throws to stationary targets, though some of this could be little Nate's offense. And then there was the pass to Woods which got the guy slammed hard.

He was a "Top 5 talent evaluator." I'm guessing he was grouped with fantasy football team GM's to get to that elite ranking.

Two rookie QB's, both with flaws. But one gets to throw downfield and the other doesn't. Either it's Hackett or the QB won't throw. And besides, what's the point of drafting fast receivers if you don't throw long to them.

Brandon said everything was on the table. Not that I believe anything he says mind you.

Not to mention Rodgers isn't playing, the team is struggling as a result, and they're playing the Atlanta Falcons who aren't good unless they get neutral site games. I guess some fans need something to cite in order to bring the Bills up to a respectable level when it's clear they're going nowhere-again.

Chandler's contract expires after the 2013 season concludes and I doubt he's re-signed. It's time the Bills get with the program and invest in a pass catching TE within rounds 1-3. I think the last guy they took to play TE in those rounds was Kevin Everett in 2005. Wow.

RW's been anything but an absentee owner. He fired Wade Phillips and subsequently sued him for breach of contract because Wade wouldn't out-right fire Ronnie Jones. That move there probably made it a lot harder to attract top management to this organization. RW ran the team into the 21st century like it was 1970. And it's little wonder the team cannot find front office people who want to work there, which undoubtedly helps continue their record tying streak of 14 consecutive playoff-less seasons.

Someone once had a thread with "catharsis" in the subject line detailing all the debilitating losses since the late 90s. Haven't seen it in a long time, but that thing was comprehensive.

Food for thought. In the NFL free agency era (EDIT: 1993-present), the longest playoff drought was the Cincinnati Bengals from 1991-2004. Buffalo will match that after this, their 14th consecutive non-postseason campaign. Behind the hapless Bills are the Raiders and Browns, both of whom own (EDIT: active) 11 year streaks if they fail to reach the playoffs in 2013. That's some pretty sad company, though at least the Bengals are now an almost perennial playoff team. Problem is, the real decision makers at OBD aren't held accountable nor will they so long as the bottom line is maintained. And that doesn't require Buffalo make the playoffs.

I think we're back to debating whether or not this organization can compete with some of the individuals still in the front office who grew up working for RW and the Detroit contingent. You just don't go 0 for 14 in playoff appearances without something systemically wrong to the franchise deeper than the GM, coaches, or players.

I think the post listing all the Bills mind-bending losses should be brought back and updated. It's been a long time since I've seen it, but there are some additions to it of late. JMO.

Noticed that as well. 6th year of games north of the border and they're still not attracting a team friendly crowd.

The NFL and the owners of their franchises don't care about people like me and some of my friends who spend 60 bucks on individual game tickets. The lion's share of a franchise's income is derived from a sharing of the television revenue, which, IIRC, is about 100M per. Ticket sales, merchandising, and advertising is a far cry from that. But where individual teams also make big dollars is the luxury suites, which obviously are based on the stadium. And so, building stadiums has become the main mechanism to increase revenue. IIRC, 20+ teams having built new digs in the past 20 years indicate the league is encouraging teams to do just this. We know the Bills aren't getting a new stadium anytime soon, and even if they did, the corporate presence in WNY isn't enough to sustain the income NFL franchises want to make from suites and partnerships. The corporate world is all about getting bigger. No one is content to remain at the same level because maintaining isn't growing. The NFL is the same way and I think Buffalo, without some serious changes in the local economy, is going to be left behind for greener pastures.

I trust Russ Brandon. He talked about having an analytics department in January and lo and behold, 10 months later we got one. He talked about the roster being better after Nix, and lo and behold we're 4-7 now. He talked about Buddy Nix being the GM for a long time and lo and behold a few weeks later 'ole Buddy was retired. Why would anyone not trust Russ?

The W-L record will always be the most illustrative metric to determine a team's success, but of course it's more nuanced than simply those numbers. The 2006 Bills were rebuilding and proceeded to go 7-9 under DJ. But the 2008 Bills, which got off to a 5-1 start and were in their 3rd season of rebuilding finished 7-9. Same record, but expectations were far different. While 7-9 might be acceptable in 2013 (the first year of another rebuild) it won't be in 2014. And, if a team is showing something during a season, then expectations can rise with their performance. The reason W-L record is being used here is, as others have said, frankly because the franchise hasn't accomplished a winning season for so long. They are the exception to almost the rest of the league and, as one would expect, people don't trust them. And that includes many fans who aren't buying what they sell like they might have in say 2002-04.

Remember, the Bills won 7 games in '06, which was Jauron's first season. Unfortunately, they didn't answer the QB question and defensively improvements didn't materialize thereafter. These final 5 games will say a lot about where the "new" look Bills are heading. They have to show the potential to get better, or they'll remain a 6-8 win team. Manuel progressing goes a long way to surpassing where the Bills have been for the past 9 seasons, which was a 4-7 win franchise.

The question for 2013 would be whether they'd be in year 0 of the latest rebuild or year 1. The former happens when a team doesn't answer enough questions about the important pieces it takes to win, namely the starting QB and whether that individual succeeds. We don't have enough evidence Manuel is the guy, with positive and negative signs which aren't uncommon for rookie QB's. The best example of a year 0 to a rebuild happened in 2010 when few questions were actually answered during the season, like who the long term starter at QB would be and the defensive alignment. It seems like this year there's some clarity about the latter issue and perhaps a better solution to the former.

It's hard to discuss a team that's 19-40 in their past 3+ seasons and be sunshine and rose petals. My point with OL is that there is a demand for lighter, more mobile types. A case in point is guys like Pugh and Kyle Long who weren't anticipated as first rounders yet they were selected there. I focus on first rounders because it means a team thinks they were worth using most likely their first pick in a draft. You can disagree, but it goes against the trend. Instead, I see a conflation of the argument in order to suppress the argument entirely. There really is no debate, just individuals who aren't willing to go against what the team is doing because they're fans. It's not illegal to be both a fan and objective.

We've had this discussion before and I know you'll disagree with me. Recent drafts show teams are valuing OL, particularly guards, who are more on the nimble side and less the mauling types who aren't as mobile. Take the first round tackles selected in 2012 and 2013: Fisher, Joeckel, Johnson, Fluker, Pugh, M. Kalil, and Reiff. 6 of those 7 are guys under 320 with Fluker the lone exception and he's strictly a RT type. Or the guards in those 2 drafts: Cooper, Warmack., K. Long, DeCastro, and Zeitler. So, out of 12 first round OT's or G's, 10 are under 320 (Fluker and Warmack). I think that's a trend.

Talent or bodies? Signing guys from other teams' practice squads, particularly from a team with a GM like Ozzie Newsome is not something I'd highlight too quickly. The Bills roster remains in flux because they're rebuilding. And it's ironic this team chooses to look for bigger offensive lineman, a trend which goes directly against the rest of the league as teams are looking for more mobile guards who can pass protect, not maulers.

I thought it took 3 years to evaluate a rookie? I could understand 2 years but not less than 1 season. They've played well in spots, but pronouncing them the best draft class is premature.

Jets are the top ranked run defense in the league. EJ better keep them honest or it'll be a long day for Buffalo on both sides of the ball.