BillsVet

Steve Smith's (all 5'9 185 lb of him) last 3 seasons in the NFL with a young QB: 2011: 79 receptions 1,394 yards 7 TD 2012: 73 receptions 1,174 yards 4 TD 2013: 60 receptions 681 yards 4 TD And who, precisely, has lined up to support Smith, who by the way was 32, 33, and 34 years old in those seasons?

When you make decisions out of necessity, it usually doesn't bode well. The last 2 QB's taken by Buffalo in round 1 fit into that category, with one busting and the other demonstrating signs he's not adapting to the NFL. The point made in another thread with regard to Seattle's pursuit of their QB was the right method applies here. . And for some reason, Modrak was retained through the Levy, Brandon, and part of the Nix GM years. It defies logic that a personnel guy could survive, but then again OBD defies logic on many subjects.

John, this isn't team building circa 1990. In other words drafting like Buddy Nix isn't going to help you win in 2013-14. You may recall Nix's strategy was to build all the other elements of a team and then get the QB. Never mind that he didn't get the QB thing right, but he didn't get the OL done, didn't get the skill positions done, and the defense never worked either. And given that Manuel isn't making much compared to previous first round QB selections, the cost versus the benefit of taking another one early isn't nearly as great. A QB has to make plays (i.e. throws) and Manuel isn't doing it frequently enough. Watch the All-22 film. The fastest way to becoming a playoff-caliber team is to nail the QB thing. That position is the greatest force-multiplier because it makes everyone better.

I noticed EJM often throws to stationary targets and not those moving. Someone mentioned that watching Brees, like most top QB's, who'll throw the ball before the receiver makes his break. A low YPA and completion percentage, IMO, are indicative of someone who's struggling in an offense he said he understood during the pre-season.

You're kidding right?

All due respect JfH, there's a lot of wait and see approach. The wait part for some here is until there is conclusive evidence a player isn't good enough, then and only then can we declare he's not good. Some fans can have an informed opinion that is objective without a player having 2-3 seasons under their belt. What I'm reading here is some are expressing deep concern considering what they observe on the field and EJM's miniscule YPA (lower than Trentative and Fitz) along with a poor completion percentage. I get that some fans want to wait until the bitter end before declaring a player bad, but it's OK to do a running evaluation. And right now, EJM hasn't shown much improvement.

Which other critical position is there which affects a game's outcome as much as your QB? If you don't have one, you have nothing.

The player either can retain the mechanics he's been taught or not. Right now, E.J. has poor mechanics, and that's not easily correctable when the game is being played. And as for reading a defense, a coach can teach all they want. If the guy panics at the first sight of a rush and isolates on one receiver, then he's not going to succeed. You're talking about potential after the guy's played almost 4 complete seasons? When does he reach that? And should we wait around for a QB to develop 2-3 years before declaring he can't get it done? After all, isn't that what Nix did with Fitzpatrick and it put the Bills in a position to draft a QB in a year when it doesn't appear many good ones were available?

DJ didn't last long after Schobel made those comments. I'm not saying Marrone needs to go, but it's clear the coaching staff can't light a fire under a team like TB did after they started 0-8. Their 4-1 record since then indicates Schiano and crew been effective whereas Marrone already looks like he's out of answers given the 1-5 record in their last 6. NFL teams aren't jettisoning players like a D-1 team might. A coach is going to go before they get rid of 4-5 decent sized contracts. Not a relevant comparison here.

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.