BillsVet

I didn't know Buffalo was one deep at OLT. Bell is healthy, but does not play which tells me the coaching staff thinks little of him. Have you been to a game and looked at Chris Hairston up close? He's got one of the worst bodies I've ever seen on an OL. He has knock-knees and isn't anything I'd consider solid depth at this point. This is a guy who needs a lot of work, which is what scouts said when he was drafted. The losing streak began when the Bills were figured out. It happened in Cincinnati, and since then they've proceeded to go 2-5. Press their receivers, force Fitz to throw outside the hash-marks, and it shuts them down. George Edwards runs the defense, so no problem there for opponents.

Buddy's draft record isn't good enough to overcome a team thrifty in free agency and which doesn't sign all their UFA's. It's the reason they've been on a treadmill for more than a decade. Different GM's all get the same result in Buffalo.

Hairston needs a new body. I think Fitz' calves are bigger. Still a project.

The Bills have won about 43% of their games not counting full-on rebuilding years (01, 10) since the the millennium started. Their 60-79 record in these seasons is remarkable consistency given there've been 4 GM's and 4 HC's in that time.

Philly fans are so emotional. Next thing you know, the kid will be throwing snowballs at Santa.

Buddy's trying to replicate San Diego's 4 to 10 year plan of consistently disappointing their fan base, hiring bad coaches, and failing in the clutch. Buffalo's is becoming just the poor man's version at this point.

Or Jauron. After all, Dicky J was responsible for Maybin, but Wood, Byrd, and Levitre were definitely Buddy Nix picks. Never mind the GM at time was the business guy. Nothing like dysfunction at OBD, like the owner pushing for Lynch to be the pick after McGahee's trade when Shaud Williams and Anthony Thomas were the only RB's on the roster.

You don't plan for UDFA's, late (5th-7th) round picks, low cost UFA's,and street FA's to build your team around. Some will succeed, particularly at positions like RB, but never regularly. The offensive unit had exactly 2 first/second round picks starting when the season opened: Wood and Levitre.

Nothing like making stuff up to prove a point that can't be proven with on-field production. Goes in line with saying CJ Spiller got better as the game wore on last week and that Merriman was improving the pass rush despite not pressuring the QB or getting sacks. Or that Hairston/Bell are now good starters.

No one said being a bust was only for poor play. Ki-Jana Carter was a bust, but only because he blew out his knee twice in about 2 seasons. For all we know he was a going to be first team all-pro. Troup may work hard, but the Bills have received little production from a 2nd year former 2nd round pick. As for the LB's, well, Buffalo does excel at shopping at the bargain bin. Eddins, Coleman, Batten, Moats, Merriman, Torbor, White seem to confirm that.

Emotions always placate fans but they don't win games. Talent and solid coaching in that order wins, and right now Buffalo doesn't have enough of either. I like Gailey, but he's working without enough resources to win enough and make the post-season. E.G., Buffalo has a tendency to use the draft to either A) replace departed veterans in UFA or B) draft skill position players. This is why during the Levy/Brandon/Jauron/Nix/Gailey era they've lost 60% of their games. There is no rebuilding actually happening, and will not until top management begins allocating sufficient resources toward personnel.

New owner in 2012.

What's that Fredo? Actually I think he's more like Mr. Smithers from the Simpsons. So it's Buffalo fans' fault that they don't go, but then you list the reasons why they're probably not going? What's that supposed to mean? But I'll be there regardless.

Curtis Modkins has been doing really well of late. I don't see a need for an OC.

HC's firing their coordinators in the middle of a rebuilding is not a good omen. Gregg Williams was able to hire Mike Sheppard, who was let go after a season, then went with Kevin Gilbride. On defense, he first had Jerry Gray, who was assisted for a season by Dick LeBeau, and held the DC job from 01-05 and worked for Mularkey as well. And what do these choices of George Edwards, Giff Smith, Bob Sanders, et al say about the HC? I choose to believe they're not so much a reflection of Gailey's inability to hire solid coordinators, rather who will agree to work under current management. Wannstedt is supposed to have the magic pixie dust, but he's 4-3 coach, and it'll be interesting to see if they change defenses if he's hired, keep the 3-4 and go elsewhere for a DC (if Edwards is fired), or keep the current DC in hopes more talent will make the defense improve. Whatever way they go, it's safe to say there'll be coaching changes only two years after this rebuild started. Other than coordinators moving on to be HC's, it's not good to have to change staff. This college coaching staff doesn't cut it, but it's not like they have much to work with either.

If you think the problem lies only at field level then there's nothing I can say.

If sacks allowed were the only metric to grade an OL on, they'd be great. Their OT's, even with Bell, are extremely weak and vulnerable against speed rushers. They also took some bad penalties. BTW, 19 carries for 55 yards for the starting RB yesterday. That's not a swipe at Spiller, though he needs better vision between the tackles, but I would hardly credit the OL when you can't average 3 yards per carry. That's not getting the job done, but cue the person who'll cite injuries as the only reason that happened.

So what exactly then were Nix, Gailey, the southern regional scout, and the national scout doing when they scouted him in college? There were four seasons worth of tape and hundreds of carries to go over to determine if he had what it took to run between the tackles. The second regular season after the guy's been drafted is playing things a little behind the curve, wouldn't you say?

Chandler is an average TE IMO. He got burned in pass protection a few times, notably by Maybin and he's not the type to stretch defenses in the passing game. That said, there are about 8 other positions that need to be upgraded before TE but this offense would be greatly improved with a TE who can run the seam and attack zone coverage. Pears took a terrible penalty today and struggles mightily with speed on the edge. Now that it appears that Hairston is the new Bell, I'd like to see them draft an OT in the top 2 rounds to come in and start right away. Pears is a replacement level starter who should be upgraded as soon as possible. Regardless of the pairing being Bell/Pears or Hairston/Pears, Buffalo's OT situation is among the leagues worst.

"There is no substitute for victory." -General of the Army Douglas MacArthur

I ate pistachios instead of pretzels today.

You're in luck. Buffalo has a GM who believes in exclusively scouting the south. There aren't really any other areas of the country to scout that he knows of.

At one point, the 2006 draft appeared to have no less than 5 starters: Whitner, Simpson, Williams, Ellison, and Pennington. Those guys were pressed into service when players underperformed or were injured, and 5 years later, only Williams is still with the team and three are out of the NFL. From a team building perspective, this team has proven that they rely too heavily on rookies or 2nd year guys who aren't ready yet. This happens when a team strikes out in the draft for so many years and refuses to sign dependable depth in free agency. For the record, Sheppard is playing over Davis and isn't an improvement. Aaron Williams is getting the nod with poor play from their CB's. Searcy is an injury substitution, same as Hairston. Spiller had 130 total touches in 24 career games, so his being called a starter now is weak. Batten and Moats play because Merriman predictably was hurt. Troup isn't starting anywhere and has been a huge disappointment. Carrington, even being a 5 tech isn't noticed much. Aside from Dareus, there isn't one young player who looks to be a long term starter. That may change, but if this team continues to depend on rookies all over the field, the result will be the same.

Weren't injuries a serious issue in 2007, 2008, and 2009? This seems more and more unlikely to be bad luck but rather bad planning and inferior talent. As for going BPA, they can do that because every single position is a need at this point. Kinda reminds me of 2006 when that draft was heralded as having produced so many starters, yet only 1 remains 5 years later. Yeah, they need instant starters once again, but that's asking a lot out of rookies. Nix has shown he's not very savvy on draft day and his record from 2010 indicates to me he's not all he was cracked up to be. And best of all, Buddy will go out of his way to talk RW out of spending money on free agents. So I guess the Bills are all in on Buddy being awesome on draft day, which looks to be a bad bet.