BillsVet

That former 7th round pick Matt Flynn easily held off Brian Brohm for the backup job and wasn't awful when called upon this season. Then again, what team can lose their starting franchise QB and perform as well? Tom Brady had Brian Hoyer for a backup, Peyton Manning has whom? Say this, when they got rid of a Bob Sanders as their DC, they hired a real 34 DC in Dom Capers who knows his thing defensively despite a poor HC record. The Packers embody how to be run in a small market. Buffalo remains stuck in a downward spiral I'm not sure if they're close to pulling out of.

Re their executives: CEO Mark Murphy (a former NFL DB from Williamsville) and GM Ted Thompson are some of the best in the NFL. Thompson isn't perfect, but he's assembled a team that's lost 14 guys to IR, including several starters, and still performs well. They've been to the playoffs now 3 out of 4 years. Management is the deciding factor in who goes to the playoffs and who doesn't. A good owner, while having a say, allows his GM to do their job. And likewise, the GM lets the HC do theirs. It's why GB and PIT are regularly in the post-season and why Buffalo's meddling ownership with his inner circle never get anywhere.

There was a lot of talk on TBD that Gailey and Nix didn't care about draft status and wouldn't hesitate to get rid of high pick. I think the staff saw after the Baltimore game that Evans was almost completely absent before his injury. Even though publicly he says the right things, he's played 7 seasons for a dead-end team. It would not surprise me if he's trying to play his way off the team. Now that Johnson's had a good season, it wouldn't surprise me to see them deal Evans for a low pick and hype up Johnson as their top target. They could then play another low cost player in David Nelson and call it a move for the future. This is how this team operates.

Wouldn't surprise me for Evans dealt for a 5th rounder if a CBA ever gets done. His contract isn't that bad for most teams. But to say Easley is on the comeback is absurd. He hasn't played a down and was a one year wonder in college.

Let's not forget the Chargers used free agency to acquire some big names (at the time) and didn't just sleep through it as Buddy talks. They signed Marcellus Wiley in 2001, and David Boston to a huge deal a few years later. Not to mention they found an All-Pro TE and Pro Bowl caliber G among the undrafted ranks. And they scored in the later rounds with guys like Michael Turner, Shaun Phillips, Darren Sproles, and a few others. RW still talks about luck being a big factor in the success of a NFL franchise. In order to follow SD's model, they need a lot of luck, because the talent people aren't on the same level and the money isn't going to be flowing for UFA's. Besides the fact they're playing against 3 other teams with significantly more financial resources.

It's not the hiring and firing that's wrong but the individuals they choose for their most important roles. This franchise's track record filling their GM and HC positions remain among the worst in the NFL, thus necessitating the next GM and/or HC hire. At this point, only the Raiders and their senile owner make more moves and get less from them. Buffalo is averaging a little over 6 wins per campaign for a decade, which indicates they repeatedly hire individuals who cannot develop a cogent plan. And organizationally, it seems the executives in Buffalo are frequently overruled by those in Grosse Point Shores, MI. Continuity is a nice buzz word, but there is a bad and good kind, espeically their front office types like Overdorf and Modrak who cannot be fired no matter what.

Fairley is a 43 DT probably in the mold of Kevin Williams. I'm still not sure he's a 34 5 tech type. Dareus seems to be a better fit, but still the Bills invested a decent contract into Dwan Edwards and a 3rd rounder on Carrington just a year ago. They're not set at DE, but this defense can't play the 43 or the 34 right now. Vince Young says hello. Bud Adams couldn't wait to take him, and 5 years later that experiment is over. College production means almost nothing, but apparently it still gets some excited. Buffalo needs a guy who can step in and play now, because there's no QB worth taking at 3. As for Michael Vick, yes he put up good numbers and went to the playoffs. Problem is, his HC called him out for not being able to read the blitz in his 7th season as a starting NFL QB.

Which defense do they run again? It's not a 43 and not a 34 with layers who are not scheme diverse (Kelsay, Merriman, even K. Williams) and a guy who's now Asst HC with LB duties? Sure, he's a name guy, but it's evident they don't know what they are anymore. Best part of it is Wannstedt's a 43 guy, and they've already spent considerable resources (D. Edwards, Troup, Carrington) who were taken with the idea of being in a base 34. The new civility on display here. When's the last time that front office had either one? And we're hoping for both to happen in the same off-season, with the latter only happening when a CBA is reached.

Why it takes OTA's, Training Camp, 4 pre-season, and 16 regular season games for coaches to know what you've got is beyond me. I chalk it up to the arrogance of the coaching staff in thinking they can make certain players better merely because of scheme or their coaching. It also could be that they had no other options and weren't going to get any in free agency. So they went with what they have, e.g. Trent Edwards and hyped them up. Atlanta has gone from mediocre/average in 2001 (7-9) to bad in 2003 (5-11) to good in 2004 (11-5) to mediocre/average (7-9, 8-8) in 2005-06 to bad in 2007 (4-12) to average/very good in 2008-10 (11-5, 7-9, 13-3). For Buffalo to be mediocre/bad for 11 seasons running is a complete joke.

Free Agency will be a killer to fans because, after a new CBA, Buffalo will skip the top available players and goes after low to mid tier types. This after a 4-12 season in which they were horrid on defense and mediocre offensively. Building exclusively through the draft with several low and 1-2 mid tier UFA's is not what fans want to hear right now. It's absurd to even think they'll sign 2-3 solid UFA's who'll start and play at a high level. The draft is a great event, but rookies typically take 2-3 years before they're ready whereas UFA's are recognizable commodities who fill holes that allow the team to go elsewhere in the draft. What will be very interesting to see is when free agency begins. Normally being before the draft, it could make things interesting if it's held after late April.

To quote Abe Vigoda... "Whitner's a schmuck."

Where is the evidence Buffalo will spend in ufa, provided there's a new cba? They haven't signed a free agent to big money in four years and the GM made it known that they'll build almost exclusively through the draft. Furthermore, the three guys signed last year were to either transition to the 34 or a reach to fill a position where someone unexpectedly retired. I just don't see them spending because they have positions of need. It goes against a couple of years of history.

Something is wrong whenever top coordinators refuse to interview for a HC position. I think the issue in Denver is Pat Bowlen is now far less of a presence than he used to be. Two years later, he realized this was a mistake and re-ordered the situation by hiring the most famous Bronco of them all in Elway. Aside from the age difference, this decision is similar to RW hiring Marv. Both men were respected in their most famous roles, but neither were trained to handle personnel. I think this is one of the reasons people are refusing to interview because a HC needs someone above them who is experienced in personnel.

Or perhaps you can't build a team without busting a few first and second rounders, right? If I was George Edwards and heard the team wanted to talk to Wannstedt about a coaching job, even if it wasn't DC, I'd grow eyes in the back of my head. The fact Buffalo might only be interested in him as an ILB/AHC tells me they're not enthused with the way he coached. And you can be darn sure Edwards knows this, because this interest clarifies that. And for the record, at the NFL level when you make mistakes, the results transfer onto the field real fast. No one executive or team is perfect, but the good ones don't make a lot of bad decisions. Buffalo has for many years now and the result is obvious whereas teams like NE, BAL, ATL, IND, GB, et al aren't known for huge mistakes in personnel or schematically.

Wanny may not end up in Buffalo, but if Edwards is replaced after 1 season, that's an indication Gailey got another big decision wrong. First it was moving to the 34, naming Trent as the starting QB, then Spiller and Lynch at RB, and maybe the DC. That's a lot of bad decisions in one year, even though he's much better on offense than DJ or his underlings ever could dream to have been.

Yep. On that we can agree. Sends the wrong message that despite months of scouting and meetings, the owner can get his way. Modrak is to blame for some things, but I'm sure people knew upstairs that Lynch had some character issues. Every owner will have a say, but the degree to which they do is what's being debated. What's funny is how millionaire or billionaire NFL owners, while successful, generally screw up a franchise by trying to closely oversee the operation. Bob Kraft, Arthur Blank, the Mara's have done much better this decade than RW, Jerrah Jones, Al Davis, and Mike Brown.

Predictable from TBD: A connected NFL insider makes a negative comment about a front office that is proven to be dysfunctional and homers attack. Same thing happened in October when Glazer's colleague Adam Schein wrote an outstanding article about this very subject. Schein said Glazer is always on the money as well. I wonder what it'll take for homers to truly see that the Bills are not held in high regard. Naming a retired HC GM and then replacing him with a marketing guy who was then replaced by a retiree will do that for you.

Let's see, we should take your opinion over the QB he's blocking for? What's your opinion based on anyway?

That person spoke up already about 25 minutes before your post. Sanders was a holdover on Mike Sherman's staff in 05 and became DC in 07. GB's defense had issues holding onto leads in the 4th quarter in 08 and I've read multiple places that Sanders had problems with in-game adjustments. Sanders in Green Bay Giff Smith appears to have coached his entire career in the college ranks with the 43.

Ironic you use the word "terrible" to describe the drafting this decade. Because that's exactly the same word the owner used to describe their drafting after the Miami win. Still, the college scouting department remains virtually unchanged despite the terrible track record there. Buddy's first draft underwhelmed, but it's very early. That 09 draft has thus far yielded 2 decent to solid interior Olineman, a safety who may be improving, and little else. Finding interior lineman and safeties is nice, but taking them in the first two rounds means you should hit. Most teams use fewer resources and draft just as well at those positions. The Bills remain weakest at the positions that are the hardest to find: QB, OT, pass rusher, and CB. Some things never change I guess.

I'm not an expert on the Chan years at GT, but there is someone here who is more of an authority. He was fairly mediocre at GT, but on the surface recruited some pretty decent talent. Bob Sanders was fired after the 2008 season when GB went 6-10 after advancing to the NFC title game the season before.

Not exactly correct. Buddy was not actively shopping Lynch as hard as many thought he should or might have. Lynch's Availability It's early, but after one year of Buddy as GM, there are serious questions about his ability to handle being a NFL GM.

Well, Willis McGahee just scored on a decent run. This begs the question: Will Travis Henry break out of the penitentiary now?

When both teams hire a HC, then it'll be much easier to determine where they go. If they change defenses (CAR was a 43 and DEN was a 34) it changes their draft plans immensely.

Demontie Cross had never worked in a 34 before, yet inexplicably was tabbed to coach ILB's in the scheme. Of the other DJ holdovers, at least OLB coach Bob Sanders had coordinated a 34 and Catavolos has been around for years. IIRC, Cross was relying heavily in the off-season on Andra Davis' knowledge to help him transition. That's not a good sign. It's obvious to see most of the these guys, especially on offense, are Chan's boys. None of them are proven at the level they're coaching at, and I don't think some of them would be in the NFL without the HC.