BillsVet

Whoa, hold on there. As decent a coach as Marv was, he had Bill Polian stocking the roster albeit with input from others and Levy. The GM and HC must work together, and Nix isn't in this for the long haul anyway. Let's wait until the regular season before anointing him as the guy to turn this around.

Apparently Adam Schefter believes otherwise: Schefter predicts long holdout from Spiller If Rolando McClain has signed at 8 and Ryan Matthews as the other RB within 3 picks of Spiller have a deal, I'm not sure what the hold-up is. Spiller's holdout is now in its fourth day. If this lasts another week, I'd say there's a problem on Buffalo's end. Besides, I trust Schefter more than Buffalo's backward PR department and their unending quest for face-saving.

If reports are true, most of Buffalo's front office has been go along to get along these past few years post-TD. It's almost as if no one wanted to cross Wilson and possibly lose their job. Even the giant restructuring that people say happened this off-season was more symbolic than substantive because ultimately everything has to be run by RW. I wish Buffalo had a GM who would have more control over football without people like RW, Littman, and Overdorf butting in. Polian was the last guy who had the audacity to tell RW and his family that he was the GM and didn't just take orders. History shows Polian was right and RW was wrong. But that's all in the past.

Some GM's don't make a lot of trades during the draft. So I'm not going to hammer Chix for not having done so. Top-10 picks aren't easy to trade for considering the ridiculous guaranteed money they stand to receive. That said, LT and RT play make a big difference on game day, although the fantasy fans here won't admit/realize it. For all the money Buffalo saved in trading Peters and considering Wood and S. Nelson (who I both like) the replaceability factor is killing them after the fact. I think Bell is not NFL material, and Meredith is a RT candidate only. I think Buffalo can't afford to give either much more time to develop.

We all trust that he'll be good, but there aren't many 200# RB's that play in the NFL. Chris Johnson is the exception, but he also benefits from a very good OL featuring guys like OT's Michael Roos and David Stewart. Buffalo's ability to run block will be the deciding factor in how well the offense functions. And with Bell, Green, and Meredith being their top 3 tackles I think they'll struggle.

Maybe Wichard wants too much and Buffalo's offering less. It's contract negotiations and it's nothing new. I wouldn't worry about it unless Alualu signs and the thing drags on.

I'd count the following teams as strong running teams: NYJ, BAL, JAC, MIN, and CAR. Of that group, MIN, NYJ, and BAL made the playoffs and all 3 were backed up with strong defenses. I can understand Buffalo not going for Bulaga or Anthony Davis at 9 if they didn't like them. Unfortunately, they've left themselves a huge hole at OT and expecting a RB to make up for that is ridiculous. I think the lack of talent at OT is going to hurt even more this season.

Mr. Smithers has access to everything Mr. Burns owns.

Buffalo went 6-10 with a win against Indianapolis' JV team in 2009. Theymay improve in 2010 given a HC who actually knows what an NFL offense should look like but the record may be worse. Blind homer fans are scared of the team leaving and believe buying seasons and not complaining miraculously will keep the team in Buffalo.

46 sacks last year, with the only change being a guy Oakland didn't want. I'd say there's a reasonable change they'll struggle in pass protection this season. Jerry Jones and his boys make the call on draft picks in Big D. I don't think Gailey was instantly making choices on 2nd round picks if this is correct, especially in that 1998 was Chan's first year as a HC in the NFL. I'm not saying Adams is the cure for an OL that will have issues in 2010, but that the team didn't sign Chester Pitts (SEA) and now eschewed another guy who has starting experience to go with guys who are not proven like Bell and Meredith. That's a huge gamble and I think the result of a lower budget. Not to mention draft picks are cheaper than veteran FA's.

I don't think there's any reason to doubt Tim Graham's report (wish he was still with us on TBD) about the opening practice attendance. We're constantly told that the NFL is the most popular sport in the US, and I don't think it's any different in WNY. For fans to shun camp it's not a good sign, and makes me wonder what the ST sales total will amount to. Now, if people suddenly show up this weekend then maybe fan interest is just normal for a rebuilding team. If not, I think it's a result of hype not being fulfilled year after year.

No one knows how those 2 OT's, Bulaga and Anthony Davis, will fare. At the same time, rebuilding teams do not have the luxury of taking BPA as Buffalo did with Spiller. If Bell, Meredith, and Green are yielding sacks and taking bad penalties, Nix is going to take a lot of heat for not having addressed the OT position. That, and the interior OL depth is full of inexperienced types.

The fact they haven't released total season ticket sales is an admission that things aren't going well. And last's year RW ordered that Buffalo sign TO. It may indeed by awhile before they total 2 wins with the opening 5-6 weeks of their schedule. And that's why ST sales are probably, IMO, in the 40-45k range or about 10-15k below last season. .

That's a sobering timeline, but not a long shot. The likelihood of a lockout is high, and RW is 92 in October. It's all well and good to be optimistic, but I'm not sure Nix/Gailey have the time to conduct a full blown rebuild as they've attempted to start this year. Rational Bills fans know they've got a long way to go.

They played DT in a much different defense last year than GB did in 2008. Point is, GB already had the pieces to make a more seamless transition. Ryan Pickett played a lot of NT in 09, and at 6'4 330 is better suited to move from DT than Williams. Stroud may be a better bet to go from 4-3 3 tech DT to 3-4 DE, but he's 32, in his 10th season, and didn't play that well. Still, he dropped weight and reports are he's healthy entering the season. The key will be getting good play out of the NT. Williams is not a Jay Ratliff or Kris Jenkins type, so I'm not optimistic they'll be better there. And we haven't even discussed who's going to be rushing the passer, the other element necessary to having a successful 3-4.

When fans here say the Bills will be better based on what they've done, it's really a narrow-minded perspective The Bills do not exist in a vacuum. Other teams, especially AFCE teams, seem better and the NFCN and AFCN aren't bad either. It's almost as if Buffalo does what they need to avoid bottoming out, but don't do enough to get to the next level. I would tend to agree that going 6-10 or 7-9 does very little, no matter who the GM or HC are. And after 10 seasons of disappointment, maybe hitting rock bottom would do this organization some good. You can't hype much when the team is 3-13 or 4-12.

It's one thing to convert to the 3-4, but doing so from a T2 is a lot different. GB had the guys who played DT (Pickett, Jenkins, et al) that then became 3-4 DE or NT's. They drafted a guy in the first round 09 in Matthews who tallied 10 sacks, not to mention having an outstanding secondary. GB also had Dom Capers coordinating with that offense you mentioned. I'm not saying the Packers defense was stellar, but they had the pieces to convert that Buffalo doesn't.

It's not as though the standards are very high for Buffalo fans after the past decade. Thing is, if the team wins 3-6 games as most experts predict, there'll be a lot of fans who chalk this season up to rebuilding. Problem with that is we're always in a wait until next season. I'm not sure the Bills have 2+ years to conduct a rebuild. They must win now or risk losing more fan base.

You could realistically have said this in 2006 and 2007 as well.

It's ironic that when Buffalo chose to trade Jason Peters, a lot of Bills fans said LT's didn't win games so the need at the position wasn't great. Now, someone cites Oher as a big reason behind Baltimore's going 2-3 in games he started (as a rookie I might add against teams with decent to an outstanding pass rush). Not to mention, Buffalo is entering 2010 with maybe the worst tandem of OT's in the NFL. I guess whatever's convenient to make the point that LT's aren't important, unless it's time to marginalize a guy like Peters or Oher. And who's in football circles saying he'll remain at RT? Guys rarely are drafted 23rd overall to play RT anyway.

Except Baltimore is moving Oher to LT. La Canfora 5-7-10 Oher to LT

Do you realistically enter the season with Bell, Meredith, Green, and Wang as your OT's? Because if you do the QB's better buy extra personal injury insurance and get Cellino and Barnes on speed dial. Bell was a disaster a year ago before getting injured, Meredith couldn't make the Packers active roster when GB couldn't block Mama Pecoraro, Green was allowed to leave Oakland, and Wang is another project. That's positional negligence and Buffalo's OT situation is the worst in the NFL or close to it. Pitts at LT? Man, I remember the days people wanted Levitre at OT because he played it in college. Heck, why not Nick Hennessey or Cordaro Howard? All you gotta be is strong and big to play LT, and it's not different than other OL positions.

Near .500? That's rich. 32-48 in their past 5 seasons and 27-37 since DJ was hired isn't near .500 Besides, anecdotal evidence does not support where teams will fall, Every year, a team or two surprise and some fall off the table. Teams in their first year of a rebuild typically do not win much, especially those that don't have a strong starter at QB, are weak at OT, have no proven pass rushers, are implementing new offensive and defensive schemes (the latter of which does not have the right personnel), and play in a very tough division where their opponents are better on paper. This is a 5-11 team from a year ago, and one that will be led by a HC who hasn't done the job in 11 years. That's why people are picking them to be near the bottom of the NFL. No one's saying some things won't work out, just that there about 10 things that must go right to even be a .500 team.

What does Matt Cassel's mother think about Edwards? Because if she's pro-Trentative, then he should start.

No one's surprised by this assertion. Gailey's always been a run-first coach, unfortunately he can't block for the guys who'll be logging the carries. The OL still has serious issues, namely LT and RT and that's if Wood comes back 100%. There is no team in the NFL right now winning games with a power running style. Not Carolina, not Tennessee, not Pittsburgh, and not Buffalo 2010. For all the plaudits guys like Chris Johnson and DeAngelo Williams receive, teams these days need more diversified offenses with a passing game that can keep defenses honest. Buffalo doesn't have that. Gailey will have his work cut out for him when teams stuff 8 and even 9 in the box. How he responds will be one thing, but I don't think he's got the talent in the passing game right now to succeed. Besides, I won't disappear from the board if the team begins to struggle like others do.