BillsVet

Chambers didn't start at LT last season during the Peters saga. If they moved Walker for those first games, it tells me about the coaching staff's belief in Chambers at LT. Personally, he's a man without a solid position. They played him at OG, particularly the away NE game, and he had a rough go of it. There are only so many times an OT will get help from a TE. I remember being upset that Fairchild held a TE in on many downs two seasons ago, but with inferior OT's, it's a requirement. Not to mention, the depth at the position such as Bell, et al are young rookies. I'd like to see a veteran, but the pickings are slim. Perhaps Levi Jones hasn't been signed for injury reasons, I don't know. But if there was ever a time to find one, it's now. I don't see Butler holding up the entire season.

I think too much was made out of the comment. LW has played the majority of his career, all of the past three seasons at RT. And now he's being switched to the other side. The Bills will give him help, and yes I would have loved to see him drop some weight. But the team told him he was playing there, and I don't fault him if he was indeed frustrated. If the OL doesn't get off to a good start, it won't matter who's playing QB, RB, or WR.

Be careful with the bolded statement. The Bills OL is a work in progress after three seasons of rebuilding. People have been saying they'll get better for most of this decade. The objective when you rebuild is to not have to rebuild anymore. You don't trade established (and yes, even talented) veterans for draft picks and hope to field a good team. Younger, in most cases means not as good. Someone will go out and cite the Ryan Clady's, Matt Ryan's, and Joe Flacco's of the league, but they remain the exception. If the OL is bad or below average, it's going to be a long season.

IIRC, there were two dissenting votes within the inner circle against retaining DJ after the season finale. I'm guessing Modrak and Brandon wanted the guy gone, with the most important votes, RW and Littman, electing to keep the recently extended DJ. Brandon's been marketing this team for a decade and knew he couldn't attain the same season ticket levels without a drawing card. I still believe he was the impetus to signing TO, and pitched the idea to RW and Littman, who both concurred. It was a indeed a brilliant marketing move in the wake of a lousy (from a marketing perspective) start to the off-season. I still can't believe TO is here, and here's to hoping he keeps the fans excited in the regular season. Brandon deserves credit especially for finding someone who won't be the Kelsay/Royal/DJ soundbite that we've been hearing for three years running.

Record wise, Bills history shows there were some bad teams in the late sixties, seventies, and mid eighties. The difference is back then, I'm sure fans knew the teams weren't good going into the season. Now, we have teams with talent that somehow continue to ride the line of mediocrity with the same front office and HC. It's one thing to be bad and know it. But knowing there's talent there and still falling short of .500 remains maddening to me.

I've had season tickets since 2007, the first season after I got out of the Army. For the record, I'm not alleging that going to games makes one a bigger fan, but I do know that seeing them lose in person is hard to take. The DAL and CLE MNF games, the 2007 DEN Opener, the losses last year to SF, et al. have made it challenging as a Bills fan. I don't need a SB win each season, but I've seen more symbolism than substance in recent years. At some point the talk needs to end and the team needs to get into the playoffs. I've followed the team since '88, but I'm not going to rubber stamp all of their moves and buy into the hype this team has been selling for many years. There is no substitute for victory. I've only been around for 2.5 years now on TBD. And I'd agree the caliber of posters has gone steadily down hill in that time. At the same time, I've seen some solid posters depart and I have to assume it's the personal attacks. Resorting to name calling is unacceptable. Still, alleging someone is a troll because they don't blindly agree with everything the front office does is not enough. Accusations are serious enough and not having proof is wrong.

This is the heart of the issue for me. Teams with capable and savvy front office management like IND, PIT, NYG, and yes, even NE, always seem to be in the playoffs. Meanwhile, clubs such as BUF, OAK, CIN, and DET aren't. The Bills have not changed many of the same people who were around when TD was there-four seasons ago. And yet, a few players are added, a new coach comes in, and voila, we're led to believe change has taken place and success is imminent. In fact, it's still the same people calling the shots. Alas, the posters who don't go for this re-wrapping are attacked for not being positive enough. I'm one of them and I simply don't care. If the Bills had a track record of making the playoffs every other year or getting to a conference title game I wouldn't be as pessimistic. Then again, most fans aren't paying attention to how other clubs are run, and why they're successful. Nine years without a playoff appearance will make fans who demand accountability like that.

It's important to remember what was going on in early March. The Bills did very little that first week of UFA, and after Coles opted to sign with Cincinnati, it appeared they'd do nothing noteworthy. DJ was returning, the team added no one in UFA worthy of exciting fans, and Peters had not been traded yet. The idea many fans had here thinking the team would make a "splash" to show they were determined to improve from 08 was put to rest. Owens' release from Dallas occurred on 3/4 and he didn't sign with Buffalo until three days later. It was a great signing for the short term and undoubtedly will help the marketing of Buffalo. But I still don't think John Guy was behind this move. This thing happened at the highest level, probably Brandon who recognized marketing this team would remain a challenge with DJ back in the fold, not to mention continued failure on the field. That's speculation, but I think reasonable to assume.

It certainly wasn't predictbale that Buffalo would sign TO, but go back to late February/early March. The Bills were coming off another 7-9 season, retained DJ (while other teams axed coaches), and had just lost out on signing Laveranues Coles. Their lone UFA signings were a backup QB, former backup C, and a recently released DB. Needless to say, things weren't great in Bills land. The TO signing was great for both the team and marketing people. Time will tell how he does on the field, but he's given the franchise a shot in the arm. Buffalo had to do something in light of all the bad moments in the recent past.

This scenario is somewhat reminiscent of mid 2006 when Peters was moved from RT to LT. Now, the Bills are moving another former RT to LT and hoping it works. This time, the man forced to transition into the most difficult position on the OL doesn't have the strength or athleticism as his predecessor did.

Based on what? All those snaps he's getting in training camp? This is another situation where the fans and team are hoping that an untested player can contribute. Bell is being hyped as a guy with plenty of potential, but that just means he ain't done anything yet. When I look at the pass rushers coming from the right this year (Freeney, M. Williams, J. Porter 2x, Ad. Thomas 2x, Abraham, Peppers, et al) it should scare even the most casual uninformed fan. This is year four of a rebuild that is hopefully (there's that word again) close to getting this team to a playoff berth. And we're talking about the most important position on the OL relying on a guy who hasn't taken a NFL snap and another expected to change jobs after 7 seasons in the league. Wow.

But Schobel wasn't marginalized by the front office for demonstrating he was serious about sitting out.

I can't remember the last time a Bills team didn't play close to the vest type football. And it says a lot when a man (Schonert) who's been in the league for more than 20 years as a coach and player can't develop a counterpunch offensively. IMO, either Schonert is all bluster, or DJ's game-plan is overruling TS' offensive intent. Either way, the lack of trust in players, and the Bills have some on both sides at the skill positions, should not be as prevalent anymore. If only it could have been that way after that 5-1 start.

Schobel skipped mini-camp two years ago after Kelsay signed his 4yr 23M deal. Coincidentally, this came after a Pro Bowl season and he got his extension. Buffalo handles each player a little differently, although Schobel and Evans' extensions came after many months of negotiations.

Forget it with The Swimmer...he'll continue his anti-Peters crusade ad nauseam. Don't ever forget that the Peters' trade was in essence a salary dump. They take the cap hit for this season but don't pay the salary. It's music to RW's ears. Fans will learn in due time that hoping a Walker, Chambers, or Bell could play well at the position was a poor plan.

The Bills talk about Bell as if he's close to ready. People like eball, who disappeared from the board during the latter part of the 2-8 finish actually believe Bell could start right now. No doubt he's athletic, but plenty of guys can't play the LT position. Bell was a two year project when he was drafted, and he's probably a year away. I'm sure he's much stronger than he was when drafted, but he's never taken an NFL snap. Perhaps Buffalo wanted to try to make it through 09 with Langston "Beerbelly" Walker and hope Bell is ready in 2010. That's fine if you're rebuilding, but this franchise can't afford to hope someone will be ready while hoping to get by with an inferior athlete at the positon this season.

Absolutely. For the record, players can come off the PUP List at anytime and IIRC, the Ravens had 8 or 9 guys start camp on the PUP List. It's not IR. I'm interested in seeing what happens with Eugene Parker's first round picks and how long they are out of camp, particularly Crabtree. Peters has to be the most maligned player this decade and because OLineman performance can't be measured beyond the ridiculous sacks allowed stat, will keep that for this season as well. Simply amazing, and it'll be funny when Langston Walker is surrendering sacks and people talk about why Buffalo didn't keep Peters.

We can't do that to draft picks..hyping rookies is part of the overall PR plan. In all seriousness, hernia's are not fun. I had one when I was 12 and while I was running around 10 days later, playing pro football two weeks later seems ambitious. He'll probably remain behind the curve until deep into the season.

DJ, TS, and Kugler were the coaches last season and nothing's really changed. I've heard since 2007 that the offense would be high octane, and it hasn't happened. At this point, I'll believe it when I see it, TO or no TO. The mark of a good coach is the ability to adapt to what is going on. That doesn't mean react, that means being proactive and anticipating what to do before it happens. In three seasons, I've never see DJ or his coaches successfully do this. They've never proven they're capable of beating quality teams, which is what they'll see plenty of in 2009. As many have pointed out on TSW, running the no-huddle requires plenty of precision and will not mask weaknesses. If anything, a team needs to have experienced OLineman.

It is indeed more challenging to play OT, mainly due to the speed of pass rushers, whereas OG's need to be more stout. I'm not convinced anyone can assume Butler will make the transition to OT, without having played their in the pros. Hangartner is definitely an improvement over Fowler/Preston. But he started the entire 2006 season, only to see Carolina draft Ryan Kalil in the second the following draft. That doesn't make much sense, and GH's starts came when Kalil went down. There are times when backups are good, but the examples you cite are selective and do not demonstrate that a guy like GH will be good. The OL will need time. Walker's going to need help, as is Butler to handle the faster edge rushers. LW's never played the LT position more than two games in row going into his 8th season. Perhaps Bell ends up there at some point, but he's never played a snap in a regular season game either. It's not outrageous to think one rookie can step in and play well, there are plenty of examples out there. But needing two of them is pushing it, IMHO. Everything has to go right for the OL, which means five guys have to step it up at with four of them playing new positions. That's really a wing and a prayer.

Free Agency has a lot to do with the makeup of NFL rosters. We will never again see a team like the Bills had in the late eighties/ early nineties with Kelly, B. Smith, T. Thomas, Reed, Bennett, Odomes, Wolford, Hull, Metzelaars, Talley, et al. Now, teams are constantly having to make choices about who to keep, and who to allow onto the open market. 20 years ago there wasn't much of an open market, save for perhaps Plan B FA. Teams could only build through the draft, and bad teams stayed that way longer. The key to long term success in today's NFL is having personnel people who know their team's scheme and can replace talent through the draft. Indianapolis doesn't draft a whole lot of LB's-Polian knows he can find them deeper in the draft. He does well deeper into the draft and doesn't miss with first and second rounders. It's also evident he's not going to use UFA much either.

I wonder what it was like when SD was in grade school and had to take the bus to school. And all without any air conditioning save for the window.

It's too simplistic to take this stance. As much as I have issues with the front office, negotiations are not a matter of the player rejecting "good" offers. It's a bargaining process that two sides ultimately have to agree upon. There are four players out of 32 first round picks signed. This is a matter of agents waiting to see what the market is set at before agreeing to a deal. Besides, these agents want to build credibility to sign future clients, and thus we see the patient approach which many fans do not comprehend.

Thanks John for the correction. I know there's been some confusion about holdouts versus unsigned status. It seems a more apt description to call a rookie unsigned as opposed to holding out.

Excellent...again. Thanks very much.