BillsVet

I always find it ironic that one of Donahoe's biggest shortcomings was a failure to build the OL. He went out and signed inferior talent to block for the "name" speciality players he drafted. The same thing's happened with Levy/Brandon. They've drafted no one above the fifth round on the OL, signed an average OT in Walker, and severely overpaid for Dockery. The result is an OL which blows no one away, and which will depend on rookies to keep Edwards off his back in 09. Meanwhile, the guy charged with keeping the blindside clean (and team's best OL) is demonized for wanting a new contract. In 06, both the OL and DL had issues. Three seasons of rebuilding later, both lines still need an infusion of talent. Levy and Brandon had/have little clue what they were/are doing, as exemplified by their rebuilding the OL. First they spent huge dollars on underachievers. Now they're going the cheap route with guys like Hangartner who've never started in the league.

I don't think you can point to one guy who's been developed from their rookie season better than Peters. So many fans rag on him for the bad 08 season, but his play at a high level from late 06 to 07 proves what he can do when he's there in camp. If the Bills trade him and throw up the white flag to Peters and Parker, it goes to show that the Bills are not interested in winning right now. Because what they get in return will be draft picks and that's not going to help in 09 like Peters would.

I can't see the Bills going with Pettigrew in the first. They've got too many needs on the defensive side of the ball. In the first I'd like to see either Everette Brown or Maybin. In round 2, Shawn Nelson out of Southern Miss, perhaps Cook from South Carolina.

Sure, the Bills need to win this year. But we said that last year when they'd finished another non-playoff season. And for all the talk about the wilderness years of the late sixties, later seventies, and mid eighties, this 9 year drought hasn't featured the terrible seasons, but I can't imagine worse losses. Problem is, I think many fans (both casual and serious) have grown numb to it all. The Bills have done more to alienate their fan base than perhaps any team in the NFL. Selling games (with more probable) to Toronto, keeping Jauron, and losing 8 of 10 down the stretch to miss the playoffs for a ninth straight year has beaten the fans down. You're right to demand some accountability, but until enough fans finally make their voices heard, the franchise will be led by non-football people like Wilson, Littman, and Brandon into oblivion. Or Toronto, whichever comes first.

Is Trent ready for another in a long line of threads from you?

You're confusing cap hit with salary. The figure can be vastly different, especially considering how bonuses are paid out. Besides, I haven't seen actual contract information on Hangartner and Fitzpatrick. TO is set given the one yr deal, but you've speculated on cap hits by using salary alone.

Mangini and McDaniels are and always will be Belichick disciples. And so they blow up a team when they first arrive, a la their mentor, in the image of a BB team. It's why McD wanted to trade Cutler for a guy who fit his scheme in Cassel. It's why Mangini is removing the "bad eggs" from Cleveland's locker room. Both are rebuilding these teams into their image, no matter who is on the team. They can't get rid of all the names in the first year, but DJ/Marv did the same think in 06-07 with Buffalo. They got rid of the locker room lawyers and wanted to create a new core of players.

DJ's offenses have ranked above 23rd in points just once during his NFL coaching career. The lone exception was the miracle season of 2001. He and Schonert, who have more than 55 seasons combined playing or coaching in the NFL, still have a great deal to prove. Just saying that after this long is very telling

Parcells did the same thing last tear with , IIRC, Jake and Chris Long. I believe Gholston and Ryan were brought in as well.

I've mentioned this before, but the front office must have an overall impression of the draft. There may not be a lot of legit first rounders, but plenty of values in the second round and beyond. In the 1986 draft, Bills Walsh had personnel control for the 49ers. He traded down multiple times in a draft he didn't think featured a lot of top talent. He came away with FB Tom Rathman, CB Tim McKyer, WR John Taylor, DE Charles Haley, LT Steve Wallace, DT Kevin Fagan, and DB Don Griffin. Those seven picks contributed a great deal to their two titles in the 88 and 89 seasons. That's an outstanding draft, and something the Bills needed in 2006. It's a month out, but trading down to build up picks would be a wise move, provided someone wants the 11th pick. Unfortunately, the Bills will be depending on at least their 1st and 2nd round pick to come in and start. With holes at OLB, LG, and to a lesser degree at TE, they'll do what they normally do and hold steady at 11. At least that's what recent history suggests and I'd only advocate this strategy if they didn't like who was available at 11. As for scouting, finding unknown gems is much harder today than it was in the late eighties when Polian was out-doing most franchises.

T19, I think in the salary cap era it's almost essential to find quality depth and situational players in the late rounds. You've got to hit with your first and second rounders, more so in a smaller market. Someone will mention Brady or Houshmandzadeh, but they're the late round exceptions. The Bills have plenty of hard-working guys who serve important functions. At the same time, I can't find an impact player who's been drafted by Buffalo and can turn a game around. Not yet at least, although Evans is close IMO. Peters has the ability. McKelvin might be, and I have high hopes for Trent. Schobel about 3 years ago was close. Not all of this goes against Levy/Brandon either. The point remains that you should find solid role players in the bottom rounds, while locating impact types in rounds 1-3. The Bills finding average to above average players early does not make up for their lack of true impact players. I can't imagine if they had a legit pass rusher when Schobel went down because it surely would have affected the outcome of multiple games. Finding role players late with decent players early has partially facilitated this franchise's mediocrity. It's not enough.

I've heard Pittsburgh described as both down or up. The transition from one type of economy to another can take a considerable amount of time, and with government looking to maintain their spending levels despite decreasing populations, it's hard to effect improvement. Indy has that debt split up over a 10 county area, not just the city of Indianapolis. That debt is more easily digested for that fact. If this is true, the proverbial pot is increasingly warrming. Eventually it'll be entirely boiling and Bills fans will be cooked. If there is an option to purchase another game, I think most fans can read between the lines and see where this is going. The PR answer is increasing revenue, but it makes no sense to add games in a lucrative market without looking long term at moving the team to that very market. Of course the company line will be more revenue, but I can't see the addition of another game in Toronto as advantageous to fans who go to the Ralph.

Yes, spending money without outlining what it's for is a huge no-no in the president's book. Oh, wait... I agree moving the draft up two months definitely affects scouting and could make the draft even more risky. Perhaps some of the "stimulus" can go to the NFL to assist them fund teams scouting. Funds would go to teams with the worst draft records: Lions, Bengals, Raiders, Bills, 49ers, and Rams.

I'm not an expert on Scheffler by any means. He's completed his third year and seems like an up and coming player which fits Buffalo's team vision to build a young core. Daniel Graham may or may not be able to meet the requirement for a blocking TE in McDaniels's offense, but NE let him go in UFA too. I just have a feeling McD wants to mold that team into his (see Belichick's) model and they'll look for picks to kick-start the process.

The economy is dictating a lot of what's being considered. Layoffs at the league office and in many franchises demonstrate the times are hitting even the NFL. They wouldn't discuss changes without there being a good reason, as the off-season dates have remained fairly consistent since the early nineties. The draft, per the article, has remained in late April/early May since 1977. Having the draft early provides for a truncated offseason which greatly minimizes the costs teams incur to conduct amateur scouting.

I don't think that's it at all. McDaniels' offenses don't feature TE's and rely more on third receivers. Scheffler is something akin to a square peg in a round hole. They've already got Daniel Graham, who NE drafted in 02 I believe. Scheffler is a player who, IMO, hasn't reached his physical potential and will improve. He's just a bad fit for McDaniels offensive scheme.

I don't think a lot of those guys are concerned with that. Many of those early entrants have left school to prepare for the draft and seniors have either graduated or left early. Thanks. I hadn't noticed that. It was a misleading thread title.

Evidently a topic at the NFL Meetings this week is changing the timeline for off-season events. Revised NFL offseason in works? NFL Free Agency would remain in the same window, although the NFL Draft would revert from late April to February. This makes for a slow period from May through training camps. As it stands, there seems to be no real off-season for teams. There are so many angles to go with this, but it would certainly affect free agency, as teams could conceivably address personnel needs before the big dollars of UFA. Thoughts?

BNiH, I've been a season ticket holder for 2 seasons now and will return in 09. Ticket affordability helps me buy tickets, but I'd pay closer to league average to see a competitive team. The Bills haven't put a decent product on the field since the late nineties. Despite this, they sold 56k+ season tickets last season and increased revenue with the Toronto series. When it comes to being profitable in a small market, winning does wonders for generating revenue. There are plenty of small market teams who don't need to do what Buffalo does. Indianapolis is successful both financially and on the field. They've just built a new stadium as well. The claim that Buffalo can never be a profitable venture based on the market is flat our wrong. Pittsburgh is a small and depressed market, yet winning football games magically makes a lot of their revenue problems go away. Neither team is planning on moving soon to my knowledge, but can charge about $20-25 more for the average ticket. If the Bills could put a winner on the field, I'm sure they could charge significantly higher. But because they won't invest in actual front office types to find young talent along with a legitimate NFL HC, they'll find themselves charging less and banking on selling their soul more for franchise stability.

Most posters on this board are closer to Al Davis in personnel evaluation when looking at draft prospects. It's remarkable that a 256 pound man can run the 40 in 4.47, but it doesn't make for a solid football player. Barwin is a project type player with outstanding measurables, and I'm not sure he's the pass rusher who can come in on 3rd down this season and apply pressure. He's played one season at DE, and while excellent at UC, he doesn't have a lot of experience using his hands, dipping around OT's, and demonstrating a variety of pass rushing moves. I think Buffalo's looking for the most NFL ready pass rusher, not necessarily the guy with the most upside. They know the defense needs a lot more pass rush this season, not 2-3 years from now.

The last few posts demonstrate that most fans know nothing about the Cover 2 defense and how it works. Each player is assigned a certain area to defend. Players are not supposed to free-lance on the field. If one player loses their gap or assignment, things can get bad real fast. It's one of the reasons the Bills run defense allowed 140 rypg in 06 and 125 rypg in 07. One of the biggest weaknesses to the C2 is it's susceptible to a strong running game because the front 4 DL aren't as big as in conventional 4-3s and 3-4 DL. Cover 2 SI 12/06 I highly recommend reading this article, and although each team running the C2 has a variation, their base D is similar to this. To my knowledge only the Vikings, Bears, and the Bills will run the C2 in 09. McCargo, as a 3 tech DT, should be trying to split the guard and center in the middle, not go where he wants.

I have a feeling Peters' demands are pricing him out of the trade market. IMO, teams do not want to devote 11M+ to a LT in this economy and NFL era. They'll take their chance on a rookie in the first round and pay that player much, much less. Of course none of this really matters to Eugene Parker, primarily because he's there to get the most money for his client no matter which teams gives it. And I can guarantee he's telling Peters that there's a market for him at 11M+ per season. I don't think there is. Teams that have a need just aren't going to shell out that kind of money right now.

Another converted receiver. We've got the market cornered on receivers turned safeties.

I bet you did cartwheels when you got that Vtext. Probably right after you saw the video of Turner carrying Thomas for five yards.

Position coaches tend to hate players when they show up fat, out of shape, lacking motivation, and generally playing beneath their potential. Remember, DJ and Ralph didn't want Kollar to leave, though ultimately the DL coach left for what he thought would be greener pastures. If Kollar's opinion was worthless, no one would have tried to stop him on the way out. BTW, how many actual "plays" did McCargo make in 07? The big one against the Giants that year came when he ignored his gap and happened to go where blockers didn't. He's a bust now, and that won't change. He's on the team because the Bills lack any sense of depth at DT.