BillsVet

We're back again to the argument of whether the scheme should be adapted to the players or vice-versa. But to some DC's who have experience in one defense, it's not as easy. Mike Nolan will probably get the GB DC job, and he's accustomed to running any type of defense. Nolan perhaps to GB I do disagree with one of your points. The T2 doesn't need great shutdown CB's, but rather guys who with quickness to break on the ball in zone coverage. They're essential to run defense, and must be bigger than M2M cover guys.

I think the T2/C2 defenses depend on specialized personnel so much, that unless you have them it's tough to run that defense effectively. A 3-4 or standard 4-3 isn't as dependent on specialized players, particularly LB's who can go into zone defense, yet be fast enough to attack the LOS. The old Tampa Bay teams had great players with DT's Booger McFarland and Warren Sapp, WLB Derrick Brooks, SS John Lynch, MLB Shelton Quarles, and DE Simeon Rice. Those guys fit their scheme perfectly, and were acquired with the T2 in mind. Pittsburgh did the same thing with DT Joe Greene, DE L.C. Greenwood, MLB Lambert, WLB Ham, SLB Andy Russell, and SS Mike Wagner. Mel Blount was an excellent CB, and probably would fit into a C2 today. The point is, player specialization is greater in the C2. Buffalo doesn't have the top personnel, and so it makes it hard to adapt the players to the scheme. I think the hardest positions to find for a C2 defense is a 3 tech DT and a WLB. Their skill set is very rare.

Astro, if the Bills ended up with Gresham, Greg Hardy, and Alex Mack that'd be amazing. But I think it's too good to be true. Mack will go late first/early second, although trading down for Gresham and going DE in RD 2 would be ideal. Extra picks is something this team needs more than ever. With distinct needs all over the field, more options is better. I hope DJ has learned his lesson from 2006 and refusing to trade down. Not to mention trading up when the team was in rebuilding mode.

I'll bite here. First, let me say that RW is not some evil man hell-bent on world domination, as some may think. Wilson did several things in the 60s to keep the AFL alive and for that, he should (and has) be(en) commended. This undoubtedly made the AFL survive some tough times. However, I have not seen anything in the past 25 years to demonstrate he is worthy of HOF induction. Being a HOF'er as an owner means lifetime contributions, and aside from about an 8 year period in the 60s and the Polian years, his contributions have been sparse. It should be questioned why he jettisoned or pushed away so many talented GM's and HC's, including Lou Saban (twice), Chuck Knox, Bill Polian, John Butler, and AJ Smith. Moreover, his teams are only 283-315-2 since the merger in 1970. Besides the six year period from 1988-1993, Wilson's teams have only 7 playoff appearances (74, 80, 81, 95, 96, 98, and 99) in the other 33 years since the merger. With the Polian influence, it amounts to 13 post-season berths in 39 seasons. Wilson's contributions are limited to only a few years, and success of the franchise should be one item an owner should demonstrate beyond question. I don't believe he's sufficiently done that.

I was surprised to hear Bruce talk about Buffalo having the best DE in NFL history when his name went up on the wall of fame this year. Humility isn't his strongest suit, but he certainly was a great in the long history of professional football. Reggie White was flat out great. I'll never forget him bull-rushing Patriots RT Max Lane in SB XXXV and sacking Bledsoe. It almost seemed like he was playing against college players. And this was when he was in his mid-thirties. Both Bruce and Reggie had long careers with consistently high performance. But there are guys like Deacon Jones who played their entire career before sacks were an official stat.

Drafting at 11 can be no man's land. Not good enough for a lower first round pick, and too good for a "lottery" pick. But sitting at 11 can be used to a team's advantage, as in a trade. Guys like Mack will be selected below 15, most likely. Here are the last seven 11th overall picks: Leodis McKelvin (08), Patrick Willis (07), Jay Cutler (06), DeMarcus Ware (05), Ben Roethlisberger (04), Marcus Trufant (03), and Dwight Freeney (02). I'd take any one of those guys. We know Marv/Dick were completely petrified of trading down when Whitner was on the board, and while I hope they've learned their lesson I don't think they have. Still, if the Bills can find a trade partner and add a 2nd or 3rd while getting their guy, it'd be a minor coup for a front office which has no GM. That is, if Ralph allows it in his dictatorship.

Ralph does not belong in the HOF. And this isn't because he wouldn't fire his most recent HC. It's for consistently making the wrong move or pushing people out the door. It seems like everytime RW finds a competent coach or GM, he finds way to alienate them to the point they want to leave. Or he just fires them, so they move to another organization and find success. Ralph's teams are 283-315-2 since the AFL/NFL merger. It's nice that he kept the AFL alive, but an owner should demonstrate a contribution to the game over their entire time in the position. Aside from 88-93, Buffalo has done very little.

What would Frank Stallone do?

You made a post about DJ's positives and his work. I simply answered and rebutted your opinion with my opinion. If you don't like people answering you, don't post. Regardless, Baltimore had 17 guys on IR this year, a rookie HC, and a rookie QB. They went 11-5. I'd say right now that Tony Sparano, John Harbaugh, and Mike Smith are just plain better HC's than DJ, who has coached in more than 130. Keeping continuity on the coaching staff is an excuse and merely a talking point for the OBD spin doctors. Fans are demanding results, and the coaches clearly are not good enough. When RW had the chance to make changes after repeated failures, he declined. And cited bad offensive performance, yet the team scored 84 more points in 08 than 07. That was a copout and as some have said, way to distance DJ from the team failures. Yet it's clear DJ has his hands all around the offense. I've watched this team lose for nine straight seasons. My last memory of a playoff game is the Tennessee debacle. So I think any Bills fan who has weathered the past 9 years has a right to complain. I am demanding some accountability (new GM, HC) in the wake of going 7-9 again. But then again, I'm just "whining."

Your defense of DJ is without any logical foundation. Dick Jauron has overwhelmingly had a hand in assembling this roster, yet bears no responsibility when it falters according to you. But because our front office is a complete and utter mess, no one person gets blamed when players don't work out. I still maintain that DJ has made personnel decisions that are placed at Guy and Modrak's feet. But he gets from fans like you who can't bring themselves to blame a HC with a 57-77 career record. He's done absolutely nothing to demonstrate he's even an average HC in the NFL.

He's a workout warrior. Reportedly benches 515, but then again Gholston did as many reps of 225 as Jake Long did, despite weighing 50 pounds less. Rushing the passer at the pro level is about craftiness, not pure strength. I'd rather a DE have great closing speed and a few moves above great strength.

I'd further add that TC found good coordinators in Gilbride(!) and Spaguolo. I think Coughlin let both of them do their thing without micromanagement. One consistency in the past 6 years DJ has HC'd is a lack of offense, spread across three separate coordinators for two franchises. This 2008 season proved that DJ will not deviate, and actually retreats into ultra-conservative mode when the slightest hint of problems occur. The offense was fairly healthy, so it wasn't a redux of the 2007 defense.

I mistakenly thought he would change a little this past year, when Buffalo named a new and supposedly more aggressive OC. Amazingly, the play-calling went into conservative mode down the stretch and we were right back where we started. Jauron's greatest problem is an inability to select good coordinators, particularly offensive. Gary Crowton, John Shoop, Steve Fairchild, and Turk Schonery aren't exactly guys who will be getting NFL HC jobs anytime soon, nor are/were that all that innovative. I don't think DJ changes, particularly with that tough schedule he's got in 2009

Lori mentioned that a long time ago, I remember having the same reaction. I think Guy probably made the recommendation to acquire RR, and Brandon knew it. Even a master marketer like RB couldn't help but admit it.

This is a John Guy thread, and I don't want to turn it into an anti-DJ one. But it's worth asking the question about who has more say on the final roster, DJ or the guy leading the front office without a speck of experience handling NFL personnel? John Guy's job, as a previous poster mentioned, is to develop reports on potential free agents, both restricted and unrestricted. In this role, he would ordinarily serve the GM and be the reference point for questions about free agents. He probably has input into acquiring which players, but not as much as a GM would. Someone has to carry the ball in the absence of a real GM. I would hope Brandon isn't trying to decide where this team is headed big-picture wise. So that leaves DJ making a lot of calls, when in fact his moves are probably questionable at best.

I think DJ has more say as a HC on the roster than do most NFL HC's. With an inexperienced marketing guy moonlighting as a GM, who else would decide on guys. Guy most likely has a list of street FA's, but DJ has final say. Lehman played for him in Detroit, so connect the dots.

I don't think Ralph cares about the marketing thing at all. He delegates (and pays) Russ Brandon to handle that regardless of who the coach or players are. It's a mistake to assume RW is concerned with this issue, although I'm sure RB raised the issue at the inner circle meetings last week. We all know his opinion counted for very little when it came to deciding the HC by now. I will not assume this team spends money on UFA's, primarily because RW has never been a big spender. The money spent on Dockery and Walker two years ago got the just above the minimum the team had to pay for players.

I think what Gaugan is saying is actually reasonable. Every bad acquisition in the draft can't be pinned to the amateur scouting director. Each bad UFA signing isn't the fault of the pro personnel director. But there are some, and there needs to be accountability. Still, I think DJ made some personnel decisions over and above what Guy and Modrak advocated. Modrak was clearly burned in making the McCargo. Every personnel guy in the NFL makes mistakes, even Polian, Newsome, and AJ Smith. One thing I've noticed about Buffalo's two-headed personnel monster: Neither of them are ever mentioned for jobs elsehwere in the NFL. With guys like Kokinis and Pioli reportedly heading elsewhere, I find it revealing about Buffalo's front office that none of them ever go to another team since they arrived earlier this decade.

Marks is a shorter 290 lb DT. He's probably a guy who plays the 3 technique in our defense. Stroud plays a little out of position for this defense as the 1 tech.

Leodis McKelvin probably plays more if it's not for Jabari Greer. McLovin made some game changing plays already this season, and he's one of the best kick returners in the league. Look at the replay of the INT he took back for a TD against KC. He made a great break on a ball thrown in a place he should not have been able to get to. He then fought his way into the EZ. He's a talent, and he'll get better. DRC and Cason aren't bad, but I'd take McLovin any day.

The OL came together because teams knew that dropping 6-7 guys into coverage was something the HC and OC never learned how to counter. It's why Buffalo ran for 186 versus CLE. They had a good day against NYJ, but playing the Broncos, they couldn't muster much on the ground. As a matter of fact, they couldn't gain more than 90 on the ground.

One common denominator from 07 to 08 was an inability to find dependable backups at a myriad of positions. Example 1 occurred when Crowell went down. Ellison immediately became the starter, and every knowledgeable Bills fan knew this was not very good based on his play in 06 and 07. He was a 225 lb SLB taking on TE's and FB's. Fortunately, neither Posluszny or Mitchell missed time, because near the end of the season Buffalo only had Costanzo, Corto, Buggs, and Teddy Lehman for depth. Corto weighs about 210, Buggs is an undersized WLB, Costanzo is a special teamer, and Lehman could never stay healthy. That's it, that was the depth at LB. No wonder they couldn't overcome one injury. 20-22M beneath the cap and they couldn't spend a little to provide depth at a position which sees plenty of injuries. Apparently the front office forgot what happened in 2007.

Jermaine Gresham at this early juncture. As problematic as the defense was at times, this offense needs to give Edwards more weapons in the passing game. Gresham is a leg up on Pettigrew, and gives our young QB an option.

There were reports that not everyone was on-board with retaining DJ for 2009. Just a guess, but I think it may have been marketer Brandon who wasn't keen on this idea. Brandon's escalation to COO was for show, and now his opinion doesn't even seem to matter. Ralph wants people around him who will tell him what he wants to hear. He pays Brandon to sell the team to the knuckle-draggers he assumes will show up next year, not make football decisions.

With RW at owner? Come on now. You are correct Bill. Chris Brown is and always will be the lead Propagandist for the Bills.