BillsVet

JfH I hope you're being a tad sarcastic with that one. Whitner and Simpson benefitted greatly from Clements and McGee giving them the freedom to learn and make mistakes two years ago. With that in mind, I need to see more from Simpson before we think the FS position is a strength.

If the DL puts some pressure on opposing QB's this year, McGee, McKelvin, Greer, James, Whitner, et al. will look a whole lot better than 27th best. If not, it's going to be a long season.

Drafting DL and OL early and often is a proven strategy. Unfortunately, Buffalo's front office doesn't think that way. They'd prefer to build from off the ball with DB's, WR's, and RB's. Not surprisingly, the Bills have been dominated at the LOS for almost a decade. An argument against Donahoe was his fascination with drafting the skill positions. With the exception of an OT bust in 2002, he chose too many guys who played off the ball and not enough on the line of scrimmage. Translation: 31-49 record in 5 seasons and his firing. Now along comes the Levy/Jauron era and essentially the same thing is happening, though by new people who are bulletproof from criticism for their previous success. (In the example of DJ, Marv picked him, so he must be good) The current front office has chosen exactly one OL or DL in the first two rounds in three drafts, despite serious issues on both lines. So much so that they've signed two players to large contracts on the OL and traded for a big DT they've lacked for years. Amazingly, the top 3 DE's and our Pro Bowl LT were developed during the Donahoe years. The Levy/Jauron additions at LG, RT, and C in FA haven't lived up to the contracts they received. Homegrown talent usually is better than the FA game.

Hope springs eternal, especially in the summer. I don't think the offense will be dynamic, especially considering DJ is the HC. His teams are never offensive juggernauts. This team will win or lose based on the defense.

Don't exclude John Guy, Jim Overdorf, and the other Donahoe holdovers in the FO. Jauron has a lot of pressure on him no doubt, but this franchise must hire a real GM soon. Modrak's director of scouting, and the Bills have no one with bonafide experience handling the duties of a GM. Brandon will always be a business/marketing type.

I might understand a first rounder not signing, but Hardy, Ellis, Bowen, and Omon being unsigned this deep into the summer is slightly concerning to me. I know there are franchises that haven't signed their picks, but I'd expect the pace to pick up in the days leading up to camp. Hopefully.

Once again, you're missing the point. Bill Walsh took that SF franchise from being 2-14 to winning a SB just a two seasons later. He was HC when the team drafted those players you mentioned and this ability to find talent is nearly unmatched in the past 30 years. He invented the WCO, found the players to fit it, and can count more than 25 head coaches who either worked for him or his assistants. DJ has a career .427 winning percentage with multiple franchises. I don't see anything happening now to change the way he is.

Neither McCargo or Spencer have a deep NFL resume, but one of them will start. Williams is depth. The Tripplett signing was heralded by this franchise as one that would be important for the team's development. Two years later he's gone, the first bad decision DJ and ML made. Hopefully the team redeemed itself with Stroud, but it was a big gamble. That said, the DL will need to be better than 22nd in the league for this team to make the playoffs. It'll need to be stellar to make up for an offense that will need all the help it can get. That includes a pass rush, which was non-existent last year.

Not to mention working as a QB coach with multiple franchises over 10+ seasons, yet never serving as an OC. DJ was convinced though and despite all the encouraging things being touted by Schonert, I think the DJ effect will take place and the offense will be relegated to the plodding style so prevalent on DJ coached teams of the past. Just a hunch.

How many years in the free agency era of the NFL must a team have to rebuild? Buffalo's been doing it since Donahoe was fired, and reasonable fans would like to see something this decade. We all know on paper how difficult the AFC might be this season. One team always rises out of nowhere, but I have a sinking feeling that Buffalo will go 9-7, miss the postseason, and some fans around here will call this progress and demand DJ have another season.

The question should be: How much team talent does Dick Jauron need to make the playoffs? At some point, a coach has to raise the level of play for their team. I know that if someone cites lack of talent as a reason for not making the playoffs that few will buy it.

This is the same mentality that we all had last season at DE with Schobel, Kelsay, Denney, and Hargrove. Within a matter of a few weeks, DE became a position of weakness and the likes of Al Wallace and Copeland Bryan became the depth. On paper, DT looks strong, and while team depth looks solid, the Bills are very still a very young team. Particularly at LB, CB, and S on defense. Being conservative with the cap is a fine fiscal policy, but ultimately not one that always gives coaches the benefit of decent depth. Our OL is a perfect example, specifically the tackle position after Peters and Walker. There, the drop-off in talent is precipitous.

The front office and coaching staff have had three free agency periods, three drafts, and two seasons to get this team back to respectability. At this point, the 2008 season is about accountability and nothing short of the playoffs will be acceptable. There should be no more 7-9, 8-8 type seasons, even in a difficult AFC. While DJ doesn't have talent on par with San Diego or Indy, the team acquired players on defense to win some ball games. The offense still appears to have major holes at TE, C, and features a rookie WR and young QB. Despite this, if Buffalo cannot make the playoffs and the starters play most of the snaps, I will have no pity for DJ and the front office. Ultimately, I think we can divide fans on this board into two categories: those who are tired of excuses, and those who continue to find new ones. If you're satisfied with keeping games close and being at or below .500, I'd say you're in the latter category. Bills fans have been told for too long (through the Donahoe, Levy, and now Brandon regimes) that this team is exciting and will win some games. It needs to happen now.

Jonathan Ogden. Apparently franchise LT's aren't plentiful.

Buffalo's run defense was 25th in the league in RYPG and 31st in YPG allowed last year. McCargo and Williams were significant contributors all season long, but seem to be part of the problem and not answer. Enter Stroud and Spencer Johnson. Neither of them are being paid to watch from the sideline and will get plenty of snaps. While Johnson has the ability to play DE, I suspect that he's getting paid to push for a starting spot at DT. Unless Ryan Denney is cut, and I don't see that happening, Johnson will be the fourth DE. Buffalo has a great deal of money invested in their DL with Schobel, Stroud, Kelsay, Sp. Johnson, Williams, Denney, and McCargo getting paid big dollars to put pressure on the QB and stop the run. Every one of those guys was either drafted or re-signed by the current regime minus Marv. If they can't perform, the front office oughta be completely revamped.

McCargo's a former first round pick who made a few plays last year, but wasn't what the coaches thought was starting material. This year, they went out and signed Stroud, Spencer Johnson, and re-signed Kyle Williams to at the minimum send McCargo a message. If McCargo was the dominant force some are expecting him to be, it's strange that the Bills invested so much in other DT's. All four DT's aren't going to get even playing time, despite all of them getting good money. I often think about what the Bills would be like had they drafted Ngata, not dealt a 2nd and 3rd in 2006, and not mandating they acquire a big DT lin Stroud with a 3rd and 5th this year when their run defense was a sieve. That's four draft picks, not to mention resources directed to signing Spencer Johnson and adding Stroud to the payroll. That's a lot for one position in the span of three off-seasons. McCargo had better be good becaue Buffalo's invested too much in him.

I've got to wonder what's going through the coaches and front office people's minds wrt McCargo. He did not win the starting job last season, albeit to one of their higher priced FA's from 06 in Tripplett. Entering this season, the Bills gave a vote of confidence to Kyle Williams with a new deal and signed Spencer Johnson to decent money. If McCargo isn't starting this year, giving up a 2nd and 3rd for him just two years ago looks even worse and tarnishes Levy's time as GM a significant amount.

IMO, Jauron is a predictable NFL HC. His first two seasons he went the route of allowing an OC to be pass happy, though the Bears were not a playoff team. Consequently, DJ offenses since 01 have been very conservative. His last 2 OC's (Shoop and Fairchild) have both employed methodical, run first type offenses that rarely gamble. They remain offenses that will rarely put up big performances, and usually at the bottom of the NFL in points scored. Defense will always be a priority to DJ, despite what is said in the media. I don't see a departure from this conservative philosophy. In light of a young QB and rookie OC, Jauron's offensive gameplans will mesh with his defensive ones and demonstrate a reliance on safe plays. Whether or not he's more apt to take chances this year, given that this is his year or else remains to be seen. Needless to say, it'll be interesting to see how he coaches with his job potentially on the line.

At this point everything is a puff-piece and more hype than anything else. I've been hearing for years now, through both the Donahoe and Levy eras that things will be better. And every year there's a let down. Schonert's a rookie OC, and his boasts remind me of of Gregg Williams' speeches. The pre-season is a time when every team has hope of being a winner. Frankly, I'll believe the team when I see it on the field, and that won't be for another 2 months.

So in your estimation, this means: Stroud is getting 5M+ to be a rotational player after the Bills gave up a 3rd and 5th for him Buffalo traded back into the first in 2006 (giving up a 2nd and 3rd) to draft McCargo to be a rotational player Spencer Johnson was signed to a big contract to be a rotational player Kyle Williams will make up to 4.8M per to be a rotational starter when his new deal kicks in. Sure.

As much as DJ and Fewell will adjust the defense to suit certain situations, it's apparent what they'd like to run. C2 defenses are run upwards of 50% of the time in any defense. Buffalo's DT's bring somewhat similar skill-sets to the table. Stroud is most likely larger than the listed 310 and I don't doubt McCargo is around that weight. Spencer Johnson is probably smaller than McCargo, but made plays in Minnesota and I like his versatility. Kyle Williams is not big enough to play the NT (1 tech) and not quick enough to play UT (3 tech). While weight isn't the only quality necessary to play either position (John Randle played at 290 and was quite successful) holding up at the point of attack is something no Bills DT has done much of since the days of Pat Williams. I daresay Williams isn't that player and never will be, despite an excellent work ethic. Working hard and talent are two different things. I wouldn't be surpised to see Stroud lining up with McCargo or Johnson fairly regularly with Williams a strictly depth player. Before going off the deep end, with Williams, McCargo, and Tripplett at DT this team was 31st against the run. As much as it's a team playing defense, the first line of DT's was terrible, especially late in games. I don't care who Buffalo has a CB, LB, or S it won't matter until they can stop the run.

McCargo couldn't break the starting lineup in his second season. Rotational player or not, two guys generally get the majority of the PT. Barring an injury, Stroud and either McCargo or Spencer Johnson will complement him with Kyle Williams being the other depth player. If McCargo was the real deal, Buffalo would not have acquired Johnson. The fact is, McCargo needs to show up over the course of a full season as a starter before being acclaimed as a big time player. IMO, Spencer Johnson will play a similar role in this defense, and they didn't give him that fat contract to be a wave player at DT and work in at DE when Schobel, Kelsay, and Denney aren't in. There are a lot of feel-good Bills fans around here who latch onto anything which makes them feel happy. Anyone who doesn't believe all the hype from OBD are negative to them. I'd like McCargo to play like Warren Sapp, but if a guy isn't breaking the starting line up and the team acquires another similar type player, it's not all good. That, of course, does not fit very conveniently into this discussion.

I'm not seeing the wisdom in giving Kyle Williams a new deal. He's precisely the type of player who can leave in FA and not be missed. To me, he's what Larry Tripplett was to the Colts just three years ago. A player who rotates in, not anything special, and certainly not worth this sort of money. He's not a starter, but with Buffalo's build over 4 years plan became one in 06 and 07. IMO, he lacks the size to play the 1 and the quickness of the 3. He's a rotational player and nothing more.

If after 1+ seasons, McCargo can't win the starting job at DT, when will he? The signing of Spencer Johnson is a message to Williams and McCargo. As much as the Bills talk about Spencer playing DE, he was brought in to push, and possibly play ahead of McCargo. Either way, Buffalo will put their top 2 DT's on the field as often as possible. And right now, that's Stroud and either McCargo or Sp. Johnson.

The silence is deafening. Despite what the DA says about him driving the vehicle, he has a link to this no matter what anyone talks about. I want to give Lynch the benefit of the doubt. Anyone who watched the Kenny Mayne bit can laugh about how Lynch seems like a nice guy. At this point, there is a connection, and unless he spoke with the DA today, it's been one whole week since he was implicated to some degree. The question is...why?