Rock'em Sock'em

Brad Smith contributes to the team. With 46 players now active on gameday and no more 3rd QB exemption, I'd rather have Brad Smith active than a 3rd quarterback who doesn't contribute.

2012 Giants - Pierre Paul, Justin Tuck, Osi all had double digit sacks in the past.

I consider Green Bay a pretty decent 3-4 defense. Here are their tackle #'s after 6 weeks. RILB Desmond Bishop 57 46 FS Morgan Burnett 47 33 RCB Sam Shields 23 21 LILB A.J. Hawk 28 18 RCB Tramon Williams 19 17 LCB Charles Woodson 22 17 SS Charlie Peprah 26 16 ROLB Erik Walden 19 13 LCB Jarrett Bush 13 11 LOLB Clay Matthews 16 11

2nd rounders seem to be the sweet spot of the draft. There are easy to sign and show up to camp on time. They have cap-friendly contracts. You avoid handing $20 million to a 20 year-old kid who may lose or not have hunger to be great. You have money leftover to sign your own FAs as well as other proven FAs. The bottom line is the draft is a bit of a crapshoop, and the 1st round is not excluded. I like the way NE manages their draft picks.

I'm sure the Saints are wishing they had picked up the phone and made an offer for Lynch. As it turned out, they'd likely still be alive in the playoffs.

If you prorate Fitz's numbers for a 16-game season (based on the two games he did not start)..... 3,876 yards 44/16 TDs/INTs 102.00 rating. 464 rushing yards Seriously! Those are MVP numbers. Great start Ryan! Keep it going!

He's got quickness for sure. And he can run, catch, and throw. But his downfield blocking ability is a bit of an unknown. I assume he's fair or poor with this aspect of the game. Perhaps this is one reason why he has not been on the field more. For a #3 WR, would you rather have an exceptionally good blocker with good hands or an exceptionally quick reciever?

The picks obtained in the Peters trade turned into Wood and helped us trade up for Levitre. Plus the Bills saved about $8M in cash per year which turned into Owens and whatever his replacement will be. So I'm OK with the trade, even though it means we need to find a LT again.

I agree mostly with the analysis. Interesting that the best pick was Nate Clements, who we drafted after trading down! I think Kenyana Walker (TB) was picked with our original pick. If there is a trade partner, I'd always try to trade up/down into spots 20-50. I think those picks offer the best players at the most reasonable and easy to sign rookie contracts. The high first round picks are overpaid and sometimes difficult to sign. The 3rd/4th round picks are prospects that generally don't develop into starters. I'd use 5/6/7 for special teamers and prospects. Last year, NE was masterful at stocking up on these picks.

Idiotic, yes. But since the Superbowl is in Miami and the players will be there about one week early anyway, it means the pro bowlers would need show up 1 day earlier for an appearance or maybe to watch the game from the sideline. For better or worse, the whole SB week is one big hypefest.

Please, this is getting old. Mike Willams (a linman) was drafted instead of McKinnie. Mabin (a defensive lineman) was drafted instead of Oher. Peters was traded for picks, one of which was used on Wood. Another helping to trade up for Levitre. It's not like they ignored the lines with respect to the players mentioned in the post. Also, Peters and Williams were the players "shunned". You're not suggesting that the Bills should have kept those two around are you?

Draft a franchise quartback if one is there. They don't come along too often. Otherwise LB and OL are the biggest holes to fill. I'd prefer LB in the draft and OL in FA.

Good move. Still a Bill, Parrish will be on the trading block in the offseason, and maybe he'll fetch a 5th or 6th. If the Bills don't trade Roscoe, he'll battle for a roster spot next year.

Actually, the Bills pass defense is #1 in yards per attempt (5.5) and completion percentage (51.2), so you can't really argue that teams don't need to pass and that's the only reason they are 2nd in yards against. It's more like their scheme is good against the pass and bad against the run. Or perhaps their smallish players are good against the pass and bad against the run. Either way the pass defense has been impressive. The Bills are 3rd (1st in the AFC) with 10 INTs. Byrd leads the AFC with 3 picks. Being able to run and stop the run is a better formula. But at least the defense is doing something good.

In Trent's defense, he had 150 passing yards compared to Anderson's 23. That being said, Trent seems to miss on the long pass opportunities (both Owens and Evans open). He also does not find WR's open 15 yards in the middle of the field. The 7 yard TE hitch and 7 yard RB circle route dump offs are way better than the zero yard sideline dump offs that are now being blanketted by the defenses. Bottom line here is that Trent should get another 6 games to prove that he's the long term answer (or not). The defense played great and that side of the ball seems pretty solid. I loved to see all of the 5-3 and 4-4 fronts and all of the run blitzes.

Since SanFran basically lost a year with Crabtree unsigned, they should demand a 6th year in the contact for the same signing bonus and overall contract worth. Or just the same five year contract ... that starts July 2010.

The Bills spend more time on defense than offense when on the field, so they should keep more players and better depth on defense. There's more chance of injury just due to play time.

1.) Trent Edwards (2007, 3rd round) 2.) Mitchell (2008 FA) 3.) Stroud (2008 Trade) 4.) Walker (2007 FA) 5.) Lynch (arguably) 6.) Jackson (2006 FA) 7.) Scott (2007 FA) 8.) Butler (2006, 5th round) I can't really think of any others that have exceeded expectations. A couple of those are borderline "exceeders". There are a couple 2009 draft picks exceeding expectations so far (Wood, Lankster, Harris), but too eaerly to tell on the 2009 class.

I just watched the network broadcast on DVR. Although Scott was announced coming out of the tunnel at the game, Ko Simpson was announced as the starter on TV. On TV, on first and second down, it wasn't clear who was out there. But on 3rd down, Scott was in the picture. Scott also started on the 2nd series of defense. With the new DBs in town, Ko is on the bubble this year.

Scott was announced the starter before the game but left with a knee injury. I too was a little surprised to see Ko out there late in the game.

Fast, big, seems to catch everything. In the two practices I've seen or pre-season, I don't recall a single pass that was thrown his way and wasn't caught. A few diving catches in there as well.

Thorner7 - We post about the same two plays at the same exact time. Weird.

Nic Harris looks to be a player. I loved the play (2nd quarter?) where the QB rolled right and threatended to either run or dump off to the TE. Harris leveled the TE from behind and then tackled the QB for no gain. Incidentally, Chicago tried the same play in the fourth quarter with Harris defending, but that time the TE kept his balance and scored a TD. Harris generally run bltized well and came close to making a few plays in the backfield. It's obvious to me Harris has the size and speed for the job. He looked like a starter out there.

1.) No significant injuries 2.) Generate pass rush with base defense 3.) Win the 1-on-1 battles on the offensive line

I guess there's no use even playing those games then. But just for fun, and the minute chance that lightning strikes 10 or 12 times this season, I say let's see what happens.