Mark VI Posted November 29, 2004 Posted November 29, 2004 Needed Moves to challenge the likes of the Pats, Steelers, Eagles etc. 1. QB - Losman in, Drew out. DB should start now, with our 100-1 playoff chance still alive. In the long term, the development of Losman is imperative. With DB as our QB, we can mark every game down against the Pats as a loss. Same goes for most every good team on the road. ( Please don't tell me Seattle is a good team, they're not.. ). Losman will have an entire off-season to ready himself . The dozen or so mini-camps, prior to Fisher camp, have these guys a mile ahead of players in the old days. Losman and Wyche will be spending a lot of time together. A good thing. 2. Find a Free Safety and 1 more CB. Troy Vincent was supposed to move there, but it looks like he has major injury questions at age 33. Could R. Baker be the answer ? Draft or sign another Free Safety anyhow. Depth . Another CB, with Nate becoming a FA after 2005 wouldn't surprise. 3. OL - Playing much better but we will probably need another Tackle after All- Whirlpool Jonas Jennings limps out of Buffalo ( Can NEVER stay healthy. Not worth big $$ ). Must decide whether Tucker is the long term solution at Guard. He is improving. Depth , through the Draft or Free Agency, is still a wise move. 4. Depth at Skill positions ( RB,WR ) - not to be overlooked. If Willis goes down, then what ? Look what happened when Moulds got hurt in 2003. Can Aiken step up as a 3rd WR ? ( I'm assuming Henry, J. Reed are history after this season ) Conclusion : Bills can't rewrite the 0-4 start. Still, I wish to have a team that can not only MAKE the playoffs but ADVANCE DEEP. The above moves, and more, seem needed for those dreams to become reality. Bills have definitely made positive strides lately and the Coaching staff and players seem to gel. Thank God for that. Willis has energized the entire team. Losman and a couple more moves may be the final lineup changes needed to seriously contend with the so-called Big Boys. I'm very pleased with what I see but some tweeking is still needed to take another step forward. Flame away.
JohninMinn. Posted November 29, 2004 Posted November 29, 2004 1. QB - Losman in, Drew out. Your expectations for JP are unrealistic. The QB position requires playing time, the obligatory mistakes and the gaining of confidence. This is usually a 2 or 3 year process before you can even find out if you have a "bust" on your hands.
Guest Guest Posted November 29, 2004 Posted November 29, 2004 Your expectations for JP are unrealistic. The QB position requires playing time, the obligatory mistakes and the gaining of confidence. This is usually a 2 or 3 year process before you can even find out if you have a "bust" on your hands. 137713[/snapback] Good thing for them that nobody told Pittsburgh that.
JohninMinn. Posted November 29, 2004 Posted November 29, 2004 Good thing for them that nobody told Pittsburgh that. 137721[/snapback] Did you see Eli yesterday?
BuffOrange Posted November 29, 2004 Posted November 29, 2004 Needed Moves to challenge the likes of the Pats, Steelers, Eagles etc. 1. QB - Losman in, Drew out. Agreed 2. Find a Free Safety and 1 more CB. Troy Vincent was supposed to move there, but it looks like he has major injury questions at age 33. Could R. Baker be the answer ? Draft or sign another Free Safety anyhow. Depth . Another CB, with Nate becoming a FA after 2005 wouldn't surprise. Don't think we need to make a big FA splash at CB. McGee can be an adequate starter IF we get a good pass-rusher, which is the #1 defensive need you left out. I agree an upgrade at FS is needed, unless this Baker kid plays lights out these last 5 games. 3. OL - Playing much better but we will probably need another Tackle after All- Whirlpool Jonas Jennings limps out of Buffalo ( Can NEVER stay healthy. Not worth big $$ ). Must decide whether Tucker is the long term solution at Guard. He is improving. Depth , through the Draft or Free Agency, is still a wise move. Agreed 4. Depth at Skill positions ( RB,WR ) - not to be overlooked. If Willis goes down, then what ? Look what happened when Moulds got hurt in 2003. Can Aiken step up as a 3rd WR ? ( I'm assuming Henry, J. Reed are history after this season ) Nah, that "if X gets hurt" scenerio holds true for any team. My list in order of importance would be: OL DE TE FS Filling all 4 of those holes may be a bit much in one offseason, but upgrade 2 or 3 of them and we could be looking at an 11-win team next year.
Guest Guest Posted November 29, 2004 Posted November 29, 2004 Did you see Eli yesterday? 137726[/snapback] Didn't know he played for Pittsburgh. My point being the rules about rookie QBs aren't written in stone. Look at Tom Brady for another example. I'm not saying Losman will turn out as good as either, but you don't know until he starts. I don't think you have to automatically write off 2-3 years for development.
KD in CA Posted November 29, 2004 Posted November 29, 2004 Did you see Eli yesterday? 137726[/snapback] Yeah, I saw him under seige all day because the Giants O-line is pathetic against the pass rush. The Giants will be very happy next year for the experience that Eli is getting this year. Remember what Payton looked like when he was a rookie.
stuckincincy Posted November 29, 2004 Posted November 29, 2004 They'de better sharpen their pencils and not get diddled by the likes of a Vincent and have an inglorious draft or two that taps a safety or a center or a guard. And a RB. They are thin, there. I'm not sold on WMG. And they need to get into the habit of calling in a non-stop string of players for a good look-see. They used to be able to find unpolished gems in a manure pile, but not recentely...
Mark VI Posted November 29, 2004 Author Posted November 29, 2004 Your expectations for JP are unrealistic. The QB position requires playing time, the obligatory mistakes and the gaining of confidence. This is usually a 2 or 3 year process before you can even find out if you have a "bust" on your hands. 137713[/snapback] That makes zero sense. Bledsoe started as a Rookie. He has played 12 years and can only take a team so far. I wish to actually compete against the Pats, our divisional foe. Drew plays like Barney Fife against them. I wish to take another step forward. I don't have any unrealistic expectations of Losman because he is a complete unknown, like EVERY ROOKIE QB. This I do know. He has a cannon for an arm and unlike Drew, he can actually move and deliver a ball to a secondary receiver. Seems to have some pocket awareness while DB has ZERO. DB should be playing now. I still root for him every week. Come 2005, I just can't see us IMPROVING with DB as our QB. Losman will make his mistakes but his upside could be far greater than Drew. The Bills spent a Number #1 pick on the guy and the Cap age dictates realistic decisons.
kota Posted November 29, 2004 Posted November 29, 2004 Cool another fan giving up already. It is a good thing this board only shows .0001% of the fanbase.
Like A Mofo Posted November 29, 2004 Posted November 29, 2004 Cool another fan giving up already. It is a good thing this board only shows .0001% of the fanbase. 138168[/snapback] How does Mark VI's desires to see this team become a legitimate Super Bowl Contender indicate that he is "giving up"??....Do you think his views would be different if the Bills were 8-3? Im sure they would be. But the fact is we are 5-6 with 6 AFC losses. Listen, Id LOVE to see the playoffs, but cmon man, go play some lotto scratchoffs, you might have a better chance of hitting big on one of those then seeing the Bills make the playoffs. I like the fact some Bills fans are ALWAYS looking to see how things can improve EVEN MORE instead of JUST going rah rah rah we win!! etc...Im VERY excited about the Bills resurgance, but im not getting ahead of myself. Besides, even if we did sneak in the playoffs, where are they going in this conference right now? There are bigger fish to fry down the line.
Mark VI Posted November 29, 2004 Author Posted November 29, 2004 Cool another fan giving up already. It is a good thing this board only shows .0001% of the fanbase. 138168[/snapback] Giving Up ?? LOL ! I'm at every home game and totally behind everyone , including #11. I'm just offering a discussion on how to improve the team. Is this not a discussion board ? Thanks for stopping by and offering a deep, detailed response.
Campy Posted November 29, 2004 Posted November 29, 2004 Cool another fan giving up already. It is a good thing this board only shows .0001% of the fanbase. 138168[/snapback] I re-read his post and missed the "giving up" part. What makes you say he did?
kota Posted November 29, 2004 Posted November 29, 2004 I was alittle harsh i just don't like the first sentance of his post.
Mickey Posted November 29, 2004 Posted November 29, 2004 Needed Moves to challenge the likes of the Pats, Steelers, Eagles etc. 1. QB - Losman in, Drew out. DB should start now, with our 100-1 playoff chance still alive. In the long term, the development of Losman is imperative. With DB as our QB, we can mark every game down against the Pats as a loss. Same goes for most every good team on the road. ( Please don't tell me Seattle is a good team, they're not.. ). Losman will have an entire off-season to ready himself . The dozen or so mini-camps, prior to Fisher camp, have these guys a mile ahead of players in the old days. Losman and Wyche will be spending a lot of time together. A good thing. 2. Find a Free Safety and 1 more CB. Troy Vincent was supposed to move there, but it looks like he has major injury questions at age 33. Could R. Baker be the answer ? Draft or sign another Free Safety anyhow. Depth . Another CB, with Nate becoming a FA after 2005 wouldn't surprise. 3. OL - Playing much better but we will probably need another Tackle after All- Whirlpool Jonas Jennings limps out of Buffalo ( Can NEVER stay healthy. Not worth big $$ ). Must decide whether Tucker is the long term solution at Guard. He is improving. Depth , through the Draft or Free Agency, is still a wise move. 4. Depth at Skill positions ( RB,WR ) - not to be overlooked. If Willis goes down, then what ? Look what happened when Moulds got hurt in 2003. Can Aiken step up as a 3rd WR ? ( I'm assuming Henry, J. Reed are history after this season ) Conclusion : Bills can't rewrite the 0-4 start. Still, I wish to have a team that can not only MAKE the playoffs but ADVANCE DEEP. The above moves, and more, seem needed for those dreams to become reality. Bills have definitely made positive strides lately and the Coaching staff and players seem to gel. Thank God for that. Willis has energized the entire team. Losman and a couple more moves may be the final lineup changes needed to seriously contend with the so-called Big Boys. I'm very pleased with what I see but some tweeking is still needed to take another step forward. Flame away. 137694[/snapback] This is the regular season, not training camp. I am not paying to watch somebody practice. I am paying to see them play football games. I am not ready to turn over the entire team to some guy who has spent the better part of the season in a track suit fetching Gatorade, not when we are 5-6 with 5 games left. How do you look any player on the team in the face and tell him to risk injury and work his butt off on the field while you care so little about actually winning you are going to put in a guy at QB for the sake of "developing" him for next year? The only reason anyone should be on the field in a game is because he is the best at his position. Period.
Mickey Posted November 29, 2004 Posted November 29, 2004 How does Mark VI's desires to see this team become a legitimate Super Bowl Contender indicate that he is "giving up"??....Do you think his views would be different if the Bills were 8-3? Im sure they would be. But the fact is we are 5-6 with 6 AFC losses. Listen, Id LOVE to see the playoffs, but cmon man, go play some lotto scratchoffs, you might have a better chance of hitting big on one of those then seeing the Bills make the playoffs. I like the fact some Bills fans are ALWAYS looking to see how things can improve EVEN MORE instead of JUST going rah rah rah we win!! etc...Im VERY excited about the Bills resurgance, but im not getting ahead of myself. Besides, even if we did sneak in the playoffs, where are they going in this conference right now? There are bigger fish to fry down the line. 138181[/snapback] Well, why didn't we just cash it in from day one and use the whole season to "develop" our youth since it was pretty clear from the start that we were not a playoff team. A little thing like actually playing the games was a mere formality. Heck, at 0-4 we should have rested Moulds, Williams, Jennings, Campbell, Clements, Fletcher, Spikes and numerous others so that we didn't risk a catastrophic injury costing us that player for next year. At that point the playoffs were a pipe dream anyway. Right? This is the NFL. It is the regular season. You play to win, period. This is not training camp, it is not the "screw everyone including fans who actually like to see the team win even if they aren't going to the Super Bowl just so we can give one guy some reps" part of the season. JP Losman isn't the only guy on this team. Maybe you have given up but they haven't. He is recovering from an injury and several months of carrying a clip board. He is so not ready to be on the field it isn't even funny. If you want to get him killed, lose games, cause the team to hate his guts and cash in our chips with 5 games left at 5-6, go ahead, put him in to "develop".
Guest Guest_eyedog_* Posted November 29, 2004 Posted November 29, 2004 You forgot a big time pass rusher coming off the edge. Until they get one they won't get by New England or Indy in a play-off game.
rolly Posted November 29, 2004 Posted November 29, 2004 Very nice post. I agree with everything you said but as mentioned earlier the Bills do need to address a pass-rushing DE. Schobel just doesn't cut it for me. I know he'll be there regardless with his new contract but put someone opposite him who shows up every game instead of getting 3 sacks then being invisible for 3 weeks.
Guest Guest Posted November 29, 2004 Posted November 29, 2004 Good thing for them that nobody told Pittsburgh that. 137721[/snapback] Pittsburgh is winning despite Ben not because of him. Last 5 games Sacked 15 times thrown 5 TD's 782 yards 4 rushing TD's b team Put this in perspective Bledsoe has only been sacked 4 times in the last 5 weeks and has thrown 7 TD's 801 yards 7 rushing touchdowns by team
Mark VI Posted November 29, 2004 Author Posted November 29, 2004 Maybe you have given up but they haven't. He is recovering from an injury and several months of carrying a clip board. He is so not ready to be on the field it isn't even funny. If you want to get him killed, lose games, cause the team to hate his guts and cash in our chips with 5 games left at 5-6, go ahead, put him in to "develop". 138257[/snapback] " DB should start now, with our 100-1 playoff chance still alive. " That was my first sentence after saying Losman should start. Thanks for using my thread for a rambling, pointless diatribe. You can now return to the PPP board.
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