FLFan Posted October 25, 2011 Posted October 25, 2011 This is unfortunate news albeit not unexpected. For those who have been paying attention, while he has not had the sack numbers, the Bills run defense has been considerably better when he was in the game. He played his position and held the edge on his side consistently. He has also had a termendous impact on the teams attitude, exhibiting positive leadership, and as others have pointed out, was a solid recuriting influence. Make no mistake - he will be missed on this defense. Hopefully the long delayed surgery will enable him to come back healthy. As for the preposterous comparisons to Maybin being made by some posters, this is like comparing water to wine. Incidently, it would take a similar miracle of turning water to wine to make Maybin even a fraction of the football player Merriman is. Hopefully the young outside backers the Bills have can learn to play the position nearly as well, but at least in the near term, this is a big loss.
San-O Posted October 25, 2011 Posted October 25, 2011 This is unfortunate news albeit not unexpected. For those who have been paying attention, while he has not had the sack numbers, the Bills run defense has been considerably better when he was in the game. He played his position and held the edge on his side consistently. He has also had a termendous impact on the teams attitude, exhibiting positive leadership, and as others have pointed out, was a solid recuriting influence. Make no mistake - he will be missed on this defense. Hopefully the long delayed surgery will enable him to come back healthy. As for the preposterous comparisons to Maybin being made by some posters, this is like comparing water to wine. Incidently, it would take a similar miracle of turning water to wine to make Maybin even a fraction of the football player Merriman is. Hopefully the young outside backers the Bills have can learn to play the position nearly as well, but at least in the near term, this is a big loss. I'm not sure if this is serious or sarcastic? I think he did have a biiger impact than the stats may indicate, but the run defense is improved with him or without him.
nucci Posted October 25, 2011 Posted October 25, 2011 Barnett has been pretty good for us absolutely. Probowl super star no. Green Bay cut him because they have guys they are really happy with. Don't forget Barnett is an injury risk too. I obviously wish him good luck and good health but he has a history. You made your point with Merriman now give it a rest. Do you want another pat on the back? And you are wrong about Barnett. What is his injury history? he played 8 years in GB and was injured in only two of them. http://espn.go.com/nfl/player/stats/_/id/4487/nick-barnett
K-9 Posted October 25, 2011 Posted October 25, 2011 This is unfortunate news albeit not unexpected. For those who have been paying attention, while he has not had the sack numbers, the Bills run defense has been considerably better when he was in the game. He played his position and held the edge on his side consistently. He has also had a termendous impact on the teams attitude, exhibiting positive leadership, and as others have pointed out, was a solid recuriting influence. Make no mistake - he will be missed on this defense. Hopefully the long delayed surgery will enable him to come back healthy. As for the preposterous comparisons to Maybin being made by some posters, this is like comparing water to wine. Incidently, it would take a similar miracle of turning water to wine to make Maybin even a fraction of the football player Merriman is. Hopefully the young outside backers the Bills have can learn to play the position nearly as well, but at least in the near term, this is a big loss. ^This. Very well stated. Those thinking that Merriman hasn't had an impact while he's been in this season simply don't know how to watch a game. For a guy with one shoulder he played very well against the run, routinely holding the POA. Too bad he lacked the explosion we saw in spurts in the preseason. The good news is that he's only 27 and is young enough to have surgery and make a complete recovery. Here's hoping he does exactly that. GO BILLS!!!
Zulu Cthulhu Posted October 25, 2011 Posted October 25, 2011 I think MDfan hit it on the head. It seems pretty clear now Merriman has been gimped by his achilles for a long time. I suppose he was worried about getting his corrective surgery in the past (before resigning) since he was dangerously close to never collecting another NFL paycheck. The rehab from that procedure probably would've scared teams away, even though he's still pretty young. Now, with another deal in his pocket, he can feel more comfortable getting this heel surgery and (hopefully) making a full recovery. The Bills will be patient with him, since they don't want to look stupid after giving him his extension. I give Merriman credit for trying to contribute this year, even though he probably knew he needed this sugery for a long time. I can only assume he felt obligated to Nix and wanted to try to help the team right away. I have to give him credit for that, and for helping lure Nick Barnett here. Merriman will probably have one more shot next year to prove his worth, I'll be rooting for him.
8-8 Forever? Posted October 25, 2011 Posted October 25, 2011 http://www.buffalobi...08-d6df5235663f So long "comeback". 6 games. Exactly as predicted. That's ok. Couldn't have expected much more. the guy is probably done.
dpberr Posted October 25, 2011 Posted October 25, 2011 It'd be nice if he were on the sidelines for the games. While he may not be on the field, his attitude would be a boost to those that are.
Billy in 4C Posted October 25, 2011 Posted October 25, 2011 Traded not dumped. Nice try. Not to mention Phillip Rivers, their golden boy, was ready. He's a pretty damn good QB himself. He should have never been drafted while they had Brees but he was on the roster. Umm thank for correcting me with wrong info. He was a free agent.
San Jose Bills Fan Posted October 25, 2011 Posted October 25, 2011 I think all these theories about Merriman being surgery-averse and opting for rehab over surgery are good theories. However the part about the Bills being patient in his rehab, etc. has me concerned. Merriman signed a 2-year contract. I know that for a ruptured achilles (i.e.- Sam Cowart, Takeo Spikes) that a player can come back in one year but it's actually a 2-year full recovery time. So the question becomes, is a surgical repair (like Merriman is getting) a faster recovery than when the tendon is reconstructed after an injury? If it's the same recovery time, then it's likely Merriman won't play for the Bills next year if ever.
MDH Posted October 26, 2011 Posted October 26, 2011 (edited) ^This. For a guy with one shoulder he played very well against the run, routinely holding the POA. Too bad he lacked the explosion we saw in spurts in the preseason. GO BILLS!!! It's amazing how many guys on this D have "played the run well" according to Bills fans. We're led to believe K. Williams has played the run well, Dareus has played the run well, Barnett has played the run well, Merriman has played the run well, Wilson has played the run well, etc., etc. Yet, here the Bills sit ranked 30th in the league in yards allowed per game at 135 yards per game. Stats obviously aren't everything and quite a few of those yards came against a running QB in Vick, but none-the-less the Bills have not been good vs. the run this year. I'm not saying some of those guys aren't playing well but for the most part the Bills have continued to suck against the run again this year and all the guys Bills fans say, "have played the run well" this year couldn't have possibly given how they've been run through. Edited October 26, 2011 by MDH
San-O Posted October 26, 2011 Posted October 26, 2011 It's amazing how many guys on this D have "played the run well" according to Bills fans. We're led to believe K. Williams has played the run well, Dareus has played the run well, Barnett has played the run well, Merriman has played the run well, Wilson has played the run well, etc., etc. Yet, here the Bills sit ranked 30th in the league in yards allowed per game at 135 yards per game. Stats obviously aren't everything and quite a few of those yards came against a running QB in Vick, but none-the-less the Bills have not been good vs. the run this year. I'm not saying some of those guys aren't playing well but for the most part the Bills have continued to suck against the run again this year and all the guys Bills fans say, "have played the run well" this year couldn't have possibly given how they've been run through. + 1 Last year it was 180 yrds/game. But yeah, I think the Bills can give up yards with or without Merriman.
truth on hold Posted October 26, 2011 Posted October 26, 2011 (edited) I was expecting this and would have been surprised if he stayed on the field. His injury talk in SD was the shoulder, and how doctors had given him clearance on it. Then he shows up here and suddenly he has an even more onerous sounding achilles injury. hhhmmmmm .... Bolts knew this guy was done. Edited October 26, 2011 by Joe_the_6_pack
Don't stop billievein Posted October 26, 2011 Posted October 26, 2011 AARON CURRY WAS AVAILABLE AND THE RAIDERS SCOOPED HIM UP FOR WHAT I THINK WAS A 4TH RND PICK. I REALLY THOUGH THE BILLS SHOULD HAVE TAKEN A LOOK AT HIM. HE WAS A 3RD OVERALL PICK.
K-9 Posted October 26, 2011 Posted October 26, 2011 It's amazing how many guys on this D have "played the run well" according to Bills fans. We're led to believe K. Williams has played the run well, Dareus has played the run well, Barnett has played the run well, Merriman has played the run well, Wilson has played the run well, etc., etc. Yet, here the Bills sit ranked 30th in the league in yards allowed per game at 135 yards per game. Stats obviously aren't everything and quite a few of those yards came against a running QB in Vick, but none-the-less the Bills have not been good vs. the run this year. I'm not saying some of those guys aren't playing well but for the most part the Bills have continued to suck against the run again this year and all the guys Bills fans say, "have played the run well" this year couldn't have possibly given how they've been run through. Except that Merriman had been playing the run very well. I don't say that about any of our other OLBs. With the exception of Dareus, our DLine, including KW, has been mediocre. But the problem is our LB, like last year. GO BILLS!!!
papazoid Posted October 26, 2011 Posted October 26, 2011 none of this should be surprising... i just hope they cut em before next season. he is damaged goods....sad but true. i started a thread earlier this year entitled "over/under on shawn merriman getting injured" i predicted the first practice.....he limped through preseason injury wise, even though he had moments of brilliance. he got injured early in first regular season game and was never effective after that. bills should cut their losses and move on.
PDaDdy Posted October 26, 2011 Posted October 26, 2011 He was a free agent, not traded. San Diego offered him 5/50 but too much of it was tied to incentives. Brees was insulted and chose not to re-up with the Chargers. Not exactly dumped but the Chargers weren't serious about re-signing a guy with an injured shoulder. GO BILLS!!! Fair enough. I felt that he was worth keeping but you bring up a great point that the Chargers weren't really sold on him because of the Chad Pennington style shoulder surgery and he was a late bloomer. I think he really only had one really good year there and Rivers was already on the roster. At the time I guess they didn't view it as dumping a superstar and they weren't going to sign him to a big contract with the #1 overall pick QB(sort of) waiting in the wings. You made your point with Merriman now give it a rest. Do you want another pat on the back? And you are wrong about Barnett. What is his injury history? he played 8 years in GB and was injured in only two of them. http://espn.go.com/nfl/player/stats/_/id/4487/nick-barnett I made my point again on Merriman because some people still don't get it. Uh...ya...2 of the last 3 years and he missed a LOT of games in those 3 years. It's what have you done lately not what did you do 4 to 8 years ago. You get that. He has been great so far and I hope he stays healthy but I believe I read something to the effect that GB was concerned about the recent injuries, liked their current guys LBs and didn't want to resign him for any considerable contract.
jr1 Posted October 26, 2011 Posted October 26, 2011 Sad to see him go on the shelf. He has the enthusiasm of youth but the tendons and ligaments of a middle aged man. It might be time for him to move on to broadcasting. Even though he dreams of being a wrestler after football there's no way he could handle the WWE Or Impact Wrestling schedule
bbb Posted October 26, 2011 Posted October 26, 2011 I haven't had time today to read into this yet, but from what I gather on this page, he put off the surgery to try to play.....If true, you have to give him credit as a gamer. He did the same thing in SD - tried to play on what I think was a torn ACL.
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