Pneumonic Posted March 13, 2007 Posted March 13, 2007 Thing is about Fletch...how much did the defense really accomplish with his leadership??Over his tenure here as the leader, this defense IMO has looked more like a paper tiger rather then a viable force in the NFL...sure they could stop the potent offenses like Cleveland and San Francisco...but more times then not, the defense came up small in big spots. I welcome the change. You can't fault just Fletch for the inferior play of the defense. If this were the case you'd welcome the change of the entire unit.
The Jokeman Posted March 13, 2007 Posted March 13, 2007 Nate Clements...veyr good corner, never a Pro-Bowler.... London Fletcher: Tackling machine, very good LB. Willis McGahee: Self proclaimed great RB, had a great 1/2 season plus great games against the Jets, otherwise not much else. Can you all tell me just how much the Bills accomplished WITH these players???? So if you are down about Marv not bringing back NC or LF, what if they did, but yet neglected the OL YET again?? The Bills defense was poor last year with those guys, how can it get much worse without them??? Plus the offseason is NOT over yet, and we still have the NFL Draft to assess. Both sides of the ball need fixing, glad to see at least Marv and Co. took big strides into fixing the OL. and as "bad" as we were with them how can you think things will get better or remain the same without them? It's like two years ago when we lost Drew Bledsoe. Every was claiming we would be better with an inexperienced Losman replacing him because Bledsoe was so "bad". Now we're looking to replace two very good players with two question marks, as we still don't know whose going to fill their roles and also have a question mark at RB as well. To expect a rookie to play as well or surpass what Clements, Fletcher and McGahee is asking a lot. As only one rookie, Joseph Addai, actually outproduced Willis last year. I know someone will argue playing time etc but maybe many of the rookies last year didn't get full time jobs as they weren't good enough to start full time from game 1. While I agree we've improve the O-line, I think the only improvement is at the LG positon with Dockery. As Whittle is a backup and there are questions if Walker will be an improvement at RT or RG (pending where he plays). Though the upgrades of the O-line to me don't outweigh the losses on D and RB thus far.
Paup 1995MVP Posted March 13, 2007 Posted March 13, 2007 Thing is about Fletch...how much did the defense really accomplish with his leadership??Over his tenure here as the leader, this defense IMO has looked more like a paper tiger rather then a viable force in the NFL...sure they could stop the potent offenses like Cleveland and San Francisco...but more times then not, the defense came up small in big spots. I welcome the change. I totally agree with you. Fletcher made a lot of tackles, but not many of them were at the line of scrimmage or behind it. If the Bills had wanted to keep Fletcher they would have extended him with one year left on his contract after the 2005 season. They obviously did not want to do that and for good reason. I think whomever we put in the middle will be an upgrade. As far as Nate is concerned, he is definitely a good cornerback, but also most definitely not in the top five. There were many games over his tenure with the Bills that he was toasted. Who can forget opening day 2004 against Jacksonville! The bottom line is that we should give Marv and Dick the benefit of the doubt with there player personnel decisions. I am sure there is a lot of thought into who we resign and who we let go. Clements and Fletcher are gone. Lets forget about it and move forward. I am sure they have a plan as to who there replacements will be. Lets not forget that we are not breaking up the Steelers of the 1970's. This is a team that has gone 38-58 the past six years. Lets be OPTIMISTIC about the upcoming season.
Pneumonic Posted March 13, 2007 Posted March 13, 2007 I totally agree with you. Fletcher made a lot of tackles, but not many of them were at the line of scrimmage or behind it. If the Bills had wanted to keep Fletcher they would have extended him with one year left on his contract after the 2005 season. They obviously did not want to do that and for good reason. I think whomever we put in the middle will be an upgrade. They won't be if the OL get their hands on him because our DL whiffs blocking all the time as was the case last year. If Fletch has even an adequate DL in front of him keeping blockers off him he's a pro bowl player.
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