When am I allowed to push the panic button?

[The_Real]

aren't 3 and 4 the same thing?

 

and we don't need 2 more DT's. MAYBE one until McCargo gets a shot

 

 

DAMN YOU!!! I was trying to edit. LMAO

[The Dean]

We will advise you of the proper time, when and if that time comes. However, the fact that you have raised the question in mid-March, before the draft, before mini-camps, suggests you may not have the "right stuff" to man said button.

[The_Real]

We will advise you of the proper time, when and if that time comes. However, the fact that you have raised the question in mid-March, before the draft, before mini-camps, suggests you may not have the "right stuff" to man said button.

 

 

Oh no, I'm man enough to man said button. I just wanted full endorsement. A community opinion to me, matters.

 

 

Man enough indeed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Real

[The Dean]

Oh no, I'm man enough to man said button. I just wanted full endorsement. A community opinion to me, matters.

Man enough indeed.

The Real

 

 

What is it today? I didn't say you weren't "man enough" (big and bad enough...) to hit a button. I questioned whether you had the "right stuff" to man the button.

 

We should be discussing the "right stuff".

[The_Real]

What is it today? I didn't say you weren't "man enough" (big and bad enough...) to hit a button. I questioned whether you had the "right stuff" to man the button.

 

We should be discussing the "right stuff".

 

 

The analytical mind that always asks questions is ofcourse the right choice. I didn't say I was going to, I was merely striking up conversation on of all things... A message board. Next time I'll save hypothetical for a better forum.

 

Who made you the judge of said "right stuff" qualities. I believe I may have to call shananigans here.

 

 

Further, what other than the teams needs would be the "right stuff" to talk about? Should I bag on Levy or talk about how the media bashes us endlessly? Or talk about how we are going to fill holes on our team that are certainly obvious to most football fans in this country aside from the 5000 or so here.

 

We are going backwards from last year. In so many ways the people here have accepted that and to me it's a shame. We had a good building year last year and we took away three big pieces of that. I want to talk about what that means to our success and if those pieces can be replaced. I'm sorry if that's not the right stuff.

 

People are short tempered today.. Jeez....

 

 

The Real

[The Dean]

The analytical mind that always asks questions is ofcourse the right choice. I didn't say I was going to, I was merely striking up conversation on of all things... A message board. Next time I'll save hypothetical for a better forum.

 

Who made you the judge of said "right stuff" qualities. I believe I may have to call shananigans here.

The Real

 

 

Please, not shananigans! (BTW, what ever happened to Buttbaby...er, Barbrady?)

 

If you look carefully, I don't think I said that "I" was the judge. I believe I said "We" would advise you. We can add "We" to the topics currently under discussion.

 

We have no problem with a discussion of the Bills moves. We get a little concerned when someone starts talking about pushing the button/the location of the button/the access code to the button/etc this early in the process. We think it is wise to exhaust all diplomatic options before even considering the button.

 

We will tell you this: The button is safe and in good working order in the event (God forbid) it is needed.

 

Who are "We"? We will let you know at the right time.

[Nervous Guy]

I believe I may have to call shananigans here.

 

hehehe...you said shananigans....certainly high jinks, monkeyshines or tomfoolery are more manly terms...plus you spelled it wrong!

[Nervous Guy]

Who are "We"? We will let you know at the right time.

certainly it's the Ignorami....oooops.

[KD in CA]

After the first 3 and out in Week 1.

[The Dean]

The analytical mind that always asks questions is ofcourse the right choice. I didn't say I was going to, I was merely striking up conversation on of all things... A message board. Next time I'll save hypothetical for a better forum.

 

Who made you the judge of said "right stuff" qualities. I believe I may have to call shananigans here.

Further, what other than the teams needs would be the "right stuff" to talk about? Should I bag on Levy or talk about how the media bashes us endlessly? Or talk about how we are going to fill holes on our team that are certainly obvious to most football fans in this country aside from the 5000 or so here.

 

We are going backwards from last year. In so many ways the people here have accepted that and to me it's a shame. We had a good building year last year and we took away three big pieces of that. I want to talk about what that means to our success and if those pieces can be replaced. I'm sorry if that's not the right stuff.

 

People are short tempered today.. Jeez....

The Real

 

 

We are quite concerned about your edit/addition to your post. What started out as a seemingly good natured inquiry, morphed into a rant that made a premature evaluation of the team's moves and suggested the only other topics of discussion were outlandish or trivial.

 

We also note that you seem to be the only "short tempered" one here as We are quite calm/rational and not at all upset.

 

I, on the other hand, am a little pissed that I copied and pasted "shananigans" [sic] from your post and now I have misspelled it.

[Dan]

Wow that is just horrible.

 

1. Crowell hasn't played MLB for a year in the pros. The assumption he is good enough to replace is silly until proven so. If you move him to the middle, who's your two OLB? My understanding is Spikes could be on his way out, now you want to move the other OLB as well?

 

2. Youboty did nothing to warrant me believing he is a starting CB in this league. In the little I saw of him last year, he looked lost. I in no way shape or form find him to be the answer until he has a body of work to prove so.

 

3. FB?

 

4. HB? If you are happy with A train and Shaud as your backfield, then so be it. I for one am not.

 

5. DT

 

6. Another DT

 

 

The Real

 

Seems to me complaint/panic is a foregone conclusion with your logic. Crowell, Youbouty, McCargo, may all fill holes nicely; but in your reasoning all are unproven; hence we can not rely on them and we're taking a step backwards. Similarly, any rookies we draft will be unproven; hence, also we can not rely on them. Consequently, according to the logic here, we can only progress if we keep all our existing players (because we know what they can do) or we replace them with proven FAs.

 

As many have pointed out, time and time again: how does retaining Clements improve our run defense? How can retaining an aging MLB that is not known for attacking the LOS improve our run defense? On the other hand: We can't replace them with unproven, young talent because that's an uncertainty. We can't replace them with the best, proven players in the league at each of those positions because that's an impossibility. It's really a wonderful little conundrum, if we keep our existing players we don't get better; if we replace them with young players we don't get better. In other words, we can't win for losing.

 

I would suggest the complaint and panic buttons were pressed quite some time ago by many. I would also guess it was pressed before last season when so many called for predictions of the worst record in the league. Finally, I would suggest that maybe Marv and company know something about building a team that we don't. And some of their moves will work while others won't. But don't let that get in the way of doom and gloom prophecies.

[Beerball]

Someone will have to assign a mean to all of the dates given so that you have an exact answer. If I remember my HS math, a mean is the same as an average.

[Pyrite Gal]

So... what exactly the problem here at MLB??? The current Bills depth chart has a starting MLB named Angelo Crowell. They also list Spikes and Ellison as the OLBs.

 

With Spikes status a little cloudy, I'd bet my house that the Bills recognize that they might be a tad thin at LB. Since neither one of us is privy to what's happening behind the scenes at OBD, why would you assume this is not being addressed?

 

The draft experience with the Bills picking Whitner goes to show that even draft weekend is too soon to hit the panic button. All sorts of folks got their panties up in a wad over the Bills picking a safety with pick #8 (the heresy of it all) when actually even though I was initially disappointed to not see us invest in the trenches with a pick of N'gata , it did not take long for me to see that the overall draft looked pretty good. Even better, when the real world began to emerge as the season took hold and it became clear that the Bills had found several starters on the second day of the draft, this last draft has become one of the best Bills drafts (IMHO) in a long time. It's still too early to draw conclusions but my sense is that one can panic reasonably about the 2007 draft sometime around 2010.

[Sketch Soland]

Seems to me complaint/panic is a foregone conclusion with your logic. Crowell, Youbouty, McCargo, may all fill holes nicely; but in your reasoning all are unproven; hence we can not rely on them and we're taking a step backwards. Similarly, any rookies we draft will be unproven; hence, also we can not rely on them. Consequently, according to the logic here, we can only progress if we keep all our existing players (because we know what they can do) or we replace them with proven FAs.

 

As many have pointed out, time and time again: how does retaining Clements improve our run defense? How can retaining an aging MLB that is not known for attacking the LOS improve our run defense? On the other hand: We can't replace them with unproven, young talent because that's an uncertainty. We can't replace them with the best, proven players in the league at each of those positions because that's an impossibility. It's really a wonderful little conundrum, if we keep our existing players we don't get better; if we replace them with young players we don't get better. In other words, we can't win for losing.

 

I would suggest the complaint and panic buttons were pressed quite some time ago by many. I would also guess it was pressed before last season when so many called for predictions of the worst record in the league. Finally, I would suggest that maybe Marv and company know something about building a team that we don't. And some of their moves will work while others won't. But don't let that get in the way of doom and gloom prophecies.

 

Good post

[beerme1]

Do you want to panic? Or are you going to complain?

Very different things.

 

You can do both but some will ridicule you for it. Anyway the official date is in constant flux.

You will be given special notice on that day. Probably draft day again this year though. And if we make it through that then the date will most likely be when the new scoreboard is unveiled.

It will be too clear.

[bbills17]

Wow that is just horrible.

 

1. Crowell hasn't played MLB for a year in the pros. The assumption he is good enough to replace is silly until proven so. If you move him to the middle, who's your two OLB? My understanding is Spikes could be on his way out, now you want to move the other OLB as well?

 

2. Youboty did nothing to warrant me believing he is a starting CB in this league. In the little I saw of him last year, he looked lost. I in no way shape or form find him to be the answer until he has a body of work to prove so.

 

3. FB?

 

4. HB? If you are happy with A train and Shaud as your backfield, then so be it. I for one am not.

 

5. DT

 

6. Another DT

 

 

The Real

 

1. I've seen Crowell play plenty, and in my opinion he can play the middle, and better than LF did last year. Your 'understanding' that Spikes is on his way out is just that, _your_ understanding, last I checked he's still on the roster. A 1st/2nd round draft pick can play LB in the NFL right away as well.

2. Youboty may be a question mark, but there are still CBs in FA, and we still have our nickel and dime backs from last season ... in our scheme they can both move up the depth chart.

3. Lots of time for a FB. Our offence doesn't really make use of one anyways, and if we do need one there are some available in FA and the draft.

4. Don't forget Fred Jackson, he can play in the NFL. I'm happier with those 3, plus our early pick in the draft then Willis anyday.

5. DT? We are better than last season just having McCargo healthy and a year of experience. And, we will draft one early.

[HurlyBurly51]

The list of players out far exceed the ones in. We've lost significant parts of our defense with out filling any holes. No starting RB, MLB, CB or FB. We spent 75 million on Offensive linemen and have done nothing to fill the holes created via FA. Now, I know the draft hasn't come yet but my feelings are you can not fill 5 or 6 HUGE needs with the picks they have. DT, CB and RB are my biggest concerns.

 

Say we get Okoye in the 1st, and one of the 3 or 4 2nd round backs... Then what about MLB? Will there be value going into the third round? Value that can step in and play right now?

 

Or

 

Say we sign a FA linebacker or DT... ... ... Nevermind... I already know that isn't going to happen.

Anyways.. When am I allowed to start complaining?

The Real

 

4/29/07, or for those with more patience, January 2008

[BillsVet]

I think it's safe to question this team when there are a lot of, "ifs." And here are the biggest ifs.

 

1. Defensive Tackles. If McCargo, Tripplett and/or K. Williams significantly improve from last season then the DLine will be in good shape. If not, you might see some long possessions from opponents and lots of big rushing performances. Eerily similar to 2006.

 

2. Running Back. If Anthony Thomas and/or a possible draft pick can be effective both inside and outside the tackles. Thomas is a between the tackles guy and no one knows if we even go with a RB in the first 2-3 rounds of the draft. If we do, can that player provide the depth and speed to give us a running attack.

 

3. If Crowell can make the adjustment to MLB. This is the most demanding position physically and mentally in the defenseive system. The Mike is called on to drop into coverage and attack the LOS. Not for the feint of heart. Besides, IF Spikes is let go, we'll need another LB to play in addition to Ellison, a former 6th rounder with little game experience. But that's just if.

 

4. If K. Thomas or Youboty can become adequate options as a starting CB. Thomas is a career backup/nickel corner. Now in all probability he's the starter in his eighth NFL season. Youboty's development is still in question because of family concerns. One game is not enough to tell what his future holds.

 

5. If J.P. Losman continues to develop. It appears he'll be a good NFL QB with decent talent around him. Should be a better bet with an improved OLine on paper.

 

6. If Lee Evans can play as well in 2007 as he did in 2006 it'll make Losman's development that much easier.

 

The more ifs, the more chances for failure. Those aren't opinions, they're fact. Rationalize it all you want, teams like NE and NYJ don't have that many significant problems-at least on paper going into Draft Weekend. Sure it's early, but I don't know many teams that add starters to their roster in July or August. You get them now in March or April. And when you go into the draft needing immediate impact starters, that's not a good formula for success.

 

Besides, it's OK to question your team when 28 other NFL clubs have been to the playoffs since the last team your team went. But that might be too negative for some.

[The Dean]

I think it's safe to question this team when there are a lot of, "ifs." And here are the biggest ifs.

 

1. Defensive Tackles. If McCargo, Tripplett and/or K. Williams significantly improve from last season then the DLine will be in good shape. If not, you might see some long possessions from opponents and lots of big rushing performances. Eerily similar to 2006.

 

2. Running Back. If Anthony Thomas and/or a possible draft pick can be effective both inside and outside the tackles. Thomas is a between the tackles guy and no one knows if we even go with a RB in the first 2-3 rounds of the draft. If we do, can that player provide the depth and speed to give us a running attack.

 

3. If Crowell can make the adjustment to MLB. This is the most demanding position physically and mentally in the defenseive system. The Mike is called on to drop into coverage and attack the LOS. Not for the feint of heart. Besides, IF Spikes is let go, we'll need another LB to play in addition to Ellison, a former 6th rounder with little game experience. But that's just if.

 

4. If K. Thomas or Youboty can become adequate options as a starting CB. Thomas is a career backup/nickel corner. Now in all probability he's the starter in his eighth NFL season. Youboty's development is still in question because of family concerns. One game is not enough to tell what his future holds.

 

5. If J.P. Losman continues to develop. It appears he'll be a good NFL QB with decent talent around him. Should be a better bet with an improved OLine on paper.

 

6. If Lee Evans can play as well in 2007 as he did in 2006 it'll make Losman's development that much easier.

 

The more ifs, the more chances for failure. Those aren't opinions, they're fact. Rationalize it all you want, teams like NE and NYJ don't have that many significant problems-at least on paper going into Draft Weekend. Sure it's early, but I don't know many teams that add starters to their roster in July or August. You get them now in March or April. And when you go into the draft needing immediate impact starters, that's not a good formula for success.

 

Besides, it's OK to question your team when 28 other NFL clubs have been to the playoffs since the last team your team went. But that might be too negative for some.

 

Of course it's OK to question. I REAL fan questions, IMO. Questioning is NOT panicking.

[MDH]

after the draft...until then mum's the word.

 

Why, after the draft you'll just get people saying, "you need 2 years to judge this draft" (which is true). Now seems as good of time as after the draft.