Dallas has been trade friendly in the past & they need a CB.

[Billsjunkie]

As for Julius Jones, I don't get the fascination. The guy had never lived up to being able to carry the load in Dallas. 16 TDs in 35 starts tells me all I need to know as to why Dallas wants to trade him to another team. Plus he has 0 touchdowns receiving which is pathetic for a RB with that many starts.

 

Sorry, but I would have to consider that tandem to be a very bad one.

 

I'm not a big Jones fan and I wouldn't want to trade for him.

BUT and I mean BUT, his lack of TDs does not mean he can not score or have a nose for the endzone. Marion Barber was there inside the 20 back. When Julius or Romor put the team down in the redzone. Jones came out. So unless Jones scored from outside the 20 he rarely received any scores near the goaline.

[1billsfan]

I'm not a big Jones fan and I wouldn't want to trade for him.

BUT and I mean BUT, his lack of TDs does not mean he can not score or have a nose for the endzone. Marion Barber was there inside the 20 back. When Julius or Romor put the team down in the redzone. Jones came out. So unless Jones scored from outside the 20 he rarely received any scores near the goaline.

 

Hence his failure at being a starting runningback. The reason he wasn't in there was because he didn't have a nose for the end zone, which was why the Cowboys pulled him in the red zone in favor of the more dynamic Barber. Which leads to the question of why would the Bills be interested in a RB that's no good in the red zone? It's silly to even consider a trade for Jones. The guy is below average and very close to the "sucks" label.

[Tipster19]

Hence his failure at being a starting runningback. The reason he wasn't in there was because he didn't have a nose for the end zone, which was why the Cowboys pulled him in the red zone in favor of the more dynamic Barber. Which leads to the question of why would the Bills be interested in a RB that's no good in the red zone? It's silly to even consider a trade for Jones. The guy is below average and very close to the "sucks" label.

 

 

That's exactly why Jones would be a good compliment, we got A-Train for the red zone and Jones for in between the 20's.

 

Jones is no good? Why, because Parcels says so? Parcels has been successful when he had Belichek on his staff, but what has he done on his own? Not much, while Belichek has flourished and has been deemed one of the best, if not the best, coach in the league.

 

It was Belichek's secondary and the WRs that beat us in the first SuperBowl. As far as the Jets go Belichek, split and hence the Patriots' dynasty has been born. Meantime Parcels once again cherrypicks another team (Cowboys) and promptly flounders. Do you think that's coincidence? Parcels has made a living out of taking over struggling teams that have a good base but no direction. When he stood on his own what happen? I'm not stating that Parcels is not a great coach, I'm just saying that I don't think that he is the right coach for today's athletes.

 

The day of the blood and guts athletes have come and gone. It's a different era, the mind games and in your face type of coaching isn't effective anymore. Who would of thought 20 years ago that Parcels would calmly be on the sidelines and accept the circus act of TO? No, he had that meddling pain in the ass Jerry Jones torturing him behind the scenes. That's another example of why Parcels should have stayed retired.

 

I do believe that Julius Jones is a better RB because of Parcels and that's exactly why we should consider making a move for him. I think that he is smarter now and understands his role better because of Parcels. Don't confuse wanting with needing a Thurman Thomas type RB. Jones would be a great compliment to the A-Train. All I'm saying that it's something that should be considered if the price is right.

[obie_wan]

In this case though there was no action to cut Jones lose by Parcells. The simple fact is that Jones is still a Cowboy and Parcells is not. Perhaps what you want to say to make your description fit the reality of the situation is that

 

"The Bill shoud learn that when good coaches like WADE PHILLIPS and Belichek cut loose players there is probably a real good reason why."

 

if you are going to make that case.

 

The last thing we know about what Parcells did with Jones was he started him at RB 16 straight games even though he had a credible alternative in Marion Barber available.

 

I am not sure at all what your argument is here because the facts are otherwise.

 

I think the "world of difference" that you seem to diminish here is that the Bills would not necessarily be taking an arm and a leg chance in acquiring either Jones or Brown since really all they would be giving up here is a draft choice.

 

I think fans simply generally give too much importance to the draft as ESPN has marketed it extremely well and the interest in fantasy football has put interest into overdrive. The draft is a crapshoot with TD's estimate that 50% of 1st round choices being busts standing statistically uncontroverted by anything I have seen.

 

I think TD does exaggerate here a bit though because I think that many 1st rounders were disappointing yes, but not busts. However, the greater exaggeration is from those who have made the conventional wisdom be that a 1st rounder should be a first year or even immediate starter.

 

Looking at what really happened with last years draft, I did take the time to look at depth charts a couple of weeks ago (its fun taking time away from saving the world to do this stuff) and of the 32 picks a bit over 50%- 18 of them- were first on the depth chart at their position a full season after they were picked.

 

While one should not throw draft picks around as though one were Mike Ditka, a team is taking actually the remote chance that you are giving up Peyton Manning in exchange for the vet you are picking up but the reality is that you also may be giving up Ryan Leaf. Since the success of drafted players is heavily weighted toward the top 10 picks, the fact that the Bills are giving up a mere 12th for a vet whom they know what they can do is not an arm and a leg at all.

 

The more compelling argument you make is the one that the vet is"soft" or has some other problem. However, in this case, the "soft" assessment is simply a matter of opinion which not having seen Jones I really cannot make with any legitimacy (not that this a requirement of any of TSW posters). I have seen Brown and his seemingly unrelenting injury problems to me make it more likely he will miss a bunch of games than not. He does hsve his moments, but unless a team is committing to RBBC I do not think he is a good choice.

 

All I can see from the stats which is the best indicator I have in the absence of seeing a player, the simple fact is that while he has suffered injury issues his first two years, the fact he started all 16 last year and did so for Parcells who clearly will do what is necessary to win to me speaks this initial injury issue have relented for at least one season.

 

The trade as proposed is interesting to me because while the draft picks should not be thrown around (good players have to come from somewhere and good players tend to get drafted) the proposal is to trade a future pick which for my admitted bias the future being now this interests me.

 

In part because our two primary needs are RB and LB and because this years LB class is generally regarded as a weaker one with no AJ Hawk or definite top 10 choices, I get very interested in proposals to try to meet these needs through trades.

 

you don't want to spend the #12 pick on the only elite LB in the draft who is a difference maker.

 

yet you want to give away the 12th pick in a package for a soft RB who couldn't get out of Parcell's dog house due to weak performances, fumbling and inconsistency.

 

I'll take my chances on a RB in the 3rd round until the real talent comes out next year.

[Pyrite Gal]

How would having two NFL starting runningback failures be considered having a "great RB tandem"?

 

No offense to A-Train but he never lived up to becoming a good starting NFL runningback. That doesn't mean he's a bad person. In fact he seems like a good person and I'm kind of glad he's our backup runningback.

 

As for Julius Jones, I don't get the fascination. The guy had never lived up to being able to carry the load in Dallas. 16 TDs in 35 starts tells me all I need to know as to why Dallas wants to trade him to another team. Plus he has 0 touchdowns receiving which is pathetic for a RB with that many starts.

 

Sorry, but I would have to consider that tandem to be a very bad one.

 

The challenge for the Bills stems from the fact that even a very bad tandem at RB is almost certainly better than what we got.

 

I do not think anyone with much sense of the NFL would argue that a tandem of Jones/A-Train is a good tandem, the question for us is what achievable alternative is going to be better than this very bad tandem.

 

Right now reality seems to indicate that the potentially achievable options are:

 

1. Draft Lynch- Upsides: Only likely 1st round RB besides Peterson, Seen by consensus as generally a late teen pick so Bills may be able to get extra stuff trading down and still get him, explosive tough runner MAY be able to be stud lead RB we want with great speed showing at Combine, good all around talent with a compact body. Downsides: Has good excuses for some questionable character interactions (drive-by shooting incident was apparently a case of mistaken identity and charges were dropped in apparent extortion attempt by his old girlfriend, but the fact these questions even have come up raises issues which will be determined in face-to-face with Bills braintrust as most RBs do not even have to answer these types of questions, draft is a crapshoot anyway with of the 32 06 first rounders 14 of them were not even listed as #1 on team's depth charts a couple of weeks back- a rookie is still a rookie and even if he turns out to be a great choice but follows the path of a Larry Johnson it means a couple of years of bench sitting, the huge downside for us is that if we go with an RB in the 1st we leave the gaping hole at LB to the second round and we may not want to do that.

 

2. Draft an RB later- picking up a lower RB talent than the 1st round raises the likelihood that this player is not an immediate starter and passing on Lynch (or Peterson if he drops) make it quite likely we are deciding to do an RB by committee next year and virtually guarantees we take 2 RBs in the draft (one first day like a Pittman, Booker or Irons) and one the second day like we see who is left.

 

3. Acquire a vet RB- the choices are a number of unproven potential starters like a Turner or failed starters on the market like a Chris Brown or Julius Jones who is in question. Who knows how much it will cost to get one of these unproven or failed players, though you know what you are getting (warts and all) with a vet though a draftee is simply speculation no matter how enthusiastic fans are about him. A draft choice in the 1st round can easily be between the extremes of Peyton Manning and Ryan Leaf. We have seen for ourselves that even having the #4 pick in the Mike Williams situation is no perfect defense and given that the #3 that year was Joey Harrington, the draft is simply a crap shoot.

 

4. Depend on our own roster- I mention this only because some posters seem to act as though this is a real option. It is not. Anthony Thomas last produced over 1000 yards (barely at that) in 2003 and never has started more than 13 games. He is a very good choice to be a #2 and maybe a key part to a RBBC approach but there is nothing whatsoever in his history to indicate he would be the RB we fill we want and need. Many folks wonder out loud whether Shaud Williams will even make the roster and this is with no competition even signed. Fred Jackson is a great story but we have seen leading NFLE rushers not even make a Pro team and it simply remains to be seen whether he can even make the team much less start or be part of an RBBC. My sense is that 3 RBs not even on this squad make the team right now and likely two from this draft.

 

5. Your option here!

 

So the question in reality is not the simple one of whether Jones is good (he has not been but there is potential he may well play better without the heavy hand of Dallas pressure and Parcells gaze on him) but instead whether this bad option may be the best we can do.

 

Actually IMHO, given the costs of not drafting an LB as early as we can, my sense is that we pass on Lynch, This puts into a mode where we pretty much have to go RBBC and if we can acquire the vet necessary to make this a credible option in exchange for a 2nd or 3rd this year or even a 1st next year (like the 2003 situation where we traded the 1st for Bledsoe we were able to replace it when TD raped AT for theirs, this is a risk that we should take.

[1billsfan]

Actually IMHO, given the costs of not drafting an LB as early as we can, my sense is that we pass on Lynch, This puts into a mode where we pretty much have to go RBBC and if we can acquire the vet necessary to make this a credible option in exchange for a 2nd or 3rd this year or even a 1st next year (like the 2003 situation where we traded the 1st for Bledsoe we were able to replace it when TD raped AT for theirs, this is a risk that we should take.

 

What you're failing to take into account are the ramifications of what the RBBC will do to the Bills passing game, mainly the effect it will have on JP Losman's progress. With Willis McGahee the Bills were faced with stacked defenses (yes it's true) to protect against the run, and it worked. With the RBBC approach, the defenses will do the reverse and take away the best part of the Bills offense, JP to Lee Evans. This is the falling domino that many of the RBBC proponents are not taking into account. Without a true running threat, Losman and the Bills offense will be in deep deep trouble. You may feel that defenses will respect the Bills running game with the the mix of veterans and second or third tier RBs from this draft, but I'm here to tell you they will not.

 

IMHO, the Bills first need is a true threat at the RB position. Then after that they will absolutely need a replacement for Spikes (Crowell is slated for the MLB and Ellis is the other starting OLB). They can then use their 2nd round pick and one of their 3rd round picks on OLBs and have those two rookies battle for the starter and backup positions. This is the only way to protect JP and Lee Evans from a season full of frustration and possible regression, while still being able to fill the hole at OLB.

 

Draft Lynch or Peterson in the 1st, then pick two OLBs like Everett, Durant, Alexander, Black or Waters in rounds 2 and 3.

[obie_wan]

What you're failing to take into account are the ramifications of what the RBBC will do to the Bills passing game, mainly the effect it will have on JP Losman's progress. With Willis McGahee the Bills were faced with stacked defenses (yes it's true) to protect against the run, and it worked. With the RBBC approach, the defenses will do the reverse and take away the best part of the Bills offense, JP to Lee Evans. This is the falling domino that many of the RBBC proponents are not taking into account. Without a true running threat, Losman and the Bills offense will be in deep deep trouble. You may feel that defenses will respect the Bills running game with the the mix of veterans and second or third tier RBs from this draft, but I'm here to tell you they will not.

 

IMHO, the Bills first need is a true threat at the RB position. Then after that they will absolutely need a replacement for Spikes (Crowell is slated for the MLB and Ellis is the other starting OLB). They can then use their 2nd round pick and one of their 3rd round picks on OLBs and have those two rookies battle for the starter and backup positions. This is the only way to protect JP and Lee Evans from a season full of frustration and possible regression, while still being able to fill the hole at OLB.

 

Draft Lynch or Peterson in the 1st, then pick two OLBs like Everett, Durant, Alexander, Black or Waters in rounds 2 and 3.

 

so if they don't play 8 in the box to stop the run, the Bills big OL will maul and your grandmother could pick up big yards consistently.

 

I thought McGahee sucked anyway- so where was the running threat last year?

 

Bills were pretty successful when Atrrain was filling in.

[1billsfan]

so if they don't play 8 in the box to stop the run, the Bills big OL will maul and your grandmother could pick up big yards consistently.

 

I thought McGahee sucked anyway- so where was the running threat last year?

 

Bills were pretty successful when Atrrain was filling in.

 

Don't shoot the messanger. I'm just giving fair warning on what will happen if the Bills go the RBBC route. If you think otherwise, that's fine.

[H2o]

Hence his failure at being a starting runningback. The reason he wasn't in there was because he didn't have a nose for the end zone, which was why the Cowboys pulled him in the red zone in favor of the more dynamic Barber. Which leads to the question of why would the Bills be interested in a RB that's no good in the red zone? It's silly to even consider a trade for Jones. The guy is below average and very close to the "sucks" label.

 

In whose opinion? Yours? Look at Tiki Barber. They did the same thing to him with Brandon Jacobs. Did that mean that Tiki didn't have a nose for the endzone so Coughlin pulled him? No. Jacobs is just a more powerful, straight ahead runner. Marion Barber is the same kind of guy. If Barber was so much better than the "failure" Jones why didn't he start all 16 games this past season? Jones is a good back, he just needs a change of scenery. His brother (Thomas Jones) wasn't that great in Arizona when he was there for the first 3 years or the following year in Tampa. But a change of scenery helped him to become a consistent 1,200 yard, 25-35 reception a year kind of guy. Even having a season where he nothed 50+ catches. His brother Julius is a player with the same kind of potential. Julius Jones accounted for 157 1st downs in his first 3 seasons with the Cowboys over 37 games played. That's an average of 4.25 1st downs a game and that's with Barber coming in on almost every short yardage situation. That's not but fractions off of what McGahee averaged a game and he was an every down guy who got alot more touches. I think he would be a good replacement for Willis as long as we got a fair amount more for the swapping of 1st's to go along with Jones. Atleast Dallas' 2nd round pick this year and another to go along with it this year, or next.

[1billsfan]

In whose opinion? Yours? Look at Tiki Barber. They did the same thing to him with Brandon Jacobs. Did that mean that Tiki didn't have a nose for the endzone so Coughlin pulled him? No. Jacobs is just a more powerful, straight ahead runner. Marion Barber is the same kind of guy. If Barber was so much better than the "failure" Jones why didn't he start all 16 games this past season? Jones is a good back, he just needs a change of scenery. His brother (Thomas Jones) wasn't that great in Arizona when he was there for the first 3 years or the following year in Tampa. But a change of scenery helped him to become a consistent 1,200 yard, 25-35 reception a year kind of guy. Even having a season where he nothed 50+ catches. His brother Julius is a player with the same kind of potential. Julius Jones accounted for 157 1st downs in his first 3 seasons with the Cowboys over 37 games played. That's an average of 4.25 1st downs a game and that's with Barber coming in on almost every short yardage situation. That's not but fractions off of what McGahee averaged a game and he was an every down guy who got alot more touches. I think he would be a good replacement for Willis as long as we got a fair amount more for the swapping of 1st's to go along with Jones. Atleast Dallas' 2nd round pick this year and another to go along with it this year, or next.

 

You're comparing Julius freaking Jones to Tiki Barber? Sheeez, just when I've thought I've seen it all here and then I have to see this.

 

Julius Jones is a below average runningback whose team wants to cut him loose because, unlike Tiki Barber, he's not getting the job done. You may wish the Bills to take on the "Julius Jones Reclamation Project", I just happen to strongly disagree that plan of action.

[BillsVet]

Julius Jones is a below average runningback whose team wants to cut him loose because, unlike Tiki Barber, he's not getting the job done. You may wish the Bills to take on the "Julius Jones Reclamation Project", I just happen to strongly disagree that plan of action.

 

Someone finally had to say it. If we're trying to win now and/or in the future, Julius Jones is not the answer. End of story. Sure Dallas' OL wasn't great, but Jones didn't help himself much. A pairing of Jones and A. Thomas is mediocrity defined. Certainly not a running game that is formidable.

[H2o]

You're comparing Julius freaking Jones to Tiki Barber? Sheeez, just when I've thought I've seen it all here and then I have to see this.

 

Julius Jones is a below average runningback whose team wants to cut him loose because, unlike Tiki Barber, he's not getting the job done. You may wish the Bills to take on the "Julius Jones Reclamation Project", I just happen to strongly disagree that plan of action.

 

No smartguy, I was comparing the situation between Tiki and Jacobs along with Jones and Barber. Not Julius Jones with Tiki. Let me guess, you've broken down every JJ gametape before you made your official statement about his carreer and talent level. Then you slammed your gavel upon the table to show it's absolute truth and finallity huh? LOL!!!

[1billsfan]

No smartguy, I was comparing the situation between Tiki and Jacobs along with Jones and Barber. Not Julius Jones with Tiki. Let me guess, you've broken down every JJ gametape before you made your official statement about his carreer and talent level. Then you slammed your gavel upon the table to show it's absolute truth and finallity huh? LOL!!!

 

I've seen plenty of Cowboy games. More than enough to know why Dallas is/was trying to trade him away.

 

I want him no where near a Buffalo Bills uniform.

[Pyrite Gal]

What you're failing to take into account are the ramifications of what the RBBC will do to the Bills passing game, mainly the effect it will have on JP Losman's progress. With Willis McGahee the Bills were faced with stacked defenses (yes it's true) to protect against the run, and it worked. With the RBBC approach, the defenses will do the reverse and take away the best part of the Bills offense, JP to Lee Evans. This is the falling domino that many of the RBBC proponents are not taking into account. Without a true running threat, Losman and the Bills offense will be in deep deep trouble. You may feel that defenses will respect the Bills running game with the the mix of veterans and second or third tier RBs from this draft, but I'm here to tell you they will not.

 

IMHO, the Bills first need is a true threat at the RB position. Then after that they will absolutely need a replacement for Spikes (Crowell is slated for the MLB and Ellis is the other starting OLB). They can then use their 2nd round pick and one of their 3rd round picks on OLBs and have those two rookies battle for the starter and backup positions. This is the only way to protect JP and Lee Evans to a season full of frustration and possible regression, while still being able to fill the hole at OLB.

 

Draft Lynch or Peterson in the 1st, then pick two OLBs like Everett, Durant, Alexander, Black or Waters in rounds 2 and 3.

 

I think this will come down to not what I (or any other fan) thinks is the best football, but what we suspect that the Bils braintrust will do given their expressed likes and past behavior.

 

Though I may think that in theory a particular method of team building may produce the best football, what interests me most of all is first what we think the Bills MAY do and then even more so what really happens.

 

My sense is that while the Bills would certainly prefer to have a solid marquee RB, that is incredibly unlikely to happen.

 

Once Ralph decided to cut ties with McGahee (who must have been a horrible pain in the butt to own because he kept shooting off his mouth and acting like an idiot with his "baby mommas" and failed to show more than potential on the field) he sent the Bills into a world where they simply had no real #1 RB and my GUESS is that the Bills braintrust having been burned once by entrusting their RB situation to one young man will be quite reluctant to once again hitch their wagon and hopes to one single player at RB.

 

Its hard to make an RBBC approach work well, but my sense is that this devil they know will be preferable to the devil they cannot know from a 1st round drafted stud RB.

 

Even if they are pretty sure that this player is a character guy who will not go around impregnating women, looking at his children as reasonable short-term financial liabilities he can afford with the multi-million $ contract he has and will get, and wanting the parties a big city offers (not hard to do actually as WM had a particular idiocy and did not perform well enough to allow an owner to overlook it), they still are at risk due to injury every time he takes the field and due to the fact that every draft choice has the possibility of being Peyton Manning or Ryan Leaf.

 

I simply do not see the Bills going down the route of drafting a marquee RB as it puts too much of their hopes, dreams and the fun of owning a team into the hands of one player. I think they would prefer to try to juggle things and make it work with a bunch of less than elite RBs than run the risks of depending on one stud.

 

Rookie contracts are slotted so we will pay what we pay whether he is on offense or defense. However, Marv has been allowed to (or been forced to by Ralph's choices) to choose between a world where they make the RBBC work or hope that from a Turner/Jones/Brown and also 2 likely RB draft picks that one of them turns out to be the 07 equivalent of Terrell Davis. Actually, I think that having whatever FA and one later on the 1st day and 1 second day RB is more likely to pull off this trick than having an RBBC work, but I think RBBC is the back-up plan to catching lightening in a bottle with likely 3 RBs who are on this year's roster who were not on last year's.

 

I think this likely has them using the 1st rounder on an LB. However, i doubt that we will see them go with Willis as some would like them to do, because this season would simply be little fun for Ralph watching Willis do the defensive version of the JP thing. Willis is a physically gifted player who is a good guy. However, the way the MLB position works in our Cover 2 simply is going to call on this rookie to make vet reads as opposing OCs will simply be licking their chops looking to face a rookie MLB whom if they can fool him into taking a step back because he thinks a pass play is coming they get a 1st down on a run up the middle. Or even worse if they get this player who is asked to be aggressive to take a step in while some speedy receiver is running a post pattern the its seven for the enemy,

 

There simply is a premium on the MLB being a vet if you want to be serious about this team winning next year rather than dedicating it to a likely painful season of learning while this rookie MLB learns to be a vet by getting toasted a few times.

 

Thus, mu guess is that the Bills use their first for an OLB to join with Crowell in the middle, Ellison as the WLB and the Bills will also hope that now that Wire is back at a good position for him he will prove to be an adequate starting LB or at least compete for that slot, The new OLB will likely be asked to start at SLB and even better for the Bills they can almost certainly trade way down and still get the the SLB candidate they want as a rookie can reasonably be expected to start at the OLB position which is far less challenging than the MLB position. Trading down will add to our resources such that we may be able to pick both RBs likely to be produced by this draft on the first day.

 

If the Bills get two RBs in he draft (one a straight FB or a swing guy who can play either position) plus pick up an FA then they will have the 3 RBs they need which will fit well with the 2 RBs currently on the roster (A-Train and Cieslak likely to make this team and allow them to move past the less than productive Williams and not rely on NFLE Jackson.

[obie_wan]

I think this will come down to not what I (or any other fan) thinks is the best football, but what we suspect that the Bils braintrust will do given their expressed likes and past behavior.

 

Though I may think that in theory a particular method of team building may produce the best football, what interests me most of all is first what we think the Bills MAY do and then even more so what really happens.

 

My sense is that while the Bills would certainly prefer to have a solid marquee RB, that is incredibly unlikely to happen.

 

Once Ralph decided to cut ties with McGahee (who must have been a horrible pain in the butt to own because he kept shooting off his mouth and acting like an idiot with his "baby mommas" and failed to show more than potential on the field) he sent the Bills into a world where they simply had no real #1 RB and my GUESS is that the Bills braintrust having been burned once by entrusting their RB situation to one young man will be quite reluctant to once again hitch their wagon and hopes to one single player at RB.

 

Its hard to make an RBBC approach work well, but my sense is that this devil they know will be preferable to the devil they cannot know from a 1st round drafted stud RB.

 

Even if they are pretty sure that this player is a character guy who will not go around impregnating women, looking at his children as reasonable short-term financial liabilities he can afford with the multi-million $ contract he has and will get, and wanting the parties a big city offers (not hard to do actually as WM had a particular idiocy and did not perform well enough to allow an owner to overlook it), they still are at risk due to injury every time he takes the field and due to the fact that every draft choice has the possibility of being Peyton Manning or Ryan Leaf.

 

I simply do not see the Bills going down the route of drafting a marquee RB as it puts too much of their hopes, dreams and the fun of owning a team into the hands of one player. I think they would prefer to try to juggle things and make it work with a bunch of less than elite RBs than run the risks of depending on one stud.

 

Rookie contracts are slotted so we will pay what we pay whether he is on offense or defense. However, Marv has been allowed to (or been forced to by Ralph's choices) to choose between a world where they make the RBBC work or hope that from a Turner/Jones/Brown and also 2 likely RB draft picks that one of them turns out to be the 07 equivalent of Terrell Davis. Actually, I think that having whatever FA and one later on the 1st day and 1 second day RB is more likely to pull off this trick than having an RBBC work, but I think RBBC is the back-up plan to catching lightening in a bottle with likely 3 RBs who are on this year's roster who were not on last year's.

 

I think this likely has them using the 1st rounder on an LB. However, i doubt that we will see them go with Willis as some would like them to do, because this season would simply be little fun for Ralph watching Willis do the defensive version of the JP thing. Willis is a physically gifted player who is a good guy. However, the way the MLB position works in our Cover 2 simply is going to call on this rookie to make vet reads as opposing OCs will simply be licking their chops looking to face a rookie MLB whom if they can fool him into taking a step back because he thinks a pass play is coming they get a 1st down on a run up the middle. Or even worse if they get this player who is asked to be aggressive to take a step in while some speedy receiver is running a post pattern the its seven for the enemy,

 

There simply is a premium on the MLB being a vet if you want to be serious about this team winning next year rather than dedicating it to a likely painful season of learning while this rookie MLB learns to be a vet by getting toasted a few times.

 

Thus, mu guess is that the Bills use their first for an OLB to join with Crowell in the middle, Ellison as the WLB and the Bills will also hope that now that Wire is back at a good position for him he will prove to be an adequate starting LB or at least compete for that slot, The new OLB will likely be asked to start at SLB and even better for the Bills they can almost certainly trade way down and still get the the SLB candidate they want as a rookie can reasonably be expected to start at the OLB position which is far less challenging than the MLB position. Trading down will add to our resources such that we may be able to pick both RBs likely to be produced by this draft on the first day.

 

If the Bills get two RBs in he draft (one a straight FB or a swing guy who can play either position) plus pick up an FA then they will have the 3 RBs they need which will fit well with the 2 RBs currently on the roster (A-Train and Cieslak likely to make this team and allow them to move past the less than productive Williams and not rely on NFLE Jackson.

 

I like the plan.

 

Pass on an elite player like Willis at a position of huge need, because Coy Wire is now a starting LB.

[1billsfan]

My sense is that while the Bills would certainly prefer to have a solid marquee RB, that is incredibly unlikely to happen.

 

I simply do not see the Bills going down the route of drafting a marquee RB as it puts too much of their hopes, dreams and the fun of owning a team into the hands of one player. I think they would prefer to try to juggle things and make it work with a bunch of less than elite RBs than run the risks of depending on one stud.

 

Thus, mu guess is that the Bills use their first for an OLB to join with Crowell in the middle, Ellison as the WLB and the Bills will also hope that now that Wire is back at a good position for him he will prove to be an adequate starting LB or at least compete for that slot, The new OLB will likely be asked to start at SLB and even better for the Bills they can almost certainly trade way down and still get the the SLB candidate they want as a rookie can reasonably be expected to start at the OLB position which is far less challenging than the MLB position. Trading down will add to our resources such that we may be able to pick both RBs likely to be produced by this draft on the first day.

 

If the Bills get two RBs in he draft (one a straight FB or a swing guy who can play either position) plus pick up an FA then they will have the 3 RBs they need which will fit well with the 2 RBs currently on the roster (A-Train and Cieslak likely to make this team and allow them to move past the less than productive Williams and not rely on NFLE Jackson.

 

Marv did not become a Hall of Fame coach by being a guy who was afraid of taking chances and risks. Don't be fooled, Marv digs star players. He had a whole bunch of them here during the Superbowl years. Marv also is a history buff and certainly remembers the biggest reason why the Bills made four straight Superbowls, it was Thurman Thomas. So your "incredibly unlikely" description is way off base regarding the Bills going after Lynch or Peterson (the marquee RBs I'm sure you were refering to).

 

Take a look at Marshawn Lynch's 2006 stats (1356 rushing yards, 11 rushing TDs, 34 receptions, 4 TD receptions):

http://sports.yahoo.com/ncaaf/players/118950/gamelog

 

Damn if those aren't Thurman Thomas type of numbers.

 

Incredibly unlikely? It's more likely than you realize.

[BillsVet]

I think this will come down to not what I (or any other fan) thinks is the best football, but what we suspect that the Bils braintrust will do given their expressed likes and past behavior.

 

Though I may think that in theory a particular method of team building may produce the best football, what interests me most of all is first what we think the Bills MAY do and then even more so what really happens.

 

My sense is that while the Bills would certainly prefer to have a solid marquee RB, that is incredibly unlikely to happen.

 

Once Ralph decided to cut ties with McGahee (who must have been a horrible pain in the butt to own because he kept shooting off his mouth and acting like an idiot with his "baby mommas" and failed to show more than potential on the field) he sent the Bills into a world where they simply had no real #1 RB and my GUESS is that the Bills braintrust having been burned once by entrusting their RB situation to one young man will be quite reluctant to once again hitch their wagon and hopes to one single player at RB.

 

Its hard to make an RBBC approach work well, but my sense is that this devil they know will be preferable to the devil they cannot know from a 1st round drafted stud RB.

 

Even if they are pretty sure that this player is a character guy who will not go around impregnating women, looking at his children as reasonable short-term financial liabilities he can afford with the multi-million $ contract he has and will get, and wanting the parties a big city offers (not hard to do actually as WM had a particular idiocy and did not perform well enough to allow an owner to overlook it), they still are at risk due to injury every time he takes the field and due to the fact that every draft choice has the possibility of being Peyton Manning or Ryan Leaf.

 

I simply do not see the Bills going down the route of drafting a marquee RB as it puts too much of their hopes, dreams and the fun of owning a team into the hands of one player. I think they would prefer to try to juggle things and make it work with a bunch of less than elite RBs than run the risks of depending on one stud.

 

Rookie contracts are slotted so we will pay what we pay whether he is on offense or defense. However, Marv has been allowed to (or been forced to by Ralph's choices) to choose between a world where they make the RBBC work or hope that from a Turner/Jones/Brown and also 2 likely RB draft picks that one of them turns out to be the 07 equivalent of Terrell Davis. Actually, I think that having whatever FA and one later on the 1st day and 1 second day RB is more likely to pull off this trick than having an RBBC work, but I think RBBC is the back-up plan to catching lightening in a bottle with likely 3 RBs who are on this year's roster who were not on last year's.

 

I think this likely has them using the 1st rounder on an LB. However, i doubt that we will see them go with Willis as some would like them to do, because this season would simply be little fun for Ralph watching Willis do the defensive version of the JP thing. Willis is a physically gifted player who is a good guy. However, the way the MLB position works in our Cover 2 simply is going to call on this rookie to make vet reads as opposing OCs will simply be licking their chops looking to face a rookie MLB whom if they can fool him into taking a step back because he thinks a pass play is coming they get a 1st down on a run up the middle. Or even worse if they get this player who is asked to be aggressive to take a step in while some speedy receiver is running a post pattern the its seven for the enemy,

 

There simply is a premium on the MLB being a vet if you want to be serious about this team winning next year rather than dedicating it to a likely painful season of learning while this rookie MLB learns to be a vet by getting toasted a few times.

 

Thus, mu guess is that the Bills use their first for an OLB to join with Crowell in the middle, Ellison as the WLB and the Bills will also hope that now that Wire is back at a good position for him he will prove to be an adequate starting LB or at least compete for that slot, The new OLB will likely be asked to start at SLB and even better for the Bills they can almost certainly trade way down and still get the the SLB candidate they want as a rookie can reasonably be expected to start at the OLB position which is far less challenging than the MLB position. Trading down will add to our resources such that we may be able to pick both RBs likely to be produced by this draft on the first day.

 

If the Bills get two RBs in he draft (one a straight FB or a swing guy who can play either position) plus pick up an FA then they will have the 3 RBs they need which will fit well with the 2 RBs currently on the roster (A-Train and Cieslak likely to make this team and allow them to move past the less than productive Williams and not rely on NFLE Jackson.

 

 

As my Media Law professor said in college, "Let's...condense...this."

 

I cannot see Buffalo investing so much on their OL only to let an aged A. Thomas and perhaps another average back run behind it. Kinda like buying a Mercedes and installing the cheapest sound system in it. A non-sequitur.

 

Not sure if the Bills give up their cash to the cap theory now that revenue sharing is a done deal, but if they did, Turner becomes more of a reality. Of course so much hinges on a deal with Turner, but having the chance to select an impact defender like Willis or Okoye in the draft and acquire Turner is going to satisfy both DJ and Fairchild. We can't neglect the RB position and plug in an average runner. An average RB delivers average results and when the Bills have difficulty running successfully you should not be surprised.

 

Hopefully Willis or Okoye is available at 12, but don't get an average running back to run behind that line.

[Tipster19]

How would having two NFL starting runningback failures be considered having a "great RB tandem"?

 

No offense to A-Train but he never lived up to becoming a good starting NFL runningback. That doesn't mean he's a bad person. In fact he seems like a good person and I'm kind of glad he's our backup runningback.

 

As for Julius Jones, I don't get the fascination. The guy had never lived up to being able to carry the load in Dallas. 16 TDs in 35 starts tells me all I need to know as to why Dallas wants to trade him to another team. Plus he has 0 touchdowns receiving which is pathetic for a RB with that many starts.

 

Sorry, but I would have to consider that tandem to be a very bad one.

 

 

Because I think that A-Train would be used like Marion Barber and Jones used in his same capacity, running between the 20's. Jones, in a shared role, gained just over a 1,000 yds., not much in TDs and in the 4 or 5 Dallas games I saw they never threw to him but twice out of the backfield. How much did they REALLY use him? Before you say Parcels didn't like or believe in Jones, I read several articles in which Parcels stated that he was saving him for the end of the season and the play-off run. I had Jones in a fanasy football league last year and kept close tabs on what was happening in Dallas. I don't think things went very well for that whole team as the year wore on. Before anyone annoints Barber as the primary back, Tuna went on record as saying that he would of liked to have gotten Tyson Thompson more into the mix with some carries also but he got hurt during the year.

 

McGahee was traded and the Bills kept A-Train, what does that indicate? Well though A-Train may not be the blue chip RB that we all want he is more than just a back-up RB, like it or not. I'm starting to believe that Buffalo just might be content to use a RBBC and have A-Train firmly entrenched in that mix.