Archives for January 3, 2007

‘"Coach Saban is familiar with the college system and the way you can recruit and get the guys that you want to come play for you and buy into the system," said Royal "So I figured it would go in the direction it has."’

The Dolphins have two possible candidates on their current staff in Dom Capers and Mike Mularkey, who were the head coaches in Houston and Buffalo, respectively, in 2004 before joining Saban’s staff.

‘Although the Bills wound up 18th in the 32-team NFL in total defense and 28th against the run, Whitner and Simpson helped the team finish No. 7 versus the pass.’

‘On the flip side, as Fewell pointed out, there were some things the Bills didn’t do too well. “There are some key areas that we have to get better in,” he said. Fewell didn’t even hesitate when asked where the most improvement has to come from: run defense. The Bills ranked 28th in the league by allowing 140.9 yards per game and 4.7 per attempt.’

‘Show co-host, Dave Yates of Rochester, Clements, a Bills defensive back; and McGahee, the star running back, were greeted by more than 100 enthusiastic local Bills fans of all shapes and sizes at Attitudes. The taping began at 7 p.m. and lasted about an hour.’

‘Two tried and true pass-rushing threats isn’t something the Bills have possessed since the days of Bruce Smith and Bryce Paup in the mid-1990s. It just so happens that their current general manager, Marv Levy, was the head coach back then. With that in mind, perhaps Buffalo will look to upgrade its D-line not just in stopping the run (an area of obvious weakness) but in rushing opposing passers, too.’

‘Running back Willis McGahee; “I’m planning on making it to Hollywood. I have to get this face on the big screen man. You know I got to let people see me all the time. I don’t need a helmet blocking everything. i need to be right there where people come see my premiere.”‘

‘I’m not one who believes that a win would have been a building block for the future. There’s too much turnover in the league; a huge percentage of this particular team won’t even be back next year. Once the Bills were eliminated from the playoff picture, this game was irrelevant in terms of the future, other than solidifying their draft pick.’

‘Fletcher is right. He played hard this season for the Bills, who finished with seven wins under the toughest strength-of-schedule in the NFL, and posted no less than 119 tackles over the past seven seasons. Fletcher also scored two TDs this season with four interceptions and a pair of sacks.’