Archives for February 24, 2009

‘But the reality is, Marshawn doesn’t give off warm fuzzies. He has a decided edge to him and hardly seems approachable.’

‘”My job is to come in and be a helper, not to stir up any problems or things like that,” said Taylor while making his free agent visit to One Bills Drive Tuesday. “(Lynch is) a young guy, so much potential, great upside. First, I could go back and say my mom had five kids and I’m the oldest. I’ve been sharing my whole life. It’s easy for me to do that.”‘

‘”It’s been great,” said Washington of his visit. “I’ve been touring the facility and meeting the staff and just getting a feel for what they’re looking for in me as a player and what I can offer to the organization. It’s all a part of free agency. This is one of the teams that I’m interested in coming to and being a part of the organization.”‘

‘Taylor had just 556 yards in 2008 and averaged 3.9 yards per carry, but was running behind an injury-plagued offensive line as witnessed by the Bills in Week 2 when he had 49 yards on 14 carries. Nevertheless, he’s still widely considered to be a capable NFL back with power and breakaway ability.’

‘"They can also vote for a punter and kicker, and after some arm-twisting, a special-teams player," former special-teams ace Steve Tasker quipped at Monday’s press conference in the Van Miller Club.’

‘Getting Posluszny his first sack requires both change and risk. Even if they’re not pure Cover 2 ideologues, the Bills tend to be allergic to blitzing, as they prefer the Tampa mindset where they’re not going to send any more than four guys at the quarterback. It wasn’t always the case, but Buffalo kept linebackers from crossing the line of scrimmage relatively frequently in 2008.’

‘”With quarterbacks, it’s harder because they’re all in the shotgun,” Schonert said. “Taking snaps under center, how do you handle pressure? How do you read dropping back? You don’t see that. I like to see a quarterback that plays under center. USC quarterbacks are always under center. They play the pro game. Matt Stafford was under center at Georgia…That’s the way it is. You get into camp and those quarterbacks [find] it’s a different game. You’re not all the way back there where your vision’s really good. You have to look through seams [between offensive linemen]. It’s gotten more difficult.”‘

‘Bills Vice President of College Scouting Tom Modrak admits he’d take a lengthy career of productive play over a short one any time. But all the shorter resumes do is make Modrak and his staff dig a little deeper. “Sure it makes you feel better about it,” said Modrak. “Lee Evans did it for a number of years in college and he continues to do it. Short term it’s a little bit different. You have to look at it a lot harder and if you come up with the right answers you go with it.”‘

‘However, the move could have bigger implications, too. The Bills have a quality backup in Fred Jackson. It may be hard to convince Taylor to join Buffalo if he thinks he’s going to be the third wheel in the Bills’ backfield. If the Bills were to convince Taylor to sign, it could trigger an attempt to trade Lynch.’

‘A league source said there’s "no chance" Crowell will be back in Buffalo.’

‘Hargrove was the Rams’ third-round pick in 2004 and finished the 2005 season with five sacks in his final three games. But the Rams traded him to Buffalo in 2006, not long after he skipped two days of practice. His troubles continued when the league suspended him four games in 2007 for violating its substance abuse policy.’

‘”But I don’t think I played as well as I should have. I was average. Let’s put it this way, I didn’t play as well as I would have liked. I felt like I left some plays out there that I should have made and that I will be able to make next season. The whole thing was a learning experience, just like it always is every year. I just wished I would have played a little better.”‘