High Mark

As you can imagine it’s a real slow day at work. And, in the Holiday spirit, I wanted to make a list for this coming offseason. *I know there is a lot of uncertainty with FA this year but lets put that behind us figuring a handful of guys do hit the market every year, and hopefully we can sign 1 or 2 or 3. I will try to stick with guys I think could actually leave their current teams. Please add to this list if you think of any other guys you would like to target. Once we have a list of a few guys, Ill try to email it or snail mail to to Nix! Offensive Line Logan Mankins – After his beef with NE this offseason, he is a virtual lock to be a FA. He is a blue collar country boy and I think he would like Buffalo. He may be the league’s best G and would be the leader of a young and tough OL. Wood would then move to C, with hangman being a key back up. IMO that leaves RT to upgrade and our OL as a whole is playoff caliber. Justin Blalock – One of my favorite former Horns. He did 40 reps at the combine and had a Wonderlic above 40. Havent seen too much of him in Atl but he was an instant starter and is a bruiser. He played RT in college and while he has been a G in the NFL, he would probably be the best RT on our roster if he were on it. TE There are so many good TEs up this year. Zach Miller, Owen Daniels, Vernon Davis, Mercedes Lewis, and Tony Scheffler. I would take any one of these guys starting with the best run blocker and working my way down the list. I think we NEED to get one of these guys considering their availability. Defensive line Paul Soliai – I didn’t know this guys name until last week – but he is a true NG which I feel we still need, 34 or 4-3. This is his first year as a starter but is playing great, I think he could be a RFA with a new CBA. Shaun Rogers – not that great anymore, but he is big and is still good. He was almost traded last offseason and is a lock to hit the market this year. He could be a great addition as a key part-time player. Haloti Ngata – yea I wish, but this has a 0% chance of happening but I had to put him on the list. I have read he may get a $100+ deal ala Haynesworth. Maybe Cullen Jenkins tho? LBers David Harris – Prob wont be let go, but a new cap might force the big money Jets to let him go. IMO Middle LB is more important than OLB and Harris is the best available. Mathis Kiwinuka – has been IRed this year, and the Giants have Usi, Tuck, and JPP. He has started and played well at LB and DE and could be perfect for us regardless of which D we end up playing. He isn’t a huge signing and could be more of a “budget” guy we normally target. Lamarr Woodley – I have no idea how likely or not he is to hit the Market but he is a great palyer. Brandon Siler – this may be the most likely to happen. He is a reserve/part time player for the Chargers who Nix is familiar with. If he is not tendered in the new CBA he could be a very economical option.

While I agree yes we have Troup who *could* be that big run stuffer – my mindset is ultimately to get KWilliams to End- where I think he fits more naturally and will be able to be as great as he has been this year as a 4-3 DT. That mindset would make NG a bigger need than DE, as Williams/Carrington/Stroud/Edwards/Johnson would be our DEs (pretty impressive), yet our only NG would be Troup. Obviously KW will be forced to stay at NG unless we bring in a solid vet NG, but then we could use another starting DE…. I think its pretty obvious we need another quality starter on the DL. If we go 3-4, KW could play any of the DL positions, but I think his best would be End so that’s where I want him. 2 solid FAs and a good draft and we could be well on our way. A starting caliber true NG, and a ILB, TE or a RT in FAs, then we could draft Quinn OLB (very likely still on the board whenever we draft) and then some more OLman, LBs, DL or TE in rds 2-3. Please Buddy make it happen! We want a winning record in 2011!

I have been saying Tom Brady is so over rated for years. He has crowned as a God since the first moment he stepped on the field – yet he never earned it. Go back to those first SB years and watch. He plays like junk, fumbles vrs Oakland, and wins the SB MVP award after passing for 145 yards and one TD. If someone could please find a WEAKER MVP performance I sure as hell cant. Vinetari did a hell of a lot more to win that SB, and get them there at all – he deserved it way more. That’s right, the kicker was more important than the QB to a SB winning team. Since then he has only thrown more than 30 TDs twice (a feat Fitz would have achieved this year if he started all 16 games, and still could regardless), this year and the run-up-the-score year when they lost to the Giants – again when Brady played like poop. To Compare Peyton Manning has done it 4 times, and likely will again this year making it 5, Brett Favre has done it 9 times, drew Brees 3, and Phillip Rivers twice the in only 5 years as a starter . All the while he has had – by far – the best pass protection in the history of football, and made a killing throwing screens to Kevin Faulk or drag routes to Welker, or horribly inaccurate TD passes to Vrabel/Moss. Many of those throws a good HS QB could have completed. That year he threw 50 TDs, breaking Mannings record of 49, I bet Peyton would have throw 70 if they ran up the score like the Pats did every game. I remember his first game back after his ACL (PS how great was Cassel? Statistically he was just as good as Brady) Bryant Gumbel comes in for a highlight interuption….”If you had ANY reservations if TOM BRADY was back…. Well LOOK AT THIS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” Then they proceed to show a HB screen pass to Kevin Faulk, who gets great blocking, breaks a tackle, and runs 60 yards for a TD…. Brady did NOTHING – yet OMG he is back! The story of his entire career. Now I don’t want you to chalk this up as a scorned fan – because that’s not right. Brady has been horribly unimpressive compared to the praise he has gotten since he relieved Bledsoe – except for this year. This year he has actually played like a great QB, this year he actually deserves the respect he has gotten for so long.

WR is the least important position in the NFL. SJ will be more than sufficant.

Poz has been playing a Will for us recently, Moats as the Sam. Poz has experience at middle or will so I bet he stays there if he stays in Buffalo… which brings me to my next point. I think ILB may be our biggest need of all, and you have it as a P3. We have had Mitchell, Davis, Poz, and now Ayodele starting in the middle at different times this season. Considering all of those guys could be off the team next year, along will Ellison, I think we need some MLB help more than any other position simply cause we could have 0 MLBs on the roster come March 1st. O and the production from the position this year has stunk.

God I sure hope so. He isn’t a house hold name and I don’t follow the phish, but I did watch Wood exclusively on many plays Sunday and thought he struggled vrs the guy. I have a very high opinion of Wood so I was left thinking that guy must be better than people think. I also remember thinking that we need more Samoans on our team because they are all huge beasts. Whether we plan to go 3-4 or 4-3, I think we need a true big-bodied NG. Williams has played great but is more of a 5tech in a 3-4 than a NG, as his 4-3 role would be more similar to his 3-4 role that way. I think that at the end of the year, our biggest needs are actually inside LB and a true NG if we are committing to the 34. PS lets sign Mankins too and get some real beasts on the lines PS if we cant get him, maybe we can get the guy he replaced in randy Starks?

Looking at the NFL standings, I get a very bad feeling we will end up playing the JV Jets next Sunday. With a win this week the jets get to win # 11, putting them out of reach for all the other WC chasers who could only get to 10 if they win out. This would such a letdown to me. We have improved a lot the last 6 weeks, but we haven’t exactly played that many great teams either. 3 of our 4 wins are going to be against top 10 drafters, and even Miami has had a rough streak as of late – but at least they were above .500. Playing a meaningful game vrs a division rival needing a win to make the playoffs – now that’s a barometer. If we win, I would feel great, if we lost, I could stomach it as we just aren’t a playoff team yet and we get a top 5 pick. But if they lay down and play the JVs? Even if we win I will feel disgusted and disrespected. Then we are drafting outside the top 10, its completely lose lose. PS: I don’t really see us beating the best team in the NFL this week, and it really won’t bother me if we don’t, but if we do, that’s awesome. I just think we have a legit shot to take down the Jets but if they play the JVs that would really be urine in my corn flakes.

Its a total long shot but I am hoping Mankins is at RG next year and Wood at C.

Yea, thats the link, but its grainy and choppy and I cant really see the ball coming down. Thats not a seam route though, Seams are run between the hashes. The dropped TD though he does throw it off the defender who ahs his back turned.

Id rather save my Thanksgiving for Thanksgiving and watch the Bills on Sunday. This team takes me away from my family enough, I dont need it on T day.

I dont think speulation about Lynch should justify drafting Spiller. ANy 4th roud RB could come in and run the ball - or we could have keep Bell or Simpson. I have my reservations about Spiller, because RBs that cannot soak hits and break tackles never succeed in teh NFL, and Spiller doesnt break tackles like that. Also, SPiller is showing the same inability to read his blocks that Lynch struggle with. One play I really noticed has an off tackle run to the left, Corey Mac had a nice kick out block and SPiller didnt turn up field, but just ran outside the block and lost a yard. It was very obvious he shoulda went upfield. O well.

While yes I have been impressed with the dumpster diving this year, I still struggle to see any vision. And this is why - 2009: Fred Jackson, Marshawn Lynch, J. Bell, 9th overall pick 2010: Fred Jackson, CJ Spiller, practice squad RB of the week, 4th round pick. Exo-facto we traded Lynch/Bell/9th overall pick for Spiller/4th rounder. Someone please try to spin that as an "improvement". Nix went into this season and used a top 10 pick to make our RB position worse. The doesnt scream building a championship roster to me. That seems more like making a couple random, unrelated decisions without an overall goal or plan in place.

The Pats time and time again show how it should be done. Great Ol and get a good player behind C, whether its Brady or Cassel. RB and WR are the most dependant position in football by FAR. Most any ole retread can succeed, just make sure they are smart and dont fumble. The Bills simply cannot understand that drafting RBs to improve your running game and drafting WRs to improve your passing game is ass-backwards. OLman and the QB get it done. After them comes TE. RB and WR dead freaking last.

My only thought is how in the hell do you assume we can add a TE, RT, DE, and LB in one offseason? I have been asking for upgrades at TE, LB, OL, and DE since 2002 and am still waiting. But maybe this is the year...

Its hard for me to tell, I have watched it a few times but I cant see where the ball is exactly. He didnt pick it off so obviously he misjudged it but it looks like it was a little out of his reach. But at the same time the WR didnt have to be on his back catching it and could have been jumping and getting it at his highest point. It was a TD so its hard to complain too much and I have always liked guys who risk it. Either way its moot - I just wish people would be more realistic, some of the same fans crowning Fitz as a God after bouncing a TD pass off of Dansbys helmet are the same ones hating on Tebow for doing quite literally the exact same thing.

not too good either

Now thats a Texas education at work PS: why didnt the center snap it sideway (theres a word for it but its escaping me) that would have made it more of a "trick"

Yea, it was the first option. Its a fade route. A fade route is never ever ever supposed to be throw to the inside - because then you lead the WR into the safety and its an interception or a huge hit - just because the raiders guy pulled a "Donte Whitner" and was really late to the ball doesnt mean Tebow had a bad throw. It doesnt matter if the WR is looking over his inside shoulder (as he is supposed to do) the ball is supposed to be on the outside shoulder regardless if its a back shoulder throw or not - outside shoulder every time. Sure it was a bit low/short, but that doesnt matter in this situation because its a fade route and the defeners back was turned. Look at my avatar, most people blame the Polomamlo pick on SJ for not catching this ball - but I and Chan put it on Fitz. high and behind is a big no no on slants - just as inside and short is a big no no on fade routes. The other TD pass is hard to tell from my video (its too grainy) and I cannt really tell if the ball goes through the defenders hands or if he is jumping and just doesnt get there. But regardless it was just deep enough for one defender to miss it and short enough for the WR to box out the deeper defender. If that was Fitz you would be clamouring about hit he fit one in there - just like everyone is about him bouncing a TD pass off of Dansbys helmet. The most impressive throws are the one deep out route (which Fitz completes about 15% of the time) and the deep crossing route one which was an awesome ball. And the TD run wasnt bad either.

That is actually a pretty good lookin draft. "BPA Mock Draft Just take Best available" - But I think that is dumb. You have to have some kind of plan - without a plan you just have players. When Ingram is the BPA when we draft - should we just draft him - or should we have a plan to improve the roster as a whole? Nix needs to show us he has a long term plan to improve the team and not make 7 random selections every year.

No, that was a perfect strike – its called a back shoulder throw. Saying it wasn’t a good pass shows you don’t really know where a QB tries to put a ball, or you just don’t like Tebow enough to be clouded in your assessment. I didn’t see the game, but I did watch the highlights on NFL.com. He only completed 8 or 16, and I saw the one that was dropped (9-16 with 2 TDs), so he didn’t complete many. But the ones he did complete in the highlights were all incredible plays/throws. The other ones could have been just as terrible but I wouldn’t know. Watching those highlights though, he lokoed great, and if he can build off of that, he will be fun to watch. Both in April and in hindsight I’d rather have taken a flyer on him than on Spiller. My take is he played well enough for his supporters to be like “see I told you so”, but poorly enough for his doubters to be like “see, I told you so” PS: I read an article from Woody Page (the idiot that’s on around the horn) that McDanials wanted to trade Orton before the season and start Tebow from day 1, because of how impressed with Tebow he was. Now I know he had a real bad run in Denver, but none the less I am willing to bet he knows more about QBs than everyone on the board here put together.

I think Lee is now more valuable to this team as a draft pick than a player. If Lynch gets a 4th, He should draw a 3 at least. His contract is pretty reasonable for the next few years, maybe they could fnd a suitor.

Who else do you represent? Any way you could coerse Logan Mankin, David Harris, Shaun Rogers, and/or Kiwinuka here?

Or well will take someone who stinks and doesnt help make us a better team.

I assume you were at the game then, because you couldnt see that on TV. But to address the OP "We will find out how important Lee Evans is" - Very Little is my answer. I actually think our WRs were better without him.

Thats Inspiring.