TimGraham
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Tim-
How does Jairus Byrd get on the pro bowl ballet? He is currently not a choice on the ballet and he should be
Thanks
No, he shouldn't be on the ballot, but I understand the misconception.
The ballot is comprised of regular starters and was probably put together a few weeks ago. This happens in baseball every year, too, where guys with surprise seasons aren't on the ballot.
The Bills are represented at safety by Donte Whitner and Bryan Scott, considered their regular starters when the ballot was put together.
You'll have to write Byrd in.
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Hey Tim.. I don't ask for much but is there any way you can do a story on Jairus Byrd? They mentioned some things when he was drafted about his relationship with Perry Fewell. I think with his impressive play as of late, it would be an interesting story.
Ask and you shall receive. I just filed a long story about him with quotes from his father and the guy who mentored him, Aeneas Williams. It should be posted to the blog within the next hour or so.
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Tim,
I don't know if you saw this, but on last night's Monday Night Countdown show, the crew talked about the Redskins' situation where the owner is blindly throwing money at the team and it's not helping. Keyshawn Johnson and Mike Ditka both brought up the point that the Redskins are making these decisions with their business guys and they don't have any "football" guys in the organization making the decisions on what players and coaches to bring on board.
Since I couldn't help but wonder why they didn't just substitute "Bills" for "Redskins" and "Ralph Wilson" for "Daniel Snyder", is there any talk or agreement amongst the experts out there that the Bills are in the same boat? If so, is there any speculation that changes need to be made starting at the top?
I think that's a commonly held belief in the football community about the Bills, that they're simply not equipped to make the soundest football decisions because of their front office structure. The difference with the Redskins and the Bills is that the Redskins try to solve their problems by throwing money around like drunken Las Vegas tourists.
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Tim,
I agree with you that Hall doesnt have prototypical size for an NFL QB.Also he's not a scrambler but he's got good pocket awareness and the mobility to pick up a few yards if he needs to scramble.(And by a few yards I mean literally 2 or 3 lol.) I was wondering what you thought of his armstrength. Sorry I didn't clarify in the original post.
Gotcha. From what I've seen he has a nice arm and is pretty smart. He's had good mentoring. Danny White is his uncle.
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Any support for this story: http://forums.twobillsdrive.com/index.php?showtopic=99515
I didn't hear it with my own ears, and that thread is rife with confusion and guesswork. So I can't say I know what anybody is referring to.
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Doesn't Hall have to go to a 2 year mission post graduation? I thought that was the case but I could be wrong. Hall is a solid player, under the radar for sure.
In looking up his size (I knew he was small but wanted to be precise) I noticed on his BYU bio that he did a mission in 2005, while sitting out after transferring from Arizona State. So he might have fulfilled his LDS obligation then.
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Tim,
I lnow its early to talk draft but do you know if the Bills were one of the teams that sent scouts to that FSU-BYU game? And how do you think Max Hall would fare playing in Buffalo. And once again appreciate ya responding to our questions.
I have no clue if the Bills had scouts at that game. I would need to see a press box seating chart from that stadium to know who was there. I'm not sure how well Max Hall would do, but BYU quarterbacks haven't fared well in the NFL lately. A lot of people like to point to them coming out of college more mature because of their mission work, but I also think that it helps them look better against college competition. Hall also is listed at 6-foot-1 and 200 pounds. That's mighty small for an NFL quarterback unless he can do something special with his legs.
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If there was no USFL, we would have had Kelly a few years earlier.
You might want to read the article.
That point is made ... and it's a good thing you didn't have Kelly a couple years earlier.
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Hey Tim!
Any news on Roscoe?
Nothing yet.
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without speaking for TG, wanted to address why i suck so much.
jw
I have no defense.
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I was thinking Tim had already done a feature on Byrd, but didn't find one on the blog. Tyler Dunne did write a pretty good story on him for the OTH back in June, but yeah, I wouldn't be surprised to see him get some attention this week...
You're right, I haven't done a Byrd feature yet. He's worthy of a sitdown when I get to Buffalo full-time and can visit with him for an extended period.
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Tim,
As we are getting close to the middle of the season, what rookie has impressed you most on the Bills? Byrd is clearly making his presence known, though Levitre and Wood have both played as well as can be expected of two rookie O-lineman having to switch positions and start from day 1 (and we wonder why our QBs can't run 3 step drops). Nelson has shown potential, but thus far he has been injury prone. Maybin has been virtually invisible and his neutral zone infraction against the Jets kept a drive going.
Which leads into my next question: What is your opinion on Maybin and his future at the DE position? If he doesn't finish with at least one sack or hit on the QB before the season ends should Bills fans be worried? I know its early, I'm not trying to rush to judgment and I wouldn't yet call him a bust. But, he looks COMPLETELY over-matched by opposing O-lines.
Thanks.
Byrd has been impressive. I think the Bills have a keeper there. Wood has been OK, but I will admit my O-line analytical skills aren't the sharpest. He hasn't stood out to me as obviously dominant like Jake Long did last year, but he's separating himself from the others on the line simply by not making as many stupid mistakes as the others.
Maybin looks like he should have stayed at Penn State for another year. He needs to go back into the oven. He's not done yet.
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Tim,
Do you know if the Bills have sent scouts to watch Jay Clocker?
I doubt it. They might look at Jake Locker, though.
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Well if a job is open that means the team is likely to be bad or at least mediocre (Other than Dallas and Washington I can't think of another possible opening that would be better than this in terms of talent currently on roster maybe Carolina if they fire Fox). So if there are 6-8 jobs available than why would the Bills be at the bottom of the list? I mean we aren't that far off on defense and there are pieces on the offense.
I guess my question is if a team has a coach opening obviously they are bad and if Ralph wanted to reignite interest in this team and was willing to spend big to get a John Gruden type and was willing to give the keys over to a guy would a big name come here over a place like Jacksonville or Tampa Bay? I mean even if this place is near the bottom in terms of prestige the competition can't be that far ahead.
It also helps the Bills cause that there are a ton of big name coaches out there (Cower, Shanahan, Holmgren, Gruden ect) so if the top guys like Cower, Shanahan, and Holmgren get the top jobs than could a Gruden type second tier candidate trickle down to Buffalo (Assuming Ralph would be willing)
The Bills will be at the bottom of the list unless they offer organizational control to their new coach. That's how teams land the big-name coaches.
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Tim,
Is there any sense from your other sources (i.e., the NFL office) that RW may hire a real football GM after the end of the season (and, of course, a new head coach)? Do you think that the NFL office has any dialogue with RW about these things? If there is a team that could use an outside consultant, such as Ron Wolff, this is the team.
Thanks for your insights.
Don't thank me too soon.
On this subject I have no insights. Nobody seems to know what Ralph is thinking these days. But I'm sure there is plenty of dialogue within the organization.
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Tim G., I can see a scenario playing out in the not too distant future. Ralph Wilson orders Dick Jauron to fire some of his coaches. Dick Jauron refuses. The baron owner then summarily fires Jauron for insubordination. The offended owner then claims that Jauron quit on him and thus by his own self declared fiat the contract is automatically annulled. This drama is a repeat of the Wade Phillips scene. Dick Jauron doesn't have to worry about getting paid in full because when it goes to arbitration the arbitrator will make a ruling in three minutes that the irascible owner has to pay off the contract in full.
Third verse
Same as the first
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Tim you wrote in your blog:
I think we all know the line is bad at the tackle position. But, most Bills fans think that Levitre and Wood possess a lot of talent, they just have to grow into their starting rolls. In fairness to both of them, they got their feet put to the fire. Its a great way to learn, but you have to deal with the hiccups along the way. What are your thoughts on Levitre, Wood and Bell? Are you saying they lack talent?
Don't confuse ability for potential.
Ability gets it done on Sundays. Potential gets it done (hopefully) down the road.
Levitre, Wood and Bell have a ton of potential.
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I'll be honest -- I raised an eyebrow when he said that, because I'm not sure I've seen any prevailing sentiment like that here. Since he's back in Buffalo, maybe his data sample is the people he's talking to on the street up there, not TSW ... but I can't think of anyone I know who's saying "go ahead and trade him." As some have noted, the possibility that he still might make some plays is one of very few reasons to watch this team right now...
Actually, TSW is a very small portion of my interaction with fans. The bulk is done through e-mail and my AFC East mailbag. When I'm able to listen, I think the people who call into WGR provide a helpful barometer of the mood as well.
The feedback I've received in my inbox from Bills fans favors trading Terrell Owens for assets that will help the team down the road because his presence on the roster is moot in the grand scheme of things. I understand that fans would like to be entertained by him, but most fans seem to realize you're going to have nothing to show for his time here once we hit Jan. 4.
That's what I'm being told directly. This board might be different. Apparently it is, but I don't read the threads every day. Maybe once or twice a week. I do try to come on every day and check the "Ask Tim Graham" thread, but beyond that, most of my information comes from other sources.
I just want to mention that becuase this thread began as "Tim Graham is Mr. Obvious who steals all of our opinions and gets paid to spout them like they're his own" but has turned into "Where in the hell does Tim Graham get his information because we all want T.O. to stay? He's clearly pulling it out his backside."
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Given Jauron's MO, isn't it possible that he tried to stay with TS as long sa he could, hoping all the while TS would take his advice and simplify the offense? At some point Jauron may have realized that TS just would not listen and he pulled the trigger. Jauron's loyalty to a fault seems to make this possible to me.
Sure, it's possible. But that's most damning explanation of all.
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Most gutless thing I've ever seen. At least have someone accept it on his behalf because it's cold and windy and he's an old fart. At least have the stones to announce you bailed on it before the game and be willing to take a day of heat for killing it in advance.
Further proof that all decisions in Buffalo are made by the marketing department. We don't want video of RW or anyone associated with RW getting booed on TV so we won't even give you the chance. Have a nice day and drive home safely.
I didn't find the ceremony's cancellation as gutless as the Bills and Jauron playing dumb on the contract extension until after the season.
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Jauron seemed to leave the door open to benching Edwards. Any chance that this happens for the Jets game?
I would be shocked.
I've been shocked many times in my life, though.
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Tim,
Thanks for continuing to contribute here. I read one of your ESPN.com posts recently, and while I agree with all your other points of why Jauron needs to go, I didn't understand this part:
"... Jauron insisted that owner Ralph Wilson didn't make this call [to fire Schonert], so how a head coach can be so unaware of his own staff is beyond me. Jauron worked with Schonert last year but apparently made a total misread. "
Do you take Jauron at his word and believe that he made the call to axe Schonert instead of Wilson? Because to me, it seemed so transparent that Ralph ordered the firing and made Jauron take the bullet that to consider any other possibility was laughable. This passage implies that you believe Jauron actually made the call. Am I misreading you or have I completely misread the whole Schonert situation? Love the AFC East blog, thanks again for your responses here, as well.
Quite the contrary. I wrote it that way because I don't believe it. I wrote that "Jauron insisted" he didn't make the call. If I knew for a fact that Jauron made the call, I would have written it as fact.
I'm prone to take Jauron at his word because he never has lied to me personally or burned me in any way, but I wrote it that way because it doesn't make sense. That Wilson made the call makes more sense.
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Hey, Tim, I recall a discussion in the offseason re: the New England Patriots and biased officiating (and being called a conspiracy theorist, but I can forgive and forget on that). Anyone else find it somewhat funny and ironic that here we are with the first real set of controversies around officiating and lo and behold, golly gee, it's another set of charges that the refs are favoring, drum roll please, none other than the Pats. How many data points do folks need before coming to the conclusion that something is indeed weird with them and the officials? I mean we've already got the Tuck Rule, the Colts AFCCG, the 2007 Ravens game, several games against the Bills (the worst probably being the 2006 opener-I've got that one TIVOed and some of those calls and no calls never cease to amaze me), an OT game against the Texans a few years back in which a very late PI way away from the play saved the game by taking away a Brady pick, etc. I also found it interesting that the media seemed to sanitize this story somewhat in terms of making it be about the RTP calls, as I recall reading initial quotes from Ravens players likening the whole game to the 2007 joke of a game against the Pats, which to me points to the much bigger, more general issue with New England and not just whether RTP calls protect QBs. Those quotes seemed to disappear from later articles on the story (perhaps after the NFL spinmeisters got through with the stories). I watched a good bit of the game (but admittedly not all of it) myself and found the PI or whatever it was on Carr, followed shortly thereafter by a bizarre call on Harbaugh for another 15, just plain ridiculous, as well as the spots and that fake field goal play, so to me it wasn't just the RTPs as a story as it's now being portrayed in the media.
Someone really needs to look at this in a serious way for, as Ray Lewis would say, "the integrity of the game." Call me a conspiracy theorist again all you want, but I just know what my eyes see and from that angle it doesn't seem at all fair the way their games are called. I'm not saying that I can explain why it's happening and I agree with you that a large conspiracy is very tough to pull off, but it has been done before, and recently, in a major sport (look no further than the Italian soccer scandal two or three years ago, involving multiple teams and multiple refs). Money is a powerful motivator and can come from any number of sources (team ownership or a rogue employee with a slush fund within an organization, the League, a ratings driven TV network, gamblers, etc.), so who knows. I'm not to the point of believing necessarily that there is such a conspiracy, but I am at the point where it wouldn't really surprise me at all if we found out that such a conspiracy existed.....
All that said, hope you've been well and are happy with the move to Buffalo,
PS From someone else's thread--looks like at least the Onion is taking it seriously:
http://www.theonion.com/content/from_print...early_receiving
Two QB roughing calls went against the Patriots in Week 1. If not for a Leodis McKelvin fumble, the Patriots lose in part because of those calls. One got the Bills out of their own end zone. The other sparked a Bills touchdown drive.
I do a penalty tracker each week, and the Patriots have been among the penalized teams this year. The Patriots are second to the Bills in most penalty yards, and that's after a horrendous two-week start for the Jets.
http://espn.go.com/blog/afceast/post/_/id/...nalty-tracker-3
I think you're silly, but I'm sure you think I'm silly for not recognizing your stance as valid. I can live with that.
Ask Tim Graham, version 2.0
in The Stadium Wall Archives
Posted
Thanks, guys!