Punch

If he were getting more opportunities he'd undoubtedly break more than a few of those ones where he's now close--- the time will come, sooner than later, when he gets them. I don't know what the big rush is; runningback play would not alter the outcome of the first 6 games of 2010, and would definitely not be the difference in earning a playoff berth this year. But Spiller will be a more well rounded back by season's end than if he were just thrown to the wolves.

I understand what you're saying, but Spiller is not in the same career situation that Maybin finds himself in--- Spiller has made plays as a runner, receiver, blocker, and returner. He's averaging 4.3 yards per carry on his admittedly few number of attempts. If he were given 20 touches per game I think there's no question he'd produce very good results. When I say deliberately, I mean that he's being taught to focus on the finer points of being an all around NFL runningback--- blitz pickups being one major example of an area where he struggled. He's in the games in crucial situations, and is being asked to pick up blockers in the red zone and on 3rd downs. I said earlier in this thread, the combination of teaching him the finer points, having Fred Jackson, and also not wanting to burn him out on an 0-6 team that was struggling offensively are part and parcel why he's limited behind Fred. I'd assume his touches and involvement will increase steadily over the course of the year. Chris Johnson was struggling this year due to overuse in the previous few seasons. And Aaron Maybin has shown nothing yet that suggests he belongs on an NFL roster. There's simply no comparison.

Bledsoe was 8-8 but Flutie was something like 10-2 or 9-3 in '98 (including the Colt game which he did not start).

I don't think number of carries necessarily equates to the quality of the back, do they? Especially in this situation? "Developing" is something that every NFL player does, and the way Gailey is doing it is fine. Sorry it's not to your taste, but your stats kind of prove nothing.

That's what happened in 1986... Marv Levy was the midseason replacement after Hank Bullough was fired. That's all I meant. Not that Cowher will ever come to Buffalo for anything other than one of his daughter's collegiate basketball games.

Archie Manning was not only a Pro Bowler but also NFC Offensive Player of the Year in 1978 on a 7-9 Saints team. True, the Bills probably won't hit 7-9, but it's still another losing season for a miserable franchise (at that point).

Does this mean Chan is going to get fired midseason and then Marv is going to be brought back... again?

Promo wasn't insulting you, though, he was disagreeing with your assertions and questioning why your opinions are more valuable than those belonging to others. If you want to debate that's fine, but there's a lot of negativity being focused toward some of the posters you're going back and forth with... it doesn't come across as a debate at all, just you telling everyone else why they're wrong. I don't really see how Promo earned the "ol' f you."

You admonish posters in another thread and then you turn right around and hypocritically start flinging insults (not the first time for you, either)... for what, because Promo disagrees with you? Come on man, I agree with some of the points you make but you seem to be sitting around the corner with a sniper rifle taking shots at any potentially optimistic Bills fan in every single thread. Try and relax, you don't win a prize for bludgeoning everyone until they agree with you.

They were still laughing at Whitner, though--- all the way to the endzone.

Spiller obviously has those instincts... he can, and likely will, learn to trust them more. That's a normal problem for rookie runningbacks to have, and why so many people in this thread and elsewhere are in such a hurry to label him as either a bust or luxury pick or whatever nonsense is simply beyond reason. He's a dynamic offensive talent and his contribution to this team will grow as his experience increases. The fact that Gailey is developing him deliberately rather than hurriedly is an indictment of nothing more than solid coaching.

Like others noted, he prefers Stevie, as in "Stevie Styles", which from what I understand is a sort of tongue in cheek rap name. He does some humorous raps. That sentence sounds like the most white bread thing anyone has ever posted on the internet. Apparently he also enjoys sensible slacks.

So, basically you have nothing to do during the day? Unless shitting on cautiously optimistic Bills fans is your dayjob.

Homer said it to Chief Wiggum in the Springfield chili cook off episode--- the funny part being that he addressed him as Chief Wiggum. Johnny Cash was the coyote spirit guide during Homer's hallucination. Although, I'll admit I didn't think of it as a Simpsons' reference until you specifically mentioned it!

Spiller has had normal ups and downs as a rookie runner--- the more repetitions he gets with the ball the more he'll learn to trust his instincts. If he were given 20 carries per game or so he'd probably be accruing statistics at an acceptable rate, for fans. But he was brutal at picking up the blitz early on and in that regard he has improved steadily. Yesterday was a perfect example of what Gailey is doing in developing Spiller--- he's kept in the backfield on passing downs and allowed to learn through repetitions how to read blitzing 'backers and DBs, and stunting D-Linemen. Why burn him out with a winless team when Fred Jackson is averaging 4.5 yds/att? If they needed him to be the guy, he could be the guy. But there's no reason to burn him out. Jahvid has had one terrific game, but he's basically just getting more overall touches at this point, not to mention he's only averaging 3.2 yds/att. Should Detroit fans call him Jahvid Bust?

I don't know what the !@#$ game you were watching, but apparently you were the only one watching it. Seriously, stop trying so hard to be a miserable jerk. You're going out of your way to complain---- there's plenty to be upset about in this game and with this Bills team, but Cordero Howard yesterday sure as hell wassn't one of them.

A playoff game where the Colts visited Baltimore is anything but typical gameday circumstances, no?. It's almost the most potentially raucous matchup I can propose for an NFL game. A lot different than a regular season game against a winless opponent, anyway.

Corey Chavous was great on NFL Network before the 2010 draft. I was really impressed with him.

He's also the first to throw 3 TD passes or more in back to back games since Kelly in 1990---- stats are just stats, but it's interesting nonetheless.

This is exactly what I'm afraid of--- that Ralph has already made THE MANDATE, and they take a QB with the first pick just to take one, rather than the best QB.

NFL Draft Bible purports to be run by former NFL scouts, I think. They have pretty in-depth player profiles, though.

I like Cameron "Ironhead Jr." Heyward, the most so far anyway. He looks like a beast, but I'm certainly no expert. I also like Robert Quinn out of North Carolina, but he's been permanently suspended from the NCAA so he'll be out for the year. There's speculation that he may drop to the 2nd round. I couldn't argue with those two.

I think the only other possibility in '85 was Doug Flutie, as far as a no. 1 overall. But I was a kid too, and more interested in Rowdy Roddy Piper, myself. For what it's worth, here's what one draft site has to say about Clayborn from this past weekend against Gabe Carimi. They don't seem to think he'd be much of a pass rusher at the NFL level. http://nflmocks.com/2010/10/24/gabe-carimi-vs-adrian-clayborn/

Isn't that the old Baltimore Colts song? I though the BC Marching Band played when the Ravens score.

Whether or not Bills fans are knowledgeable about football is not necessarily reflected in the internet message board posting community, where idiocy is typically rampant. Case in point: DarthICE