WhitewalkerInPhilly

Please let that be so. Seriously, if the thought of having a really solid partner convinces Byrd to come back, I would be jumping for joy. Do I think that is going to happen? No.

Are you sure? Watching tape from last year, i think he may be suffering from a bruised ego. it can be a chronic condition that makes his foot hurt unbearably during training camp only to wane when he actually can bank some cash. i hear it can be a chronic condition.

congrats on calling it. honestly, I like the move. a williams really turned a corner last year and was all over the field as ss. the offer seems extremely reasonable and channels the 'next man up' mentality that you find in winning franchises. while I would have loved byrd back, it's good to see the money set aside to pay him more than he was worth used to keep 2-3 players.

Is anyone thinking that he will be? If the Bills are going all in on ej, we know they have a half decent backup in thad and they can save quite a bit of cap room by cutting kolb.

you know, mack is seeing more impressive the more we see of him. if whaley thinks that he would be a good fit at wlb, kiko, while not perfect fit, is a pretty good option for mlb. of course, byrd leaving does change things. i would sprint to the podium if clowney, robinson, matthews of sammy watkins was there at nine, but I have to say, between the run on qbs and clowney we may be in a huge trade down position. an early 2nd or late first would get a phenominal safety to replace byrd and there are a few players I value equally in the mid-first round.

I do think that's he's undervaluing safety a bit there, but overall, this wouldn't be a bad plan to go with this offseason. Maybe trade back a bit to still get Evans and another mid-round for a safety, but not bad.

I live in the Philly area, and I'll say this much: if the Bills don't tag Byrd, the local fans will be howling for him to sign with the Eagles. The Eagles made the playoffs under the efforts of Nick Foles, who took a season or two to get there (note EJ haters), but their safety Patrick Chung is reviled as much as Legursky and Pears are here. The Eagles have 26M in cap space, presumably more after dealing Vick so they could match any offer the Bills make, and are playing in a weak division so they have more than a fair shot of making the playoffs again and again. As much as we are going to scream about them poaching our players, I wouldn't be surprised if they did it...again.

I need to ask: How is a pass rushing OLB a necessity when you have Mario Williams and Jerry Hughes?

I've heard of him...of course, it was amidst howls of rage and frustration as we blew the Atlanta game. In all seriousness, if he's willing to take a contract similar to what we have been offering Byrd, I don't see why we don't tag and trade at this point. Both sides in the Byrd negotiations seem to be slamming against a brick wall. If we can bring in a decent replacement and get something for our pick by trading Byrd to Cleveland, it seems better than nothing. (Though I would like nothing more than both sides working out a long term deal)

Look, I'll be talking best pick available. Evans has, in my eyes, justified himself as a top 10 pick. But if a top 5 pick (if you argue Matthews or Robinson is one) falls that far, it's going to be a tough decision.

I was also pessimistic about Evans, but a 4.5 time? WIth his size? That would really round out our WR corp.

I do think that Hackett does share some criticism. of note is the decision to have Tuel throw on the goal line when you have summers and jackson. On the other hand, he called a great game winning drive in the first win against carolina and the bomb to Goodwin in the second game against the jets he called because he was on the sideline and channeled his players annoyance that rex was slowing down the game with a challenge on graham's catch. he had a rookie year and I want to see what he can do given a year where he doesn't have to split his attention between gameplanning and helping with E.J.`s mechanics.

OK, now I really want the Bills to beat the tar out of the Browns this year. I am *really* not a fan of Shanahan, and I don't think that he's the right guy to bring in when you don't have a solid QB in place. Also, the buzz is that Cleveland is hot for Johnny Football, and we've already seen what happened with Shanahan using a relatively short, light, running QB.

I'm going to buck the trend: Mosley, though I really am not sure if we need either of them. When people first started talking up the "Mack to the Bills" prediction on draft sites I kept hearing the same thing: "Wow, he'll be such a great fit for Mike Pettine's multiple defense, and the Bills haven't done anything to help the pass rush!" The second half was rage inducing all on its own (second most in the league in stats, with over 20 coming from our DE's), but let's deal with the first. Pettine is gone. While Schwartz is not likely to abandon the "attack" mentality there is definitely going to be a change in approach. While Mack is a pretty versatile, but his role is as a pass rusher. While it would be nice to have depth, you don't spend a first round pick on your third stringer. That's for the later rounds when you sometimes get lucky and very often don't. When you get down to it, one stat of the Bills defense really stands out: yards per rushing attempt. A lot of that can be laid at the feet of a heavy dose of nickel and 4-1-6 dime formations, Kiko does have to work on his tackling. I can think of some memorable plays where we whiffed at the point of contact, with it going for a big gain. (the 80 yard touchdown run for example) and often the running back would drag him backwards for extra yards. If there is something I would fix on this defense (assuming that terms are met with Byrd) it would be acquiring a 4-3 weakside linebacker or MLB and then move Kiko over to WLB like they intended when Buddy drafted him. Apart from giving up third down conversions and the run game, what else is out of place for next season? DT? Kyle Williams and Dareus went in for 17 sacks I believe and went to the Pro Bowl. Pass rusher? Again, another Pro Bowler with Mario Williams with 13 sacks and a fantastic situation rusher with Jerry Hughes, Alan Branch and Manny Lawson were both solid, though not electrifying free agency grabs and run DE and SLB respectively. Kiko was absolutely robbed of DROY and will be a stud in years to come. Byrd showed why we should pay him the money and Aaron Williams, out of nowhere suddenly showed a knack for being all over the field as a safety and somehow turned the corner (so to speak) when he was placed back as a CB. Gilmore looked alright after fully healing and, in a true shocker, McKelvin actually stepped up. I challenge everyone to mention a position on defense, where the starter underperformed more than at weakside linebacker. If we think that Mack would be a better fit there than Mosley, then go ahead, but people seem to be picking him for all the wrong reasons. Of course, I'm holding out hope for Borland in round 3!

I was looking at Draftek the other day Astro,and I have to say, the Mosley pick got me thinking. While I do advocate that the best thing for a defense to have is a good offense, if the Bills can keep Byrd their biggest weakness is in their linebacking. Manny Lawson is a decent choice, and Kiko was a revelation, but I do wonder whether it would be best to send him to WLB, where Bradham and Moats certainly weren't getting the job done. The benefit Mosley brings is that he could probably play at any LB position and fill that gap. I would also love ASJ as a TE pickup. I remember he used to be the frontrunner, and has slid a bit in "draft value" but if the Bills lose Chandler (and even if they don't). TE needs people who can actually both block and catch.

It's not that he's a bad fit. In fact, I think he did a pretty good job. I think what some people are worried about is that Kiko showed some definite flaws in his run defense. He overpursued at times. WOLB would take advantage of Kiko's impressive speed and take advantage of his impressive skill level at diagnosing coverages. Of course, if he gets some experience and coaching at run stopping he would still be a good choice for MLB, but if there is a really great candidate who could hold it, that would be an incredible front 7.

Just saw his highlight video and looked at his scouting report. He doesn't have ideal size, but I wouldn't guess it looking at the tackles he made. If we could get him in the third (or late second, I'm holding out for that trade down) that could be a steal and I'm salivating at the idea of him paired with Kiko.

I've found a really great NY Times article from a few years ago when the Jets were prepping to play the Titans with Schwartz as DC. It's an insightful read. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/23/sports/football/23titans.html?pagewanted=all Yeah, this has been nagging at me. Look, I love Kiko and he did a great job, a phenomenal job of calling defensive plays and being a coverage LB. He did struggle against the run (they all did) and while I think he'll improve I would love it if we got a real run killer in the middle and put Kiko as the WLB where he should get even more interceptions.

That actually is a fair criticism. Whether or not the way he runs a 4-3 works, and certainly the Wide 9 philosophy ought to be debated. What was annoying me was the immediate "OMG WE CLEARLY PLAYED A 3-4 AND NOW WE'RE GOING BACK TO 4-3 DOOMED!" talk I have seen here and on many, many other websites.

I do find it hilarious that when people were considering Wade, there were innumerable cries of "But Mario Williams doesn't want to play 3-4 OLB! This is going to be a disaster!" and now we're hearing "Oh great, we're moving away from 3-4? This is going to be a disaster!" Yeah, it's not like we have any speedy pass rushers such as Mario Williams and Jerry Hughes. Obviously, I blame buddy. But I think you answered your own question on the LB front. Yes, we ran a lot of nickel and dime, which require far fewer LB's. I believe I made a most of that effect in the last offseason. But by god, did our run defense suck. Again. I don't know if LB is the first need, but we obviously need help either with new bodies or better coaching. Schwartz has a great track record on run defense with the latter.

I feel like I need to slam this post against the skull of everyone who is freaking out about having a 4-3 coach.

We're Bills fans.We'll find anything to complain about. Well,that's strange, because I could have sworn that those were the two areas where the Buffalo defense really struggled this year. Are you saying that our panned head coach looked for a qualified, experienced defensive specialist who has experience in fixing the things we need fixing while keeping on the personnel who excelled at their jobs? DOOOOOOOOOM!!!!

We pretty much already ran a 4-3 anyway. This is promising to hear. I've already gone from "Oh no, we're doomed, Pettine is leaving!" to "You know, this might be the perfect fit to finish the job. I like Mike Pettine. I like Cleveland. When they are not in competition with the Bills I would like them to do well. But I think we all seriously need to accept the stopping the run was not one of Pettine's specialties. Schwartz has experience as a DC, his temperament suits it well, and he works with our current defensive front. With Henderson doing a frankly stunning job with the DB's last year, and leaving Schwartz to finish the LB corps (his specialty) I think we might be right on track.

This

If Watkins is there at nine, I would take him in a heartbeat. At that spot, I think he's the best choice. Of course, I would love to see the bills trade back to mid-first round and take a TE. That would help with the O-line, and give EJ a nice, big target over the middle who can speed up the field. Chandler is alright, but we could use an upgrade.