ColdBlueNorth

The thing I liked about Yobouty was the sure tackling. Too many receivers took short passes for long gains after he went down. Maybe this year's draft will finally focus on areas other than the backfield.

Greer, McKelvin, and McGee. I thought that Yobouty was outplaying everyone at the beginning the first couple games last year before he got injured. I have not seen closing speed like his in a long time, and his tackling reminded me of another Ohio prospect that we had for a while before MN took him from us. We should be pretty deep this season at CB with our without Greer. R

Taylor had a rash of bad luck last year, but he has moves and should still have some gas in the tank. For the right price he would be a good compliment to Schobel.

A good DT gives you run stopping ability - force teams to run laterally to the line of scrimmage, and on passing downs the ability to collapse the pocket so a QB has to step to the left or right or dump the ball off. Your good edge rushers should be able to bull rush tackles or slice or spin inside to get sacks or create fumbles - particularly where the QB has to side step because he can't step up to make a throw. An argument could be made that we lacked either ability last year. I would take a stud DT or an impact edge rusher. If we can land players for both positions in the draft then that would be great. I think that most folks feel that our interior D-Line is more ahead of the curve than all of our DEs, and the jury is still out on whether Schobel will come back full force. He is on the wrong side of 30 for durability - I hope that he has the same burst and can contribute for many more years, but HOPE is not a strategy. I do think that it is easier to find stud defensive tackles in the draft than impact edge rushers. A lot of the DEs in college project out to linebacker in the pros, some can't make the transition.

Who the heck are the Felons going to trade? Perhaps Ronnie Brown and a tackle (the Cardinals need a proven RB and Gandy convinced everyone that Buffalo was right in getting rid of him - belongs in NFL Europe) for the Cardinals 1st round pick, that may free up enough room under the cap for them to pick up Peppers and you can always find a RB in the draft (unless your the Cardinals). Peppers is also someone I could see Parcels coveting...hmmm

Shhhhhhh... or you will give the rest of us away. I personnally have visited far into the future and the Bills still haven't won a damn thing

Go for it... this story is going to keep going for a while: breaking news, updates, and if they don't find them soon Bermuda Triangle theories.

Joe's got veteran clout. Make room

Some interesting notes on Waters. He is definately unhappy, but that doesn't mean that the Chiefs are going to let him out of his contract. It makes no sense for a team trying to rebuild to alienate one (if not their best) offensive linemen. I don't see this happening. The Chiefs truly sucked last year, and coming from us that is saying something. They were almost always playing from way behind, had instituted a spread offense, had troubled runningback and QB situation, yet they managed to rush for 1810 yards at a 4.8 per average. The Bills by comparison ran for 1842 at a 4.2 per rush average. Some other WIKI tidbits on Waters: "Waters has established himself as a upper-echelon lineman, being All-Pro twice and invited to the Pro Bowl three times. During the 2004 NFL season, Waters was selected as the AFC Offensive Player of the Week for his play during a game versus the Atlanta Falcons on October 24, 2004. The Chiefs scored an NFL record eight rushing touchdowns during that game. Waters is the only offensive lineman ever to receive this award in either conference."

You are most definately - a weasil got me.

Get er done OBD.

I don't know... I would have to take a pass considering his injury history and years in the league. Plus the front office always wants their TEs to be able to block well then catch. I could not see them going for someone with such a limited role, but hell - what do I know?

Makes me wonder though, and I am not alone from reports I have read. Preston was a bit light to handle the AFC East nose tackles, and we did ok against the Jets the second time around simply because the coaching staff gave him help on passing downs. Hangartner does not sound like he is much bigger than Duke. Let's hope that he is stronger, better center of gravity, etc... we just need someone who isn't going to get pushed back into Trents face so our QB can actually step up for a change.

Chill bud. I did not say I was giving up on Hardy - simply that the jury was still out and that he would most likely still be rehabbing his knee. Most receivers do not do a lot in their rookie year. You have to admit that when Trent threw a catchable ball to Hardy, he was often out-fought by the corner backs. Hardy will have to butch-up to play in the Nasty Football League. Steve Johnson was able to position himself better to make catches even when there was a lot more bodies around him in the red zone. And I do agree that Trent did not go with the deep ball enough, but I think it had more to do with Fowler and Preston being pushed into his face than Trent deciding not to go there. When he steps up, Trent can get it there.

True that. He was slow, missed assignments, and the big reason they brought him in was to pave the way for the running game....right - we know how that went last year with Marshawn either searching for the alleged hole or dragging defenders along for his 2-3 yard gains when we ran to that side. Dockery was OK, but waaay overpaid for being OK. R

ehhhh.... guess so. Then again, I police my kids, sit as judge and jury over all domestic affairs (while the wife is away), have an administrative desk where I take care of bills, I am the sanitation department, manage our telecommunications, etc... I wonder if I could register my house as a town or city and get federal and state aid for driveway repairs, education grants, social programs like parties and such - sweeet

You are kidding about the Steelers right... But your point about who have they signed recently is true, many teams do not make a big splash in free agency and manage to put togeher respectable seasons.

That leaves us with a practice squad guy Denman that they let go of briefly to resign practice squad guy CB Dustin Fox - I know, that's one nobody getting released to make room for another and doesn't bode well for Denman being a starter. The other guy is an untested 7th rounder. We'll be fine

I guess I would have to agree about the night life and weather vs Miami, but do you want a player whose main interest is the weather and the night life? NE weather isn't that much better than WNY. I agree with the Canada deal - haven't ever liked that beyond playing an exibition or preseason game. How long have we been hearing about small market, possible moving, bad stadium, blah blah blah - PUKE. You never hear that the Packers might be moving from Green Bay, but Green Bay and nearby Oshkosh, and Appleton aren't suffering from any population explosions that I have heard about. As far as gaps, most teams have them but I guess we get dinged because other teams in the AFC East have coaches that appeared to find a way of putting their players in positions to win. The jury is still out on the Jets, but they do play in a big market

the only ones left that I like are Coles or Housh. The thing I like about Houshman-mynameistoolong is that he has the height that creates mismatches and for the jump balls and he will win some of those one on one battles that Hardy just wasn't ready to do in his first year (or ever - the jury is still out). The thing I like about Coles is that he still has speed and decent hands that draws some respect even after 9 years in the league. After that, there are a lot of receivers that I am not sure would add much more than what our crop of rookies and bench warmers should be able to do this year. At 6-2 and 202, I would really like to see what Steve Johnson could do this year with more opportunities and with Hardy rehabbing they need to give him his shot. I don't care where he was drafted at, all this kid has done so far is make plays when given the chance. With the purchase of a new center, does that mean that Preston will be moving over to Guard to fill the Dockery vacancy? Folks have always commented that Guard was Preston's more natural position. Either way the OBD needs to lock up Peters and get this settled before training camp so they can come out of the gate firing this year instead of the mess Peters made of things when he returned late last year. Do that, and they can focus on Defense in the first and second round of the draft. I am still not sold on needing an elite TE, just one that blocks well, runs good routes and finds gaps in the coverage. If he isn't a drive killer - dropping critical passes thrown his way like Royal used to do that would be gravy.

and Cincinnati has it all over Buffalo... really? the nerve, that's like the toilet calling the urinal "stained"

This would be awsome - Coles on one side and Evans on the other with Johnson in the slot. Get er done.

I didn't see where you had mentioned Curry or Raji earlier in the thread, but I agree. Kelsay and Denny have done nothing for us, we have to see if Shobel is going to come back full speed, but I would hate to see the Bills reach for someone at 11 out of need who doesn't pan out.

In regards to picking up a center in the draft. With Parcells down in Miami building up that team from the inside out Modrak needs to get on the stick. Its no secret that Miami is looking for an experienced veteran center to handle the big nose tackles in our division, I don't know if we can afford to wait for a rookie prospect to develope and Preston didn't really wow anyone last year. I was really hoping we would sign a veteran center. Trent would develop a heck of a lot faster, and maybe would hit a deep pass now and then if he had a pocket to step up into. After that I agree, I do not see any clear-cut 1st round DE talent if we stick at 11 ( most of this years crop seem a bit light to play DE - they just seem like a reach at 11) , I would rather see them take Raji if he is there. Otherwise trade down and see if they can get a few more picks.

remember when a sad group of posters migrated off of the Rochester D and C and this board was born, yet here I get schooled by Simon on board edicate. How do I reactivate my old Left Overture account? Maybe the old guy will get some respect... probably not, but its worth a shot