JESSEFEFFER

Naaman has great body control. Just from having watched him he seems to play bigger by maintaitining great position vs. his defender(s.) That Hail Mary play where he beat 3 defenders illustrates the point. He maintains great position and then beats the defender to the ball. From the little I have seen of Hardy that was his biggest problem. As big as he is he should never let a defender beat him to the ball. I think he can make the practice squad this year and he can eventually make the roster if he develops more upper body bulk to play with the NFL DBs. Good luck Naaman.

Given the release of TO and Reed and the unknown quality of Hardy and Johnson and the fact that the Bills drafted one guy and signed one veteran free agent there should be opportunity for an UFA WR to make this team. Naaman made a good choice. Given the change in defense there should be some opportunity for front 7 defenders of the 3-4 variety to displace the 4-3 defenders favored by the prevous regime. With a new GM and coaching staff they have no reason to have any misplaced loyalty to the guys drafted by and favored by the previous regime. I think there is lots of opportunity for UFA's to make this roster.

I hope it's CJ Spiller "the Patriot Killer!"

The fact that he is still with the team makes me think he had little input into who actually was chosen. The evidence would have been there as to what type of information he was providing. His board might have said Orakpo or Oher and someone might have pushed the choice in a different direction. He certainly would not have been responsible for pulling the trigger on trades.

I love the concept. Those players in those spots would be statistically unlikely but having 6 picks in the first 107 should make any Bill's fan happy. I personally think that the rookie salary bonus system and the uncertainty in evaluating still developing talent makes the draft value board unrealistic and that's why we don't see many trades of this type anymore. If the Bills have a superior board they could get maybe 6 of the top 80 players in the draft. If this group can't put together an "A" draft board, the next 10 years will be the same or worse than the last 10.

Here's my thoughts: He was just as good against Pitt, Missouri and Penn State, IMO. He makes great ball adjustments which is a great skill to have. It allows him to play "bigger" than he is. I thought James Hardy looked very weak in this regard, moslty giving away his size advantage. I read some mixed reviews of his Shrine game practice sessions. Route running was mentioned as a weakness. I wonder if having knee surgery at the end of his 2009 season could have lessened his cutting ability a couple months later. He has no problem getting open in the MAC. Body catches were also mentioned. If the throw is on the body I think that is the best way to make the catch. It is secured quicker and it's not as likely to be an INT. If it's not on the body then the hands need to snatch the ball on the run. From what I saw he has no prblem doing that at all. He is smart, has great hands, and is not a prima donna, WR headcase. With more upperbody mass/strenghth he can see the field in the NFL. I think he will draw an NFL paycheck in 2010 if only as a practice squad player.

Just posted something similar over at BB.com. They have opened roster spots and have not filled it with a FA signing. I had just heard Mike Mayock talking about Thomas and how hard he may be able to evaluate due to his foot and the offense GT ran. The Bills might already think they have all the information on him that they need. Two gaping holes and the least proven talent on the roster is expected to step up. Somehere in the first three rounds seems like a slam dunk. If they have a guy evaluated high enough on their board, I can see them taking him at 9 and then getting some of the big man depth in the subsequent picks. Get the 4th or 5th best tackle or the highest rated WR on their board?

I am not so sure about 3-4 or 4-3 distinctions. It would boil down to this. What 3rd down alignmnets would the Bills favor? I think with most nickel and dime packages they would favor 4 man fronts anyhow. The 3-4 is favored on 1st down but probably not on 3rd and long or in short yardage. Having a great 4-3 DE would still work out very well on the most important down in football. Maybe things have changed since the 3-4 days I remember.

Find a team wanting to trade up for "their guy", maybe Dez Bryant. If judging talent is truly Buddy's strength then it is to the Bills' advantage to maximize his opportunities to prove it.

I go to the casino with $50 to play. Maybe I lose it all or maybe I walk away up $35. But in either case I am not a big winner or loser. Actually I barely played at all. If you want to define the biggest losers tell us who made the biggest plays that WON'T work out. The big investments that don't pay off. But, to predict this you'd have to take a huge risk of being wrong and looking foolish.

The best football the Cardinals have played in decades came because they brought in Kurt Warner to be a "bridge" to the Leinert era. Whoever their next QB is will be hard pressed to play better football than Warner. Bringing in a guy like McNabb can give the Bills some good to excellent QB play while they try to find or develop someone good enough to take the job from him. That could take a long time.

IMO, Ross Tucker has about the most insightful "explayer" commentary in the business. A smart guy who was in the league long enough to have gained some pespective. Being a fringe player he does not have a legacy or connections to protect. Too bad he doesn't have a bigger forum. I must say that I don't quite understend the O-line comment. I have come to believe that the two most important units on a college team are o-line and d-backfield. If you aren't sound in those areas you will have a pathetic team. One with a dysfunctional offense and a defense that constantly gives up big plays. The perfect storm of bad football that gets you beat no mattter how good the rest of the team may be. This comes from wathcing 11 seasons of UB D-I football.

Wade can blame it on his decision to start Rob. He can blame it on DeHaven's coaching. It won't matter to me. No head coach with two brain cells and two balls sends the kicker out on a first down play with 20+ seconds on the clock to make that kick. It should have been done so as not to leave any time on the clock as we would see happen on any NFL Sunday. Wade panicked and it left time for a disaster to happen. For Wade to blame anyone else is extremely weak.

Not surprising that sources don't want to go on the record with OPINIONS. Unless your paid to express those opnions, there's no good reason to go on the record with them and you don't have to own them when they go bad. Hey GM of team X why has your team just lost to the Buffalo Bills for the 3rd consecutive time? Aren't they being run by the guy you said was a bafoon? What does that make you?

Here's another take. They had a run play called, the Saints show single coverage on the outside and Trent chooses not to audible to a pass play. By not changing the play he would be, in effect, "choosing" to run.

Conditioning, or lack thereof, is usually evidenced by muscle injuries. Broken bones and blown knees not so much. That's Poz, Leodis, Donte, Butler and Schouman off the top of my head. It's a violent, unforgiving way to make a living.

If you park at ECC it's $15, I think. It has lots of green, open spaces if you are going with a group that might have reason to make use of it. It's also easier to get out of there after the game.

I think there is more susceptibility to fumbles by ball handlers that do not get hit during practice/camp. Put the QB's a the top of this list and a KR/DB that saw a small amount of return work in the preseason while other guys were looked at.

This is an ultimate compliment in my book--Freddy reminds me of Robb Riddick.

One of my favorite Bills of all time is Robb Riddick. Freddy is showing many of the same attributes and is the football reincarnation of Robb. An out of nowhere carreer path with a complete package of skills well suited to all purposes. Blocking, open field running, short yardage running, finishing at the end by almost assaulting the tackler and great hands. He is a move the chains talent. Both Freddy and Marshawn run so hard that neither is suited to take all the punishment they create either in a game or for the entire season.

Most left tackles cheat in their 2 pt. stance. They must keep their right foot within a yard of the ball and can flex their left side further back. I'd be curious just how far off he actually was. He was very quick to setup for the outside move. Just a head fake and he was there, thus leaving himself off balance and unable to counter the inside move so he had to grab the guy rather than turn him loose. He might just have to slow his movement down a bit to match his opponent. He doesn't have to beat his man to the spot, just arrive there with his man and neutralize his momentum, maintain balance and lock him up.

The thing is we aren't really aware of the flaws the other teams have. What do you suppose the fans of the Bucs, Browns, and 'Phins are thinking about their teams today? NO gave up a bunch of points to a team one year removed from 0-16. The Bills get them in the Ralph. The Ralph will have noise and, almost always, wind. Drew Brees has not played many games in the NE without climate control.

POW! (PROBABILITY OF WINNING) Somewhere between 5 & 10%. Everyone thinks the season is going to be awful, mostly based on the preseason offense. I thonk their most probable record after 5 games is 3 & 2. What do you think the fans of TB and Cleveland think of their teams now? We get them at home. Miami and NO have their flaws as well. It's sort of like familiarity breeds contempt. As Bills fans we are contemptuous of their flaws but all teams have them and many have bigger ones. Go Bills!!!

With TB, NO and Cleveland at home and the Dolphins on the road, what do you think the chances are that the Bills are 3 and 2 after their first 5? I'd say it's like this: 5-0................. <1% 4-1................. 12% 3-2................. 43% 2-3................. 33% 1-4................. 9% 0-5................. 4% We'll know more by 10 PM tonight but if they are at 2 or 3 wins after 5 games, they are still in it with a chance to be getting better throughout the rest of the season.

I think TOP is too simplistic and misleading if one team is running a no huddle offense. A better stat is to look at offensive snaps in relation to turnovers. If you have more snaps and are not negative on turnover differential then you controlled play. Scenario 1: Run 50 20 yard sprints with 40 seconds in between each. Scenario 2: Run 50 20 yard sprints with 20 seconds in between each. Under which scenario is your time to run the 50th sprint faster? Under which scenario do you throw up sooner?