Latason

The point of the Flutie analogy is that there's a reason why he was a career journeyman that never was a legitimate NFL starter. He relied on what the national media perceived as "Flutie Magic," which in reality was a dominant defense and a lot of luck. He was eventually exposed and shortly after vanished back into obscurity. EJ Manuel, like Rob Johnson at the time, was a young prospect that we invested a lot in and if nothing else at least had upside. Oh and he also beat the AFC Champion Titans in the playoffs, on the road, if it weren't for a special teams blunder (that I'm sure Flutie Magic would have stopped). It sucks that he didn't pan out. But he at least had potential. EJ is 24 years old. We invested two first round picks in him. He is 6-7 in his career, which is as good or better than a lot of quarterbacks that started from day 1. At worst, he is at least what Kyle Orton has proven to be over the last decade - a career journeyman that has never had sustained success and was offered a contract by NOBODY until August. At best, he could be a legitimate NFL quarterback. Why not roll the dice on the unknown rather than stick with a guy that is unanimously considered a backup quarterback by every front office in the NFL.

Kyle Orton is Doug Flutie. It's less taboo to say now, because after last nights historically bad performance the world is catching up to how much he sucks. But take the argument with a grain of salt because I genuinely thought it from day 1... Every single talking head points to the switch to Kyle Orton as a season saving move. Let's take a look at what exactly transpired since he was installed as the starter. 1. A 17-14 victory in Detroit, where Orton threw a critical pick 6, and Detroit missed 3 (!!!!) field goals, including what would have been the game winner in the last minute. Orton then orchestrated a 1 play, 20 yard drive where he threw a slant behind Sammy Watkins and Watkins made an incredible catch and run. We then hit a 58 yard fg for the win. #OrtonMagic 2. Follow that game up with a blowout loss at home to the Patriots in a must win spot. Nobody puts that on Orton, because we have become accustomed to these losses, but clearly he was awful and racked up garbage time stats. So he is completely exonerated in the public eye. 3. A 17-16 win at home against Minnesota, in which we needed a miraculous last second drive to beat arguably the worst team in the entire NFL. At home. Orton's magic covered up another horrendous showing in the entire game (and shadily on the last drive) with a miraculous pass on 4th and 20 (only caused by an idiotic intentional grounding the play before). Then a magic induced 1 yard touchdown pass. #OrtonMagic 4. A blowout win in the Meadowlands, in which the defense intercepted Geno Smith 3 times in the first quarter, and turned the Jets over 6 times total. Clearly a product of Orton Magic...yeah right??!! Throughout all of this anyone that actually watched the games could clearly see how bad he is. Which means all the pundits, and I’m sure many Bills fans who (like so many Bills fans who loved Doug Flutie), attribute 100% of their success to the quarterback and none of it to the defense which happens to lead the league in sacks and turnovers. Ask them before last night and I'm sure they preferred Kyle Orton over EJ Manuel. But now that Orton has cost us our season by orchestrating a stretch of 21 straight drives without a touchdown in two critical games against wild card contenders, the world is starting to catch on to how bad he is. And yet, the general national sentiment I'm sensing is that it's still not completely Orton's fault. I FEEL LIKE IM TAKING CRAZY PILLS!!!! At the end if the day, I'm sure EJ Manuel is just another Rob Johnson and it probably doesn't matter. But why the heck not at least roll the dice on a 24 year old quarterback that you essentially spent two first round picks on, who at a baseline can at least do everything that Kyle Orton can do. There's a reason why Orton was not on a roster in mid-August (and Flutie was in the CFL for a decade). It makes absolutely no sense to me. And this is why the bills suck and will always suck.

Totally agree with your post.....great points!...anyone who thinks Poz is 2nd best MLB is either crazy or hasn't been watching Bills games....# tackles 5-8 yards downfield is not the dominating force a winning NFL team needs to anchor its defense....put Poz on the outside and get a beast in the middle!

NO...you're not the only one who thinks Jim Harbaugh would be a GREAT COACH.....learned the ropes thru the tough, physical cold-weather Michigan Wolverine brand of football....young, extremely bright, enthusiastic....and he's done a fabulous job at Stanford....he'd be an EXCELLENT CHOICE if we could pry him from Stanford....GREAT POST!

I think you've done a FINE JOB!.....with a couple of exceptions: Definite keeper: Terrence Magee (our best draft pick in the last 10 years!) Probably Need to keep McKelvin...jury's still out on him Unfortunately, have no choice but to keep our latest bust, Maybin. Last year's bust, Hardy, can be removed with the others you've listed.

I constantly see postings calling for upgrades to our defensive line and OLB......and while I agree we need upgrades in these areas, the heart and soul of the defense should be the MLB...and I can't think of a single NFL team that has a worse starting MLB than we do.... sure Poz makes lots of tackles, but how many of these tackles are for gains of less than 5 yards??....we need a tough force that can strip blockers and make plays near the line of scrimmage, not 5-10 yards downfield.... I would keep Poz, but move him to OLB....and find an NFL caliber MLB to man the middle and lead our defense. P.S....for the record, outside of our secondary, let's give some kudos to Kyle Williams.....a solid consistent force all season and a player to complement rather than replace!

Which is why we need a GM and scouting dept that can evaluate talent!.....and with all the criticisms being thrown around, how does Poz escape them??....WHAT NFL TEAMS HAVE A WORSE STARTING MLB THAN THE BILLS?

I don't have much faith in the # tackles stat....my guess is that Ellison's tackles are with relatively high average yards per gain, which needs to be combined with # tackles in assessing a defender's effectiveness....and I'm still not sure why this forum tends to kill Ellison, but treat Poz with such kid gloves.... even Chris Brown noted Poz's 11 tackles against the Panthers, but how many tackles did he make (other than his one 4th down stop) that were actually good defensive plays??....in my opinion, our linebacking is very weak and our real need is a Ray Lewis-type force in the middle that makes plays and doesn't get pushed around....move Poz to the outside and get a stud MLB in the draft!

perhaps you missed Poz getting wiped out on LenDale White's touchdown run....he's still a major work-in-progress on a defense that needs LOTS OF HELP!

I can't agree with you more....the Peters trade concludes an embarrasing debacle.

you're right on....where do the trademongers on the board expect to get an All-Pro tackle?!!....pay Peters what he's worth and stop this ridiculous bickering....we all want the Bills to recapture our glory days.....getting rid of Jason Peters will not expedite us getting there!