thurst44

To be fair, he looked like an absolute beast on special teams, always swarming the ball carrier (and we were constantly stopping their returners before they got back to the 20)

Yes, you can extrapolate...how many times have they won only 3 games...are you even watching the game? Or just whining about it? There's been a lot of good signs in this game, to temper some of the questions arising. Brooks alone has been a study in extremes!

What people might be missing here: just b/c CJ is getting a lot of carries, does not mean that FJ will be forgotten. I agree that CJ should clearly be the featured back, and get more touches than last year (and I hated the awkward "let's put one, then the other, in on various drives"), hopefully Freddie will still be on the field at least 50% of the time, either blocking, or making it so that teams can't focus on CJ. One of the reasons I feel Spiller is poised to have a historic season, is that he has Freddie backing him up/blocking for him/adding a counterbalance.

Yes...that is why they signed a QB who went 4-0 with a mediocre-at-best team last year. Don't get me wrong, I'm not a Kolb fan, and am an advocate of EJ starting on Day 1, by any means, but he's probably not particularly better or worse than Fitz. Chances are this team will not be as bad as many here think they will...most likely they will be mediocre as always (but more fun to watch)...there's a chance with CJ, Freddie, a good DC, and all that speed, they could be the surprise team...

There's reasons...Don't know the OP's situation, but we're having ours on Saturday, because that's the one time all 11 (one's a husband/wife team) of us can be available for a long period of time (and more importantly, the most of us can be in the same place eating & drinking & making silly, nerdy references for hours). During a lunch earlier this off-season, I stupidly and successfully convinced my less-postive-than-me Bills fan friend who was downplaying the signif of CJ ("team shouldn't draft RBs", "dime-a-dozen"...that kind of thing) that he was a special player...now, he's drafting right before me...d'oh! In any case, we're 7-4 Bills fans, so doubt he was dropping to 6 in any case. Frankly, CJ has so much upside, and there's so few sure thing RBs this season, he's a great pick at almost any position (and i bet he goes #1 in many drafts)

Or, maybe, just maybe, Mario is resting a small injury a week BEFORE the first pre-season game. Funny thing, everybody called him out on the arm, yet once he got surgery, he played up to expectations (if you were paying attention). And leave it to Sully to stir the pot days after the nonsensical, pointless hubbub had died down. MMD, you and Jerry Sullivan and your shared negativity are about as useful as the non-Glengarry leads.

Don't you mean Kelly vs. Rob Johnson? {running away}

8th in fewest sacks allowed and 2nd in rushing yards is NOT "average at best"...and that was with multiple injuries and turnover

But he does have the GlenGarry leads, and those are GOLD!

Other than the fact he is not Roscoe Parrish 2.0...but if you want to make a lazy argument...

I'm not seeing anywhere where he's been injured during his career where he scored 35 TDs. Welker's the same size, and while he's not been immune to injury, he's played enough to push 10000 yds. He's not Roscoe Parrish. Look, he's not even my first choice, but I'm just getting tired of these facile arguments based on attributes and not performance or facts.

Wow, thanks...you expressed perfectly what I've been stumbling over in convos with fellow-Bills-fan friends -- my issues with this whole mentality of a team having to take a QB in first round if they need one. Nicely done!

If I'm part of the angry mob, I apologize (we've given the term "angry mob" a bad name)...draft day is a giddy-happy day in my book! On that note, a friendly prod to the OP to re-try this thread...loved the idea of it and its positive light!

Austin is NOT Parrish...check their college records and scout profiles. And, you know what, don't paint me into a corner where I have to defend the Patriots and Welker as NOT cheaters! Part of my point is that Austin will not need Brady...plus check out Welker's stats with Cassel at the helm...not too shabby. Damn, you made me defend that guy. Jerk!

Ok, can't argue with that logic...paint 5'9" Wes Welker blue and he still will retire near or beyond 10000 receiving yards in the NFL. I still contend Austin could be fascinating in this offense with CJ, SJ and TJ (and don't rule out Freddie as a well-above average 2nd back). Jordan=slightly better Maybin? Maybe, but while I know draft experts can be lockstepping idiots at times, when Maybin was picked at 11, he was widely considered a stretch and an awful pick -- if the Bills got Jordan at 8, he'd be considered one of the major steals of the draft. Agreed. As a friend of mine put it (paraphrasing), if they draft Nassib at #8, he won't like it, but he'll get behind it, b/c what else are we gonna do as fans?

Austin could be brilliant in this offense (and negate our need for an elite QB), and don't get what you don't see in Jordan...agree that Ansah and Patterson are incredibly risky. In spirit of OCinBuffalo's OP, drafts which would make me giddy: Austin at #8, trade back into first round for EJ Manuel (would rather a qb falls Jets trade up to #7, lose picks, draft Nassib (i live in nyc, and the excrementstorm would be obscenely delightful), Jordan/Fisher/Geno/Milliner drops to Bills (or we take Austin) Trade down with Rams/49ers/Vikings get some combo of Eifert or Ertz/Manuel or Barkley/T'eo or Jones/Hunter or Austin or Hopkins or Allen/Vaccaro/Warmack or Cooper with first 3 picks (a lot of these guys would have to be in freefall, but that's kinda the point). Trading down with one of these teams AND trading Byrd for picks would "ruin my weekend" in both interpretations (really would hate to see Byrd go for so many reasons, would be excited about the flurry of picks, and simply rapt like an infant in the thrall of jingling keys). Oh dear lord how I would love/hate this!

Can anyone explain to me what people see in Ryan Nassib? I had no opinion before watching scads of footage where I see a guy with awful motion, mediocre arm, and shaky accuracy...basically Fitz, but at the college level. Not saying I'm a scout...just that I don't remotely get what experts are seeing, and any enlightenment would be great. Barkley, I get...not inspired, but can see where he could be a good add, if not a #8 pick, but Nassib has me shaking my head.

It's funny...top-to-bottom, it feels like every player on the defense (save maybe Carrington and Byrd, and Gilmore was solid as a rook) declined from 2011 to 2012. Whether it's Aaron Williams and Dareus falling way back, Kyle Williams having his worst season (if still pro bowl), or George Wilson and Nick Barnett falling off a cliff, it seems to much of a thread to dismiss. And paired with the strategic signings and Pettine's abundance of top-ten defenses with a team whose talent was not significantly better, this non-coincidence gives me hope the Bills will surprise some people with a borderline-dominant defense.

Or a crafty move by a team that has no elite qb (and, depending on how you feel about this year's class and/or where they will fall, no manner of obtaining one this year), but would then have two players who could take it to the end zone on any short pass (to go along with one of the better route runners in the game and a talented backup rb). And a team who hopes the talent on D plays closer to its potential than they did last year.

While I get the frustration with Fitz, don't get the absolute disrespect for Wilson (he's a Senator fercrissake)! Granted he had an off-year, but it was in a defensive scheme near-everyone here readily admits was at the very least quite flawed, if not a total trainwreck. He is a leader who was considered by many to be playing at Pro Bowl levels before he was hurt in 2011 (saw him on at least two different legit midseason all-pro lists that year). At least ask him to restructure, which he probably would.

This! I don't think he's quite as unquestionably awful as most here seem to, but definitely hope that if this happens, part of his decision was in the knowledge that he would have to win the job (in the most pro-Fitz scenario).

What will happen, will happen. Living in NYC, I've decided to root for good play from our players (except Fitz who i am neutral about since he won't be here), and if we lose, we could get the #4 pick, and if we win, the Jets look even more dysfunctional, and I schadenfraudelly enjoy reading the hysterical Post and News headlines mocking Rex, the Jets, Sanchez, Tebow, and all of NYC football...and we still get a top ten pick! But that's just my personal situation.

No, we'd just be hating Smith, Dalton, or Flacco.

Did you play NFL Football for the Ravens, Colts, Steelers, or Browns? I don't get how this is so hard to grasp...Buffalo is not without its charm, particularly for an ex-football player, even more so for a longtime ex-Bill. Hell, I'm from NYC and a New Yorker through and through (family is from Lockport, I went to UB), but I always feel comfortable when I come to Buffalo and am probably popping through for a week in December.

Really?! Is my memory eluding me? I could have sworn Sapp was borderline giddy about us during our early run last year...and considering our favorite team beefed up the defensive line, I'd suspect he'll be pretty positive towards the Bills.