vincec

Was he really ever that good at press man coverage? Just a question. He spent most of his career in cover 2 type defenses right? Now at his age it's probably even more of a stretch. Besides the fact that he undoubtedly doesn't want to come play for a team that is perpetually rebuilding.

What I don't understand and what makes this suspicious to me is that Byrd reported to the team with this injury, which is basically an injury caused by overuse and over activity. How could this have developed in the off season? And if an entire off season didn't cure it how could a few weeks of "rest" cure it now?

I coached 7-10 year olds for several seasons. It's the most fun that you can imagine. Everyone having fun, basically no serious injuries of any kind and just enough strategy to keep it interesting for the coaches. The part of the story where he tried to draw up plays on a white board made me laugh. I remember one instance, when we were struggling to pick up an opposing teams blitz, I asked one of our offensive linemen to draw on a white board where the opposing players were lining up. He drew 16 players on defense. I told him that now I saw why we were having trouble.

Then you will never have an elite guard. As long as everyone is good with that maybe they can find another Kraig Urbik or an old washed up tackle for LG and move on.

It makes no sense to move Glenn to guard. He is a high pick and if he pans out into a great guard he will demand a high salary and the Bills will probably let him walk via free agency because they don't pay guards big money. Better to leave him at tackle and give him every chance to make it there. Bills need to find a decent, not all pro, LG that they can pay a reasonable salary- see Kraig Urbik.

I think you're probably spot on in terms of needs, except that I would really be looking for the best available player among OLBs and CBs in round 1. Also, no OG or S before the 4th round since the Bills don't appear to value those positions as much.

I like Dareus, but I think that the Bills are playing him out of position. He is a natural penetrating type DT, similar to Kyle Williams and should not be playing 0 technique and facing double teams most of the time. Remember the Bills drafted Dareus to be a DE/DT hybrid and how he's essentially being asked to play NT. I don't think it's a coincidence that the best season he had was when Williams was injured and he took over his position. If the Bills are ever going to be strong against the run then they need a true space eater in the middle.

Yes. That's why I said the NFL. This was college, and 30+ years ago. I remember watching the play live. I couldn't believe it then and it seems even crazier now. Most bizarre ending to a game I've ever seen.

Percentages are always much higher if you can reach the end zone with the throw. I have seen "Hail Mary" type plays work many times in the past but have never seen a broken field lateral type play work in the NFL. Maybe there was one but I can't remember it.

I think it was a pretty good call. The offense is not expecting blitz and is trying to throw the ball to the end zone which means that the QB needs 4 or 5 solid seconds for the receivers to get there. They will not usually plan to throw it short and run in if the QB can reach the end zone in the air. I think the percentages are much better for a "Hail Mary" than a "Stanford Band" type of play. No way the QB gets the time he needs with a 5 man rush. The primary risk, IMO, is that the QB scrambles to get the time he needs and then you only have 6 men in coverage. Newton did try to do this but couldn't get away.

Travis Henry. Can you imagine??? Obviously, Lou Saban is well deserving but probably not until after Mr. Wilson passes given the way things ended in Buffalo. I could see Christie. Maybe Henry Jones or Bennett. The rest seem like reaches.

"Vote early, vote often"- Al Capone.

If Trent Richardson is worth a #1 then isn't Byrd?

They'd better not take a LG on days 1 or 2. CB, OLB, TE are all higher priorities. In the end, how much do these evaluations really mean? Brown was rated terribly, but the team still rushed for 4.5 ypc and allowed only 1 sack. Manuel was rated below average but he threw for almost 300 yards, had a QB rating of nearly 90 and led the game winning drive. Whatever they're evaluating does not seem to translate into whether or not these these guys are contributing to the team's success.

Better for whom? Certainly not the Bills.

This was readily apparent after the New England game last week week many fans seemed happy for a decent performance and encouraging debut for the QB when it was another failure to do what's required to win the game. A stark contrast to NE who had Brady and Amendola put the team on their backs to produce the W even when they generally played poorly. It was encouraging to me to hear some of the players (S Johnson, K Williams) specifically reject that anything good had come from the game. However, I would've liked the coach to address it in the press conference to set a clear expectation for everybody that playing pretty well and losing is not acceptable in any way.

Apropos don't you think?

Bring it to the shout box.

So if I understand this thread correctly, with the rollover, restructuring and cuts the Bills will still have $15m - 20m in cap space next season the way things look now, correct? So it's not gone.

This and the thread about holding lead me to an idea. Wouldn't a team be better off with with big, powerful defensive lineman who can really push the pocket than quick, penetrating types? Holding makes less of a difference with these guys and most teams get their speed rush from blitzes these days anyway. Imagine a DL with 2 Vince Wilforks in the middle. Would be very tough to deal with IMO.

Get the TVs out of the training room and start prescribing more squats. They should just go ahead and IR Hopkins to get the roster spot. Why bother holding a spot for him honestly? You know, the way a baby's diaper might be "loaded"

This is not holding in today's NFL. The only time I ever see holding called anymore is if the defense player is past the blocker or moving past him and the blocker tackles him/grabs and pulls him down/etc. If the blocker is between the defender and the QB then he can pretty much do whatever he wants in terms of grabbing, hugging, etc. You see this on most plays. Sad but it's all to help protect the QBs.

How about the inability to STOP third downs. Pats seemed to convert them at will.

My thoughts: Positives- Manuel, Jackson, O-Line, Dareus, Alonso, McKelvin, Lawson, Searcy Negatives- Spiller, S Johnson, Penalties Both the Bills and the Patriots made some plays and some mistakes, as per every game. The Bills went into the 4th Q with the lead but could only produce 1 first down on offense in 3 possessions, meanwhile the Bills defense couldn't stop the Pats on the winning drive. It all came down to the last few minutes of the game. Pats got it done and the Bills didn't. Belichick said as much at his press conference.

6-10. But obviously, just because a team stunk that doesn't mean that they didn't have any good players on it. Of course, we'll see what this year holds with Brown and Searcy before we can judge. The other thing I would like to say on this matter is that I don't want to ever see the Bills draft a safety or interior offensive lineman in the first three rounds again if they aren't going to pay them should they develop into premium players. If you don't think these positions are that important then don't waste the picks and then have to let them go later.