vincec

Really impossible to know without watching the current team but I'd say you're probably right with QB as #1. Too many question marks with Fitz and even if he works out you still need a long term developmental prospect unless you believe that Vince Young will be that guy. I think you're short changing TE however with a P6. Chandler is average and he's about it so I'd put TE at #2. Beyond that I think you'd have to say best available at this point until we watch them take the field.

Don't think that Troup will be there. His injury situation doesn't seem promising to me. I suspect it will be Heard. Otherwise, this is probably right although it would be nice if Merriman looks good so that the Bills could move Kelsay back to LDE and Johnson back to DT with Merriman backing up Anderson.

This is true. We'll see how it all turns out but it hasn't gone well so far.

Bills got hosed. Nelson- out, Batten- about to be out, Wood- 3 years, 2 major injuries. Meanwhile Peters- selected to the 2010 Pro Bowl and 2011 Pro Bowl as a starter and was a 2010 second team All-Pro selection.

Here are some additional facts: http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/7346254/buffalo-bills-dl-torell-troup-surgery-minor-spine-fracture "Buffalo Bills defensive lineman Torell Troup will have back surgery this week to repair what he called "a minor fracture" in his spine. In revealing then nature of the injury for the first time since being placed on injured reserve two weeks ago, Troup told The Associated Press on Monday that he should be fully recovered in about three months. That's a timetable that will allow him to be ready for the start of spring minicamps. The second-year player added the operation will also address a pre-existing back problem that's bothered him since the start of training camp." I'm no neurosurgeon, but I don't know how many "minor" fractures there can be of your spine, especially when you are 300+ lbs and must slam into other 300+ lb men for a living.

Buddy Nix is the teflon man. The 2010 draft was the Bills worst in the last 5 years. Buddy was the GM, but it's not his fault? Let me guess, it's Ralph Wilson's fault.

I agree with this 100%. People seem to have forgotten how unprepared the team looked over the second half of last season, the complete lack of confidence they displayed and Gailey's total lack of leadership. I still remember press conference after press conference with him saying things like "I don't have the answers", "If I knew what to do I'd do it", etc. I don't think you'd ever hear those kinds of things from Vince Lombardi's mouth... whether he knew what to do or not. Gailey looks like a good OC but as a head coach he's got a lot of work to do. If the team doesn't compete for a playoff spot this season he could very well be on the hot seat given the raised expectations.

No he wasn't. Yes. I love smart ass posts like this when the poster doesn't even know what he is talking about. Don't confuse the poster with the facts is right. I guess making a smart ass comment is more important than being right.

Bills want players who's "arrow is pointing up". Winslow is definitely on the decline, so no. And no to Dallas Clark, BTW.

Per Buddy Nix: You always want the arrow pointing up. Is Moorman's arrow pointing down or up? Also, why would a legitimate punter prospect have agreed to come to Buffalo unless he thought that there was a good chance to beat out the incumbent? I would imagine that one reason to kick it high and short is to try and force a fair catch by the return man and thereby create the opportunity for a muff. How much would one fumble at the opp 10 yard line be worth compared to a few more kicks inside the 20? I think that if the game were close or if we were losing I'd be trying to create as many chances for turnovers as possible. If we were cruising and the defense was kicking butt then I'd just try to pin 'em deep with the coffin corner.

Who won?

Remember this one. I have a suspicion that it will be viewed in quite a different light as the season progresses.

Seems likely that the Bills will do better that 6 wins. I'd put a quarter on this.

It's interesting to see that Spencer Johnson is listed as a LDE. I wonder if there's any basis in fact for this or if the author is just pulling it out of his ...

I still don't see what Smith does in the wildcat that Fred Jackson couldn't do better. Neither one can throw the ball and he's no where near as good a runner as Jackson so what's the point?

In my experience, non-unionized workers do not make enough money to treat their work as a long term profession. This hurts the quality of the labor pool. Here in NC for example, the joke is that if you can swing a hammer you can be a construction worker and if you have a tool belt you are a foreman. By contrast, when I was working in NYC, the electricians were 3rd generation electricians, knew everything about electrical construction and did immaculate work. Also, consider that if a worker makes a little more money, then they can spend it on other people's products. If they barely make enough to scape by then they don't (or go into debt). The idea is to pay a fair living wage to workers not the minimum that you can. I'll take you word for this, but the total projected 2013 budget shortfall for NC is $2 billion dollars. Education is only a portion of that. In my county there was a reduction in school spending of $100 million dollars to address the shortfall. That's a lot of jobs at the county level. A couple of F-22s would solve a lot of problems.

George Wilson. He is going to make the pro-bowl this season and finally banish all the Whitner talk.

Do you really think that the US would be better off without unions? Where do you think the money that businesses and industries save would go? I'll give you a hint, it's not going to go into average americans pockets. Yes, there are abuses by unions just as there are by corporate owners and executives (who for example take 6 figure bonuses while losing their clients retirements), but that doesn't mean that the concept of organized labor is bad. You don't throw out the baby with the bathwater. This is true. It would be interesting to see a graphic showing the combined state and federal spending nationally, it that's possible. I suspect that it would still pale in comparison to other spending initiatives. One F-22 costs almost $500,000,000. ONE plane. That would alleviate a lot of overcrowding in NC schools and probably a few other states as well.

People who think we spend a lot of money on education should take a look at the federal budget to see where the money really goes. Although this wasn't the final budget for 2011 it wasn't too far off and I found this a useful link: http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2010/02/01/us/budget.html The graphic makes the distribution pretty clear.

This is a pleasant thread.

When did unions become the enemy in this country? It's very sad. Unions were designed to create the bargaining conditions so that the people that actually do the work can make enough money and benefits so that they can make a career out of being a teacher, police office, fireman, electrician, etc. instead of constantly looking to switch professions or get second jobs to be able to afford raising families. I think that it's a worthwhile mission. The arrangements between the owners and unions that lead to pensions are just free market negotiations and are as fair as you negotiating a higher salary, Fred Jackson negotiating a new contract the Bills negotiating with the city for stadium improvements.

Right. Because teachers are in it for the money. People in NY have no clue how good they have it. Here in NC, (non-unionized) teachers don't get paid bupkis and have poor benefits. The results are class sizes of 30+ and even 40+ students per class in high schools and mediocre national rankings for performance. Schools in NY are ranked 3rd in the country. Maybe to help the situation, the state could start by giving more than 50% of the "education lottery" to the school system and not give hundreds of millions public dollars to renovate football stadiums.

I am curious about the defense. There have been so many changes that it's hard to project how things will be. At the very least you'd have to assume that with the all the new players and a new system it will take time to really start playing well. Let's see what happens when the games start.

This is the optimistic point of view but multiple leg injuries to 300+ lb men are never a good thing. Neither is consistently missing playing time that would help build chemistry with the other linemen or constantly rehabbing. Hopefully I'm wrong about this but it's ominous.

Week 1 9/9: Buffalo Bills at New York L Week 2 9/16 Kansas City Chiefs at Buffalo Bills W Week 3 9/23: Buffalo Bills at Cleveland Browns W Week 4 9/30: New England Patriots at Buffalo Bills L Week 5 10/07: Buffalo Bills at San Francisco 49ers L Week 6 10/14: Buffalo Bills at Arizona Cardinals L Week 7 10/21: Tennessee Titans at Buffalo Bills W Week 8: BYE Week 9: 11/04 Buffalo Bills at Houston Texans L Week 10: 11/11 Buffalo Bills at New England Patriots L Week 11: 11/15 (Thurs) Miami Dolphins at Buffalo Bills W Week 12: 11/25 Buffalo Bills at Indianapolis Colts W Week 13: 12/02 Jacksonville Jaguars at Buffalo Bills W Week 14: 12/09 St. Louis Rams at Buffalo Bills W Week 15: 12/16 Seattle Seahawks at Buffalo Bills W Week 16: 12/23 Buffalo Bills at Miami Dolphins L Week 17: 12/30 New York Jets at Buffalo Bills L 8-8