rpcolosi

I agree CJ needs to get a chance.... but mark my words, if FJ is ever, ever on the market, Bellicheck will get his hands on him and turn him loose on us. Bellicheck loves fred, and loves players like fred. Unfortunately, CJ is not a #1 every down back yet. He needs to get on the field as a slot WR, or 3rd down change of pace, kick offs, whatever. But I completely agree with Fitz. Fred makes this team go, and Gailey is in danger of losing the locker room if he loses FJ as well as Lee. For a team with no identity, and its best player is a rookie, this is dangerous territory.

Let's not get crazy. 1 sack, 3rd string, preseason game. He is 225. if he can start at OLB, thats going to be one of the smallest OLBs in a 3-4 to ever play in the game.

agreed. when you play preseason you either 1.) try to install new plays / schemes (what denver did) or 2.) play vanilla to evaluate personnel. It was pretty clear the bills did the latter. Shockingly, Gailey, who is normally pissed beyond all belief at bad efforts, was cool and collected after this. To be honest, I think he was more pissed about his players getting hurt in a preseason game than anything else. He realized where they were weak (Bell really needs a TE to help him out against speed rushers), certain LBs still can't cover RBs or TEs (Reggie Torbor is the new Poz in that regard), and our receivers/QB timing just isn't there. I don't think any of this is reason to flip. It's all pretty obvious. On the plus side, the backups were much improved. Batten is good, moats is good, and Thigpen redeemed himself to a degree. The Jax game will be a more poignent test.

his pickup truck cruising down chippewa will always be a fond memory... For me the big one was TKO. I'm actually shocked more people didn't put this one down. When the Bengals played that last season here, and the fans had signs everywhere, and TKO actually was responding to the crowd, man that was special. Honestly, if the guy had never torn his achilles he would've been an anchor at OLB for us for years. Completely unfortunate (toss in Brandon Spoon's career ending injury and Sam Cowart's as well - for those over 18 that remember them both... spoon was ridiculous that rookie season).... plus - Takeo's karate move rivals Merrimans lights out. It was pretty dang good but i can't find it online anywhere.

F moran.... friggin idiot

exactly... just like the new stadium lease will. everything is getting geared for RWs passing and taking away as many strings locking us here as possible.

bingo... its the 1st preseason game. Give it some EFFING TIME kids! So what. Levitre got demoted for a practice. SJ wasn't always the starter opposite Lee in TC last year, was he?? Sometimes you need to light a fire... Keeping WOOD at center and Bell at LT is what we build around.,

has everyone forgot that Buddy said we had cuts as a means of upgrading the roster? Without a doubt expect them to check out Sitchcomb. Buddy already has a track record of waiver wire guys who were high draft picks (Urbik, Pears, etc.) He's right up there alley.

Or perhaps they are simply picking players from the best schools? I wonder, who has been the best conference in the NCAA the past 5-6 years. Oh, hte SEC. And I'm a huge OSU/Big 10 fan. but lets face it. Most Big 10 players and Pac 10 PLayers get a TON of hype, but don't pan out to their draft status - AJ Hawk, Poz, Lee, Boller, Trent, Gholston, Nugent, Maroney, the list goes on. While there are of course good players from the Big 10 and Pac 10 taken every year, the vast majority of solid/upper echelon guys, even later in the draft, come from the SEC. Don't agree? Start watching who the winning teams like the Pats have been drafting from... Aaron Hernandez, Ryan Mallet, Jared Mayo, Brandon Spikes... Ok I'll stop there. Stop insinuating some "the south's gonna do it again" mentality when its clear other winning teams draft heavily from the same region.

you must be young.... Greg Williams had an Ego. Gailey has the anti-ego. Might be one of the humblest coaches in football. Why does he like Brad Smith? because in our division you need to think outside the box to beat Belicheck (who is going back to the 4-3 in the perfect time, with all other teams in a 3-4).

Despite being tossed like a rag doll on "the play" he should get credit for running down Johnny Knox on the 70yd return. It was maybin who came across the field on a tough angle and tripped him up by the legs. I'm actually shocked he isn't a better special teamer. but that was an impressive play. if the kid could ever put on some weight he'd have a chance at LB. oh well.

1.) he's consistent 2.) he gets QB pressure just not sacks (the ultimate - almost-sack-guy) 3.) solid against run/holds edge decently 4.) relatively cheap. is he great? no. but even Scouts Inc on Espn has him ranked an above avg starter, which he is. Bills fan's expected Phil Hansen or Aaron schobel. He is neither. He's just a solid RDE/OLB. lets leave it at that.

troup was still pretty hard to move off the line and they double teamed him on a few runs. I think the kid will be just fine. Carrington looked excellent too. Dare I say this, but we actually have D-line .... depth? and maybe even some LB depth (if batten, coleman, moats pan out - they remind me of the trio of crowell, haggan, and _______)/ now next year buddy needs to go OT again and we should be set in the trenches...

maybin got pummeled by the LT. just thrown down. whoever keeps "praising" thigpen for throwing "beautiful balls" should see my early comment about his ducks. guy looks awful right now. basically like jp losman with better decision making when it comes to short/intermediate throws. not impressed one bit by him. starting OL was solid. Lord help us if Wang Reinhart wrotto or howard need to play during the season. Hangartner is still really solid. Naaman roosevelt doesn't drop a ball. kid is so fun to watch. excellent slot received against the zone. buster davis has james hardy syndrome - stone hands, poor route runner.

the OL with starting unit looked pretty solid. Ubrik, however, looked rough and I am really worried about OL depth. Wang and Howard have been a joke. Howard looks horrible, and last year he was at a minimum servicable. I will say this... Bell looked good today. not average, but good.

about 3 of those people are close to worth their contracts (greer, pat williams who i believe is now retired, and winfield). peters is a good player, but over-hyped. clements? cut. jim leonard? haven't heard his name mentioned since he left baltimore. fletcher? great person, same problem as poz - gets dragged downfield constantly. lynch? had the memorable run but wasn't quite an All-pro in seattle last year... spikes has never been same since achilles injury... you all just think they are great because they have a "name" for themselves but there are practical reasons thee people were let go for higher contracts. funny - but only a few of them went to winning teams. what does that tell you??? its all about the money to them. on a more impt note. We should be getting compensation picks this year for Poz and Whitner, and relatively high one for Poz too. Don't think Buddy doesn't know this...

we have QBs who get rid of the ball fast. that mitigates bad tackles. pears is a good Run blocker, while Bell is better at pass protection. beyond that, i'm curious how wang, hairston, etc. play

they were stoked when they got McGahee, who was younger and coming off a few better season than lee, too... oops. talk about a waste of millions. Nice job on that one Newsome.

So I decided to spend the $3 to watch this game on iTunes because I'm that starved for football I'm willing to watch that awful no huddle I forgot about. A few notes from this game that I think can bring some of us back to reality: 1.) aaron schobel was probably the best Bill of the 2000s. Guy was off the charts ridiculous against Matt Light all night 2.) Kyle williams gets no praise for his '09 season, but he was constantly in the backfield all game. He was the cause of Schobel's INT return 3.) Terrence McGee, when healthy is actually a really good corner. While I still think letting Jabari Greer go was a mistake, a healthy McGee is still a shut down DB (honestly not as good as Greer - look at the Football Outsiders comparison) 4.) Shawn Nelson has some skill. We just chalk him up to injuries, but if the kid can stay healthy, a relatively huge if, he has a lot of skill. He made a great block coming across the line to spring FJ for a 16yd rip early on. His TD catch and run was excellent too. His key is staying healthy, but I fear for any guy with migraines - his long term health is already in major jeopardy. 5.) Brad Butler was extremely solid. Sucks losing him more than we realize. 6.) Continuing with the OL - Wood and Levitre were really pretty good for their first game ever. Bell had some miscues but was sufficient. 7.) TO had a few bad drops. Lee couldn't do much underneath. Josh reed was still the go to guy in the intermediate range. 8.) Poz still couldn't cover a RB or TE then either. 9.) Marcus Stroud was a force on the inside early in the game. 10.) Kelsay is the king of the "almost" sack. 11.) McKelvin had a few nice stops in run support. Whitner, however, kept taking bad angles, perhaps because he isn't fast. he also waved his hands constantly anytime anyone on defense made a play. Not sure if this is leadership or just show-boating based on someone else's achievements... and finally.... I am really, really happy we don't have the stone cold skeletor look of Jauron anymore on the sidelines. Gailey and the 'stache are an incredible breath of fresh air

wait is drayton florence tweeting again? oh, nope, just picked up another flag for Pass Interference... (un-officially 7 on the year last season) the same drayton florence who told us to cancel our season tickets for 2011? the same one who was waived by Jacksonville? If yall want to moan about something, then moan about out biggest mistake of past 5 years - keeping McGee over Greer (thanks again marv, but also thanks Modrak for finding him). Had we not screwed that up, florence might not be so crucial...

you're right... the 88yo Alex spanos isn't thrifty at all... not like his team isn't closer to relocating than ours. the "money" issue with RW has been beat to a dead horse. He's signed plenty of big name FA from Paup and Spielman to Spikes and Fletcher. Takeo was the premier defensive player on the market that year. Did we win the SB? FA is a part of it, but it's not the whole story. For anyone who thinks you need to be a big spender and free wheeler in FA, look no further than the Pats or Steelers. The pats bring in a lot of names via trades, but don't overpay for their own players or big time FAs. Same story with the Steelers. Look at the phins big "splash" with Parcells and 15FA makeover of that roster a few years back. they won the division. How'd they fair in the playoffs? Heck, they've been significantly worse since that season and could easily finish behind us in the division. The key is drafting well. It sounds easy, but clearly as 10 years puts it, it's not. The best thing to do if you aren't drafting well is pick FO personnel from winning organizations who have. Obviously the Donahoe/Modrak move backfired. Taking Nix, Whaley and Moody who've all had time with successful organizations, is the ideal route. Ya'll gotta give it time.

Sorry if this is posted somewhere else: http://www.nfl.com/videos/auto/09000d5d82163c3b/Long-term-commitment Go to 1:25 but hey - I keep forgetting, our FO sucks. RW is cheap. Lee and Marshawn would've won us the super bowl, etc.

can't tell you how many times I wanted to type the same thing...

considering we re-signed Lee Evans, and Aaron Schobel, and Moorman, and Lindell, and Stroud (prior to going to a 3-4).... ya we didn't resign anyone who was good. just kelsay. WTF. would you have preferred we re-signed takeo, fletcher, losman, and jonathan scott? in all seriousness. whoever posted about us changing scehemes and regimes is correct. For starters, yes you keep great players in their youth (ie hopefully extending Kyle Williams). You also trade vets when they have some value still (Marshawn, Lee, and don't be surprised to see Drayton/McGee moved in a year or two if the young CBs develop). This is what good teams do. Do the Pats hit on every Draft Pick? No. But they get enough so they have a greater shot at hitting when they do pick (doesn't matter 3-7 quantity matters quite a bit). In terms of resigning the new guys... It is fair to say 2009 is Buddy's "first" class. The picks of Byrd, Wood, Levitre very much resemble the types of players he goes after. Maybin, seems to be the opposite. Either way - I think we can all reserve judgement on Buddy's philosophy until it comes time to keep some of his own draftees. Seeing what they did in SD, there is no reason to think he wont. Also, it's worth watching what he does now with SJ, Fitz, and KW. These are guys in their prime who are producing. If he passes on them, I'll jump on the bandwagon of get him out of here. But somehow, I doubt he passes on extending them (unless they plain don't want to be here - and of those I'd think SJ with the diva attitude is most likely to bolt).

I posted this in another thread but it got closed... have at it - I completely agree with the early discussion/peter king discussion on donald jones: Like it or not, trading veterans on the downside of their career is the Patriot Way. Now, if we had been winning more, lee might have fetched more than a 4th. But look at what bellicheck has done to build his team (not to mention, he just outright cut, CUT Lawyer Milloy who at that point was a hell of a lot more consistent than lee). You guys can't have your cake and eat it to. Either you get a FO that starts acting like a real FO and trades players trending downward for draft picks while there is still value, or you continue the model of riding them out through their contract and getting nothing. Ya'll can say Nix and Whaley have lost it, but they've done EXACTLY what the Pats would do and have done: trade AWAY - 2010 Moss and a 7th for a 3rd (want to argue Lee is worth more than that? it's the same as a 4th). http://sports.espn.g...tory?id=5653186 trade FOR - 2011 CO 5th and 6th (again want to argue Lee is better than CO? look at the numbers), http://espn.go.com/b...ots-source-says trade FOR/AWAY - 2010 Deion branch 4th round pick (this is about what Lee is worth) http://en.wikipedia....ki/Deion_Branch *** to be noted - they originally sent him for a 1st because 1.) he came from a winning team (always inflates value) 2.) was younger. and this is just the WRs.... This hasn't even touched on the other trades like laurence maroney (under achieving 1st rounder they at least got some value for in getting back a 4th - again coming from a winning team, value always inflated with draft picks). Bottom line - you guys can't have a competent front office and NOT have moves like this. Grow up and get behind the FO. Nix is following a winning model, whether you like it or not. Just look at what winning franchises do long term - trade the vet talent once down hill and let the young guys build up and start rocking out. Love the move = GO BILLLLLS!!!!