NewHampshireBillsFan

We are going to have to trust that Nix, Gailey, and company understand this at least as well as we do, maybe even a little better. Let's just see how it plays out this year for the OL, esp. LT. I predict the line will be better than last year and the QB will have a bit more time to throw and our run game will be better. Trust Nix and Gailey a little bit that they will come up with an offense that will work.

The point is that everyone in the world now knows what Drew Bledsoe and the Bills OL knew at the time, that JP is not an NFL caliber QB. Bledsoe said he did not want to be a backup, especially to JP. Unfortunately, the Bills coaches, GM, etc. did not understand that and we wasted quite a bit of time learning the hard way that JP was not the answer. Personally, I think it was a Donahoe decision to announce without competition that it was JP's job to be the Bills starter. Donahoe had to prove his draft of JP in the first round was justified.

I think some people think that Tom Donahoe is still in charge of the Bills drafting. Tebow would have been his kind of pick and he would have gotten to about pick 20 to get him, kind of like JP Losman. Tebow will be a project at QB and may never pan out. We already have 3 of those and don't need a fourth and Nix and Gailey are smart enough to realize that.

He didn't look sad. He was emotional and fighting back tears. I think he was excited to be picked that high.

If someone is obnoxious in a way that he thinks he is great or something, that is fine. It justs puts more pressure on himself to prove himself. I want Maybin to line up on every play thinking he is going to get to the QB. I also want him to put all the work into developing himself that he has a realistic chance of doing that. The impression I get is he wants to work hard to get there this year.

Quite true. But the truth of the matter is that Shanahan is not that much of a better coach than Gailey. If Gailey had been a HC with John Elway as his QB all those years he also might have won a SB. Talent is the difference a lot of times. That being said I'm glad we didn't have enough talent to keep Jauron here any longer, because he was an awful coach. Anyway, don't be surprised if Shanahan never takes the 'skins to the SB. Few coaches are able to coach two different teams to a world championship or even a SB appearance.

The only question for me is will the Bills sweep the Jets this year or only go 1-1 like last year. The Jets are way overrated like they usually are for some reason. Maybe because they play in the NYC area. Everything fell in place for them last year. It won't be so easy this year.

Even with Brohm or Fitzpatrick or Edwards starting they are not playing for the first pick next year. The team is not nearly that bad. Heck we used to start JP Losman for years and we never got into the bottom five in the league. Our team is pretty good even with the QBs we have. With less injuries last year and less incredible stupidness (McKelvin in week one) and horrible coaching, we would easily have been 8-8 or 9-7 last year. That doesn't mean we shouldn't try to upgrade QB, and I think they will still try to do that. But I have confidence that Chan will find a way to make this offense work this year.

We won't get a low second for him. There is no use exaggerating the trade value of players on our team. I love Kyle but no team will give a low second for him. How many times have we read on this board that we need to upgrade DT and Kyle should be a backup and not a starter. Now he is worth a low second?

Much better for McNabb to go to a team without an extension if he has a good year this year. He can then take bids on his services for the future. It is the Bills who would have to insist on an extension because it makes no sense to give up valuable draft picks for a short term player.

Injury prone OL men aren't worth $10 million a year and Peters is an injury prone OL man. We'll have to see about Wood. My prediction for Peters last year was that he would get injured and miss games. He did. My prediction is he will miss more games due to injury in the next couple of years, probably in 2010. And then coming back from injury he won't be in the best shape and that will cause more problems for his team. The point is based on last year with Philly it is a good thing we did not sign JP to a long term, high money contract.

His choice is to ride the bench because he will get paid a very nice salary this year and next year he can sign with anyone and would be a highly sought FA. Why would McNabb sign a long term deal NOW with any team that trades for him. That would be stupid for him. Point is McNabb holds ALL the cards at this point. No team will trade much for him if he doesn't sign a long term extension with them. Reid and Philly were stupid in this situation. They should never have insisted on a #1 for a QB with one year to go on a contract. Now everyone knows they are desperate to move him and his trade value is plummeting.

I predicted Peters would be injured part of last year and he was. I expect more gimping in the future, in fact most years with him. He is a big guy who doesn't always work out to stay in the best shape and is the type of player prone to get nagging injuries most years.

The last true face we had for our franchise was Doug Flutie. Seriously. And its true it usually is a QB. Bledsoe didn't become our face because he only had 1/2 of a good season while he was here.

Just having Byrd sitting back there with his sure hands and eye for the ball will make QBs and OCs lives miserable. They realize they won't be able to get away with anything and get any bad throws back. That will make them have to play more conservative and play more like Trent Edwards. Anytime you make an opposing QB play like Trent Edwards you have achieved a lot. By the way 9 interceptions, no matter what else he does or does not do, make him a pro bowl FS. Ints. change games around more than anything else, esp. playing against good teams.

I agree. The worst quote from Jauron of all his stupid quotes was that you could never have enough DBs. That may be true on some level but more true is you are only as strong as your weakest link. Having a team with substandard talent in many areas and a boat load of good DBs is idiotic. Still, somehow I trust Nix and co. to make a good call even if it turns out to be something other than QB or LT at number 9.

I would rather have Nix in charge than Holmgren, if Nix does indeed have full authority on the football side. Nix is a personnel guy and Holmgren was a great coach from a great coaching tree. Holmgren as a personnel guy, esp. in the draft, has left a lot to be desired.

That was a dumb draft pick to begin with for the Browns, #22 overall, and Quinn and co. were shocked he lasted that long and was not a top ten pick! I remember Quinn saying it didn't matter that he was drafted that late because in the years to come his success would prove that he was a great pick, etc. Kind of makes me feel better about the Losman pick for us. Well, not really. We wasted a lot more time and hopes on Losman than the Browns did on Quinn. Holmgren knows how to evaluate QBs. I like to think Gailey and co. do as well, at least a lot better than anyone else in the last 10 years for the Bills.

I think we are being too pessimistic. Nix has said we are not that far away and so has Gailey. Consider these points: 1.) With any luck we would have been 8-8 last year. Are we going to be a lot worse this year with the changes being made? TO leaving is not a big loss because he looked so uncommitted last year the way he played on so many downs. Schobel is a loss but every team loses some players to retirement regularly. 2.) Gailey has said they will play to the personnel's strength. So they may play a lot of 4-3 this year if the players fit that mold better. Its not like they will stick to the 3-4 if we don't have the players for it right now and it is not working right now. Gailey is a strong competitor and he will try to win each game and not just build for the future. 3.) Gailey is a much better coach than Jauron. For one thing he will know how to get the most out of the offense and whatever QBs he has. 4.) We still have the draft and the rest of FA to fill some holes. 5.) With any luck at all and better conditioning we won't have all the injuries we had last year. 6.) Other teams also have problems they are trying to address and mistakes in the past they have made. For example I recently heard on a NE* radio station that the Pats* only got 5 starters from the 45 players they drafted the last 5 years. They will struggle more and more as the old core leaves and retires.

I think Whaley is busy enough looking at outside FAs that might fit in Buffalo. The current roster is being evaluated with a fine tooth comb by both Nix and Gailey and the assistant coaches. I think Gailey and company will have a huge say in who stays and who goes but Nix is ultimately in charge. I don't think Nix took this job to delegate mainly to Whaley, but Whaley's role in pro personnel is very important. Also, as assistant GM Nix may involve him in everything. But to be tasked to evaluate our own roster is a stretch and I think he is playing only a relatively small role in that, below Nix and Gailey.

The ST players were not cut for no apparent reason and certainly not to save money. They were cut because it is clear there will be a new philosophy of special teams where nearly every player must also be a solid backup for defense or offense. With all the injuries we had last year this thinking should be understandable to us. We had to pick up free agents off the street or practice squad players because some of our players were only really able to be great special teams players and could not be seriously asked to back up a position when the starter went down.

The main reason we always selected DBs high when DJ had a major say was because he had to protect his future. No matter how bad the Bills did he had to be able to show the Def backfield played very solid. This way he could get his old job back as a DB coach. And it worked like a charm for him as we can see in his new gig as DB coach at Philly. Now we will not draft DBs high as even Nix and Gailey said that the Defensive backfield is one area of the team that seems solid.

The Bills should have been at least .500 in 2009 and I expect them to be better in 2010. As Nix has said they are not that far away. We would have been at least 8-8 in 2009 if we don't give away the NE* game with McKelvin not gong down when first hit and if we would not have had so many injuries to name just two issues, not to mention the terrible game day coaching. I say the Bills go at least 9-7 in 2010.

I hope you are wrong and I know you also hope you are wrong. I see things differently. If Nix would have still been with the Chargers and we brought him in I think everyone would have thought it was a good choice. I think Gailey is a great offensive mind, something we haven't had in a HC for a long time. You can't go by GT. That is college, which is mostly recruiting and GT is not in the top echelon of schools that great players want to go to. If you don't have great players you try to compensate by either being too risky at times on the field or too conservative, and then you get negative comments for that. I think the assistant coaches will do well. The most important thing is to have everyone on the same page and Gailey is pulling in people who know what he wants to do and want to do the same thing in their approach. Contrast that with Jauron and Turk last year.

The new coaching staff has indicated they consider Chris Ellis as a possible OLB as well as Maybin.