dubs

I think that's what I meant to get at and then got on a Buffalo is a great place tangent. First and foremost, I think for an athlete it comes down to what's the best situation for them from a football standpoint. Should Buffalo get good again, the city is irrelevant. But I do think for some players that are younger, Buffalo may be a deterrent. For players a little more established, I think maybe they will see that although it doesn't have the glitz and glitter or a major city, it's a fantastic place to live.

I sincerely hope so! I recently decided that after about 15 years of living in NYC, Boston and Chicago, that big city living no longer appeals to me. It was a soul searching process because it also involved me leaving a very successful career to start a new firm in the same industry. In a nutshell though, the attraction of big cities slowly wanes as you get older. I found myself not really taking advantage of what living in a city was all about and began to actually become more aggravated with things like the horrible traffic, huge crowds, high crime, high taxes, and things being more expensive. Even going to the grocery store is a chore in a big city, especially like Chicago. The appeal of Buffalo is really being able to live a life with less hassle, around people that are more down to earth, and in a city that is entirely more accessible and affordable. If you live in Buffalo and really want a big city feel for a weekend, you can go to Toronto or take a quick flight to Boston, NYC, or Chicago. In the meantime, you can enjoy a nice house and do the things you want to do without having to deal with the hassles. The reality for many people in big cities is that once you move out to the suburbs, you basically cut yourself off from the cities anyway so you essentially live in a place like Clarence without the option of going into Buffalo very often. My wife and I are very excited about our upcoming move. I am proud to be moving there and feel like we are sincerely going to enjoy our life there.

What is this list you speak of? The only list that matters to me is the list of playoff teams for next year and the list of Super Bowl winners. I want the Bills to be on both of them.

Excellent Post. It's not even training camp, give this kid a break.

I was so enraged by the fake defending of Mark Sanchez that I think I blacked out.

Absolute Troll When Sanchez gets cut next offseason and floats around as a backup for a few years before finally retiring, maybe you'll understand how bad of a QB he is. Fact of the matter is football isn't like the NBA where you can attribute a high percentage of wins and losses to the play of one or two players. Sanchez was an average QB who's gotten progressively worse, not coincidentally as the rest of the team has gotten worse. It's ok to admit you're either trolling or wrong. Ha. You got me. Might as well made me click on that Peter Pan link! I'm taking a lap!

I'm sure that's how this thing gets priced out. Take the Vegas odds and calculate a ticket price, projected hotel room, and a heafty premium to come up with cost.

Take whatever you're going to put on this, bet on the bills to make the superbowl. If you put $202 on them to win the AFC and they do, you'll get $9,292 (per bet365). Probably a better return than getting a free hotel room.

This is a funny OP. O-line was probably one of the few strengths we had last year. We had a solid if not very good running game and Fitz was one of the least sacked QBs in the league. We lost a guard, which was tough, but we didn't overpay for him, which is good. We have a solid backups in place. Not too worried about O-Line. Maybe if you said Linebackers I'd take it more seriously.

I agree, very few prospects come out as can't miss. I think many of those guys you mentioned though were thought of considerably better than this group. I'm all in tomorrow no matter what. Should be a lot of fun to watch!

If the Bills brass sees something that makes them believe Barkley or another QB has a great chance at being at being a stud, I totally agree with you. I guess my point, more specifically, is that it seems to me that each of these guys have many more flaws than a typical QB drafted in round 1. Unfortunately they don't only compete against guys in this years draft class when we play the games. Therefore, I'd rather us not reach and forgo a very solid player just because we need a QB that badly. We can't force it. But, if nix, Whaley, and Marrone absolutely love a guy, they pull the trigger at 8. Sure. If the Bills brass sees something that makes them believe Barkley or another QB has a great chance at being at being a stud, I totally agree with you. I guess my point, more specifically, is that it seems to me that each of these guys have many more flaws than a typical QB drafted in round 1. Unfortunately they don't only compete against guys in this years draft class when we play the games. Therefore, I'd rather us not reach and forgo a very solid player just because we need a QB that badly. We can't force it. But, if nix, Whaley, and Marrone absolutely love a guy, they pull the trigger at 8. Sure.

I've been all over the map on this, just like many posters, prognosticators, kipers, and probably coaches and scouts. In my opinion, what that tells us is there is a ton of risk with ALL the QBs, Barkley included. That leads me to believe that while takin a QB could work out at 8, I think the risk is too high and you gotta get someone you're reasonably confident will come in a produce at a high level for a while. I think the bills gotta show some fortitude and wait until the 2nd round to address QB. Whether that's Barkley, Nassib, Manuel, whomever.

There's no evidence that playing after a bye is an advantage. I could argue that playing the same day and time each week is an advantage also. I think last year the bills played at 1 almost all games. Didn't really help us. At most, MOST, it's an extremely minor advantage and shouldn't really impact the outcome of a game.

WTH is a mini-bye? I'd say every team that plays the team that played the bills the week prior would claim they are playing a team on a mini-bye.

Jaws just rated him the second QB behind Geno. But I agree, his value is all over the place. IMHO, I hope the Bills have the fortitude to pick the BPA at #8 and if the QB they wants falls to them in the second, pull the trigger then. If not, then take a project in the 3rd or 4th. The great part about taking Nassib in the second is that it doesn't preclude us from taking a QB in 2014 if we have the opportunity to get a great one. If we take him at #8 this year, then Marrone/Nix/Whaley/Brandon will be more or less married to him for at least a few years because of the negative perception of taking 2 QBs high in the draft in consecutive years.

Love Spiller, love FJax, and would love the idea of trading Freddie, but doubt we'd get much in return. RBs are more of a commodity these days and a team could draft a guy in the 3 - 4 round and get years of production out of him, rather than an injury risk like Freddie and giving up picks to get him. Unfortunately, I think the best we could do would be a 5th rounder and not sure if it's worth it. Freddie is a great compliment to Spiller, good locker room guy, and will be a valuable contributor to this team.

I like your sense of optimism and I share it. In the absence of real games, it's all we have and I am fully on board with being optimistic with the hope that when the season starts, we see real signs of progress. Nothing wrong with that. As I said before, I believe the team is better than 6-10 and the changes we made at the top will help us improve. I'm not quite sure this is a super bowl caliber team, but I think we can make the playoffs. After years of misery, that'll be a huge win in my book.

Agreed. But then what's the common denominator? The city of Buffalo and Ralph Wilson. I refuse to believe that Buffalo has anything to do with it. Now that Ralph has ceeded control of the team, that's not an excuse anymore either. But, I do agree...ultimately winning on the field is the only sign things are changing.

I don't think it's that simple. If talent was the only factor to success, the Redskins would have won a couple super bowls in the 00's, and the Eagles would have won recently as well. The Yankees would win every year, the Red Sox would not have been a horrible team last year and had to blow up the roster. Coaching, motivation (doesn't have to be rah rah), good fortune, and talent are all factors. I think this team has talent. No one is going to claim they have as much as the 49ers, Broncos or Packers, but the margin is less that you suggest.

There is very little doubt in my mind that the right man will look at the Bills head coaching job as one of the very best opportunities to do something really special. Not to get too cheesy, but winning a Super Bowl in Buffalo is the stuff that movies are made from. It's a tremendous challenge given the recent history and can be particularly motivating to the right person. You couple that with the history of the team and some of the (unfair) characterizations of the region and you have history in the making. Winning a Super Bowl in Buffalo would be similar to Cleveland winning a World Series (or the Cubs, but probably not at that level). The coach who accomplishes these things is forever immortal.

I think the point of the original post is that a healthy culture change will hopefully build a culture of success. It can't be worse than what we've had the last 12 years. We like what we are seeing/hearing from Marrone. Personally, I think that piece are in place to have a decent to good year. I think the biggest change will be on defense. Wanny was HORRIBLE last year and it cost us, bigtime. The offense should be marginally better with Kolb, but hopefully modestly better if they use Spiller more effectively. Translation: I don't think 10-6, 9-7 is out of the question. I'd put it at about 25% chance.

Agreed on most points. I'm not saying they SHOULD take Warmack, but I wouldn't be upset if they did. I think that if they try to copy teams running a read option it's a losing proposition. They will be playing catchup with players less suited to run that style offense. I'd love to see a more innovative approach and if they decided they would be a run oriented team that runs out of different formations I think that could work. Warmack could give them that flexibility and it fits with the rest of their offensive personnel. Not that I really know that will work, but that's why I work at a bank and not in the NFL.

Disagree. While that's the trend, it's not necessarily the only way to win. I'm not saying run a HB smash every play, but if you've got five guys that can run block and you spread the field with 3 or 4 WRs, you create space for a guy like spiller to run.

Nothing would make me happier than steamrolling teams on the ground all year and keeping pretty boys like Brady on the sideline.

Positions I don't think we can afford to draft in round 1: Kickers (obviously) Running Backs Safety Defensive Back Defensive Tackle Defensive End (in round 1) Positions I'd be happy drafting in Rd 1: Offensive Line (other than Center) Outside Linebacker Quarterback Wide Receiver I think if we go BPA with those positions we need, that would be great. Probably takes QB out of the mix in round 1. Warmack really interests me. Give us tons of flexibility along the O-line and makes this a real strength of the team. Maybe I am too old school, but I still believe that a good O-line makes the rest of the team better.