transient

His name is Shane Conlan.

Still, at 300 lbs, I'm guessing it was a bit misshapen once he was done embracing it.

what if Fitzpatrick is the next J Fiedler? They are both former Ivy League QBs, you know... which all gets back to the size of Fitzpatricks giant noggin. Personally, I think they brought in the second trainer to help Fitz with his neck muscle development so that he can keep his head upright while throwing the ball, thereby improving his atrocious lack of accuracy. HEEED... DEWN... NOW!!

You mean the year he should have been groomed, instead of pushing him into the starting lineup when they cut their starting LT on the eve of the season?

I didn't say they wouldn't do it, I said I don't think they'll do it before training camp starts so they can look at the young guys during OTAs and evaluate them. If you're bringing in a stop-gap veteran, he's played in the league a bit and the value of OTAs is less to him than rookies. If it looks like going with young guys has disaster written all over it, then I think they bring someone in. The fact that it hasn't been done yet is of little or no bearing IMO.

By the way the FO has conducted themselves thus far, I think if we add players to the OL it will be just before training camp after they've had a chance to actually see what they have on the roster during OTAs. Plugging in a journeyman doesn't make sense if they are trying to develop young players. Face it, we're not winning the Super Bowl this year, and the FO knows it. This is an evaluation year so Nix and Gailey know for sure what they have in these young guys heading in to next year's draft. I don't think it's a coincidence that we didn't spend high draft picks this year at positions where we had young players with unknown upside.

I'm okay with the Spiller pick. I think he was truly the best player on the board. We've proven over the last few years that reaching to fill an area of need in the first round is the surest way to miss out on a lot of talented players. Tell me the Bills wouldn't be a better team today if they had followed this philosophy the last 10 years.

Please don't let the invisible fire burn my friend!

Don't hide your man-crush, Josh McDaniel. You can express your feelings by buying however many Tebow jerseys it takes to fill the void in your aching heart. Stifling your feelings out of fear of persecution will only make it worse.

Eight Tebow jerseys?! Are you peeking in his window at night, too?

http://www.buffalorumblings.com/2010/4/28/...couting-reports http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/draft/players/558727 Not by any means a comprehensive list. Fact of the matter is he was ranked all over the place, from the 2-3 round, on up to the 20th tackle off the board. I know I've seen other scouting reports that were similarly varied. He also put up good combine numbers and played left tackle for two years in a tough conference. Realistically any tackle outside of the first 3 or 4 off the board is likely a project that won't start his first year. As far as the Bills "reaching", I have a feeling they had most of the tackles except for the first 2-3 overall rated fairly evenly, in which case why not wait and use the higher picks on other players that they rated highly. The point of my post, however, was was Gaither was a fifth round pick as well, and may have other issues that make picking him up less attractive, especially if he comes with a pricetag of a second round pick. As for Calloway, if he was rated so highly as a tackle, why is he most likely being moved inside?

I also think Nix wants to see how his line functions when there is a serviceable game plan in place. I'm sure the no huddle debacle last year didn't exactly allow for the linemen to shine. Throw in a ridiculous number of injuries and you have a guaranteed mess. There are some young players with potential, and one more year of experience. Maybe Nix thinks they won't look so bad if they are put in a position to succeed. If they fail, then he knows it's time to look elsewhere. Bear in mind that it's a really young line that has time to get better. Realistically, the interior is set. Green is likely a stopgap RT. That leaves three guys on the roster in Meredith, Bell, and Wang who could potentially play LT. As much as it sucks, this year is going to be a feeling out process with young players... a process that should have been mandated as soon as DJ got the axe instead of letting Fewell go through the charade of trying to win the job (not so much with the o-line given the lack of healthy players, but certainly with the rest of the team).

...they may even be flammable. The perfect jersey, unless you find yourself running windsprints at the bottom of an active volcano... I'm on FFFIIIRRREEE!!! (blatantly pilfered from Real Men of Genius)

Why give up a second round pick on a former 5th round pick with work ethic and attitude problems who needs a new contract when you just picked up a LT in the fifth that many had rated as a third round talent. See what you have first, and wait for the price to drop. There's a reason Baltimore is shopping him.

I am a proponent of Nix and Gailey doing whatever it takes if they identify a can't miss prospect, including "overpaying". Obviously there are no guarantees, but I want them to have the courage of their convictions. If the QB position doesn't sort itself out this year, I want to see them acquire one of the top flight ones from next year's draft if THEY feel he's worth it (as opposed to saying we thought he'd be a great one, but he just didn't fall to us).

Beat me to it. Was wondering if Eddie Murphy was cruising the place.

Looks like the perfect 4th quarter anesthetic for those games when the just isn't quite enough.

That was one season that came on the heels of a decade of good football. The post smacks of the nostalgia one feels for a dynasty or some other "special" time. Despite going to the playoffs in '98 and '99, the Flutie period in Bills history had that end of an era feel to me. I remember mostly frustration despite their record, and an overwhelming sense that things were spinning out of control. In fact, I don't remember feeling more frustrated during winning football than at that point in time.

Sorry, the Kelly era Bills of the 90s came before it. Don't even GO there!!

If I'm wishing, there are countless names higher up on my list.

I guess my hesitance to commit is because I'm not sure. As I said, I felt they needed to switch, but I felt it should have been done sooner. Given the circumstances and the untenable situation starting Johnson ultimately created, in retrospect I probably would have stuck with Flutie, however I don't think he would have won the game. So now I've just started a QB that I didn't think could win the game given his level of play at the time in an effort to maintain cohesiveness and not screw up another player that I'm not sure given the available preparation time could win the game, not to mention win it by enough so that his detractors didn't skewer him and crumble his fragile ego even further. Ultimately, I think Phillips tied his own noose with that one (or RW tied it for him?), and I'm glad I wasn't the one making the decision.

I know there is one play in that game that DEFINITELY would have changed the outcome, and it had nothing to with Johnson. So, if you are posing this as a "if you could hop in a time machine and change one thing" sort of question, then yes, I would start Johnson and implore the special teams not to abandon their lanes. For the record, I am not a Flutie fan or a Johnson fan, I'm a Bills fan. I agree that the time to switch QBs would have been several games prior. I also wanted them to switch, cuz IMO Flutie was done. I felt the timing was poor (kinda like firing your OC and cutting your starting LT mere days before the season started). To rehash but paraphrase my whole beef with the "QB controversy" - - RJ young, brought in to be franchise QB, of which there are few - DF, older with limited upside, signed to back up - RJ plays well early, but can't stay on field - DF plays well in relief - RJ, who in hindsight was not only physically but mentally fragile, loses job due to injury. This likely accelerates his downward career path. - Bills are contenders during this time, and need to make a decision, but don't, which divides team - 3 seasons of guess the QB = 3 seasons we could have figured out RJ wasn't the one and moved on, OR we could have kept him in backup role (ala Aaron Rodgers) until it was time to move on from DF My issue with the timing of QB change in regard to the QB controversy was it set the team and the QB up for failure. Little prep time for either to get on the same page, facing good defense on the road. The only way RJ could have ultimately succeeded there would have been to light the place up, which he didn't. Instead, he plays atrociously, but pulls it together for a FG that should have won the game. Instead fate kicked him and the team in the nuts, which you could say defined his career and the Bill's existence. More than just a lost game, I think the outcome, the circumstances surrounding, and the controversy that followed it pulled out the last little piece of chickenwire that was holding RJ's brain together, and unleashed the mental fragility full on. More than a lost playoff game, I think the decision was no win in the grand scheme of things for the organization. I also think the outcome and the controversy that followed were entirely predictable. I put the blame for the loss and the controversy on Phillips, or whoever ultimately handled the whole situation in such an amateur way, and not RJ or Flutie.

Beerball, didn't you recently have problems with your head? You should probably refrain from slamming it against a wall so much over something so pointless as a neverending crusade against reason.

The thing is, I'm not arguing that it was the right or wrong decision. I take issue with the assertion that the outcome would have been different. It may have been, it may not have been. If it was such a given that we would have won with Flutie, he would have played. No one can argue about what would have happened with Johnson, cuz it happened. He played atrocious, but he put them in a position to win at the end of the game. Asserting that Flutie would have played much better is speculation at best, and I personally feel more akin to fantasy, given the defense he was facing and his level of play leading up to that game.

So, the definitive word comes from a coach who is doubting his own decision? If this genius was a such a fortune teller, did he then go with the wrong QB on purpose? There is no logic in this. My point was that offensively we were just as likely to struggle with either QB given the quality of the defense we were facing. Assuring the world we would have won if Flutie would have played because the son of Bum says it's so is... foolish.