Black-Eyed Dog

More John Clayton: When the Bills lost RT Brad Butler for the season, what was the brain trust thinking in signing a practice squad player from Green Bay instead of getting a veteran? The Bills are already too inexperienced on the O-line. Matt in Syracuse, N.Y. A: What have they been thinking all year in regard to their offensive line? Their problems are all self-inflicted...

Per John Clayton at ESPN: John in Geneva, N.Y., wants to know whether the Bills will take a quarterback if they draft in the top five. My read is they would fear the cost and take a player at a different position.

I noticed a nice catch by Nelson for 25 yards that saved Fitzpatrick on one play, and a couple of should-have-been INTs, too. His numbers should have been way worse. I have no preference between Edwards and Fitzpatrick, I hope one of them plays well, but neither of them will be a solid started any time soon (if ever).

They have lost a lot of the players that made ST stand out. They were replaced with a lot of other ST specialists that don't seem to be getting it done. I agree that it's a bit of a mystery that April hasn't been able to get more out of them. Wendling has made a lot of nice plays (on ST).

But at the same time, some coaches can't win even with talent. DJ has proven to be one of those. If by some fluke we wound up with a talented roster...

The easiest college professor is usually the most popular. Only problem is that you may not learn anything.

But according to PP the "vast majority" came on two plays. Other than that they only gave up 183 rushing yards. Sort of like saying "Other than that Mrs. Lincoln, how did you enjoy the play?"

Hopefully next year they can add one or two more.

I went w/ Marty M. - cheap and not accomplished.

It was just a misunderstanding about which over the counter supplements were on the banned list. I hear flax seed oil does wonders.

No coach will matter without a GM and some competent personnel people. No to say they wouldn't do much better than DJ, but who can work with these handicaps?

It appears that whenever a talented athlete slips through the screening process, the coaching staff can always be relied on to make them regress. Colt McCoy, Peyton Manning, Jesus... It's all pretty even at this point.

Good point. How worried can he be? Also, he looks like he's suffering every Sunday, so I'm guessing a well paid vacation isn't his top fear.

Metzalaars was an outlet, not the de facto first option. He was used very well. Also, I believe metzalaars = brick layer.

I also go for Gruden. Wouldn't mind Cowher or Schottenheimer either. Better than even it's DJ.

He was the best of the 4 no doubt. On the other hand, for a guy who's inherited talented teams he hasn't been overly successful. Which was also the case when he inherited a relatively talented team here (aging, but still far more talented than this group).

Jokes aside though, I agree that the Buffalo job would not be the first choice for any of those guys even if they get paid. Someone like Marty might feel like it was his last chance, maybe. We'd probably be looking at a second tier as usual. Who says that any of those coaches would be successful here? We have no idea what the coaching staff is saddled with behind the scenes, which may have something to do with the coaches we've selected and who have accepted the job.

I'm thinking we go with AVP or Bobby April.

Some of them might come to Buffalo if they were paid enough. I would say not Holmgren for sure. Maybe Marv Levy is available.

When you look at the last 4 coaches picked to lead this team, why do you think getting rid of DJ would necessarily solve anything? Especially this year if they start 1-4 (which I doubt). Remember that he's 20-6 against bad teams (2-23 otherwise).

After getting 1 or 2 in the AFC West we'd lose to any decent team in the playoffs (at least 23 of 25 times, anyway). It's true that the Raiders were a good team not too long ago, but they have fallen very hard. And having Russell, a #1 overall pick, be horrible and regressing, and Al embarrassing himself year after year, is far worse than what is going on in Buffalo.

I would say the Raiders would be the worst to be a fan of. The Lions and the Browns would be worse than the Bills lately. The Bengal and the Cardinals until recently. But the relentless mediocrity alone will eventually catch up with the shorter term atrocity of those teams.

I know what you mean. I've been doing it since 1979. These last few years have been the hardest. I'm sure I'll just keep on being a fan, though.

I've noticed the bad angles, too. He's also committed a bunch of penalties. But our talent evaluators saw something! As noted by many before, he is a rookie who missed a lot of camp time, so I'm sure he can improve. Hopefully before this Sunday.

Then they would fit right in. Though I have to say that Kelsay looks better this year. Not saying much, I know, but still.