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maybe thats what he did and did better than expected lol

I think a lot of it is want too as well. Did VY care about his wonderlic? probably not. He may also be dumb as a box of rocks and more than likely didn't care about the test. It should be shocking, you are correct, but I don't think it is because of the stereotype of the dumb jock. I wonder how many of these kids have to give any effort at all to graduate from high school/college. I am always amazed when players can't qualify academically both because the standard is so low but also because they are given so much help!

I have to disagree (but that is prob how he is overrated haha). He has a GREAT track record with qbs going back to his gb days. McNabb was considered a terrible pick by Philly fans and booed loudly (they wanted Ricky Williams). Vick was a lost cause, out of the league 2 years, never watched film felon/ He credits the Eagles with teaching him how to become a qb. He has 2 losing seasons in 13 (playoffs in 9 of 13)! 4 straight NFC east crowns and 5 in 6 years as well as 4 straight nfc championship game appearances. I think the name your looking for when you talk about overrated is Jeff Fisher.

The test is from the Wonderlic people. They gave a sample to the walterfootball site. It shouldn't really surprise anyone that took it that we did well. First we all took it willingly which says we were confident in our abilities. Second we aren't d-1 athletes whose primary focus is not education but athletics. Playing sports in college is hard. It takes up a lot of time and doesn't leave much free time for anything least of all studying. It is very much a job and saps the fun out of it for some guys. Plus some (not all) athletes are just big dumb meatheads so them doing poorly on this test shouldn't come as a surprise haha.

I know it seems like I'm flip flopping all over the place her but what the heck I plan on being a politician in the future so this is just good practice . I agree with you that Fitz should be given at least this year. With all of the holes on this team I would prefer a stronger core through draft and fa than mortgaging anything for anyone. I also agree that who is thought of as franchise can change from year to year. I remember at the beginning of the year when Eli said he was in Tom Brady's class and everyone EVERYONE laughed. He was still considered to be a franchise type qb with the potential to be in that realm. The disagreement is the same one everybody had last year. It's over whether or not Fitz can lead us to the promised land. Some people got hope from the first 7 games and others despair from the last 9. The thing I absolutely hate about Fitz? Every year when I start to jump on his bandwagon the wheels fall off. It's like as soon as I accept he may be good he starts sucking. It happened his first year starting and again this year. So to all of you Fitz haters its my fault I'm sorry

It looks like this board is filled with Geniuses! Or nerds that take test for fun! I think they are fairly similar with the two I highlighted jmo

I appreciate the shout out but I did add a few caveats too. I think there are qbs out there that every team would like to have (the elite qbs). I think we all know who those qbs are. Brees, Rodgers, Brady, both Mannings, Rothlesburger, Stafford, and I may have missed one or two. We can argue about Romo (who fit my franchise qb criteria somehow) and others but not Fitz. There is no doubt all of these qbs are better than Fitz. Which doesn't make him terrible but he is clearly not elite (I will add yet but c'mon he's 30). Those that want a "franchise" qb want someone who can put the team/game on their shoulders. Not some quantifiable number/stat. Some here are convinced that is Fitz but most of us aren't. Do you remember how you felt when Jim Kelly was behind center? That points were a given and the other d wouldn't stop them no matter what? I think that is what the people searching for a "franchise" qb want back, the feeling of confidence in your qb. Again some people have that in Fitz and some don't.

I understand these fears because of the 1 year wonder and big ten ties however they are 2 completely different players. Maybin was tiny and had run d as a known weakness. Mercilus does not have these issues. The only consistent knock I have seen on him (from scouts) is the 1 year wonder concern. The numbers are absolutely incredible though... 9 ff, 16 sacks, 22.5 tfl and he is 6'4" 265!

Just saw the text chat with Doug Whaley on bb.com and this question was brought up. Comment From ASmith What is your opinion on 'one year wonders'....although they put up good numbers their Jr. season?? a la Whitney Mercilus 10:43 Doug Whaley: You'd like to see the production over time, but you don't discount one-year wonders because there are a lot of circumstances that could go into that. So you do your research and you have to feel comfortable with the skill set that they bring to the table.

shouldve taken your extra 2 minutes

I know it wont happen because Buddy doesnt trade down but... There have been rumblings of Cincy trying to trade up for Richardson. They currently own #17 and #21 and could offer their second round pick as well as 17 to move up or the Bills could give their second round pick (with 10) and get 17 and 21. I would prefer getting 17 and 21 out of those two scenarios. With those picks the Bills could prob grab Mercilus and Floyd/ot prospect. Which would be a great first day of the draft imo. edit: I would also like to add that I think Upshaw will see a little bit of a decline in his projections due to size/speed concerns. He could also be a possibility at 17 if he made it past the Jets. If the Bills could pull Mercilus at 21 and Upshaw at 17 well... someone would have to wake me because its just a pipe dream but still a good one to have!

Its a 5 minute time limit. Getting the right answers isnt neccesarily the hard part its doing it in the time alloted.

We see every year players do well and others do poorly on the wonderlic. I thought it would be fun to post a link and see where people fell on the score. It's a fun little experiment that may or may not put a little perspective into how you feel about players scores. The instruction are on the page as well as a link to the answers and how to score it. I got 10 out of 12 in the 5 minutes. I didnt have time to figure out one of the word problems and got the one I did work out wrong (numbers 9 and 10). So I ended up with a 41 out of 50. Take it post your scores, compare, and enjoy! http://www.walterfootball.com/draftwonderlic.php

surprised noone picked cb as an offseason need maybe I should replace it with rb

my friend refers to him as grandpa gailey (bc of the glasses he wears) but I love that nickname

^ ! That sir was awesome

This is always what I did. I would then either gift those games or donate them. The first year I had seasons I was able to sell them for face value to some drunken idiot but no luck the other years. The drive makes it to costly to attend exhibition games so I just consider it a sunk cost and enjoy the regular season (unless one of the home game sis the 3rd preseason game then I might make an attempt).

Why cut him and create another hole? He is serviceable at the very least and has had ups and downs throughout his career. If we needed cap space maybe but they don't and probably won't spend what money they do have.

I think Mercilus is a more apt comparison to JPP they are similar in size (JPP has 1 inch and 5 pounds) and both only had one monster year of production. That's why he was my pick so I feel you... I didn't have him in there at first because I feel we are riding the Fitz wagon for one more year at least. Since I felt management wasn't going to do anything I left it off (it's on now thanks for the feedback) Added. Don't think he fits as Buddy's type of receiver but who knows. Now he's an option Thought you'd like that I was going to put Coples as PDaddys boy but I don't know if he would have appreciated it. Since your open about your man crush I knew you wouldn't mind Thanks I appreciate it especially coming from our resident draft expert I know about DE and also feel its a need. I'm hoping for wr to be addressed in fa with more than just a stevie re-sign then pass rush heavy in the draft (the throw enough sheet against the wall and hope some of it sticks theory). As for moving CB down. I would love DeQuan Menzie and Cliff Harris to be Bills next year. I think Menzie is underrated on the drafttek rankings but we shall see. What are your thoughts on those two?

Yeah both LB and DE were tough to pass over for me as well. It looks unanimous to re-sign stevie which surprises me. It seems like like there are tons of bashers on here that want him gone. Good to see the board agrees about something... hope I didn't break your site SDS

I gotta say reading those studies didn't change my thoughts one bit. Again I will state that the impact can't be measured in a vacuum. Different areas are affected differently by the presence of a pro sports team. The first one was about the DC area where there already was the wizards as well as many tourist attractions. The second uses 12 cities as "control" cities which is a ridiculous statement as nothing is controlled about 12 different locations with varying degrees of attractiveness to a tourist/consumer. The third link is about the yankees, mets, and cowboys, I've already covered why their situation is different than the bills but it does include this statement at the end I found interesting and think it does apply to the Bills. These quality-of-life benefits are not always included in the debate on subsidizing sports facilities because it is so difficult to measure these types of benefits. It is hard to argue, though, that one main benefit of a new sports facility comes from the improved quality of life of the surrounding community. I will agree that neither of us truly know the answer to this. Yes Buffalo will survive but it will certainly hurt on a personal/civic level at the least.

Thank you... as for the other vote who would you like to see stevestojan maybe I can add them onto the poll

Just some questions I would like to see where people are at this off season. I left the poll public just for fun's sake (we all know PDaddy wants Coples ). My answers btw are Yes to Stevie, Mercilus at 10 (or Ingram still undecided on this but leaning Mercilus' way), and WR as the most pressing need (but its a tough question to answer. I think WR is our most pressing need because even if Stevie does re-sign I think there is still a need for another playmaker (maybe Easley? but no way do I put my eggs in that basket). DE, LB, and even OT have pieces there whether or not they work out is a concern for sure. Anyways can't wait to see what some of the consensus is here... btw for you board english professors... should that be shore up or sure up on the last question? I believe its right but it doesn't look it for some reason.

Finally some factual numbers! My only question is did the Bills roll over their money? It seems like it is/was an option but that teams had to notify the league they were doing it. Is their any evidence that this has been done?

I agree with your post and would like to add something more. Professional sports teams and their impacts can't be measured in a vacuum. Each sports team effects areas differently. Imagine Green Bay without the Packers and how devastating economically that would be. With the Bills being the only pro sports team in town it would be damaging if they left to the hotels, airports, restaurants, etc... The impact of they have Buffalo is different from an area that has other things to offer. It is the only major ticket in town. If there were other sports teams or other draws to the area (I'm not forgetting Niagara Falls but a lot of that money is spent on the Canadian side) then the impact of them leaving would be lessened. It is THE identifying factor for Buffalo as others have pointed out. If your not from the area and mention Buffalo as others have pointed out they will either talk about snow or the Bills.