PDaDdy

I'm concerned about that too. We have some great young WRs but people discount Lee's contribution if only in the coverage he drew not the stats. I have faith in Gailey and I hope that between Marcus Easly, Roscoe Parrish and CJ Spiller who are all 4.3 guys we can run things to still challenge the defense with speed. Showing my bias but Lee was pretty damn good. He's only had two guys that could utilize his speed in his 7 years with us. Drew Bledsoe and JP Losman. We know the story with Losman and Drew only had one good year. Concidentally if I am not mistaken Lee had his two 1000 yard seasons and better statistical production with those guys.

The only guy in that list that is an upgrade is Romo.

Dude! We can't abandon all hope waiting for some savior to come along. There are only a handful of QBs that are that good. They are hard to come by and find. What is easier is spending a few dollars building a great offensive line. Ultimately this is less expensive imo and more versatile. A great offensive line gives you a running game because it can open running lanes and potentially get blockers to the second level. A great offensive line gives your QB extra time to throw. Most NFL QBs when given enough time and comfort in the pocket can dissect a defense. Building a stifling defense is also easier to do than waiting for a Manning, a Rogers, a Brady or a Rivers. Guys like that only come out once every 3 - 5 years. You also have to have the vision and good fortune to pick the right guy as that guy isn't always the consensus #1 QB in their draft and you aren't going to have the #1 pick in the draft every year anyway. Any QB that is chosen to be THE guy is going to merit 3 to 4 years to see if they are what the organization hoped they would be. If you add it all up and put your eggs in that one basket waiting for the messiah you could be waiting for a VERY long time. Build a solid TEAM and stop waiting and looking for a savior that will magically put the team on his shoulders and get us a superbowl win. If that guy comes along or becomes available GREAT. In the mean time build a TEAM.

2 out 0f 5 does not an offensive line make.

I am encouraged by Merriman but we'll have to see if he A) stays healthy and B) what he looks like against real NFL offensive tackles. I know I'm being hard on Bell but the idea that we are still waiting on a 27 year old LT to get it and become consistent is something we would have never stood for in our heyday.

Right! In a live game 50/50 is not good. Fitz will need a will and a burial plot if that is the case.

Not sure which is the case but it's likely a little of both. So far it looks like good progress for those hoping Merriman could contribute on defense and stay healthy. He is getting pressure and making plays. Unfortunately for Demetrius Bell, Merriman may be exposing him as not being an NFL caliber LT. Quote from Paul Hamilton article: "In one on one linemen drills"..."Merriman made Demetrius Bell look bad almost every rep."

Defense is always way ahead when the off season starts so don't jump off the ledge yet. That being said you are right on the money and we need better OTs. Quantity does not equal quality. Lets hope our QB doesn't get killed and our RBs find an occasional accidental hole while we wait for the front office to erase the mistakes of the Peters fiasco. We ended up losing a mulit probowl LT and a completely serviceable road grating RT who was way better than what we have now. Time for the front office to admit their joke of a mistake and that the replacements for those 2 players were not already on the roster and invest some serious money or a VERY high draft pick to get those spots locked up. I knew we wouldn't get a LT the last 2 years in the draft because they want to prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that Bell isn't the right guy for the job like they did with Edwards. Once Bell and the fodder we are trying out at RT are exposed as being mediocre at best my hope is that between free agency and a first and/or second round draft pick in 2012 will hopefully fix the problem.

Well thank goodness for small miracles!!! Now Bell can remember the snap count that's called in the huddle? He doesn't suck every game just some of them? At this rate maybe the 27 year old will be a complete LT by the time he hits 33. Bravo! Let's get him a bust in Canton!

To the fans that want to bring somebody in it is implicit that they will be better. The "young" Bell at 27 has yet to get it and despite supposed annual improvement still isn't there. This alleged improvement alone does not an NFL caliber LT make. He still has a long way to go and he realistically probably won't get there if he hasn't done it by the ripe age of 27. At 27 he should be at the peak of his performance and looking for the best NFL contract he will ever hope to get in his life. Instead we are still waiting for him to step up. Lets wake up guys. Although unfortunate, injury prone is a trait that can't be ignored. In addition to his age and lack of starting NFL caliber performance the guy can't stay on the field. I feel sorry for him but it doesn't help us win games.

Nope but his talent evaluation hasn't gone from practice squad to NFL starter either.

No disrespect but I would like to hear or see that stat collectors answer to that question. Without that we can't be certain whether they do or don't count. If you are correct though and a run that starts to the left but has to be cut back to the middle or right for positive yardage due to no hole on the left then the stats will be all screwed up. It won't give an accurate reflection of yardage actually gained by attempting to and actually successfully running to the left.

Did you also see that Buffalo is tied for second to last for combined percentage of runs to the left? We also have the highest percentage of attempts up the middle. If we are that good running to the left as your stat would seem to suggest why do we only run that way a very small margin of the time and mostly try to pound it between the guards? I also wonder do these stats take into consideration runs that were supposed to initially go somewhere else. Does a failed attempt up the middle and an unexpected cutback to the left for positive yards count as a successful attempt to run left bolstering stats? Does a failed run to the left and a cutback to the middle or the right still count as a successful attempt to the left? I do love stats but you have to know how they were acquired and have to be able to intelligently interpret them.

One is a probowler and the other one is not an NFL caliber LT. Last 2 seasons: Peters 28 games. Bell 24 games. Right on. The most important thing about this post is how poor tackle play might affect our ability to evaluate the other players on offense we have. Some of us already know we need to get rid of all the quantity and get some quality at LT. Not being able to see some of the players you mentioned perform in conditions that allow their talents to shine could be the real issue. Ya just ask the players, coaches and scouts that voted him into the probowl. What the hell do they know? I would definitely trust some internet forum blowhards over the guys that actually know and play the game.

Hell no!!! We need starters not projects that might not ever pan out. I was in favor of paying Probowl Peters market value for his services so I didn't drink the Kool Aide 1 Bills Drive was selling that Peters wasn't worth it and we already had his replacement on the roster. Well, 2, 3 years later we are still waiting for that replacement to develop. I for one don't consider Bell serviceable. To this point in his career he is a back up at best. I pray for Fitz's health....and I don't pray. DUDE! I thought that as well. IMO it's also an indictment of the front office for not having ANY depth at the position much less an NFL caliber starter when healthy.

Not THE worst ...but pretty damn close.....actually...on second thought....it might be the worst I think he was referring to the line as whole. Oh, you probably knew that though.

How do I temper my expectations for nothing? LOL. He is a gadget player. He should provide some help here and there and hopefully one or two exciting plays a game as a QB, WR or KR. I think that's pretty realistic.

I am reminded of the old saying..."if you have 2 quarterbacks, you don't have one." In this case if you have 6 OTs you don't have one. When did the Bills go from the quality to the quantity approach to fill those spots?

but but but ....Just give our guys more time to develop!....Wait to see what happens when player X is not coming back from injury this off season...so and so is serviceable and still learning. Our OT situation is in a really really sad state and it has been for a while. Time to admit that we shouldn't have cut Peters and Walker because whether you liked them or not they were far and away better than what we have now. It's probably too late now but Ralph should have opened the coffers and gotten a couple play off caliber OTs instead of the failing projects we currently have.

We still don't have a high quality LT on the roster. Bell, Wang ....who cares? Until the front office admits that a play off team needs high quality tackles it will be a tough road ahead. I'm not saying we CAN'T make playoffs with the undrafted free agent and late round pick motley crew we have. It just makes the task that much more difficult.

Rock on! Thanks

In Nix defense I might guess that he thought Clabo was the only one worth it. That's probably just making up an excuse but I too feel we haven't been doing nearly enough in particular on the offensive line. We have damn good RBs with no holes. Fred Jackson makes his living off of cut back running which he was better at than Marshawn. Among other things this is why he is still here.

Right on. Thanks for the cold shower. The tone could have been a little better but this is what I am trying to get across. We have been so talent starved we are actually discussing who will be the king of the misfit offensive tackles. If somebody develops that is a bonus not a plan for success. It's like planning your retirement by buying lottery tickets. Sure, if you get enough tickets you'll hit. Unfortunately you might be dead before you buy the winning one.

There was better than what we appear to have out there. If the front office thinks or more importantly if the guy that is right for the job really is on the team you stick with them. But how long do you have to keep waiting and hoping that somebody gets it and steps up? We have been so starved for talent in Buffalo that most of us have forgotten what it looks like. Guys that have talent all the talk is about how good they look, how awesome they are doing in such a short period of time. Guys without talent all the talk is about "hope", "maybe" or "more time". You bring up a great point that it IS so difficult for all of the pieces to fall into place and other top free agents were retained by their teams who had an inside track. Not yelling at you...BUT THIS IS WHY YOU NEED TO RESIGN YOUR GOOD PLAYERS!!!! We caught lightning in a bottle and hit the lottery by turning an UFA TE into a probowl LT in Jason Peters. As soon as he wanted to be paid fair market value for his talents he was traded away. Good teams keep their talent bad teams let it walk. No other way to put it.

I agree on Wood. I was actually quite annoyed when we did it again and drafted a guy that played a particular position for 3 or 4 years in college and then played him somewhere else. Wood should have been the center from day one in my opinion. He was a great pick. All I can say is that the successful running teams have good offensive lines. Either Fred Jackson sucks or our line sucks as has been evidenced by 6 rushing TDs last year. Pitiful! Pass blocking isn't any better. Good teams see the need for a good line or a very hard to come by probowl if not hall of fame QB. There are very few QBs of that caliber. There are however lots of good O-lineman out there. You just have to spend the money on them not guys like Kelsay or other bums we have given charity to. Good teams draft until they get it right with relatively high picks and or they bring in guys that are STARTERS not just somebody to compete with and loose out to late round picks and UFA development projects. If you TRY with better talent, meaning higher draft picks and better quality FAs then you have a better chance of it "working out". This phrase is somewhat applicable but the saying goes..."I can tell you what you need to do to be successful but I can't make you do it." An original of mine that I am also quite fond of is "If you want to see a change you have to make a change." We can't keep trying to get by on the cheap on O-line and expect a different result.