PDaDdy

Thanks for the 2009 footage. To bad you couldn't find anything from 2010. Again, I'm not knocking Fitz and I don't think QB is in our top 3 needs but a 3 - 5 step drop back rainbow? Looked like fitz was about at the limit of his range. You will also notice in that play that the deep safety was doubled up on Evans and they tried to run a LB out to cover the slant pattern to Owens. Basically he had single coverage deep and Fitz threw it up there and delivered a nice ball. I think we can say that throwing deep is not really Fitz's strength even though he can chuck 1 or 2 a year that far getting a great presnap read and match up. Conversely there are guys that make that 2009 throw OR FARTHER several times a game. Hopefully you get the difference. Probably the last time we had a QB with a strong arm that didn't throw out routes 15 yards down field. Riddle me this Batman since you apparently have stats on YAC for individual pass plays....When is the last time Larry Fitz had YAC for over 40 yards, Andre Johnson etc?

This team needs starters that are head and shoulders above the almost interchangeable "depth" we have at any position on the line. Most of us don't know or care who has started the last 10 games at RT. They are all poor to mediocre. It's the shotgun approach. If you throw enough bodies at the position playing the odds they figure somebody will step up and rise above the rest. Sadly the best guy we have had at RT in a long while was Langston Walker and we screwed that up by dumping him when it became obvious he wasn't a quick footed athletic guy that could take over at LT for Jason Peters. We love to make holes for ourselves. Didn't seem to matter when we drafted Whitner

+1 The Bills LOVE LOVE LOVE to create holes for themselves and then use time and resource to fill them again. Maybe somebody will figure out if you develop some stability from a player turnover perspective at certain positions you can use those resources to fill other holes at other positions that are never properly addressed. The most glaring example of this is in the defensive secondary. Buffalo has used approximately 40% of it's FIRST ROUND DRAFT PICKS the last 12 years on defensive backs. This is IN SPITE of the fact that we also bring in free agents and develop undrafted guys into starters. That is DUMB! I guess they felt the DBs were "best player available" where we usually draft. Conversely on the lines we screw it all up. When we do use a first round pick on our lines we draft busts on the defensive side or use high picks to draft guards instead of elite tackles like other teams. We crapped out on Mike Williams but does that mean we can never use a first round pick on a tackle? What a waste.

Why would we keep him? We drafted a center in the first round so that he could play guard!!!

People not understanding that Evans game is predicated on the "threat" of deep speed opening up everything else has gotten incredibly old. People who want to bash can bash but it doesn't mean they know what they are talking about. One of these other players you mentioned actually used one of my favorite phrases on TV this week. "I can't throw the ball to myself." Pretty much sums it up. If a QB doesn't present a credible real threat of being able to hit Evans 40, 50, 60 yards "in the air" down field then his game becomes limited. Do you blame a Porsche for the failings of it's driver? You can certainly say that Lee isn't the BEST fit with Fitz but that's not really either of their faults in my opinion.

Not talking run after the catch. Talking "in the air". I'm not knocking Fitz but the "nfl" deep ball isn't his "strength". Pun intended.

I think that Fitz is definitely making the line look better but it isn't that bad either. We have some pieces. Many of them are young. They just need to be moved around like starting Wood at center and playing the position that he was drafted at. We also need a RT,(Wang?) and Bell needs to get better at run blocking. Other than drafting a rookie LT to start from day one I see us going defense. The Bills seem committed to Bell so the LT scenario seems unlikely. Defense it is. The question is where? I say DE and/or LB. We need a pass rusher and somebody that can hold the edge and not get burned on cut back or misdirection runs which seem to be our bane. A freak, pass rushing, big LB that is an asset not a liability in the run game is what I want to see with our first pick. Problem is, does that guy exist in this draft and will he be both available and worth taking around the 6th overall pick which is what we are probably looking at?

I was never big on Hangartner but he has proven to be a very serviceable center. That being said Eric Wood was a first round pick center. He should be the center of the future and seemed to handle himself quite well Sunday. Almost as big an interest for me are the RT and LT spots. Before the thumb injury which cost him a lot of time I was hoping that Wang would get plugged in at RT. He was a TE in 2006 in college and stepped up at LT. I can't imagine that he can be any worse than what we have. Bell has become a serviceable LT but I'm still skeptical that he can be REALLY good. He needs to get better at run blocking. I guess you can't always have elite players at every position but I want for better. I know a lot of people aren't in favor of the potential move but I think we need to have a rookie LT come in and REALLY push him for the job if not take it out right. That being said the Bills seem committed to Bell. We may already have enough pieces for the line to continue to get better but something has to be done at the RT spot and Bell needs to continue to improve in particular run blocking as mentioned. This team needs to be more successful at the run game to get over .500 and our OT's are not helping in this respect. It is a small sample size but Wood seemed cable of handling those big super sized NT's we constantly face.

When did we get a QB who can throw a deep ball over 40 yards? I must have missed that. I think the young guys will actually do really well. Most of the time Lee is a deep threat decoy because Fitz's strengths are short to intermediate passes, making calls at the line, getting his offensive line blocking the right guys, taking some calculated risks and using his underrated running ability. Lee is most effective with a guy that can throw the deep ball. He is a constant threat that draws attention and he and Roscoe represent the only 4+ year veteran presence. Unfortunately the only guys he has played with that have had the arm to truly take advantage of his ridiculous deep speed were Drew Bledsoe and JP Losman +1

I agree. Tackles aren't everything. Poz has a LOT of tackles but I don't see a dominant player on the field. We gave up additional draft picks to move up in the 2nd round to get this guy and to this point imo he hasn't out played the guy he replaced. London Fletcher has easily played as well as Poz and isn't injury prone. All we had to do was pay the guy to keep him and use our draft picks on positions of real need. At the time the supposed reasoning was that although London Fletcher got a LOT of tackles, (sound familiar?), he wasn't worth the money and was let go. I'm not saying we should let Poz go but more lets not make the same mistake again. My inability to understand why this guy is the fan favorite aside we should renew his contract and use our draft picks on other positions of need.

Is this Carimi guy the same one that http://walterfootball.com/draft2011OT.php calls an over hyped, raw prospect who can't pass protect and lacks natural athleticism? OH BOY!!! Where do we sign this kid up????

I agree to an extent with your points. One thing that we as fans don't seem to take into consideration is injuries. Peters came back from injury, had a so so year "for him" and he is an out of shape bum that sucks. Bell comes back from injury and people give him a pass and say that he is still getting healthy and has incredible upside. You can't use the same argument to support two opposite conclusions. Do I think there is some "reputation" involved in the pro bowl nominations. Sure, some. Players and coaches know who the good guys are that they have to game plan for. They might give that player the nod even if they have been nicked up because they feel that player is the best at that position when completely healthy. I have been known to be arrogant and opinionated but even I'm not stupid enough to argue that probowl selections don't matter. Excuse me for trusting the opinions of the actual professionals and the guys that have to line up against a player over an internet forum blow hard like some here. I am one of those blow hards but that level of arrogance is well beyond even me. Even though there may be some grey areas with the probowl you don't get in if you suck. You don't get in if you are average. Generally you get in by being the best. Buffalo fans lose all objectivity when they really do or don't like a guy like Peters. We have had some really good players on this team that bitchy buffalo fans whine and moan about. It seems like a forgotten thing of the past but back in the day Bills fans used to complain about Bruce Smith and Jim Kelly. Given the junk we have had at QB the last 15 years Kelly would be like a gift from god. Back in the day some people thought he sucked and Frank Reich should be the starter.

Uh..how many probowls has Peters been to in a row? Apparently the opinions of those who matter, coaches and players, think he is elite. Everyone is entitled to their opinion. Please don't think poorly of having the same opinion as the people who would know best.

Absolutely correct. Elite LT ARE too hard to find. When you hit the lottery and get one you keep him unlike the Bills. That being said if you want an elite one you have to pay them to come to town OR likely draft them pretty high in the draft. As it so happens we may have a top 5 pick this year which could potentially be used for the best LT in the draft. Unless people believe that Bell will become a REALLY good to elite LT we should/could draft a guy that can be! I am tired of applauding mediocrity. Yes there are occasional busts in the draft but don't think that the rest aren't really good to elite. There is a measure of risk involved in drafting any player. Many like to emphasize this to the point where they make it seem like a spin of the roulette wheel. Why bother drafting anybody early because they could be a bust? The real story is that the earlier you draft a guy the "better" the chance you have of them being good. Unfortunately I feel the success or failure of drafting players early is often skewed because teams gamble on players with freakish athleticism, speed and size. Often these player turn out to be busts because they can't learn or dedicate to the pro game for whatever reason. In turn some use these gambles on "project players", like Maybin that become busts, to point out how unreliable drafting early is. For example drafting a DE in the first round isn't a huge risk. It's not a crap shoot. We were not at the mercy of cruel fate. We made a horrible decision.

If you really believe that he will become a "great" tackle then your philosophy makes sense. For those that don't see him developing into a "great" or dare I say it an "elite" LT, moving him to RT seems much more plausible. Hasn't one of the Bills biggest problems been settling for mediocrity? Many of us as fans have also settled for mediocrity and average or serviceable, which is what Bell is becoming or has become. It's considered a victory or cause for overly optimistic celebration. I want for better. I just don't think you can take any big athletic guy and "make" him become a great pro LT. It is the rare exception where this happens. I know he doesn't have much football experience so there is this perception of an incredible upside. I can't help but thinking that if this guy has what it takes to be a great LT wouldn't someone have seen it before he got picked up by a pro team? Do we really put that much faith in our previous GM and scouting team to be the geniuses that saw what nobody else saw? It worked once with Peters now we are trying to hit the lottery again. Personally I don't like our odds but Bell so far has been serviceable. PS. I do think it's really funny that people are using Bell's injuries as cause for optimism that he can get better but Peters injuries were not taken into consideration when evaluating his supposedly unacceptable probowl play.

Off topic but how can he be so bad? It is really galling that we drafted that guy when the runaway consensus best DE in that draft was Orakpo. IDIOTS!!!! Maybin gets one more year. So far he hasn't displayed the ability to play the edge as a DE or an OLB. With enough beef on the interior defensive line could he play an inside LB position? That way he wouldn't be up against tackles who outweigh him by 80+ lbs. If the interior defensive line does their job he would just be responsible for filling gaps, tackling RBs and taking on fullbacks or avoiding pulling guards as blockers. He could still be used as a pass rusher as we have seen some success up the middle when we blitz our LBs. In coverage he can't possibly be any worse than Poz trying to cover TE's. At one point Buffalo was by far giving up the most TDs and receptions to opposing TE's. Maybin has the speed to play sideline to sideline so maybe an inside LB position could take advantage of his natural abilities. Not saying this will get production out of him but nothing else has worked so far. It might be worth a shot to get something out of that bum. I agree 100%. Would it work? Who knows but as I have said many average LTs have become great RTs.

Minnesota's defensive line is sick but I have a new respect for Hangartner after seeing how badly he was missed this past Sunday. That being said it's about time we move wood to center. Talent is talent and a good fit is a good fit but I am tired of us taking players in the draft and using them in unfamiliar spots. We have an unknown undrafted whatever at LT, a LT at RG, a C at LG and a swing lineman G at C. Can't we find guys that are good enough to play their college position in the NFL !?!?!? As a lot feel Buffalo is always trying to get by on the cheap. Instead of drafting top guys at a position they already play we take a lower prospect from some other position and move him to a new one and expect him to excel.

Didn't we have a guy like that? I think his name was Walker or something . Although I like the idea of the "prototype" LT you mention I am looking at talent/potential. Not that tackles are completely interchangeable but the conversion from LT to RT is much much easier than the other way around. My thinking is that Bell, depending on who you talk to, is a serviceable to above average LT. Maybe he could be a REALLY good RT. Would he work out at RT? I don't know but I like the idea of using him there. Instead of focusing on trying to be a quick, nimble technically proficient pass blocker at LT he could focus on continuing to gain size and strength and focus on run blocking. He has above average athleticism which could be very helpful getting out in front of runners and pulling as well as providing even better quality pass blocking at the less challenging RT spot. If he has the tools and can shift his focus I think this would make the offensive line better as a "unit". If he isn't good enough to shift to RT then we are kind of stuck with what we have.

I know the haters that still feel like jilted girl friends after Peters left want to make Bell a star. Some even think he is better than Peters. Wrong. Bell is just OK at best right now. He still has upside and may become decent enough and learn how to improve his run blocking as well as his pass blocking. How much of his "1 sack" stat can be attributed to an actual NFL QB running the ship for us who can get the ball out of his hands when he knows he doesn't have much time and can keep plays alive with his feet? Bell may develop into an above average all around LT but personally I think the team would see the most improvement if we moved Bell to RT, which is somehow a bigger problem than LT, and got us the best rookie LT in the draft. If Bell could make the switch to RT and run block we could solve to positional problems with one draft. We could truly have a line that would have the potential to be not just decent but great. This is of course based on the high draft position of our young guards, who are not superstars yet, and Hangartner who was actually sorely missed this past Sunday.

New scheme and unbelieveably a worse pass rush than last year, you are 100% on the money. Opposing QBs have WAY WAY WAY too much time to throw.

You do realize Trent Edwards is no longer on the team right? No matter how hypercritical you attempt to be or how much you try to bash Fitz Trent won't get his job back.

WHAT??? You mean a gimpy Jason Peters coming back from injury didn't give up a sack to one of the best modern day pass rushers!?!?!? He must be...GOOD ...like REALLY GOOD or something. How is that possible with all the venom spitting haters that bash him constantly because the guy wanted to be paid like the probowler he was!?!?!? I may have to change my view of Peters from whiney chick that was dumped by the big time athlete to one of objectivity and an honest appraisel of his skills. I wish some people would take that advise.

In the words of James Hetfield..."Sad but True"

If Williams was fantastic the defense would be better as a whole stopping the run. I like Kyle Williams. I think he was a nice surprise as a D-lineman. A late round pick that made it as a starter. I am neither a hater or clueless. One thing you will notice about defensive schemes and in particular the great defenses in the league. If you want a GREAT cover 2 defense you need a warren sap or two. If you want GREAT 3 - 4 you need a great NT that can anchor your line. Be honest. Although I like Kyle Williams can he really be mentioned in the same sentence as Kris Jenkins, Vince Wilfork and Jason Fergesun(retired/resigned)??? Seriously! That is only our division. Consider the likes of a Haloti Ngata etc. Williams isn't anywhere near the same level as those guys. He is a lunch pail type player that comes to work every week and does a pretty decent job. He is NOT a star, he is NOT an anchor around which the d-line is built. Good find? Sure. Little golden nugget? Maybe. Hidden gem? I don't agree.

Are you sure about that? We get run all over and we have had to play some 4 - 3 to try to stop the bleeding.