OldTimer1960

+1 But,but,but that doesn't fit the "Bills suck on purpose so that they can pull money out of their fans" theory....

He has shown to be a very good run stopper, very good pass deflector and a decent pass rusher PLUS a very good player on special teams (FG block unit). Just because he doesn't have 10+ sacks/year doesn't mean he isn't good.

Loses nothing? By drafting another QB high, they lose the chance to draft a solid prospect at another position that could help the team and whatever QBs they already have. Another #1 spent on a QB would leave the Bills w 2 QBs that don't have enough quality WRs and TEs to throw to - nor enough quality OL protection for them to do well. There would also be the issue of getting each enough practice repetitions for either to develop. Everything that I've ever read says that reps are scarce for backup QBs - splitting starter reps would hinder both of the young QBs. To be clear, if the Bills feel that there is a Peyton Manning can't miss QB sitting there when they pick, I think that they should absolutely draft him. However, if there is one equal to or marginally better than Manuel in their opinion, then I think they should draft another position for the reasons stated above.

What top QB do you suggest that they draft? There has been A LOT of hype over this year's QB draft crop, but some of the excitement is beginning to fade. Bridgewater is fairly small and played mediocre competition, Carr played poorly against USC and Manziel is under 6' and plays very undisciplined football. I admit that it might be exciting to draft "Johnny Football", but I think there is significant bust factor due to his reported off-field immaturity, lack of size and undisciplined throws that he makes. That of course is only my opinion, which isn't very qualified and may change.

So do you really think that rookie QBs come in knowing everything that they need to know for immediate success at the NFL's most important and cerebral position? I suggest checking the rookie season of almost every successful QB over the last 20 or 30 years. By the way, expressing an argument in support of a contrarian viewpoint is what is supposed to be done on boards like this. Calling another post "the dumbest post of the year" without any counterpoint being expressed just makes you sound bad.

Another rookie QB dry likely gets you what you've seen this year. Patience, nobody walls into a major corporation out of college ready to be CEO - and most rookie QBs are nor going to play like veterans.

Let's think back to pre-season. MANY here wanted Williams to be cut - many also were incredulous that the Bills re-signed Leodis McKelvin... My takeaway - too many here are TOO IMPATIENT. Let's give the young players some time to grow into the NFL. MAYBE, just MAYBE it is too soon to give up on EJ Manuel - even though he has played something like a whole 9 NFL games - wait, now I see why "they" want to cut him - if he can't be a certain Hall Of Famer after 9 games, it is OBVIOUS that he'll NEVER be any good at all...

What talent on offense would that be? An injured CJ Spiller? An old, but game Freddy Jackson? Stevie "stone hands" Johnson? How about a 2nd yr WR who has started every game and has a total of 18 catches in 14 games (and 0 in the last 3)? Oh, maybe it is the other 2 rookie WRs who play most of the snaps. The OL has a good C and LT and beyond that is made up of journeymen (the 3 other starters picked up off waivers). I am NOT saying that Manuel is or is not the answer, but to write him off after an injury riddled rookie season when he had one decent veteran WR (Johnson) and a half-decent TE coming off knee surgery, and a bunch of rookie WRs seems too soon to me. If you write him off this soon, I suspect they'll be cycling through QBs for the next decade. Fact of the matter is that most rookie QBs struggle mightily. Only the RARE rookies come in and play very well and even then it doesn't always end well for them (ck RG3 - he may still be very good, but if he were playing in Buffalo this year - you would not have been happy with his performance).

With weak SD State rolling over the Bulls' defense, it is going to cause teams to question if Mack's production at a low-level of competition will translate well to the NFL. A great deal will hinge on Mack's Combine workouts. If he show superior athletic ability, he will still go high, but if he runs 4.75 or worse and doesn't show well in the strength events, his stock will drop significantly.

If Moeaki is noted, I am somewhat hopeful that the Bills might find a contributing player in him. I think that the likelihood is that he is very injured, given that KC gave up on him, but we can hope.

This game is not hel ping Mack's draft status. UB is getting completely b*tch slapped by lowly SD State and it is highlighting UB's lower-tier athletic ability. To be sure, it is not all Mack's fault and if he shows well at the combine, he could still go high, but this game is exposing the MAC competition... For the QB debate, I think that we can all agree that Steve Young was an OUTSTANDING NFL QB, right? In Young's first two NFL Seasons (after playing in the USFL), he threw 11 TDs and 21 INTS f with about a 53% completion rate or a Tampa Bay team at about the same level of this year's Bills. I will definitely grant that defenses were allowed more latitude then, but Young also had at least a year of pro experience in the USFL before these two seasons. As much as some here don't want to believe it, it DOES take some time for college QBs to come up to speed in the NFL. I don't know how EJ Manuel will turn out, but I've seen enough to think he warrants AT LEAST one more year before deciding whether he "has it".

Hardy was considered a good WR prospect coming out of school. He wasn't considered a "reach" at the time. In his 3 yrs in the Big 10 he had 186 catches, 2690 yards and 36 TDs. That' very productive against a high level of competition. People need to realize that right around 50% of 2nd round picks don't make much impact in the NFL. That is league-wide, not just "the dumb old Bills".

I think that you are over-estimating Lewis. He did better than we might have expected, but I don't see a mad rush for any other team to sign him to a big backup contract. Do t get me wrong, I was pleasantly surprised with his play, but he is unlikely (IMO) to get top $

I am generally optimistic about Manuel's prospects. I think he has shown some ability to lead late in games that I didn't expect from an inexperienced rookie. I am a bit concerned with his overall accuracy, but that seems to improve when he gets in a groove - so I think he can be good there. I think a true top WR and a better TE (while keeping Chandler too) would help Manuel a lot. Among the Bills' current WRs, only Robert Woods makes the kind of catches that make a QB look good. Chandler is good at the routine catches and the rest of the group are not particularly consistent catchers, let alone able to make great catches.

Where he goes will also depend on how he performs at the combine (IMHO). Even though he stood out against the Bulls best opponents, including Ohio State, teams will want to see outstanding measurables because UB generally plays at a lower level of competition.

Do you mean like Dan Snyder in Washington? How about Jerry Jones in Dallas? Both of those guys are poster boys for "excited committed ownerers who spend a ton of money". I don't think either has had any great success in a long time. There is no conspiracy by Mr. Wilson and his folks to "dupe" the fans into buying an inferior product. The problem lies in poor decisions on players, bad luck and an inability to find a good/great QB. I can't think of any case where spending even a lot more would have solved their QB problem - unless someone thinks that they had any real shot at signing Peyton Manning...

Really, you'd take his $8M/year contract? All things being equal, I'd love to have Levitre on the Bills' O-line, but $8M for an OG is blasphemous no matter how good he is. For $8M/year at OG, he'd better be a HOFer. Before anyone jumps on me with "they still have lots of cap space", you have to understand that there is a difference between having cap space and having actual money to pay people. The Bills are one of the lowest revenue teams in the leage. Their ticket prices are near the bottom of the league and they get next to nothing in luxury box/personal seat license revenue compared to the very big markets. I know that none of us has a "cap" on what we can spend on a house - and most of our wives would like us to spend a lot more - but we all seem to know that it is prudent to only spend a certain percentage of our income on housing. The same is true for NFL teams. Not all teams have the revenue to spend to the cap and given that, they have to apportion the amount of $ that they can afford to the positions that they deem most important.

1. No question that Rogers has talent, but he clearly wasn't productive in the preseason and there were suggestions that he was not working hard in camp. A new coach who is try to instill a strong work ethic on his new team really could not keep Rogers around and send the message that it's ok not to try or not to be productive if you have talent. That would undermine what he is trying to build into the team 2. Rogers has had exactly 1 very good game in the NFL, not enough to say he now "gets it" 3. Even if Rogers goes on to have a good career, who is to say that he would have done so if he had not been humbled by being cut. 4. Even his college team deemed Rogers too big a headache to keep around and he WAS productive there. 5. Every team in the NFL knew of Rogers' talent, yet not one thought he was worth even a 7th round gamble Yes, it is possible that Rogers will go on to have a good career, but that doesn't necessarily mean that Marrone was wrong to cut him.

It was not meant to suggest that they should cut anyone in particular, rather to illustrate that there is precedence from another team moving on from a talented player who didn't mesh with what the coaching staff wanted. I believe that Freeman was cut more for his attitude and effort than for poor play. (I believe) if Freeman had been working hard and doing what the coaches asked, he would still be in Tampa - they'd have ridden out his poor play because he clearly has a lot of talent. To the Bills, I don't know if there are players who haven't bought in to the program, but if so, I could support trading/releasing them

After an disasterous start, EJ played pretty well today. I think he started 0-4 with an INT and finished 17-24 2TDs and 1 INT. After the start, EJ was 17-20 with 2 TDs. Robert Woods is fast becoming his favorite WR and Chandler (whom I think is a decent player, but not great). Stevie Johnson wasn't able to help much and I'm not sure why TJ Graham continues to start. My takeaway, EJ is a rookie who struggles at times and has shown glimpes of being good. He is playing kind of with one-hand tied behind his back with no big WR, Johnson not helping much and TJ Graham just taking up space on the field.

Why didn't they roll EJ out with instructions to run unless there was a wide open pass? They put the game back in the hands of a defense that has been gashed all day.

Mike Pettine for head coach!!!!

That was an impressive and encouraging drive by EJ.

Who are the comedians who keep worrying that the Bills will lose Pettine to a head coaching job? This defense continues to make pedestrian backups look like Pro Bowl players. They are absolutely abysmal against the run and give up huge plays consistently.

What happened to the poise that we saw from Manuel early this year? He looks like a completely different and much worse player.