OldTimer1960

Well, training camp is almost 3 weeks old and the Bills have played 2 preseason games. My thoughts so far (FWIW): 1. The OL is struggling and probably doesn't have enough talent to be very good this year. a. When they decided to spend most of their draft choices over the last 2 years on defense, we knew that this unit would struggle. Upgrading through FA is sketchy and this year's crop of FA OL was weak. The team went after Clabo hard and lost out to his current team. Not sure that there were any other OL FA that would have upgraded our OL commensurate with the cost. This team will address this area hard in the '12 offseason with only QB a higher priority. 2. The defense looks significantly improved. Dareus looks like the real deal, Kyle Williams is the workaholic that overachieves and last year's 2nd and 3rd picks (Troup and Carrington) look like they'll contribute a lot this year. 3. Rookies: Marcel Dareus looks like he'll be very very good. Aaron Williams has shown flashes of being very good. We don't know anything about Kelvin Sheppard due to injury. I think I've seen flashes from 4th Searcy, 5th White and 6th White. I am pulling for Mike Jasper, but he looks to have gained significant weight since the draft. I am holding out hope that OT Chris Hairston can help, but that may be wishful thinking. 4. I REALLY don't understand the hatred directed at CJ Spiller. The guy did not have a big impact in his rookie year after coming from a spread offense in college. He would do well to learn whatever magic Fred Jackson has for running behind this weak OL, but Spiller has undeniable physical talent. Will he maximize it in the pros? I don't know, but I am willing to wait this year and into next year. 5. I don't agree with the general view that the Bills have an abundance of talent at WR. I hope that Stevie Johnson can match/improve on last year, I think Roscoe Parrish (when not hurt) is a good #3WR. I like what I have seen of David Nelson. I don't know what to think of Donald Jones, but he is a very good athlete. Marcus Easley hasn't impressed me and I like what I've seen of UDFA Kamar Aiken. I think he has out-produced Easley so far. 6. I can't tell if Fitz can be a mid-upper tier QB because the OL and TEs are so weak. I love his intelligence, effort and leadership, though. 7. TEs: I am not falling for this year's "next great reclamation project" Scott Chandler. He looks to be the best of a very weak group, especially since the talented but injury prone Shawn Nelson hasn't seen the field yet. 8. OL: I think Wood is very good. I don't have a clue what the issue with Levitre is - I haven't seen him do anything wrong so far. Demetrius Bell is the best that we've got at LT this year and I want to see him for a full season. I haven't watched enough of Erik Pears to have an opinion, but I don't think Kraig Urbik is the answer at RG and Wrotto has looked awful from what I can tell. My view for the season: I think the defense will be much improved, especially if Shawn Merriman is not injured or suspended for steroids. I think that Fred Jackson will put up decent numbers, I hope that Spiller shows that he can learn to follow his blockers and that he becomes a pass-receiving weapon out of the backfield. I hope Johnson excels at WR and someone steps up (maybe David Nelson?).

Could it possibly be that maybe he is old and broken down, too? Just because a guy was formerly a great player doesn't mean that he will be good forever. It is pretty evident that none of the teams in the league are jumping to bring him in and this is with 90 guys on each roster.

I don't think it is accurate to say that Nix and Gailey think they can win... as is. I think it is more accurate to say that they chose to use their limited draft choices to improve the woeful defense. You can't have everything in 1 or even 2 offseasons. Beyond Clabo, who they went after hard, WHO is/was available at OT that would have helped much? Now, I would agree to some extent that they maybe could have gone after an OG since this Kraig Urbick experiment is going very poorly.

Man, I don't see why everyone hates Spiller SO much. When he is given the chance, I think he has done reasonably well. Is it disappointing that with his speed he doesn't turn every play into a long gain? Yes, sure, especially with where he was picked, but it is also unrealistic to think any back could do that. I agree, Fred Jackson is a more polished runner now. I do think Spiller is far from being a bust, though. The OL, though, that is another story.

I have no problem with Woods' play. The center is at a disadvantage vs. big NT/DTs as he has to snap the ball with one hand and block the defender with only 1 hand until he can get the snapping hand back. Wood is big and plenty strong, IMHO. I also have NO idea what they seem to think Levitre is doing wrong. I re-watched every snap he played from the first game and I thought that he made every block. Now, I don't know what his assignments were, but he made solid contact and moved people in the run game and pass blocked effectively from my point of view.

I agree. I think the talent is there, I don't know if he is durable enough.

I agree with most of your post, but in my opinion, Barry Sanders may have been THE BEST RB of all time. It is an EXTREMELY rare RB who can make yardage on his own. Even the great (but evil) OJ Simpson struggled until the BIlls built a good OL.

I think it is WAY too soon to call Spiller a bust. A RB with his speed relies on some space to operate in and the Bills' offense provides anything but that. 1. The OL is weak. They do not open "average" size holes. Jackson is a veteran who excels at picking his way to a few yards when nothing is there. That wasn't what Spiller was used for in college and that doesn't play to his strength which is speed and open field moves. Jackson and Spiller are different kinds of RBs. 2. Spiller needs to be involved in the passing game. I applaud Gailey for stubbornly refusing to play Spiller in passing situations in an attempt to force him to learn how to pass block. However, Spiller should be out in pass patterns, not blocking in the backfield. How about taking one of the slow, no-name WR off the field and leaving Jackson in the backfield to block and sending Spiller deep? 3. With little to know deep passing game because of injuries to Evans and Parrish and the generally poor OL play, that allows the defense to cheat up against the run. See #1. Now, I don't KNOW that Spiller will be a break out player, but I do think that the talent is there to be a big-play maker if there are some weapons around him and solid OL play. That may not happen this year, but I don't see this as the same kind of situation as Maybin where he was undersized-underpowered for his position.

I don't know. I was at camp today and he doesn't look that athletic to me. Has kind of a big gut and his arms don't look that big in proportion to his torso. It's a little hard to get a read on a G in training camp where they don't go full out and I don't really know their blocking scheme (ie, who his responsibility is on any given play). I know, a lot of OL don't look very athletic, yet they are good. My impression is that he isn't really that much competition for Levitre, unless Levitre is a lot worse that I thought. However, I do think that they (like many teams) are concerned about their OL and are scrambling to find a set of 5 competent players to put together. From what I could tell, the defensive line really dominated the OL again today.

Based on my view of the first preseason game, Jasper has his work cut out for him to even make the team. In my view, Kellen Heard outplayed him by a lot.

No, Levitre is being demoted. AND Merriman got hurt in practice. Had to know that couldn't last.

Why do so many people here hate Kelsay? He isn't a great player, but he does work extremely hard and give it everything he has. He doesn't get in trouble off the field and doesn't seem like an arrogant a** , as far as I can tell without knowing him. It seems like he ought to be well regarded by fans, but he sure is some folks' favorite whipping boy.

These aren't exactly cast-aways. Most/all left as free agents. It isn't like the Bills just couldn't recognize that they were any good and cut them (other than Leonard). If I could have two "take backs" it would have been Pat Williams and Antoine Winfield.

Jasper is a nice story and I am pulling for him, but from what I think I saw tonight, Kellen Heard outplayed him.

I might speculate that they will use CJ Spiller's speed to stretch the D, too. I think we'll see him split wide or in the slot some to get him into space as well as send him deep to open up underneath routes.

I am excited about the dedication that both Troupe and Carrington showed this offseason. Both reportedly came back much stronger - in a year when they had no oversight from coaches - very commendable. I think that bodes well for both of them maximizing their talents. I don't think that Spiller is a slacker at all. I kind of think that the trade of Evans opens up some pass routes for the electrifyingly fast Spiller. I am cautiously optimistic that Moats, David Nelson and Donald Jones will build on their promising rookie performances. I am hoping very much that Naaman Roosevelt is a true success story and can develop into a solid contributor.

Just speculation, but perhaps Evans was traded as a favor to him. No matter how much we want to believe otherwise, this team is AT LEAST a year away from being a contender and Evans is near the end of his career. He should do well in Baltimore for a year or two and he wouldn't have had that much impact here when the staff wants to get the young guys game experience. Does this make the Bills better this year? No, but I don't think it is a big downgrade, either and it does get young guys on the field to see what they can produce.

I would have been on-board with not paying Poz $7M/year IF they were going to use that money to sign a better player, but to not pay him and be left with the sad lot of ILBs they have now is not at all satisfying. The LBs were the weakest spot on the worst defense in the NFL last year and right now, the LBs are even worse than last year.

is this the Andrews brother that has depression issues or the other broken-down one? I don't think that is the way to do this. The way the Bills are trying to build is with highly dedicated, blue-collar, try-very-hard guys. I don't think either of the Andrews fit that description (likewise Gaither). Move on to another position (TE maybe or LB) as there isn't an OT worth a cr-p left in FA. The Bills have cast their lot with Eric Pears/Wrotto/Wang/Hairston at RT. They are very thin at LT with only Bell, but at least he has athletic ability IF he has worked hard at getting stronger this offseason.

I agree, but I do not think that Jared Gaither is a good option. Poor attitude and work ethic (at least reportedly). That does not fit what the Bills are trying to build, regardless of how talented he might be.

I'm not seeing it. Last year Smith had 4 (four) catches for 44 yards and ran the ball 38 times for 299 yards. That is worth almost $4M/year???? I don't care if he can return kicks, the Bills have more than enough returners and NOBODY will be returning kicks with the change in the kickoff position - there will be lots of touchbacks.

As long as they don't over-pay for him, OK, I guess. I don't understand the interest at all, unless Chan wants to maybe run the wildcat sometimes. I think Smith was a college QB. I don't think he is any more than a decent backup WR - nothing special....

You forgot Too untalented I don't want to be glib, but most of those guys are late round draft picks or undrafted FAs. Our one "pedigreed" LB is Maybin and he is the worst of the bunch.

The worst defense in the league just got worse with the loss of Poz. Why would anyone be upset with that? I try to be optimistic, but this team doesn't seem to want to win. They now have ZERO starting-caliber NFL LBs on a defense that needs 4. I am as hopeful as anyone that Kelvin Shepard can show that he is a starting NFL LB, but the reality is that he is a rookie who hasn't had ANY offseason coaching or NFL strength and conditioning. The LBs as of today are: Akin Ayodele (are you kidding?), Andra Davis (ugh), Shepard, Kelsay (out of position and not quick enough), and some 5th and 6th round wanna-bes in Moats, Batten and White. MAYBE one or more of the young guys will show that they have some talent, but that isn't a bet I'd want to make right now. Compounding the lack of talent at LB is the DL. I think Dareus was a great pick, Kyle Williams is a good player and I have hope that Torrell Troup will be better in year two (he supposedly worked very hard at gettting bigger and stronger) - BUT nobody could confuse this group with a dominant DL (at least not at this point).

He is also an immature, sulking player who (per reports on NFL Network and his former coach) has not figured out that he needs to put a lot more effort into being a pro QB. In my opinion, that isn't the type of player that you want on a Bills team that seems to want tough scrappy players who will try to win with extra effort (as opposed to trying to win with talent).