Gabe Northern

You know, some front offices tend not to focus top-10 draft selections on the strongest part of the team's roster.

Point is, all of you people who expected different results with Tom Modrak still heading the scounting department are crazy. So if part of your "Bills are contenders in 2012" logic was based on huge play from Troup and Carrington, you need to have a fundamental reassess.

No. We didn't. The GM Job came down to 2 in-house candidates: John Guy and Buddy Nix. The guy running our drafts, Tom Modrak, is still running our drafts. Who knows how much influence Brandon, Littman, and Overdorf have retained. But they're all still there. You cannot have an overhaul when all of the same cast of characters are there, but just in new roles.

Torell Troup got absolutely BLOWED UP by Mangold today. Check out the Tomlinson TD run if you TiVoed the game. NFL Nose Tackles are not supposed to get pushed around like that. The decision to go with 310 pounder instead of a 350-lb mountain looks like a bad one. Predictably. Will have to watch more of Carrington's snaps, but saw him get run at quite a bit today as well. I know, it's very early with these guys. But you have to understand that when 1st, 2nd, and 3rd rounder defenders suck out the the gate, it tends to be a very bad sign. For every Bruce Smith, there's 25 other defensive players who looked bad as rookies and had terrible NFL careers. Also,PFT post about all of the contributions decent teams are getting from 2010 draft picks should make you wonder about these 2 guys who can't contribute on our horrible team: http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2010/10/02/2010-draft-class-is-living-up-to-the-hype-early/?related=1

Will the jackasses who think Kelsay is solid against the run please turn on the TV There was no player more responsible for the yards on the ground during that drive.

He might be. Rewatch the games. He has a lot of bad snaps, but seems to do a good job in pass protection most of the time and has been getting some push in the run. if people actually made their decisions watching the tape, they'd probably be more confident in Bell's development than that of Wood or Levitre.

Kelsay does not excel versus the run and he does not keep contain. These comments are simply wrong. If fact, they're not just wrong, I don't understand how anyone who watches the games could think them. When teams run off-tackle right at your for hundreds of yards per game, you are not a run stopper.

It's funny, I rewatched both games on NFL Replay and I think that an objective fan would think Bell is developing as fast or faster than Wood and Levitre. I know that's sacrilege to those on this board who spout nonsense about our "stud" guards, but makes a lot of blocks and may not suck.

We can't trade Lee Evans for anything. No one will take his contract.

Great point. The thing that kills me as a Bills fan was that the choice was between TD, whom I despised, and letting marketing/accounting guys run the team. It was like the Jason Peters situation: Either overpay this extremely talented but unmotivated malcontent $25 million guaranteed, or enjoy watching your team try to compete with a turnstile playing LT. Such crap.

AJ Smith and Nix when he was still in his working years came along with that package. That was a nice front office.

BLOW Brandon Littman Overdorf Wilson

Agreed. What's so frustrating is that they seem inclined to pay a 31 year old converted DE $24 million to play a position he's obviously not suited to play. Sometimes I wish it was so simple as to say he's cheap. It's worse -- it's cheapness mixed in with unexplainable generosity.

You really can't use Incognito wanting out of Buffalo as an excuse. We had the power to tender him for about $1 million. Either he played here, was signed away for draft pick compensation, or sat out. And, FYI, few people want to be in Buffalo. Jim Kelly sure as he'll didn't. But put a winning program in place and see how quickly that changes.

It's too bad we blew every first day pick since 2002.

That is such a loser mentality. Keep him as a back-up for $2 million per year? Yeah, okay, I could see it. A $24 million extension to play a position he obvious cannot play? RIDICULOUS

Trent would even be decent with the kind of time Brady's getting. well maybe not. but you get my point

Directions from Football Genius Buddy Nix to his crack front office staff: "First, I'd like you guys to call your sources to see what team would like to send us a 4th rounder to rent a mentally shattered QB to sit on the bench for 14 weeks. Then, when you're done with that, see if we can't snap up that Chris Kelsay at $6 M per year for a few more seasons. The way he's added "liability in coverage" and "missed open field tackles" to his inability to rush the passer or anchor at the point of attack has really impessed me." Trade a guy whose contract runs out at the end of the year? Extend the biggest liability on the D side of the ball? Who cares if it doesn't make sense to you? Who are you? Buddy Nix is a 100% "football man." He's got it all figured out.

Such a great point. Levitre doesn't look to be on par with Jerry Ostroski and Wood gets pushed around a bit much for a guard taken at 28 overall. Maybe it was the right move to get rid of Peters, but you can't make that case based on the play of our guards. Hangartner is scary bad. This is straight Tutan Reyes, Bennie Andersen signing. Look at profootballfocus. They guy gets blown up every play. Why do people pretend otherwise?

Looks like John Fox is going to get the axe at season's end in Carolina. If he decides to stay out of football in 2011 (assuming there's a season), he could be an attractive candidate for whatever past his prime former area scout is running the Bills front office at that point. A former NFL coach with a Super Bowl on his resume would sure look good after a failed ACC Coastal division coach posts 5 wins in 2 seasons. The question is: would he be willing to work for a lifetime supply of comfortable sweaters and $10,000 of chips at Seneca Niagara? I bet a rather generous gift certificate to Duffs would also be thrown in to sweeten the deal.

I'd bet 17 is all it will take to get the W tomorrow

FACT: The Bills GM search came down to 2 guys: John Guy and Buddy Nix. John Guy was arguably the worst pro personnel director in NFL history. If he loved a guy, you could be pretty sure that player sucked. Buddy Nix was a washed up area scout with good instincts for talent but no experience running a draft, negotiating contracts, or assembling an overall roster. Isn't that all you really need to know about this franchise's commitment to winning?

There's no question they were ready for it. Our coach is Chan Gailey. He had the 28th ranked offense in the league with Tyler Thigpen. With the Fish, he had the 25st ranked offense in yards with Jay Fielder. Then he put together a ton of bowl eligible seasons at Georgia Tech. It is just STUPID to think a guy with that kind of resume wouldn't have the team ready for every conceivable defensive formation.

At the start of the year, I was kind of worried about the offensive line. The tackle position seemed especially weak, but the interior line also seemed questionable given Hangartner's mediocre play last year and Wood's horrific injury. But then, I saw Football Genius Buddy Nix decide to stand pat with Bell at LT, replace RFA Jonathan Scott with a 34 year old journeyman pushed out of Oakland, and not tender Richie Incognito so that the only interior depth we had was some guy named Cordaro Howard who wasn't even invited to the NFL Scouting Combine. Since it's well established that a 70 year old first time GM doesn't make mistakes, I realized that I was totally wrong: The offensive line was actually really, really good and all we were missing was a Chinese-American tackle available in the 5th round.

Don't worry, Football Genius Buddy Nix is watching the game for you. He'll analyze every throw, chronicle his pocket presence and awareness, and make judgments about Mallet's intangibles and NFL readiness that only a 70 year old first time GM can reliably make.