DisplacedBillsFan

What if we draft Lynch at 19 and trade him to Denver for a 2nd? That would make just about as much sense.

I remember when Christian Ponder was said to be the most NFL ready QB. That turned out well.

I didn't hear many SEC schools represented on the Packer's offense. Chan Gailey and Buddy Nix would never approve this team.

100%...Although ultimately fired from everywhere he has been, the man has coached some really good units. Some of these have been him turning around defenses that were last in the league. Multiple reports (very detailed reports) demonstrated he was not in control in New Orleans and he was being forced to run a scheme he did not want to use, sometimes not even being able to call the plays he wanted. I don't care who you are, you cannot be successful in that type of situation. He can do what he wants in Buffalo, and he has a much better defensive mind, and has proven himself way more so, than Dennis Thurman. Rob is most definitely an upgrade at DC over what we experienced last year. Our D will be back in the top 5 next year.

So Essentially we have a new D coordinator. I am completely okay with this.

New Special Teams Coordinator Draft best available LB/OL/DL in the 1st round Draft Chad Kelly in the 2nd round (If he comes out. If not, then take best QB available) Draft best safety/CB available in 3rd round Draft Rashard Higgins - CSU WR - 4th Round I would be overly ecstatic if this all happened.

"We talkin' 'bout practice" And, this remains one of my favorites http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=07G23zMGa4g

I could see an EJ trade for some LB depth, but not anything that is considered a big splash. Four possibilities I see of teams that may kick the tires on EJ, and could offer a MLB who could come in and provide depth at the position for us; Houston - Akeem Dent Dallas - Andrew Cachkar St. Louis - Jame Laurinaitis (this would be a stretch, and Bills would likely need to throw in another player or cash) Philadelphia - Kiko Alonso (Not at all likely, but how cool would this be, as it would essentially mean we got McCoy for EJ and a one year loan on Kiko?) Or, perhaps we look for some safety help/depth. Focusing on QB needy teams (again, going out on a limb and assuming we could get anything at all for EJ), San Francisco could be a likely partner. Jimmie Ward is a former first round pick who has not done much for SF. Perhaps they would be interested in a guy like EJ to add another name to a QB competition in training camp, and while Ward is a former high pick, it is not like they are giving up much on-field production by trading him.

Completely agree. This is why I think that if a guy who was previously and widely considered a 1st round pick now falls to the 3rd or 4th round because of an off year, we should jump at the opportunity.

I'm really surprised Tressel is not coaching somewhere, anywhere, again yet. Although, he does have a fairly posh gig going on right now. Perhaps he is similar to the Cowhers and Grudens of the world who realized the grass can be greener on the other side when you leave the cold weather, long hours of film, and nearly having a heart attack daily due to yelling at people, behind

Recently put this in the QB in 1st round draft thread, but figured I would put it here as well. I enjoy reading thoughts from others on who they may want, especially guys after the first round, so figured I would add my thoughts to the conversation. One area we need to improve next year is our group of WRs as a whole. Yes, we have some talent, but we are not nearly talented enough after Sammy and Woods (I know some debate Woods' talent, I feel he is a solid 2 or 3 who should be on the field a lot and utilized more). Anyway, we should take a WR in the draft, and I think it should be Rashard Higgins from CSU. Last year, with an experienced QB he had 17 TD grabs and led the nation with 1,750 receiving yard. Entering this year, he was considered by some to be the best WR in the nation, and was a consensus first round selection. Unfortunately for him, he had a few injury issues early in the season (which are now in the past and he finished the season strong) and played with a QB who was making his first college starts. Despite missing some time he still finished with 75 catches for over 1000 yards and 8 TDs. He had 9 catches for 129 yards in the Rams bowl game last night. Higgins is listed at 6-2, 190 and has had his 40 time clocked at 4.4. Because of his down year, draft predictions now have him in the 3rd or 4th round. I feel as this would be an exception pick in the 3rd, and an even better value in the 4th, especially since he has 1st round talent. Imagine a guy like this playing opposite Sammy. Our offense would automatically become more dangerous.

I didn't find a more recent draft thread, so figured this was as good a place as any to post my thoughts. One area we need to improve next year is our group of WRs as a whole. Yes, we have some talent, but we are not nearly talented enough after Sammy and Woods (I know some debate Woods' talent, I feel he is a solid 2 or 3 who should be on the field a lot and utilized more). Anyway, we should take a WR in the draft, and I think it should be Rashard Higgins from CSU. Last year, with an experienced QB he had 17 TD grabs and led the nation with 1,750 receiving yard. Entering this year, he was considered by some to be the best WR in the nation, and was a consensus first round selection. Unfortunately for him, he had a few injury issues early in the season (which are now in the past and he finished the season strong) and played with a QB who was making his first college starts. Despite missing some time he still finished with 75 catches for over 1000 yards and 8 TDs. He had 9 catches for 129 yards in the Rams bowl game last night. Higgins is listed at 6-2, 190 and has had his 40 time clocked at 4.4. Because of his down year, draft predictions now have him in the 3rd or 4th round. I feel as this would be an exception pick in the 3rd, and an even better value in the 4th, especially since he has 1st round talent. Imagine a guy like this playing opposite Sammy. Our offense would automatically become more dangerous.

Very thoughtful post. I agree it is always a huge risk and rarely works out. However, it seems when it does work it it works out big time for the NFL club. So well it may be a 1 in 100 type scenario, that 1 is out there somewhere. Agreed that Kelly will be coaching in the NFL next year, and I also believe he can be successful in the NFL if he focuses more on coaching and less on shipping all the good players out of town. With a talented roster (assembled by someone else) he used his scheme while implementing his culture on his way to back-to-back 10 win seasons. It was after he got full control over personnel that he screwed things up.

With the news of Chip Kelly being fired, I started to think about which current college HC could have long term success in the NFL. Jim Harbaugh is an obvious choice, should he ever choose to return to the NFL/have the opportunity to do so. That said, Dabo Swinney would be my choice. I have wanted Buffalo to make a run at him each of the last two coaching searches, but it has not happened. Perhaps if he gets a national title this year he'll be ready to listen to NFL offers, should there be any.

Just trying to steer the conversation away from becoming a Tyrod thread since that wasn't the intent.

This isn't really about Tyrod. You can pretend it is for a different team if you'd like. Say you're Houston or say Tyrod dies. I'm not suggesting I want either for the Bills, just interested in opinions on the two in Cincy if the above plays out.

Just having fun here with not much left of substantial importance this year for us, so try not to get too out of shape if you think this thread is nonsense. Say AJ McCarron plays really well with his opportunity these next couple games (looking good against a good Denver D) and Bengals have a QB controversy forcing them to feel as though they have to trade one of them. Regardless of who you think they would keep, who would you rather have the chance or trading for? The older guy who seems to have finally elevated his game to the upper tier but can't win a playoff game or the young guy who played awesome and has a ton of upside? For the sake of this thread say AJ finishes with 250 ypg passing and 25 rushing along with a 3:1 TD to INT ratio, and Dalton doesn't get back quickly enough and AJ wins a playoff game. Dalton was a little over 3200 yards through 13 games with a 66% completion percentage with 25 TDS and 7 picks. Let's say Dalton comes back and loses his only playoff game. Who would you rather have?

Looking fairly determined not to get beat by screens

Bring in Schwartz as HC, let him hire who he wants to run his defense, offer to let Roman stay on as OC, and hire the best special teams coach available

Seems Rex gets GMs fired at a higher rate than Cutler has OCs shown the door.

Not sure I understand the multiple messages (not just in this thread) about Leodis needing to go. If I recall correctly, he was playing at a very high level last year when he got injured, and it was a major loss. This year so far, there has been a bit of rust, as expected after his extended leave, but it appears the guy can still contribute, and after a few more games in this system, likely at a very high level again. Someone please explain to me why we want to give away good players? Who would have filled in last weekend for Gilmore without Leodis around? What is wrong with having three high quality CBs on the roster?

Johnny Manziel is our savior as he leads the Browns to week 17 win over Pittsburgh!

Hey now, I said unlikely. I meant easy to determine, not easy to accomplish.

So I'm thinking the Johnny Manziel era is starting exactly at the right time, as he brings a little late season magic to that team. Our path to the playoffs is still quite easy, even if it is unlikely. If nothing else, a loss by Pittsburgh to the Broncos next weeks keeps us one game and an exciting week 17 away from the playoffs. Pittsburgh loses to Denver week 15 Bills win week 15 and 16 Jets lose to Patriots (as they should) If these three scenarios happen, we are playing Jets week 17 with playoffs on the line, rooting for Johnny to upset the Steelers, and we're in!

Well that didn't quite work out. I still believe we would be a team nobody would want to face in the playoffs, but that doesn't really matter now since we'll never know. Another disappointing season effectively ended today. Here's looking forward to April even I will once again start to believe we have what it takes to win it all.