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hondo in seattle

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Posts posted by hondo in seattle

  1. Ralph has owned the Bills for 50 years. In the old days, they won the AFL championship a couple times with high priced players (before the merger and Super Bowl). The Bills of the 90s (Kelly, Smith, Thomas, Reed, et al) were hardly underpaid. Sully's Ralph-is-cheap mantra is 'proven' by the fact that the Bills have been under-cap for the past 3 years (about 6% of the Bills history). Like most any team, the Bills spending has gone up and down over the years.

     

    Ralph's biggest shortcoming has been with GMs. He's hired some bad ones and chased some good ones away. Our problem right now in 2011 isn't that Ralph is cheap. I think the Bills would happily sign a good tackle at market price if that was an option.

  2. anyone know the facts on his gun chargs?..if you'd ever been to oakland you'd carry a gun to. havent seen the his police blotter can someone find it?

     

    I lived in the East Bay near Oakland for 10+ years and never carried a gun. In any case, he was arrested in Florida on the gun charges.

  3. Unfortunately, not even close. There's always Walt Patulski, and there are actually a few more that were worse; I'd nominate Terry Miller and CERTAINLY Mike Williams for that dubious award, too. (At least Tom Cousineau turned into the best QB we've seen in Buffalo, but that was a crappy pick, too.)

     

    Patulski actually suited up and played. He hardly played like a 1st rounder but he got on the field and made some tackles. He was a far better pick than Maybin.

     

    So was Terry Miller. Miller rushed for 1,000 yards his rookie season but then developed problems with his peripheral vision and was never productive again. Can't blame the FO office for that.

     

    Even Erik Flowers - a truly miserable first round pick - cracked the starting lineup a few times.

     

    It's hard to think of a Bills 1st round bust as completely catastrophic as Maybin.

  4. So you are one the many on here that see the rosy side of everything and are overfilled with optimism, which can be a good thing. One of the things that I disagree with is that Barnett has a better injury history. He has missed 19 games over the past 3 seasons, including 12 games missed last season, and twice in the past 3 seasons he ended the season on the injured reserve. He was one of the many for the Packers who weren't even active for the postseason and Superbowl. Now I am not saying I don't like the signing because it is a dozen times better than just going with backups like it appeared we were, but look at our two veteran linebackers, combined they played 4 out of a possible 36 games (including post season), so we may be relying a little too much on these two guys. Let's just keep our fingers crossed that they both stay healthy and show a little bit of themselves from a few years ago. Bottom line is, if Barnett can stay healthy and produce like he did a few years ago, he may be a slight upgrade over Poz, but he is older and banged up, so only time will tell.

     

     

    If both his injuries had been the same knee, I'd be worried. Considering his last injury was a wrist, it doesn't strike me as a fragility injury. Anyone can injure a wrist and I doubt he's likely to reinjure it. And the wrist injury allowed the knee to fully recover and then some.

  5. Hopefully all of the complaining stops. Our front 7 of D.Edwards-Williams-Dareus (DL) and Merriman-Barnett-Davis-Kelsay (LB) should be much improved. We now have experience in the scheme. And don't forget about the Stache roaming the sidelines now. Legitimate NFL players with a legitimate coach should equal an improving team.

     

    The original post, I think, is accurate. Our front 7 might not be great. We may not send multiple defenders to Hawaii. But it's easy to be more optimistic about this front seven than last year's. We went 4-4 down the stretch with last year's bandaged, talent-poor, out-of-position squad. Let's hope for better than .500 with this one.

  6. Profootballfocus had barnett rated above Ray Lewis in 2009 in his transition year to a 3-4

    http://www.profootballfocus.com/blog/2011/07/26/free-agency-2011-landing-spots-for-nick-barnett/

     

    For those too lazy the click on the link:

     

     

    Barnett has been an impressive linebacker for the Packers for years, but the reason he is of particular interest to this free agency period is his 2009 season.

     

    I was one of many that questioned Green Bay’s transition to the 3-4 defense, working on the basis that is was a lousy fit for their best players (Aaron Kampman and Nick Barnett) in the front seven. Well, I was half right. Kampman struggled with his hand out of the dirt and was clearly a more natural pass rusher when he could coil in a three-point stance. Where I was wide of the mark however was with Nick Barnett, who flourished in the new system as well as he ever did in a 4-3.

     

    In 2009 Barnett was our 3rd ranked ILB, narrowly beaten by Ray Lewis with only Patrick Willis putting any distance between them at the top of the rankings. Barnett was able to score well in all phases of the game, blitzing well, covering well and showing strongly against the run. He registered pressure every 6.5 snaps blitzing (a very good mark), allowed 68.5% of passes into his coverage to be complete (5th among full-time starting ILBs) for just 7.4 yards per completion (3rd). His 52 defensive stops were also good enough to place him in the top 10, as was pretty much every number we record at PFF. Far from struggling in the new system, it seemed Barnett was actually highlighted because of his versatility.

  7. It's interesting that the Jets didn't make a counter-offer to keep Brad Smith because (according to reports from NY), they needed to save cap space for Asomugha. Well, the Bills grabbed Smith and the Jets lost out on Asomugha.

     

    At this point, I don't envy the Jets' free agency.

  8. Seems to me that great OLs have one or two Pro Bowl caliber starters and the rest are solid.

     

    We have maybe 4 solid starters and not a ton of depth.

     

    Wondering if Wood will emerge as a Pro Bowl type player at center???

     

    I'd be feeling a lot better if we had bagged Clabo.

  9. They already announced that they weren't going to spend money on the top free agents. I think I would like it if we got him, but I want to see what Aaron Williams and Searcy have to offer before we waist money on a huge contract. I think our secondary is decent enough; we need to work on our pass rush.

     

    I agree that they probably won't go after a CB. But they did already pursue Clabo who was a top free agent. I wouldn't be surprised to learn they are pursuing others as well.

  10. Like many others, I'm disappointed that the Bills haven't yet signed any help for the Offensive Line.

     

    How confident are you guys in a line that probably looks something like this (see below) right now?

     

    Bell - Levitre - Wood - Urbick - Pears

  11. I don't have much faith in this front office, and even if I did, Ralphy has a tight fist around his wallet anyway. After so many years of losing, and being known as one of the tightest and worst franchises in the NFL, alot of top level talent doesn't want to come here.

     

    The Bills may or may not have a reputation for being tight. But it doesn't make a difference. When someone like Clabo receives an offer for $5 million a year, he doesn't care about the reputation. He'll assess his offer on its own merits. The Bills were not tight with Flo or Smith or Thigpen. Two of these signings addressed important needs. The other gives us a playmaker. Like everyone else, I'm still hoping to see some OL help come via free agency as well.

     

    You are probably right that the Bills' losing record discourages some FAs. Others see the Bills as a franchise now moving in the right direction. Thankfully, not everyone thinks as lowly of Ralph and One Bills Drive as you do.

  12. I think one of the points of this story is that NFL players are human beings. And we homo sapiens are a diverse lot with diverse motivations. Many players will prefer the media attention of NY. Other will be drawn to the party scene in Miami. Some love the snow. Others hate it. When we are spurned by a FA, we may never know why. But some FAs out there might prefer a smaller city like Buffalo, whatever their personal motivations may be.

     

    The only thing Buddy can really do is lay the money on the table.

  13. We keep a player: "We overpaid. No one else wanted him. Great, lets keep this 4-12 team intact. I swear I'm done with this team!"

     

    We lose a player: "WTF is wrong with this front office? Ralph is cheap! Now we're worse than a 4-12 team! I swear I'm done with this team!"

     

    We sign a free agent: "We overpaid. No one else wanted him. I saw him play once and I thought he sucked. I swear I'm done with this team!"

     

    We lose out on a free agent: "WTF don't we have $39M in cap space? What are we saving it for? Friggin' Ralph is cheap! I swear I'm done with this team!"

     

    PTR

     

    One of the best posts ever!

  14. here's the link to the interview:

     

    http://www.wgr550.com/topic/play_window.php?audioType=Episode&audioId=5399306

     

    The interview was not very illuminating. Nix was extremely vanilla - unwilling to say anything detailed or insightful.

     

    But let's be fair to Buddy. Nix inherited a team without any great players. He believes primarily in building through the draft, like some good teams do. Building through the draft takes time. It seems to me, it's still too early to judge how this is going.

     

    And I'm willing to give him time. I don't see a "laissez faire" attitude. He's been very clear that anything less than a Super Bowl is a failure. He's hot to win. Let's wait to see if he's capable. Losing Poz is not evidence of a sinking ship.

  15. I'm one of the people on this board who likes Poz and really hoped we re-signed him. But at $7 mil/year? For a good-but-not-great ILB? No way. Roster money is limited and you have to reserve money like that for impact players. I was really upset when I read the headline that we lost Poz. I was far less upset when I learned his new contract. Poz apparently wants to play in a full-time 4-3. God bless him.

     

    Nix doesn't care? C'mon. You know that just isn't true.

     

    And of course Nix said we have players who can step up. What's he supposed to say? That our ILBs are all weak little sucker-sucking girls? Google "Pygmalion Effect" and read up on it. People tend to perform as they are expected to perform. People perform best when their leaders believe in them. Nix would be an idiot to say he doesn't have confidence in our LB Corps - even if he doesn't.

  16. This is a career decision for him. He will go to where he perceives the best offer was made.

    "loves the Bills", come on man.

     

    Sounds like Nix is willing to make him a competitive offer (did you listen to the Nix presser today?). Given that Poz wants to stay and the Bills are willing to pay him market value, I predict he stays. It will be the right "career decision" under the circumstances.

     

    Eh. It's not like he was any better than London Fletcher. We had to move up in the 2nd round to get him. Funny how people hate Whitner because our front office was dumb enough to draft him #8 overall but Poz who took a 2nd and a 3rd if I am not mistaken to acquire and who also has been nothing special is a fan favorite.

     

    You are right. We fans are funny. If Poz was an undrafted FA, we'd universally love him. We'd be gushing about how a high-motor guy with limited physical skills but a big heart was able to fight his way into the starting lineup. But because he's a higher draft pick, the love for Poz is far from universal.

  17. We were 4-4 in the 2nd half of the season last year. Why wouldn't we continue at .500?

     

    Free Agency is still a wild card. Interested to see who we will lose and who we will sign.

     

    But we do have some up-and-coming younger players who should perform better than last year with added experience. This will be our second year with Gailey's offense and Edwards' defense. Both should function better. And it's our 2nd year with our new S&C coaches who will hopefully reduce the injury rate of the DJ years. We also have Wannstedt to help on the Defense - a needed addition. At last one of this year's draft picks should contribute right away.

     

    All in all, 8-8 seems like a safe prediction.

  18. For teams to be competitive they all need to be on equal footing. It's not the capitalist way of doing things and I would be against it in the regular market but sports aren't regular business and are here only for our entertainment thus robin hood needs to steal from the rich and give to the poor to keep the league strong throughout its markets big or small.

     

    Actually this is quite capitalistic. It's not unusual for a big company to maintain a presence in a market even when that presence costs them money. For example, NFL Europe survived for several years, despite huge losses, because the NFL hoped to build a fan base in Europe that would eventually create another revenue stream.

     

    Jerry Jones supports helping smaller market teams simply because it's in his best financial interest to do so. By maintaining franchises in a selection of cities (and not only in mega-cities), the NFL maintains itself as a national brand with widespread relevance.

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