symbiant

Whaley has a history of drafting big defensive studs. And now Wannstedt is in the picture. Things are looking up. It would seem that we will be focusing on getting better on defense this year by drafting the right playmaker... not necessarily drafting quantity. Still, that might not mean we won't go offense in round 1. Saw this article about Whaley & Pitt drafting and it gave me some hope: "Pittsburgh does not draft more for defense than other teams. In fact, they probably draft for defense less. Since 2000, Pittsburgh has drafted for defense on just 30 out of 69 picks — or 43 percent. If you take the top three rounds, the Steelers have drafted for defense 50 percent — 13 of 26 — since 2000. They draft well, so they don’t have to keep re-tracing their steps on defense." http://www.arrowheadpride.com/2008/12/22/699394/getting-to-know-a-gm-doug

I like how the ball is loose in a lot of the highlights... we need that.

Kelsay said he didn't have answers to "why they were able to run the ball" on the Bills. 1) Kelsay got into the backfield on MANY plays and LT ran right by him for a 5+ yard run MULTIPLE times. Instead of 2 yard loss, it was a 8 yard gain. Other defenses make that play. 2) It seems like every time a Bills defender had the play contained, [insert Jet offensive player] would make a move and the Bills player would be on the ground. I've never seen a pro team get juked that much. It was ridiculous.

1) We really miss Aaron Schobel. He made our secondary a lot better. Pressure usually does. 2) 3 biggest holes: Passer, Protect the passer, Rush the passer Unfortunately, most teams need the same and so the best prospects are taken in round 1. Can we get 3 mercy 1st round picks please? Gonna be a few years methinks. 3) Our defense is not as good as we like to think it was. Maybe we held opponents to close scores only because they didn't need to do too much to beat us and we were just... practice dummies. The opposite of running up the score = just do barely enough to beat the bills. 4) We got what we asked for... we wanted trent to throw more downfield. Fitz came in and did what we wanted and (gasp) converted a 3rd and long, only to lose the game later on an INT. More hope, same results, same disappointment. 5) Ralph is not going to open up the checkbook when we are this bad. Nobody else in his position with real dollars at stake would either. That would be the same as flushing money down the toilet. I do think he'll open it up if he thinks we have a shot at being playoff contenders again. 6) Methinks Chan did a good job building up trent's confidence in the offseason to see if that was all he needed to get to the next level. (See yelling at fans in practice.) Apparently, it's not a confidence issue and they cut bait quick. Due up: A.Maybin. 7) Much like Reggie Bush, CJ Spiller is a very expensive decoy. We need more than decoys unfortunately. 8) Bills have made many attempts to get the QB, OL, DL in round 1 in the past decade. Lots. Claussen ~ Losman. Bulaga ~ Williams. We took Spiller because he's at a position where we can actually scout properly. 9) Where are the turnovers on defense? Need... pressure... badly... Why not put in Troup and Carrington to see if spark more pressure on the QB? 10) I think there is little doubt we will take an elite QB in round 1 next year, possibly unintentionally, yet intentionally tanking this season to make it happen.

bump

It would be in the Bills best interest if we didn't reveal our offensive strategy until game 1. Much like the wildcat, it gives defenses less time to adjust to what we're doing. And Gailey flat out said he wasn't going to show everything in preseason anyway.

http://www.buffalobills.com/media-lounge/v...39-abf8eb49a8bb

I think he's pulling a Favre and wants to skip as much of camp as possible

I like how the host basically implied that Buddy had an axe to grind (something to prove) and was going to "get medieval".

He owes it to Trent to give him one last shot. We had a mediocre career backup QB running the offense last year who inherited the job less than a month before the season started... what did you expect last year? Can you necessarily blame the QB solely for that? Bottom line, this is Edwards last chance to show us what he's got with an offensive minded HC.

We will find out. This is the key year for Lynch/Pos/Edwards

Didn't Denver switch from a 4-3 to a 3-4? They really turned around their defense last year quickly (And they were like 6-0 before imploding) Cinci also dramatically turned around its defense in one year (though I think that they weren't a 3-4).

The speed at which we picked Spiller seems to indicate no... but who knows what would have happened if Spiller was gone.

Based on the fact that we "reached" for Troupe, that probably means it was Dan Williams. The NT is critical for our new defense... makes sense

Defense wins championships. The more I read about a 3-4 defense, the more I realize that the nose is critical... in retrospect, it should have been pretty obvious that we were going to go for the best available NT very early. And probably means we wanted to trade up for Dan Williams, not the WR.

Just guessing here but I think that the Front office went early with guys that demanded attention of two players on the other side of the ball: If they live up to potential - You have to keep at least 1 eye, probably two on Spiller - You have to double team Troupe Or at least, that may be the theory. If true, then that creates more opportunities for the other players to make big plays.

The ones that come to mind for me are: Edgerrin James (Indy reached over Ricky Williams which NO traded their entire draft for, while having Marshall Faulk) Phillip Rivers (SD reached over Big Ben, after trading Eli Manning) Both were shocking at the time because they should have traded down... or at least more controversial than taking say.. Troupe over Cody

Maybe "Captain Checkdown" didn't want to force it to Evans and nobody else could get open and create mismatches. Oh wait, maybe that's why we brought in Spiller. Even if Spiller doesn't score a ton, he will dictate defensive attention (maybe double teams), and hopefully away from Evans. Additionally, on defense, I think the FO believes that Troupe will demand two blockers. A theme perhaps?

From CJ's twitter: "hard work beats talent, (when) talent doesn't work hard" It sure sounds like this kid's got the tools, the work ethic and the right attitude. It's been a while since our first round pick had all three.

We could have easily been 11-5 last year with a pathetic offense and defense. We lost 5 games by less than 1 touchdown. Week 1 Mon, Sep 14 @ New England Patriots L, 24-25 Win-able Week 2 Sun, Sep 20 Tampa Bay Buccaneers W, 33-20 W Week 3 Sun, Sep 27 New Orleans Saints L, 7-27 L Week 4 Sun, Oct 04 @ Miami Dolphins L, 10-38 L Week 5 Sun, Oct 11 Cleveland Browns L, 3-6 Win-able Week 6 Sun, Oct 18 @ New York Jets W, 16-13 W Week 7 Sun, Oct 25 @ Carolina Panthers W, 20-9 W Week 8 Sun, Nov 01 Houston Texans L, 10-31 L Week 9 Sun, Nov 08 BYE Week 10 Sun, Nov 15 @ Tennessee Titans L, 17-41 L Week 11 Sun, Nov 22 @ Jacksonville Jaguars L, 15-18 Win-able Week 12 Sun, Nov 29 Miami Dolphins W, 31-14 W Week 13 Thu, Dec 03 New York Jets (Toronto) L, 13-19 Win-able Week 14 Sun, Dec 13 @ Kansas City Chiefs W, 16-10 W Week 15 Sun, Dec 20 New England Patriots L, 10-17 Win-able Week 16 Sun, Dec 27 @ Atlanta Falcons L, 3-31 L Week 17 Sun, Jan 03 Indianapolis Colts W, 30-7 W

Or the last minute bonehead close losses which should be hopefully mitigated with a playmaker like spiller and improved defense up front.

Amen. Even in what we do for work, isn't this true? Hard work + Perseverance > Talent + Pedigree (Alone) Talent and Pedigree will only give you a head start.

Right, but the point is... the Patriots also found and created Brady. We haven't been exactly good at developing our talent. That is precisely why we brought in Nix and took Spiller, because he has the potential to be a game changer. It gets harder and harder to find them the deeper you go in the draft. For every Romo/Brady, there are dozens of nobodies.

Thoughts on the rebuilding philosophy: 1) Perhaps they didn't think that the offense woes were entirely the fault of the Quarterbacks, rather the lack of playmakers, poor scheme and poor conditioning and poor work ethic. Remember, all it takes is ONE big play per game to score... and for years (maybe a decade) we lacked that. Hopefully Spiller changes that. 2) All the picks were hard working with motors. If you listen to all their conference calls, they all seemed to have a similar attitude/work ethic. At minimum, it sends a message to the vets to show up for work, because there are hungry rooks coming in. At this level, the guys are like split seconds faster or one rep stronger than another... what's the difference maker? Apparently Nix believes its hard work. I LIKE THIS. 3) With a new defensive scheme coming in, it seems like everyone might be on even ground to learn the new defense. And apparently, we need some size/youth up front. 4) I believe these coaches believe that its actually their job to teach players to become great players, not to draft "great players" and magically hope they succeed. 5) I'm guessing Nix really only likes top QB's with high Wonderlic scores. (Rivers and Brees were above average, Clausen and Tebow were not). In fact, Nix "reached" for Rivers at 4th overall one year. 6) It seems like they targeted small schools, looking for overlooked players with a chip on their shoulder for being in a small program or competition concerns. The kinda attitude/camaraderie you're looking for in a turnaround in small market team eh? Anyway, I too was surprised we didn't get an OT in 2, but not shocked at all by Spiller in round 1. Here's to the new face of our franchise.

I think Nix likes the QBs he drafts to have above average Wonderlic scores. (Brees, Rivers)