Haplo848

Once the season starts, don't they transitions so that the 1st team offense faces the 2nd team defense/scout team and vice versa? They can get better and get all the practice they can stand against one of the best defenses in the league (or at least that's what I'm hoping) all through training camp, but then they can boost their confidence against lesser competition once the season starts.

I think that there's maybe one team (Carolina) that the argument could be made that they are better then us. I don't agree with that argument, but I can see it being made. However, I think that the argument could be made that the Bills are already better then multiple teams ranked higher then us.

I've been explaining this poorly, but the biggest problem I have with the sanctions is that this is a knee-jerk reaction that is premature and aimed at the wrong people. There is no doubt in my mind that all four of the men involved, Sandusky, Shultz, Curley, and Paterno are guilty to one degree or another. The jury is out on Sandusky, he is a horrid piece of s*** whose crimes will live in infamy, the effects of which will be felt for decades. I hope his victims can find some solace in everything that's happened since he was arrested. As for the cover-up in which Shultz, Curley, and Paterno were involved, I don't know the degree of involvement of each of the three in the cover up. But guess what, neither does just about anyone else. The trials of Shultz and Curley haven't started yet, and not everything will be known until afterwards. Paterno's trial will never happen, now that he's dead. It's likely that his involvement will never be clearly determined now. At this point, the only charges that could have been brought up against Paterno is perjury, since it appears that he did know about the investigation in 98, which he said he didn't. Other then that, I don't believe anything else could be brought up against him. From what I read, after Mike McQueary, the grad student who found Sandusky in the shower showed up at Paterno's and told him days after the incident about what happened, Paterno did what he should have and reported it to his superiors (Shultz and Curley) and campus police (who had jurisdiction). After being told the investigation had stopped, Paterno still tried to get Sandusky banned from campus but was told he didn't have the authority. In this case, it appears that it's not completely black and white, as some have tried to make it out to be. Paterno has drawn the lion's share of the criticism simply because he's the most well-known. As far as the evidence so far has shown, he's probably the least culpable, though still guilty. Would people be as invested in this whole story if it was simply about one retired assistant coach and two random administrators? Who knows? My guess is probably not. But throw in the ex-most winningest coach in college football who had promoted integrity, and you have yourself a juicy story that's easy to write about, and that people want to read. That's why everyone's been yelling about Paterno, yet not a single person in this entire thread have mentioned Shultz or Curley by name. Even McQueary has some blame in this. He sees an old man having anal sex with a kid and doesn't stop it, or call the police to have them stop it. All he does is tell his coach. However, he has whistleblower status years later, so he's immune. Simply put, all the facts haven't come out about the cover-up. The trials for two of the three men involved in it haven't even started, yet the NCAA has handed down penalties specifically for the cover-up. It is a knee-jerk reaction so that they can be seen to be doing something. To me, it is premature. The other problem I have is that of the four men involved in the child abuse and cover-up, one is in jail, two are on trial (and in all likelihood going to jail), and one is dead. Exactly who are they targeting with these sanctions? In previous posts, I've tried to point out that Paterno isn't the complete monster that the media is portraying him as, and as most people have implied. Is he guilty? Most likely yes. However, he also did good things in his life. I've pointed out his donations to education and the Penn State Way, a culture of "victory with integrity." Many people, however, point to that culture as the one that allowed child abuse and then tried to cover it up. I, however, disagree. The culture that did those things is the culture of the boardroom, of politics and economics. It's the culture that appears any time there is money to be lost or won. It's the one that has car manufacturers try to figure out which will cost them the most profits, recalling faulty products that they know will kill people or dealing with the lawsuits once it does. It's the greed that comes with any financial institution. Does anyone really think that will end everywhere, simply because the NCAA handed down harsh penalties to the Penn State football team over an administrative problem? Not even one dealing directly with football? If so, I have a bridge I'd like to sell you.

No, YOU are very naive. The past few years, Paterno has barely run the football team, let alone the school. After the grad student came to him with a report about Sandusky in the shower with a boy, Paterno did follow up on it. When he was told that they didn't have enough evidence to keep up the investigation, he demanded that Sandusky was banned from the school. They overruled him, saying that as the football coach, he didn't have the authority. When he demanded they ban him from using the football facilities, they agreed, but left him no way to enforce that. He was NOT the most powerful man at Penn State, and to think that is naive Really couldn't finish reading a few paragraphs, huh? I said he instituted that culture, the Penn State Way. I also said he didn't follow through on that all the time. Here's a quote I think is very telling: "The Penn State Way commissions a multi-million dollar independent investigation which, in eight months, revealed more than did three years of state criminal investigations. Then, the Penn State Way publishes the painful results for the world to mock, while we admit our mistakes, and resolve to move forward and improve. That's right... the reason you can tear down the Paterno temple; the reason you can claim Joe lied is because Penn State investigated itself more critically than the Commonwealth government. Then, it told all to everyone. Yes, Joe Paterno failed the Penn State Way in the Sandusky scandal. He wasn't alone, nor was he the most culpable. But, over the preceeding 60 years, he also taught and lived the Penn State Way. He is, in large part, precisely why Penn Staters feel that there is a "Penn State Way" at all. That is a great legacy. It's a far sight better than the sportswriters' Paterno temple. And no amount of scorn, contempt, or shouting can change it."

These sanctions are complete bull. This whole situation is not a football problem, it was a problem with the current and retired administration. Something DEFINITELY needs to be done with regards to the people involved. And guess what? Something IS being done. The people responsible (Sandusky, Curly, etc.) are all on trial or have already been convicted. However, not everything has been released, nor will it until the trials are over. For the NCAA to hand down sanctions at this point in time is irresponsible and is simply a knee-jerk reaction. What everyone seems to be missing here is that the Freeh report was an investigation that was IMPLEMENTED BY PENN STATE. They investigated themselves! Everything in the Freeh report is anything that is or could be construed as wrong-doing by people within the administration. There is no attempt at a defense for Penn State in it, it was simply laying out facts. Neither Penn State, nor the people being condemned, have had a chance to defend themselves. Everyone seems to be coming to the conclusion that the Freeh report is infallible and law. It's the opinions and conclusions of one man after his investigation. Oh, and the "proof" that Paterno actually did ANYTHING wrong? Two emails. That's it. Of those two emails, only one is particularly damning, where it asks if there's an investigation going and what the status of it was (which means that he actually was aware of a prior investigation). The funny thing about these emails? Joe Paterno DID NOT USE EMAIL. They were sent by a grad student, supposedly at Paterno's behest. Pretty much this whole situation over Paterno has been completely overblown and whipped into a frenzy by the media. They are obsessed with covering the fall of a giant that they are making sure that it actually happens. As a grad student at Penn State, I've been seeing one knee-jerk reaction after another. None of those decisions have seemed like they were well thought out or for the good of all. They all have essentially been people trying to save their own a$$es and maintain their own image in front of the media who would lacerate them if they didn't. There are good things about the sanction. An entire year's worth of football profits ($60 million) is gone from Penn State. You hit an institution with such huge loss, it will ensure that pressure is put upon administrators to never let something like this happen again, to go by the book. That money goes to helping people who have been victims of child abuse (Note: it does nothing to stop the child abuse from happening). However, the problem with the sanctions as I see it as that not only are they trying to destroy the people who allowed Sandusky to perpetrate his heinous crimes, they're trying to destroy Penn State football, and more importantly, the entire culture that Paterno in large part helped to build. He instituted a "victory with integrity" culture at Penn State and maintained it his entire time here. He believed that student-athletes could be both athletes AND students. His family has donated incredible amounts of money to promote learning at Penn State. But with the sanctions handed down, the people at Penn State that hold these ideals will be gone, the football program will essentially be dead for 4 years, and by the time it finally starts up again, the people who maintained this culture will be long gone, and my guess is that this culture will be gone with it. I know that Paterno didn't follow through on the ideals he instituted 100% of the time. People have envisioned this god-like ideal of Paterno. When it was finally revealed that he was just human after all, people have been shocked and scandalized. But in his time here, Paterno did do much more good then bad. P.S. Want proof that Paterno's culture was such a success at Penn State? http://ideas.time.com/2011/12/07/paternos-revenge-penn-state-football-is-no-1-in-academic-bowl/ Penn State graduates the most student-athlete football players within the given time frame of Division I schools. Not only that, but there is no achievement gap between black and white players (At LSU, by comparison, the team’s black players are 32% less likely to graduate than their white counterparts).

I HIGHLY doubt that he will go in the 2nd round. In fact, I'd be surprised if he went before the 4th. People in the supplemental drafts tend to have warning signs all over them, and that tends to drop them down the draft pretty far. My guess is that he's taken in the 5th, possibly the 4th. He's a developmental guy that will take at least a year in a system with a lot of upside, but also a huge bust potential.

He's not going to be asked to be the starter, at least not right away. I'm pretty sure that despite the fact he's supposed completely healthy now after that surgery, I read somewhere that he'll start the season as a pure pass rush specialist, not an every down DE. I think that will help a lot, and if he's capable of handling the grind of being a starter (and is better then his competition at the spot), then he'll eventually be moved into the starter spot. All indications seem to be that his past injuries are now behind him, and shouldn't return. Whether he gets some unrelated injury that regularly occurs over the course of the season is another matter. Also, if he does get injured, is it bad enough to put him on IR? Too many questions. Personally, I won't be too surprised if he makes it past the bye week. Will he still be there when the Bills play in the Super Bowl this year? Who knows.

I agree with most of those, but not McIntyre (because of Dorin Dickerson possibly replacing him at the H-back position). I also don't agree with Kelsay, Johnson, or Edwards, as there is a lot of competition there. Do I think those three will be cut? No. However, I don't think it's set in stone that all three have a roster spot. Also, Rogers and Brooks will have to prove themselves before they are a lock to be given a roster spot. McGee probably comes before either of them, and with the money given to McKelvin already, they may decide to keep him (I hope not!) and put one of those two on the practice squad.

I'll give you quick, but I really don't think he looked that fat at all...

Penn state, main campus in state college

Is anyone else really amused that the Jests picked an unmotivated classic 4-3 DE who will be completely out of place in a 3-4?

Pardon me if I disagree with you COMPLETELY when you say that Merriman is a 4-3 OLB. He is in NO WAY a 4-3 OLB. 90% of the time in a 3-4 he was attacking the QB. He WILL NOT drop into coverage 90% of the time like 4-3 OLBs do, as that would be retarded and even more of a waste of his talents then making him a rotational player. You can never have too many good DEs, and rotating them in and out constantly keeps them fresh and playing at a high level all game. If Merriman shows that he is healthy and back to pro bowl form, I'd expect to see Anderson backing HIM up, with that constant rotation in there. To be perfectly honest, I wouldn't rule out a hybrid 4-3 where they rush five men, drop two, so that Williams, Williams, Dareus, Merriman, and Anderson are all doing what they do best.

Another possible reason to be worried about Barron being the pick: Chris Brown has the Bills picking him on his mock draft he released today. http://www.buffalobills.com/news/article-2/Chris-Browns-2012-Mock-Draft/6340ae74-bb8c-464d-bae1-e99cbdb87aab 10. Buffalo OT, LB, CB Top choice: S Mark Barron - Alabama LB Luke Kuechly - Boston College Much like the Spiller pick in 2010, the Bills take the top player on the board and select the best safety to come out since Sean Taylor.

Now, I'm not saying I like this pick. In fact, I think it's a horrible one, since we already have Byrd and Wilson who played really well last year. But for the past few days, I've been hearing that the Bills really like Barron, that he could be a surprise pick of the Bills. Even Chris Brown on BB.com's Fan Friday this week talked about how much the Bills liked him. I keep thinking "That's a horrible pick, we're set there, there's no way we go that way," but then I remember thinking the same exact things in the last week before the draft two years ago when people would say how the Bills were going to pick Spiller. And we all know how that turned out. I for one am going to prepare myself to accept the fact the Bills are drafting a safety...

Those bumblebees are MIGHTY terrifying!

That schedule is wrong. That's the Patriots schedule. We place KC and Cleveland, not Denver and Baltimore. Add a 1 for the Browns instead of the Ravens, keep the 1 for KC instead of Denver, and you get 11 wins

Does anyone actually have a video of the hit? I'd like to make an informed decision on this, but can't find it anywhere. I keep getting the same video that's been taken down already.

The Browns and Rams wouldn't take Kalil because they already have a lot invested in their own expensive young LTs. LT isn't a priority for them. It's the rest of the line that is.

From everything I've read, he seems like he'd be a REALLY good cover corner. However, that's mitigated by problems with the law, alimony, etc. If he's still there in the third round, I'd take him, but anywhere before that is too much of a risk. You don't know when or how long you'd have him, and he's constantly one more screw-up away from going to jail.

Why do people keep making this mistake? He ended up in the middle at BC but he can play ANY LB POSITION IN A 4-3. Your right, we don't need a MLB, but OLB is a much higher position of need, and he could very well be the BPA when we're on the board. Just because it's not a position of need, doesn't mean we won't take him. See the Spiller pick. Too slow for a safety normally means not fast enough to match up against WRs. All too often these days, you see a safety lining up over a WR and is expected to cover him. If he has the cover skills of a corner, but plays like a LB, then I honestly don't see any problems with him covering any TE.

Kuechly is the first person they talk about in this video on nfl.com ( http://www.nfl.com/videos/nfl-draft/09000d5d8283e3a5/Mike-Mayock-s-top-100-players-preview?module=HP11_content_stream ). Mayock says "I think he's the best pure zone-drop pass LB I've ever seen on tape. What usually knocks inside LBs down is their inability to stay on the field for three plays. It's the opposite for Kuechly. He will excel in sub-packages. His only issue is every once in a while, he'll get covered up in the run game by a big body...I have him #6 on my board." Depending on the type of D that Wanny installs, Kuechly could be exactly the kind of LB that Wanny needs. However, man coverage? I don't know, I haven't heard much about his man coverage skills.

Here's a question for you. Who in front of us even needs a LT? Rams and Vikings? If Vikings trade with Dolphins so that the Dolphins pick Tannehill, that puts the Vikings at 8. Would the Rams pass up on Blackmon to get Kalil? Could we just trade up to 7 with the Jags to get Kalil instead?

I would despise Reiff as our pick because he's not a LT. At best he's a decent RT, but he'll probably end up as a guard. He's too compact and has too short of arms. Other then Reiff, the pick I would dislike is Kirkpatrick. He's not the type of CB we need, Gilmore would be better, but Gilmore isn't top 10 talent. I'm not sure why DeCastro is so hated. He'll probably end up being in like 10+ pro bowls and could very well be the BPA when we're on the clock. Is it just because he's an interior lineman? Would people rather reach for need instead of going BPA?

This is one of the dumbest things I've heard in a while on here. You're locking onto position regardless of the players available. You want three tackles no matter what in rounds 4 and 5, yet the highest rated OT on the board at that point could have 6th round grade or lower before you even start, yet we "have" to take an OT there. What if there isn't any value for CBs or LBs when we pick in rounds 2 and 3? Force that position anyways? This is why I'm so glad fans aren't in charge of drafts.

False. He projects to any LB position in the NFL