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I genuinely feel like no one (okay...maybe Coach Tuesday) has overreacted at all. It seems pretty obvious the plan is to stick with Whaley and co. and some of us are sort of coming around to why that might not be the best idea.

I'm actually surprised to see someone defend the way we handled the 2013 QB situation, but I'll play along... We had no plan after Kolb went down. We just kept EJ and Tuel. We picked Thad off the street and threw him into a couple games as well. Everything was very reactionary. We did not setup proper veteran support at the position, which ultimately hurt the development of our 1st round QB.

I don't really know how to differentiate this roster than several others over the past 16 years. It seems like much of the same to me. No one is saying everything needs to be blown up. If we miss the playoffs, I'd prefer to see a new GM with a new approach, but realistically unless it's a total tank-fest I'd expect to see Rex and Whaley stay.

This really puts an exclamation point on my whole unprepared argument.

Where did I say we need to have pro-bowl talent for depth? I guess I went too far with "dominating" but I still stand by the fact that we have been practically throwing unprepared players to the wolves for the most part when someone goes down. We signed a guy who hasn't suited up in over 12 months. Not an encouraging back up plan, if you ask me. Whaley was named GM in May of 2013. Jeff Tuel's first start was in October 2013. Whaley was the GM (in title). *Edit/Rant: This whole Tuel thing...I don't want it to get overblown because it was a few years ago...but the fact that people are conveniently not accrediting that to Whaley shows how little accountability he has. He gets an unnecessary pass and we shift blame on to Nix. I just can't really say Whaley has done a great deal to impress me. He doesn't strike me as a very prepared man.

I posted this in the Ragland thread, but I suppose it belongs here... The rookie injuries are bad luck, but Whaley has been really short-sighted with a lot of moves and these types of injuries shouldn't be so crippling. We never seem to have a back-up plan and have been put in bad situations by a lack of depth. Jeff Tuel started a game at QB. When Kyle Williams and Aaron Williams went down with injury, it was the theme of the season. No one stepped up and dominated in those roles because we had no depth to fill those spots. Our current WR depth is questionable, and I don't know who Whaley could possibly blame for that. I'm still on the fence with Whaley, but I feel like he needs to be better prepared. Even though he is a great player, the decision to move up to get Watkins looks more like a Detroit Lions move every year. I don't know how a team with no depth can afford to be throwing 1st round picks out the window, and that is a prime example of the nearsightedness I'm referring to.

I don't think that individually Ragland and Lawson will be huge loses. As a whole, it definitely makes the offseason look very weak. The Bills added very little (ok, almost nothing) to an already average roster. The Jets seemed to regress under Rex, and now that he hired his brother, I don't know...I'm not expecting this defense to shock the world or anything. Injuries happen and as Bills fans we understand bad luck more than anyone, but they really did not set themselves up to be in the best situation given where they were after Marrone's 9-7* season. I've been on the fence about Whaley, but he has shown himself to really not be prepared with a back-up plan when sh*t starts to hit the fan (Jeff Tuel started a game for Christ's sake). We'll see how this year goes I guess... *wk 17 fake win

That was one of the most dreadful articles I've ever read. It was unprofessional and full of hyperbole:

That's not how it works. He weighs 220 pounds, so for him it would be 5 drinks in an hour to reach .08. For most male adults it's 4 and over. Here's a guide to follow: http://www.attorneydwi.com/bacperdrink.html

Last RB roster spot - a temporary position for 4 weeks. An opportunity to show the youngsters how to go about camp. A leadership role. It makes too much sense for the team. Cue signing an un-named undrafted camp-fodder RB that they think has a lot of upside in 5...4...3..

crayonz? is that you?

It always amazes me when people decide to create their own definitions and expect everyone to live by them. Hockey is one of the major professional sports. It's part of the big four. It may get the lowest ratings, have a terrible TV contract, but it's a major sport. Let's dispel this myth that it is not because you don't want it to be. I HATE the NHL, and the way they go about marketing and running their league but it's a major sport.

Well said. I feel very similar. The whole league seems to highlight all the parts of the sport and off-the-field stuff that I don't care about. I've never been so uninterested in the draft, our team, players around the league. It's all so, "meh" to me. I know a lot of it has to do with how I feel about Rex Ryan, but the trend of the NFL is headed straight towards a trajectory that I couldn't be less amused by.

Agreed. This is the last coach that made consistency his mantra: Fixed. I didn't know that, but I don't need any more anecdotes to form my opinion on Russ Brandon's involvement. He continually says he's not involved, and everywhere we look he's busy grinning behind the scenes, constantly having a voice in important team decisions.

Anyone that thinks a Super Bowl will be played in Buffalo is delusional.

Pretty much sums this entire thing up. Joe B's constant training camp stats are stupid, but it doesn't mean I'm not going to read them. We're fans and we're interested in this subject and in the end the quality of the content this time of year is less important than the quantity. No one was complaining about being able to watch 6 second vine clips of the players last year at camp, and if they were it certainly wasn't that it was too much reporting...

At least he didn't CC the whole league this time...

I'm still baffled at his dual presidency with the Sabres/Bills. Say what you want about the guy, but that is some world class ass-kissing.

Did this ever go anywhere? Do we even have an analytics department? The way they were talking at the time you'd think half the staff would be former Xerox employees by now.

I know exactly what you mean, but I kind of feel most "realists" predict a 7-9 each season.

Does that really apply at ten consecutive losses? That's hard to do. Also, the team won with Mariotta at QB. This guy is a total loser.

How is Zach Mettenberger, who is 0-10 as a starter and just released by the Titans of all teams, better than EJ? Bunch of crazy people on this board.

I wasn't compelled to comment on this until I saw the constant steam of "Martin is a wuss". I don't understand this narrative at all. I'm thankful that Richie Incognito is on our team playing at the guard position, but I'm pretty sure he's not a good person. I don't believe that he's evil reincarnated, and I don't think he purposefully steered into the realm of hate-speech, but I just know that if her were sincere and just joking around that there would be no misinterpreting that. It's hard to read people sometimes, but if you sense that you're getting under someone's skin, it is not difficult for a nice person to apologize and stop playing games. Incognito is not that. He's perhaps a bit high on the "alpha male" persona and a bit weak on the mental/social gymnastics required to apologize to someone and earn their trust. I understand that sports teams can thrive on the hierarchy within the locker room, but it can also be a hurtful and unnecessary way to lead. If Incognito were truly a great leader, he would have responded better to Martin's personality.

Pretty neat video. I thought it was a little weird how defensive he got at the end there. He'll need to learn how to take criticism if he wants to succeed in Buffalo.

Both are probably making somewhere in the top 1-5% for their profession. Not sure how lofty I think sports journalism is to begin with, but if it is and there's a spectrum, they're both proudly near the top...provided of course, this guy is at the bottom: