ganesh

Florence has been with the Bills for two seasons...So he should have been aware of as to who was making the decisions and yet chose to re-sign back with the Bills. If it was so bad, why did he re-sign here. The Bills are frustrated that nothing went right in their 2nd preaseason game. The Bills couldn't pass or stop the opponent from scoring. Adding fuel to the fire has been the decisions by Gailey to move Levitre around, play SPiller as the starter without informing Jackson and so on. There is just frustration all over there. I hope Gailey doesn't lose this team.

That might have been true 25 years ago...when the likes of Parcells, Levy and Walsh kept excellent players on bench and did not play them much during their rookie years. However, in today's NFL there is no such thing as sitting and watching and learning...It is all about how much can you help contribute to the team, especially if you are picked in the 1st three rounds.

eball, My point was that for a franchise picking in the top 10, and hopes the draft as its way to success, needs to hit on its draft picks and have them contribute in their rookie season. Spiller, Troupe and Carrington hardly saw the field and that too on a lousy 4-12 team that started 0-8. I believe that just does not cut it for the draft success. And in their second season, none of these guys are likely to be starters on opening day @ their positions. The good teams get good value from their top picks and not have them as bench warmers.

Bill, I really doubt it. Chan was pretty upfront before last years draft of having to have a scat-back...and Spiller has so far fitted that bill, except that the scat behind this OL has been pathetic. I don't think they were pressured by someone like Brandon...The whole draft has been so weak so far....your top 3 choices can't crack the starting line up.

When you have made up your mind that the draft is the only way to build the franchise (For Buddy and Chan), they better get their drafting right...Your players from 1st - 3rd round need to be solid contributors, not bench warmers...Spiller, Troupe and Carrington were huge disappointments in that regard...They couldn't beat out the players ahead of them in the depth chart. That does not help in your building the franchise. I hope this year will be different, but I do not have high hopes. Marcel will be a day 1 starter..no doubt about that...However, not sure if Williams or Sheppard will be able to see the field early on....And then will Troupe, Carrington make any big difference this year? If not then last years draft is wasted...

With Pryor going to Oakland, does it mean Trent Edwards gets the axe?

Travis Henry was the best RB we have had since Thurman Thomas. He could do it all, except keep the things between his legs right. Jackson comes only after him. One of the biggest problem with Jackson has been his ability to score TDs in the redzone. He has been pretty pedestrian in the Redzone. Of course that could all be due to the lousy OL that we have. I do agree that Chan should have handled this better, firstly by talking to Jackson and also letting him know that Spiller will start all pre-season games. There is so much lack of communication between this staff and the players...and that is not a good thing.... First Evans, then it was Levitre...and now Jackson....

That is not a good argument....Rothelisberger and Rodgers are light years better than Fitz. They can mask some of the OL problems with their ability to make plays...not throw floating ducks...Plus both teams have an outstanding defense and HOF caliber Defensive Coordinators....Something those teams can lean on when the offense does not show. The Bills are not anywhere in their league in any of the above aspects....

Great post. I have been worried about Fitz, especially with the big drop off in the 2nd half of the season even though we went 4-4 during that stretch and were a couple of plays from beating Baltimore, Kansas City and Pittsburgh.. Folks cannot keep on pounding on the OL...The OL is what it is....very average and poor tackles. IT is up to the QB/WR/RBs to elevate their plays to mask our weak OL. That is what good teams do. That is what good coaches game plan. I wish Gailey realizes that and puts his best blocking TE on the field as an additional tackle and have Fitz throw off short and quick drops.

I trust that Ralph has accountants who are better at crunching these kind of things better than majority of the folks on this board. Those folks do this for a living...

I thought Lee Evans was that fiery leader... Also, people who keep claiming that Evans was more double teamed...should go back to 2 seasons ago, when we had TO....and yet his #s were pretty average....

It is too early to grade this draft. The best draft of the decade was the year they got Clements, Schoebel, Travis Henry etc...The first three picks were the most productive and we actually drafted a decent TACKLE in Jonas Jennings. Spoon would have been a good LB if not for the biceps injury. The Lynch, Poz and Edwards year could have been a super year......Almost... RD SEL # PLAYER POSITION SCHOOL 1 21 Nate Clements CB Ohio State 2 46 Aaron Schobel DE Texas Christian 2 58 Travis Henry HB Tennessee 3 76 Ron Edwards DT Texas A&M 3 95 Jonas Jennings T Georgia 4 110 Brandon Spoon MLB North Carolina 5 144 Marques Sullivan T Illinois 6 178 Tony Driver DB Notre Dame 6 195 Dan O'Leary TE Notre Dame 6 196 Jimmy Williams CB Vanderbilt 7 214 Reggie Germany WR Ohio State 7 238 Tyrone Robertson DT Georgia

I am a big Lee Evans fan...but calling him a star in the league is a little joke, when he has not been even the top-10 WR in the past 3-4 seasons...There is a bit of everything in the failure of Lee Evans to elevate his game...bad coaching, bad QB, no support WRs etc......but you have to include Lee's inability to go over the middle or make the short passes and convert them to large gains.... There as a reason Don Beebe was always the #3, or #4 WR on the Bills team....Lee Evans is just another Don Beebe. You just don't disappear in 15 of 16 games in a season and Lee did that even when your QB was throwing for 3000 yards in 13 games. I hope Lee will post better numbers with Flacco as his QB and a solid OL and will also make it to the playoffs, the first time in his career. It would have been just unfair for him to have been stuck without a playoff for another year...something that frustrated a Schoebel so much that he retired from the game. In many sense, the Bills did a favor for one of their favorite players and did right by him.

Wrong QB..Would hvae give up the 3rd this year for Ryan Mallet

Mr. Jauron...Your approach really comes to mind....with your McCargo pick.....Something on the lines of Best DT available @ that point in the draft...even though he was the 3rd best player on that line that included Mario Williams and Manny Lawson....and we know how that Panned out.. You cannot reach for players unless they are a sure thing and there is no sure thing in NFL. Don't pick 1 year wonders from college...They usually cannot cut it. Don't pick players who have bloated their stats against weak opposition. Pick a player based on what his contribution is going to be. There is a HIDDEN Answer to your question. What you need to ask of these successful teams is: How many OL coaches have they had in the past 11 years...For most of them, the answer would be a couple and that would be mainly because the OL coach got promoted and they were able to successfully promote from within and keep the CONTINUITY. We had one OL coach for a 5 year window, but unfortunately we had three different Head Coaches during that time, whereby the philosophies were changed each time. Successful teams have continuity in their front office, continuity in coaching staff, continuity in their draft philosophy etcc....The Bills just have not had that...and that is a big reason for their failure.

Levitre is too small for being a center.

Yeah...Lee is a class act...A very dignified personality....Kudos to him and hope he gets to that mythical playoffs in his career...One thing though...the AFC North is a very tough black-and-blue division and there is war everytime the steelers play the ravens and the intensity is very high...Lee is a pretty finesse player...it will be interesting to see how he copes with that division.

Q&A with Ravens Lee Evans

And...another one bites the dust....Limas Sweed of that draft class was cut by the Steelers today... Limas Sweed Cut by the Steelers The other bust is Malcolm Kelly for the Washington Redskins....The only guy who succeeded was Desean Jackson and I think that was purely due to the system in which he played and used his burning speed.

Again...please can you line up those OTs that are out on the street that can come and make this team significantly better. I don't want one crap replaced by another crap.

It is one thing to criticize the Bills blindly, but it is another when you cannot come up the list of other candidates that they could have gone after...... Flozelle Adams and Max Starks have not been re-signed by their own teams, the steelers who themselves have a very weak line.....Langston Walker is available, if you want to throw another 25 Million at him...The Truth is that teams don't let go of their starting OTs if they are any good, except for the Bills who were twisted around by Jason Peters on his way to Philadelphia. The RT tackle from Pittsburgh would have been a good fit, but he really wanted to use all other teams to gauge his market and then went to the Steelers for a counter offer and bingo...they gave him the offer because he is a good RT and they didn't want to let him go. The Bills have failed to address the Tackle position at the top of the Draft and also have not had luck with their late round picks. I am more worried about their depth than their starters.

Did I miss something...I thought there was just an offer and the Jets had actually not signed Maybin.

And since the OP talks about not having depth, how much are backups going to cost for the team. The OL mess is way over blown. Every team has a decent set of starters and some backups. Our weakest issue is lack of two starting caliber tackles. Both Bell and whoever start at RT at best would be backups on most teams. And for not drafting a QB for the future...Ryan Mallet in the 3rd round has far more value than a Sheppard, especially if he can sit and learn behind Fitzpatrick. O Well... Nix has made his share of mistakes (or likely to fail) and will have to live by it. The Spiller pick made no sense last year...and so did the 3rd round pick this year. Also, the fact that Spiller, Troupe, Carrington, the top 3 picks in last years draft were not able to make any contribution (or even getting a starting job) says a lot about those picks. Similarly if Williams and Sheppard cannot get on the field, then it would be another wasted draft.

The Bills have had what @ 45+ drafts in their history. There are 22 starting positions in the NFL...that gives you a shot at getting 2-3 starters at the same position in that period of time. The Bills have invested on the OL this decade...just have not been successful...Except for the Donahoe era, the bills have tried hard.....Dockery, Walker, Williams, Wood, Levitre...Hangatner, Green, ..The only guy who had a pro-bowl career, Jason Peters was traded. Again, we don't know all the details, but there was definitely rumors @ that time that Peters asked too much money from the Bills as a way out to go and play somewhere else. The ones they missed, Eric Steinbach instead of McGahee, Mangold instead of McCargo, Oher instead of Maybin.

I may have given too much credit to Prisco...but the fact is that it does not matter whether he ranks as @ 25 or 32....Right now we are the doormats of the NFL and until we can pick up ourselves and get some wins, it doesn't matter. The guy has to cover 32 teams..where is his focus going to be....not @ the doormats....I don't believe Prisco is an idiot and doesn't know his football. As you agreed, there are just way too many IFs for this team to succeed. I agree...The bills probably have the weakest Tackles in the NFL and until last year we also had a very small guy playing center...The Bills cannot run on the edges nor between the tackles. Plus as Nix said today, we also have the weakest depth on the OL in the NFL. Also, I am not sure whether we can evaluate talent or have good coaching.....A guy like Jonathan Scott who started at LT for a few games couple of seasons ago, is the starting LT protecting the blind side of Ben Rothelisberger. How did a doormat player who was crushed play-in-play-out, go on to starting the most important position on offense besides a QB.