2003Contenders

I'm waiting for people to freak out when one of the following happens: 1. The Bills place Hardy on IR. OR 2. They release Steve Johnson to make room for Hardy.

Can we go with none of the above? 1. If the OL was in good shape, I would go with Bledsoe. In its current state, however, Bledose would have no chance behind it. 2. For all you Flutie fanatics, go back and watch game film from that 1999 season. The Bills won a lot of games 13-10 back then because the defense was so good and he would make that one big play to help get the "W". I suppose he would have the best chance for survival behind our existing OL. 3. Edwards already has suffered 2 major concussions. Even if you think that he may eventually develop into a credible NFL starter, you also have to realize that he may be one more hard hit away from retirement. 4. Fitz is a decent backup, plain and simple. BTW, Losman proved last year that he wasn't even capable of playing that role.

Every year it is a crap shoot in the draft. The Bills managed to land 3 immediate starters in Wood, Levitre and Byrd -- one of which should be in serious contention for ROY. They also added what appears to be pretty good depth in Nelson and Lankster. So what if Maybin isn't producing just yet? I think I am OK having a first round prospect with a potentially high ceiling take the time he needs to develop, especially considering the early success we have with the other guys. The bigger story (for those whose glass isn't half empty) isn't the failure thus far of Maybin -- but, rather, the surprising success of Kelsay, who has managed to keep Maybin on the bench. Also, remember that Orakpo was NEVER going to be a possibility, since (rightly or wrongly) the Bills have a vendetta against drafting University of Texas players.

When TD drafted Parrish, he believed he was getting what it looks like Percy Harvin will be. He isn't, so it is time to move on. I, too, suspect that Parrish will be released next week when the Bills have to make room for Hardy.

I have to wonder how differently fates would have turned if the Bills had elected to keep Greer, thereby passing on McKelvin and instead drafted an OT. Ryan Clady, for example, was taken one pick later.

If he was going to go "in-house", I think he would have done that already.

Here are some quick observations... 1. The Carolina front four is pretty good. It is hard to beat up on Meredith too much for getting schooled by a stud like Peppers. If Scott returns to be the starting RT, these two games of experience will have done Meredith some good, and I believe he can serve as a decent swing man going forward. 2. I too try to focus on Bell in these games, and it is clear that he is inexperienced but it is also clear that he has some talent too. In all honesty, he probably should be a backup at this stage of his development, but we all know why he's been thrown into the fire. I see it as sink or swim for him. If he shows marked improvement during the course of the season to the point where he looks like a serviceable starting LT, then we can cross that need off our list. Otherwise, I would hope that the front office would make a sound investment in an upgrade at the position. 3. This was not a good game for Hangartner. I wonder if the whole retruning home thing had an impact. I like him, and hope that this was just an aberration. 4. Of all the OL, the one who had the worst day was probably Levitre. Let's hope the kid learns from this. 5. I though Wood had the best game of the starters. The thing that may help is that Fitz seems to be more decisive and quicker in getting the ball out of his hand. I kept wondering how many sacks Edwards would have taken Sunday if he had been behind center.

Not to put a damper on this, but the thing that bothered me is that Delhomme still seemed to have all day in the pocket to throw the ball. If the front seven can't apply more pressure than that against Schaub this week, he will pick them apart. With the way the DBs have been playing, just a bit more pressure up front could lead to game changing plays.

I don't know that I would call him the coach of the week, but it is hard to criticize any of his gameday decisions yesterday -- so at least that is a step in the right direction.

Well, I agree to a certain extent. The only area I would disagree is that in the games the Bills lost, with the exception of Miami, the defense did well enough holding the opposing quality offenses (Pats and Saints) in check. It is true that the offense is too pathetic to keep up with a good offense in a good old fashioned shootout -- but DJ's defense is predicated on NOT allowing those shootouts to occur. He prefers to die the death of a thousand paper cuts.

1. Trent is more physically talented. In general, he throws a prettier ball and is more accurate with his passes. When playing behind a strong OL that would give him the time necessary to make his natural progressions, I believe Trent would be more likely to make bigger plays. 2. Fitz has better intangibles. He has shown better pocket awareness and is more willing to try to get the ball to his receivers. These last 2 games provide a small sample size, but Fitz also appears to play better in the clutch. Part of that may be because Fitz seems more unflappable under duress. The odd thing is that when Trent took over for JP, it seemed as though these very same things were HIS strengths. I still have to wonder if that concussion last year didn't rob him of some of this. Right now, given the patchwork OL the Bills have, I would be inclined to ride with Fitzpatrick. I believe that starting him this week and reevaluating during the bye week (as appears to be Jauron's plan) is the prudent move.

I'm not ready to cast Trent aside just yet, although it has to be said that with the talent he has at WR and RB you would expect a capable NFL QB (even with a green OL) to be more productive than Trent has been. I also am not convinced that his problems center around the infamous Arizona concussion. He exhibited many of the same tendencies BEFORE that concussion. Namely, he just never has seemed able to properly anticipate -- that is, make the throw BEFORE the receiver comes out of his break. I suspect that part of the issue with Trent is the trust factor. He doesn't trust his OL to give him the time to make the big throw downfield (and hence all the checkdowns). He doesn't trust his receivers to run the precise route (and hence the unwillingness to throw until their route is complete). And worst of all, he doesn't trust himself to make the tight throws. Maybe taking the next 2-3 weeks off and watching a physically less talented QB who appears NOT to have these trust issues, will do him some good.

Honestly, I think if the Bills had any REAL interest in Garcia, the whole TO riff from years past would be a non-issue. Garcia is a system style QB -- and he played well in a closed in WCO that was tailored for his modest skills. Note that he played well in SF, Philly and TB which all ran identical systems. He didn't fair as well at any of his other stops.

He actually is fairly quick. In fact, last year with the Bengals he was more effective with his legs than his arm.

I agree with this assessment 100%. I think he is also a good "Damage Control" coach, which is to say that his conservative style tends to mask a team that is highly deficient, which is why I think he did a good job in 2006 with JP starting all 16 games and 2007 when the team was ravaged by injuries.

Maybe now that Roscoe know he won't be traded, he'll get his head out of his rear end and start producing.

I would give Fitz the nod for the next two weeks. That gives Trent 3 weeks (counting the bye) to clear the cobwebs and watch from the sidelines. In the meantime, see how Fitz performs in those two games to see what decision should be made during the bye week.

Watch the Bills just outright release him.

I have speculated all along that Mangina is still on the Jets payroll. The one game that the Browns won was against the Bills, which certainly helps the Jets too. Hmmmmm.

TO has no business complaining about anything. With all the drops, he is part of the problem.

Given TE's concussion history, I would keep him on the shelf (for his own good) until after the bye week. If Fitz plays "well" the next two games, we may have a controversy on our hands.

It remains to be seen what will become of Meredith. Under the circumstances I think anyone without an axe to grind would have to say that he acquitted himself quite well in his debut. He certainly did not embarrass himself. Coming out of SC Meredith was highly regarded -- and many scouts had him ranked as one of the top 2-3 most athletically gifted OL in the draft. He was also versatile, having played both tackle positions as well as inside. His stock took a bit of a hit, however, when teams started doing their research and heard from some of the Gamecocks' coaches that Meredith was a bit of a troublemaker in terms of questioning authority -- and I read one report that labeled him a potential "locker room lawyer". That caused his stock to drop from being that of a potential 2nd rounder to a 5th rounder, which is where he was ultimately drafted. Contrary to what some may be suggesting, the Packers really did like him. However, based on his rawness, they did not feel that he was ready to help them at the start of the season, so they took a risk by placing him on the practice squad, hoping that (by virtue of his free-fall in the draft) no NFL team would be prepared to sign him to an active roster. Perhaps this miscalculation will pay off for the Bills. Time will tell. One thing that I do believe, is that the zone blocking scheme that they employed yesterday would seem to be a good fit for the athletic (but not enormous) Meredith.

April's unit is directly responsible for this team being 1-4 instead of possibly 3-2 (and in first place).

When was the last time that the Bills had an honest to goodness OC? Ted Marchibroda?

Fairchild, Turk and now AVP. The common denominator is Dick J.