2003Contenders

One does have to wonder what would have happened if we had kept him instead of signing RJ. I'm guessing that the Flutie magic still would have happened -- and that Collins would have been released the following year. But who knows?

Obviously it remains to be seen, whether this pick was a good one or a bad one. Also, we're only a week into training camp, so it's not the end of the world, as long as DW reports soon. As for the pick itself, I've always been of the opinion that DW was something of a consesus pick. There were probably coaches/scouts in the war room calling for Bunkley, others calling for Ngata, and still others wishing for a trade down. I think DW was a pick that everyone felt that they could live with. I think it was more Marv trying to build a consensus, than getting into a panic, as Mort suggested at the time. Of course, I wasn't there when the decision was made -- just like Mort wasn't.

1. Anyone who watched all 16 games last year knows that Holcomb and JP did NOT play in the same offense. The coaches went with a more conservative style passing game that well suited Kelly's skills, when he was in there. Converesley, they NEVER put JP in such a low-risk situation. I'm not beating up on Holcomb, but there is a major difference in completing a high percentage of dink-and-dunk passes versus the downfield variety. Does JP need to improve his completion percentage? Absolutely. But let's not compare apples to oranges here. 2. I actually would be encouraged to see JP "slightly" better than Kelly Holcomb at this juncture of his career. Holcomb is a veteran who has been around for quite some time. At this point in Troy Aikman's career, he wasn't even as good as some of the other QBs that the Cowboys had on the roster. Lucky for the 'Boys that they road through those first two bad years with Aikman, rather than make the knee-jerk move to, say, Steve Walsh. Considering what we have invested in JP -- and the liklihood that this is going to be a non-contender year for the Bills anyway -- the team should use the season to determine for once and for all whether or not JP has "it". If he hasn't made dramatic strides to improve by year's end, then at least we know.

He knows very little about any NFL team outside of his beloved 'Skins.

Source... He's really HogBoy.

Good and fair points. When the hamburger deal first came out 2 years ago, many of us saw that as a positive for MM. After all, he had made the effort to reach out to another, more seasoned and successful head coach (in this case Andy Reid). Recall that this happened right before the Seattle road trip at a time, when we had not been successful winning on the road in quite some time. Now, the burger bit became a poster child for changing things up and probably had little to do with the team's sudden ability to play well on the road. (Recall that the Bills won all of their road games for the remainder of the season.) It didn't become a joke until last year, when MM and his entire staff seemingly became retarded overnight.

That really is a very good question, SuperBills12. And it is very hard to pin down directly. After all, MM didn't become stupid overnight. He's the same guy that had weathered plenty of adversity in 2004 to keep the ship sailing. And, the same Jerry Gray that was canned after the 2005 season, was the same Jerry Gray who had been the DC for a top 2 defense the previous two seasons. I also don't think that this was entirely lost on Marv and Ralph either, as both wanted MM back for 2006. I really think that much of it boiled down to MM's inability to see the reality of what was going on right before his eyes. And that starts with the 2004 season, where we started off 0-4 and 1-5 before getting hot and winning 8 of the last 10 games. I think MM saw our strong finish -- the Pittsburgh game not withstanding -- and thought that we would come out of the gates rolling in 2005. The reality is that the ridiculously favorable schedule that we played late in the season played a significant role in what was probably a somewhat inflated record. And chinks in the defense's ability to stop the run were quite apparant in that Pittsburgh fiasco, just as it had been weeks earlier when Corey Dillon ran the ball down the throat of the defense. Moreover, MM and TD seriously underestimated the importance of Pat Williams to the defense and Drew Bledsoe to the offense. Yes, Drew had his shortcomings, but he was also a calm veteran in whom the rest of the team had great faith. MM probably lost the lockerroom with his decision to hand JP the job without any competition. Realizing this, that's why MM insisted on riding the tail end of the season with Kelly, even though it was in the team's long-term best interests to give JP more playing time. By then it was too late, as MM had essentially already castrated himself. Moulds and Adams made sure of that. God knows that we have had inferior teams on the field in terms of talent in the history of our franchise, but the more I hear about what all went on last year both on the field and off, the more I think THAT team was the MOST dysfunctional. From that perspective, I think the fatherly Marv/Dick combo will serve as a nice change of pace.

Don't forget about Frostee Rucker and AJ Nicholson either.

I find it interetsing that neither mentions Holcomb, who is still "officially" the starter heading in. I also find it interesting that Vic says nice things about JP, but believes that Nall will be the starter. Is he saying that he believes that Marv/Jauron will impose Nall because he was the only one they hand-selected? Or is he saying that he thinks Nall will shine once training camp opens?

I know you're kidding, but if we picked him up for the league minimum with no guaranteed money, what could it hurt... even if he proves to just be camp fodder?

That's one of the reasons why I actually did like our draft. We may not have come away with the "big names". But I think we landed a number of guys that will manage to contribute right away. It was a common theme that Marv used in free agency -- not many big splashes, but potentially solid, young performers who may be on the verge of breaking through. As for Jauron, I think his style meshes well with Marv's. So, if nothing else, they seem to be on the same page. I see that as a bit of a variation on what TD di with his head coaches -- he looked for guys that he felt he could control.

For me it was two games during Jim Kelly's last season in 1996. The first was Kelly's first game back after the hammy injury -- and it was against Miami. The offense had sputtered badly in the first half -- but was starting to come on in the second. WIth seconds to go, Kelly hooked up with Reed on a crossing route that looked to go the distance for the tying score. However, Reed inexplicably slowed down just before the goal line -- and was tackled at the 1-yard line, while trying to stiff arm the DB that caught him from behind. The offense went with a play-fake on first down, but the defense sniffed it out, so Kelly did the smart thing and threw the ball away. An official throws the flag for inetentional grounding! With 2 more unsuccessful tries to punch it in, Kelly tries to force the ball on 4th down -- and it's picked off and run the other way for a TD. I think the part of this game that still makes me want to vomit is the sight of Jimmy Johnson jumping for joy on the sidelines. The other game from that year was an ESPN Sunday night game against New England. The Bills had rallied to go ahead with only about 3 minutes left to go. Ahead by 4, all the defense needed to do was keep the Patriots out of the endzone. Well, Bledsoe drove the Pats down there quickly and scored the go ahead TD on a screen pass to Curtis Martin. The Bills got the ball back with only about a minute to go -- but with decent field position and just needing to gain 20-30 yards to get in field goal position to tie the game. Willie McGinist (Has he really been around that long?) fakes the pass rush -- and drops back in coverage to pick off Kelly's pass and return it for a TD... icing the game. But not so fast. On the next play after the kickoff, Kelly hits Reed for the TD on a Hail Mary. The Bills fail to recover the on sides kick, and the Patriots win. As a result of that single game, the Pats win the division (and a 1st round playoff bye) -- and the Bills have to settle for a Wild Card spot. The Pats go onto the Super Bowl -- and Buffalo gets bounced in the first round of the playoffs.

I still maintain that Drew may be one of the few QBs with the right temperment to deal with TO. As annoyed as we always got with Drew's perceived laid back attitude, it is this attitude that will allow him to view any of TO's tirades as water off a duck's back. I've always felt that Andy Reid deserved some of the blame for not nipping the situation in the bud in Philly -- and allowing it to get out of hand. One of the great things about Parcells is that he chooses what he is willing to live with. While Tuna won't put up with TO crossing the line, he will be willing to let him mouth off here and there, so long as he shows up ready to play on Sundays.

That's a good point -- and I think it may point toward Marv's flexibility as a coach. That is, he was willing to tolerate "some" level of misbehavior with his star players (i.e. Kelly and Bruce), since he knew that they were ultimately self motivated enough to show up ready to play each and every Sunday. That's a point that may have been lost on Andy Redi, for example, last year when he decided to take TO to task, rather than just ignore him and let him do his thing on Sundays.

I think that by the time the season unfolds, we'll see that we may not have great individual receiving weapons (aside from Evans who has potential) -- but we have a pretty darn good collection. Think in terms of the whole being better than the sum of parts.

I can't say Namath because he was as much an icon as he was a football player. He was probably second only to Ali in terms of that generation helping to make the Sports industry what it is today. Yes, I know that his stats (i.e. more career interceptions than TDs) are underwhelming for a figure of his stature. For me, the all time most overrated has to be Dan Marino. He may boast all time career stats in virtually every passing category, but he was a far from complete quarterback -- and a terrible teammate. Marino apologists whine that he never had a running game. Well, that's true, but it was Marino's fault that they never had one. He always pouted at the notion of trying to establish one -- and when push came to shove he was willing to (at least on a subconscious level) give away the running plays at the line of scrimmage. Currently, I'll go with Vick too, although he is so despised that maybe he can no longer be considered overrated.

It's interesting that he chose to go all the way back to 2001, which was the only draft that TD had which has turned out to be good. 2002 was bad, 2003 was a mixed bag, and we still don't know enough about 2004 and 2005. Looking closer, that was the one draft that TD had WITHOUT Modrak at his side. That raises a bit of concern for me, as Modrak is still around calling some shots. Who knows... King's article was probably also a subtle jab at Marv, comparing his first draft to TD's. Maybe King will eat his words when Whitner is named Defensive Rookie of the Year.

Yea, I actually like Holcomb -- as a backup QB. He has the right temperment for the job and would be capable of stepping in, so I am not in favor of getting rid of him. But for the long haul, I'd rather see Losman -- and if Losman can't win the job outright then Nall -- at the starting position. Obviously, we want the best man barking signals... If Losman and Nall are both so pathetic that Holcomb does indeed win the starting job, then it tells us that we need to continue shopping for another starter. In the best of all possible worlds, Losman wins the starting job outright with Nall playing well enough to push him. (We already know what Holcomb brings to the table.) In the instance that Losman loses the starting job either to injury or poor play -- if it's in mid-game, then turn to Holcomb. If it's for a stretch of games, then give Nall the nod. Of course, with a couple of weeks to go yet before training camp even starts, I suppose we are getting ahead of ourselves...

No, but Nance could supplant Smith or Wilson. I agree that Nance is a longshot to make the final cutdowns and that the practice squad is the most likely place for him, but if he continues to turn heads once training camp starts, who knows? I know comparisons to to other WRs who looked good in preseason but never made the roster will pop up, but at 6'4", Nance does bring something to the table that none of our other WRs have -- and that could be a nice thing to have in redzone situations.

Donahoe is gone... He hasn't found an axe to grind (or a dead horse to beat) with Marv just yet.

Excellent points... And to those still crying about the switch from Flutie to RJ, let's not forget how divisive Flutie had become by that point. I really think that he had lost some of his teammates in the lockerroom by his refusal to accept blame for losses -- and accepting the credit for that "Flutie Magic" in 10-7 type victories (of which there were many that year), when the thanks really should have gone to the fine defense. Recall the week leading up to the game that Andre Reed (Yes, I know he was at the end of his line -- but still...) had become quite vocal in his contempt for Flutie, and there were still people (many of them right here on this board) that blamed Flutie for hanging Thurman our to dry on a floater screen pass that wound up sidelining Thurman for most of the season. Not trying to spark the Flutie/RJ debate again, just trying to remind everyone what the real atmosphere was like at the time.

I've always liked Vic, but he is not the Buffalo insider he once was, since hitting the national scene. Thus, his gut feeling about Nall is probably no better than any of ours. Still, I could see a situation happening here that was very similar to what happened in Carolina a few years ago, when Jake Delhomme came off the bench to become a solid starting QB. Recall that many observers criticized the Panthers for taking a shot in free agency at the little known Cajun... The similarities (even considering the success in another football league) seem remarkable.

Must be Monkey See Monkey Do over there at ESPN. Wasn't LP the one who wrote an article talking about what a great player McCargo would be -- and that he had cemented himself as a first round pick in the days leading up to the draft?

It sounds like the short-term plan is t have McCargo spell Tripplett and play along side him in passing downs. However, the coaches apparantly feel that McCargo can add some weight if he needs to play alongside Tripplett in oter situations.

Nate has very little leverage here. After a Pro Bowl 2004 campaign, he is coming off a mediocre 2005 season. Thus, he knows that his stock is especially low right now. That's why he really does NOT want to go out on the free market. He knows that he is more valuable to the Bills than anyone else, which is why he is demanding the big contract with the large signing bonus. If the parameters were reasonable, I'd hope that Marv would come to terms with him, as we could be buying low -- and fortifying our secondary for years to come. However, something tells me that Nate's demands are NOT reasonable, which is why the stalemate continues. When it come down to the final hour, when the deadline for signing the tag hits, Nate will be smart enough to realize that it is in his best interest to sign the tag and play for free agency in 2007. Considering the draft that the Bills just had, I doubt that they'd re-tag him then, considering the $9 M price tag.