Billsguy

Put your money where your mouth is! Oh, I guess you did by buying tickets. How did you like paying full price for those pre-season games? It's kinda like paying to see U2 and you get to see Pee Wee Herman's garage band. Ralph Wilson thanks you. Bernie Madoff got caught fleecing the public illegally, but Ralph Wilson has found a legal way of separating fools from their money. Thank goodness for the Raiders, because otherwise the Bills would be the most dysfunctional organization in the NFL. BTW,I'll take New England's chances over Buffalo's this year. I have always been a Bills fan, but I am not delusional enough to think that the Bills are going to beat New England this year.

Copeland Bryan showed more pass rushing ability in three pre-season games than Kelsay has shown in the last three years! Another Bills mistake IMO.

Let's face it, this move was pure genius by the Patriots. The smart teams unload aging veterans who are past their prime for value in return. The dumbass teams acquire aging veterans who are past it. Also, the dumbass teams let their quality assets leave via free agency for nothing in return! (see Buffalo Bills for prime examples) I am hoping I live long enough to see the Bills pull off some smart trades like this one. Watching New England's front office compete against the Bills is like watching the men against the boys. What a freakin' mismatch!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Jauron will get fired. Bills start over again. Ralph Wilson will continue to be clueless and make more bad decisions. Buffalo fans will continue to praise Ralph Wilson for his 50 years of mismanagement.

Head in sand. You think he has done a fine job? Are you friggin' clueless?

Some people say the team takes on the personality of the head coach. In the Bills case that says a lot. Jauron is a weak leader with no discernible personality or passion for the game. Do you think the Bills players are inspired by their listless, expressionless head coach standing on the sideline looking lost and clueless? I don't. I have said that his hiring was a mistake and I have said it every year. At his age and experience you know what you are going to get: MEDIOCRITY! 7-9, 7-9, 7-9 is no accident. Of course, I have been roundly criticized for my observations by some of the less experienced obsevers, but history has proven that I was correct in my estimation of Jauron. Nothing has changed since he took the job and nothing will change under him. You would think that the team would make progress by now. Where is it? The front seven on defense looks severely inadequate and the offense can't score touchdowns. Lee Evans is not an elite receiver, he routinely disappears from games. As a matter of fact, the Bills have no elite players. I am dumbfounded by the annual optimism for this pathetically run organization. The cherry on sundae was the insane adulation bestowed upon Ralph Wilson recently. He has been the chief architect for this mediocrity over the years. The only success he had in 50 years was largely due to Lou Saban and Bill Polian and he wasn't smart enough to keep either one.

Exactly. Who cares how many tackles Schobel had in 2001-2002? London Fletcher had a lot of tackles too - unfortunately most of them were 9 yards down field. Who cares how many hypothetical "projected" tackles he would have had? He didn't have them in fact. How many sacks did he have? The fact NOW is that he can't get to the quarterback. The fact NOW is that the Bills had to use their top draft pick on a DE because the pass rush stinks with Schobel as the leading "pass rusher". The fact is too many Bills fans live in fantasy land where achievements years ago are overly admired, but are meaningless today. Don't hide from today's reality - the Bills starting DE's are ineffective.

It makes no difference if Schobel is out with an injury or playing every down - he isn't seen either way.

Q:Who is Copeland Bryan? A: The Bills best pass rusher. How do Kelsay,Schobel,Denney keep their jobs? It is a mystery to me. They are all invisible on the field.

Right on, bro! I guess if they look like they are trying that is enough, even though they are completely ineffective. Just think of the wasted millions on these 3 losers. No pass rush = one of the worst teams defending the pass. Oh! that would be the Bills! Coincidence?

I agree completely. Kelsay is awful. I watched every snap he was on the field and he hasn't improved in the last four years. He is still terrible. The Bills pass rush is still non-existent.

If the Bills season is heavily reliant on rookie offensive lineman then the Bills are in for a rude awakening. The OL needs time to work together. It is unrealistic to expect the line to operate like an experienced line. This year is going to be a harsh education for the rookies. They are going against experienced NFL veteran defensive lineman who will have a big edge over the Bills revamped line. I don't really expect them start as a tandem. I expect a good deal of rotation. Five new positional starters on the OL is virtually unheard of in the NFL. I acknowledge the Bills needed to rebuild the line, but this year is going to be a rough;but necessary, learning experience.

If you are looking for unbiased information then don't read or listen to Chris Brown. If you only want to hear the most optimistic news and propaganda from One Bills Drive then by all means read Chris Brown.

Has anybody noticed that every year during mini-camp and OTA's and even training camp that one or more of the coaches is guaranteed to say that the team "is way ahead of where we were last year"? Year after year the team seems to be way ahead of the previous year and yet the team misses the playoffs every year. Just curious. It kinda makes me slightly suspicious of the coaching staff. They are either being dishonest about their evaluation or they don't know what they are doing. If these coaches were making the playoffs after boasting about the improvements, I think it would give the fans reason to trust in the coaches and the fans could draw a different conclusion. How many people think Jauron is a Super Bowl caliber coach? If you say, "Yes" - the question remains, Why? On what basis during his long mediocre career record would he suddenly become a top echelon coach now? If you say, "No" - the question remains, what did Ralph Wilson see in Jauron that leads him to believe that Jauron is the guy to lead the Bills to a Super Bowl title? Just wondering.

I remember a very similar comment when Bryant McKinnie was drafted by the Vikings in the 2002 draft. The Bills fans here were ecstatic that the Bills passed on McKinnie and chose Mike Williams instead. How did that work out? Bryant McKinnie has been a rock at LT for many years now. Could Andre Smith be another McKinnie? Just because a guy changes agents doesn't mean he can't play. It's a good thing the Bills have only "character" guys on the roster! We'll never know if the Bills would have chosen Smith, but I would have taken him if he was available.

Ridiculously early to contemplate.

!@#$ not yet!

Agreed. He can play.

NO CHANCE IN HELL!

This is wishful thinking at its pinnacle. I guess this is the second silliest time of the season (next to training camp) when fans across the nation entertain dreams of football glory. The reality is that there is very low probability of Wood and Levitre both starting. Secondly, this isn't college anymore. Rookie OL usually get schooled badly by the experienced DLs in this league. Even the premium OL draftees get beaten regularly. The Bills draftees are not premium draftees. (i.e. top 20) These draftees are more like top 70. This does not translate instantly into running game success. The OL will be totally new as a unit and it takes a considerable amount of time to find a working rhythm together. These delusions of grandeur on this board are understandable from a fan base desperate for success after many years of futility, but the fact remains this is a serious work in progress and the competition has improved at least as much or more than the Bills. There is hope for the line down the road, but for now the expectations are way out of proportion to reality.

A new offensive line is hard to assemble in one year. This is not a playoff team. Your upgrades are wishful thinking. They may turn out to be correct, but right now all you have is a gigantic question mark. Even the elite offensive lineman draftees have difficulties the first year or two and the Bills selected non-elite players. It is a huge leap of faith to assume the OL will be better than last year. As such, the growing pains will likely lead to a quick dose of reality when the regular season starts.

The stadium is filled with them.

It goes without saying. The geniuses at One Bills Drive are always thrilled with the draft and then at the end of the season the team misses the playoffs again. Funny how that works.

I took the consensus from 7 of the top 100 NFL draft boards and averaged the rankings for each of the Bills top 5 picks. The consensus average results: Maybin consensus pick was #15, the Bills took him at 11 (mild reach) Wood consensus #45, the Bills took him at 28 (moderate reach) Byrd consensus #63, the Bills took him at 42 (moderate reach) Levitre consensus #64, the Bills took him at 51 (mild reach) Nelson consensus #51, the Bills took him at 121 (very good value) Conclusion: The Bills filled areas of need. This is typical to reach a little because you have to bypass players who may rank higher, but don't fit your specific team needs. The best value was Nelson by a mile. Overall, I think the Bills get decent marks for finally recognizing that line play is the key foundation of a team. It remains to be seen how the draft will ultimately grade out. They still don't look like a playoff team on paper, but stranger things have happened. I wonder how Kelsay/Denney feel about Maybin? I also wonder how Ko "I'm worth millions" Simpson feels about Byrd? Bye Bye Ko!

top choice: C- 2nd pick: B 3rd pick: C overall day 1 grade: C