Brandon

I don't know why people are surprised. It was only a matter of time before this happened. He's a decent stopgap starter and that's about it.

True. I never said it did. The argument some are making is that Mallett's Razorbacks have underperformed in the W/L column. In reality, a 9-2 season with two to play is very near the high water mark for Razorback football. If they win one more game, they would finish with their best record in more than 20 years. If they win both, it would be their best in over 30.

Exactly. People need to realize that what they've accomplished is unusual for their particular teams. The Razorbacks were 109-92-2 from 1992-2008, 61-65 in SEC play. Mallet is 17-7 as a starter at Arkansas, which is very clearly outpacing the typical team performance over nearly the last two decades. That 8-7 in-conference record isn't great in the grand scheme of things, but its also better than their average, and he's 5-2 so far this year. People need to be realistic about their expectations of the kid and his ability to generate wins. He's not lining up under center for friggin' Ohio State or USC, folks.

Stats aside, Mallett has led the Razorbacks to a 9-2 record so far with a chance to win two more, including the bowl game. Arkansas has not won 11 games since 1977 and they've only won 10 games once since joining the SEC in 1992. For that matter, this is only the fourth time in 19 SEC seasons that the Razorbacks have won 9 games, and only the sixth time that they will finish above .500 against the SEC. But yeah, Mallett is a loser.

No thanks. Aside from the off field baggage he would bring, he'll be 31 next year, never has been known for being durable, and for most of his career, he's been inconsistent at best. That's not something I'd trade a high pick for, especially not the #1 overall.

Its impossible to say without seeing an updated strength of schedule for those teams after this weekend. Dallas went into this weekend with the weakest strength of schedule (.562) and would pick first, but that will change many times between now and the end of the season. Buffalo would pick second and Carolina third, but again, this could change as soon as this weekend's results are calculated and certainly will as the season wears on.

Mallett is 16-7 at Arkansas, including 8-2 this season. He's thrown for 6500 yards and 54 TDs in less than two years against 15 INTs. Maybe I'm just a biased Razorback fan, but in a division with Alabama, LSU and Auburn...especially with the way all three have been playing...I'd say that's pretty good. He's made a few bad plays, but he's also had to carry his team on many occasions, and inevitably made a few big mistakes under the circumstances. I can live with that. They wouldn't have won some of those 16 games without him, and its worth noting that they were 5-7 the year prior to his arrival. This whole argument reminds me of when many labeled Peyton Manning a loser in college because he never beat Florida and because he lost the national championship game. Ryan Mallett isn't Peyton Manning, but like Manning, its hardly his fault that his team is simply outclassed by the elite teams they've faced. They're getting better, but their overall level of talent is still not on par with the three elite teams in that division.

I don't see the similarity. Bruce had some issues early in his career, but he was still productive as a rookie, with 6.5 sacks and 48 tackles. In his second season, all he did was post 15 sacks. Unfortunately for Maybin, as everyone says, his next big play will be his first one.

I was beginning to believe that I was the only one who thought that way. The only reason the Bills offense looks decent on paper right now is because the Pats and Jaguars are almost as miserable defensively as the Bills are. Teams like Baltimore, Pittsburgh, Chicago and the others on the remaining schedule that have a quality defense are going to kick the crap out of this Bills offense.

He may well be the best college player I've seen this year. He reminds me a great deal of Tim Tebow. I'm not so sure how well he'd translate to the pros coming from that offense, but he's a great collegiate player, no doubt about it.

That's the prevailing wisdom right now, but I strongly suspect that by the end of the season, the offense and defense will be viewed as equally bad. I think those games against NE and Jacksonville were an abberation and that this team will probably average somewhere in the 12-14ppg range over the next 11 games.

Lets see what he does during the next 11 games, shall we? There's little doubt in my mind that Fitz is a better QB than Trent Edwards was, but at the same time, he's had the benefit of playing against two teams, the Jaguars and Patriots, that are allowing more yards per game and more yards per play than even this sorry Bills defense. They play several games against teams with solid defenses during the remainder of this season and it should provide a good test of Fitzpatrick and the offense in general. I'm not in the least bit convinced that they're actually any better than they have been in the last 7 or 8 years, but merely the beneficiaries of playing miserable defenses in two of the last three games. I guess we'll find out soon enough.

Actually, both Dumervil and Hali stepped right in and performed well as rookies. Dumervil had 8.5 sacks and Hali had 8.

Not really. Its just an extremely difficult transition to make these days. Recent draft history is littered with first and second round pass rush type DE prospects that were complete flops and the bust rate may well be higher than any other position. Needless to say, I'd avoid 4-3 type DEs like the plague in R1 if I were an NFL GM.

Wait a minute. Did he even play??? Unfortunately, I have to agree with you. It seems they've cut his already limited playing time, which, on a team with absolutely no pass rush, isn't exactly a good thing for his career prospects. I think they may well have given up on him.

He won't be fired after a predictably bad first season on a team with virtually no talent. Sorry, its not going to happen.

Its a problem that will take care of itself. They don't play the Pats and Jaguars every week. Eight of their remaining opponents are currently ranked in the top half of the league, and probably six are legitimate top 10 defenses. By the end of the season, the argument will likely be settled and everyone will know whether he can play or not.

I'm not too impressed with it. The Bills have been scoring because they're playing against teams with defenses that are statistically worse than their own. The Bills are ranked 28th in the league in total defense after yesterday. Guess which teams are 29th and 30th: the Patriots and Jaguars. Both are allowing more yards and more yards per play than the Bills. Against teams that can actually play defense, the Bills' offense hasn't done anything, averaging 10.3 points per game in three games against the Packers, Jets and Dolphins.

Its not like it would matter. The Bills were this bad against the run last year, too. If you need any evidence of that, lets just remember that they gave up 318 rushing yards to the Jets in week 6 last year. That was the end of a four game stretch where they gave up nearly 1,000 yards rushing (961). The truth is that they aren't good enough to play either the 4-3 or 3-4 effectively. The only 'change' that's going to solve anything is to bring in more talent.

Don't bet on it. Apparently, his entire fan club posts here.

I agree, Bill, and not just because I'm a Razorback fan. This is what happens when you ask a college QB to carry the entire team. Sometimes it works out for you, and for Mallett and the Razorbacks, it has more often than not, but you're going to have these types of games every now and then. Last week, he led the game winning drive against Georgia and this week, he throws an INT that ends any chance they had at the end against the best team in college football. It just goes with the territory. He'll be a top five pick and I think he'll prove the team that drafts him right.

As a Razorback fan, I hate to say it, but that's a pretty safe bet. The Razorbacks just don't have the overall talent level to compete with Alabama right now. Their defense will prove itself to be suspect as the season wears on, they don't have a running game, and their OL is just OK in pass protection. In light of that, I really don't expect Mallett to have a very good game today, but given the talent differential between the two teams, I don't really hold that against him, either.

I'll pass on that idea. Aside from the fact that my opinion of him as a human being couldn't get much lower, I don't think much of him as an NFL QB, either.

Trade him? At this point, I think Trent probably has negative trade value. You'd have to give someone a draft pick just to get them to take him. He's miserable.

Not to say I told you so, but... I TOLD YOU SO