Bocephuz

The pickings are pretty slim at Guard in FA right now ( Boling, Iupati, Carpenter have signed).. however there are a few good centers available. Wood really struggled at Center last year... I'm thinking we pick up either De La Puente or Montgomery.. plug them in at Center and kick Wood to Guard. What does everyone think? https://www.profootballfocus.com/blog/2015/02/22/2015-top-free-agents-guards-centers/ 3. Brian De La Puente 2014 Grade: +4.3 2014 Snaps: 501 Three strong seasons as a starter for the Saints only got De La Puente a backup gig with the Bears last season, reuniting with former line coach Aaron Kromer in the Windy City. Even strong displays to start the season (+8.2 through Week 5) with Roberto Garza injured didn’t see De La Puente maintain his place in the lineup, only returning at left guard when the Bears were shorthanded mid-season. Both with the Saints and Bears, De La Puente has excelled as a run blocker in the middle of the line earning a positive run block grade every season as a starter. De La Puente may be out of the limelight entering free agency as a backup but teams in need of a starting center could do far worse than look in his direction. 4. Will Montgomery 2014 Grade: +6.6 2014 Snaps: 665 Much like De La Puente, Montgomery is an underappreciated veteran who provided largely solid play off the bench for a new team last season. After an underrated stint with Washington, Montgomery put in a solid showing with the Broncos after a late season shuffle on the offensive line. Entering the Broncos’ starting lineup in Week 10, but for a poor fortnight against the Bills (-4.4) and Chargers (-1.1), Montgomery consistently earned positive grades surrendering only five pressures in his nine starts. He also played his part in the improved Broncos’ ground attack late in the season. At 32 teams are unlikely to look to Montgomery as their “plan A” at center but as he showed for the Broncos he offers valuable depth and competition off the bench in a zone scheme.

AJ CANN - South Carolina G - appears to be best of bunch.. likely 1st rounder but since he is a G maybe fall into 2nd round R. DISMUKES - Auburn C - not biggest guy but technically sound and stout enough.. would love to see us draft him as C and kick Wood to Guard L. TOMLINSON - Duke - G - looked good at Senior Bowl.. more likely to be there in 2nd than Cann L COLLINS - LSU - OT

http://espn.go.com/new-york/nfl/story/_/id/12454611/new-york-jets-agree-re-sign-rb-bilal-powell Boy.. for a marginal starting RB this guy sure stirred up an s storm in Bills land about him replacing Freddy. Is this good news? Should the Bills continue to pursue another FA RB?

Well.. hopefully this will nullify the worry for a while http://espn.go.com/new-york/nfl/story/_/id/12454611/new-york-jets-agree-re-sign-rb-bilal-powell

Good points.. the difference here is that Freddy's cap hit isn't ( adjusted for inflation of course) anywhere near what Thurman, Bruce Andre's impact was. Another difference is that the Bills are at the beginning of a winning cycle (hopefully) rather than the tail end of era. After 4 Super Bowl runs it was time for the Bills to cut bait and plan for the long term. This year the Bills are all in to make the playoffs and are rightfully in win now mode..

That's absurd.. what you're saying is the most popular player of the last 20 will not be on the Bills Wall of Fame

That certainly haunts Ray Lewis. Looking at the whole picture though..as a Baltimore resident I can tell you he had a huge presence in the community here, was heavily involved in local charity work and he is universally worshipped and respected in Charm City.. right up there with Johnny Unitas. Everyone in Baltimore knew Ray wasn't himself that last year.. but he was just good enough to get by and not "hurt" the team.. but almost everyone would admit that the intangibles he provided definitely helped the team win a Super Bowl. If Freddy can outplay Bryce Brown in training camp and outright win the #2 job.. I think he has a chance to provide that same type of role for the Bills this year.

Agreed.. not a #1 anymore.. but he still looked athletic enough to be a contributor.. ie.. if he's on the field he won't hurt the team.

That is a good point... in that light maybe Jeter wasn't the best comparison. I'm not advocating that we hand Freddy the starting job because of seniority. Perhaps Ray Lewis would have been a better comparison.

Did Freddy look so bad last year that it was obvious he should have retired this year?

I didn't say he was the Derek Jeter of the NFL.. just the Derek Jeter of the Bills. It's all relative.. Relative to anyone else who has played for the Bills in the last 20 years Freddy is arguably the most talented and most beloved Buffalo Bill for on and off the field reasons.

By who.. I'm an Orioles fan.. and I can tell you the one guy who wasn't despised when he came into Camden Yards was Jeter. Texeira was hated, A Rod hated, almost every other Yankee was hated.. but no-one I sat by or had talked to had anything bad to say about Jeter

Good points.. however.. blaming all of the O Line problems last year on Whaley is probably not justified. Marrone was the one who sabotaged the first half of the season by shoe horning Pears into Right Guard and a pushing the rookie Henderson out at Right Tackle when he clearly wasn't ready. The right thing to do would have been to let Urbik ( who Whaley had just signed to an extension) start at RG and Pears or Hairston start at RT and then keep grooming the young guys and let them win the jobs when they were ready. Most of the young OL guys Whaley drafted ( Richardson, Henderson) were thrown to the wolves way too early by the coach .. and Kuandjio clearly needed time to learn to adjust his technique to play RT. Bryce Brown showed his potential with the good game he had against KC ( except for the crushing fumble). Just another example of Marrone being down on one of Whaley's guys.. and then being proven wrong. The Bills are just fine at WR without Stevie Johnson. I think both Chris Hogan and Robert Woods are better ( cheaper) players than Stevie at this stage of his career. I also think the Red Zone issues are more on the QBs than on the targets.

There is a rarefied group of athletes who reach a special status with a team and community by displaying their work ethic, by being an example for others by the way they carry themselves on and off the field, and by the sacrifices they have made on the field. These special few typically earn the right to go out on their own terms... ie.. they may play a few years past their prime but everyone involved knows letting them play out the string and letting them retire with their long time team is the right thing to do. Fred Jackson has earned that right.. he is the Derek Jeter of the Bills. Freddy has given up his body time and time again, has fought for extra yards time and time again, has been an emotional leader time and time again, has consistently carried himself properly on and off the field .. and he has been a constant fixture contributing his time to causes in the local community. Good on the Bills for recognizing this. Think of Ray Lewis is his last year with the Ravens... he was clearly a shell of himself on the field.. however.. his leadership and passion was a key part of the Ravens winning the Super Bowl in 2012. Freddy has a chance to do the same thing with the Bills this year.

Hah...

sanchez, iupati and cameron work as alternates for me. Good call on Thigpen.. Forgot about him I can roll with an alternate of getting Boling and Free instead of Iupati. However I have a feeling they are going to not spend $ on RT this year as its too early to pull the plug on guys with potential like Kouandjio and Henderson. I do favor Urbik over Chris Williams.. However one of em has to go due to salary and Williams is younger. Pears is too old.. He may have one average year left at RT but not worth way we'd pay him

Trades are very rare in the NFL... But Dealer Doug could care less. In his 2 years as GM Whaley has already made 2 major player for player trades ( Hughes/ Sheppard) and now Shady/ Kiko. Throw in the draft trades ( Watkins/ Browns), Stevie Johnson for a 4th rounder snd then trading that to Eagles for Bryce Brown and that equals 5 trades in 2 years. This must be some sort of modern day record. I'm a little skeptical about this one for Shady.. But I gotta give him benefit of the doubt as the Stevie trade abd Hughes trade were both great moves in in hindsight. What do you all think? Does Whaley deserve the benefit of the doubt?

Good point.. I hope they at least work on extending one of either Cordy Glenn or Dareus this year to try and avoid the open market competition.

Dareus - I think with his off field issues and us approaching him early we may be able to get a discount...perhaps 12 Mil is a little optimistic.. but $15 mil is doable. I think we do whatever we need to do ( restructure Mario etc...) to get him locked up long term Signing FA vs. Extending Glenn/Dareus - Signing both Locker and Moore will be expensive..it will also be more expensive to sign a FA RB than to draft one. If you don't like Moore then perhaps we sign Locker ( who will probably be a little more expensive ) instead. However, having 2 high level FA QBs doesn't make good fiscal sense. If EJ doesn't beat out whoever the FA QB signing is for the starting job, I certainly think EJ is capable of stepping in to win a few games as a back up. If we sign 2 FA QBs and a RB I don't think we will have room to extend both Glenn and Dareus. Brandon Bridge - I misspelled his name ... development prospect at QB http://www.rotoworld.com/player/cfb/132330/brandon-bridge TE - Roman likes to use heavy formations and values strong blocking Tight Ends.. I'm quite certain they will stock up on TEs this year. Especially since the RT situation is in flux... RB- whoever best available RB is in Round 3 works for me.. I'm not totally sold on Yeldon.. however.. he may be best available when we pick. Bryce Brown showed quite a bit.. if he can fix his fumbling problems I think he will be a quality starting RB.

Cap Space - That $3 mil or so is what's left over after Free Agency/ Resigning Extending players... I should have been more clear there I'm assuming that will be enough to cover the rookie salaries from the draft.

40% - 60% assuming that Rex/ Roman install the same kind of read option offense that Kaepernick ran in San Fran. EJ has some similar characteristics when compared to Kaepernick Strong Arm - not quite as strong as CK .. but EJ certainly can zip it if he has the presence of mind to just let it go Mobility - EJ is not going to bust a 60 yard TD run anytime soon but he is certainly athletic enough to run for first down or two and provide enough of a threat to make the read option work I would say that it's doubtful that EJ will ever be aggressive enough to be a top level QB.. however.. I think it likely that he could produce at a Kaepernick level.. which was good enough to get the 49ers to NFC Championship game and Super Bowl

I stole this idea from Buffalo Rumblings.. however.. thought I'd move it over to this forum. Put on your mock GM hat and fill out the following areas to show your 2015 Offseason Plan for the Bills. Keep in mind salary cap ramifications and try to be reasonable in your draft picks ( Jameis Winston probably won't be available in Rd 2). LAST SEASON APPRAISAL GENERAL STRATEGIC GOAL FRONT OFFICE AND COACHING STAFF PERSONNEL FREE AGENTS NFL DRAFT CONCLUSION Here are some links to help with contracts and salary cap.. http://www.spotrac.com/nfl http://overthecap.com/calculator/buffalo-bills _______ ___ MY MOCK 2015 OFFSEASON MOVES LAST SEASON APPRAISAL – Poor Offensive line play coupled with mediocre QB play sabotaged one of the all-time great Buffalo defenses and prevented the team from making the playoffs GENERAL STRATEGIC GOAL – Make playoffs in 2015, build around strong defense focusing on the short term knowing window for D will close in a year or two. Focus on making team more physical. FRONT OFFICE AND COACHING STAFF - Hiring of Rex Ryan and Greg Roman fit goal of building around strong defense. It should be their discretion to hire their assistant coaches.. GM should let HC/ Coordinators choose their own staff. Russ appears to be doing a good job on the business side of things.. maintain him for a few years until Pegulas get their footing and then re-evaluate. Based on the fallout from the Polian fiasco and rumors of old guard bad mouthing Polian.. I would fire Jim Overdorf and either fire or manage out any of the back office holdovers from the Ralph years. PERSONNEL - Goals – shore up O Line / D Line.. draft for skill positions… find Vet QB for competition.. extend young talent • CUTS o Keith Rivers, o Kraig Urbik ( $1.4 mil cap hit) • RE-SIGN/EXTEND o Chris Hogan ( 3 yrs/ $1 mil/yr) o Marcus Easley( 3 yrs/ $1 mil/yr) o Marcell Dareus ( 5 yrs/ $12 mil/yr/ $18 mil guaranteed/ $5 mil signing bonus – similar to Gerald McCoy deal) o Cordy Glenn ( 5 yrs/ $9 mil/year/ $15 mil guaranteed/ $5 mil signing bonus – similar to Branden Albert deal) • FA DO NOT RETAIN o Jerry Hughes , CJ Spiller, Erik Pears, Brandon Spikes FREE AGENTS • Mike Iupati – G – ( 5 yrs, $6mil/year/ $10 mil guaranteed. $10 mil signing bonus – similar to Marshal Yanda deal) • Virgil Green – TE – ( 4 years/ $2.5 mil/year/ $0 guaranteed/ $1 mil signing bonus – similar to Chandler deal) • Matt Moore - QB – ( 3 years/ $4 mil/year/ $1 mil guaranteed/ $1 mil signing bonus) NFL DRAFT • RD 2 – TE – Clive Warford • RD 3 - RB – TJ Yeldon • RD 5 - DE – Markus Golden • RD 6 - QB – Brandon Bridget • RD 7 – FB- Jalston Fowler CONCLUSION - As GM I addressed both short term and long term issues while leaving $3.6 mil in cap space. The main goal was to stabilize both lines and become more physical. We were not able to plug every hole.. RT and DE/OLB are still question marks.. hoping one of the young guys ( Kuandjio, Henderson) steps up at RT. Manny Lawson will be suitable stop gap at ¾ OLB role for now. o Managed to extend 2 of our best young players ( Cordy Glenn, Marcell Dareus) while also adding several solid free agents that will immediately make us a more physical team. o Addressed O-Line issues except for RT ( extend Cordy Glenn, sign Iupati, TE Virgil Green good run blocking) o Provided veteran QB competition for EJ at reasonable price (Matt Moore) o Drafted skill players Warford and Yeldon that should be cost effective immediate impact players

Good detailed stuff there.. I've watched his first 2 2014 games ( NO and GB) on NFL rewind and here are a few things I noticed It may be wise to take a grain of salt when evaluating his 2014 performance ..if theTB line performed as poorly the rest of the year as they did in the first 2 games it's no wonder he got hurt ( I thought the Bills' O Line was bad at handling stunts.. but TB o line blows them away in stunt pickup ineptitude). ARM - middling... throws with body.. MOBILITY - solid shuffling around in the pocket to avoid pressure coming from up the gut and he generally keeps his head up looking downfield when pressured. There are a few good examples of him either shuffling to avoid a strong rush and hitting his guy or taking a big hit and delivering a throw. On the other hand.. his mechanics get all goofy when he rolls out of the pocket. He is definitely more mobile than Orton and will be able to run adequately if pocket breaks down... not anywhere close to as mobile as EJ though FOOTWORK - he is very solid executing 3 step drops and the quick game. His footwork does get messy when he goes to 5 or 7 step drop. He has a habit of lifting his back foot up when throwing .. even when there is no real pressure. This tends to make those throws sail a bit. I did see some good examples from 2013 Bears games where he plants his back foot and drives.. so he's capable of doing it .. but at age 35 I'm not sure if he can overcome bad habits TRUSTING RECEIVERS- He's not afraid to throw it up into tight coverage and let his receivers fight for the ball. Several good examples of him throwing it up high into double coverage along the sidelines to Mike Evans and Vincent Jackson.. allowing them to fight for and make great catches. DEEP BALL - I saw him throw several deep balls and they were all thrown with poor timing and accuracy.. not his strong suit PRESENCE - shows good command of huddle on field presence .. takes tough hits and gets right back up PLAY ACTION - not very good at selling play fake.. defenses rarely bit on his play action SUMMARY - More grit than talent/natural ability. Better attitude/presence/mobility than Orton. Weaker arm than Orton.. Orton threw better deep ball. Capable of moving the chains and executing the quick game. Will occasionally make big plays by having the guts to throw it up and let big receivers go get it or by having the guts to take a hit and deliver. Lack of good deep ball and frequent slips in his footwork/mechanics will offset his good characteristics and prevent him from being anything more than a game manager who occasionally makes gritty plays.

Great point... he voluntarily put his AC's in a bad position.. that was the most selfish part about his opt out. If you were a solid established assistant coach/ coordinator.. would you want to be on Marrone's staff now after seeing how he screwed his previous staff? If I'm an NFL owner interviewing him for a HC position.. I would certainly ask him how he intends to overcome that stigma and I as an owner would be very concerned about him being able to assemble the highest quality staff. Say what you will about Wade Phillips not wanting to fire his special teams coach back in the day.. it probably caused his firing.. but at least he had the perception of being loyal to his staff.. and he ended up getting another HC gig in Dallas a few years later

Paul Kruger average salary is $8 mil/ year as a 3/4 OLB... do you think Pernell McPhee is as hot of a commodity as Kruger was? Jimmy Graham average salary is $10 mil/year.... do you think Julius Thomas is as good/better than Jimmy Graham? I think Peyton Manning makes any TE look good (see Dallas Clark). Levitre was way overpaid by a desperate team. Perhaps I'm a little low on Mike Iupati ( Marshal Yanda... arguably the best Guard in football average salary is $6.4 million/year) ________ _____ Let's say I'm $5 million off on these players... That still leaves the Bills with $3 mil in cap space in my scenario. They could cut Urbik or Chris Williams if they needed a little more cap room to sign draft picks... fill in gaps with lower tier free agents. Perhaps Mario would restructure to free up some space as well? My point is there is room to pick up several elite players .. one can disagree on who they should be.. but there is cap room