sven233

Thanks for the support.......I am no writer, but I do know the Bills. Doing this exercise will save me a lot of time when it comes to my season preview and prdeiction at the end of the preseason. I'll basically be doing it in sections and in a slightly different format, but the ideas will be the same. I guess we'll see where this all takes us.

QB - OVERALL POSITION RATING: 5 In what is perhaps the most wide open, watched, and disected position battles in several years, the Buffalo Bills are looking for their 'future' to shine. Although last year's starter is back in the fold (Kelly Holcomb), and with the addition of Crain Nall (GB), it is strongly believed that they may be rooting for their young, mobile, strong-armed QB (J.P. Losman) to finally live up to the vast potential that made him a former first round selection. With just 8 starts in his NFL Career, there are still just as many questions surrounding him as there were when he entered the league. During the early part of last season, there were several bright spots and flashes in the young career of Losman, however, they quickly were overshadowed by some indecisiveness and poor throws. Despite being benched in favor of the 10 year vet, Holcomb, there was still some reason to believe that Losman is still indeed the future. With a new outlook this year, some NFL game experience under his belt, and a brand new offense designed to stretch the field, this will play more to the strenghts of Losman's game rather than Holcomb. Also, Losman will benefit by gaining more trust and respect from his teammates by actually competing for, and winning the starting position that he was simply handed last year. And, while the competition may be very close, in the end you have to go with youth and potential over experience. It is time for the Buffalo Bills to find out if Losman is their long-term answer at QB. As for Nall, while an interesting prospect, he will most likely not be considered in the final decision. And while Losman may never prove to be the next Jim Kelly, it is time to see what the future holds for this promising young man. POSITION WINNER: LOSMAN

Sounds like a good idea. Let me know if I can help.

Yest it is! One of my all time favorite hits!

I really don't think it is too much to want McGahee to be as good as he can be. Nobody is ragging on him for what he has done. He has been solid despite all of the crap around him. But, that doesn't mean he couldn't be better. That doesn't mean he, being a good player, couldn't become a great player or a superstar! I am sure he may be the first to admit he can be better. And, all this topic is about is how he may become better. Unfortunately, McGahee doesn't have any control over who is on our O-Line. If he did, I am sure we would have stars at every position to make his job easier. But, he does have control over himself and is able to put himself in the best position for him to succeed. And, if tha means him losing a little weight (which he himself WANTS to do.....remember, this thread was started because of what HE said in an interview......HE WAS THE ONE WHO SAID HE WANTED TO LOSE THE WEIGHT.....not us). We who have posted in this thread are just agreeing with him for the most part because we believe too that if he does come in lighter this year, that will make him a better player. We are just agreeing with what he said in the interview......we didn't just start this topic to ride cGahee into the ground. We, LIKE HIMSELF, just want him to be the player we know he can be...........A SUPERSTAR!

Funny! But, seriously, I know what he meant by the dancing comment......That did happen at times last year, but to be honest, I think the reason for this is that he was so used to there not being a hole, or there being defenders in his face in the backfield, that it became natural for him to have happy feet before he got to the line. That is a big reason I wanted him to drop some weight this year, because he could make guys miss then and outrun some people to the corner. You have to remember what type of back McGahee is supposed to be. He is not supposed to be the big and bulky power type of back. What made him so successful in college was his blazing speed and lightning quick cuts. I'm sorry, but he has not been that type of back in the NFL yet and I think that is what he needs to do to take it to the next level. So, regardless of whether you think the actual number in terms of lbs is important, we all know he was too big to be the type of back that made him successful. If he were to get back to his weight in college and gain back some of that explosiveness, it will make him a better back. You have to remember, the guy is still 6'1" and even at 225lbs, would still be a big back. But, it would give him that great package of speed, power and explosiveness he had in college. That would make him the differencemaker and gamebreaker that made him the best back in college football. That would help him become a gamebreaker on the NFL level and the back we all know he can be.

That would be great if that is what is going on......just not sure that it is. He looked good in the interview (very solid), so it is possible. I guess we will just have to wait and see what happens on the field.

I ordered 4 tickets from Stub Hub for the Minnesota game and they arrived today. I don't know if they are season tickets or not, but they look as though they might be. They have a bright silver Buffalo logo in the corner and are not ticketmaster tickets or whatever. So, I don't know what this might mean. Not sure why Stub Hub would have tickets early. But, then again, I have never bought tickets from Stub Hub before.

My thoughts exactly when I heard him say that. I was really hoping hime to be 225lbs or less this year......hopefully he is going to get there. He is not the same back without that speed he had in college. I don't need him to run a 4.29, but I would like him to be in the 4.4 range. He was not there last year. He didn't have that shiftiness that he had in college either. I know the injury played a part and so did the bad O-Line and terrible coaching, but he wasn't making guys miss last year (I know......hard to make guys miss when he is getting hit 3 yeard behind the line of scrimmage almost every play). Even the GREAT stiff-arm was not there last year. Now, the last game against the Jets I thought, was BY FAR his best game. He was making some great moves and had shades of what he was and could be again, but we need to see that consistantly this year. I am a huge McGahee fan.....been watching him since his first college game (I am a Canes fan as a lot of you know) and I was going crazy when we drafted him. Nobody wants him to succeed more than I do. I do think he is going to have a breakout year this year. I really do. He needs to have a great year for us to have any type of season this year. I know I may be in the minority here, but I really think this team is A LOT better than that 5-11 team we saw last year......I will not make my season prediction here (I will wait until the preseason is over when I do my season preview), but don't be surprised if this team is 3+ wins better this year. And I believe this will happen because I think the O-Line is better (still not great) and I believe thi this coaching staff. Also, I believe in McGahee and I truly believe that he is going to step up this year and do something special.

What I meant by the "make-or-break year" for him was more for contract purposes with this football team. He has 2 years left on his deal. If he has a great year this year, I truly believe you will see this team make an attempt next year to re-sign him before next season. If he has another year like last year (just above average), I don't think there will be that desperation. They may make some move to try to get him signed, but chances are they will let him play out next year and see what happens. If it gets to that, and he does become a FA, I just don't have the feeling he would be back here. Not sure why I feel that way, but it is just a hunch. As for his performence last year, if you read what I wrote, you would see that I did not lay the blame on him. In fact, I really didn't blame him at all. However, with that being said, he was NOT fast last year. He has even admitted this. He WAS 'overweight' (about 15-20lbs over his true playing weight) and not the RB he should or could be. But, it is very true that he did not have any help last year. The O-Line was TERRIBLE, the playcalling was DREADFUL, and the coaching staff was even worse. Those are the reasons he didn't reach his full potential, but with him coming in lighter and faster, he would only be helping himself.

Don't know how many of you caught the interview tonight on the NFL network, but we finally got an answer from McGahee about his weight. TD did the interview, and although they really didn't get into a lot, TD did ask him about his weight. McGahee said he is currently at 235lbs and wants to get to 227lbs for the season. I actually thought he might want to be a little lighter than that. Last year I would guess he played around 240lbs and, from all accounts, he was supposed to be 15-20lbs lighter this year. I guess he is on his way, but still a ways to go. I'd like to see him get to about 220lbs, but I guess 225-227lbs will do. That would get him in the range of 13lbs lighter than last year. I have been a big supporter of McGahee since he was drafted, but to be honest, he hasn't lived up to my expectations. This may be a make-or-break year for him and I want to see more from him. Now, I actually believe that he hasn't been given the chance to be the RB that he can be. He has been limited by a terrible O-Line and inept coaching staffs. If he is used right this year (giving him the ball until he can't stand anymore, not taking him out of the game on 3rd downs, and actually throwing him the ball), I expect a huge year from him. I really expect 1500+ from him this year and, if he is used right, 2000+ total yards. I just hope this coaching staff realizes that they have potentially a gamebraker here and just use him properly. A great runnng game will make any QB look better. We will get a lot better, much faster, if McGahee is THE GUY in this offense!

5 year extention!!!!!!!! Big contract!

Two words: GOOD MOVE

I have been one all along that has said that Gandy did not play as bad as many think. Is here a star at LT?..........No, but how many star LTs are in the league. Outside of the select few in this league, there are not many studs. Why do you think I was harping so long this offseason to go after DA BRICK? Now, just because I wanted to upgrade that position, doesn't mean that Gandy did a bad job. His pass pro was better than average. His run blocking wasn't very good, but I think a lot of that was due to VERY poor play at LG. Whoever was playing LG last year made that entire side look weak. So, I don't blameGandy for that. So, to sum things up, although I wanted an upgrade this season, Gandy was good enough over there and if he can stay healthy, I expect a solid year out of him. I just hope our new LG can give him some more support on that side of the line so McGahee doesn't have to make 3 guys miss in the backfieldbefore he even gets to the line like he had to do last year.

Bruce Smith?

Can you just imagine what Houston fans are thinking right now? They must be going nuts.......

I can honestly say I think I just watched the best sporting event in my entire life...... I still haven't come down. This is one of the greatest moments in Buffalo sports history. PERIOD. Let's go Buffalo!!!!

I think that you will see a lot of different combinations on the field.

HA! Sorry!

Well, with the draft finally in the books, it looks as though we did not get any immediate help on offense. So, here is how I think our Offense will look come opening day. QB - No need to beat around the bushe here. Obviously this is the biggest question of the offseason. Who will play QB for the Bills this year. While I know I may not go with the most popular choice here, I do believe this is the way things will turn out. The starting QB for the Buffalo Bills in the 2006-2007 season is.....JP Losman! I am expecting him to win the job during training camp and through the preseason. I just see this guy as making the most plays on offense for us....whether it is with his arm or legs. If he can get a little more time to throw the ball and if we can establish a decent running game, I think his accuracy will improve. He has the biggest arm of the 3 QBs on the roster and is by far the most mobile. With the speed we now have a WR, we are going to need someone who can get the ball down the field in a hurray. And, we all know that Holcolmb, while accurate, has a noodle for an arm. I know we don't have too much of an idea about Nall yet, but I just don't think he is the athlete that Losman is. Therefore, I expect Losman to be the starter. And, I don't believe our O-LINE is that much better over last year and we will need a mobile QB to be able to get away from the constant pressure. There are so many things that could affect this position, it is pretty hard to make an assesment. However, if we can get 3000+ yards and 15-20 TDs from our QB this year, I think we will be OK. LT - Gandy: Not much to say here. We know what we are getting. He is not a star, but I believe he played well enough last year, for the most part. I really wanted this position to get addressed in the draft, but that is just not the way it went. He will give us the exact same stuff we got last year G - Reyes: A newcomer to the line. While again, he is not a superstar, he is an upgrade from Bennie. He will move better and I believe we will see some improvement. We might actually have a lineman here worth trying to pull. Bennie couldn't get out of his own way last year. Everytime he tried to pull, the back was already tackled because he couldn't get to his assignments fast enough. That will improve this year, but again, not by as much as I had hoped. C - Fowler: Another newcomer to the line. It is hard to say what we might get from him. He does have more size than Teague, but I am not sure if overall he is THAT much of an upgrade. He is a good center, not a great center. But, you could say the same about Teague. I personally was not a fan of Teague, but I just don't know how much of an improvement we will have here. Hopefully he will be able to pick up the blitx up the middle a lot better than Teague did. G - Villerial: If he can stay healthy, he will be solid. Always plays with a nasty streak and usually gets the job done. Again, when healthy, he is probably our most consistant lineman. But, injury problems has followed him the last couple years. Hopefully he can return to the form he had a couple seasons back. RT - Peters: Here is perhaps the most interesting story. With several starts last year, he kept getting better and better. He is still growing into the position and I think he will have a good year this year. Very athletic and can do a lot of things. Hopefully he will stay injury free and will progress nicely. With his natural athletic ability, he could become a great RT in the future. Hopefully he keeps improving. TE - Everett: We didn't get to see anything of this guy last year due to injury. While it seems as though he has recovered fully from that injury, he had a groin problem in the first minicamp. I hope this guy can be ready. Being a Canes fan, I had an opportunity to watch this guy play. He is a great athlete and will really excell if he can stay on the field. While his skills are not as defined as the top TEs in the league, this guy will open some eyes if given the opportunity. He is a guy that has good size and will be able to stretch the field a bit. He will open some things up to the WR because he will demand attention. But again, I just hope he can get healthy and stay that way. WR - Price: I am hoping this guy was humbled a bit over that last couple seasons. Maybe he can rededicate himslf to becoming the receiver he once was. He is blazing fast and can make plays while motivated. With him and Evans on the outside, there is pleanty of speed on the field which will hopefully allow our QB to get rid of the ball a bit faster. I just hope we can give our receivers a chance to succeed this year. We have to protect the QB better than we did last year if we have any hope of this. If Price, even with his questionable hands and eye can gain back his form of a few years back, he will be good enough. I'd like to see him get 60 balls this year. WR - Evans: With Moulds leaving, here is his chance to step up. He did make plays last year, bit I beleieve alot of thise you can credit to the double teams that Moulds got. To me, he seem like a guy who wants to work hard and wants to be a star. Hopefully, we can get 75 balls to him this year. I think that would be a good year. WR - Parrish: Again, with him hurt last year, you didn't get to see the real guy. He is PERFECT for the slot and another FAST and QUICK receiver. With him healthy this year, despite his size, he will be VERY productive. Look for him to convert several 3rd downs for us this year!!!!! Again, as a Canes fan, I believe he will shock a lot of people here. With JP as #7 and Roscoe as #11, i truly expect that combo to live up to its name......7-11......ALWAYS OPEN!! Especially on 3rd downs. ***NOTE*** I expect out new offense to be mostly a 3 WR set. It is very obvious Fairchild wants to stretch the field and hit the long balls. I don't know how much of a 2-back set you will see this year. Should be interesting! RB - McGahee: I think this year will be the first year that we see the "REAL" Willis McGahee. The previous coaching stahh never used this guy the way he should have been used. From several reports, he will be playing about 15 pounds lighter this year which will bring back some of that quickness he once had. He WILL NOT come out on 3rd downs all the time!!!!! He can catch the ball and do somehting with it. He just has never had that opportunity. I think you will see him catching a lot more balls and having more opportunities to change the game on offense. While I do not think our O_LINE is drastically improved, I think it is better and I expect him to have a good year rushing the ball. I'd like to see him at 1500 yards this year with about 30 catches. If that happens, I think this guy can be a game changer. So, that is my review of the Offense this year. I'd like to see it improve from 28th to at least the middle of the pack. Giving Willis more of an opportunity to change the game will help this. Also, no more Roscoe Parrish in the shotgun will help as well. As we sit here, several months before opening day, without seeing a single practice or preseason game, I think this is a 7 or 8 win team this year. Hopefully we can get more out of it, but this is what I see as of now. I don't think we are as bad as we were last year. That coaching staff killed us in so many games, we never had a chance. I like Jauron and the coaching staff here. I think having them alone will help us to at least 2 more wins. Hopefully we can put things together early and pull off a couple surprises. Our schedule is not the toughest this year and I think that wil help us. Here is hoping we find a way to sneak into the playoffs!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Buffalo is now on the clock and the Bills select................ Ko Simpson!

OK, I can see where you guys are coming from on Kelsay. I was also expecting more from him last year. The way I saw him last year was this.....He had an OK start to the season. He slumped in the middle and then picked up his game in the last 3 -4 games or so. Granted, I think we need more there, but I am hoping that this new style of defense helps him use his strengths a little bit more. As for Vincent, I never said he had a bad year last year, I just think out of everyone in the secondary, he might be the worst (and that is relatively speaking....the guy can still make plays. He is by no means a bad player). I just don't think he is as talented as Clements, McGee, or Whitner. That is all I am saying. Also, he did struggle at times last year. He got burned in coverage a bit. Was run over and by a few times. However, our entire secondary struggled last year and a lot of that had to do with not getting pressure on the QB and not being able to stop the run. I do expect all of that to be much better this year and I expect a good year from Vincent.

Thank you...I appreciate the compliment. However, this is how I see them now. After training camp, it may be different. But, for now, knowing what I know about the style of defense they plan on running, I think we are putting the right players in the right places.

Granted, they do play a similar technique, but if you listen to the player (McCargo) in his interview, he did state that he played all over inside. With naturally he is a 3, he did say he lined up at nose alot as well. He said he played over center, on the inside and outside of the guards. NC State moved him all over inside. So, to say they both won't start might be a mistake. Also, you have to remember that the DT position is constantly rotating. There really may not be "starters" so to speak. You will see many different combinations on the field. As of right now though, until training cam says different, these are the best 2 DTs we have on this team. So, that is why I deem them the "starters."

Our DEFENSE is solid now. I know we may have not made the most popular picks with a lot of people, but we drafted quality players on Day 1. Here is what we have (in terms of Starters) as of the end of Day 1 of the draft: DEFENSE DE - Kelsay: Here is a guy that did show improvement last year. I thought we would get a little more out of him last year than we did after watching training camp and the preseason, but he really started to improve last year. Besides, he really didn't have any help in the middle last year. This year, with Tripplet and McCargo, we got 2 guys that are quick and can create a new line of scrimmage. This will in turn help Kelsay progress nicely. He is not an All-Pro, probably never will be, but I like the fit for this defense. DE - Schobel: Had another productive year last year. Quietly, he is a solid playmaker and showed that he can make plays on his own. There is no reason to think that his play will get nothing but better as time goes on. He is coming into his prime and I expect another solid year from him this year. He is easily one of our most consistant players on defense and will make a lot of plays for us this year, DT - Larry Tripplet: A new type of DT than we are used to around here. Both he and McCargo are very quick and athletic and that is what this new defensive scheme is all about. While he will not clog up the middle of the defensive line, he will create a new line of scrimmage beating a lot of centers and guards. He may not have a lot of tackles, but that will not be his job. He will put pressure on the backs and force them to change direction in the backfield. He will force them to change direction right into our aggressive, fast, and hard hitting linebackers. All in all, he, along with the rest of the defensive line will force plays to happen more quickly which plays right into the hands of our fantastic LB core and our aggressive and fast secondary. DT- McCargo: See Tripplet. Very similar in style. We are not going to plug up the middle to stop the run, but rather stop the run in waves.....He, long with Tripplet will get penatration and force the play right into our linebackers hands. LB - Spikes: We all know that, when healthy, is one of the top 3 linebackers in the league. Perfect for this defense if he comes back 100%. With his desire and work ethic, there is no reason to doubt that this is possible. LB - Fletcher: Our most consistant LB. He is just a tackling machine. No reason to doubt that he will have another big year. LB - Crowell: I think he is better than Posey and will find himself starting this year. He showed improvement every game he played last year and is very athletic. I think he is a good fit for this fast, athletic, and aggressive style of defense. CB - McGee: Might be the best all around player on the team. He is a solid #2 corner and has playmaking ability. He might just be the best corner on the team this year! I know he gets burned once in a while, but he is a guy that will get better every snap. He is a game changer with his spped and aggressive approach! CB - Clements: Say what you want about him. He does get toasted at times. But at other times, he is a gamebreaker! All corners do get beat, and he had his share of moments last year, but I expect him to bounce back with a solid year. He is a gamebreaker when he plays him game and a true shutdown corner, most of the time. Too bad it will probably be his last year in Buffalo because I really think this new defense will play to his strengths. I believe his replacement was drafted today in Youboty. He is a first round talent that we picked up in the 3rd. He will play nickle this year and complete one of the best, if not the best, trio of CBs in the league! FS - Vincent: Here is where I believe our biggest weakness is on defense. He has lost a step and it was quite notable last year. However, I believe with this new defense, that weakness might be covered up a little bit due to the fact that that our opponents might have to make quicker decisions which will allow Vincent to keep up. Also, he is a leader back there and a smart player. He might not be the best player we have on defense, but I think he will be good enough. SS - Whitner: A younger, stronger, faster version of Laywer Milloy. That is the way London Fletcher described him in his press conference today. He is a guy and film rat. His work ethic is second to none according to Fletcher, Spikes and others on this defense. He has a winning attitude that puts the team first. Yeah, he is a rookie and will make mistakes. But he is a playmaker and will make this team better. He will improve the SS position. Yes.....I said he will improve it over Lawyer Milloy. With 4.36 speed and a 40" vertical jump, he more than makes up for his lack of size. He is good in run support and can cover TEs and WRs (slot guys). He is a hard hitting, sure tackler. Think a younger version of Lawyer Milloy or even a safety version of Winfield. He will make plays for us this year and is perfect for this new fast, aggressive style of defense! Well, that is my review of our 2006-2007 defense. I will give you my offensive projections tomorrow after the draft is complete!!! Let's get ready for Day 2 of the draft in just about 11 hours!