Last Guy on the Bench
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Posts posted by Last Guy on the Bench
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He did. And another thing he showed was some serious speed on the second TD run. Both DBs had the angle on him and he blew past both of them. That, I think, was the fastest I have seen him run since he turned pro. Of course, he rarely ever gets into the secondary to accelerate but I attribute that to the line woes more than his deficiency.
I thought the same thing. I was sure he was going to get popped at the five or ten yard line. He looked a few steps faster than I've ever seen him.
Maybe the knee thing is still improving. I actually saw quite a bit of the Ravens/Steelers game as well, at the sports bar where I was watching the Bills, and I was also surprised by how fast Jamal Lewis looked. It was like we were back in 2000. For quite a while after his injury, Lewis looked like a tough, productive, but slightly lumbering running back (which is how Willis often looks), but there was no lumbering about him yesterday. Maybe the real recovery time on a knee injury like that is three or four years.
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He does it ALL the time, and it drives me nuts. He'll do it the other way too (i.e., moving from the 20 to the 30 in your own half of the field and he'll say "down to the 30 yard line"). Very strange. I can't believe that no one in the organization has corrected this.
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The class of 2004 looks like it might be something special (too soon to tell). But looking at those ratings (and watching games), you see Rivers, Manning, and JP in the top half of the league or so and with a bullet in their third year in the league. And Big Ben, of course, has stunk, but he's been sick, and he did win the SB last year. (I know some of you don't think much of Roethlisberger, but I think he's a real gamer. The QB of these 4 whom I feel the least confident about in terms of future stardom is Eli. But I think they'll all be pretty good, at least, for quite a while.)
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Saw this link on the buffalobills.com message board and thought I'd pass it along. I've always had a soft spot for the Vikes, for some reason, and this thread just reinforces it:
http://www.purplepride.org/index.php?optio...0&topic=27646.0
Denney in particular is getting clobbered. I think my favorite is the one with him and the poster's gym teacher, "Ms. Ducat."
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He looked pretty puffy to me last night. Maybe he always looks like that, and I've just forgotten. Did anyone else think this, or is it just me.
He's still a helluva receiver, unfortunately, though he did seem to disappear for big chunks of that game. (Could be MM.)
Also, I couldn't believe how badly Ike Taylor played for Pitt. He has to be one of the worst tacklers in run support or coming up to nail the WR on a quick out that I've ever seen. And he was burned downfield a few times too. This from a guy who had like 24 pass breakups last year. (Edit: I see in other threads that opinion is divided on this one. I didn't see the first third of the game, so maybe his coverage was better then. But his tackling was just bad. He seemed to lose his footing every time with just the slightest half-juke from the receiver or RB.)
Good times. There is nothing like quaffing a beer at the local pub and finding flaws in other AFC teams while the Bills are sitting at home, safe and snug in their Barcaloungers.
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That was awesome. You can read Cowher's lips right before that. He yells (spits), "THAT WAS A GREAT F*CKING PLAY!" and then one of the toughest, meanest players in the NFL kisses him on the cheek. It was one of the great football moments I've ever seen. I'm actually starting to like this Steelers team, much to my own chagrin.
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I love listening to Belichick's pregame press conferences every year. They're hilarious.
feed://www.buffalobills.com/podcast/index.xml
He makes it sound like the Pats barely have a chance against us.
What's interesting though is not his exaggeration of the Bills' apparently unsurpassed talent. It's the specificity with which he talks about the Bills' roster. He always knows everyone's name, including backups; can list every great play they've ever made, particularly against New England, etc. This is a guy who knows his sh*t. I'll bet he can give you a full-blown scouting profile of every player on every team in the league.
I'm never more optimistic than I am when Belichick describes our team . . . right before he kicks our ass on Sunday.
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Um . . . not sure about the rest of your argument, but EVERY starting center in the history of the NFL had 0 previous starts at center the first time he started at center. You can't have experience before you have experience.
Now whether it's better to ride the pine for 1, 2, 3 years, etc. before making your first start is another question altogether. I imagine you are right that, in general, center is one of the harder positions to step right into.
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Great read. Thanks.
As for tackle depth, have a look at Butler at RT in the second half and let us know what you think. I watched him pretty closely on a number of plays. I thought the combo of Butler and Preston looked pretty good, but I'm an OL ignoramus, so I don't put much stock in my own opinion.
Also, I'm glad you like Fowler and Reyes, but the one play where I really noticed them was that third and short (I think it was in the 2nd quarter, but I'm not sure) when they both pulled around to the right, had two linebacker types in their sights making the play look like it was going to work great, and then both got completely blown up. One of them, I forget which one, pretty much just fell down when he tried to pick up the moving LB. That worried me. Anyway . . .
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Thanks, everyone. To me, this just reinforces the idea that his best position might be LT. Maybe even this year? I would assume that the technique things people are pointing out can and will improve, given that he is so inexperienced as an offensive lineman.
He is fun to watch, at any rate, because he moves so well for such a huge guy.
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I definitely don't know a whole lot about techincal offensive line play. I'm one of the guys who usually just follows the ball.
However, because of that, I do occasionally force myself to concentrate on things like the OL for several plays, just to try and learn something and see the game from a different angle.
When I did that last year, it always seemed to me that Jason Peters' pass blocking was excellent, but that he didn't do much in the run game. He looked awkward, didn't seem to move his guy, would often end up in a bit of a mess around the ball carrier.
Does anyone who watches the line more frequently or with more knowledge have an opinion on this? I know the generally accepted info nugget is that Peters is a better pass blocker than run blocker, but is his run blocking really as big a liability as it looked like to my uneducated eyes? (Mike Williams, on the other hand, always looked pretty sweet run blocking to me.)
Can anyone break him down in more detail? (Specific strengths and weaknesses, places he is likely to improve vs. things he will probably always struggle with, etc.)
Thanks.
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I doubt we'll be very active this year. Counting draft picks and NFLE we have like 84 guys on the roster already, surprisingly.
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Marv's comments on the run of great safeties in the last several Super Bowls echoed something I've been thinking about a lot about the last few weeks.
I don't really understand why safety is so often seen as just an afterthought. I think Polamalu really upgraded Pitt's defense. I think Sanders took Indy's D to another level. One of the biggest dfferences between the Pats in 2002 (out of the playoffs) and the Pats in 2003/4 (Super Bowls) was Rodney Harrison taking over for a fading Milloy. And when Harrison got hurt last year, the Pats D was never the same, despite all of the other great, experienced players they have. I thnk about Reed and Brown and Lynch (a few of years ago).
Seems like most of the great defenses have extremely smart and active safeties who hit the snot out of people. They DON't all have great DEs or CBs, though they do tend to be stout in the middle of the D line.
I think the Whitner pick could be brilliant. We'll see.
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One interesting thing about both picks to me: their write-ups on NFL.com in the draft profiles section are very good. And if you read through those profiles in general, they tend to be MUCH more conservative (even negative) than the vast majority of the draft mags. That's why I like them. They seem realistic and don't claim everyone is going to be a pro-bowler.
They liked both Whitner and McCargo a lot, however, and said that they were likely to be drafted much lower than they should be for various reasons (e.g., size). I guess the Bills saw things the way they did and moved accordingly.
http://www.nfl.com/draft/profiles/2006/whitner_donte
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I agree as well. Our LBs could hit the wall really quickly, if Spikes can't come back and Fletch shows some age.
I don't think we'll reach for one, but if there is good value (Hawk in the 1st or someone like D'Qwell Jackson in the 2nd), I could see us grabbing one. Certainly the 3rd round would not surprise me.
I love 2nd and 3rd round linebackers. Seems llike you can get some great players in those rounds, particularly when you pick a guy whose measurables are slightly lower than you'd like. I think LB might be the position where speed/size are least important (they're always pretty important of course).
Suppose one guy has a .3 second advantage in the 40, but another guy reads and reacts to plays a half second quicker. You do the math. LB is the position where football instincts - the ability to read and diagnose a play almost unconsciously - matter the most. Instincts = playing speed.
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I read a quote from Joseph saying that Reuben Brown was the player he'd looked up to the most in terms of offensive lineman. Hmmm, must be a closet Bills fan.
As a sleeper side note, I betcha Marv and Dick are also looking at that perenial All-Ivy leaguer Kevin Boothe and Anthony Smith.
http://www.nfldraftcountdown.com/scoutingr...evinboothe.html
http://www.nfldraftcountdown.com/scoutingr...thonysmith.html
Forget Texas and Florida let's get some NYS players in here!
I think I remember reading that Joseph is actually a big Bills fan, now that you mention it. I also like Boothe and Smith. As far as I'm concerned, Joseph could be our 2nd round pick and they could be our two thirds, and I'd be happy with almost any of the top names for Round 1.
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Maybe so, but I thought his impressions of conversational style and temperament were a nice addition to all the other info out there. These certainly aren't scouting reports. But I've read a dozen of those on most of these players. It was nice hearing from someone who actually talked to them. Rounds out the picture a bit.
I'm not saying anyone should draft a particular player because Pat Kirwan liked talking to him on the phone. It was just some different info.
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I'm praying that Joseph will be there at our second pick. Seems like the kind of guard just destined to be solid for 10-12 years. I feel like we could pop him in at LG and forget about it.
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I thought Denney was signed for extension last year but he wasn't according to several reports that he is a free agent so unless Bills pony up a fair amount of change Denney will not be starting. I think Bills will have Kelsay start, hope 2nd year was a sophmore slump, look for depth and hope for the best. Bills have other needs at the time.
I believe that was Kelsay's 3rd year, not his 2nd. He was drafted in the 2nd round, after Willis, in 2003. So let's hope it was a Junior slump.
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How about "Eli Pole"?
If we extend Clements
in The Stadium Wall Archives
Posted
I think Nate is worth it even if he doesn't match his great play of recent weeks. Pay him as if he's the best CB in the NFL (he's pretty damn close right now). Even if he drops off a bit, the contract won't be all that big in a couple of years time, since prices just go up and up.
I also think it's possible that coaching is a big part of his recent upsurge. It seems to have coincided with Fewell's decision to stick him on the number one receiver for most of the game rather than keeping him on a particular side.
That being said, while I myself would pretty much break the bank to keep him, I don't think the Bills (i.e., Ralph) will. I agree that Ralph can't fork out 15+ million dollar bonuses while he's busy crying poor.
The only good thing about letting Nate go is that it increases the possibility we will take another DB relatively high in the draft thus ensuring a steady supply of apoplectic and entertaining posts from Bill in NYC. I always enjoy those. I just hope he doesn't spontaneously combust.