yungmack

And Unitas was cut by his hometown and hapless Steelers. He was famously playing sandlot football when he was re-discovered.

How in the world do you "evaluate" the Bills D and completely neglect to mention the addition of Dareus, Pro Bowler Williams, an invigorated Merriman, while at the same time spotlighting the "loss" of Marcus Stroud as a negative? If you're going to pontificate, then the least you owe to your viewers is to know the players on the team. Most of the "review" was pre-taped with Mike Golic, who once again proved to be an idiot. And Greenie is too timid to forcefully present his views (he kept trying to make the point that the Bills were "this close" in so many games last year that the law of averages alone suggest they should be better, but allowed himself -- as usual -- to be rolled over by his co-hosts). But, you know, I kinda like that the major sports "pundits" don't have a clue about Buffalo. It should be fun to watch them sputter in amazement this season as the Bills win far more than anticipated. Anyone for a pool on when the first of these knuckleheads say, "No one saw this coming."

Jauron would never have drafted either one if he was truly in charge. Those were Russ Brandon picks, with Buddy advising. Credit where credit's due.

You mean that same guy Clabo who was considered something of a flop and a career journeyman at best just a couple of years ago? Has it just possibly crossed your mind that the Bills O linemen might have several of those Clabo-types hunkering down in the St. John Fisher turf?

To quote the Rolling Stones, "You make a grown man cry." Okay, not really. But this sort of nonsensical, endlessly repeated "criticism" does make me want to bang my head against a wall. I am not focusing just on your remarks...you have plenty of company around this place. For example, you say, "the unwillingness to address the OL is a puzzlement." Seriously? You think they've been refusingto address the OL? Since Nix took over, have they not added several tons of O linemen? You can criticize the quality of the signings (though I think they have added several who are going to be good to great but that's just an opinion) but how in the name of the Lords of Darkness can you say they refuseto address the O line? Then you refer to the line as "our bad line." Huh? Not Ready For Primetime maybe. But bad? Come on. Next up, you decry Wang's play at left tackle. I believe his first practice there was the first time he's played with the Ones since he joined the Bills, and definitely his first time at LT. He is NOT all they have to back up Ding Dong Bell...it's training camp for crying out loud. My guess is that the coaches are trying guys out now to see if they might be useful in certain positions later on. And can we give Wang two, maybe three practices at a new position before we write him off? Jeez! You beg Buddy to add "just a good starter." Here's the thing: Buddy thinks he has added several "good starters." He thinks Urbik is that and more. He really likes Pears. And Hairston. And Wrotto. And...well, you get the idea. And apparently Nix did try to add a supposedly above-average starter in Clabo, though, let's be fair, until fairly recently Clabo was one of those guys who was considered something of a flop. Had he been with the Bills two years ago, I can imagine the critics around here begging Brandon to get rid of him in favor of "just a good starter." Again, this is not directed just at you but at the numbingly lame coterie of fans whose "insights" can be reduced to "the Bills suck; every player on every other team is better than anyone we have; Buddy's missing the boat; any decent GM should be able to go out on any given day and pluck off the next franchise QB, the next franchise LT, the next franchise MLB...except for the Bills; the Bills screwed up with Maybin/Whitner/(add your choice of flop) so therefore the new regime will continue to do the same thing. And on and on. Will the Bills win 2 games this year? 6? 14? Go 19-0? You don't know, I don't know, nobody knows. But right now, they show more promise of success than they have in years, an are more fun and interesting to follow than I can remember since the heydey of Flutie-mania. For this long-suffering Bills fan -- I went to my first Bills practice at the Knox estate in East Aurora in 1960 -- that'll do for now. For me anyway.

If Namaan goes to the PS, he'll be gone faster than a summer in Buffalo. And until a receiver with the Bills garners enough respect (deserved or not) from opposing defenses, then getting rid of Evans is idiotic. The problem with the Bills receivers is not that any of them should be cut, traded, etc., it's that whomever they cut, trade, etc. is very likely to have a great year (or career) with another team. It's just the way it is. And here's the bottom line on it: there aren't enough slots for all the worthy and really good receivers so we're all going to have to live with seeing "our guys" lighting it up for other teams.

You know what's really crappy about Stevie? He's the only receiver in the history of the NFL who ever dropped a critical pass. I'm done with the Bills and their cheap owner and their senile GM.

No they didn't.

Ooops, sorry, I was looking for the level-headed Bills fans thread...I didn't notice the sign on the door for the Manic Depressives meeting.

You sold me.

The NFC is one of the most competitive divisions in the league? To my eyes, the Skins are awful, the Cowboys might be on the upswing with a new HC but just as likely to be mediocre again, the Iggles are slapping together a bunch of parts from all over the league, many of them thinking they are numero uno, with Vince Young as the back-up, and the Giants are, well, the Giants. This is not the best division by any means.

I'll wait until they're closer to the first game before giving my personal opinion, but I agree with your thinking. Right now I lean toward thinking they could do much, much better than even you are predicting. My reason is simple: I believe the defense is going to be vastly improved over last season and if it is, then opposing offenses are going to score less (duh!), and have a lower time of possession. Fewer points means the Bills don't have to play from behind as often (when everyone on the field knows you're going to have to rely on the pass), and won't necessarily have to score a ton of points (critical to an offense that's on the upswing but hardly in the elite category). More time of possession means more shots at scoring. Put all that together and I believe the Bills are going to surprise a lot of people, particularly the numbies who pass themselves off as pundits on ESPN and NFLN.

I think Gailey loves Naaman. Don't know if that gets him on the roster, but it can't hurt.

Is one of the Bills selling you stocks?

Sane, insightful and realistic in his attitude towards the teams he covers...Not given to foolish proclamations...not bi-polar in his assessments. In all these ways, Allen Wilson is the most reliable of the reporters who cover the Bills. Maybe not as entertaining as some of them, but a guy who you could turn to when you want to know the actual, non-biased skinny on the Bills. And a solid writer on top of it all. Get well, Allen. I -- and many others -- miss having you around.

I don't mean this to be argumentative; I really am asking this seriously: What are FitzAmish's shortcomings/limitations that lead you and others to state that he "is a long way from being a franchise QB." Or, maybe better, what are those characteristics and qualities that define a "franchise QB?" I can see by your post that you are not hostile towards Fitz so I figure your answer will be a good one. Call the doctor, there's been an outbreak of sanity on TSW! Good lord, if Eli Manning is the standard, Fitzhugh is already there. It's the team around him that gets Eli mentioned at all as an elite QB

In Nix's opinion, he HAS addressed the position. He might be wrong of course. But he believes in his guy and the people he has backing them. And, oh yeah, there is that kid they just drafted... Seriously, let's put the endless "the left side of the line sucks" stuff to bed for awhile ("awhile" being until they actually start playing). Same for "the TEs we have suck" business.

Dude, not to be harsh on you, but you do know that the Bills tight ends currently on the roster have come through FA and the NFL draft? This is a tiresome criticism because it overlooks the necessity for the Bills to keep the TE in to protect the QB, the direct result of a horrible line for most of the past decade. That has meant the priority was on blocking not receiving. An improvemed will free up the TE position to be more involved in receiving. BTW, Nixley seems very high on Chandler. And Nelson is supposed to have it all. Maybe that's why the FO wasn't running around overpaying for a TE that other teams saw fit to release? It could be that the "answer" at TE is already on the roster. I'm willing to trust that Buddy and Chan have a far better idea of what they're doing and what they need right now than I do. How about you?

I agree. And Miami is a mess (they tried and failed to replace both the coach and the starting QB in the off-season). If the Bills are as improved as I think they will be, then both of these teams are beatable. If the Bills pull that off, that leaves NE as the remaining nemesis in the division. I don't yet have an opinion on how the Bills will measure up against the Pats but it seems to me that they are an aging team, Brady included. Plus the defense the Bills are building seems tailor-made to make Brady's life miserable. It is not out of the realm of possibility, with a break here and lucky bounce there, that the Bills win their division. Now wouldn't that be nice?

Of all the problems Tebow has (so well documented here, there and everywhere), the biggest one is his horrendous inaccuracy as a passer. Anything over a few yards and it's hold your breath time. I like Tebow well enough as a person but like most rational people around here and elsewhere, I thought his chances of transitioning to a prototypical NFL QB were slim to none, and that he shouldn't have been picked probably higher than the 4th round. There's one hell of a difference between being a big bullmoose running QB in college, where the quality of the rosters is so much lower than in the NFL, and operating in an environment where even the worst player on D was probably one of the better players in his college conference. I think he was better suited for the sort of hybrid player Brad Smith is, if he's suited for the NFL at all. That said, even his most ardent supporters coming out of college said he needed two or three years of serious and patient mentoring before he'd be ready for the pros. So #3 back-up is exactly where he belongs while he learns. Unfortunately, the new regime in Denver seems unwilling to do that any longer. I wish the kid well but things don't look so promising for him just now.

Edwards didn't just take over a 4-3 team, he took over a Tampa Two team. By definition, that's light, fast guys. And even at that, they weren't all that good as a T-2 defense. Then the usual Bills injury bug hit. Nolan at least had players who fit the scheme. Edwards will be fine. He's now got a bunch of big, fast guys who seem to be able to play both 3-4 and 4-3. With a smashing D line and backers who can penetrate and set the edge, they should be disrupting offenses on a steady basis. Do that, and your secondary suddenly becomes stellar. Take away the pass and take away the run, and what does that leave the offense? Now, I don't think the Bills are yet ready to become the top D in the league, but even a 25% improvement will help the won-loss record immensely.

Had a chat yesterday with a friend who is about as wired into the Pack as an "outsider" can be. He told me that McCarthy really loved Barnett and didn't want to lose him. It came down to the cap, and what a veteran had to be payed. He said they just couldn't make the numbers work out. My friend thinks Barnett is going to be a tremendous addition to the Bills.

Don't know about your #10, but the rest seem dead on. I might replace #10 with this: that the Bills, from the FO, through the scouts, down to the coaches, appear to have a very clear idea of what sort of team they want, and the type of players they need for that team. For the first time since the John Butler era, they look like they know what they're all about. There's a plan and a strategy in place. Imagine that, knowing what you're doing. Wow!