Typical TBD Guy

Interesting. I didn't know that about Tillman. No, it doesn't diminish my opinion of him, but I often wonder why atheists bother to do anything. If there's no point to the current life we live, why fight for anything? Why care about your country or about human injustices across the world if we all sooner or later are going to end up in the ground with maggots up our noses? Anyway, Tillman was an unselfish man and for that he deserves the utmost respect. Pat Tillman Stadium? Why not? He's about the only positive thing to have been associated with that franchise in over 50 years.

Why do you still hang around this board? The Patriots are awesome. We got it. Now go away.

Out for the year? Not good enough. I want to give that piece of stevestojan a one-way ticket to Fallujah so he can get his head slit off.

While I do think Will Smith is going to have a great career, 1. I am confident that Kelsay has just as much potential. 2. I haven't given up on Lee Evans yet like several other posters have (I don't think Moulds did much either in his first 4 friggin preseason games)

Yeah, I think Whitey is already expecting PW to leave. DT's over 30 still command high money on the market, and it's time we go with a bit of a youth movement in our aging defense. One of the following four better step up: Edwards, Bannan, Anderson, and Sape. Edwards is by far the best bet, although his first 3 seasons in the league are nothing to brag about. I'm not sure Jennings will be franchised, but somehow I bet we keep him. Continuity is important on an OL, and Jennings isn't likely to see the kind of money the blue chippers get (Ogden, Pace, etc...) on the open market.

1. No. 2. Yes. 3. No. 4. Yes, but not a whole lot more from last year. 5. Yes, but not as well as Schobel did in his second year.

Why would Stroud and Henderson play DE at all, let alone against us? Pass rushing from the edge is a whole lot different than pass rushing up the middle. Their speed, while impressive for a couple of big DT's, should easily be neutralized on the ends. Plus, the strength of our OL is at the T positions. Might as well attack our weak interior if you're an opposing defensive coordinator. The rest of the Jaguars D, aside from Stroud and Henderson, is a joke. I've got the sick feeling in my stomach, however, that Bledsoe and our OL of misfits are going to !@#$ this one up like they've done for the past season and a half.

Hmm, well at least he'll be a shoe-in for the Bills Wall of Fame. You all are right in the fact that WR HOF'ers are now going to be held to some pretty absurd statistical standards. What current WR's you think will be HOF material? Aside from Jerry Rice and probably Tim Brown, I think Marvin Harrison and Randy Moss will make the HOF by career's end.

His career to date has been up and down. He's seemingly had amazing seasons one season followed by mediocre ones the next (usually due to either injury or serious offensive problems with the coaches/QB at control). So what do you think will be the minimum stats or team accomplishments (playoff victories, etc...) for him to qualify for the HOF by the time he retires?

Wow, Moore is such a noble guy...

We're going to need the Fins for 4 games this year - the 2 Jets and 2 Pats games.

One of my first life memories was my dad and I sitting in front of the TV, still in our Sunday church clothes, and I distinctly remember my dad's face growing bright red whenever he shook his fist at the screen, yelling, "GodDAMN it Vince!" Good times....good times!

That's none of my concern what baseball team you guys like. What bothers me, however, is during FOOTBALL season when I see 10-15 Yankees threads among the first page threads. It friggin pisses me off because this is a Buffalo Bills football forum, and a lot of other Bills fans aren't Yanks fans and could care less about them. I'm an Indians fan, and I bet it would bother a LOT of you guys if I started multiple threads about how awesome they are. Please, keep the Yanks threads to a minimum...like 1-3 tops, and reply within these threads rather than start new ones on the same topic.

I understand, but all I'm saying is that $5 million is a lot of cap space to leave unused. And maybe this is a stupid question, but why are so many NFL contracts back-end loaded and rarely ever front-end loaded? Don't these players realize that they are more likely to be cut before they ever receive the $$$ from the final years of their contract?

Good post. I originally came onto this board thinking Mickey was a voice of reason, but now I see him as just another partisan troll.

Thanks for the cap info, Clumps! You should really consider making TBD your home board. You'd be very welcome here. Billszone, from the last few times I visited, seemed to be overrun with little kids and teenage punks. But anyway, if we have $5 million (more or less) of cap space for this year, then I think TD needs to can it with the frugal stevestojan and overpay to keep either Schobel or Jennings. There are no other free agents to become available - now or by season's end - that will singlehandedly put us over the top and into the playoffs. To put the sad current state of NFL free agent castoffs in perspective, JASON GILDON is considered the top free agent out there!

What is up with this love fest for Luke Lawton? If he is so great, not only would he have been drafted but he also would have a team by now. None of the other 31 teams have even bothered to invite him to their practice squad. As for Burns, he is more or less like Josh Stamer. A dependable backup who is still on the team because of his special teams abilities. I have no idea what Bobby April is thinking. He cut Dom Stevenson, our supposed special team ace, but I'll give him the benefit of the doubt because April has watched every practice along with the preseason games; you and I haven't.

Don't worry. Tucker will backup any interior OL position before Willow.

That actually happened? Pretty funny! And figures it happened to the Cards...

First of all, Pukecillo was drafted in round 7. Second of all, the coaches make the determination on who gets cut and who stays, not TD. And third of all, Pukecillo is not a good starter but still is a respectable reserve who's had a full preseason experience with McNally and a full two years with the majority of the OL. Who else would we have kept instead of Pukey? Sullivan? No, at least Pukester has a work ethic. Sobieski and Esposito? Well they're on the practice squad now.

I agree. Evaluating actual starters from the draft (plus the UDFA talent pool) is a good way - perhaps the best way - to evaluate TD's drafting abilities. 10 of his 25 starters this Sunday (I included long snapper as a full-time position like K and P) will be his former draft picks or UDFA's. 40%. That's pretty good and probably among the highest in the league.

You again, huh? Aren't you the guy who is calling Lee Evans a bust? I see your crusade against TD has not waned... Attention all McDonald's-working, GED-earning, ADHD-struggling simpletons frequenting this board who cannot follow an analysis beyond a simple win-loss record, let alone an analysis of Fake-Fat-Sunny proportions: I wasn't defending TD's job as an overall GENERAL MANAGER, but without any other drafting stats from other teams that can be used as a reference, I AM defending his job as a DRAFT EVALUATOR. Until anyone else here can post stats from other teams that show TD is doing a comparably worse job of drafting, then there is no reason to be complaining about TD's drafting abilities. As for TD's overall ability as a GM and his win-loss record, only one of his 3 seasons here can be considered a failure. In his first season, we were in serious salary cap jail. In his second season, we were still in salary cap jail and managed to improve by 5 games. In his third season as GM, we should have made the playoffs but instead underachieved. The blame went primarily to GW and KG for this. Was there more to last year's failure than coaching? Was TD to blame for more than just a bad head coach hiring? We don't know yet, but we should find out by the end of this season. So then let the season unfold before you grab your pitchforks and flaming toches and rush on over to OBD. Peace.

A little update/extra info on this topic: Now that Sobieski, Sape, and J. Smith are on the practice squad, that leaves TD with only 10 of his 36 picks no longer with the team in any capacity. Of those 10 players, 2 played at least two full seasons with the Bills (Dom Stevenson, Marques Sullivan), 2 had somewhat promising careers cut short due to injuries (Brandon Spoon, Tony Driver), 3 had careers cut short due to major character issues (Tyrone Robertson, Rodney Wright, Reggie Germany), 1 never made the team but is still having a productive NFL career elsewhere (Jimmy Williams), and 2 never got anywhere much beyond their first Bills preseason (Dan O'Leary, Jarret Ferguson). Over 70% of TD's picks are still with the team. 100% of TD's day one picks are still with the team. Over 50% of TD's day two picks are still with the team. Once again, it's hard to make much of these facts without looking at how other GM's have done in the same past 4 years. And you can't necessarily rate a GM's drafting ability based on the players still with the team since good teams often have no need to keep many of their draft picks. Nevertheless, my own opinion from these stats is that TD has at least done a very good drafting job, if not an excellent job. Of the 10 picks no longer with the team, 7 still made the Bills team at some point and only Ferguson never made an NFL roster. Spoon, Ferguson, and O'Leary were the only draft picks I thought were wastes of a pick. All three didn't have the talent level to match the round in which they were chosen. The three guys with character issues (Robertson, Wright, Germany) each had the definite talent and NFL potential to justify their 7th round draft positions. That's all, folks!

Jonathan Smith aka Fumblin' Freddie, our 2004 seventh round pick.

Injuries are a part of the game, and special teams plays are as important as any other play on the offensive or defensive units (maybe even more so). I'll never understand the lack of respect some pro coaches have for special teams. I say it's about time we get the best players to play on EVERY down, not just the first through thirds.