FLFan

And who was returning kicks for Detroit? McKelvin is a premier returner who had a great season before being injured. Stefan Logan - not so much.

Stopped reading when I saw the Bleecher Report links.

Agree with this assessment, although I really do like the Pettine and Hackett hires, especially Pettine. I think Crossman will be fine if he has the tools to work with. His record is average over the past six years - good years and bad years.

According to the Football Outsiders rankings, the Eagles ST have gotten worse each year since Bobby April has been there. http://www.footballoutsiders.com/stats/teamst2010 Also according to these rankings, while Detroit ST was bad last year, he has had some very good ST in both Carolina and Detroit under his leadership - up and down generally.

Not sure I would agree with that. As I recall, Lewis was charged with murder, but a witness who had previously agreed to testify against him recanted his testimony, forcing the plea deal. I do not think we can say his friends had more to do with it than he did. We will probably never know. He was convicted of obstruction, a felony, and got off light. How sincere his "seeing the light" act is also a question to me. He will always be a POS as far as I am concerned. Living near Baltimore, I am pretty sick of the hero worship heaped on him around here.

They are not called "Baltimorons" for nothing.

I agree. My main point is that Bills cannot afford to be passive even if it means taking the guy they want way ahead of "projections". I would be fine with taking QB at 8 if that is they guy they think they need, Mel Kiper and Todd McShay be damned. They need to get the guy they want.

I LOVE the moves so far. I was not a fan of hiring Lovie, which in many ways would have been the "safe" move, but there is a reason why he was fired and a reason why he is not favored for of any of the other open positions. He has had his chance. These are bold moves by the Bills, but measured and well reasoned. They have acted swiftly and decisively and in the process nabbed a HC who was on the the radar of multiple other teams, and a DC with exactly the kind of agressive and creative pedigree the Bills need, who also happens to be a key member of a rival's staff. I also love the OC hire for the reasons I have already posted in the Hackett thread. I think there are many reasons for optimism over these moves - not the same old Bills IMO. Of course, given history, our optimism should be tempered by wait and see, but I do not see anything to be upset about so far.

It does not sound the same at all to me. Chan indicated right from the beginning that he would focus on offense and call the plays. He brought in an administrative hack to do the grunt work during the week. In this case, Marrone has been clear he will not call plays, and will rely on the coordinators. He has brought in someone who has played that role for him, who is in line with his philosophies, and who he trusts to implement them. Very different. I like this hire a lot - young, innovative, and in tune with the HC. Well done, IMO.

They have lots to talk about ... The roaring 20's, the good old days of pencils, arthritis, gout, etc.

I suspect that if the Bills do not take a QB at number 8, a distinct possibility, they will need to trade back into the first round to assure themselves of getting the guy they want. They cannot sit back passively and wait for a QB to fall to them. Too many teams with QB needs ahead of them. In all likelihood, but the time of the draft, you will see QB prospects coming up the board. If they escape the top 8 without their target getting picked, they damn well better be agressive on moving up, perhaps way up. I have no problem with them taking a QB they want at the expense of more draft choices.

While this no doubt true, I think there is real reason for optimism in this case. Although, our offseason hopes have often turned to frustration once the football starts .... Happy offseason everyone.

I would love this hire. Would bring a much more creative and agressive approach which would obvioulsy be a welcome change. Great choice if Marrone can pull it off.

I could not care less if he is likeable as long as he wins. I guess he was evasive as he did not answer any of the questions regarding personnel plans, coordinator hiring plans, etc. Then again, why should he? I liked that he stated he thinks the players should hear his plans from him and not the media, and that he does not believe in discussing players publically. Good for him, although this will hardly make him a media darling. Not sure what people expected in an introductory PC. Let's see how the staff building goes.

Cant say I am a deft evaluator of college talent or anything, but the QB I saw in that posted video did not look good. Poor pocket awareness, little accuracy downfiled, and poor decisions. Maybe a bad day, but the footwork is bothersome. Perhaps he can be taught and is a diamond in the rough. I could not really say.

Good thoughts they are. I would certainly hope that having been in the NFL and through one attitude rebuilding project at New Orleans in addition to the SU gig, that Marrone would understand this and be able to adjust his style accordingly.

+1. Thank you.

As an SU season ticket holder, I would be interested in any actual analysis you may have other than "he sucks". Any actual reasoning based on his performance you can add?

Interesting news to wake up to this morning. This clearly has a lot of fans on their heels as I think most of us wrote this off as a possibility. On the surface, I like it. I was very uncomfortable with the retread route represented by Whiz and Lovie. This is a bold move and Marrone has an impressive resume. He was clearly in demad- definitely not another off the radar move by the Bills. No denying he led a great turnaround at Syracuse. I cannot wait to hear the PC to earn a little more about his thinking, and of course, who he can attract as key assistants will be critical. Reason for optimism IMO.

The most intelligent post of this thread so far.

Well done! It would certainly seem so.

I think the point was more about fan reaction rather than relative fault of the play call or the players. That was my take anyway.

I absolutely agree with this - the offense was much better than the defense, and with even adequate defensive performance, they would have won more games. Still on the offensive side, there were simply too many misfires in critical siutations, not to mention fumbles and interceptions by the QB, to make the offensive design of Gailey work as efficiently as it should have. This also cost them games. What many would argue is that understanding that, Gailey should have adjusted his design to run more often, but I do not think that would have worked. When they tried to run the ball down people's throats they were rarely effective. You need balance, and more often than not it is effective passing, or at least the threat of it, that opens up the ability to run. Most teams are more pass than run oriented in today's game.

True enough. Perhaps thats why the Coach was fired.

The charge that the Bills were "pass happy" is a bit overstated. In 2012 the Bills ranked 13th in rushing attempts at 27.6/game, 6th in rushing yards. They ranked 23rd in passing attempts, with 31.9/game, and 25th in passing yards. This is not pass happy by any stretch, and more balanced than many teams. As another poster pointed out, it is perhaps a valid criticism that Gailey passed in some situations he should have run. I think the bigger problem these stats inidcate is that the Bils passing game was not nearly effective enough, not that they passed too much. Exactly.