jahnyc

In a series of depressing developments, this is possibly the most depressing. If true, not giving the GM and the coach the ability or the authority to improve this team or keep players is horrible. I am always amused at the "we are doomed" posts, but maybe this is where we are.

The o-line is a disaster and everyone knew it. I really cannot understand why it has not addressed. Seems that McKelvin is not developing, and he should have by now. Not impressed with Spiller. Freddie still looks better.

I really like what we are seeing so far with Dareus. I think he has the potential to be a great player. Way too early to make judgments about this overall draft. Williams seems to have potential, but I have heard little about the other players drafted. Want to see what Sheppard can do when healthy. I a bit concerned about last year's draft. Spiller was disappointing last year and if he does not end up starting at RB by next year, then his selection at that pick was not warranted. Troupe needs to step up, but I know that he has a broken hand, which is a big problem in the near term. Easley needs more game time so that we can get a better sense of his abilities.

I wonder if Hangartner will be cut.

This rebuilding process, if successful, will take a long time because they are not particlarly active in free agency and there are a lot of holes to fill (some of them created recently). In the last year, the Bills have waived, traded or not re-signed Whitner (high first), McCargo (first), Evans (first), Lynch (first), Maybin (high first), Hardy (second), Poz (second), Chris Ellis (third), Youboty (third) and Edwards (third). Early picks are typically the nucleus for a successful team. In this regard, the Bills have failed miserably, andy they are paying for it now.

I don't understand why fixing the defense and the o-line are mutually exclusive. In the last two years, many teams have found starting caliber offensive linemem in the draft, including in later rounds. If the Bills are going to rely primarily on the draft to rebuild this team, then Nix et al. need to hit on most picks to have success. For the o-line, last year's draft brought us Wang, who seems overmatched, even as a back-up. I have heard nothing about Hairston during training camp so far. Selecting one offensive lineman in the draft for each of the last two years is not going to turnaround the o-line (both in terms of depth and starters).

Not sure how a team can go into a season with such a significant weakness (the o-line) and expect to have any real success. It should have been addressed through the draft and free agency. To wait another year until the Bills begin to address the o-line is ridiculous. Even if they draft players next year for the o-line, they may not contribute immediately and I doubt the Bills will spend big money to bring in quality starters in free agency (plus few will likely be available). Does this mean that the earliest we could have a decent o-line is 2013 (assuming we draft well)?

Fair point, and that is why I noted the poor blocking of the o-line.

1. In the first quarter, the play calling for our first team offense was creative and generally effective. Gailey will make good use of Smith in the "wildcat." this year. I am impressed with Gailey as a coach/play caller on offense. 2. Stevie looked great, but our other wide receivers did not make any plays, other than a couple of catches by Roosevelt. Easley was disappointing overall (including on kick returns), but he has had very little time practicing and no time playing in games due to his injuries since being drafted. Davis played poorly. I do not buy into all of the "we have a ton of talent at wide receiver" stuff, but Jones, Roosevelt, Easley and Nelson are only second year players and all of them will need time to develop (if at all). It is unrealistic to expect otherwise. Evans will be missed. 3. Maybin was easily handled by Chicago's second team offense. I think he was taken out of the game pretty quickly. 4. Dareus was active and looked great. Very encouraging for a rookie player, even a player picked third overall. 5. I thought the right side of the first team offensive line did not play well. Our second team offensive line was terrible, particularly Wrotto and Howard. 6. The Bills have no depth. During the game, I noted that the Bears picked up a bunch of free agents this year for depth. Some of these guys (i.e., Okoye and Barber) played well. Nix is stubborn about his own players (i.e., Davis) and we will suffer the consequences this year. 7. I was never a big supporter of Whitner, but I am wondering if he will be missed in the rush defense. I know that the defense was horrible last year, but I noticed that Wilson was easily taken out of some running plays last night. 8. I think Williams has potential, but he was beaten badly on a pass play where, as a result, he had to interfere with the receiver. He made a nice interception later in the game. He seems a bit raw, and I hope the Bills do not cut McGee in another cost cutting move because they think Williams can step in now. 9. Carrington played well against the second team offense for the Bears. Earlier in the game, he seemed to be handled by the first team offense for the Bears. 10. Merriman was awesome. Nothing more to add to that. 11. Johnny White received a bunch of playing time and did not standout or make plays. Maybe it was the poor blocking of the second team offensive line. 12. Chandler is big. If he stays as upright as did when running with the ball last night after catching the ball, he is going to get killed.

He started playing well after Chicago put in their second team. Before that, he did not do anything.

Our best year by far was 2005.

This team is in a perpetual state of decline. There is something seriously wrong here.

Stubborn. Nix has too much confidence that he will be able to build the Bills primarily through the draft and that the players he brings in are better than what is otherwise available in free agency. Although this makes sense, the problem is that this means that he will need to hit on almost every draft choice and then have the ability to re-sign these players before they become free agents. I have concerns about the first point, and stronger concerns with regard to the second. The Bills were unable to re-sign Poz and he was one of only two free agents that they wanted to keep this year. The Bills have shed Poz, Whitner and now Evans, and in each case, replaced them with less expensive alternatives. This is not a coincidence. Does anyone think that if Levitre, Woods and Byrd continue to be solid players after four years that all of them will be re-signed by the Bills? So far, Nix's draft scorecard is incomplete, but I have doubts about Spiller and we did not get much production from our draft picks last year. In terms of free agency, he signed Cornell Green and seems to think that Pears and Chandler are good enough to start. I like Smith, but he was a luxury acquisition. Not a good record so far in free agency, but we will see. I think that Nix will turn out to be a good evaluator of college talent for the Bills, but a poor choice for a GM in all other ways.

Terrible move. We will see if Nix is a good evaluator of college talent, but he is in way over his head as GM. It feels like a salary dump, and combined with our low level of activity in free agency, it seems that we are years away from a playoff caliber team.

Why is everyone so sure about our depth and talent at wide receiver after Stevie and Roscoe? Roosevelt, Jones, Easley and Nelson are all unproven (and three of the four were undrafted, which may or may not have any significance as to whether we should believe that they will develop into quality players).

If the Bills trade Evans, then the bills will draft a speed receiver in next year's draft in the first round because they will have realized that none of the wide receivers on the current roster are a deep threat.

This makes no sense to me, and we all know that the Bills will not use the money saved to pursue some free agents. It is ridiculous that the only free agent that we signed other than to fill a hole from a departing free agent was Smith. We have the worst front office in football.

Lee Evans. We will have this confirmed after the Bills release Evans and he signs with the Patriots.

I can't understand why the Bills would consider trading Lee Evans. Consider the following: 1. His compensation for the next two years is not excessive compared to other wide receivers in the NFL with similar skills. 2. He is a great team guy and a good leader in the locker room. 3. He still has excellent speed (more speed than any other wide receiver on the roster). 4. We would not receive equivalent value in a trade (at best, probably a late round pick). 5. The Bills do not need to trade him for financial or cap reasons. 6. Our young receivers may have talent, but they are unproven. I seem to recall that Stevie's production dropped significantly after Evans got hurt late in the season. In addition, I am not sure if there is too much hype around Nelson, Roosevelt, Jones and Easley at this point. Having said all this, I still have a feeling that Lee will not be a part of the opening day roster. I hope that I am wrong.

Sounds like Bell is not seriously injured, but I am worried about our starters and our back-ups at the offensive tackle position. I would be very concerned having Wang at left tackle at any point during the regular season. Free agents can be picked up for depth as well, and I think the Bills should have looked for starters and/or depth at the tackle position.

1. I like Gailey and he seems to have the players excited about the offense and his system. He is a huge upgrade in his experience and creativity, and the results were noticeable last year. With another year, we should see more improvement from the offense. 2. Not sure why we did not get more players at RG and RT in free agency. Seems like a real weakness, and I am concerned about having Pears at RT. I get building through the draft, but that makes a lot more sense when you have young players ready to step in who only need more experience to be starting caliber. This is not the case at RT. Nothing wrong with picking up some free agents who can contribute immediately at positions of great need, particularly with the Bills significantly under the cap. 3. Please do not trade Evans or McGee. Evans has been a solid player and leader, and his experience must be helpful to the younger receivers. In addition, he still has great speed and is a legitimate deep threat. With McGee, he seems healthy again and McKelvin has not developed as expected for a high first round draft pick. The Bills certainly do not need to trade/cut any players for financial reasons. 4. We can now confirm how bad our drafting has been over the last number of years, which combined with our inability to retain players that we wanted, has left this team in need of a significant infusion of talent. McCargo, Whitner, Poz, Edwards, and Lynch are all gone. Maybin still appears to be a bust, and McKelvin has been disappointing. Hopefully, Nix will prove to be a better drafter of talent, but he should not get a free pass if Spiller is a bust. Our first round selections have been horrible. 5. It seems that Gailey and the Bills players have created a good atmosphere in the locker room. I like to hear that. 6. Will Wang make the team this year?

Our offensive tackles are weak and need to be upgraded. Right guard is an unknown at this time. We need a starting caliber tight end. Not sure about our defensive ends, particularly whether Dareus is suited to play end and whether he can be a major contributor as a rookie. Troupe needs to step up at the nose tackle position. Assuming Merriman is back to his old form, we still have a need at the other outside linebacker spot. Hopefully between Scott and Wilson we will be okay at strong safety. Having said that, I think Wood and Levitre are very solid, and we have some depth and talent at the wide receiver, cornerback and running back positions. Overall, we are more than two positions away from being a great team, but hopefully progress is being made.

We have no players left on our roster from our 2007 draft. On another board, some are reporting that Nix was on WGR this morning and said that we would not replace Poz through free agency. This I doubt is true, particularly with Davis coming back from a significant injury.

Salaries are going up. That is the reality. He should have been signed by the Bills before his contract expired and he became a free agent.

Someone changed the title of my original post. It was "Maybe I should have enjoyed the lockout." Made me seem a lot less angry.