jahnyc

Not sure why you think the Bills may be close to consummating a long-term deal with Clements. I have not read any reports that the Bills and Clements are even in negotiations.

After Evans and assuming there is a problem with Price, I don't think we have a #2 wide receiver. Reed has been tried as a #2 and he failed miserably (the Bills drafted Evans after that season).

New coaches and new systems/schemes. Who knows if we have the right personnel to run the offense and defense the way the coaches would like them to be run. It will take time for the players to adjust. Implementing a new offense alone would be tough in one offseason/preseason, and we are implementing a new offense and a new defense. It took a couple of years for the Bills to find the right players for Gregg Williams' system. Combine this with the fairly significant turnover on offense and defense and there is no choice but to be patient and wait to see how things go in the regular season.

Sorry to be negative about this, but I think little progress has been made. Reyes may be an upgrade over Bennie, but he is not an elite level guard. Fowler is undersized and it is not clear (at least to me) whether he is an upgrade over Teague. We need to improve at LT and at RT. I understand that Peters has much potential, but the reality is that our running game suffered after he replaced Williams. I do have high hopes for Peters and I anticipate that his overall play will improve this year with additional experience. Villarail is getting old and has been injured over the last couple of years. He may need to be replaced sooner rather than later. I don't think this team will show improvement until we make a more significant investment in the o-line (both with high draft picks and quality free agent acquisitions).

I really don't care for WM's attitude and I found his recent interview with the Florida paper kind of disturbing. He has skipped all of the optional sessions and does not seem committed to the team in general. I know our line was poor last year, but his play really regressed, and I have no idea whether he is an elite back. There is no way I would re-negotiate his deal at this time. Let him prove himself on the field this year.

Reading the two articles on the front page about the young o-linemen from Buffalobills.com, I think McNally seems to have the most praise for the abilities of Aaron Merz. Interesting that he will be playing center. If this is the case and he makes the roster, what does it mean for Preston? Maybe Preston is shifting over to guard. The other possibility is that McNally and others do not believe Preston is a prospect. Camp and cuts should be interesting.

They have us selecting Brady Quinn. They must think we are going to have a great season and that JP Losman will bloom (not).

What makes this year interesting is that it seems that Levy got pressure from the scouts to move up in the draft to get McCargo (that he wouldn't be there when they picked in the second round). Another interesting comparison will be the play of Whitner versus Simpson (i.e., first round pick versus fourth round pick at potentially the same position).

You still build an oline throught the draft first. Jennings was a decent player and the problem with Pucillo and the other lower round oline picks was that TD should not have selected them. You never know with draft picks. Some years ago the Jets drafted Fabini and Randy Thomas and they were starters (and solid players) from day one. Ferguson and Mangold may play more than McCargo, who seems to need developing and experience (a junior who was injured for a good part of the season). We need a starting dt, so I hope we can plug McCargo into the line-up immediately.

In this draft we know that the Bills passed on Ngata, Bunkley, Leinart and Cutler (among others) to draft Whitner. We also know that our scouts thought that there was a large gap between McCargo and the next group of available dts. If we follow the four players above (and, of course, Whitner), as well as the play of dts selected after McCargo, we will get a pretty good sense of the expertise and judgment of our scouting department. Should be interesting to follow.

I think the entire group is below average. I hope Fowler is an upgrade, but I am not convinced that Teague was the weak link on the oline. I think Gandy would be an excellent back-up, but should not be starting. I like Peters and hope that he continues to improve, but after M. Williams went out of the line-up, our rushing attack suffered. Our back-ups are poor, although there is always hope for Preston and our current draft picks.

Only improvement is Reyes over Anderson. We needed oline to start building some continuity. Guys that we could have drafted this weekend would be strong starters in a couple years. We have delayed this process, which will only hurt in the near term. The teams that have made the playoffs and won the Superbowl consistently featured strong offensive lines (Pittsburgh, Seattle, etc.) I do not understand why the Bills continue to sign cheap free agents and select late round picks to try to fill this critical need.

With regard to the draft, coaches or free agents, after the pick/decision is made, there is always a quote in a newspaper or other publication that RW liked this other guy. For example, Bills draft Whitner, and there is quote that RW loved Cutler. Bills select Jauron as new coach, but RW was really impressed with Sherman. Seems to happen every time.

1. I don't think Coy Wire will be on the roster after training camp. 2. Where are the Bills going to find a LT? The Bills will not acquire a top one in free agency (too expensive and rare that one would become available). Are we looking at least one more year of Gandy at LT? 3. I think Clemens is a goner, which will create another hole. I think he will be traded next year during the offseason. 4. Can McCargo be a starter this year? He is a junior and it seems that he has not played in that many games (he was also injured for part of last season). Even our scouts discussed how he needs experience and needs to grow. Who will play DT with Triplett on opening day? Please don't say Anderson. 5. I am shocked that the Bills did not address the oline in the draft (at least not so far). Are Reyes and Fowler significant upgrades?

The trade for Blesdoe. Taking McGahee instead of Steinbach. Trading up for Losman. Selecting Parrish. Now the selection of Whitner and the trading up for McCargo. There is a pattern here and it has not resulted in success (at least not to this point, I realize we know nothing about how this draft will turn out). Is there a problem with the scouting? Is it the decision makers? Another draft that does not seem to make sense. No o-line again! This really upsets me. Reyes, Fowler, Gandy and Villarail are not the answer. Replacing Williams and Adams with Triplett and McCargo? Most of all, I still cannot make sense of the first pick for the Bills. Maybe the guy will turn out to be a good player, but will he be better than the qbs and dts that were still on the board? Even if he is a quality player, does it make sense to pay a saftey this kind of money? To have this make any sense, Whitner needs to be the top safety (or one of the top safeties) in the league. I would think a solid dt (or better), such as Ngata or Bunkley would have made much more sense. Instead, the Bills had to trade up, losing a third, to get a dt. That also needs to be factored into the selection of Whitner. In other words, selecting a safety with the eighth pick instead of a dt ended up costing the Bills a player. We now have a strong basis for comparison. If Leinart/Cutler or Ngata/Bunkley outperform Whitner (at a position that is not usually a big money or high pick position), than the scouts and Modrak need to go.

I like the idea of trading down and getting more picks, but there seems to be a big drop-off between D'Brick/Justice and the rest of the OTs and between Ngata/Bunkley and the rest of the DTs. We need at least one or two immediate starters out of this draft, not developmental projects.

I agree that no matter what, the national media will be all over the Bills (in a negative way). Our free agent pick-ups have been somewhat questionable (at least in terms of the dollars being paid to Reed and Price), but Modrak runs the show with the draft. It should be interesting. I hope, along with most other posters, that the focus is on d-line, o-line and secondary.

We should be happy if we can fill some immeditate needs for next season and beyond. A starting DT and a starter on the o-line would be ok and, at a minimum, what is needed.

I agree that there will be open competition at most positions (and that is a good thing), but I doubt that the Bills would have signed Fowler and Price if they thought that Preston and Parrish were ready to start and play at a high level. Both Fowler and Price were signed to contracts that seem to indicated that they are not being brought in to be back-ups. Maybe Preston can play at LG, we will see.

I think it will be Ngata or Bunkley. Until I heard the interviews with Marv and Modrak, I would have thought it was going to be Justice. But unless that is pure misinformation, it will be a DT, a huge need position for the Bills. I hope our first four picks are all d-line and o-line.

I think Huff has the fewest questions out of the four players mentioned above, assuming he plays at safety. There would be questions if the Bills draft him to play cb since some teams only project him to FS. The guy who might be there and with the fewest "questions" is Vernon Davis. Not a need, but he may be the best player available when we pick.

1. I am having a hard time figuring out the pick of the Bills at #8. Ngata, Huff, Bunkley, and Justice should be there but: Ngata may not fit the new scheme. The Bills project Huff as a safety. Bunkley has past injury problems and there may be some character issues. Justice has character issues, may be raw, and the Bills do not project him as a top 10 player in the draft. So where does this leave the Bills? 2. I don't think the Bills have much confidence in Parrish or Preston. The Bills signed Davis, Price and re-signed Reed and Aiken. Where does that leave Parrish? I guess he battles Aiken, Davis and Smith for the last two WR spots on the roster. Same with Preston. The Bills signed Fowler to play center. If the Bills thought Preston was ready, I don't think they would have acquired Fowler.

From the Buffalo News article, the Bills are suggesting that they will lose money this year. Of all the things that I have read recently, this statement concerns me the most. I don't believe the Bills have any debt obligations with respect to RW Stadium and they are still losing money? Maybe the Bills can raise ticket prices, but how can else can they improve their profitability (sell naming rights)? I don't see many options, and this is exactly the type of situation that would make the Bills very unattractive to potential purchasers who would want to keep the team in Buffalo. It is not as if our situation can be fixed with a new stadium (like the Vikings).

What is sad is that the fans in Buffalo have held up their end of the bargain. All of the games last year were sold out, even with a crummy team and record. How can you justify moving a team that enjoys real and tangible support? The Bills are an important part of the community, would this be true in LA? No. Unfortuntately, it all about economics, and the economics of a team in Buffalo are becoming problematic.

That is interesting information. Spencer seems to have visited more teams than any other player. I wonder why.