nfreeman

Good points all, except that I think what TO is doing now -- holding out and criticizing McNabb's play in the Super Bowl -- count as destructive off-the-field issues. Although he's not as much of a jerk as Moss, there is no way these actions can do anything except hurt his team. If he reports to camp and has another huge year without saying or doing anything to cause dissention, I will retract.

I think Moulds is still top half-dozen, but that is admittedly in terms of the overall package -- ie attitude counts. The question in my mind is not who would be better for one game but who do I want as a member of this team. Therefore I don't include TO or Moss in the top half-dozen because I think their destructive tendencies take them out of the group of WRs I'd rather have than Moulds. Moulds was #10 in receptions and #22 in receiving yards last year. Here are the guys ahead of him in catches: 1. Tony Gonzales -- a TE 2. Derrick Mason -- TN 96 1168 12.2 7 37 -- solid and productive player and has been for years. Still, TN has been lousy for a few years and they let him go in free agency. 3. Chad Johnson CIN 95 1274 13.4 9 53 -- an elite player; I couldn't argue if you put him ahead of Moulds. 4. Joe Horn NO 94 1399 14.9 11 57 -- same 5. Torry Holt STL 94 1372 14.6 10 75 -- very good player, but numbers inflated due to system. I wouldn't trade Moulds for him. 6. Muhsin Muhammad CAR 93 1405 15.1 16 51 -- elite player 7. Laveranues Coles WAS 90 950 10.6 1 45 -- very good player; I wouldn't trade Moulds for him. 8. Javon Walker GB 89 1382 15.5 12 79 -- only one good year. 9. Isaac Bruce STL 89 1292 14.5 6 56 -- elite player but also has benefitted from system. 10. Eric Moulds BUF 88 1043 11.9 5 49 Here are the guys ahead of him in yards: 1 Muhsin Muhammad CAR 93 1405 15.1 16 51 2 Joe Horn NO 94 1399 14.9 11 57 3 Javon Walker GB 89 1382 15.5 12 79 4 Torry Holt STL 94 1372 14.6 10 75 5 Isaac Bruce STL 89 1292 14.5 6 56 6 Chad Johnson CIN 95 1274 13.4 9 53 7 Tony Gonzalez KC 102 1258 12.3 7 32 8 Drew Bennett TEN 80 1247 15.6 11 48 -- one good year 9 Reggie Wayne IND 77 1210 15.7 12 71 -- a good player but not as good as Moulds. 10 Donald Driver GB 84 1208 14.4 9 50 -- one good year 11 Terrell Owens PHI 77 1200 15.6 14 59 -- no thanks 12 Darrell Jackson SEA 87 1199 13.8 7 56 -- comparable to Moulds 13 Michael Clayton TB 80 1193 14.9 7 75 -- one good year on a lousy team 14 Jimmy Smith JAC 74 1172 15.8 6 65 -- comparable to Moulds 15 Derrick Mason TEN 96 1168 12.2 7 37 16 Rod Smith DEN 79 1144 14.5 7 85 -- comparable to Moulds 17 Andre Johnson HOU 79 1142 14.5 6 54 -- one solid & one good year on a lousy team 18 Marvin Harrison IND 86 1113 12.9 15 59 -- a very good player but benefits from system and QB. I wouldn't trade Moulds for him 19 Eddie Kennison KC 62 1086 17.5 8 70 -- Moulds is better 20 Ashley Lelie DEN 54 1084 20.1 7 58 -- Moulds is better 21 Brandon Stokley IND 68 1077 15.8 10 69 -- Moulds is better 22 Eric Moulds BUF 88 1043 11.9 5 49 So -- I think there are only 3 WRs that at this point are clearly better than Moulds -- Horn, Muhammed and Chad Johnson -- and Horn and Muhammed were the only receiving options on lousy teams. Johnson had another good WR on the bengals, but no running back comparable to McGahee. That puts Moulds in the same 2nd-tier category (which is pretty darn close to the 1st tier) as about 7-10 other guys, none of whom I would trade Moulds for. Now, I agree with you that this represents somewhat of a fall-off from his prime, when he was clearly in the top 3 in the league. But nothing lasts forever. Even so, Moulds has lost very little, and you have to account for the fact that the bills have a great running back and a very good #2 receiver who is going to get at least half of the deep routes thrown his way. I wouldn't be surprised, if JP is good and the Bills make the playoffs, for Moulds to have as good a season as any other WR on a playoff team other than the colts and the rams (both of whom play in domes and have pass-happy systems). It all comes back to JP.

Dammit, McBride, whose side are you on? Let me make the following points: 1. I don't think last year's offense can fairly be called "significantly better" or "more functional" than 2003's, esp. if you adjust for the fact that we had McGahee last year -- ie the passing offense was equally bad both years. The play-calling was much more intelligent in 2004, but the execution at QB was equally bad (here are Bledsoe's #s: http://www.nfl.com/players/playerpage/1041). 2. Moulds had more TDs, more big plays and more yards last year than 2003 -- so even though he had a slightly (0.3) lower ypc, I don't think you can say he declined every year with DB (although to be fair he missed 3 games in 2003 with the injury and was certainly not 100% when he returned). Although his #s were better in 2002, that was when the entire offense was on fire and putting up 40+ ppg for half the season. 3. Moulds is 32. He's not going to be as fast now as at age 25. But he's still a force of nature out there. He's among the top handful of WRs in the league as far as size and strength. He doesn't get outmuscled or out-positioned for balls. He has to be accounted for on every play, which opens things up for Evans. They complement each other very well. Hopefully, Roscoe will be able to benefit from this as well to a much greater degree than Reed has. 4. If we could only have one WR currently on our roster for this coming season, whom would you choose? Is there any doubt that it's Moulds? Evans by himself would have the same production that Peerless has had in Atlanta as the #1 WR. 5. If your point is that Moulds isn't as great a deep threat on post patterns as Randy Moss (or for that matter Lee Evans) is, well, OK. But that's like saying Tom Brady doesn't throw the deep ball on post routes -- when he has all the time he needs -- as well as Bledsoe does. It's only part of the job requirements. Moulds is still immensely valuable to the team and IMHO either the best or 2nd-best player on the offense. When we NEED a first down, we are looking for Eric, and he will go up in traffic, come down with it and drag the defender as far as he needs to. 6. Bottom line: if JP is good, Moulds will have a big year. His #s aren't going to be as good as TO's -- but TO doesn't have anyone as good as Evans on the other side. And would anyone want a jerk like TO instead of Moulds anyway? Go Bills.

Some perspective from a Duke alumnus: Duke will continue to recruit and sign good players, including guards. With everyone turning pro early (like Luol Deng after 1 year and Shawn Livingston -- a point guard, btw -- after zero years), Duke, UNC and the other elite programs have no choice. However, if Paulus is a good player, practices hard, plays good D, etc. he will play a lot as long as he is there. Certainly no one would say Bobby Hurley was a non-factor by his senior year, and Jason Williams would have played 38-40 min per game as a senior had he come back. Since we're on TBD, I'll go so far as to compare Paulus to JP -- regardless of how he played in HS (and I've never seen him play), no one really has any idea of how he'll do at the next level. And we won't know until at least halfway through the first year. As far as Shavlik Randolph, he is a nice kid who can't get out of his own way on the court. But it is ridiculous to say he was forced to leave -- esp. since he has already said he's probably coming back. He came out for the draft in order to attend the NBA workouts and see what he needs to work on in order to play professionally (answer: keeping his head in the game and averaging less than one foul per minute). I can't dispute that UNC's alumni make better pros than Duke's, Joe Forte notwithstanding. However, a number of Duke alumni (Hurley, Williams, Johnny Dawkins) have suffered freakish injuries that have prevented seemingly promising careers from taking off. I would also point out that UNC's greater NBA production makes the achievements of the Duke teams at the NCAA level all the more remarkable. Finally, Coach K is a rock. I have had the privilege of meeting him a couple of times and I can say without reservation that I would entrust my son to him. None of the players that have transferred or turned pro early has anything bad to say about him -- and guys like Elton Brand and Deng have remarked wistfully that they really missed out on great things by leaving. FYI, he is donating the proceeds of the Amex commercials to charity -- a fact that Bill Simmons mentioned in a sports guy column.

My recollection of the Bills-Pats game last year at RWS is that the Pats pretty much handled us the entire game, we scored late to get within 7, then got the ball back with around 2:30 to go needing to drive down and score a TD to tie. Even if DB hadn't crapped the bed (and did anyone really think he was going to bring us down for the late TD?), there was nothing to make me think that Brady wouldn't have immediately, and easily, marched the Pats down to Vinatieri's range (ie 10-15 yards beyond Lindell's range) for the win. The Pats usually do enough to win, only really pouring it on when they play the Bills in Foxboro. I agree on Carolina -- that is a good team that is far from a definite W for us. However, it's also a team that we can beat if JP is good. Frankly, if JP is good, I don't think there is any game on the schedule that is an NFW for us except the Pats. Based on the past 5 years or so, it's hard to see us beating the Jets in NYC (where the average game has been something like a 33-6 butt-whipping), but not impossible either.

I agree with most of your predictions, and I am as big a fan as anyone, but what on earth have you seen that makes you think we won't get waxed twice, again, by the patriots? ie the team that has won 3 out of the last 4 championships? Especially starting a QB with zero experience? We were completely outclassed last year when we finally got around to playing an elite team (Pitt). We have a better chance of beating the raiders, saints and chargers. In any case we aren't going to be in the hunt at all unless JP is good. If he's good, 12-4 is a possibility. If he's not, it'll be 7-9 to 9-7 and no playoffs. But I don't think you can just assume we are going to beat the Pats unless Brady gets hurt or something bizarre happens.

Here is the bottom line, IMHO: If JP can play, we will make the playoffs. The D and the ST (except for Lindell) are both outstanding, as are the RB and WR positions. The Pats are still absolutely the best team in the league. That puts us in the wild card race with the Jets, Ravens and Broncos. The Chiefs, Bengals and Jaguars could make a push into the picture, but I think they are a notch below. Of course, if JP doesn't deliver, this is moot. And there is just no way to know the answer to that critical question until they start playing the games. So why am I spending so much GD time on these boards in May?

Freester -- will you get a life already? Stop trolling the boards with whacked-out trade/FA theories and get some exercise.

I don't agree at all. Lindell stinks. MM has no confidence in him, which has a material effect on our offensive strategy -- ie we are not willing to attempt a FG unless we are well inside the 25. This guy was 5-7 from 40+. Why shouldn't he be viewed as a real competitor for the job? I miss Steve Christie.

Freester, will you get a life already?

Just once this season (or for that matter before I die) I would LOVE to hear Chris Berman shouting out my screen again: NOBODY! CIRCLES! THE WAGONS! LIKE THE BUFFALO BILLS! If you look at our schedule, if we could somehow win on the road, we could actually rip off 5 wins in a row. Unfortunately I fully expect Bledsoe to be awful again next week, but if he could just keep it together, we could beat Seattle, then we have pathetic (yes!) Miami, then Cleveland at home, at Cincinnati, at San Francisco -- we should win ALL of those games before the Steelers roll in. I can dream, can't I? Also -- if anyone has an MP3 of Berman letting it rip from the glory years, it would be mighty solid to post it on the site. Happy Thanksgiving.

I'm in. DB is just not an NFL quarterback anymore. Most of his passes were off target yesterday -- even worse b/c they were short passes. He looks just like RJ did except that he can absorb substantially more punishment without getting injured. Bottom line: 1. Bledsoe stinks. 2. Mike Williams stinks (did you see how he gave up a sack to a linebacker on 3rd and long to take us out of field goal range?) 3. Tom Donahoe has whiffed on FOUR MAJOR DECISIONS (RJ, Bledsoe, GW and MW). That's a coach, 2 QBs and a franchise first-rounder. Although he got us out of salary cap jail, those 4 are just too many critical blunders. Arguably, letting Mike Hollis go over money and then giving Lindell more than Hollis wanted was major blunder #5 (I think Marv would agree). 4. If we end up 6-10 again this year or worse (and I don't see how we could be better), it's time to admit the mistake, let TD go and hire someone from the Patriots' organization.