Webster Guy

I like Howard Simon and sometimes I like the schopp/bulldog show. Mike's biggest shortcoming is he's moody and he gets frustrated easily. The job of talking about sports every day as your job eventually would become boring and mundane (as would talking about anything THAT much for that long every day) and he's not very good at covering up the fact that he's tired of having the same conversations over and over and over. Some of us tune in for 30 minutes a week. They broadcast 15 hours a week. We aren't sick of the conversations as listeners or we would change the station, but Schopp isn't built for the casual, once in awhile listener. He expects too much from his callers, like they should be as knowledgeable as he is about the topics, and if they're not he gets hostile. Bulldog usually helps buffer him but being rude to callers is ridiculous. I'll bet he's a cool guy to have as a neighbor, but when he's off the show is rough. When he's on though, the dude can be funny and engaging.

Floyd is an amazing college WR that's for sure, but when I look at our team, the problem never seems to be that our WR's aren't getting open. I think we need to look at defense in the early rounds, unless its a left tackle. We can run and catch fine, just need to get our QB some more time so he can focus on his mechanics and accuracy so he doesn't throw a league leading 24 picks again next year. Fitz needs to throw longer balls with better touch instead of all the short timing stuff that can be taken away by defenses with the right game plan. I would only take a WR at 10 if they weren't signing SJ which they're going to. There is no doubt they will sign the guy. I think Nix is going LT in the first and then three straight picks for defensive front seven.

Well, even though he led the league in picks last year, Fitz also ranked 10th in td passes thrown and was 6th in the league for passes attempted. If I'm a free agent WR I'd like to go to a place where I'm not blocking all the time and I have an offensive play caller and a QB that likes to sling it. I'd also like to have a stud WR like Stevie Johnson on my team that would draw doubles and keep the free safety guessing all game. I see a lot of reasons why a FA wideout would like Buffalo.

Agreed, but I'll bet they'll throw in a conditional pick as well based on performance (ie If he makes the pro bowl then Rams get another 3rd rounder in year 3 or something) Usually trade ups involve some sort of equalizer/conditional to make up for the unproven player factor. Or an injury rehab like Peytons. It was nice getting that extra conditional pick for Marshawn this year. Having two fourths and two fifths is not insignificant. It doubles our chances of getting a Kyle Williams or Terrence McGee type late pick in those middle rounds. Or possibly as strength to deal a trade up in the earlier rounds.

yeah he's probably the only "sure thing" in any draft I can remember. He seems like a decent guy/teammate too which just adds to all the other stuff you mentioned. I'm glad he's not in our division, I'd hate to face that joker twice a year.

Apparently he tried to run from security but his first step was so slow he was caught by an old fat guy. Merriman re-re-re injured his knee, shoulder and achilles in the fall.

totally agree. people talk about freeing up cap room. freeing it up for what? We have tons of room already and a thin secondary. If the guy can't win a spot in camp then waive him, but for us to cut anyone because of money is silly when we have the room. Also, Williams and Rogers are very young DB's that need the veteran leadership for another year at least. Florence and McGhee are perfect for that. I think it's a no brainer.

Ralph is 94 years old and has a net worth that is north of 1/2 billion dollars. Are you seriously going to sit here and say the Bills are nothing more than a lucrative business for him? "nothing more" Maybe you know him personally, but if you don't you're assuming Ralph would rather make more money that he would never spend in 5 generations or finally win a championship before he dies. If you think he'd rather have 10 or 20 million more in the bank than win a championship you're crazy. Yes we've let a few players walk over money that we shouldn't have, but so have a lot of NFL teams including the two super bowl teams this year. One of which we beat and the other we damn near beat. I fault the guy for his lack of a succession plan and how he nudges his GM's into drafting running backs early and often, but I think he wants to win as badly as anyone in the NFL, maybe more than most because it's eluded him for so long. Its not just about throwing money at players or hiring Shanahan or Gruden or Cowher or Fisher. He's put a good coach on the field and a good GM in the front office (finally) Give the old bastard a break.....

I think Stevie took offense to the "hand eye coordination" contract clause that said he need to practice catch 150 balls every day in any offseason that he loses a game by dropping an easy pass. Its right after the No Celebration clause which even includes his kids birthdays and new years eve.... Just kidding Stevie, we love you man. Getting a fat payday is something you've earned, and its even better because normally Ralph is Ch___

Seymour was one of the dumbest moves NE ever did. They missed that guy badly. Not sure who they took with the acquired pick but i think they'd take that one back in a heartbeat.

First of all does anybody have an accuracy hit rate on these popular mock drafts? Are these guys right HALF the time? I honestly don't know, but I do know that the national media usually has no idea of what's going on with our team, even when we're winning. Chan has indicated in the past month that we're going to likely install an EVEN number on the front line. This doesn't mean 2 folks, it means they're going to favor a 4-3, consistent with Wanny's experience. The problem is this draft doesn't seem to be very strong with 4-3 pass rushers, true defensive ends like Coples, who might not be there when we pick anyway. So we have Dareus' old teammate Upshaw who seems very solid at LB but isn't an NFL sackmaster by any means. (6'2, short arms, always played 3-4) So here we go again with the Best Player Available debate. We need better QB pressure (as do the vast majority of teams in the league) and we have the 10th overall pick. In a 4-3 that means you need a stud DE, NOT a linebacker like Upshaw. But he's probably the best FRONT 7 guy on the board after Miami picks. Kiper thinks they'll take him anyway and probably hope we get a top 5 DE that works out in the second round. I don't agree. I think Nix is going to roll the dice on the best big DE available and get his 4-3 LB in the second round. We need another draft year like last year, I hope the scouting department comes through for us here.....

True True. and his age precludes him from being productive as you can clearly see on that play....

Agreed. The kid just set NFL records for yards and td's in a single season. Not a rookie season, THE BEST EVER ALL TIME for every tight end that's ever played in the world. When you say there is controversy that he and other Patriots had their shirts off dancing after they lost, you mean from a handful of vocal fans that are upset that he wasn't sulking. Kraft and Belichick are the only two that matter over in that camp, and the last I checked NFL coaches WANT players to have a short memory and keep their eyes on the next play, the next game etc. He's a tough kid who shouldn't have even been on the field to begin with but he played hard from what I saw. Those high ankle sprains are 4-6 weeks all day and he did it in two. If I were the coach I'd be happy the guy went out and enjoyed himself. The game was over, they were AFC champs and it came down to the last play in the bowl. They wouldn't trade him for two first rounders, nobody can cover the kid and he's only a rookie......

This story is false. Bills will extend him after stevie's deal and the physical.

Except Fred Jackson averaged 5.5 yards a carry last year and Green Ellis managed 3.7 WITH one of the best passing attacks in the league to help set him up. Dude they aren't even close. One is an elite MVP candidate type back and the other is average at best. Everyone that game plans the Bills focuses on stopping Freddie and he still almost got a 1000 yards on only 170 touches not to mention his blocking and receiving skills. You say he's not a game changer? You're joking

Pierre-Paul is no one year wonder, he's a legitimate force, and we beat NE this year. The other thing people seem to forget is that the Giants defense is pretty average. They got rolled quite a bit this year by lots of teams. Everyone wanted Coughlin to be fired when they had lost 7 games and praying for the weak NFC to give them two more wins to squeak in the playoffs. We have better interior linemen on our D, just need help on the edge rush.

No but if you look at the probabilities and historical hit rate on first round picks, the Majority of our first round picks in the last decade have become average players at best. Some are out of football. If you were a team that was on the cusp and weak at RB (like New England or Pitt) and don't have over a 50% hit rate for major contributors in your first round picks, I could see making a trade for a stud RB that can give you two solid years of being a top 5 back, running, pass protecting and being a locker room leader. New England has ignored the running back position and plugged in journeymen and underachievers for a long time. Picture them with FJ in the backfield taking some heat off of the passing game and beating up linebackers with 20 touches a game. OK picturing Fred as a Patsy is making me sick..... im out

There is definitely a lot of luck involved in these games. If Baltimore hits that simple kick or Lee hangs on to the ball, and SF's special teams dude doesnt fumble away the season for them, it's two totally different teams playing for the championship. I think Green Bay lost 6 games last year and the Giants lost 7 this year (almost 8 if we could've held on). The Giants aren't dominant they're a pretty good team with a hot qb that was 8-7 playing the lowly Cowboys for a playoff shot in week 17. They got a huge boost from a walk on receiver in Cruz this year, and they take shots downfield to keep defenses honest. . The rest was just the way the ball bounces (and Belichick trying to play defense with 12 guys. He's a GENIUS)

I agree. The networks and the NFL out-think themselves with these halftime shows. Tom Petty was a solid example of a great, straightforward rock-out with no selfish sideshow stuff like we saw last night. Nobody cares that some hack no name B list singer flipped off the crowd. I wish the press would have refused to talk about it and send a message to the classless performers that feel the need to create controversy. Its already bad enough that the superbowl starts late on a school night instead of Saturday afternoon when it should be played, now my kids get to see obscenities at halftime too. What a joke.

According to Forbes Magazine, the Bills are among the league's 10 most profitable teams. The data is part of the magazine's annual valuations of all NFL Franchises. Forbes ranks the Bills ninth, with an annual operating income of $40.9 million (that's after they pay the players). And it's more than the Philadelphia Eagles, Pittsburgh Steelers, and New York Jets each make. It's also more than triple what the Miami Dolphins or Super Bowl Champion Green Bay Packers take away. So if the team sells for 750M and the new owner puts the typical 20% cash down (150m), the financing of the remaining 600m at 30 years 4.5% would be about $3M per month. This would give the owner about a 2% cash on cash return (better than the S&P did this year) and in 30 years he would own the franchise outright. This does not account for the increase in revenue from a winning team, these are numbers based on having a losing team for a decade. So I disagree with your comment on ticket prices and corporate revenue (shared or unshared) being a major factor. Financing cares only about the net operating income and whether or not my customers will consistently want my product. The Bills offer both.

Ozzie's draft record is weak, like Belichicks. Their team's major players are mostly FA pickups or good DT's that dropped to them that never should have (Wilfork, Ngata) Those guys were obvious picks where they were drafted, not a result of scouting acumen or philosophy. Our GM said he will draft a pass rusher or two and an OT this year. If that's Ozzie's brilliant philosophy reveleation we can all rest assured we're following in the steps of the master.

That guy has to be the most boring, dull individual in all of sports. His chick must like the title, cant imagine she's digging the zero charisma. We've gotta get Chan a hottie, see if he starts winning more. When Brady retires Bill will too. He had a losing record before Tom, he's not gonna embarass himself again.

This is an excellent question. I think the reality is that we will have something similar to what we did this year, a hybrid type defense that relies on heavy upfront rotations and changes based on matchups, injuries, even halftime adjustments. The only personnel guarantees in our starting front seven next year are Dareus and Kyle Williams upfront, and Kelsay, Barnett and Shep. This leaves two spots available for training camp competition. I may be way off, but I think the defense we install is going to be based on our first round draft pick. I think they'll take the best player available for EITHER the 4-3 or 3-4. In other words, a guy like DE Coples who seems like the obvious 4-3 guy (which is what Wanny has the most experience running) might fit, but if there is a 3-4 LB guy they like more in Upshaw or maybe Devon Still, they might go that way and work around their stud rookie in much the same way we did with Dareus this year. The Draft experts keep commenting that this year's crop of 3-4 defensive ends is "very, very bad," which only 10 players deeming to be worthy of a pick. I don't think that affects us very much because we only care about the top one or two that will be there at the 10 pick. What we know for sure is that we need to get a solid player here, a pass rushing force. I think Wanny would say I want a big fast mean durable DE, but not at the expense of gambling too much on someone that might not pan out. If the risk is too high, I'd rather have a stud linebacker that I know can roam and hit AND bring pressure 80% as well as the protypical DE that I want. In that case, we'd likely run a 3-4 base. I honestly think our 6'6' 360 lb rookie Kellen Heard did very well this year, and could be the pointman for us in there. With him in the middle with a full offseason of preparation and Dareus, Kyle and Upshaw hammering away next to him, we would be tough as nails upfront.

yeah they have pretty weak drafts despite always being stocked up with picks. Gronk was a homerun for sure, and that corner is solid but for all the picks they've amassed they still just ride Brady every year and try to give him good protection. Sound strategy, but I can't wait until Brady retires or goes on IR and Belichick goes back to his losing ways like he did before they hit the QB lottery. Don't give me the Cassel excuse, they had a good defense then and our division was easier than it is now.

I think there is a huge "bust rate" on most NFL first rounders, but you're right it seems like there are a lot of 1st round pass rushers that fall flat. The bottom line is it's hard to find a great one no matter where you pick. Brian Orakpo had only 3.5 more sacks than Marcell Dareus this year, and Clay Matthews only had half a sack more than big 99, and he's obviously not even a pass rusher. These are guys that are better NFL pass rushers than anyone in this year's draft class. I know sack stats don't tell the whole story, and that pressures or drawing double teams can change the game just as much as a sack, but my point is even when you guess right it doesn't mean you automatically win. I agree with your approach of picking up 3 pass rushers in the draft. I thought they would take Coples but then I read that although Coples has the most overall talent of any 4-3 defensive end in the class he had a disappointing senior season in which some say he lacked effort and drive on some plays. At 6'5'' and 281 pounds, he already has an NFL body and is a terrific athlete who can rush the quarterback, play the run well and shed blocks but if he's not motivated as a senior knowing he's going to be a first rounder if he does well, how motivated is he going to be when he gets his $18M guarantee and starts playing on a poorly ranked defense. I think Nix will pass on this dude, although if Wanny wants to go 4-3 then we might have to roll the dice on him at the 10 pick.....