John in VA Beach

Actually, we might be in a position to draft the fella since his stock is dropping. However, I wouldn't underestimate the wonderlic scores. The NFL game is way more complex and you need to be able to read and pick apart defensive schemes. In the college level Young could do that with his feet and athleticism and arm strength. The speed of the NFL athletes will nuetralize his explosiveness and could leave him exposed.

Yeah. You nailed it, he's a good reliable back up and were lucky to have him on the team. As far as a starter or the future, he's a lot closer to retirement than franchise material. Whats stinks is that a lot of posters drag his name through the mud to make the point he shouldn't be a starter, making him sound awful when hes not.

Yes. Those rasta guys are much more well known for eating too many poppy seeds as opposed to smoking pot.

Wouldn't surprise me to see Martz back inthe picture, they seem like a match to me.

Al probably would shy away from MM because he saw his 1-4 Raiders look like SB contenders against the Bills this year.

A lot plays into a decision besides money, especially if the offers are close. He could have turned the rams down for a number of reasons that were not salary related. The Bills threw their hat in the ring with no down side, however, it looks like money was the bottom line for Bates.

The guy has learned and had sucess under Coughlin and L. Smith, we could do a lot worse. It will be interesting to see if Jauron needs to focus a bit more attention to that side of the ball. I think Jauron could help this fella out a lot, but based on his and Levy's comments, Jauron's role is really as a macro manager, not micro.

Thats how I would read this too. It makes no sense to anounce your likes, unless you have the first overall pick. Marv's probably just trying to put some fear in teams behind us that they might want to trade up with him if they want the QB. Good tactics, if thats his plan.

Adam Schefield (sp?) reported that Sherman turned down an interview for the OC post and then the bills hired Fairchild. I agree, this leads you to the conclusion he was never a choice by the bills as head coach and that there never was a break down in talks.

I agree Bates seems to be a money guy. Is it possible to hire Bates and he and Jauron not know each others salaries? The Bills don't publicly release this info, but do they privately in house discuss salaries? Where I work I don't know my co-wokers salaries.

You know this does imply that Levy was being very blunt in the press conference when he said that he hired a head coach not an offense of defense guy. I think its safe to say he thought Sherman only brought offense to the table and offered him the chance accordingly.

Well, first off we are assuming the initial report is true in the first place... Second, if he turned down the Bills, I wouldn't expect an announcement, since they never officially posted anything on the website anyway.

I find it pretty funny that the fella calls "homos" a race...

Link This article is pretty much a swing from the fact that they were down on the organization for not hiring Sherman. I'm copying it below. "Wednesday, the Buffalo Bills revealed that their new offensive coordinator would be none other than former St. Louis Rams play-caller Steve Fairchild. The hire comes just two days after Dick Jauron was awarded the job as the Bills' head coach. Tuesday, Jauron hired former Rams defensive line coach Bill Kollar. Essentially, Jauron is raiding the former Rams' staff, and that's not a bad thing by any means. Both men are undoubtedly qualified to perform their duties. Fairchild spent the last three seasons calling plays for the Rams and was widely regarded as one of the best in the business. He constantly had the Rams' offense near the top of the charts in efficiency in the red zone, passing, and running. He believed in a balanced offensive attack, something that was often overshadowed by ex-Rams head coach Mike Martz--who seemingly did nothing but call for pass plays. During his tenure in St. Louis, Fairchild did a terrific job getting the best out of formerly unheralded quarterback Mark Bulger. In the Fairchild era, Bulger was a Pro Bowler and when healthy, consistently put up big-time stats week after week. The Bills are certainly hoping that Fairchild has the same type of success with young QB J.P. Losman. I'd expect Losman to reach highs under Fairchild that were never to be achieved under the miserable offensive regime of Mike Mularkey and Tom Clements. Overall, the Rams' passing attack ranked 4th in the NFL last season, despite the fact that Bulger was injured for most of the season. If Fairchild was able to experience success with the somewhat uninspiring duo of Jamie Martin and Ryan Fitzpatrick, imagine what he'll do with a talented youngster like Losman. The hiring of Fairchild will also be good for Bills running back Willis McGahee. In 2005 McGahee was never given enough opportunities or enough holes by his offensive line to fully succeed. Thus, he became unmotivated and his stats suffered because of it. With Fairchild's knowledge of the running back position combined with his ability to get the best out of his talent, expect McGahee to break out in 2006 and become the player that everyone came to know and love from the University of Miami back in 2004. Fairchild began his career in the NFL as the Bills' running backs coach in 2001 and 2002, while doing a fine job with ex-Bills back Travis Henry. In 2002 Henry made the Pro Bowl with a 1,438 yard season. Subsequent to that, Fairchild bolted for the Rams. Fairchild is the first proven Bills' offensive coordinator in quite some time. The Bills' offenses in the last eight years have endured ruinous offensive regimes by Clements, Mike Shepherd, Kevin Gilbride, and preceding those three, the ultra-conservative schemes of Joe Pendry, a Wade Phillips hire. Despite facing an extreme amount of early criticism, thus far, Jauron has risen to compile a solid coaching staff. His first two hires are accomplished coaches that have already proven themselves at the NFL level. Certainly, experienced, proven coaches are something Bills fans haven't been used to in nearly a decade. If Jauron can next get himself a proven defensive coordinator such as Jim Bates or Ted Cottrell, the Bills could potentially have one of the best staffs in the entire NFL next season. With the Bills' recent history of coaching problems, what an odd, unexpected twist of fate that would be." Connor Byrne can be reached at cbyrne@realfootball365.com.

Threat of Sherman? marv was hands down a better coach and would have nothing to worry about. Marv never struck mew as an ego guy.

A lot of folks mention that the Sheman no-deal might sway Bates. And while its impossible to say. .. Based on some of the packer fan comments on this board recently, it sounded like the two had a business relationship. I remember reading that they did not usually interact on the sidelines, at practice, or at social functions.

Well, thats true. However, the Jets are direct competition in the staffs being built and of course the division. So it is significantif the patriots are on the downsloap and the jets stink next year. I remember just a few days ago a lot of folks were saying, how can the the bills staff hope to compete with mangini, glad to see that appears to no longer be a concern..

I just hope he stays. To me it is not a given that any of the O coaches are still staying until Fairchild says so.

I think this goes back to that soprano crap and we all know how reliable that guy has been.

Isn't this the same thing that was reported a while ago? Maybe Gray didn't take the hint the first time so the Bills told him again, "You know Jerr, you reeaalllyy might want to take a look at other opportunities".

I can't speak for the fans, but I've heard Marv shout a lot of things at the officials, but never, "I beg to differ".

I think the key is that Holcomb developed on someone elses time, not the Bills. JP will be entering his third camp and he needs to put up some results. I personally wish he had started 16 last season. Lets face it though, the days of waiting for a late bloomer are over. If JP doesn't get things together soon JP's contract will be winding down and he'll probably be looking for a plce to get a fresh start. Not the coaches looking to unload him, JP looking to unload himself. You can't have loyalty in free agency from players or coaches.

What did Miller say about JP? Its not a good sign if he's already given up on JP. Jim Kelly seems pretty perplexed by JP also. I remeber hearing him on the radio say that we've all met JP and he's a different kind of guy. Basically he was saying that he didn't know what to make of him personally or as a field general.

I could take the time to look this up, but I'm pretty sure Ted had quite a few more tackles than Sam did this season. I'd be interested to see what he had left.

I was about to post the same thing. Patience with JP's development means DJ looses and if DJ looses things get ugly fast. What would be an exceptable medium? I mean if JP gets the nod and is a work in progress, what do you guys think would be a successful campaign for Jauron? 7-9? I'd take that mark if the Bills show improvement as the year goes on.