Mark Long Beach

Of course Pittsburgh WAS the AFC team with best team finishing 15-1 and we found out that their backups were pretty good too, led by rookie fast Willie Parker who seized the starting role for them for the next few years (1200, 1500 & 1300 yards) setting numerous rushing records for them before injuries took him down. Oh and they were superbowl champs the next year. So while it sounds horrible about how we blew the season against 3rd stringers, they were a much better team, period. Don't get me wrong, I was as PO'd as anyone, but hind-site clearly shows how much better Pittsburgh was.

I was 100% sure that keeping Lindell for a second season was a horrible disaster and that we couldn't get rid of him fast enough. Crazy wrong on him.I thought that Wannstache teamed with the Chanster was going to be the catalyst to make us a fantastic team. oof.

Beerball, thanks for that read. I also took notice of the Rogers comment. It would be really nice for the Bills to have a lil good fortune for a change.

I know Stephen A Smith is aggravating to most, myself included, but I watched his response to OchoCinco getting tossed into the clink and I found it so hilariously spot on, I thought to share. He just really summed it up perfectly. http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/9360765/chad-johnson-serve-30-days-jail

Maybe, and not I.

Wow. Great video. He sure comes across as likeable! Go kid go.

Notice that half of that "reach" list are defensive backs. Probably because it's harder to get film on those guys since cameras aren't watching them.

yeah

pick submitted quickly again. We don't mess around.

crud. I wanted minter

Yeah, I agree. My wife might object though.

That play was horrible. I woke my wife up with my swearing fit after that play.

Article about him doing well in Detroit. I was rooting for him, but he was struggling with the speed of the pro game when he first came in. Good to see that he's been catching on. http://espn.go.com/espnw/8605906/espnw-53rd-man-detroit-lions-running-back-joique-bell-terrific-closer

...and a knocked out QB.

When I saw 98 on the field late last game, and he wasn't doing much good, I knew he was a goner. Which was a surprise, I'd been under the impression that he was doing better. Although, I've SEEN Spencer doing well, I hadn't seen Dwan do so well. Bummer. Well I hope the younger guys continue to get better or we don't have as much depth as we thought. I'm rooting for Potter. He's done a bang-up job. Even though he finally had two return, they didn't make it to the 20. Meaning the avg start for the other team is BEHIND the 20. I'll take that all day. With a bonus of less injury risk!

Man I haven't seen it. What I have seen, is him around the ball. Unfortunately because he's been picked on and is two plus yards behind the play. He's a rookie and it's early, but he's definitely not ready for prime-time.

Not I. I was pleased with the year before, but last year he was a disaster. He only partially redeemed himself by the fact that he gambled a lot and sometimes won and got the interception. But all too often was toast. I liked him, but it was time to move on. Not that I'm all that impressed with Williams. I expected more from him, and I haven't seen him improve this year. Granted it's only preseason, but he's looked very vulnerable back there.

The Bills (and other teams) sometimes cut people they want to transition to the practice squad in the first round of cuts. These cuts tend to be looked at less closely than the last round. Teams are looking for a 54th player that was cut that are good enough for their 53. It's tougher to look for developmental guys that probably won't make the roster.The Bills sacked Jason Peters in their first round of cuts during his rookie season and later signed him to the practice squad (and eventual full-time starter).

Very nice and very helpful.I knew Seattle got better the second half of last year, but didn't think that was a reflection of TJ's performance. Clearly it was.That's good. It makes me feel better about it. He's still an unknown within our system but it's clear that our current backups have been terrible.

wow. Very nice write-up.

Unless you aren't local, in which case it's a godsend.

A story that was circulating a while after the draft was that the 49rs did offer to trade the pick to us thinking we wanted Willis, but that the Bills laughed at the offer. The story claimed that we actually had Poz ranked higher than Willis (Yikes!), so we weren't going to give anything extra to get Willis. And in fact we traded up for Poz later on.

I think they keep McGee. Chix said long ago that they were aiming for him to be ready at the start of the season, not through training camp. He reduced his salary during the offseason and has been the best CB on our team when he's on the field. He probably doesn't have too many years left in him. But he's certainly worth keeping if he has a few. He's better than Williams, who by all reports hasn't shown enough consistency nor enough improvement over last year. We'll see how he progresses through the year. As for Ron Brooks, he's talented, but still raw. In the middle of camp Gailey said directly that he still had a lot to learn. I don't know if Brooks can be an outside CB. I feel better with him starting on the inside. I think Ron Brooks' REAL competition is McKelvin. Leodis has been moved inside and has still struggled. I think that we keep 6 CB as they are decent ST'ers and they're small and get hurt a lot: Gilmore, Williams, McGee, Ron Brooks, Justin Rogers (KR) and either Prince OR McKelvin. Prince has made a few very nice plays, but consistency matters a lot for a DB, because a bad move can be fatal. I haven't watched him enough to know if he has any. McKelvin has great athleticism and that may buy him the roster spot over Prince, But I'm rooting for Prince honestly.

The rules have changed as of last year. The 3rd QB doesn't have all those extra restrictions like they used to. e.g. 1st string QB CAN come back into the game. So the 3rd QB slot becomes a potentially useful slot, not just deadweight like before. The backup (2nd string) QB has not had any restrictions on the 1st string QB IIRC. The only restriction that I can remember is just like any player, that if they leave the field due to injury they have to wait a play before coming back in. So that's why the backup QB has sometimes still been on the field when the starter looks ready to return after being 'shaken up'. Old rules. Changed as of last year, and why we brought Brad Smith onto the team, because he CAN be brought out and do something useful. (run the wildcat)

Wilson looked VERY impressive. Man I would love that kid on our team.