dave mcbride
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Posts posted by dave mcbride
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they probably should be - i have every expectation that bledsoe will be at least moderately decent next year. and that's better than what they had the last few seasons. one thing people forget about DB is that for all of his flaws, he's essentially lost nothing -- he's genuinely exactly the same player as he was when he came into the league physically. he was immobile in 1993 and had a great arm, and you can say the same thing about him now.
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Jaws was on local radio last Friday. He said that Bledsoe is the prototypical NFL QB, and he can 'still make all the throws.' Someone should inform Jaws that what was prototypical 5-10 years ago is now obsolete. I guess it's OK to be a statue as long as you can 'make all the throws.'
He also trashed the Bills O-line...wait until DB takes a few snaps behind the pukes line. Unless there is a major overhaul he won't last through week 5.
Talked about how DB hasn't been the same since PP left. He needs targets to throw to etc. If I had to guess I would say that Jaws was saying what the pukes wanted to hear.
i think the cowboys line is probably more solid than the bills line across the board. not great, but not as many question marks/weak links. allen remains at least a solid player, adams is pretty good, the center is solid. gurode isn't as good as people expected (he was drafted awfully high for a guard), but i'm guessing he's not terrible. forgot who the RT is, but that's not hard a position to address (and the cowboys already stated they'd do this). they have a way better TE than the bills have had in eons, and the receiving corps is roughly equal (maybe slightly worse) to the bills when healthy.
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You think Henry is delaying the trade to the Cardinals on purpose to screw the Bills over? By not getting a deal done, the Bills can't turn their attention to PW and other free agents.
With all the bitterness that resulted from Drew being released, I bet there's a TON of it with Henry.
to be fair to henry, this is one big chance. if he doesn't get it now, he never will - he's played 4 years, and even good rbs hardly ever last longer than 8 years. he'd be an absolute fool to not insist on a good contract (assuming one is to be had). in short, no one is getting "screwed" -- he doesn't owe anything to the bills, who after all are quite happy to unceremoniously speed his exit out of town.
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some time like the chiefs - a team a lot closer to greatness than the bills - will probably be happy to pony up $4+ mil/year for a very solid, reliable DT. and they wouldn't be stupid to do it, either.
i really can't see either williams or jennings back with the bills next year. the handwriting seems to be on the wall.
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This seems to be the way that TD does business. If he can't get the guy at bargain rate, he isn't going to bother putting on any facades. Then he makes it sounds like it is entirely the players' fault that nothing is getting done. IMO, Williams could have been signed much cheaper if TD had wanted, by simply making some effort to show the guy they wanted him here. It may be the case that TD decided Williams was done going into this season. During the season, it sure sounded like Pat wanted to come back. These guys have pride, and if they aren't coddled a little, they get their egos easily bruised. The longer it goes on, the closer it comes to free agency begining, the more likely the players agent is trying to sway the player to test the market. There is more money in it for the player, and the agent that way! TD has operated this way with most of our free agents, and this is pretty much what he did with the Steelers too. If he does not make the effort to sign the player well before his contract is up, the player is as good as gone. I is no coincidence that Anderson was drafted, and Edwards resigned. That sealed Williams' fate in Buffalo. Too bad, I think Williams is/was very underrated, for many years here. I also think Sam Adams benefited as much from him as vice versa. It is tough to dominate in the middle like that. Hopefully, TD knows what he is doing...
i totally agree with you - if a bill goes into free agency, he's as good as gone. TD never brings them back after they cross that threshold, either here or with the steelers. the simple fact of the matter is that some teams are so desperate for DT help that they'll pay a lot more money than the bills think he's worth. and they won't be wrong, either. think about it: if a team like KC ponies up 4.5 mil, are they really making a bad move? i don't think so. they're so close on all the other levels that this might put them over the top.
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Sorry to revive this old thread - but it hit me like a ton of bricks this morning that it was most likely Ralph Wilson himself that let this story out. Think about it - what frosts Ralph's pumpkin more than insubordination? If you recall, he was always very loyal to Wade Phillips... until he refused Ralph's direct order to fire a coach. (Can't remember who it was.) It was a similar thing with Jerry Butler who, in Ralph's estimation, was betraying him behind his back.
Deepthroat is RW.
i thought about that too, but i don't see king and wilson having any sort of connection to wilson (not least because he votes against him all the time when it comes to hall of fame membership). ralph has always fed the locals, guys like felser. i honestly think it's pretty implausible that king was able to get access to him. plus, it's an established fact that king is tight with wyche, who a) wasn't responsible for bringing in bledsoe and therefore can feel free to criticize him; and b) is exposable to charges of bad coaching because DB was his charge. really, the more i think about it, it had to be wyche. no one else makes much sense.
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I dont know if anyone caught the 6pm sportscenter, but the only coach and GM they interviewed in regards to Clarret were Mularkey and TD.
Can anyone see the bills drafting clarret in the 4th-5th round wherever he will go to back up McGahee?
I mean I would say it is ludacris, but then again so was drafting McGahee at the time that they drafted him.
that'd be too funny - the bills would then have the 2 starting RBs from the OSU-Miami national championship game on their roster. it wouldn't surprise me at all.
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Speed is probably the most overrated facet of WRs. Bucky Brooks was stupid fast but he wasn't a football player. I could probably outsprint Steve Largent but no one could cover the guy (obviously, since he's in Canton) and I work at a desk.
Now I'm saying Reed is Steve Largent. Lately he hasn't even been Steve Watson but that doesn't change the gut feeling I get. Reed gets seperation and anyone who saw him play at LSU or at training camp will tell you how talented the guy is.
I sincerely hope a change of scenery isn't what the guy needs to be the productive player he can be. As far as numbers, I don't really care too much about that because stats rarely tell the story.
let's be fair to bucky -- after he tore up his knee his rookie year, he was never the same. my guess is he lost .2 - .3 seconds off his 40 time for that. the bills were super high on him that camp. it's too bad when that happens. same thing happened to j.d. williams when leonard smith rolled up his leg. he never ended up being the guy the bills envisioned because of that.
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I just remember watching that guy blast through and around 10 guys to get into the endzone.
Yes we have Shelton, yes he is a very good FB, but he isnt MIke Alstott or at least the Alstott I remember. Am I remembering wrong?
Does anyone NOT feel this is an upgrade?
He hasnt been released yet but it is rumored that he will be.
alstott is not and never has been a fullback. he's a slow halfback who is good at breaking tackles in the pile and moving it forward a few yards. that's about it.
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I'd rather face Moss twice a year than face Williams. Moss is a crybaby, and with no QBs in Miami, he wouldn't do much.
As for the Bills, there's no way they get Birk. I just heard him on the radio this morning (I live in MN) and he said something to the effect of, "I'm glad Moss is gone. I liked playing with him for a few years, but halfway through this year he started to bring everyone else down with his attitude. Good riddance." (I'm paraphrasing of course). Didn't sound like he was expecting a trade at all, and players are usually notified when they're being shopped around.
Your friend is making stuff up.
CW
moss also happens to be the best individual talent in the league in the past 8 years regardless of position. culpepper is good, but moss has singlehandedly made that offense one of the best every year going.
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Keyshawn quote (my apologies if already posted):
"We've got two good receivers, two good tight ends and a running game with Julius Jones. We've got firepower on offense. In Buffalo, he (Bledsoe) had two head coaches in three years and no receivers to help." - Keyshawn Johnson
No receivers to help???
Moulds?
Price?
Evans?
"Just gimme the damn ball"
Just shut the hell up!
keyshawn is a real jerk - he's long been "friends" with moulds, and this is how he treats him. that said, he's been one of the better receivers in the league over the past 10 years (not so much the last 2 years), and anyone who would argue otherwise is simply a fool.
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Whomever the Bills target at TE will likely have most to do with the health of the other two TEs and what they do best. Teams like the Bills, and offenses like Mularkey's, like to use all three TEs. There are a lot of two-TE formations, and every team likes to have one great TE blocker and either a red zone pass catching TE or at least one that can split the defense down the middle on pass plays. That is why I had little use for Neufeld last year. Euhus was going to be the pass catching TE, and Mark Campbell was solid at most everything, but not great at anything. You never need two players like that, which Neufeld was. Euhus is a receiving TE. If both he and Campbell are expected back at 100% by September, unless we can sign Franks, or even Pollard, we're much more likely to get a Brecht or a simple good to great blocking TE that fits certain packages as our #3.If they don't think that Euhus or Campbell are going to be back 100%, look for a guy to replace the duties of one of them.
Actually, if we start bringing in a couple of pass catching TEs for physicals or at the draft, that is a clear sign that Euhus's rehab is not going well. This offense does not need two pass catching TEs unless one is a game breaker.
judging from what i know about acl's, i can't imagine either euhus or campbell will be 100% before november.
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we'll see.......people change and adapt, which is what i think cowher was doing with the JR move and what TD was doing with the euhus move (a guy who is hardly known for his blocking).......i suspect we will get a "blocking" TE as well (if we do get one), but i don't think we will ignore the available "receiving" ones all together.........
i think you're right that the steelers were trying to change and adapt, but that lasted one season before they went back to the tried and true. i just checked - all three of their TEs totalled 16 receptions for the entire season!!!!! JR had 7 in 11 games. Yet they managed to go 15-1 ....
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Dave, I appreciate the assesment. Hate to seem like I am crusading, but I think the Bills will be interested in a guy like Pollard. He is a pretty solid blocker, blocks very well down field, and has improved in this area dramitcally over the years. I will admitt, he is not at his best blocking off the line of scrimmage, on runnig plays. This really never hurt Edgerrin James, and I suspect McGahee could deal with it. With a young QB, having a reliable receiving TE, particularly in the red-zone (where Pollard excells), could help the kid build his confidence, and help in minimizig those nasty end-zone interceptions....
While I agree that blocking is a priority, some of the things that Mularkey and TD and Bledsoe said at their last press conferences suggests to me that the team is looking to be more explosive on offense. Franks, IMO, may be a decent blocker, but is not really a very reliable reciever, and can be kind of lazy at times. I am not saying I wouldn't want him, but I wouldn't overpay for him.
Guys like Bect are much easier to come by in free agency. We seem to be in an era where the receiving tight end is re-emerging in prominence.
good points. i have to admit, my assessment of pollard is based on past years, not last year, in large part because it seems impossible to judge indy's role players last season. they were just too unstoppable and i felt like i was watching basketball games.
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that doesn't sound like too much to pay.
anyone have any thoughts on anthony becht?
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good question, and his signing by pitt was strange to me, almost as if had to do with cowher getting back at TD. i'm also not sure who else was on the market that year, and pitt had to do something because bruener was done (shoulder problems). from what i've heard, JR is out at pitt. in any case, the pattern at pitt was established with donohoe (eric green, bruener - both devastating blockers) and he's running the bills now. TD thought JR was a terrible TE.
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i forgot to add that bubba franks is a terrific blocker - excellent at sealing off.
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that's the rule of the pittsburgh system, and they've done their best when they've had guys like bruener in there.
a key statement from mularkey this year was when he was asked about the relative lack of productivity of the TEs (before they were hurt). his response was that as a matter of fact, he thought it was one of the best-played positions on the team, and he was clearly referring to the improvement in TE blocking (especially with regard to Campbell, who really improved). There's a reason why guys like Kyle Brady are so admired despite not catching a ton of balls - they're sensational blockers. moreover, mularkey was this sort of TE in his playing days, and coached these types of tight ends for the steelers in the late 90s before becoming OC.
the long and short: the bills are planning to operate a run-first, play-action, ball control offense, and my strong hunch is that they want a TE who can block well. i could be wrong, but i seriously doubt they want a guy like pollard, for whom blocking is an inconvenience (I'm sure they'd love Daniel Graham from NE -- a terrific blocker -- but he's not available). for this sort of offense, pass catching comes second, and blocking comes first. their offensive line isn't good enough to overcome weak blocking by the tight end. denver in the late 90s and dallas in the early 90s could overcome it because their o-lines were so dominant, but the bills' current o-line can't hold a candle to them.
anthony becht seems like a pretty good blocker, and while he's not a top flight receiver, he could fit the bill. he's a free agent.
Anybody been to the Cowboys message boards?
in The Stadium Wall Archives
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great post - dead on. whether jp is the answer is anyone's guess, but the move needed to be made. i still wouldn't be surprised if the cowboys make the playoffs next year, however ...