HarkinBanks

I heard Phil Savage on Sirius today talking about the Browns' lack of depth at CB. He said they were looking to trade for a player drafted in the last couple of years that has not worked out for whatever reason. Sounded like he was describing Youboty exactly during the interview. Also said the Browns have enough depth at certain positions that they have good depth players they could trade for this type of prospect. I have no idea how many other players around the league fit this description but it really sounded like he was describing Youboty.

Thanks a lot for the info...and completely agree with you.

You know what is really interesting about this....remember the Oilers/Greatest Comeback game? As memory serves, the Bills switched from a dime defense to the base 3-4 in the second half and did a much better job against the run and shoot...that's when the whole game turned around. IMO, at some point, it's all about having your best players on the field, regardless of alignment.

Mort suggesting that Ralph is preparing the team for sale was just too over the top. Kiper saying the Bills are competing for the #1 overall pick in next year's draft was absolutely ridiculous. These guys are worse than clueless....they just make stuff up to bash Buffalo. I used to think all the Bills fans were paranoid or overly-sensitive...no more. ESPN can f**k off in my book now.

I had Thomas Jones on my fantasy team last year so watched him play A LOT and paid very close attention. He is a good, NOT GREAT running back. He helps the Jets but is not a difference maker in my book. No big deal from this perspective.

The point is that the revenue disparity is getting worst and worse and Buffalo is having a hard time keeping up with the high revenue teams. People from Buffalo (like me) think this is unfair and the revenue sharing should be more fair but there are a lot of other people (like 30 of the 32 NFL team owners) who don't think the same way. The majority of the owners are just trying to make as much $$$ as they can for themselves without worrying about smaller markets like Buffalo struggling.

I have been meaning to post since I heard this on NFL Network last week but am just now getting the chance. Pat Kirwin was on with Vic Carucci and they were talking about the Buffalo Bills, cash to the cap, difficulties for small market/low revenue franchises, etc...the same stuff you read about on this board everyday. Anyway, Pat Kirwin eventually says something like this "Maybe the city of Buffalo just can't support a team and its time to admit it and move on". My first reaction was F**k Pat Kirwin but the scary thing is if he is saying it, you know plenty of other people around the league are thinking it. Carucci tried to stick up for Buffalo saying how great the fans are, what a great franchise Buffalo has been for the NFL, etc. but then basically let it go. I don't think there are too many people out there who really give a s**t about what happens to the Bills in Buffalo and it is becoming more obvious than ever with everything you hear and read.

Gotta love any government that could pass a tax law like this...can you imagine the potential ethical dilemmas for very wealthy people in poor health? From yesterday's Buffalo News: "Whatever that means, if Ralph's wife Mary continued to run the team, she would not face the crippling estate tax which, for example, forced the Joe Robbie family to sell the Miami Dolphins. The tax kicks in when children and other relatives pursue ownership. The only exception is in 2010 when the estate tax is waived for one year." http://www.buffalonews.com/editorial/20070...?tbd1001670.asp

I have a mole at OBD as well who said the same thing. Also said Jerry Gray is the biggest a-hole he has ever met. Everything in this article is consistent with what I have heard in the past.

We completely got our asses kicked by Chicago, no doubt. But even the great Bills teams of the past had bad days on the road (Pittsburgh, KC, etc). This team had exceeded my expectations the first four games of the year, let's see how they bounce back against the Lions before making any rash judgements. I still think they are on the right track but will be watching the game this week with a much more critical eye after that debacle yesterday.

Bennett was absolutely sick: fast, strong and I would say a big hitter. At one point, they had to move him to middle linebacker due to injuries and he was unbelievable, just so fast and strong and killing people. His first game against Denver was like watching Lawrence Taylor or Bo Jackson on the original Tecmo Bowl, where one player is moving at a completely different speed than anyone else on the field.

Maybe Marv is not as dumb as all the "experts" proclaimed after the draft???? http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/columns/stor..._len&id=2588834 From Lenny P... So, for a change, let's have a little fun here. Let's reconstruct what the top 10 selections in the first round might look like were the teams making them now, with today's conditions, instead of on April 29. The only ground rule is that choices must be made from among the top 15 players chosen in the first round: 8. Buffalo: The Bills were criticized for reaching for Donte Whitner and, while that assessment might be true, the Ohio State safety has played well. The No. 8 slot might have been a little high for Whitner, but he is all football player. With the loss of veteran Troy Vincent (hamstring) for the season, the Bills probably wouldreach again for Whitner if they were making the choice today.

I am guessing Leonard will be back on the roster before the end of the day.

Could not agree more...especially compared to the Pats on their short yardage plays...get up to the line quick, snap it quick, straight ahead and first down. We learned some big lessons today, lots to build on in that game...I'm encouraged.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2006/writ...card/index.html This Peter King article on Matt Hasselback reminded me so much of what we are seeing with JP right now....made me even more pissed off that the team wasted so much of last season with Holcomb when JP could have been developing. Bottom line, it takes QBs awhile to develop and JP has not been given this time yet...but we are finally seeing signs of encouragement: On the field during the two-hour morning practice, Hasselbeck was the picture of confidence, talking more as a peer of offensive coordinator Gil Haskell than a student. That's how well he knows this offense now, after nearly a decade with Holmgren or his disciples. A couple of times he looked at his third (maybe, I thought one time, even his fourth) option in a pass route, never looking uptight or hurried, even with traffic around him. I recall when he first took the Seattle quarterback job in 2001, you'd watch him drop back from center and think: God, where's the fire drill? Why is this guy in such a hurry? His drop was hurried, his read of the defense was hurried, his throw -- too often -- was hurried. What resulted was a season in which he completed 55 percent of his passes and had a minus-1 touchdown-to-interception ratio. Last year, at 30, Hasselbeck was so much more comfy as a player and leader. His numbers: 66 percent completions, plus-15 in touchdowns-to-picks ratio. Watching practice, GM Ruskell said: "He's in the prime of his career. And he's so comfortable in his own skin.''

Larry Zierlein, Asst. O-Line Coach, was the offensive line coach for the Cleveland Browns from 2001-2004. Melvin Fowler was with the Browns in 2002 and 2003. The Bills know what they are getting here so we’ll have to assume Coach Z. really likes this guy or would not have brought him in.

I think Tom Brady was a 6th round pick....I understand where you are coming from but you can make this same point for any position. See Jason Peters for another example.

Seriously, you could not even try to make something like this up...even if you were filming another Slapshot. Since we drafted this guy back in 1991, I am guessing the chances of him making it up to the NHL are not looking good: http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/news/story?id=2441016 Canadian-born Iob, a ninth round Buffalo Sabres draft pick in 1991, has been involved in a long list of disturbing episodes throughout a career spent primarily in European leagues. The most bizarre incident occurred in the 1994 Italian league season when Iob picked up a lighter from the debris thrown on the ice during a bench clearing brawl and grabbed an opponent's jersey before attempting to set him on fire.

Haha...I just went back and changed that other post...not a word I use to much in my everyday vocabulary

So you are advocating polygamy as the better option? (could not resist that one)

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/sports/loca...0,2976872.story From Orlando Sentinel article: A: My kids. I got two kids. Q: How old are they? A: One of them is 15 months and the other is five months. Q: So far, what's the most difficult thing about fatherhood? A: Nothing right now. Not for me. Just dealing with the mother. That's the difficult part. After that, everything is cool. Q: What's more troublesome, an ex-wife or a baby momma? A: A baby momma. Q: Why? A: Because they feel like they should be a part of your life for 18 years. An ex-wife, you can get away from her. A baby momma, you can't get away from her until the child is 18 or older. They're going to constantly ask you for money. They just want to nag you for no reason, just because they can. (Willis has never been married.) ....whatever dude, sounds like you are really embracing the responsibilities that go along with being a father.

http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news?slug=cr-u...=yhoo&type=lgns USC's big winner By Charles Robinson, Yahoo! Sports April 2, 2006 LOS ANGELES – Winston Justice thrust his 320 pounds into the air, tapped a mechanism measuring his vertical leap and walked away with a twinge of disappointment. The delighted NFL onlookers be damned, 39 inches apparently wasn't enough. "I thought I got 40, but they wouldn't give it to me," Justice said. "I thought I went higher." If elevation was the goal, the University of Southern California tackle can rest assured that he pushed his draft stock to new heights Sunday. Justice was the big winner in the Trojans' annual pro day, entering as a top 15 through 20 pick, but looking more like top 10 material after putting on an impressive athletic display. Not only did the USC right tackle register the best vertical jump and bench press performances (38 repetitions) of any of the premiere offensive linemen available, but he also put up a better pro day performance than Virginia offensive tackle D'Brickashaw Ferguson, who is widely considered the No. 1 tackle in the draft. While the display likely won't move Justice ahead of Ferguson on draft boards, it cements what few thought was possible in this draft. Two elite tackles will be available on selection day. "That 39-inch vertical jump is off the charts for a big man," Carolina Panthers head coach John Fox said. "He's a really good football player on tape, and that's the No. 1 thing we look at. But he certainly didn't hurt himself today. … He's athletic enough to move to left tackle, that's for sure. It's just a matter of him getting comfortable. But Winston is a smart guy. He can handle that." "It was more than what we expected," Tennessee Titans coach Jeff Fisher said. "But you know, you could see flashes of that on the field. He's worked hard to get to this point." Justice pulled his right hamstring and calf in the last few strides of his 40-yard dash, but still managed to clock a time of nearly five-flat seconds on stopwatches. His 10-yard split of 1.78 seconds suggests Justice could have run in the 4.9-range had he not pulled up at the very end. Despite the injury, he went though all of the drills, posting better numbers than Ferguson in the cone drills (7.37 seconds against Ferguson's 7.61) and shuttle (4.43 versus 4.85). Justice weighed 15 pounds heavier than Ferguson at his pro day and still blew away the highly acclaimed Virginia product in the bench press (38-26 in reps) and vertical (39-30 in inches). And while Ferguson has spent the bulk of his career at left tackle and is known for being more technically sound, it wouldn't be surprising to hear some scouts suggest Justice is a better prospect.

I think one of the nice benefits of this D is that you don't have to spend huge $$ on 350 lb nose tackles who can cover two gaps and are near impossible to find. You can get cheaper 285-300 pounders later in the draft or free agency and save your big bucks for D-end, CB, O-tackle, etc.

If not for "Homerun Throwback", Johnson would have led the Bills to an unbelievable playoff win. Yes, I think he was a tool but he did have his good moments as well.

I was thinking the exact same thing when I read that, F**K Peter King. Seems like nobody is giving Marv any credit for his experience and intelligence whatsoever. Will make it that much sweeter when he puts a winning team together over the next couple years....