MRW

If the concern is getting a decent player at LT for next year, this is the only option open to them now, and based on the way they've drafted, they may have thought that after the top two tackles went off the board. By all means grab a guy if you think he has upside, but a trade or signing a guy who gets cut is the only way you're getting a player who's ready to start this year.

This isn't a video game where those ratings actually represent some universal truth, you realize. You can attempt to quantify players as much as you like but selecting players is as much art as science - particularly once you get past the no-brainer top picks.

I wasn't talking about failure to sign big-ticket free agents or re-sign players who have left in the past, and neither were you. You said that the Bills picked a player at #41 over a bigger "name" in order to save money. If you think that's how it works you have no understanding of rookie salaries whatsoever.

This may be the stupidest theory I've ever read.

You read a lot into my last sentence there. I mean like two sentiments that I didn't express in any way, shape, or form.

I've only seen you say who you wouldn't take, and you've said repeatedly that you didn't know if any of the players at need positions were worth it. So if you did in fact say who you would've taken, I missed it too. For the record, I would've looked for a trade down, but I'll hope for the best with this pick.

To each his own, but I feel sorry for anyone who only cares about Super Bowls. And I have to question whether you really mean that. Were the 90s really no better than the 00s for you as a Bills fan?

But the question wouldn't be how current season ticket holders feel about it, unless they are so against it that they'd cancel their tickets. How many new season ticket holders might it bring in?

Yogi Berra?

We'll see. If he has the talent to play in this league I would've expected to see it at least once or twice last year. I hope he isn't a bust, and I'm not going to declare him one yet, but he hasn't given me any reason to think that he's suddenly going to become a legit player.

In case anyone's is looking for an explanation of why a rape accuser might not want to go forward with testifying in a rape trial, look no farther than the good Dr.'s "clever" alteration of what he quoted.

You do realize that whether or not it was rape doesn't hinge on whether she actually wrote the word "rape", don't you? Thanks for the link, I read several pretty consistent accounts of Ben taking advantage of a drunk college girl. Why you're linking it as a defense is beyond me.

Hmm. A future Pro Bowler or a future professional bowler?

I'm not on a jury, so I'm free to reach my own conclusions to whatever standard I see fit to decide whether he's a person worth cheering for or not. I'm not going to throw him in jail but I don't have an obligation to pretend like having him on the Bills would make me happy. If you honestly believe he didn't do anything, then fair enough, although I disagree. But don't hide behind "innocent until proven guilty" because that's only the standard for a criminal prosecution.

I could be wrong but I took the poster you quoted to be talking about the Bills getting Marshall, and I tend to agree with him. The miserable performance with TO last year showed that this offense's woes were not on the WRs. Now for the Dolphins, it makes sense, and is a good pickup (it is a steep price though, so they need to hope he keeps his nose clean).

Thanks for the overview, I don't know why you're getting such flack... not sure if people aren't reading or what? Anyway, I understand there are concerns about Cody's work ethic, but IMO if he's there in the second you have to jump on him. Once you move beyond the first I start feeling a lot more mellow about taking some chances on players, if the talent is there. And it seems like anyone with the kind of size to play as a run-stuffing NT always has questions about conditioning/work ethic/etc., so you pretty much have to accept it if you want that type of player.

I agree, doing all the things that all the different users of a web forum mention in passing would be a terrible way to run a football team.

What does "demand more" mean? Or is it just a neat sounding little catchphrase to wrap up your post?

I guess I don't see the point of even mentioning that. Outside of some evidence that the votes for a particular player were skewed why even bring it up? And, again, even if the fan vote were manipulated somehow, it only constitutes a portion of the vote.

If that's the argument you want to have, find someone who's said that. Not sure why this is such a stumbling block, it doesn't matter if one fan votes 10,000 billion times, the fan vote will not count for more than 33% of the total vote. That's the entirety of the point. And unless you have some reason to think that the voting for Peters was different for some reason than other players, I find it pretty unlikely that's there some fan out there voting enough to capture the fan vote for him.

It doesn't matter how often fans vote if the overall fan vote counts for 33% of the total. The frequency of voting only affects how much of that 33% an individual vote counts for. That's what Thurman was pointing out.

Wow.

Someone will pick him. I mean, pick him up.

I see the case for pessimism, but I look at teams like the Steelers who don't break the bank (except for keeping a couple of stars) but still remain consistently good. Trends come and go in the NFL, and I think it's the teams who can stay ahead of the curve who will have a competitive advantage. Unfortunately I'm a bit nervous about switching to the 3-4 as it seems like more of a case of following the trend rather than setting it. The Steelers had success because they could pick up players cheap who wouldn't fit in other teams' systems, but I'm thinking the bargains are no longer in good 3-4 players. In any event, though, once you get past the real stars of the game, I think that players become, not interchangeable, but very dependent on the system you run. If the Redskins and Cowboys drive up the price for current stars, it will be critical to find no-name players who can play a solid role on your team. That's how the Steelers did it, that's how the Patriots did it back when they won their first championship.

Fran Kaliber, drafted #1 overall in 1971 by the Rams. Never played a down in the NFL. Wiki link