MRW

I think the Bills follow a similar approach to Sundays.

Yeah. The complete inaction of the FO when it came to getting another LB in the offseason was baffling, but why people think that any other schlub on our roster will be better than Ellison is beyond me.

Good point. Rookie DEs often take a while to get going. Rookie LBs often contribute right away. It would be nice to see something out of Maybin, but the fact that we haven't so far just means that he's like many other DE picks. He may well be a bust, but it is really too early to say anything with any degree of certainty.

No. They released Walker not very long before the start of the season.

Yes. I do think they have more players with good upside than the Bills do. But they'd better put it all together soon or they may find that their window of opportunity has closed, and some of their homegrown players start leaving for more successful teams.

Now that I'll agree on. It won't happen, but the only way I see the Bills really getting it together is finding the right guy to run football operations and letting him do it without having to answer to five different people. Having said that, if you luck into the right guy at coach or QB I do believe that can paper over a lot of deficiencies. It's just that your odds of that happening in a mismanaged organization are abysmal.

I understand why you used the Texans as an example, but given their similar record to the Bills over the past several years I still have to judge it premature to talk about them as a team doing it right. If they make good picks in the early rounds of the draft, but continue to end up with mediocre records, how is that any better than what the Bills are doing? Now, if they can manage a split with Indy this year and put together a good enough run to make the playoffs, then I'll concede it. But the Texans have been a team on the brink of success for the past several years, and if they don't get over the hump soon I question whether they ever will. Don't mistake me for someone who's happy with the FO - and I don't even disagree with the larger point you're making. The Bills' busts in the early rounds are going to continue to hurt them. It's just that I think the Texans are a poor counterexample.

I've watched them here and there as they've gotten off to a 4-3 start. Every year I hear that this is going to be the year the Texans take the next step, and yet here they are again, barely above .500. So forgive me if I wait to hail their drafting until they've shown that they actually have a decent team.

Yeah, I posted something similar in the other thread where this was posted. The Texans have some good players in Johnson and Williams in particular, and Schaub is pretty good, but why are we supposed to look enviously at their drafting record when they've never even had a winning season? Maybe this will finally be their year, but on the other hand they're only 4-3 coming into this game.

Sure, but again, what has it netted the Texans? 8-8 two years running, and coming into this week at 4-3. I'm not trying to argue that the Bills have done a great job with their drafting, just saying that using the Texans as your point of comparison is highly suspect.

For all that vaunted young talent on the Texans' roster, they are only marginally better than the Bills. I'll wait until they actually post a winning record (let alone make the playoffs) before using their talent evaluation as a knock on the Bills' FO.

Most of the criticism I remember about Marv's handling of the situation were about his decision not to use the franchise tag a second time and see if we could get something for him in a trade. Given the results over the last few years, though, I have to ask if the Bills would really be that much worse off if they'd blown all that money on Clements.

Yeah, I'm thinking out of the league next year. Although Ron Edwards is still kicking around in KC and in fact I heard an announcer (scarily) refer to him as one of KC's better defensive players, so you never know. Maybe McCargo ends up signing somewhere for the vet min. What a missed opportunity that trade deal with Indy was. Was that for a fourth rounder? That would've been highway robbery, if only he could've passed a physical.

Simple human decency?

To me the question would be, which position would be a reach? If the Bills end up in a position where the "legitimate" first round QBs are off the board early but there are still good OTs available, they should definitely get an OT. But if it's the other way around and there's still a top QB on the board but there was a run on tackles, they should not take the tackle just because they decide they need one. I don't think there's one correct philosophy, it will completely depend on how the draft shapes up by the Bills' pick. I also think that if you get the right QB, he will show it and you can build a team around him. So if that guy is available, you take him. That's not to denigrate the tackle position, but the Bills have struggled with QB play that has ranged from terrible to decent but limited. Even good tackle play hasn't made the difference that a great QB would.

Drag 'em down to your level and beat them with experience.

The line was terrible today. There was no running game and Fitzpatrick was harassed all day. I'm hoping they will get better, but I think they were worse this week than last.

There are times when the conservative call is 100% the right call, as it clearly was in this case. Not a fan of Jauron in any way, but let's not denigrate him when he does make the proper decision.

Yeah, dumb play call.

Something to consider. If you think Ellison is terrible, how good do you think his UDFA backup is? I wish they had replaced Ellison over the offseason, but they didn't. So you tell me how putting in a guy who can't outplay him is going to improve things?

Michael Strahan - 2nd round - 216 games - 141.5 sacks Osi Umenyiora - 2nd round - 78 games - 41.5 sacks Justin Tuck - 3rd round - 58 games - 24.5 sacks Nothing wrong with getting pass rushers in the 2nd round or later, you just have to get the right guys.

I thought it was like in Memento. Maybe Trent's lost his ability to form new short-term memories.

http://www.nfl.com/teams/buffalobills/schedule?team=BUF HTH

Well, the good news is you don't have to worry about it. Fitzpatrick is not leading this team to enough wins to turn things around.

Wait... you're saying the league changed the rules to screw with April?