MRW

Fair enough, but there are many many highly-paid "experts" in lots of fields who screw up in one way or another. And Jauron's career 7-9 W-L average doesn't inspire me to put a huge amount of faith in his judgment.

I think the argument is more along the lines that Jauron puts too much emphasis on experience when he is evaluating which players to put in the game. It's not that he doesn't want to win, but his risk-averse nature causes him to stick with the guy who is reliable vs. a guy who may have more upside. The prime example would be, as mentioned earlier, trotting Anthony Thomas out there while Fred Jackson sits on the bench. It's an example that shows that Jauron would rather put in a guy who is obviously completely shot but who he trusts rather than a young player who actually has NFL legs but might make a mistake or two due to youth. Having said that, that's really the only example I can think of, so it's far from definitive. It fits with what we see of his personality, though. I have no problem with taking experience into account, if the veteran is a guy who belongs on the football field. In your example of Reed vs. Hardy, I think anyone would have a hard time making the case that Hardy deserved to be playing over Reed. As for where this might apply this year, hard to say. Maybe at DE this year? It'll be interesting to see how quickly Maybin gets into the rotation, and whether Ellis is called on this year if the DE play is as bad as it was last year.

I must have missed the section on hypocrisy when I was taking logic classes.

Sure, people hold out hope until the bitter end, but is that so terrible? Considering that nothing we say here will have any impact on what happens with McCargo, what's wrong with hanging on to even the shred of hope that he'll turn it around?

Big difference between a backup running back who is approaching 30 and a 2-time Pro Bowl LT who is a year or two younger. Not to be callous, but if Jackson decides to hold out in a couple of years it will not have much of an impact on the team. You can argue that the Bills are taking advantage of Jackson, but from a business POV I think they are sitting pretty on this one.

Two out of the four players you listed have cashed in big time on contract extensions. So your use of "factual" is not necessarily accurate.

Here's some homework help.

So... should there not be any stories about our draft picks? What is there to talk about at this point besides their backgrounds? I still don't understand why you posted to tell us something we all already knew.

I really don't want to be a jerk either, but why post this? I think everyone understands that how great a person he is off the field doesn't mean squat if he can't produce. It's still a nice story to read, and he sounds like a good guy to root for.

But it's certainly conceivable that there are people who might be motivated under good circumstances and quick to give up under bad circumstances, isn't it? I'm not saying it's an admirable trait, but it is possible (but not likely) that McCargo is one of those guys. Maybe if he gets coddled a bit he'll avoid "complete bust" status, even if he never turns into the guy the Bills hoped they were getting.

OK. So what was the point of this post again?

No, not "anyone", but I think you can get by with an average guy if you have a good pass rush. Of course, I think the Bills last year lacked both a good pass rush and average talent at FS. In any case, my point remains, simply pointing to teams' interception rankings says nothing about whether having a top-tier safety is important.

I don't think there's anyone who would argue with you that more interceptions would be better. But this stat doesn't tell you anything about safeties. I tend to think a good pass rush is the most important factor in generating turnovers.

Based on what? Until I see proof otherwise he is the best PR on this team.

The numbers add up - 4 cuts, 4 additions. So I don't know that I'd call it stacking so much as replacing. As far as why the DL didn't get this treatment, who can say for sure? Some possibilities: 1. Draft evaluation. The FO was not as impressed with Brown or Barwin as fans were. 2. Stability. They like Denney and Kelsay more than most fans do, or they just didn't want to face the prospect of blowing up both lines in the same year. 3. Coincidence. They saw an opportunity to grab a guy who they thought could be a difference-maker at safety, and saw another opportunity to grab a talented OL who they saw falling. If things had played out a little differently and Levitre had been taken but Brown or Barwin was still on the board at that spot, maybe we'd have seen a trade up targeting them. Just some ideas. Not saying any of those is necessarily the reason, or that I would agree with the FO if it were, but I think they all make sense.

This may be one of the dumbest things I've read on this site.

This is completely false. Bad drafts set the team back for years to come, not just the year they happen. So if the Bills bungle this draft it will be small consolation if the entire front office is canned at the end of the year. That just means that the next group will have an even worse mess to clean up. Nice try, but your logic doesn't work.

Yeah, leave it to the Bills to even screw that up.

I hope they're right. If not, things could get ugly quick.

Yeah, I can't agree with "worst of all time" type comments. But the team's course over the last 10 years has been even more frustrating, in a way. They do just enough to give you hope that things could improve before settling back in their comfortable rut.

Like some of the people posting in this thread, I used to be bothered by some of his posts because he seemed so consistently negative. But as time has gone by I've come to realize that I was getting frustrated because he was right so often.

I don't think you should've been tarred with the same brush as those who simply dismissed BADOL's post without engaging it. Looking at this thread, though, you (along with maybe one or two others) seem to be the exception rather than the rule for those who disagree with his take. For the record, I agree with you on TO, I don't think he's showing signs of a significant dropoff yet and I expect him to perform well this year. I don't think it will be enough to dramatically improve the team with the question marks they have everywhere else though.

Then don't read 'em? Seriously, how is a content-free reply to a negative post adding anything to the conversation?

Of course his statements were his opinions! What do you think a message board is for, exactly? It's certainly not to change the direction of the team. If being positive about the team works for you, then great. But I don't think it's reasonable after the last 10 years to expect most or even many Bills fans to take that attitude.

BADOL's post is a lot more productive than yours. He made actual statements related to the direction of the team and the decisions of the front office, whereas you, apparently, just like to criticize other posters.