Bill from NYC

All of my fears about this trade have materialized. Watkins is injured and EJ looks beyond awful. This despite the fact that he knows the system and has more weapons than he did last year. If this doesn't get better the entire crew, with Brandon leading the parade, should be marched right out the door.

A receiver needs a quarterback to get the ball to him. Tell me, is there ANY QB situation bad enough to make you not like trading away the future for Watkins? Seriously, if the Texan were sitting at #9 with Fitz, should they have made that deal?

I am serious.....Buddy probably wanted to go to bed.

Fantastic article Dave. And before he got hurt with the Jets, he was easily one of the best players in the league.

Does this mean we should cut Manuel? He had a few "demonstrations," no?

Agreed, but who brought in this amateurish Syracuse contingent? Brandon, their Syracuse crony?

I wonder if he tweeted this before or after he hobbled off the field with yet another injury.

The above is a great point! Its a shame though because he was damn good last season.

Bad fans? Sorry but a portion of the fans could have made better decisions than a lot of the idiocy we have witnessed. Bills Fans are great. People see my license plate holder, open their windows and yell "GO BILLS!" And I am 450 miles away. You and I didn't hire the sorry lot of coaches and GMs that have held this team back. Nope, the fans are innocent and loyal to the core. I think we are the best fans in the NFL.

When they drafted EJ they picked up a mid second round pick in the process. This was a great move. This April, despite no clear indications that he is a franchise QB, they traded away a first round pick in 2015. This move isn't looking good at all (although things could hopefully change). If this bold move works, great!!! If not, Marrone, Whaley and Brandon should be driven to the airport and tossed out of town. Jmo.

LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Good point. It will become the fault of the fans if the Bills continue to be disgraced on the field. I get it.

It occurred to me that if Watkins even ALMOST lives up to his hype, EJ will have no less than 3 wideouts who are clearly superior to Stevie Johnson. This of course is only my opinion, but a strong one. Woods looks very good, and forgive me because I did not know just how good Mike Williams is. Not only that, Chandler is still there and the young TEs really don't look so bad. The defensive front is so strong and deep that a player like Searcy can deliver big plays. Spikes is one true football player and Bradham looks like a different person out there imo. I consider the secondary to be at least average. Sounds good, right? It's not. EJ was flat out terrible last night and if it continues, there needs to be 100% accountability. Not from EJ mind you. Not many people on this planet can be good NFL QBs. As far as I'm concerned if he doesn't improve, Marrone and Hackett should not last the season. Whaley and Brandon (who I think hired Marrone)should also be shown the door. These men staked their careers on EJ, to include trading away a first round draft pick. They didn't draft a qb in later rounds when there were many out there. In some way, this mess must be cleaned up. When EJ rolled out early in the game, he hit Williams with a nice pass. In the pocket he was awful and has a lot to learn. The good news is that this team can win if EJ isn't horrible. Sadly, the latter is far from a foregone conclusion.

I understand what you are saying wrt Watkins. And I admit that its hard to justify not wanting the Bills to draft a player who has such obvious talent. Taking this a step further, I think that EJ, if used and developed properly, does have a chance. Will our coaches be able to groom him into being a top 15 qb? Maybe, but being objective its hard for me to picture. Once again, sorry. These coaches took 330 pound blockers and a ROOKIE qb, and had them racing up to the line of scrimmage to hand the football to Spiller to gain 2 yards up the middle. Can you justify this? I cannot. EJ can run. I would like to see him buy some time by rolling out and throwing the football if he sees an open Watkins or my man Woods. If not, let him take off and gain 20 yards. In any event, if Watkins can win games for the Bills, I will praise him week after week and praise the selection. I have been wrong my share of times. I thought Rob Johnson was a mega-talent and would lead us to victory, ok? As for KUJO again, I watched almost every game of his college career. He played on easily the best OL in the history of college football. I suggest a specific highlight video of the championship game vs. Notre Dame to see who was doing what on that OL (I will look for it when I have time). It's a long one. As much as I like the Bills to draft blockers and DL, he wasn't my choice. Not at all. And thanks for the dialogue. Its fun talking football with you when you aren't angry.

This board is underrated imo. Many, many solid posters as well as most mocks had Sammy going before us. The possibility of trading up was raised. It is very unlikely that he would have fallen to us. Perhaps we both agree on this. That said, would he have been my choice? No, sorry. But, he does appear to be very good. The tapes from camp are pretty sick. But I respectfully remind you that a player being "good" doesn't always translate to building a winning team. Is Spiller good? Sure. Is Gilmore good? Probably so. Was Whitner good? I suppose. But what "good" did they do us in terms of wins? I am glad that you brought up Julio Jones. As a Tide Fan, I am quite familiar with him. The thing is that he has Ryan throwing him the ball. And, it sucked for the Falcons when he got hurt, no? If the Bills stood still and drafted on of the Tackles, you do realize that they: 1) Would have a first round pick (perhaps early) in 2015. 2) Would NOT have drafted Kuandjio in round 2. Kujo by the way is another player that I spoke of before the draft, remember? Now there is a lot riding on this kid and we really need him to develop. In any event, we both need to hope that EJ can get Sammy the ball because if he can, it looks as if he can win us games. If not, we have long term, serious problems. The thing is, opinions are a good thing, no? Maybe I'm just more risk averse than you in this situation, or in general about the Bills. I'm not seeing what is bad about this. Fill me in if you get the chance. Be well and GO BILLS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Having learned more about him, there is reason to believe that he might be a fine player. This doesn't necessarily make him a good pick, let alone trading away a future first round pick in the process. Can EJ get the ball to him? I think that the answer to this will go a long way to determine whether or not it was a good trade. Of course, if one has lots of confidence in EJ one would absolutely love the pick.

Not agreeing with a draft selection and thinking that Watkins is a bad player are not the same. If EJ sucks (which perhaps you think is not possible), trading away a very possible top 10 pick for any receiver is stupid or so I think. What do YOU think? And btw, do you think the Bills gave up too much in that trade? Better yet, is there ANY price that would have been too much? You are lucky. I wish I could love everything the Bills do and be offensive and act in a sanctimonious way to those who dare disagree with me, or this winning management team. Carry on!

Dibs, NOT to single you out, but too many posters who know a lot about football, let alone this team, are apologetic. "Untrained eye?" You and many of us follow this team more than sportswriters. Your opinion has merit. First round picks are given a ton of room by fans. Spiller is likened to Sanders. Gilmore is a young Mel Blount. EJ is on his way to greatness. Fans are smart to think this because what can we do to control how the Bills allocate resources? Obviously nothing. But that doesn't make the above statements true. And btw, the "pros" who have been running the team have been SO unthinkably bad that a team would almost have to try to not make the playoffs for 14 years. So please, keep posting opinions. I will do the same. GO BILLS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

If you think that Kujo was a road grader, what did you think of Warmack and Fluker? These were the physical beasts on that OL. Kujo was strong, but was never THAT type of strong. And remember too, he blocked for backs that were superb (Lacey, Yeldon, etc.) Let's just hope that Kujo gets WAY better. I am rooting for the kid big time as a lifelong Tide Fan AND a Bills Fan.

No concern at all. He is an elite "shutdown" corner, no matter how he plays.

Koundjio was considered an agile left tackle in college, not a road grader. Saban moved Barrett Jones to center and placeded Koundjio into the LT spot, and Barrett Jones was a very good player. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barrett_Jones He would have been drafted earlier but he was injured. I think that the Bills banked on Koundjio's potential. He doesn't seem healthy; it may or may not pay off. That said, Henderson looks a lot better so far, but it is early.

Badol, as much as I like the Tide, I was not that excited about the Koundjio selection. In 2012, he was the 4th best player on the Bama OL, and #5 (the RG) was close. Fluker is a pure RT, the best I have seen in many, many years. He has already made a difference at San Diego. I don't view Koundjio as a difference maker. Do you? I AM glad to hear how much you like Watkins because the truth is, I was baffled by that trade because of our situation at QB, let alone the failure to draft one in the later rounds. Btw, do you view Searcy as a good player or a product of Pettine? I am high on Searcy. I think it's obvious that he is a hard worker and listens to his coaches. Kyle Williams was praising him big time on Sirius and I would love to hear your take on him. We are trying to get up there this year and I will send you a PM. It's great to see you posting!!! GO BILLS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I think what separates the greats from the rest is not that they can find an open receiver. It's the ability to quickly see who is NOT open and find another option. The above may sound like semantics, and I might not be explaining it properly, but I know what I am TRYING to say. Any HS QB can find a receiver who is wide open. The ability (and perhaps instinct) to look off of a covered Calvin Johnson is another matter. It's unpopular here, but I think that if EJ rolls out (and yes, runs), it might buy him time to improve his decision making. It's clear that he has talent. It's not clear if he is a good pocket passer. Just my $.02.

I couldn't agree more. They were 28th in time of possession with all of those runs out of a hurry-up. I still can't figure out what they were doing.

Similarities: 1) Both struggle big time with the long ball. 2) Both can run. 3) Both have accuracy issues. 4) Both are smart. Differences: 1) Fitz gets injured less and appears to be tougher. 2) EJ, because of size and arm strength has a far higher ceiling. Summary: At this particular stage there really isn't much difference.

Not only that, they traded away a first round pick in 2015 in order to draft a receiver. This in a draft that was loaded with wideouts. And, while the team is very talented, how surprised would you be if the pick was a top 10? Seriously. Whaley and Marrone are just completely sold on EJ. I think that they know that their careers hinge upon EJ being a good player. Others disagree and like the trade. It might work out too. But I don't think it will if they plan to use EJ as a complete pocket passer. Jmo. And I must say that it truly is great to see you posting again and I hope all is well!!!