Bill from NYC

Again, I agree. But do you think that Mr. Wilson will shell out the big bucks to Fitz AND draft a first round qb? I am NOT asking what he should do. I am asking what you think he will do. Imo, a healthy Upshaw and some more help at OLB would win us at least 1 more game. More if he turns out to be a stud. The fact that we lack a professional level OLB absolutely HAS to be addressed.

Yes, but my gut tells me that there is no way they will draft a first round QB. If SJ walks, they will draft a wr imo (NOT what I would want). If he stays, one would think they would go after an OLB, considering they have none on the roster.

So true. Imagine the effect that a young Schobel and his 10 or so qb sacks would have on this team? And he did this with Jauron actually sending him back on coverage at times. Dareus makes plays on his own. He would look twice as good with an Aaron Schobel that blockers would absolutely have to account for. Something else I believe that many fans miss is wrt the secondary. It is very hard imo to tell how good or bad they are because the Bills have zero pass rush. They would HAVE to be better if qbs were hurried, sacked, etc. And yes, if they let Stevie walk, I fully expect another Ralph Wilson "add excitement" pick, which would simply be a continuation of our losing ways. And, if they plan to keep Fitz (which my gut tells me they do after the big contract), SJ is his favorite target. They have a long history together dating back to when they were second stringers. SJ might not be a true #1. I don't dispute this, but they need to pay him and focus on pressing needs that exist, instead of creating yet another.

There is nothing in your post to dispute. And I am all about the Bills drafting a qb who they think will be great. But looking at the roster, the hole at OLB is stunning, frightening and embarrassing. Spencer Johnson? Kelsay? One is a marginal backup DT. The other is a worse than average DE. These are our starting OLBs. As for LT, management will either want to keep Bell for big bucks or not. They have liked him for years, but he is small and almost always out or playing injured. Pass rushers and OLTs are the hardest players to draft after qbs. This is a problem for the Bills. The bottom line (for me) is that I hope they devote their earliest picks to these 3 positions. If they focus on dbs and rbs, nothing will change. In fact, they will probably get worse.

Probably so, but neither of us will ever know.

It's a history of long term neglect wrt the OL. The Levy/Jauron era crippled this team by chasing after rbs and dbs, which was absolutely stupid. As for Nix/Gailey, if you take away the moronic selection of Spiller, they at least tried to make the team stronger in important areas. This leaves us with a team that is very shaky at OT, and has not 1 legit OLB on the entire football team. If there is no qb left who they think will be great when we select, it would be inexcuseable not to go after these positions. The above is what stud linemen do.

I can. The year Jauron wasted a 1st on McKelvin. Note the very next selection. http://www.drafthistory.com/index.php/years/2008

It's normal to feel this way. We all probably have one idiotic draft choice that haunts us worse than the other ones.

Nobody can prove there is any kind of manipulation, but I think that enough evidence exists to at least warrant an investigation. And, power has shifted hands. The Italian "Mafia" is no longer strong. In fact, the biggiest bookies are state governments. The networks would seem to be where the money is. They have a lot riding on seeing fan favorites win, right? Again, none of us have concrete proof of corruption. But yesterday, a Bils receiver was impeded and struck in the head. A flag was tossed and picked up. This imo merits mention and investigation. Jmo.

I too must admit that I was tempted to leave the place in which I watched the game in the first quarter, but I couldn't.

You make a great case for having a franchise QB. But I must admit, I get a bit confused as to who is, and who is not a franchise QB. For instance: Schuab, Ryan, E. Manning, Cutler, and Flacco. Would you consider them to be franchise QBs? I have mixed emotions. Clearly, Brees, P. Manning, Rogers, Big Ben, Brady, and probably Newton and the kid on the Lions earn that designation. Personally, I would place Ryan there as well, and have not seen enough of Bradford to make a pertinent comment. Rivers? He has the tools but I'm not sure of his head. Btw, stats notwithstanding, I would place Romo and Sanchez off of my own list of franchise QBs. The Jets are stacked and would be in first place imo with a better QB. Romo seems to rarely play well at crunch time. In any event, looking at the standings, strong QB play does seem like a mandate. I don't know what SF is doing (again, I haven't seen enough of them) but I don't recall Smith being good. They would seem to be the only exception.

I am saying that someone powerful wanted the Chargers to cover the point spread. Yes, I think that someone had a lot riding on this game and the fix was in. This is NOT to say that we could have won. No way, because we completely suck. But, I am starting to seriously doubt the integrity of the NFL.

1) Is anybody looking for good news? Look no further than Marcel Dareus. Today, he was the lone good player on the front 7, and he was a monster. He is a potential star people. 2) OK, now for some bad news: Kelsay is bad beyond description. He is a bad DE and a bad OLB. Imo he is barely a second string player. 3) I want to talk about Hairston. Yes, he had a rough outing but I actually saw him make some plays. I was watching closely. The kid could be a good, perhaps VERY good RT. I like him a lot, but he is NOT an option at LT. Backup LT? Absolutely. That's about it. Long story short? We need an offensive left tackle folks, and there in no getting around this fact. Bell is a small, brittle 7th round pick. Yes, we need an offensive left tackle. 4) Time for Moorman to part ways with the Buffalo Bills. Seriously. He is a horror show at this point, and btw, I hope he is in good health. He looks like he lost 30 or more pounds and lives in Biafra. Yes folks, he is totally shot, like it or not. 5) OK, it's time to talk about Spiller. He doesn't hit holes fast enough. If he did, if he could get through lanes, it would more than likely atone for the fact that he goes down upon any contact. 6) I am not defending Fitz. To be clear, he was God awful. But, it looked to me as if he was hurt. Did anyone else think this? 7) Same old story, and I know it's been told Some like jelly jelly, some like gold Many a man's done a terrible thing Just to get baby, A shiny diamond ring. 8) No flag for pass interference just before the 1st half? Is that what happened? It is time to question the integrity of the NFL. Sorry, but it is. There is only one reason to overturn a call so obvious. Yes, I am making a direct allegation of corruption. Btw, there was an equally flagrant non-call at the end of the Vikes/Lions game. Economic times are tough, and I am directly accusing the league of corruption. 9) OK, more good news: Stevie Johnson made 2 spectacular catches today. I am talking about really great plays. We HAVE to keep him. 10) I have seen scads of bad Bufflo Bills football teams. This year, cameras are showing opponents laughing on the sidelines, and yes it does hurt. 11) Hang tough people. Maybe we will draft a QB. Or Courtney Upshaw. Or Donta Hightower. In any event, count me as one who thinks that we will improve next season. 12) GO BILLS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Upshaw is going to be a very good player imo. Some team will draft him and have a solid player for years.

This might be the best thread in the history of this board. Not everyone (if anybody at all) is able to articulate the problems wrt the Bills as is DD. The Bills have foresaken their foundation to draft running backs, gadget players and defensive backs. This is why we are losing. It will be impossible for them to win until they change this idiotic philosophy. In addition to the qb position, they need to draft players who can block and sack the opposing quarterback. This should be the focus instead of plugging holes and selling tickets. And wrt qbs, I am all about a "franchise QB." Who isn't? But you (and others) please tell me...how many franchise qbs out there in this entire league? The Jets tried to draft one and failed, but they had built up such a strong foundation that they can still win games, this while we were drafting McKelvin, Whitner, Spiller, etc. Thanks DD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I simply disagree any team not having any depth or game changers on their team at a position can even have any pick be classified as a luxury, and I also can't understand how any player can be deemed a bust without getting the chance to play. I'm not arguing your strategy isn't more sound than what the GM decided that day, I can't control that, but the point of this thread was that I did agree with the pick, still do, even though other players have had more opportunities to play, hindsight is 20/20, and i didn't want to go there, I want to stay on task that it's not always doom and gloom when we pick in the 1st round, but Buffalo fans love to poke holes in paper houses when it comes to draft picks. OK, and I appreciate the dialogue. However, the above is where our fundamental disagreement lies. The Bills have a history of strange and horrible first round picks, dating WAY back. But for the purpose of this conversation, let me only cite a few. In 2006, the first 5 picks were devoted to Whitner, McCargo, Youboty and Ko Simpson. That's right, they traded away a very early 3rd to draft this complete mess. In 2003, they took Magahee in the first, and waited at least 20 games for him to even take the field. I could easily go on, but I won't. They made these (and other) asinine selections while having NO foundation. QB problems, no blocking, and no pass rush. There is a reason why we are a losing team. This is it, and many Bills fans are really fed up with this kind of neglect, and even idiocy. John C. is a great poster imo. He blames all of this mess on Mr. Wilson, and I can see his point. But in the interest of being fair, it must be hard for a financial success like Ralph to believe how stupid the people he hired have been. And for what it's worth, I do not consider Gailey to be stupid at all. But in essence, Ralph makes his cash even though the people he hires make idiotic decisions year after year. It ain't his problem. We will see what happens wrt Spiller. You have more faith in him than I do and it goes without saying that this is beyond OK. But, imo a selection such as this is symptomatic as to why we suck. And if Ralph was involved in this pick (which I will always think that he was, despite being blasted for saying so), then John C. would be correct. All of this is simply my opinion, and thanks once again for the fun dialogue.

There is nothing I can do. I will never stop rooting for this team. I am even dumb enough to believe that 1 sane, solid draft could make us respectable. Other teams do have a great draft once in a while. Ours virtually all suck. The drafts of 1995 and 2001 were very good. That's 2 in 16 years.

I will try, although you will probably dislike, or perhaps even get angry at my reponse. If you live in a beat up bungalo that needs a roof, bathroom, kitchen, and has a basement that leaks, would you put Anderson windows on it? Andersons are "good" windows, but the house itself won't be any good until the major needs are addressed. Now, CJ, while he might be good some day, would appear to be a luxury that the Bills couldn't afford. After 28 games, are we really sure that he is an every down back? To add insult to (imo) injury, they RAN to the podium to make this selection. They didn't wait for last minute trade offers, which do happen. Then, Mr. Wilson was loving the pick, stating that the team needed "more excitement." This while we had no pass rush, no OTs, weak lbs, and was Trent still the qb? So, as you requested, I left out Lynch and Jackson. And if you like the pick to this day, what's the problem? We can't agree on everything. One question if I may: Trent Richardson may or may not be picked in the top 10. Who would you prefer, Richardson or Spiller?

John, Upshaw is a complete linebacker, and he weighs over 260. He provides a ton of pressure and has to be accounted for on every play. Not only that, he has a ton of tackles behind the los on running plays. Alabama concentrates very much on stopping the run. He will be quite the player for some lucky team.

Do you want to see more of the Jauron Tampa-2. The Giants have the best group of DEs in the league, and they aren't doing much.

Having had time to cool off and read my anger fueled post, I am going to say that I was too tough on Spiller. I probably use him a bit too much as an outlet for my frustration. BUT, when I saw him make a good play and the ball was flying around the endzone, that set me off early. The crucial drop didn't help. I will lower my expectations. He doesn't need to be Marshall Faulk to contribute, and he didn't draft himself at number 9. I do hope that he can produce for us because the truth is, we need him to, and could have used big plays from him even before Freddie got hurt. PS: I DID miss FJ yesterday, and came away with a new appreciation of how fast he can get through creases.

Stop. He dropped a crucial pass and went down if an opponent sneezed. Be serious please.

1) On the failed 4th down attempt at the end of the 1st Qtr., Fitz got punched in the head. It was as clear as a bell. The Bills not getting a call like this is a concern wrt the integrity of the league imo. 2) News Flash: Erik Pears is a so-so, backup level RT. Yes, I am going there. Taking this a step further, he will never be able to cover at LT in case of injury. He is a plodding, slow blocker. Hairston is much more suited to play RT on this football team than is Pears. In another thread, a particularly sickening "consensus demander" calls the Bills OL top 5. Posts like this are worse, FAR worse than those of pom-pom wavers, but this is just my opinion. 3) Let's get to Spiller, shall we? His game stats were good, right? Sure. Well, imo he sucked. He dropped at least 1 crucial pass, and he went down upon any contact at all. He even fumbled his toucdown. The fact that our football team wasted a #9 on him will hold us back for many years. Sorry, it's true. 4) Who are #83 and #85? And why were they catching passes just short of first downs? 5) The Bills should sign Urbik to a long term deal. My hunch is that they could, but they are too stupid to do so. 6) Davis Nelson seemed to get his act back today. Good, because I do like this kid. 7) Sheppard was God awful in the first half, but not so bad in the second half. If he clicks, this will be very good for our football team. 8) "Now what's to be found, by racing around? You carry your pain wherever you go. Full of blues, and tryin' to lose. You ain't gonna learn what you don't wanna know." 9) Did you see Fitz console the receiver who dropped his perfect pass at the end of the 3rd qtr.? Yes, Fitz is an easy person to like. 10) On a personal note, my daughter Amanda (who I implore to sign in) got me a Bills tree ornament as a Christmas present. It consists of 3 Bufflalo Bills celebrating. Which 3? Whitner, Evans and Lynch. My baby is an Ivy League/Law School grad. Amanda, I love you and I miss you every day. And I am NOT sorry that you are a Bills fan. It made you stronger and more loyal. Don't give up my sweet honey, ok? 11) I have been just a bit loathe to jump on George Edwards. Those days are gone. He is starting Spencer Johnson, a worthless player, over Moats. And the truth is, Gailey should see this and know better. 12) People, we need COURTNEY UPSHAW!!!!! I'm not gonna let go. Sorry. 13) Bills Fans are the best fans of any team in any sport. I am proud to be in this community. 14) GO BILLS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So is Dick Jauron.

You got lucky. Often he demands full agreement, or at least a very strong consensus on all football issues. In your case, he was merely belittling you for clicking the wrong post to respond to. He is threatening to "laugh at you," but it could have been much worse. He might have issued you a vicious verbal warning.