Bill from NYC

Very true, unnecessary vitriol notwithstanding.

Scott, this is what people do here, and imo a big part of what makes it a great place to go. The Bills haven't brought in a star free agent since TKO, so the draft is a place where all of us get our hopes up, but you already know this. This site is WAY ahead of the curve in terms of knowing the problems facing this team. Think about it, when was the last time you saw a link (like the one today to the NY Times) and actually learned something about the Buffalo Bills? What did they say? That we needed offensive tackles? Gee thanks. Posters on this site go out of their way to share their knowledge about the draft, and I appreciate this. I can name several posters (myself NOT included) that have more than enough football knowledge to be employed by the Bills, and I have tailgated with many of them. Thanks for providing this forum to people who are fanatical enough about the Bills to do their "homework" and share their views.

There is some truth in this because I watched our favorite football team lose continuously because of this type of stupidity. But in the case of Whitner, I was particularly upset because he was small. I remember posting a question if he could get on all of the rides at Disneyland right after he was picked.

It appears to me to have been a senseless pick. I like reading C-Mans posts but he is angry at me for not liking the duo of Levy/Jauron, so he lashes out at me once a month or so. It's all cool.

Yeah, it was a rough day lol.

You answered your own question. That, and the Levy/Jauron stupidity of building a team through the secondary.

I would like to see the thread after Whitner was drafted.

No to the bolded. You change it to offer Fitz (or the new qb that you call for) protection. And you do it to offer a small, nifty little #9 draft selection room to run. Once again, I concede that the game has changed. It's more of a passing game. I still make the case that the Bills have a couple of games per year (home and road) when passing is often not the greatest option. When the Bills had a great defense (Bruce, Bryce, Big Ted, etc.) they couldn't win because they were weak up front on offense. Until they change this it will be hard for them to be a playoff team, especially in this tough, strong division.

By all means. I will be happy if you do so because it will mean he is good. Btw, I expect him to break a long one soon and get us all excited. You might want to wait until he does something that counts.

I agree with almost every word of this post. Wood was seriously injured, and it's hard to say if he will ever play up to being a first round pick who we traded away our best player for. Before that particular draft, I didn't know much about Wood and would have been fine with the Bills taking Levitre at #28. He played LT in college; this explains his agility. He reminds me of Eric Steinbach in terms of balance and versatility. He isn't a bruiser but I'm perfectly OK with him at LG. In terms of the 2011 draft, I feel your pain. Like the Senator says in this thread, Mallett was there to be taken. I like Fitz, but not grabbing Mallett will haunt us for many years imo. But even at that, a corner with the 2nd selection of round 2? It was also weird that a corner was taken 1 pick ahead of him by NE. Yes, I think that they should have either went for an OT at that spot (and might have been able to get one AND trade down), or offered Clabo enough guaranteed cash that he couldn't say no. Still, I was thrilled by what I saw from Dareus, and most of all Merriman, who was a flat out beast. We have a chance to be a good defensive team this season. Seriously.

I agree, but Fitz and SJ had the very big (imo) advantage of working out together as second stringers. Fitz is VERY smart, and I am positive that Fitz taught SJ a few things. And, they used this time to develop a chemistry. We might be in for a rough year offensively, but it would have been rough with or without Lee Evans. This is not to say I like the trade, but they have greater needs than wideout.

I am not one to chastise disgruntled fans. Coach Tuesday makes an excellent point in this thread. Many are frustrated not just because of losing. Losing for the same reasons is tough to take for almost 2 decades. That said, the defense looks like it will be a strong one if they can stay healthy. I hope the offense can keep the ball and give them a rest.

1) The numbers might not suggest anything great, but I got good vibes from Fitz. Obviously, we need him to stay in one piece. 2) You can say that this was only preseason. Go ahead, tell me the Bears have a poor OL. That said, Merriman is for real. I know what I saw, and this man is going to wreak havoc. We all knew he was fast, but he was completely agile and he hits like a truck. Now, can he get hurt? Yes. Can he stop caring? I suppose. But as we speak he is a double digit sack man. Again, I know what I saw. 3) The first team OL had no real push. Once again, Levitre was the best of all of them. 4) The backup OL made me want to cry. Wrotto is weird. He sure is big enough to play RT, but he looked totally out of shape. Did anyone else notice that he looked as if he didn't have the wind to finish plays? 5) I don't like gadget players, but our best one is going to be Brad Smith imo. That's right, better than Spiller. We shall see. 6) Dareus looked great. It was his FIRST GAME and he was all over the place. Now HE is in shape! That's all I got folks. GO BILLS!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I did not see the game, but I cannot understand the above. How could he look "decent" on pass protection if he was pushed back?

Batten and Easly were seriously injured. If either makes the team and contributes, this would be an amazing, wonderful scebario. Spiller is a gadget player. Expecting much from him is a reach imo, and I hope I am wrong. He was quite simply a very stupid draft selection. Carrington and Troup are our best hopes imo. Both of them have a chance to be good football players. They are big, strong kids and I am optimistic about them. If even one of them can play, it would help us a great deal. We might actually have a respectable defense. The offense is another story. Our running backs appear to be suspect, as does our receiving corps. The OL is a putrid, sub-par mess. I like Fitz more than most but he has just so little to work with. If we catch a break and some of our second year players develop, I am thinking that we can win as many as 6 or 7 games.

Have you changed your position on this issue KTFBD? When the Bills drafted Spiller you shot down the notion of the call being made froom upstairs. In any event, I agree with you this time. Although not as upset by the trade as are many, it would seem that they could have waited for a team to lose a receiver due to injury, and perhaps have picked up a 3rd. My hope is that one of the kids turns out to be good so they need not waste another first round pick on a flashy skill player.

I still wish we would have signed him over McKelvin. He was a guard in college and KC moved him to LT. And, he is certainly better than any of our OTs.

This is an unfair comment imo. Many here are incensed by the changes wrt the lots, but in favor of the smoking ban. Are you going to take them to task as you did OC? I have parked in Lot 1 for the last 17 years and am not affected by these changes. But, I sympathise with those who are. I think that they are being victimized, squeezed and villianized. Tailgates by themselves are not money producers. Brandon would much rather sell you a 12 dollar beer than have you enjoy one of your own. Jmo, but I see a danger in a smug jackass like Brandon costing WNY their franchise. He is taking some of the fun out of the game day experience, and this means a lot to fans. You see, this team sucks. And, I am talking long term. Yet fans like me still attend games for 17 consecutive years. It's great to get together with friends and have a beer in the lot. At the rate we are going, this will be a thing of the past. Brandon should be fired for this mess, and his role in the way that the team is simply awful.

Are you sure of this? Not one stadium in America has a designated smoking area? This would make RWS the very last stadium to do so. I rather doubt this.

Brandon taking "fun" away from fans! You don't say! As I predicted in the other threads, soon there will be no tailgates at all. There would seem to be no gain from allowing fans to cook food that they didn't buy from the Bills. Same thing wrt alcohol. And, how long before tobacco is banned in all lots? Brandon should be fired immediately. He is an abject failure. Please, name me 1 thing this man has done for the franchise, other than contribute to building a losing team and taking away rights of fans.

John, with ALL due respect, Jennings was a fine LT on the rare occasions he was healthy. He was signed away from us as a UFA for big bucks because of this. Jennings was as agile as Bell, and he was also bigger and much stronger. Remember, he played RT for a while and was a good player there as well. Apologists have been praising Bell for years now but he doesn't produce. We all hope that he does turn into a prominent LT but reality should tell us that the odds are slim. He isn't a kid. Our friend Badolbilz coined the phrase, "Jennings ala cart" because he was often injured and getting carted off the field. Bell appears to be to small, injury prone, and weak to be a dominant LT. And as you certainly know, dominant LTs are a good thing.

He mentions Spiller as a good receiver. I hope he is right, but last season he caught 24 for a 6.5 average, and 1 touchdown.

You are right. I have been refusing to face this issue for years.

Maybe he should have mentioned something before the draft. Did a seemingly minor injury to Bell make him suddenly realise that we are weak at OT? Everybody else seemed to know.