Chilly

Yep, totally agree they could go this route. Plus, with all these running QBs getting injured, who wouldn't want that security blanket?

Alex Smith hitting the market is far from a given.

SEC finished as the #1 conference in the Sagarin rankings this year for the first time in years.

I had a couple Moscow mules in copper mugs last night. Great drinks

Not sure if you were responding to me, but if so, I also said it generally sucks.

Bleacher Report's business model and brand is very confusing for most people. They started out as a "fanpost" type of site, where anyone can write articles and publish them. They've since changed, and have hired actual beat writers while instituting author review policies and procedures. They still put out a lot of crap via unpublished writers, so it can be very hard to separate the real from the fake on that site. It's one of the reasons I got lampooned for posting a (ended up being correct) tweet by a writer there on our coaching search, even though he was of the paid beat writer variety. Don't get me wrong, I hate the site, they produce a lot of SEO crap like slideshows, have a lot of terrible writers, etc., but it's not a brand that you can completely dismiss - just mostly dismiss. CNN has been embracing a model of crowd-sourced news (that ireport garbage they do), so it makes sense they'd want to go this way with sports too.

Nah, THIS is a winking clown: o<{;0)

Kinda shocked. Will be interesting to hear him defend the hire.

One thing's for sure: the senior bowl gets really interesting with him in it. Really curious to see his performance, he could shoot up draft boards by playing well.

Hard to tell, really. College Scouting has been Nix's baby, and a lot of times Director of Player Personnel like Whaley will have a much heavier influence on professional scouting. We'd have to be behind their closed doors to find out.

I dunno, I actually view it more in a negative light. If I'm a recruit, do I want to play for a guy who is interviewing for NFL teams and is likely not going to be there all 4 years?

Not only did Pegula help the school he's a fan from, I bet no NFL team offered to pay his $9 million buyout he owed. Totally money motivated it seems. EDIT: Didn't see this before I posted, but PFT agrees: http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2013/01/03/buyout-kept-obrien-at-penn-state/

That might be one of the most hypocritical things I've ever seen posted on this forum. Your argument in this thread is one of the most "simpleton" stances I've ever seen: "I really don't like it, it's a lot worse to me than straight people kissing, so other people shouldn't be allowed to do it and no one should have a positive stance on it". Have fun with this ridiculous thread, I'm out.

I didn't realize there was substance to reply to

you make it hard for me to root for straight people

I think we'll ultimately have to agree to disagree on this one WEO. Which was not only due to the free agent signings, but also the draft picks he had spent on defense (including A Williams). This misses, though, the strategy involved in drafting, including where you think other teams ranked players compared to your own. I don't think we can say whether Nix liked Graham more than Wilson; it very easily (and reading between the lines from statements he made this year, I'd speculate it's true) could be that he didn't think any other team had him at a 3rd round grade, and he could get him at the end of the 3rd with a trade up or at his fourth round pick. We don't know. And this misses the comparison of what you think the ceiling is on those quarterbacks versus what Fitzpatrick's ceiling is. There are absolutely QBs correctly labeled as franchise QBs all the time, QBs that fit the bill in Nix's tenure are: 2010: None 2011: Newton 2012: Luck, RGIII That's it. There was also one QB who I think the jury is still out on given how poor his supporting cast was, but is trending toward not being one (Bradford). All other QBs had question marks, including all the ones listed earlier. You can throw Gabbert into "franchise QB mistake" if you want but I don't think people were really sold on him. I also don't think we know if this crop of QBs is worse than the ones we already passed on, at least not until we start seeing the Senior Bowl, combine results, etc. We've passed on a lot of mediocre QBs so far, who have played well enough combined with good defenses to take their teams to the playoffs. I don't think any of the Dalton, Kaepernick, Wilson, etc. QBs can be called "the longterm answer" at this point, although they are good enough in the short term to get more playing time, with Wilson being the most promising. What I do know, is the Bills think they have the talent on defense to be able to invest resources into the QB position now, and I tend to agree with them - the defense will be better with better coaching. I do agree with you on the criticism for head coach. He was in a tough spot, but that doesn't excuse him for hiring someone who completely mismanaged games, mismanaged the defense over three years, and mismanaged fjax/spiller. He whiffed on that one and deserves full responsibility for it. His job is a LOT more than just QB though; as the numbers and this years playoffs show, you can win with mediocre rookie/2nd year QBs if you have a damn good defense to go along with it. That's what he was trying to build with the Bills D + Fitzpatrick. He wasn't far off with Fitz (his big downfall was the turnovers - which is why he needs to go), but he deserves 100% blame for not getting the D right, starting with the HC and DC.

Yeah, I agree with this, the defense remains his biggest failing as a GM. When I said "if I'd criticize him for anything", I meant on offense/QBs. Part of it seemed to be a lack of vision, 4-3 to 3-4 to 4-3? 2 coordinators and 2 different schemes in 3 years under the same head coach? That's unheard of. Buddy talks a lot about continuity, but his actions didn't match up with his words on that one. There was no continuity in the defense. There's a lag time anytime players switch schemes like that, or major players switch teams. John Madden correctly predicted on SiriusXM this year it'd take about 6 weeks for the Broncos to really turn it on and become the great team they are now. When switching schemes like this and players so often, you've got no one running the same defense for a while. I think we saw some effects of them getting better in the middle of the year, the Bills were #2 in Run D over a 4-game stretch after the bye, and played NE OK compared to other teams in other weeks around that time. All of the problems with the team, including Dave W's poor coaching, and tough schedule, proved it to be short-lived though. This is one reason why I'm against the Arizona crew (possible exception Whiz if he hires a 4-3 D Coord and lets him do his thing). I really don't want to switch AGAIN back to the 3-4, make a lot of the talent we acquired out of position, and create even more holes in the defense. It's going to take at least the first quarter of the year next year to get our team really playing well under the new coaches, and switching schemes AGAIN this year will only make it worse and create more holes in an already sketchy defense. That being said, I do think the talent on defense is improved in some areas, the DL being the obvious example. I also think Gilmore has a lot of potential, Aaron Williams could turn out good instead of poor (his success rate % isn't great, but he tackles very well and it shows in his YAC. If he can improve some, he has the possibility to being good), and Buddy obviously needs to keep Byrd. However, we totally negate our biggest strength, the DL, if we switch to a 3-4. The defense is also a big reason why Gailey got fired and should have been fired. He's like the opposite of Lovie Smith (who didn't find the right O guy): Couldn't get the right D coordinator to make a difference for him. That, and his total misuse of C.J. Spiller (ugh). He had great creative plays to get Spiller in space, but dear God he didn't get him the ball enough. OK, and in-game management - there were a lot of reasons, lol.

The problem with this oversimplified logic is that no draft pick happens in a bubble. There's an opportunity cost when drafting any player. Do you take a chance on a mediocre QB like Dalton or Kaepernick, on a year when Fitz has showed enough to give him a chance at a mediocre starter with a similar ceiling, or do you take a CB like Aaron Williams that you think has a chance to be a really good CB? With Wilson, my bet is he got surprised when he went in the 3rd round. It's not just a "T.J. Graham over Russell Wilson" here. It's a "How much do we like T.J. Graham", "How much do we like Wilson","How much do we think other teams like Graham and Wilson, and will Wilson or Graham last to our next pick?" discussion. I think Buddy would have suspected Russell would last till his next pick, hence his "and you better draft them a round earlier" comment this year. On this, Buddy misfired, but I understand his logic. I also think that with a QB who can throw long balls, T.J. Graham could be pretty good. Fitz couldn't hit him this year. I totally get the criticizing of Buddy for not putting more resources into the most important position. If I'd criticize him for anything, it's underestimating how much other teams liked Wilson, I get and agree with the criticism there, he missed the boat and it's a damn big boat. I can't, though, get too mad at him for not wanting to take QBs who aren't franchise QBs. Kaepernick, Dalton, Gabbert, Locker, Ponder, etc aren't going to turn this team into a playoff team overnight. You say that Kaepernick, Wilson, and Dalton being playoff QBs seals the deal, but again - you're taking those QBs out of the context that they are currently in. If you look at the numbers between all four of these teams, it becomes pretty clear that the biggest difference between the teams was defense: Defensive Rankings (Yards): Seattle - #4 San Fransisco - #3 Cincinnati - #6 Buffalo - #22 Defensive Rankings (Points): Seattle - #1 (245) San Fransisco - #2 (273) Cincinnati - #8 (320) Buffalo - #26 (435) Offensive Rankings (Yards): Seattle - #17 San Fransisco - #11 Cincinnati - #22 Buffalo - #19 Passing Rankings (Yards): Seattle - #27 San Fransisco - #23 Cincinnati - #17 Buffalo - #25 Passing Touchdowns: Seattle - #8 (27 TDs) San Fransisco - #16 (23 TDs) Cincinnati - #7 (28 TDs) Buffalo - #13 (24 TDs)

Biggest negative is unstable ownership. Most of the time, new ownership = new head coach.

The movie was basically: 1.) Introduce Heroes 2.) Write heroes into a corner in a battle, have them magically saved by a wizard appearing on screen. 3.) Repeat step 3 over and over and over

just what we need, another coach who mismanaged quarterbacks and another defensive switch to a 3-4. Ugh.

Russ said he didn't talk to Gruden

It's not about being old. I'm young and drink good tasting stuff too. That glazed donut vodka is damn delicious.

So is the issue a lack of candor or his candor?