Dr. Who

Red helmet was definitely a Fergie thing. Current helmet is better. Personally, I prefer the classic standing buffalo.

Alas, humanity.

I think EJ has potential. Personally, I don't like Cutler, assuming he would be traded. What available veteran would constitute a good qb? I think it's an underwhelming lot. I am generally brief. I wrote a dissertation for my own satisfaction and to make a rational case for EJ just because I like the kid and I'm old enough to remember when it was common for a young qb to "mature" for a few years before becoming a starter.

Alright. I'm fine with that. You know there are an abundance of people without merit who post on message boards?

Seriously, I haven't seen anyone suggest there shouldn't be a back-up plan. Even if you have Tom Brady, you need a back-up plan just because injuries happen. If you have uncertainty at a position, you need more than one player. That's common sense. I've seen a lot of posts that do presume that Manuel is not even an option.

I posted this on the BBMB a few days ago. What annoys me are the people who say "what are we going to do about qb?" with the assumed certitude that we know EJ Manuel is a lost cause. EJ is a gifted athlete with good character and a solid work ethic. He had some success at FSU, but never nailed down the starter job. He was definitely a project drafted for upside based on his athleticism and his work ethic. He was not supposed to see the field the first year, but injuries altered that plan. He had a typical rookie season with typical ups-and-downs. EJ worked very hard in the off-season. Wide receiver talent was added and an attempt was made to upgrade the o-line. What happened? EJ appears to have regressed. The o-line was for the most part abysmal. The offensive play-calling was inadequate, to the point where a journeyman qb with experience regressed as the year went on. Given Marrone's departure and the subsequent avalanche of rumor, it is at least plausible that Marrone is a stubborn meathead who made decisions at least partly to frustrate Whaley. He certainly does not appear to have made a good faith effort to develop EJ Manuel. What would a rational person with decent intellect and character take away from all this? The most plausible conclusion is that EJ Manuel is still an unknown quantity. His chances of becoming a great NFL qb are relatively low, because the number of qbs who succeed at this level is always a small number. One could argue that Rodgers and Brady are the only truly elite qbs playing now. (Manning is not the same player.) Still, it would be presumptuous to simply dismiss EJ at this point. The factors that made him an attractive project are still viable and there are mitigating aspects that could explain how his second year turned out. One cannot simply dismiss them without acting in bad faith,which is what many on this board are doing. The bottom line on all this is that EJ remains the most viable qb with actual potential on the Bills' roster. No doubt someone else will be brought in, but none of the free agents are anything more than journeymen with proven track records. While the chance is perhaps slim, we do not actually KNOW that Manuel's ceiling is mediocre game manager at best. I am looking forward to a coach like Jackson or Bevell putting him in a position to succeed. He may not, but he deserves a chance. Really too bad for those who are unable to make a complex judgement.

Obviously.

I think that would be an excellent situation as well. As for those comparing Jackson to Marrone, Jackson has a track record of improving offensive production in numerous NFL stints. Also, I would imagine that being on the same page with Whaley would be a factor in determining who is hired. Both of those elements are pretty much not like Marrone.

Oh, I think it's a pattern. Sorry, I'm at work and just scanning all this. I thought you were inferring something else.

So what? How it played out was not automatic. Individual motivations and assessments are involved.

Agree with the sentiments on both of these. Sign two good guards in free agency and then find a way to draft Todd Gurley.

Yeah, I hate it when people do that

Hell no. I was thinking I'd take him for their first --- no, I'm not serious, but that's what it would take if I was Whaley.

I doubt the Bills make a bold qb move, because there isn't a bold move to be made that isn't stupid or impossible to make. What they should do and will do, I think, is keep the crucial D players (hughes, extend Dareus, etc.) and upgrade the guard position via draft and free agency. I would also like to see them add play-making ability at rb and te. I would love to find a way to get Todd Gurley, but I'd be shocked if he were available in the third round as Buffalo Barbarian appears to suggest in his mock draft. If we did these things, given the quality of the d and the special teams, adequate qb play would be enough to get into the playoffs. I still believe EJ can grow into the position. Those who have already written him off are too young and ignorant to remember when it was normal for a young qb to take a number of years to develop. Most of the crop of young qbs who seemed to defeat that notion have regressed. To those who aren't young, well, old doesn't make one wise I guess. To those who want to do more than get into the playoffs, of course, everyone wants a superbowl victory. One can have a monster d like the 85 bears or last year's Seahawks and then adequate qb play can win a championship. I don't think Orton can be more than adequate; EJ might, the hell with the naysayers. Otherwise, one will have to wait for the 2016 draft, because the available options now are not going to net anything better.

Wow, an attempt at a positive EJ comment engenders nothing but negative comments. How rare for a Bills' message board. EJ will get another shot next year and I predict he will do much better.

Not telling you what to like or not. The books may be quite good. I guess I'm an elitist snob. Most popular work of this kind irritates me.

I'm under the impression that Tuesdays with Morrie is a memoir. Novels are a particularly wide genre, but they don't include such. Seems a lot of kids are now referring to any published book as a novel. I wrote a dissertation partly dealing with the novel. If everything is a novel, what are we going to call what used to be understood as a novel? Also, Albom appeals to a popular audience. Nothing necessarily wrong with that, so did Dickens, but I doubt he is actually a great novelist or an interesting prose stylist. Great novelists are people like Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, Jane Austen or Evelyn Waugh. Proust is a master stylist. Albom markets ordinary sentimentality in a way that people like. In addition, he was wrong about the dome and went out of his way to be snippy at a time when people have died and families are scrambling to protect themselves and their homes. Maybe he should reread his own books.

The BBMB is rife with threads wanting Orton, a quality backup who doesn't know the playbook, to start week one. I am not certain what can fully explain it, but there is an irrational and ugly factor regarding EJ Manuel. He was drafted as a project. I believe he is progressing. Some people are so invested in being right about EJ being a failure (after what, ten games?) that I honestly think it's pretty clear they are rooting for him to fail. They don't want to be pleasantly surprised. They want some trivial vanity associated with pronouncements on an internet messageboard to be vindicated over stellar play from a young man of outstanding character who happens to be qb for the team they claim to care about.

Sorry, I'm breaking into this conversation without reading all the prior posts. Can groups of people combine funds to purchase a PSL? I live in Georgia. I'm not rich by any means, but I would kick in some money towards a PSL to keep the team in Buffalo. I wouldn't expect to go to a game or anything. I just want the team in Buffalo.

I think you need to change your user name. I grew up in Buffalo, but I haven't lived there in decades. I have family and friends who still live in and around the city. My sense was that Buffalo was finally starting to come back. Nothing as bleak and despairing as some of the negative posters here assert. What I do know is that the Buffalo Bills play an almost unique part in the civic identity of the community. The Bills mean more to Buffalo than almost any other sports team does to a city. I really cannot imagine that there aren't plenty of folks willing to pay to keep the team in Western New York.

Thank you for your kind words, but I prefer Pats fans that are jerks. That way I can hate them with a good conscience

No. Though technically, the way you phrased the question, yes. There are sure to be alarmists who think it is.

Watkins is Julio Jones good. He does not duplicate Mike Williams' skill set.

Such a long ghostly rant -- and then there was another one! Short version of above: Wilson is incompetent and indifferent. The Polian hire was close to an accident. There's no rational evidence the team will not be very bad so long as Wilson is the owner. The only tangible thing fans could do to change the situation is not buy tickets and refuse to support the team.

Alec Ogletree.