Lothar

Well when he played in high school here in Portland, he did play both ways and was the team's punter as well. Local newscasts were showing highlights from his days at Grant. It's amazing to see this pudgy big kid become the dominant player in college ball in just 4 years.

Look, he just got let go by Portland State here in Oregon. He took over a winning program in a 3rd tier Division 1 school and basically turned 'em into a loser in 3 years. I dunno, just because he rode Mouse Davis' run-and-shoot to some early success in the pros and gives good press conferences doesn't make him a good candidate.

I'd give strong consideration to Cody from Alabama - he's a game changer in the middle of the D-line. The next few rounds would have to go OL. If I were a new coach, I'd look for a FA QB to compete with Fitzy, rely on a running game.

oh will you people stop jumping into these crayonz threads like he makes sense or something. This is Hogboy's latest, albeit not nearly as interesting, creation. Or at least a Hogboy disciple. Kudos for stringing the bait, you've pulled in some big fish today.

http://buffalonews.typepad.com/billboard/ ya whatever ... I actually think this offense can be passable with TO - which is a big step up from 'putrid' ... hell, I'll settle for 'entertainingly bad' at this point.

Watch some of the early 2nd half action. Wood gets deposited in Trent's lap on a couple plays by the Steelers backup DT. I still think you let Bell grow at LT and keep Levitre on the bench and not have 5 new starters - that's just a recipe for disaster. I'll know the coaching staff is getting desperate enough when they pull the trigger and put Bell on the 1st string, dump Kelsay and take chances with Harris and Byrd and Stupar. At least I'll have some hope for the future. Right now this team looks as unwatchable as any I have ever seen (and I'm counting the strike years.) I still don't understand why this team didn't hire a 3-4 consultant - or at least an experienced backup QB who played against multiple defenses in the offseason to try and address this team's ridiculous inability to compete against. It's like "we know Trent has to figure things out" but jeez, at least try to help the guy. What is AVP doing? Glad I'm not paying for Sunday ticket this year ... don't need another miserable way to end my weekend.

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2009/...-toe-is-healed/ "Yessss!! My toe is healed!!," Owens wrote. "I'm sittin n charlotte airport on layover headed 2 dallas @ CPK! Tht's california pizza kitchen if u dn't kno!" (We know.) After breaking down his love for the barbeque chicken pizza, Owens joked that he was on his way to Dallas to help out the Cowboys until Roy Williams gets better. ... Look for the Patriots to send his Owens' old nemesis Shawn Springs his way, to give him the press coverage that T.O. struggled with throughout the '08 campaign. -Springs his nemesis? Seems as though I've watched Springs abused by his fair share of receivers the last couple years ... maybe it's a matchup thing.

http://www.buffalobills.com/news/article-3...7d-537a5693c6e3 The adrenaline apparently had been building for quite a while as Bills top pick Aaron Maybin waited for his contract to be completed. Lined up for his first rep in 11-on-11 on Monday, Maybin looked like he was shot out of a cannon as he got around the offensive tackle to swoop in for what would have been a sack on Ryan Fitzpatrick. “I’ve been doing a lot of work with my trainer back home and then out here we’ve got Joe Kim back with us working out,” said Maybin. “So I feel good about where I’m at. I’ve got a lot of catching up to do. I’m still trying to catch up as far as the playbook goes, but for where I’m at right now I feel like I’m making pretty good progress.”

Aaron Schobel has an elbow injury according to head coach Dick Jauron. “Aaron has an elbow and it may keep him out for a little while here,” said Jauron. “We don’t think it will be a problem long, long term, but it could be a week or so, maybe more than that.” That would rule Schobel out for Saturday’s preseason game in Pittsburgh, and possibly the preseason finale against Detroit the following Thursday. More on this story on the home page later this afternoon.

Let's hope this isn't serious ... Bills OT Demetrius Bell has been carted off the field. He didn’t appear to be in any serious discomfort, but he’s been taken to the training room. http://blogs.buffalobills.com/2009/08/24/bell-carted-off/

the difference between the Pack and Bills is both their first team offense and defense is significantly better than their backups. On the good side, if all teams somehow lost their top 22 players, I think we'd be competitive in the league.

Yikes - a half dozen blurbs about the Bills and training camp and the only thing positive he has to say is watching McKelvin will be enjoyable because he'll be toasted as much as he makes plays. The realist in me says he's not far off in his assessment but still ... I'd have liked a little bit more optimism. http://php.democratandchronicle.com/blog/sports1/ It seemed as if the Bills did less and less in practice as the days passed and practices became even more boring than they usually are. Then again, maybe that's just the beat writer in me, unimpressed by no-pad, no-contact practices. Folks, training camp is a snooze. - Trent Edwards is learning how to operate the no-huddle offense, but we can only hope he breaks out of his Captain Checkdown mold. Edwards is about as boring a player as the Bills' practices, which I guess goes hand in hand. ...

Good question, Simon. I saw your comment on the game thread and wondered how different the K-Gun was. I think more than anything it requires some incredibly fit linemen - pretty sure the fact we practice it all the time makes it easier. Two other points: as far as the tiredness issue, I have to think that the DL will also lose their push and after a long day of beating on each other, it may help the offense a bit more, especially on pass plays when we primarily use 3-step drops. Secondly, as far as the total amount of time in a set position, I don't think it's that different - the no-huddle gets plays off within 15 or so seconds with the line usually being set for 5-8 seconds. Other than the slower pace, isn't it about the same for a regular huddle offense? Or am I misjudging?

I am completely of the opposite opinion here. We're running this offense because it forces defenses to be simpler, allowing our young OL a chance to gel without facing exotic blitzes. The one disadvantage here is that game 1 is the Pats*. If anyone can throw a wrench into this plan, it's these guys - unfortunately, unless Edwards is successful, we'll be in a heap of trouble as teams mimic the approach they use and the whole hurry up offense experiment may be torpedoed as quickly as it starts. let's hope not for the team's sake. And the reason the Bills lost Super Bowls is mostly because Levy and Dickerson didn't play to its strength. When you have a high tempo, powerful offense, your defense can't be bend but don't break. Instead, unless you're as talented as the '85 Bears or the Ravens of a few years back, you take all kinds of chances. Lord knows we had playmakers on that defense - we should have built up a big DL and made folks beat us thru the air. Let 'em score if need be. If our defense was like the Falcons the year they made it to the Superbowl - where they gave up lots of passing yards and points but led the league in turnovers, I truly believe we would have won multiple Super Bowls. Ahh, it's all water under the bridge now. thanks for dredging up those memories.

from Chris Brown's blog ... I thought this was an interesting tidbit: In the press box I spoke to an AFC scout who was in attendance and he said he has not seen an NFL team run the no huddle that fast, "in a while." It's going to really be interesting to see where this no huddle attack goes from this point forward.

Lighten up, Francis. If you feel the need to spew vitriol about your superior belief set, go spout off on the PPP board. You'll fit right in.

well, I read it as an offseason review or preseason preview - cut the guy some slack

Hey Lost, Nice writeup - I appreciate you taking the time to do this in a cogent fashion and wanted to make sure that informed well written summaries like yours don't get lost in the ether. I think most people agree with your assessment. To me, it comes down to the performance of the offensive tackles. I actually think the interior will hold up fine and worst case, we'd move Butler back to a guard spot. But I'm just waiting to hear some good news from the wings - if Walker and Butler aren't at least adequate (and I think Langston's actually a decent right tackle), this season's on the brink a lot quicker than we thought. I'm not sure if any of the wounded FAs are the right answer but hearing how Denney and Kelsay!? are doing well makes me wonder if our guys can survive against quality DEs and blitzing LBs. Also, some folks on here keep calling for Chambers to come in at LT. IIRC he only replaced Walker at RT and Walker switched over to the left side when Peters was unavailable. I think maybe our coaches were expecting Bell to take the next step but it sounds like he's a year away. If this is our achilles heel come the regular season, I will once again be disappointed at the way our front office went about their business. Last year at this time I was guardedly optimistic. I'm pretty ambivalent right now because I don't expect much more than an 8-8 campaign. Cohesion by itself does not equal quality.

whoa lil buddy - ask Maryann to brew you a cup of decaf next time.

12 - Maybin 32 - Wood 50 - Levitre 55 - Nelson 60 - Byrd Cautiously optimistic (fwiw) ... http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dw...100.7dd05b.html

apparently ... from Sal M: You knew they had to do it. They had to pick a defensive back and it was Jairus Byrd of Oregon. He played corner in college but the word is the Bills will look at him as a 205-pound safety. He had 17 interceptions for Oregon so he has hands and he also has some punt return experience.

uhh, no they didn't, per Sal M from the D&C): And now this just in. The brain trust - Russ Brandon, Dick Jauron and Tom Modrak - just addressed the media and they project Wood as a guard, not a center, even though he played center his entire career. Why, I have no idea. He played guard at the Senior Bowl. I guess they’d rather have free agent pickup Geoff Hangartner play center. Interesting.

i'm looking for Barwin or Cook

15 games played - couldn't crack the starting lineup for a somewhat depleted Jags secondary - plus locker room problems from paying someone too much who was essentially a backup ... gee, you think that might happen here? http://www.usatoday.com/sports/football/nfl/jaguars/2009-02-11-porter-cut_N.htm?csp=34 The Jacksonville Jaguars essentially acknowledged two failed free agent acquisitions Wednesday by releasing receiver Jerry Porter and cornerback Drayton Florence. The Jaguars paid more than $23 million for Porter and Florence to step into starting roles last year, but both failed to make an impact on the field and may have been even less impressive in the locker room. Teammates privately blamed them for chemistry issues that plagued Jacksonville (5-11) all season. "In going through our personnel evaluations and roster analysis we are making decisions that we believe will help improve our team for the 2009 season and beyond," Jaguars general manager Gene Smith said. Florence signed a six-year, $36 million deal with about $12 million guaranteed. He also got $1 million in salary last season, but couldn't win a starting job. He spent most of the season playing in nickel and dime situations, and giving that much money to a backup raised eyebrows around the locker room. "Obviously, I endorsed them or we wouldn't have done them, so I'm not going to go back and second guess what was done," team owner Wayne Weaver said last month. "We just have to learn from our mistakes and move on." Weaver parted ways with personnel chief James "Shack" Harris in December, partly because of the two failed free agent signings. Cutting them will save the club about $8.3 million in salary in 2009. Florence was scheduled to make $1.9 million in base salary with a $2.5 million roster bonus. Porter was due to make $1.9 million in base salary with a $2 million roster bonus.

I'm usually more optimistic but consider me completely underwhelmed. Fitzgerald - An awful choice for a backup QB. If anything we desperately need someone with experience who can help guide Edwards when he has his 3-4 defense panic attacks. Florence - 6+million? For what? 15 games started, 3 passes defensed, 0 INTs. This seems like a Kelsay signing all over again - sign a mediocre backup to above average pay. Please, even the Jaguars considered him woeful this past year. Hangardner - I actually like this move but not if we also lose Preston - we're back to zero depth and a questionable interior again. I guess if we get Coles and Kendall or Walters and lock up Peters and Jackson, I'll see forward progress. But right now, net-net, we are treading water while our competition pulls further ahead. I know as fans we generally over-value whoever we sign and that seems to be the case with these mostly 3rd tier free agents. My only solace now is Jauron can't survive another losing season but who knows what that outcome will bring in the future. 2010 or bust!