Dr. Trooth

No... just wrong. In hindsight it was a good pick. He's a starter and future star. The secondary... even with two rookies was not the problem for the Bills D woes... it was LB and DT. And, looking back, you can say that "this" player or "that" player would have been a better pick. Better pick? On what basis? Only on opinion... not fact. You and no one else can say, with any certainty, that Whitner was not the right pick. He proved that he was. You do not know what was going through the minds of the folks that count and make the picks. And, you don't have the benefit of what, specifically, they are doing on offense or defense, what specific type of skills, etc. they're looking for in a player, what positions they are looking at, what conversations they've had with prospective draftees, and what key indicators the Bills brass see as pass/fail in a player for this orginization at this time and juncture. EX... Adalius Thomas... everyone wanted the Bills to sign him. He is a great player, no doubt about it. But, how does he fit in with the schemes the Bills play on D? Would it be optimal useage of his skills? If it isn't, should the coaches change everything to accomodate this one player? This is the Difference between Donahoe and Levy. Donahoe took what he thought was the best available player... regardless of how it fit with the rest of the pieces and entier picture. Levy works close with Jauron and plugs the right players into the puzzle. You or anyone else can opine and have that right... but be fair. Many of the posters just outright blast the $hitt out of Marv and Dick for the path they're taking. Until you're able to see the fruits of their labor on the field, it is truly unfair to do that. They took a 5-11 team in their first year at the helm, significantly overhauled it, had to learn who could fish and who was bait, and improved to 7-9 with the league's toughest schedule... and were in the playoff hunt right up to week 16. Even knowing they had a mulligan in year one, they were able to improve with the 2nd youngest team in the league. With Gandy, Villarial, Fletcher, Shelton, possibly Spikes gone, this team may very well be the youngest team now... depending on what other teams do. I think, under the circumstances Marv and Dick have done well. And, folks need to stop calling Marv out because of his age and saying he doesn't have a clue and people blasting Ralph because he won't spend, and he then goes out and proves them wrong. If you think that's fair and right for folks to continually do that, then know one's going to change your mind.

I don't have to. The experts say he is the top gun at guard. The contract says otherwise. Why did he bother to go to Seattle? To find out that he wasn't going to be paid like the top gun and then came back to SD to save face and take a hometown discount? If he took a hometown discount, no one was going to offer him significanly more... that's because the real experts... the people that put the end product on the field... are leaps and bounds smarter than the oft worshipped media blowhards. IMO... I don't think he got a hometown discount... he got home cooking... a better deal than he'd have gotten anywhere else.

I ain't advocating that. I'm just saying if FA and the draft don't shake out like you want, it's unfair to criticise those that have worked the hardest, have the most at stake, and are the ones charged to put out the end product on the field. This team may be a significantly better team than last year's and not reflected in the W/L column. The fruits of their labor may not be fully realized for 2 -3 years. And, if it shakes ut the the Bills are the 2010 or 2011 SB winners, how many of us will look back at Marv & Dick's first two years (when the bricks were laid) and acknowledge what fine decisions they made?

How do you know? Have you compared apples to apples? How do you know the last two years of Diehlman's deal are not backloaded... you presume the other two's are. Why just be cause of 1 yr. difference in term? The facts are... Steinbach 7/49.5 (7.07) Dockery 7/49 (7.0) Diehlman 6/39 (6.5) He was the elite of the elite by the so-called experts. He ain't being paid like that. Anyone care to reveal a CREDIBLE & ACCURATE report stating Diehlman was ever offered, or turned down, $7.1M to sign with Seattle as the pre-eminant top gun at guard... according to our beloved experts? This is beginging to sound a lot like the Ruben Brown fiasco of the late 90's when he thought he was woth $5M/yr. on the open market. When no one else thought he was woth that, he came home, and John Butler foolishly paid him $4M to stay.

Prove it. Did Diehlman ever state what he turned down? Or, are you relying on media gossip that has no merit?

Big bad Kris Diehlman was supposed to be the #1 rated guard in FA. He ends up with a 6 yr. deal with SDfor 39M (cuz Seattle wouldn't pay that) ... Well... the #1 FA guard just got dumped to #3. Both Steinbach and Dockery got more... and, the difference between Steinbach's and Dockery's deal is less than $72k/yr. My point is simply this. A lot of folks seem to think because the media says or prints something that it is gospel. Especially when it comes to rating players for FA or the draft. Then... when it doesn't go their way, they trash the team and their mgt. for incompetency... and the fans buy it. If they were so smart... why couldn't they see Dockery and Walker coming.... Absolutely no one called that... just like no one called the Whitner selection... and just like no one is going to call #12 this year. These media boys, aka Mort, Pencil neck Clayton, Palentonio, Prisco, etc. are nothing more than a bunch of girly men that immerse themselves in the gossip circuit. They don't put in 16-18 hour days studying the intricacies of each player, they don't sit in on all day meetings discussing and rating players, they aren't privy to a team's financial strategy in regards to the salary cap, and lastly... they don't have a clue as to the path, approach, or what specific schemes a team has designed, so how the frick can they know what the optimal skill set (or player) a team is looking for? So... next time you read or listen to the experts. Remember... these guys are really just here to entertain you and yank your chain. Let Marv and Dick run the show and trust that their collective imtelligence far exceeds the collective intelligence of the entire media and so called experts. Most of all, now is not the time to B word about the player decisions and aquistions they make... for the very reason Im mention above. If there is one thing you hate as a person doing a job, it is formulating a plan that you will implement and execute and then having everyone and their brother critique and tear it down before even given a chance to put the plan into action, let alone seeing the results. Just sit back and let Marv and Dick do their jobs... when it doesn't work on the field... that's the time to throw stones... not before.

Stop...you are sounding too sane for this venue. This board has become overrun with psycotic nut bags and a post as eloquent and accurate as yours does not belong on this board. My 2 cents is... dude, thank you ... especially for keeping it real.

Willis is what he is... a marginal NFL starter. With the offensive line re-tooling, if what they are believed to be, just means that Willis will have even bigger holes that he won't hit. Willis won't be any smarter, any faster, any stronger, any more elusive, any more of a factor in the passing game, or any more embracing of his teamates than he has been. Hell, Shaud Williams, or any other marginal starter, should be able to run behind this line. Let's stop this bullsh-- worship and fantasy that he's a top tier NFL RB. He's the most overrated, overhyped, player in Bills history. Stop the insanity.

If Willis stayss, we need a RB now.

Amen!

Ah, you're quite the humorist. Marv is gonna re-sign the same dude that bad mouthed the organization and he ultimately cut.

So why are they letting him walk?

And... stay tuned. When Deshawn Foster cets cut, Carolina is gonna dial up Jamaal.

Thanks for reaffirming what I stated... "CRAP PLAYERS GETTING BIG MONEY". If that's a "good article" on YOUR boy, you'd be an excellent choice to replace Paula Abdul on American Idol when she calls it quits.

If this guy is so coveted, why isn't his own team, on the cusp of making the SB this past season, in a hurry to sign him? Did LT, Rivers, and Gates make Diehlman look that good, or do I have it wrong and it's the other way around. It seems San Diego either cuts or loses an olineman to free agency each year... and you know what, where are they now? IMO... Diehlman is just a commodity like the others.

Rushing statics can be deceiving. Since the QB picked up over 1,000 of those yards on his own, I fail to see that Griffith was the reason Ron Mexico succeeded.

This guy was a monster with Philly, get's traded to Indy and lays an egg. Then earlier this season Indy places him on the non football related injury list and refuses to pay him. The reports I've read do not disclose what this non football related injury, or illness is/was. All I know is that it was non life threatening. Some reports say it was something to do with the knee, and some say it was a mysterious illness. The last word was that Simon will be back next season. Does anyone know what this non football thingy actually was? In any case... if this guy comes back next season and is the same Corey Simon of a couple seasons back, teaming with Booger McFarland would make Indy's defense a formidable one.

I don't have a frickin clue. Ernest Wilford?

Just so I've got this right. You have "philosophical" differences with the new regime and are pissed because they are not considering your plan?

Good research... and putting a good snapshot together. I don't know of any other Bills draft (2006) in which all draft picks made the team and were active for at least two or three games. When 2008 kicks off, I would not be surprised to see that list of Donhoe's boys get pared down to 4... or even 3. The one thing different from this regime over the last one... they don't sugarcoat it. It seemed the last regime tried to present the team each year as it was making a run at the SB. That filled the seats, and heightened expectations. No wonder that regime got sniped at so much. Right now, this regime may get sniped at, but only from people who have unreasonable expectations. This year's team may be better, but it might not be reflected in the W/L record. But, in 2008, if we don't hit 10 or 11 wins, the fans are going to be disappointed and they will turn on this regime in a big way.

Huh?????????? What Jr. High are you attending? Let me see... Levy's spent 50+ years in football. A Phi Beta Cappa with a Masters Degree in History, Been a GM in three professional leagues, coached 4 Super Bowls, inducted into the FB Hall of Fame. But he lacks experience? For someone who has absolutely no clue as to what, how, why this regime does what it does, you seem to think you know a lot more than them. Like... how do you know this isn't a simple plot to get Roesnhozer to shut the fukk up? I mean, when Rozenhozer sees that no team is willing to give up more than a Walmart gift card for this jerk, and realize that his client is a career backup in the NFL. Your assignment for this week is to publicly apologize for totally insulting, demeaning, and disrespecting a Buffalo Bills Icon.

WTF??????????????? slightly above average????? Dude, you are so overstating this bum. He holds a career 3.9 per carry avg. The NFL average is 4.0. He hasn't even achieved "average". 1st round pick? Are you insane?? If the Giants gave up a tee shirt and coffee mug it would be too much for this "do nothing" bum.

No... he actually sang it. He had a flashback of a post game song he sang after a "W" over the fins. C'mon, we all know it and love it... and that song began with "GO BILLS... for we are here to cheer for you...

cb, de, lb... whatever position, are always important. It's the type of defense you play that dictates what attributes you require at each position. 3-4, 4-3, flex, 2-deep, read & react, attack, zone blitz all have little nuances that require a different skill set. A player like Shawn Merriman may not be as effective in a 4-3 read & react type defense as he would be in a 3-4 attacking defense. And, I thought nate Clements played better a couple of years ago when they playyed the SS in the box than he did this season... another reason why he became expendable... perhaps his skills are not best matched up with Fewell's defensivve philosophy.