JohnC

Let me end my interminable responses on this topic on a somewhat positive note. I also like the Marrone and Pettine hire. The Hackett hiring is interesting but I am a tad bit queasy with his inexperience. The players cut from the roster were predictable and very justifiable. The free agent acquisitions are still in progress but I like the additions of Lawson and Branch with the expectation that there are still good value pickups to be made. A Dansby addition would be very helpful. In my opinion letting Levitre go because of his contract demands was the right thing to do. If the Bills come out of this draft with a franchise qb to groom (Barkley/Nassib /EJ Manuel/Wilson) then I will consider this franchise making progress. My major regret is that I would have preferred this GM to have exhibited the same urgency in his pursuit of a qb sooner rather than later. I may be over reading this offseason's transactiions but I get the sense that there is a more orderly and systemic approach to addressing the roster. Is that a sign that others in the organization are influencing what is going on? I hope so.

Arguing whether a GM is in the middle of the pack or near the bottom is wasted energy. Either way your team goes nowhere. It is like having a franchise qb who is average or less. It doesn't really matter because you don't get anywhere meaningful with that type of talent level. Nix's body of work is on display. There is more than enough material to make a fair judgment. For me the evaluation is simple. I will simply refer you to the record.

What made the Bills an appealing job this offseason for Pettine was that he didn't have a job. He took the first job offer that became available after he became unemployed. He certainly wouldn't have givenup his Jets' job the prior year for a job to work with Chan. I respectfully disagree with your position that what made the Bills' job appealing was the talent level on one of the worst ranked defenses in the league. There is no doubt that a lack of good coaching was a factor in its poor performance but the main contributor to its poor showing was the lack of talent on the defense. Yout threw me off balance when you mentioned the underperforming Anderson as a player that appealed to him. Our views on this subjective matter are irreconcilable. We simply disagree. No big deal.

I don't want to belabor my criticism of Nix (I'm sure it gets tiresome to read) but if Gailey and his selected staff were so lacking then ask yourself who hired Gailey? If Fitz is so inadequate then who signed him to a relatively rich contract extension? I have never made the cliam that as you put it "Nix hasn't whiffted on everything he has done" (your words). But I have made the point that if your GM is mediocre and he is competing against astute GMs such as Newsome, Colbert, Thompson etc you will never be a seriously contending team. Compare Nix to Ozzie Newsome? Does Nix have the wherewithal to match him or come close to matching him? There is nothing wrong or unfair in holding people accountable for their performances. In sports taking the measure is more simple than other fields of endeavor. It's about the record. When totalling the wins and losses excuses are not factored into the calculations. What infuriates me to no end is the wasted years of the Levy/Brandon/Nix stewardship of this team. Instead of building a solid foundation to build a team on we have to keep repeating the crazy cycle of redoing what we have already done, again and again. It's the same old cycle of futility.

What the heck did you expect him to say? What he said is the same scripted pabulum that every new coaching hire says. ]

Pettine's primary motivation was getting a job because he was out of a job. Whether he had a dynamo defense to work with or a rebuilding defense to work with he was going to a place that offered him a job and presented him with a situation that gave him more authority as a DC than he had with the Jets. Buddy Ryan had a lot of say on defense. That type of HC involvement in the defense would be minimal, especially when his new HC has roots as an OL coach.

Pettine didn't have the full authority as a DC in NY that he would have in Buffalo. Ryan focused his attention mostly on defense with little input on offense. Pettine expressed prior to his last year (as you noted) that he would like to be in a different coaching situation as a DC. The following attachment indicates that Pettine was ready to leave and was going to leave (end of contract with no extension) even before he knew that there was an opening with the Bills. http://www.nypost.co...8DAK8fvPIlIz6VM

Pettine is not a fool. He is going to an organization where he has full authority for the defense. That was not the case in NY where Ryan, the HC, had the major say on defense, or at least the final say. There was a flip situation in Buffalo last year where Chan, the HC, was for all intent and purposes the OC. For the most part coaches and coordinators (not HCs) are on short term or year to year deals. It is well known that Buddy Ryan is in a very precarious situation now that there is a new GM who is in a rebuilding mode. So from a job security standpoint taking a job with Marrone was putting himself in a better situation. Don't get me wrong. I like the Marrone hire and I very much like the Pettine hire. But Pettine didn't leave the Jets because he was going to a team with a powerhouse defense. He was hooking up with Marrone because it was a better employment situation for him. Let me state up front and very bluntly that I have little regard for Nix as a GM. He selected the prior HC, been involved in three very average drafts and was most responsible for putting together this roster. His record is a dismal 16-32. During his stewardship his team has been nearly incapable of beating any team with a winning record. When the Bills played two superior teams last year, Seahawks and 49ers, they were demolished. It was a contest of men against prebuescent boys. It was embarrassing. In three years this clueless GM made little attempt to address the qb position, the most important position in the game. He passed on good quality qb prospects for other very average prospects. His lassitude in finding a real qb bordered on malfeasance and nonfeasance. Making a defense for a GM using the argument that everything he has done has not gone wrong is not a ringing endorsement of his record. The bottom line is the bottom line i.e. the record. It is dismal. There is still a long way to go to get to the point of respectability. Even if Nix has a magnificent draft and even if he does a masterful job in acquiring good value free agents this offseason he has set this franchise back by not acting smartly in his first three years to establish a solid foundation to build on.

Yes. He was an only child. From everything I read about him he was a great kid. The person who killed him and the others was a multiple offender prior to the incident.

Someone I worked with went out to California to watch his son make his major league pitching debut. After the game he and a few friends went out to attend a country and western music event. The next visitor the father received at the hotel was a policeman telling him that his son and his friends were killed by a drunk driver.

Checkpoints are constitutional. However, they must meet certain requirements and be consistently applied. There are jurisdictions that don't permit checkpoints. The checkpoint issue has been taken to the Supreme Court and the ruling in Michigan vs Sitz allowed it. https://www.ohiobar.org/ForPublic/Resources/LawYouCanUse/Pages/LawYouCanUse-582.aspx

I would love to see a trade down. Odds are a medium trade down would still get the preferred qb for us plus additional picks. Would a trade down to the bottom of the first with the 49ers make sense? The further you move down the greater the risk of losing the preferred qb. Don't forget the Bills aren't the only team capable of maneuvering in this draft. If we trade down other qb seeking teams can also maneuver ahead of us to get the player we might covet. What I would love to know is how the Bills rank the qbs. Are Smith-Barkley-Nassib-Wilson closely ranked. If that is the case then making a trade deal makes a lot of sense. But if the Bills believe that (for the sake of an argument) Barkley is the best fit for them then it becomes a riskier transaction.

Ask yourself is this how Nix operated in any of his prior drafts? Maneuvering around and making deals is not something he is comfortable doing. Nix has often stated that if you like a player then take that player. A simplistic approach for a simplistic person. Everyone knows that the Bills will be targeting a qb in the first or second round. If the Bills drop to the bottom of the first and a team in the second round has a desire to take a qb that we might also covet then it will be less costly for them to maneuver ahead of us to take that particular prospect. Buddy has admitted that in the past he targeted qbs and has lost out because he waited too long. If he truly believes that there are maybe two or three franchise qbs in this draft I don't think he is going to mess around, especially if there is one qb he is most enamorated with.

I thought you were predicting a CB? LOL I'm okay with either Barkley or Nassib. The conflicting qb evaluations have left me very befuddled. It is going to be interesting to see if the Bills pass on Geno Smith if he is on the board when we make our selection? If no qb is taken when our turn comes up there is a greater chance that the Bills trade down because they will still have an opportuntiy to select either Barkley or Nassib at a lower draft point. It is well known that Buddy is not comfortable maneuvering in the draft. If by chance they do so in this draft, especially in the first round, that might be a good indication that the staff waiting in the wings are more influential and ready to take over.

Barkley in the first. Or Tyler Wilson in the second.

I don't know how the front office viewed Kaepernick. When Nix took over the football operation he wanted to bolster the roster before addressing the qb issue. He and Chan felt that Fitz was adequate for the short and medium term. Nix has stated that he was very familiar with Russell Wilson and what he could do. He thought that he could select him later in the draft. Bad miscalculation. He now says that with qbs you have to get them earlier rather than later because of the demand to find someone to play the position. Last year on the radio Buddy said that he had his eyes on a particular qb but someone else took the player ahead of us. When asked who it was he refused to answer. The speculation was that he was eying either Wilson or Cousins in the fourth round.

I have a high regard for Greg Cosell of NFL Films. He basis his evaluations primarily on tape studies rathen than the combine and scripted workouts. His favorite qb is Nassib. The one qb he seems to disparge the most is Barkley. He also has made severe critiicisms of Geno Smith. He considers Barkley a third round caliber of qb. His primary criticism of him is that he doesn't believe that he has an adequate NFL arm. As I stated in other posts I am not locked into any particular qb other than I feel it is imperative that we select our top rated qb in this draft. I am adamantly against waiting another year for our franchise qb.

If Chan Gailey was still the HC I could definetely see the Bills drafting E.J. Manuel because of Chan's affinity for athletic qbs. I just don't see it. I still believe the Bills are leaning towards Barkley and Nassib in the first round. On the other hand something is up with Manuel going to NYC for the draft while Barkley is not. Most analysts had EJ going somewhere near the top of the second round. So it is somewhat surprising that he would go to the Big Apple for the first day of the draft. Would I be happy with Manuel? Yes I would. I would also be more than satisfied if the Bills selected Barkley or Nassib. The varied evaluations on the qbs in this draft have made this draft very interesting. I would love to take a peek on Buddy's qb rankings before the draft begins. My guess is that the Bills are still leaning toward Barkley. Anyone else's guess is as good as my own.

Can you explain your reasoning for your advocacy of trading Mario Williams for Skelton? That has me stumped! I'm sure you are aware that Skelton was released by the Cardinals. The idea of trading our best pass rusher for this project qb is beyond being ludicrous, it was very odd. What it comes down to is your judgment lacks judgment.

:I have a lot of respect for Bill Polian. But he isn't infallible. Last year when Russell Wilson was drafted he made the point, and emphasized it, saying " let it be understood that Russell Wilson was drafted to be a backup. He is simply a backup. That's all he will ever be." The trap for many analysts is that understandably they have a tendency to focus on what a player can't do instead of focusing on what they can do very well. The key for success for any player, regardless of position, is to put the player in a system that best suits their skill set. There is no doubt that if Barkley was placed in an offense that emphasized the verticle game, like the Al Davis Raiders' offense, he would predictably fail. However, in a WCO or even a short and quick passing offense that the Pats play Barkley would do well because he is suited to that type of offense. Doug Marrone and Hackett have strong beliefs on the type of offense that they will run in Buffalo. If the Bills draft Barkley or Nassib it will be because they strongly believe that one of these qbs can successfully run their offense. If the Bills have a chance to draft Geno Smith and they decline to do so it is not necessarily a reflection that they don't believe that he can't do well in the NFL .It will be because they don't believe he is as suited to run their offense compared to the qb they end up selecting. .

Stevie Wonder was also able to see very early on that Luck was going to be a special player. Tannehill was taken in the top half of the first round by Miami. He is going to be a good qb, not great. Your year long zealotry promoting Landry Jones as the top qb prospect was very puzzling. And your loud recommendation of trading Mario Williams for Skelon was simply weird. When you throw a dump truck load of mud at the wall some of it is going to stick.

If you have the time go back and review the 15 minute clip on the USC/Oregon game. As soon as the ball was snapped Barkley was under assault. What is most impressive is that on almost every one of those plays he instinctively side stepped the pressure and got rid of the ball. He reminded me of Brady in his natural "feel" for the pressure and quickly getting rid of the ball to the right receiver. You can't teach that! JaMarcuss Russell has a cannon for an arm. No matter how well conditioned he got himsel into he will never have the ability to adequately process the information on the field and make the right snap read. Neither can Vick develop natural understanding of the game. That is a trait you either have or don't. Losman was a very smart guy in an academic sense. But he didn't have the instincts for the game, and never will no matter how hard he worked at it. It is like a good point guard who has the quick "eyes" and knows where to go with the ball. Is Barkley more of a Brees type player than a Pennington type player? I think so but I can't say for sure. What I can say is that I will have much more respect for this lame losing franchise if it takes a risk on a qb than if it pathetically continues waiting for the perfect moment that usually doesn't come. Acting and failing is not worse than not acting out of fear of failing.

The following attachment is one of the scouting reports on Drew Brees. It has a striking similarity to many of the reports on Barkley. It notes his accuracy, mid-average arm strength and the ability to process information quickly. The report compared Brees, the prospect, to Garcia. If you watch the clips on the Oregon game it was apparent that he was under constant seige. Yet he moved instinctly moved away from the pressure and quickly got rid of the ball to the right receiver. That is a trait (feel for the defense) you can't teach. Losman is an example of that. The argument that Barkley has a second round value doesn't bother me in the least. It is a fair grade. The second round grade for Kaepernich and the third round grade for Russell Wilson were also fair grades in that there were physical traits and on field issues that were reflected in their draft grades. However, as those two dynomo players have demonstrated those grades don't necessarily reflect how those respective players will play in the pro ranks. http://www.footballsfuture.com/2001/profile/drew_brees.html

, DT, Your post was exceptional. Well thought out and clearly stated.The positions you listed correspond well with team needs. I would really like to see a trade down because I don't see Barkley being coveted very highly, at least from the middle and upwards in the first round. Buddy Nix realizes that he missed opportunities in prior drafts to acquire a qb because he waited too long. So if the is going to error it is to pull the trigger sooner rather than later. Wood would be a marvelous pickup. He is a versatile and polished receiver who can contribute right away. I don't think he will be there when our turn comes up in the second round. If not, there are still high qualilty receiving prospects to draw from.

Weren't you the guy who strenuously recommended that the Bills trade Mario Williams for Skelton? Weren't you the guy who for almost a year strenuously recommended that the Bills draft Landry Jones with their first pick? Based on your upside/down judgment I'm very comfortable with a Barkley selection.