Koufax

Confused in the logic. First, "tanking" isn't really a good way to build a regime. While I'm accepting a bad season at this point, I want the groundwork to start to be laid, playing good football to start to be the expectation, and having the young players on our team start to learn to play better. So who do you pick #1? You are certain you want to lock that up and even intentionally lose to accomplish it, but then you list three QBs as interchangeable. So do you think those three go 1/2/3? I'm not sure the last time three QBs went 1-2-3, but fair enough. But do you think one of them is Peyton Manning and one of them Ryan Leaf? Or do you think we might have a Eli Manning and Philip Rivers situation (he was taken at #4). This seems to me like a draft where you might get one of the top QBs at #3 or #5 or #7 and tanking to get #1 doesn't really seem to make sense. I'm sure a guy who is the best for us will emerge, and draft position might make a difference, but right now in October I don't see it.

No. RB miles are measured in downs and hits. Freddie is low mileage and that will mater as he ages. I don't think he will be good for five years, but we certainly can sit with Freddie/Spiller for now and fill in with UDFA and late picks. And FYI we turned a #1 into three years of high mileage from a position that averages about five good years, plus two picks. Not my ideal fantasy trade, but I think a good move in the Bills' long term interest.

How is it squandered? We got two picks AND three years of running back miles. I like Marshawn, but we are not in a position to win in 2010, and if we can do anything to be better in 2011+ I am open to it. I think he certainly and obviously has a lot left in his tank, and enough that we could have considered passing on Spiller if there was someone of similar value there at #9 (or a good trade down). But having drafted BPA in Spiller and having three talented RBs on a talent devoid team, getting some value for one of them makes a lot of sense. I would have rather seen him go on draft day or go for a higher pick, etc. But getting value for him now instead of less for him later is fine with me. Having watched the Charger roster pretty closely while Buddy was in town, I think the more picks we have the faster this team gets better. I'm not really excited about what our 2010 picks are doing so far, but you can't judge everyone in their first year, so I will try to be patient and hope they turn out better than Maybin/McCargo/Losman/etc. It would be nice to see Troup/Carrington/Easley/Wang starting in 2011, and I to see more of some of them this season.

I can't imagine that we will get anything for him at this point, but I do see him having a better future than JP did after he is asked to give his Bills jersey back. The things he does, take no risks, hand off, check down complete, are things that are somewhat valuable for a backup QB for a decent team. I think he will end up with a clipboard for at least a little while after his Bills days are done.

Really? Really? Now we are mad at the Spiller pick? We sure are a fickle bunch. Preseason we are worshipping him. Two games in to an incompetent offense and we are ready to have him carpool with Maybin? If the more experienced Marshawn and Freddie can pick up some of the slack while our offense pulls it together, this kid is still going to have an amazing future for us. It isn't quite like Carson Palmer sitting as a rookie, and RBs need to play, but if his load is a little lighter until our offensive line is doing a better job blocking and our passing game is getting rid of the 8 guys in the box, he will be fine. Everyone is trying to see us as the 0-16 Lions and feeling the pain of two losses (Green Bay was likely to be one of our 5 losses even if we were a miracle 11-5), but I see a few more similarities to the Titans team that started 0-6 last year. I don't think we will go on that kind of run, I don't think we have any Vince Young on our team, and I don't think Spiller compares to Chris Johnson yet. But also keep in mind Chris Johnson last year during the 0-6 start was under 100 yards in four of the first five, including games of 34 yards and 57 yard. And in the first six games he only carried 20 or more times once. Bring on the gloom so I can say I told you so, but I think it is very likely Spiller still has a solid year, and we end up with the 5-6 wins most people expected going in to the season. My one real hope is we see Brohm play, because we know with 100% certainty that we don't want Trent or Fitz as our QB next year, and while it is unlikely we want Brohm, it would be nice to find out. But right now he has to outperform Trent in practice to move in to the #2 spot, and that is difficult, because Trent is very effective at practice speed against the pressure that our second string defense brings. I just hope he gets a shot later in the season that is more than last year's 60 minute audition.

Wait, why are we drafting #1 again? Are they using the ESPN rankings because of the uncapped year? Last I checked there were eight 0-2 teams, so with our luck the strength of schedule will break us to a #8 pick and we can get a new strong safety. Or maybe we will have to play out the next 14 games and the rest of the season won't be quite how we are expecting. I'm glad they moved the draft back from October to the spring, because I was starting to get stressed about us having to vote so soon and risk making a collective mistake with our decision.

It is simply the right decision here. Trent had a chance. He has the tools, he edged out Fitz in camp, but all along Chan said that was the order they were in at that point, and it could change, and never "Trent is our guy, he is our starting QB, chips fall where they may". Trent was the slightly better performer out of three so-so QBs in camp, and Chan chose the best option at that time. The hope being that Trent could continue to put it together and perform once the season started. Trent fell flat on his face, not just with overall results, but with decisions and actions on individual plays. Chan doesn't need to give him six weeks to realize that it isn't working, and a fourth year QB who barely won the competition has a short leash. I'm happy for the spark and change because the first two weeks were pretty embarassing. I am disappointed that it isn't Brohm who at least has the mystery potential to be a good NFL QB that we could hope for, while I think we know Fitz's upside limits. Brohm will get his chance, and hopefully he takes better advantage of it than Trent did his. But for now, go Fitz! I also do wonder if it might have been a better bet to try to hide things and have the surprise advantage against the Pats, but probably in this age of Twitter it would have been too hard and made it more difficult for the two QBs during practice.

Why? How different were the off season snaps between Edwards and Fitz? How different were the first team snaps? I thought that with the open competition they had very very similar involvement until the last couple weeks. I am a Brohm over Fitz guy for potential upside, but I know Chan wants to win right now, and thinks Fitz is better. Trent has to be done now. He has entered JP Losman territory for better or worse, and whether it was his fault or circumstances + o-line + coaching + concussion, he has no shot now to be a successful QB for the Bills. I had my hopes that he could have a rebirth with Chan and return to where he was when we were 5-1 a couple years ago, but that didn't happen. I'm looking forward to Sunday, and who knows?

If Trent stinks it up on film (not in the stat line which can reflect the team as a whole, and other things going on), it will be his second strike of the year, and we will be closer to seeing a QB change in week 4...but I can't imagine anything other than injury that would have him lost his starting job after a week 2 road game against a very tough opponent (by some measures maybe our toughest game of the year on paper).

We had a decent shake on Tuesday night, but nothing significant enough to wake up with a relocated franchise. I can't speak for Oakland (who is also a terrible team), but remember in San Diego we are still in the summertime mode, distracted by the beach, etc. Even the pennant race Padres can't get past a half empty ballpark. And remember that there is some regular-season disease here where interest remains somewhat low until December because the city kind of expects to be there. And the economy. All of these excuses are not mine. I have never been to a Chargers game and have only seen NFL games at the Ralph (okay, technically I have only been to Rich Stadium), so I am part of the local problem and not part of the solution! Go Bills!

Bombs for the first quarter or so then I would realize that that won't work, and I would prefer the checkdowns. If only you could give us a third option of some sort...

Based on what? You think Buddy and Chan are just taking the slow road on a seven year plan? Or they don't mind losing as long as they get paychecks? Here I completely disagree. While I wouldn't mortgage our future for 2010 moderate success, I think they both want to win as many games as they can right now. Nix wants to get this roster as strong as possible right now, and Chan wants to get as many wins as possible with the roster he has at any given point. If they are not good at it we can talk about that. If they are not willing to compromise 2011 for 2010 (trading big picks for Gaither, etc) we can talk about that. But the idea that the lack of pressure to put a winning product on the field in the short term or feeling the need to build a championship caliber squad is crazy. Buddy has one goal, and I think he cares about it a lot. His goal is to (like has happened in San Diego) build a talent packed roster that allows a team to win and makes him look like a great GM. Chan has one goal, and I think he cares about it a lot. His goal is to take the roster he has at any given time and try to win football games with it right now while teaching it to be better prepared to win in the near future. No regime comes in to a team as mediocre as we are and sacrifices the future and bets the farm for minor improvements year 1...that would be dumb. But these guys want to win right now, and want to get this team better week by week and year by year.

So you would trade Spiller for Anthony Davis / Bulaga? Or you would trade Troup for Claussen? Or you would trade Spiller plus to move up for injured Okung? Or you want to mortgage the future and send Spiller plus multiple picks for Bradford? Or Troup and another pick to move up for Saffold or Tebow? I'm just not sure where you see the better value at these positions than what we drafted that will be a short term fix. I look forward to having a great QB, but mostly I look forward to having a good team. Wasting multiple picks to move up or reaching for need are not ways to have this roster get the most talented it can get. I don't like our weak spots, and I am iffy on Bell and not sold on Trent, but I just don't see the un-doom options out there that would have made us a better football team.

Not the Yips. He is Gun Shy. Those are two very different things.

I don't fault Buddy too far on this, because I have not seen Green play enough, or over his recent seasons, and don't really know how he compares to starting Meredith, etc. He clearly seems like a week link, and I hope we find a way to get him out of the lineup soon THIS SEASON. I know Buddy is definitely thinking about that and trying to find a way. I can't imagine Wang or Meredith or Ubrick would be worse, and I think the Bills will make an adjustment here very soon. The Butler situation is definitely what caused this issue, and I don't think Cornell was a terrible signing given the circumstances unless this level of sucking is what really should have been expected. But they have to admit their error and get Cornell down the depth chart or off the team pretty soon.

I am definitely very sorry for Jenkins, and never am happy with injuries even to opponents. I wish him a speedy recovery and hope to see him back next year instead of hanging it up after two big knee injuries. I think this certainly improves the Bills chances against the Jets, because Jenkins was a bigger problem for us than Revis, and this will change the look of their front 7 a lot. They still have a lot of talent and will remain a very tough defense, but Jenkins was a very big piece for them.

I am optimistic as pass protection starts to solidify (Bell and Wood getting their endurance, Cornell Green being replaced). Trent took two good shots down the field (not talking Lee bombs, but the medium stuff we have wanted), and both worked out (the TD on a blown coverage and the completion called back for holding). I'm not saying that he is cured, but having success with it the times he tries, and as Chan points out that he really needs to try to get them to stop having 9 guys in the box, I think he could progress on these. Sanchez was really disappointing, and I think his checkdown tendency is probably picking up steam after his interception rookie year. Probably realizing that he can't throw picks, and with the D and running game maybe he can Trent Dilfer his way to a Super Bowl if he can avoid the turnovers...but he sure looked terrible trying that. I look forward to the Jets dropping to 0-2 after facing the Pats.

Did you watch the whole game? We might not have to score an offensive TD against them...just four field goals would work

Looking at individual plays, we did not block well and they started stacking the box, not fearing our passing game. I would have liked to see a little more Marshawn between the tackles the way things developed. But what we really needed was Trent completing 10-15 yard passes and the line blocking better and opening up holes. CJ outside the tackles is too similar to Trent's check down passing game, and it seems like Miami was successfully defensing both of those. So either our linemen performing better individually against their linemen for interior running, or some medium passing making them adjust their defense.

No, I agree with the OP. Cornell Green is the one face slap on our team right now. I clearly is not part of our long term plans or someone who could surprise us with development and upside. He also would seem to be our weakest player and relatively costly for several games in a row now. I can't believe that Meredith or Wang wouldn't be better right now, but I would also put up with a little bit worse momentarily since they have the chance to grow throughout the season and be more valuable overall in 2010, as well as clearly be more valuable in future seasons (which should not be our #1 priority...right now we have to field the best football team for 2010 from our roster). If we can't find someone better on our own roster or from recent cuts by other teams, I think that is a very depressing reality. I do not expect Cornell to hold on to his position all season...it just doesn't make sense.

Nope. Six Fs out of 12 grades means you are going with emotion and not football evaluation, so I won't respond to the specifics. Unless you have some Spinal-Tap-Like "G" rating below F and this one goes to eleven, I think you would need to throw in some more D- or higher to be taken seriously. I share your disappointment with the game, know it will be a tough season. I also agree with some of your general sentiments about some of the performances. But if you want to talk about actual grades (which you do, since you started a community thread), you have to try to come up with some that are more reasonable assessments.

Following all of the local media and the Chargers hear in San Diego, McNeil is a great player, and one I was interested in for the Bills when he was drafted. But he is not a fit for the Bills right now. His cost (important picks plus big money) is greater than what he would add to this team which continues to have some big holes and being in a rebuilding year. I don't think he is as valuable to us over the next five years as the picks and money it would take to get him here. And I don't think the sacrifice for the 2010 improvement would make sense either. We need patience, and a replacement for Cornell Green for 2010. Then after the season we can make some evaluations and see what to do to improve our roster. But in-season big splashes for rebuilding teams don't seem so wise, and would make it harder rather than easier to get where we want to go.

Not the right evening for me to stick up for Trent, but our o-line was terrible today and couldn't establish the run either. I also was very happy and impressed with two of his passes downfield especially...the one called back for the hold, and the TD to Roscoe. Both of those were the midrange passes (not short, not bomb to Lee) that he has completely been lacking. So one thing to build on in a disappointing game. I am very disappointed with our offensive play today, including Trent. But I thought our line and blocking was an even bigger problem than Trent today.

Yeah, I thought Bell looked promising as a project on some plays, but really whiffed on a bunch of plays where he is blocking nobody and a guy who came right by him is tackling or sacking someone in our backfield. I don't know enough to know if that is assignments, but boy it looked terrible on some plays. Green is not an NFL caliber player, and I would like to see Meredith step in right away. Bell still has the upside, and we aren't going to get anybody better this season, so as long as he is healthy we keep our fingers crossed he progresses, but a lot of disappointing plays if you focus on the line while watching the game.

He used "needs to bottom out" in his title, and "The best thing for the Bills is to pick high in next year's draft" and "Bills management needs to be honest and admit they need to bottom out" and "what's to be gained by winning six or seven." Hmmm...I think he definitely appears to say that losing would be BETTER than winning. And he cites that "Bills management" needs to agree with this. I however think it is complete garbage. If we have a 3-13 season I will stay on the bandwagon and get ready for our 2011 bounce back. But I think that 6,7,8, or 9 wins are a lot more helpful for this team making it back to the playoffs, not a hindrance. I'll take the over Jerry...just PM me with your paypal address and wager amount. [disclaimer: Koufax does not gamble. All offers of gambling are for chest-beating and entertainment purposes only. Offer void in Upstate New York and Sunny San Diego. Gambling may resume temporarily if the Bills make it back to the Super Bowl in the future.]