BobChalmers

Nelson. IF Easley comes on he may emerge later. Honestly, Nelson looked like our best WR late last year - when they were winning. Evans was dropping catchable balls and looking like he didn't care. Apparently that's all he learned from the T.O. experiment. Evans hasn't been Evans (a real #1 threat) for at least two years. He wasn't fighting for balls, and he isn't as fast as he was. He was never big, so w/o his best speed out of college, he really isn't a big deal. Sorry - he seems like a good guy, but we didn't lose that much actual playmaking. I'm glad for him to have a chance to mentor younger players on a contender - that's how the Ravens media are describing the trade btw - noone down here (in Maryland) thinks he's going to dominate anything. If he was the same player he was 2-4 years ago, it would be different, but I think Nix and Gailey could see that he wasn't.

OMG - we MUST bring in Add-rooster!!! In the meantime, with some effort, we can probably all work the social media to get the word "Bell" to be slang for man-parts!! Nix is very high on Urbik. I am also a Bell fan, and it's worth pointing out what I heard watching one of the late season games this weekend - as of week 12, Bell had not allowed a sack.

Don't forget the geniuses at NFLN. Remember Marhsall Faulk? "The Bills [who were 7-9 the prior year] look like a 2-win team to me. They need to improve at Left Tackle." Of course in reality, they went 7-9 yet again - typical DJ style. More to the point, mind you, Jason Peters had just gone to the pro bowl as the AFC starter. Faulk didn't know that, and apparently none of the editors there did either. And yet, last year, when the Chiefs were actually earning that stat, the Bills with last year's horrible run defense still managed to go to KC and take them to O/T. But in your mind, this year with Dareus, Merriman, and a full year in the new 3-4 system, (plus Carrington and Troup 20 lbs bigger) we can't stand against their run game??

If Evans was rated strictly on his performance the last two years, he would not start over Nelson or Parrish. He drops too many balls, and doesn't fight for them when he's covered. Since he also has seemingly lost a step, he doesn't get open as often as he used to, so he doesn't really bring a whole lot to the table any more to justify keeping the newer guys off the field. All the prior talk about him needing help to not be double-covered just isn't real - not anymore at least. He hasn't been the best WR on the team for two years now.

Starting the season with Fitz under center instead of Edwards? ...And a full preseason with the first string for Fitz to get the timing right?

That's what I assumed too, but I'm seeing a lot of plays late in the season where he's lined up at OLB, not DE, and he's doing some good things. More good than bad. I'm actually a little hopeful he'll improve even more with a full season and off-season (sort-of) to adjust to the new position.

Hey - 2nd half of the year they weren't playing that badly. And yeah - though I did double check once - he's #90.

I re-upped my NFL GameRewind subscription this past weekend, and spent some time watching some of the Bills games from last year. I was really struck by how much better Kelsay was than I remembered. Trust me - or search around here for my prior comments - I haven't been a Kelsay fan. I've been really hoping Moats was going to beat him out this year, and couldn't understand why he wasn't. Having watched several games now - all after the half-way point when the defense was starting to get the hang of the 3-4 - you can't escape that Kelsay is making a lot of plays out there. All I can assume is that I was so disgusted by how he looked at first playing OLB that I stopped paying attention to him. Either that or I just happened to stumble on to his 4 best games. In hinddsight though, the guy is all over the field, and in the backfield a lot with pressures, stripped balls, etc.

So you think Wood and Levitre are weak in the middle?? Who is Williams beating - backups? Meanwhile - I am pretty sure Williams was destroying other teams last year too - so I am pretty comfortable that it's him, not the OL.

Huge difference between O/T losses and losing close games. Losing a close one to Chicago doesn't count for anything - fine, but O/T is entirely different. They tied three playoff teams at the end of 60 minutes - that's real. By definition they equalled those teams on the field for four quarters, so it's the slimmest of margin or luck that kept them from winning all three. Who said anything about getting rich quick?? I'm talking about potentially NEVER recovering that money. He can be rich next year??? Sure - probably, but as others have mentioned, ask Brian Nrohm about that. He is stupid because he is taking it for granted that he can still get his money next year. What if he's hurt??? What if he has a complete breakdown in skills or support and looks bad next season? He could be throwing away literally 10's of millions of dollars. What are you interpreting from Luck? That he's not interested in the NFL and plans on going off to do missionary work with his degree in hand? THAT would be admirable, but it isn't true. He's going to enter the draft next year. He'd better hope he doesn't lose out big time. He's stupid because his decision was all risk, no reward. Typical behavior for an immature athlete, actually, he thinks he's invincible and he's taking his unique opportunity for granted.

What? Is Cordaro Howard a personal friend/family to you?

Nothing changes the fact that Luck was out of his mind for not coming out in the year he was certain to be the #1 overall. Someone gave him stupid advice, or he was too stupid to listen to good advice. You can't get taken higher than #1 overall, and nothing he could learn in college is going to matter next to his NFL career. Anyone can go back to school later in life. It's especially easy with many tens of millions of dollars in hand. Stupid Stupid Stupid.

Yuck.

Every time we Bills fans think we root for the most cursed team in the NFL, along come the Lions. Thank you, Detroit.

Dunno about the Seahawks - they made some nice moves and play in literally the worst division in the history of the NFL. They could easily get more wins than the Bills even w/o being a better team.

Anyone who doesn't know the Bills >> Redskins, Raiders, Jags, and Phish this year is not paying attention. The 'Skins are actually excited about John Beck at QB, for heaven's sake! Raiders defense will be exposed badly having lost their lockdown CB. We were already better than Miami by the end of last year - do you really think Bush is still a difference maker?

My "sleeper pick" is that you will get this wish. Obviously Shawn's more of a reach, but I am with you on David - he's a real player. A lot depends on how Evans bounces back. "Probably not" is correct. We will much better than Miami this year. They are horrible, and the coach has already had his job threatened - the players - already not the most talented bunch - won't care about him. They're a 3-win team. Worst news for us about Miami is that they might end up getting Andrew Luck. There's a big difference between a CB and a FS. Established stud CB's get almost no stats because teams stop throwing their way and their guy is always covered. FS's are "outfielders". They get picks with a good sense of the play and where the ball is going, followed by good ball skills. Now, it would be fair to say our total lack of a pass rush last season made for a lack of opportunities for Byrd, but he also looked pretty confused out there in general - which means he probably was uncomfortable with the new scheme too.

Only problem with that picture - Dareus is BIGGER than Blaster, and Maybin is SMALLER than Master! Agreed. I don't think it's good for Dareus to be that heavy. Let's hope it's a typo. And please - none of this "play him at NT" nonsense. That's what Troup and Jasper are for. It would be a complete waste of his athleticism to play Dareus at the nose.

This. Miami is horrible this year - Cow-terd once again shows his ignorance.

+1

No - because on Captain Hindsight's starting lineup - which I believe is spot-on, Poz would have been a back-up anyway. Nix didn't want to spend 7M/year on his 5th LB. You're right - when you said [you] don't know. Davis was the best LB on the team, when healthy. Not saying much, but that does include Poz. Not sure what Kelsay is on your list. Moats and Merriman are going to be the starters at OLB. Torbor will be gone. Sheppard > Poz. I'm saying it right now. Why you think he should be worse off with "rookie" Dareus in front of him is a true mystery. Would you rather he had Stroud in front of him??

Kelvin Sheppard 250#, Danny Batten 250#, Andra Davis 251# Poz 238# in uniform when soaking wet and looking like he's loaded on 'roids. ILB is not a need area. OLB is if Merriman doesn't rebound. TE TE TE TE. Zach Miller. Todd Heap. Get 'er done. Depth at QB and OL (unless there's a real starter to be had).

Andra Davis was better than Poz when both were on the field. I've wanted to be a Poz fan for three years now - but he never seems to do much. Gets a lot of tackles that should be scored assists. Tackles a lot of guys who catch passes because he can't cover. Again - he led this team in plays where I watched hoping he would have an impact and was disappointed.

LB was addressed in the draft + Batten + Merriman. TE has yet to be addressed seriously in years. There's some nonsense for you. If they wanted to make a big splash in FA they should dump whatever it takes to get Miller.

And why would they be looking at DE's at all? Because they are ready to give up on both their top FA signing from last year (Dwan Edwards) and last year's 3rd round pick (Carrington) after one year?? Or is it that we were already marking down Dareus as a bust? I mean, it's true he hasn't done anything for us yet, but I was going to give him at least a few pre-season games before I started screaming to replace him at DE.