BillsVet

Mouse McNally is teaching the Jets OL from afar. It was clear that while he was coaching the Bills OL that they didn't have the talent, nor invested enough high picks on Olineman. I don't know Joe D'Alessandris' talent, but I know he's never been an OL coach like McNally has been. If teaching OLineman is so critical, and it is, then a proven OL coach with years in the NFL should have been a hire. I just don't think Chan Gailey has the league-wide credibility to do so.

Garbage. If you count taking a 1-15 team to 11-5 and stabilizing the franchise as diminishing, go ahead. People around here settle for mediocrity or worse and then say a proven talent evaluator with a track record of success shows diminishing returns. You want to talk about "diminishing returns" when the team has fallen from once proud to complete afterthought and irrelevant? Give me a freaking break. I'd settle for Parcells' diminishing returns in a heartbeat. What's the worst he's going to do, call Littman a bean counter?

How about an established HC who's respected league-wide?

The 2010 UFA class was sparse, so it's hard to hold it against them for not spending mega dollars just before a new CBA. That said, there will be a new CBA and I would think a team going on 11 straight seasons without a playoff appearance would make an attempt to find some quality players. Filling 2-3 positions of need in UFA allows them to use the draft to build, not maintain as they've used the selection weekend to do. I would think Doug Whaley is an improvement over Guy, and RW holds true to his promise to bring a winner to Buffalo. If they don't, that's tells a story that what they say isn't they're doing behind the scenes. It should never take 3 years to rebuild in the free agency era. Well, that is if you're more concerned with selling the team and profiting in the short term

Drafting RB's when you need tackles. Drafting G's when you need tackles. Drafting DB's when you need guards. Just once on Day 1 I'd like to see this team play OT who has NFL measureables and can play the position the pros. (Cue the homer Mike Williams reference)

Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. President Jeffrey C. Littmann Treasurer Russ Brandon Chief Executive Officer Buddy Nix General Manager Marc Honan Senior Vice President of Marketing and Broadcasting Jim Overdorf Senior Vice President of Football Administration Bruce Popko Senior Vice President of Business Development David Wheat Senior Vice President of Business Operations Boy, that's one murderers row of football people there. Watch out NE, IND, PIT, NO, et al. These guys are good, scary good...at squeezing a few more dollars out of the fan base. I see one actual football person, a capologist who cuts people without telling the coaches, and 5 money men plus RW. Sure, it's a business masquerading as a sport, but I can see Buddy being low man on the totem pole here.

The more the team unravels, the more fans see what the true goal is: set the team up for sale but make some profit while the owner lives. Nothing more, nothing less.

Glazer stating he'd understand women before he did the Bills front office is no doubt the tip of the iceberg. You've got to believe most agents know that Buffalo is not like going to STL or even DET. Both of those franchises, while inept, will be in their current city for the long haul. And both put up the cash to sign those #1 picks without much issue. It will be fun to see Jim Overdorf have to negotiate a contract with a kid who'll be represented by an agent demanding 50M+. What's Buffalo going to do after a 0-2 win season? Have a long holdout with their highest pick in 25 years? That'll go over really well with an indifferent fan base. Scary thing is we can all see it happening, homers and realists alike.

I'm just glad Marv didn't select Max Leinart. That would have been a bad pick.

I don't want to speak ill of the passed, but I'm not sure Linda Bogdan was anything more than an average scout. She evidently liked Carwell Gardner, and wanted Jerry Butler first overall in 79. Either way, the dysfunction of this franchise has only recently come to the surface. It was always there, but people like Polian, Butler, and AJ Smith were able to mitigate their absurd organizational structure and produce winning teams. Now, minus a Polian/Butler/Smith and featuring has been or never will be's in the front office, the dysfunction becomes obvious.

And yet, when the time comes to build up said OL, they go with a RB. Seemingly hundreds of people said after Spiller's pick was that it'll be hard for the kid to succeed because the OL is so poor, particularly at RT, LT, C and with a guy coming back at RG who suffered a catastrophic injury. The Bills should be developing an identity this year. Toughness and discipline from the TBD tagged offensive genius Gailey are nice catch phrases, but we still don't know what he wants to do offensively, despite having talent at RB. Instead, old ball coach Chan is throwing the ball like Coryell light. For Spiller and Jackson to get anything less than 35 touches a game combined is insanity

And there was much rejoicing...

Mike Curtis' hit on that drunk fan always get me. Maybe security should yield to a designated player when idiot fans run onto the field. Watching videos like that with those throwback players makes me realize the origin of the game wasn't Armani suit wearing owners and players driving Bentley's. And most of us want that back, but a 9B industry won't return there. In all seriousness, the toughness aspect is sorely missing in Buffalo. Not a player missing a game versus not, but someone who intimidates opponents. I remember when Whitner hit Johnnie Lee Higgins in the EZ after a long scoring play in 2008, thereby drawing a roughing penalty. This board went ape that someone did something like that, mainly IMO because no one had seen that in a long time. If Chan and Buddy truly believe in toughness and discipline, they'll start beefing up the OL and find LB's who beat RB's into the ground. Not taking skill players, aside from QB, come April.

Any proof of any of this? A lot of homers here don't know that many of these people leak info to the press (Pasquarelli is Modrak's buddy) in order to look good when all goes wrong. As in, I would have taken Cutler in 06 when we failed taking Whitner. Ask a Philly fan what they think of Modrak when he was there. And when someone turns down a chance to be a GM in the NFL, it tells me a lot about their work ethic when a promotion is offered. You've got nothing to back any of this up. And somehow we're morons.

The Bills are sellers and not buyers this year. At most they'll be looking to add picks for April.

Couple great throws and a few not so good ones. Mobility and moving from right to left were pretty good. Wish he wasn't as erratic, but he might be the best of the ones who ultimately declare for the 2011 draft. Like him, but if Luck comes out I'd go with the latter at this early juncture.

Here's what I said when referencing SB participants. You can joke all you want, but SB teams either had an outstanding QB or had an average one with a stellar defense and a running game. In 2006, Grossman had the benefit of a fine defense, with Urlacher, Briggs, Tommie Harris, and a few others. The 09-10 Jets were/are led by an excellent defense (similar to the 08 Ravens) that featured rookie QB's. They were defense first teams that ran the ball, exactly as I mentioned above. That's how they went to the SB. The issue you're arguing is as old as time. Take the QB first or go build other areas. If there are so few stellar QB's in the NFL, doesn't it behoove this team to use their top pick should one become available? There are no guarantees on draft day, just like everyday life. So being afraid of a bust should be mitigated by having a fine scouting department with a savvy GM who knows what they're doing. Jim Kelly didn't come to the Bills in 1983, and I don't live in hypothetical world. When he signed, Polian had already made some fine picks, and followed it up with others, including Wolford, Ballard, McKellar, and others. Metzelaars was received in a trade, That's why this team is so far behind: they have absolutely no building blocks at the hard positions of pass rusher and OT. Polian only got the QB because the USFL went out of business and lost a major court case. If you want to ask questions that can't be answered, fine. But this team will have one top pick that will be untradeable come April IF it's a QB driven league (it is) and a QB is available and worthy of the top pick (we don't know) then that person must be taken. For the sake of history, 8 of the last 10 #1 overall picks have been QB's. Think franchises don't know how important a QB is? I can tell you that when faced with a massive rebuilding (Lions 09, Falcons 08, Colts 98, SD 04, NYG 04) teams will eschew OL and DL when a QB is available at the top of the draft. They fill in from that start. And I don't think any fan should settle 3 years from now (if the team's here) with a team that ekes out a playoff berth. I expect the team to be a contender and not just happy to go to the party. Man, losing for 10 years has lowered expectations so far.

Which teams are going deep into the playoffs with average QB'ing? None. Most teams may not have good to great QB'ing, and most teams don't make the playoffs either. No position in pro sports means more to wins and losses than a NFL QB and the teams with a good one are advancing into the postseason. This decade alone, the SB participants have by and large had good to excellent QB's. And if they didn't, it was because they were elite on the defensive side of the ball or could run it. A rookie QB may not solve everything, but get that piece first and surround them. It takes a lot of financial investment in players and coaching, which is why I don't see the Bills next rebuild being successful. That, and the scouting staff and many in the front office couldn't get fired if they'd have drafted JaMarcus Russell and paid him more than Al Davis.

The constant remains that strong willed and talented football people are eventually shown the door or leave of their own volition. Saban, Knox, Polian, Butler. Those four men are responsible for the vast majority of this team's success. All wanted out or were fired. Question unasked thus far is why? Why would anyone leave after building a successful team? In the case of Saban, he was well-traveled, but the others weren't and probably preferred remaining. Now, the team is left to interview in-house candidates for GM and hire HC's that wouldn't otherwise be in the NFL. And it's not because the weather is bad from November through March.

We've seen it far too often where people gang up and destroy someone who makes an ill-advised post or statement. None of that should take place here and you were humble enough to admit you were wrong. It's just really hard to imagine RW firing the architect of the greatest run in franchise history, but this remains the truth. Watching Polian go onto success with CAR and IND is like seeing the girl you once dated get a better guy after you dumped her.

If the rumor is correct that Buffalo likes Ponder, it wouldn't be surprising. Mediocre QB's who have a low ypa and turn the ball over are really undervalued. As are slow OLB's who weren't that good of a 43DE.

So can I continue saying RW fired Polian now? Two common denominators to the Bills' repeated failures: RW and Littman. And that is not up for debate.

A QB refusing to sign would be the nail in the coffin for this franchise. Someone will make the point it didn't hurt SD in 2004, but the scenarios are completely different aside from Nix being in both places. SD already and unknowingly had a top QB on the roster and received a king's ransom for the pick from NYG. Several respected people have come out and openly questioned how the BIlls operate, including Pat Kirwan, Jay Glazer, and Adam Schein. For a #1 pick to pull a John Elway on Buffalo would make clear the fact that Buffalo can't compete and isn't willing to do so.

No one's offering a trade for the #1 pick. It hasn't been done in 7 years come next April and back then the salary impact was much less than it will be barring a new CBA with a rookie cap. If you want to make the point that the first pick isn't always the best, well, that happens almost every year. It's a weak point, especially when bad front offices get the top choice because they remain at the top of the draft year in and year out. The teams that bust on QB's with #1 picks are those who are or were perennially bad: OAK, SF, HOU, ATL, CLE, and SD pre-Butler/Smith. Those teams always draft in the top 10 because their front offices were horrible. By comparison, IND, SD, NYG, NYJ, and ATL won't be returning in the top 3 anytime soon. And Polian and Jimmy Johnson knew what they were doing in 98 and 89 respectively. They never returned to the top 10 of the draft either. It's funny that some fans are so fearful of using that top pick because there's a chance it won't go right. That's a defeatist mentality borne out of this front office's failure to draft well for the better part of a decade. It's why the Bills are where they are.

There are too many ifs yet to be determined, but Luck is the clear-cut top QB at this point. As with most topics in the NFL, nothing is black and white. But here, if you've got the #1 pick, you take the best QB if there's a need and move forward. There are exceptions, but barring a Ricky Williams type offer, teams get the best QB with the top pick. Your Elway comparison is made with the benefit of hindsight. That deal would have gone over like a lead weight when Kelly didn't sign and considering the Bills had just jettisoned Chuck Knox so they could get Kay Stephenson. For argument's sake, let's assume there's a rookie cap in 2011 and Luck comes out. Buffalo deals the top pick for a package of picks. At that point, there'd be a revolt when Luck lands elsewhere and the Bills take a lesser prospect in order to built the other areas of the team.