BillsVet

Pro Bowl selections may be strange process, but there's no doubt the Bills don't draft good to elite players. Jason Peters is the only home-grown player voted to the Pro Bowl since 2000, with the exception of Brian Moorman. No team will be successful drafting a bunch of average starters who aren't supported with elite talent.

Chan is an offensive genius who was kind enough to enlist an understudy like Curtis Modkins. Then again, Belichick doesn't have an OC or DC. Does that make Chan half as good as BB?

Much has been made of Spiller not getting many touches, but Torrell Troup hasn't seen much time either. Both of those guys play more than 3rd rounder Alex Carrington who wasn't active. Hard to believe a 3rd round pick doesn't get on the field with the DE rotation being what it is. I think it's safe to say pre-season is not indicative of what will work during the regular season. Opponents know through that Buffalo is a one dimensional offense with a QB who can't hurt them. A few holdouts remain who claim Donte Whitner was miscast in the DJ T2 defense. Well, if throwing a shoulder on a ball carrier who's almost or actually down was a statistic, he'd lead the league. He's barely average in coverage, has terrible hands (as evidenced by the drop near the goal line) and doesn't make impact plays. But I guarantee he'll be yapping about NE this week. No one can say with any proof that the front office wrote this season off. But it's abundantly clear why recognized and proven coaches, assistant or former head coaches, wanted to take on the massive task of rebuilding. There's a chance this team begins the season 0-8.

Drinking his metamucil, taking a nap, talking to Littman about his profit outlook, and calling Nix to ask why things are so bad. It's been a busy day for RW.

The games always expose a bad team that falls back on talk/hype to manufacture hope. The past 4 seasons provided enough winning to keep some interested, but this year is a completely different animal.

Brady and Rodgers are "Cali" QB's. They do however, have a real NFL offensive line with real coaches and receivers. EDIT: That said, Edwards still stinks and it's got nothing to do with where he's from. He's just weak-minded and playing for a terrible team. Put it together and it spells top 3 draft picks in 2011.

We're competing with the Lions today. We draft RB's like they do WR's. Well, almost.

Will Chan or Trent say they're improving because they gained more yards today?

These runs with 6 minutes left down 4 TD's must be getting back to basics.

Shudder the thought you've got to take OT's above the 5th round. Meredith in pass protection is a study in futility. Same with Green.

Is it Edwards' fault that the playcalls include holding onto the ball, being sacked, or throwing in the flat repeatedly?

I think it's closer to 10+ years, but who's really counting anymore. Until the Bills show something on the field, like a win over a perennial playoff team, they'll be beat on as being a bad team. Worst thing is, people thought the team wasn't that far away when they went 7-9, 7-9, 7-9, and 6-10 the past 4 seasons, They were so good in fact that they're completely starting over again.

As much as I didn't care for the Nix and Gailey hirings, they were tasked with rebuilding an organization woefully mismanaged for several years. The very fact Buffalo hasn't bottomed out since 2001 is really amazing when you consider that teams don't ride the mediocrity train for long before being bad or ascending to playoff status. I'm not keen on drafting skill players before linemen, given that those specialty guys depend on lineman. The exception to that is QB's, who are in short supply and teams who don't have them typically don't advance far. It takes a special type of person to handle the rigors of playing QB for a team with little talent. There's only one Peyton Manning, one Drew Brees, one Tom Brady, and one Philip Rivers. And I'm not keen on signing Jake Delhomme or some castoff just to go 5-11 in a one year trial for a team that might otherwise go 3-13. The rebuild started in 2010 will take no less than 2 regular seasons and off-seasons. Unfortunately, the QB is central to any rebuilding and Buffalo's future guy isn't on the roster.

Good find. Strong running backs with minimal push from the OT's. A secondary that's solid without a supporting pass rush. A weak LB group that has some 2 down guys with limited range. These are things that people said around here during the offseason and were destroyed for having the audacity to say them. GB is a good team, but not perfect. That was on display in Week 1 when they travelled to Philadelphia.

Not to hijack the thread, but I think the main reason top execs and coaches avoid Buffalo isn't the weather but a lack of direction. It's hard for RW and the inner-circle to make any long term plans with ownership being what it is. I'm convinced Nix has a long term plan but whether he has time to implement it is another thing. SD's rebuild took 3 regular seasons and 4 off-seasons. RW turns 92, which puts the owner at 94-95 by the time Buffalo is competitive again. But I'd agree that the decisions are short sighted and not made by qualified football people, and that includes previous "football" people like Guy and Jauron. I'm just not convinced that people like Overdorf and Littman aren't still making decisions that are short sighted. And those latter two aren't going anywhere but on RW's gravy train.

You're the GM, and as such will report to the owner. Every single NFL team needs to be profitable first and foremost so dealing Evans and Lynch for picks might sound nice, but it signals they're quitting this season by the trade deadline. No one in upper management wants empty seats, especially since this will be a long season with a few blackouts. Secondly, Mankins wants Jahri Evans money, not the figures you mentioned. And why in heck would Bill Belichick deal Mankins at all when the team is trying to prove a point, especially to a division opponent that plays NE twice a year? Furthermore, Levitre is not a NFL RT or LT. He's principally a guard that worked at LT in an emergency last season. The team didn't keep him there amid all the problems at OT in 2009-10.

Ralph didn't know any contractors to fix his house. So he visited the nursing home for some advice from retired carpenters. The Bills don't have time to be making excuses. ST's went down 11k this year, and a rebuilding year will drive that further down. The long term fans who've endured 10 straight and likely another playoff less season can't take much more. They don't have all the time people think they have. If anything, the state of the team should be more proof that Marv Levy, Russ Brandon, and Dick Jauron maintained a 5-6 win team and rebuilt nothing. And amazingly despite this, Tom Modrak and Jim Overdorf remain on the payroll. Each year the draft was a means to replace departed free agents, and that'll keep you on the treadmill of mediocrity. Deep down, Buddy and Chan knew this team was probably not good. They've been around the game too long to not know the talent level was minimal.

The rebuild doesn't really begin until they get the QB of the future. And that's going to happen in April when they select within the top 5, perhaps top 3. After that, they've got to find two new OT's and pass rushers who weren't former DE's in the NFL. The interior LB's aren't stellar and it wouldn't hurt to have some more depth at WR.

His name is Kraig Urbik and he's a 2009 3rd round pick by Pittsburgh that didn't see the field in his rookie season for a team with severe OL issues. It's like Jamon Meredith all over again, thinking we can shop at the dollar store and come away with diamond rings. It's absurd to think these guys who are castoffs from other teams will help this team, especially from teams that are successful franchises in Pittsburgh and Green Bay. As if the Buffalo front office sees something that Kevin Colbert or Ted Thompson and their staffs didn't. The offensive line, specifically the tackles will plague this team all season. It's bad enough having a QB who's afraid of his own shadow, but the OT's are a sieve.

Not much on research? Mankins wants a Jahri Evans sized deal, and..he's a GUARD. They've got two of those already and neither are moving anywhere. Besides, Buffalo isn't giving out 50M dollar deals anymore. Hartwig is a cast-off and not playing anywhere for a reason. Runyan is retired and running for Congress in Michigan. End of story. The solution is to have better play at LT and RT. Unfortunately, teams don't allow good OT's to hit the open market. They must be drafted and the Bills haven't drafted an OT in the first four rounds since Fat Mike Williams in 2002.

I would love to see the bottom 4 teams be relegated to the second tier league if that were a possibility. Wouldn't it be something if the UFL and NFL reached an agreement to do this? In all seriousness, the Bills have avoided bottoming out for a long time. But that run has ended, and fans responded by purchasing 11k fewer season tickets. Admittedly it's one game of 16, but continued efforts at home like this will prompt more fans to just say the heck with it. I have a feeling the worst is yet to come.

Right on. It is inconceivable that a team can be mediocre to bad for 11 consecutive seasons and thus not bottom out or advance to the playoffs. Fans forget that SD took a full 3 seasons (and 4 off-seasons) to become the talent laden team the are. This rebuilding will be no different. Buffalo wasted 4 entire seasons under wimpy DJ and predictably bad management from Marv Levy and Russ Brandon in the GM role. 2010 is those bad decisions coming to the surface. What we as Bills fans watch on game days is not close to being even average NFL football. It's actually to the point of becoming sad, especially when you factor in the very uncertain future of the team with a soon to be 92 year old owner. The rebuild has begun, and they don't yet have a NFL QB, LT, RT, or enough pass rush.

I don't think either those two or Jamon Meredith would be much more than swing tackles for any team. Miami's front 7 got significant push all day long, and they have no one who's a marquee player. Koa Misi shoved Meredith around and Green is a warm body. A lot of fans don't care about OT because they don't show up on fantasy rosters, but it's clear they're holding back the entire offense. That, and Trent's just not good.

The more things CHANge the more they remain the same.

It's amazing that there's been so little turnover in the front office since the TD hiring. Modrak was hired by TD, then retained by Levy, Brandon and now Nix. Guy made it through one less GM until being fired over a night in January. I think all firings, front office or HC, must go through RW. How else can anyone explain why Levy, Brandon, and Nix have not restructured the front office upon assuming the GM title. I maintain Guy was a bone thrown to the fans who placed him in their collective crosshairs. Still, at the end of the day they've not drafted well in the middle rounds. From the 3rd to the 5th in 2006 to 2008, they've gained few long term decent starters. Aside from Trent, who's not a certainty in 2011, only Kyle Williams is a long term starter taken in those rounds. Yeah, the draft must improve if the team is to take a leap forward. Otherwise, it's same old same old.