Cash

I don't have time to look up Roscoe's details right now, but our only free agent WRs this offseason will be TO and Josh Reed. Maybe Jenkins, too, but I'm not sure about that. Evans, Hardy, Johnson, & Parrish are all signed for at least one more year.

Hmm, carrying 7 WRs, 2 RBs, and 1 FB is a rather unconventional setup. So if both of our backs get hurt on Sunday, what's the backup plan? McIntyre moves to tailback? Josh Reed (former RB) is the emergency tailback? Empty sets all day long? On the bright side, it's nice to have another big target that our QB won't be able to get the ball to.

So what's the plan then? Build up an elite line, then try to win the Super Bowl with a rookie QB? How about trying to find a QB while trying to fix the line? I think everyone understands that you need good O-line play to win in the NFL, but QB remains the most important position in football. In the NFL, you either have a quarterback or you're looking for a quarterback. We fall into the latter category. That doesn't mean we have to or should ignore the O-line.

So how would you like the QB position to be addressed?

You know, if they predicted that pick with the explanation, "The Bills are in love with drafting DBs high," I think it would be a solid mock. But when you say ridiculous things like, "(The Bills) need to upgrade at cornerback," it makes you sound stupid. The Bills have the #3 pass defense in the league right now. Also the worst run D in the league, terrible QBs, and a terrible O-line. So clearly the defensive backfield is not the problem. Try 20 minutes of research before writing the next mock draft, chief.

Nice troll. Kudos.

If I thought 10-6 or better was in any way possible, then I'd root for that. But I don't, so I'm rooting for wholesale changes. Only way to make that happen is with a bad record. During the individual games, however, I can't bring myself to root for the Bills to lose. If I'm watching them, I'm happy if they win and upset if they lose.

At this point, I'd prefer he start. If he spends the rest of the year on the bench, people might be able to convince themselves that he should be brought back next year.

Fitzpatrick >> Edwards Doesn't mean either one is starter material. From what I've seen, it looks like a bunch (but not all) of Fitzpatrick's bad throws come are caused by pressure, to the point where I think he could do a good job behind a good O-line. Trentative plays so scared that I really don't think he can ever be good, even behind the best O-line in the world. And even if he miraculously grows some balls and develops a pocket presence, there's still the problem of his arm. He doesn't have a big arm, and he's not very accurate. How often do you see him hit someone in stride? That's accuracy. Throwing the ball 4 yards to a stationary guy is not.

Video's up. Ten seconds in, seems to be the usual.

Mamula was a solid but unspectacular player whose career was cut short by injuries. Definitely a bust considering how high he was drafted, but not nearly the "one workout wonder" that people think he is.

I'd much rather have Locker than any LB in the first round. I'm not sold on Locker by any means, but you have to consider positional value. The 49ers hit a Grand Slam with Patrick Willis. Hey, that's great, enjoy your 6-10 seasons. That's not a knock on Willis, he's amazing and I'd definitely rather have him than Poz. It's just that no linebacker can make that big a difference in the win column. QB is a different story on that front. There's no sure things at QB in the first round, but if you hit (e.g., Flacco), you win big and keep on winning. Even if you hit on a Hall of Fame linebacker, you just don't get the payoff of hitting on a money QB. Also, Arthur Jones is a DT. He could probably play DE in a 3-4 (as DraftTek has him listed), but he's played DT in a 4-3 in college. I like him, but not before the late first round, preferably second round. I know you weren't advocating us drafting him as a DE; I just wanted to point that out.

Quite possibly. I know that he was on the Greatest Show on Turf Rams, and Madden was all about him at that time, but I don't remember if he was specifically the Cankles guy.

Commit to Captain Checkdown for another year? Why not just bring back George Bush? I think he's finally gonna turn it around. At this point, I think I'd take Bush under center over Edwards.

Hot dog! We have a wiener!

Yeah, loved the bounce-back game from the special teams. Really got a jolt out of seeing my man Terrance McGee back there on the one kickoff, too. Can we maybe cool it on the "fire Bobby April" talk? Five bad games do not outweigh five excellent years.

<Sigh> Really, dude? I go through box scores and one game log to compile and post stats showing that Edwards goes to WRs 49% of the time and Fitzpatrick does so 81% of the time, and I'm the lazy one? Let me hit you with some knowledge, chief. When I say "...I can't recall Edwards successfully throwing to a WR on the move, except for the occasional go route," that doesn't mean the same thing as (your words) "TE has not thrown downfield to a WR." Of course he's thrown downfield to WRs. Duh. But first of all, less than half of his passes even go towards WRs, and secondly, when they do go to WRs, it's usually to either a stationary WR or to a WR running a go route. "TE has gone deep to both Evans and TO." No kidding, ace. We know. That's why we say things like "except for the occasional go route." Also called the fly or 9 route, it's the quintessential deep ball. Trent throws a fair number of those. I don't want him throwing many more. Only Al Davis thinks you can still build an offense around the fly pattern. Trent doesn't throw nearly enough slants, crossing patterns, ins, outs, and posts. Yes, he throws some, but very rarely, and with little success. Off the top of my head, I can think of two slants to TO that were both bad throws resulting in interceptions, and one really nice circle route to Marshawn in the Cleveland game, where Edwards hit Lynch in stride and Lynch picked up some nice RAC. So Edwards has had at least one good pass to a target on the move, but I can't think of any that went to WRs. "But the vast majority of Fitz's passes are short also." This strikes me as one of those Poz-type vast majorities, i.e., about 40%. But you know what? Back up this statement with evidence, and I'll agree. All you have to do is take a look at the game logs of the last two games. Every pass is labeled as short, deep, etc. Just find the total number of "short" attempts by Fitzpatrick, then divide by his total attempts on the year, and you'll get a percentage. Don't be lazy.

The only reason I wouldn't put WR at P9 is that there's a significant chance that all 3 of TO, Josh Reed, and Roscoe Parrish are gone this offseason. Reed will probably get re-signed, but you never know, and I'd be surprised to see either TO or Parrish on next year's opening day roster.

I think he meant that the Bills are 10th against the pass, which is true. The Panthers are #1. That's the official ranking, which is passing yards per game. If you look at yards per pass, the Bills are #3 and the Panthers are #12.

Yeah, Fitzpatrick isn't a very good QB. Anyone getting excited about him is fooling himself. He would play better with a better O-line (a bunch of his misses came when he was hit as he threw), but that's true of any QB. Bottom line is that Fitzpatrick is no more than a backup. But the point is that he's at least trying to be a good QB. If he had better ability, he would be a good QB. But Edwards isn't even trying to make plays downfield. How many times does he have to throw to a covered RB at the line of scrimmage on 3rd or 4th and long before it's clear that Edwards just doesn't get it? You could give him the best arm in the world and the best O-line in the world and he'd still suck, because his decision-making is nightmarish. Now, if Edwards had the best arm in the world, I might be willing to wait on him, and hope his decision-making miraculously turns around. But Edwards doesn't have a good arm. His completion percentage is only better than Fitzpatrick's because Edwards makes so many more safe throws. On WR throws, they're both around 50%. And I can't recall Edwards successfully throwing to a WR on the move, except for the occasional go route. You just can't have a successful offense made up of hitches, checkdowns, and fly patterns, and that's all that Edwards gives you. Even the rare (extremely rare) times that he throws to a WR on the move, he's way too inaccurate. He's gotten intercepted twice on slants, and both times it was because the pass was high and behind TO. And he turns the ball over way too much for a guy who never makes any risky throws. I'm actually really surprised Fitzpatrick hasn't turned the ball over yet, because his willingness to take risks plus his lack of accuracy plus our bad pass protection should equal significant turnovers. Don't be surprised if Fitzpatrick tosses a couple picks against Houston.

Why can't we try to do both at the same time? Fitzpatrick might be able to lead a team to 10-6 or so with a great O-line, but that's a best-case. Edwards is worthless. I'd like to go QB at the top of the draft, and make O-line (especially the tackles, but there's currently no depth in the middle) the overall top priority in the off-season. I'd like at least 1 decent veteran signing and at least 1 pick in the first 3 rounds.

How much more evidence do you need? Edwards is a terrible quarterback. If he was capable of being a good quarterback, he'd have shown signs of it by now. Offseason need #1 is a starting QB. I'll admit I was wrong about Fitzpatrick: I thought he was a total wasted signing, but after 2 games, I think he's more or less an okay backup. Now we just need a good starter and a good O-line for him to play behind.

On second thought, I'd remove RB from P9. Too injury-prone a position to get complacent, plus late-round gems are often found at RB.

Where's QB? I would put QB at P1, but our O-line is so bad, I'll go with: P1 = None P2 = QB, OT P3 = LB, DT P4 = TE, DE, OG P9 = FS, SS, RB

http://forums.twobillsdrive.com/index.php?...t&p=1615656 Cliff's Notes version: Edwards has thrown just under half his passes at WRs, with about a quarter each going towards RBs and TEs. Fitzpatrick has targeted over 80% of his passes at WRs, with about 12% going at RBs and about 6% going at TEs. No guarantee that Fitz's numbers continue at this pace, but so far, the difference is extreme.