Cash

Great post! Seeing the stats for James Harrison makes me wonder why they don't move him to ILB a la Arthur Moats. Don't the Steelers know that Harrison doesn't have prototypical size for OLB? On a more serious note, regardless of Maybin's listed weight, we can all see how skinny he looks in practice footage available online. Forget about TE, he currently looks like a WR in terms of build. He's noticeably smaller than he was last year. I find it very hard to believe that anyone with that (relatively) slight of a physique could succeed at LB in the modern NFL. I can't remember ever seeing a LB that skinny out on the field during a game. Maybe he'll become some sort of crazy outlier, but I don't see it. I feel like he would have shown *something* in his limited action last year if he was ever going to be successful.

I think the problem is not so much that Nix chose to address D-line *first*, but that he chose to address D-line *exclusively*. Here's the entirety of attention to the O-line this offseason: 1 4th-round draft pick undrafted free agents And that's it. Nix continues to talk up Urbik's high ranking on their draft board in 2009, as though that has any relevance anymore. He did make an attempt to sign a RT, so maybe he's not as sold on Pears as he claims, but there's been ZERO attempt to upgrade the LT position, not even for depth. I think the plan is to hope all of the young guys come through. Not a great plan. The more I think about this roster, the more it feels like we're in Year 1 of a rebuild, not Year 2.

Thanks so much for these breakdowns! I'm firmly in the pro-Evans camp, and I feel like he has a positive effect on the offense even if the ball isn't being thrown his way. I just keep coming back to how bad our offense was once he went down last year.

Count me in!

Agreed. Seems totally spot on. This is where I would send non-Bills fans who wanted to get an idea of where the Bills are at.

Both very good scenes. I usually tell people to go to whichever's easier for them to get to. For me, that's Bleacher Bar, so I haven't been to the Harp in a while. But it always got pretty rowdy in the lower bar area. The window itself is in center field, a little left of the mound. The entrance to Bleacher Bar is about where the left-field wall bends into center. It's on the other side of Lansdowne from HOB, maybe about halfway between HOB and the Cask N' Flagon. Great place to watch a Sox game as well. As for parking, I can't help you there. I would think there's some reasonable options as long as the Red Sox aren't playing, though.

I'd put us above the Panthers for sure, but maybe below the Bungles. I think we should be above the Redskins as well. Fitzpatrick >>>>>>>>> Beck. Unless you mean as a musician, in which case Beck >>>>>>>>>>>> Fitzpatrick.

Thanks for the heads up; I'll probably check it out. Any highlights worth mentioning?

I don't see it. This year's team isn't much different from last year's, and last year's was terrible. None of the units (offense, defense, or special teams) was what I'd call good, although the offense was at least watchable (big upgrade from the Jauron/Trent era). Our D should be better this year, but the O? Eh. We'll see.

It seems like only the Panthers' re-signings and Poz got overpaid. Just about everyone else went for what would have been below market value last year.

Gailey's reasoning is very sound at draft time, but not so hot when you consider that Moats has played well at OLB and poorly at ILB in actual NFL games. Also, I thought that you wanted the height and long arms to set the edge in the run game, not for pass rushing? There's a good number of short pass rushers who use their low center of gravity to dip under those 6'5"+ OTs. Freeney, Mathis, & Dumervil immediately come to mind.

I say pass on McKinnie. Beyond being out of shape and maybe washed up, he's got a terrible attitude. I'd rather roll the dice with our atrocious unproven high-character guys than intentionally swallow a poison pill. I'd be singing a different tune if McKinnie was in shape and still displaying Pro Bowl form, but he ain't. Roth would be a very nice signing, but it'll never happen. Well, maybe if Merriman went on IR in training camp. Even then I think they'd just move Moats back to OLB and call it a day.

Catchy. I like it. Probably need to be a top 5 offense to say it with a straight face.

Thank you. It seems like the RT spot was so bad last year that it somehow gave the LT spot a free pass. Demetrius Bell has exactly zero quality seasons in his career. Yes he's young, yes he's raw, yes he's had some injuries, but it's not he's a former Pro Bowler that we're expecting to return to form. And even if he does step up and play really well (fingers crossed), what happens if/when he gets hurt again? The Ed Wang Show? The Cordaro Howard experience? And when did the immortal Kraig Urbik become a rock-solid starter? Face it, our line has a lot more questions than answers right now, and not just at RT. I feel like we're solid at LG & C, and that's about it. On the bright side, we're slowly inching back towards being able to draft an OT high. 5th round a couple years ago, 4th round last year... we should expect a stud OT in the 2014 draft.

No chance they sign Roth, because they think the OLB spots are LOCKED DOWN with Merriman and Kelsay. Sad but true.

I think the loss of Carson Palmer helps the Bengals. Both because he stinks and has a bad attitude, and because replacing him with a rookie should mean much more emphasis on the run game. Cincy's run game was actually pretty good last year, but they kept throwing the ball for some reason, and Palmer just killed them. I expect them to go more run-heavy this year with Dalton under center. Of course, if Dalton has a Jimmy Clausen-esque rookie year, they'll struggle to win 2 games. But if he can at least match Palmer's bad performance, a rookie AJ Green should be a mild upgrade over a washed-up Ochocinco, and their D could bounce back. I wouldn't be shocked if they were a little better than last year. It's early, but I'd say it's a wash between us and the Bengals right now, considering that their schedule's a little easier than ours. I'd definitely rather be a Bills fan than Bungles fan, though, and there's no question about that. For all the knocks on Mr. Ralph, Mike Brown is clearly a much worse owner, and he's his own GM to boot.

Badly misspelled Chekov, and got his rank way wrong. Plus, I don't remember Trent being nicknamed after Chekov in the first place. Anyone know why? Did he pronounce V's as W's or something?

I would try looking around Wall Street, not Pittsford. Unless you mean like an online trader? In that case, your best bet is probably to hack E-trade's database. Good luck!

So true. Hightower in the 3rd round? Even if you like him as a sleeper, that's at least 5 rounds too high. Although I do like his idea of taking the #5 WR on a mediocre offense in the 12th round. (Full disclosure: I may very well pick up Kerley in a non-PPR league that counts return yards, but only if he gets both KR & PR jobs, and only if I'm desperate.)

I love how PK's breathless anecdote describes Smith throwing a pass well short of Stevie Johnson. That's not exactly the kind of threat we're going for, Peter. I also like how he refers to Pittsford as a college town.

To be fair, it looked like Maybin really did make the play. He was lined up at RE I think, and shed his block as the ball carrier was coming through. Not a solo tackle, but looked to me like Maybin was the first defender to actually hit the back. But yeah, he looks incredibly skinny. Although if he just gets more playing time, he'll make a huge impact -- just ask him.

He was right in the range where contracts went from being fully guaranteed to partially guaranteed, so there really was something to negotiate there. Whoever's on that line is going to want to make sure they wind up on the right side of it.

Several of the practice reports I've read have said that Wang has been getting beat by Maybin in 1 on 1's. That's a bad sign. On the other hand, out of Rinehart, Wrotto, Wang, and Cordaro Howard, Wang is the only one who remotely projects to LT, so maybe he's got a chance in that regard. Oh, and Buddy Nix wants me to remind everyone that our OTs are better than most people think they are. It must be true, because he says it a lot.

Plus they tend to be fairly poor quality. Very pixelated if you try to go full screen. Better than nothing, though.

Truth be told, the list they gave seemed pretty spot on. I'm speaking more in the abstract. Although I'll still take passer rating, with its transparent flaws, over total quarterback rating. Regarding beardo specifically, I concur. Average to below average, but not the pits. Not a long term solution, but fun to watch in the interim.