Cash

According to Chris Brown, Maybin got 2 defensive snaps last Sunday, and zero action on special teams. Are you sure you're talking about the right guy? Maybin wears #58.

It's nice to see some refreshing doses of reality from the Bills in the last few weeks, even if there's still nothing refreshing about their play. At least Gailey seems in touch with reality. Maybin never does anything positive even when he gets on the field. That just can't be ignored. http://blogs.buffalobills.com/2010/10/11/lb-update/

There is no sure thing. Every single QB in the draft has some level of risk associated with him, and there's a chance that he'll be a bust. But you miss 100% of the shots you don't take. I'd rather have a 50% chance at a franchise QB for 10+ years than a guarantee of mediocre QB play. The bottom line is that it's so important to have a great QB, and the reward is so great, that teams are willing to take a lot of risk to try to get one. This is one of the main reasons QBs bust at a higher rate than less important positions. The potential payoff justifies the risk. The two positions least likely to bust are safety and guard, because they're relatively unimportant. Teams won't take a S or G in the first round unless they're extremely confident he'll be a good starter. So neither I nor anyone else can guarantee you anything, but we can hope, and it's a pretty realistic hope, because all 3 of the guys you mentioned have a lot of upside. They all have some red flags, too. I think Luck has the fewest red flags by a decent margin, but I still wouldn't dream of calling him a guaranteed Pro Bowler. (Which is a more fair criterion than Hall of Famer. There's only 23 QBs in the Hall of Fame.) Even Peyton Manning, arguably the closest thing to a guaranteed QB prospect in NFL history, had some uncertainty around him when he was drafted.

Well that's good. Still wish they'd dump Kelsay instead of Ellis, though.

Defense can usually be turned around quicker than offense. We might be halfway competent with as little a change as hiring a real NFL defensive coordinator. QB and O-line take the longest to develop. Let's focus on them this offseason, and maybe by the time they're any good, we'll have been able to fix the defense.

100 out of 100 GMs say that they *did* draft the best player available, whether they actually reached to fill a need or not. GMs are the worst people to listen to when it comes to the draft, because their entire focus is keeping their job. Which means 1.) not letting other GMs know their strategy, and 2.) trying to make themselves seem really smart in the eyes of the fans and the team's owner. Former GMs tend to be a little more forthright, and usually they come down somewhere around "take the best player who fills a need." Anyway, regarding the Spiller pick specifically: That may yet become a good move, but it isn't one yet. Why not? Because Spiller hasn't really done anything! He's the #9 pick and he only touches the ball about 5-10 times a game. And he's looked good at times, but he certainly hasn't dominated at any point. He's got a lot of potential and he's not a bust or anything, but in terms of real world production, Spiller has not lived up to what you expect out of a #9 pick so far. Especially since he was supposedly the best player available (by far, depending on who you ask). Jahvid Best is a similar player who's looked a lot better and produced a lot more so far. So picking Spiller has yet to be validated as a good move. What has? I'll say signing Andra Davis. Cheap contract, not a bad player, one of the very few who fits the scheme. Would probably be a marginal starter or top backup on a really good defense, but instead, he's one of our best defenders. I can't really endorse any of our other FA signings as good moves yet. Cornell Green is horrible, Dwan Edwards has surprisingly sucked (he frequently gets pushed back 3-4 yards on run plays, and is a major part of the problems with the run D), Torbor and Ayodele have been pretty invisible and don't really play much anyway. But both make very little, so if either fails to suck, I'd call that signing a good move.

This is the time to *trade* Maybin, not play him. The more PT he gets, the more he shows how bad he is. He's still young enough and inexperienced enough that someone can talk himself into thinking that he can turn Maybin around. Every snap Maybin plays lowers his price. It's not like this is unprecedented. The Bucs drafted Gaines Adams #4 overall in 2007, and traded for a 2nd-round pick in 2009. Now, Adams actually had some production (12.5 sacks combined in first 2 years, made All-Rookie Team), so we wouldn't be getting anything like a #2, but the point is that we could still get something instead of cutting Maybin for nothing.

Wow. This Bills front office continues to perplex me. McCargo has been a healthy scratch in every game this year, and when everyone on the d-line is healthy, both McCargo and Carrington have been healthy scratches, so there isn't exactly a need at the position. Meanwhile, Chris Ellis has played in every game and even started in week 1. As another poster pointed out, how does it make sense that Ellis started week 1 and played well, then saw his PT decrease each week, and is now cut? How much of a coincidence is it that the D has gotten worse as Ellis has played less? (Probably a lot.) To my amateur eye, Ellis has consistently looked better than Kelsay at OLB, whether in preseason or regular season. But Ellis got cut and Kelsay got an extension. "Yeah, but the Bills' front office are professionals and know more than you." Do they? Uwe Boll is a professional filmmaker, but I'd say anyone who's taken a few film study classes knows more about movies than Boll. When the team has zero wins, they don't get the benefit of the doubt on counter-intuitive moves. Ellis is no great shakes, but from what I'd seen, he had been playing fairly well. And with Moats still out for a couple more weeks, doesn't it seem like we're a little short at OLB? On the bright side, this may mean that Antonio Coleman sees the field at some point. Probably just on special teams once Moats comes back, but we'll see. I'd rather see Moats or Coleman playing than Ellis, because they're younger and have more upside. But I'd much, much, MUCH rather see Ellis playing than Kelsay. Or Maybin. Seeing Maybin on the field just depresses me.

Well said. Just because he's overpaid and overdrafted doesn't mean he sucks. He's a good (not great) player, and would start for probably most teams in the league.

When your head coach was most recently fired in-season from his coordinator job, and not considered for any coordinator openings, what do you expect?

The Harp is awesome, and so is Bleacher Bar! The Bills Backers of Fenway are celebrating their 1-year anniversary of gathering at Bleacher Bar for the Bills games. Located on Yawkey Way literally underneath Fenway Park. All TVs have the Bills game, as well as the sound, and the Shout! song is played if and when the Bills manage a score (which is pretty likely tomorrow, b/c Jax's D is terrible). Also, I think in honor of the 1-year anniversary, they're doing a Garbage Plate thing tomorrow. Both bars are tremendous places to watch a Bills game with fellow Western NYers. I'd recommend going to whichever one is easier for you to get to.

It's surprising that none of the four split-end type receivers from that draft have done anything promising so far, and all 4 look like busts. Jordy Nelson is big (like 6'3") and decent, but he exclusively played the slot in college, and I believe plays the slot for Green Bay. I really don't fault the Bills for this particular draft bust. Nelson went before our pick, and the 2 good receivers in that round (Royal & Jackson) are both little skinny guys. Our receiving corps at the time was Lee Evans, Josh Reed, and Roscoe Parrish. Royal is basically a younger Josh Reed and probably wouldn't have helped us. Jackson's really good, but doesn't really bring anything to the table that Evans & Parrish don't already. Plus, as the Kolb/Vick situation has shown, Jackson really can't do much unless he has a QB who can get him the ball deep.

I like the over.

I think the fact that they've run so little 3-4 is an indictment of it. The coaches clearly don't trust their base personnel except in obvious run situations. We spent most of the Patriots game in what was officially considered a nickel, but was really a dime with Bryan Scott (the 6th DB) playing LB. If we had linebackers with any speed whatsoever, the 3-4 should be very effective against the pass against base personnel.

I'm having trouble reconciling the Kelsay-specific quotes with these quotes: “If a guy is not producing we’re not going to keep doing the same thing and keep losing with the same people doing the same thing,” Nix said. “...To be honest with you, nobody is safe, you’ve got to produce." We keep losing with Kelsay as one of the "core" players, one of the "leaders" in the locker room, and a starter on the field. He's not producing. So... keep on rolling? I very much believe the stories that have come out about the pettiness/vindictiveness of the Bills' front office. Guys like Peters get an FU from the Bills, and things go really sour. But guys like Kelsay, who always spout the company line, always play the good soldier, and never express negativity towards the team, those guys get rewarded whether they produce or not. I believe the Bills are hoping that other players will see the examples made of guys like Kelsay and Peters, take the hint, and fall in line. The problem with that logic is that the Bills don't pay any better than anyone else, don't play in any appealing city to live in, and have stunk for some time. Most players that are any good would rather just go to another team than become loyal company men. Back to Kelsay for a bit, I love Chris Brown's feeble attempt to put a positive spin on the extension. (As an aside, I really sympathize with Chris Brown. The Bills are his employer. It's his job to spin everything in as positive a light as possible. That's an extremely difficult task right now, and I feel bad for him. In many ways, his job is a Bills fan's dream job, but there is definitely a downside.) He says: "A forgotten part of what it’s going to take to turn around the Bills franchise is eliminating the culture of losing that exists in the locker room. In no way does any player in Buffalo’s locker room want to lose, but when a team loses games as much as Buffalo has it can become a self-fulfilling type thing. Even Nix said though players may not realize it, it can become an accepted thing." He implies that Kelsay is one of those key guys who can turn around that culture of losing. But Kelsay is as big a part of the culture of losing as anyone. He's never made the playoffs. He's only played on one winning (9-7) team. He's been one of the most complacent players on the Bills after a loss. I've heard beat reporters talk about how under Jauron, the attitude in the locker room on Monday was the same after a loss as it was after a win. And Chris Kelsay was a captain on that team. If that's the sort of attitude that his leadership fosters, then count me out.

Since Trent never audibled, would he even know those calls? Plus, I could see his debriefing sessions with Del Rio going something like this: Edwards: "Okay, this next play is Steve Johnson running a 6-yard hitch on the right, with the tailback leaking out to the left flat." Del Rio: "What does Lee Evans do on the play?" Edwards: "Who the hell is Lee Evans?"

Hard to say without actually calling up other GMs, which most fans aren't able to do. But! Jammal Brown was certainly available this past offseason, because he actually got traded for a conditional pick (either 3rd or 4th round). He would've been a nice guy to go after. Was New Orleans' starting LT before he got hurt, is now starting at RT for Washington. He'd be an upgrade at either spot for us. He was available in part because New Orleans drafted Charles Brown at the bottom of the 2nd round. Not sure if the Bills pursued Brown or not, but that's a guy they could've and should've gone after. But I guess they felt pretty set with Bell, Green, Wang, and Meredith.

And they keep saying the same things now. As though anything's changed. The Nix/Gailey hirings were a national joke. "But wait, you'll see, they'll prove everyone wrong. If Jauron could win 6-7 games with this crew, how could Gailey not win 8?" Oops, that's since turned into, "Don't worry, this is a rebuilding year. The cupboard was bare," which has further degraded into, "No one could win with these bums! Don't worry, this is an evaluation year. Next year they'll start building a contender. Right now they're just seeing who can play and who can't." We were ridiculed for the Spiller pick when we already had 2 good backs on the team. "Just wait, you'll see how much of a gamebreaker he is. Plus, Gailey is going to run the ball 35-40 times a game, so we need all 3 backs. There were no QBs or OTs worth the pick. They had to get a guy who could come in and make an impact right away." Oops, that one got revised, too.

Fully agree. The Pats basically punted the rest of the year. Doesn't mean I like the Lynch trade any more, but this was a bad move for the Patriots, if you ask me. And they caused their own problems by making it clear to Moss that he wouldn't be around next year. Sure, they're loaded in next year's draft, but they had a shot at the Super Bowl *this* year. They should be trading those picks they've stockpiled for players who can help them now, not the other way around.

Yeah, it's a bad sign when all of your defenders say after the game that the other team did exactly what the expected, with no surprises whatsoever, and you still got destroyed both on the ground and through the air.

What if the best player available next year is Mark Ingram? Take him and trade Fred Jackson for a 5th?

Then you're an idiot for stockpiling sports cars in a buyer's market. Especially since the newest one was very expensive. Maybe you should've spent that downpayment on fixing the plumbing instead.

Some key differences make Lynch's value higher. First, Lynch is younger than Maroney and has less mileage on him. Second, Lynch is signed through 2011, whereas Maroney is a free agent at the end of the year. Third, Lynch is a good player, whereas Maroney sucks. Their fan base would've been happy if he had been cut outright.

Chris Kelsay says hello.

It's 2010 right now. If the 2012 season is voided, that still leaves 2011, which is next year.