MDH

15 years of no playoffs, many of those utterly pathetic and now that the Bills will arguably field the best team of this era you've "never felt such a sense of gloom at the beginning of a season?" While I agree that they shouldn't have let Freddie go that doesn't equate to only winning 4 games. This team is easily better than last year's squad.

He should file an appeal and then drop the appeal during the week that the Bills play the Jags effectively picking the game he wants to miss. I don't actually know if he could do this but I like the idea.

Because he had two knee surgeries prior to the trade going down. Without injured knees it's very questionable whether the Bills make that trade.

Bills just signed yet another former Jet. So we're to believe that Rex has all this say in terms of signing these guys yet had no say in cutting Freddie? I'm not buying it. Whaley is taking the heat so Rex can be the "players coach" in the locker room.

How effective is is currently has no bearing on what I'm talking about. And yeah, there are plenty of people in this very thread who obviously do think differently. I'm referring to the people who are basically mocking others that expressing their displeasure or are simply upset about Freddie not being a Bill any longer.

Do all you guys criticizing fans for being upset because Fred "wasn't that good" understand WHY people like him? They don't like him because he was born with Bo Jackson's ridiculous power/speed combo or Barry Sanders elusiveness. He wasn't an amazing athlete that dazzled fans with his talent. That wasn't the attraction. They love him because he's an everyman who made himself into a guy who competed with and won jobs from guys who were brought in to be better. To take his job. For years the Bills were infatuated with drafting RBs high in the draft. They kept brining in first round guys and Jackson kept sending them packing. How? Hard work, perseverance, determination. Every ounce of his being was put into making himself a better player than the high profile picks. He became a back who could, literally, do it all. He rounded out his game in a way that superstar guys rarely do. What Fred Jackson did transcends sports, he became a guy every human being could look at and admire because he's who we all aspire to be. He made himself the best he could possibly be. He couldn't compete with any of those guys athletically, but he did everything else in his power to hold onto his dream of being an NFL running back. If you don't admire a guy like Fred and root for him no matter the jersey then you're not a human being I'd care to know.

People are vastly overstating how good Bryce and Boobie are. They are nothing special, even as backups. Karlos, on the other hand, has the luxury of the jury still being out. People can talk up this move all they want (because fans seem to be able to rationalize anything the team does) but it was a sh*t move and he will be missed on this team. His leadership will be a hole that won't be filled and the guy did all the little things on offense that don't often get recognition. Those little things add up over the coarse of a season. Boobie, Bryce and Karlos - none of them will make up for what the team lost in FJ.

Damn that thing is ugly.

The fedora isn't the issue. I wish I could find a screen cap of him wearing a ball cap on the sidelines with the bill flipped UP. He looks like Gomar Pyle.

Age and cash. The other guys were younger, less expensive and play special teams. I think it was a bad move as nobody is going to replace his pass blocking, overall usefulness and leadership. People keep mentioning his speed, who cares? He was never a speed guy yet he always managed to find holes and fall forward for gains. Every team could use a guy like that, even at his age.

Of course it is. Head coaches usually get the say in who is on the final roster. I'm sure it was discussed among the brain trust but it's ultimately Rex's call. I find it funny that people say things like "Rex brought TT in, he's his guy" yet want to blame this on Whaley when a player is cut. Can't have it both ways.

The Bills would be crazy to trade EJ. Tyrod has not proven anything yet. There is a chance he falls flat on his face during the regular season. Why trade a guy who might end up being the answer when you still don't have a proven QB yet? Keep 'em all until the Bills have a proven starter at QB. As guys like RGIII and Nick Foles have shown, a single year isn't enough to make this determination either. EJ should be kept until his rookie contract is up. I think eventually this team will need him.

Just ordered. Thanks for the heads up!

If by "can't" you mean he didnt give himself an opportunity to because he was too busy theowing TD passes...then you'd be correct.

I'll root for him but not the team. I'll hope he puts up solid numbers and does a good job in a losing effort.

I don't think keeping Fred Jackson over Brown or Boobie was going to cause them to lose more games. If they wanted to cut him perhaps they should have done it in the offseason when it was originally reported they were considering it. At least then the guy could have had an entire training camp with whatever team he signed with.

Despite the fact that he never played for a playoff team the guy was/is my all time favorite Bill. I enjoyed the SB teams more but I respect no player more than Fred Jackson. This puts a damper on the upcoming season. This year just sucked for players I love. I'm a Phillie fan too (cue the booing) and lost both Utley and Hamels. Utley was my Fred Jackson of baseball. Other players (and Phillies) were better than him but I loved no player nearly as much due to how he plays the game. At least the Bills project to be a good team, so there's that. Sigh.

The TBD numbers aren't who fans want but who they think will start. My vote would have been different otherwise.

That's a low bar.

Yeah, I always considered Cassel the guy who would start if the other guys didn't step up. But both of them did. No reason to go with Cassel. I don't want him cut, I think he's a solid option coming off the bench as a #2 but I don't want to see him start any games unless both Tyrod and EJ aren't available.

Then Cassel isn't his man. In the past 2 seasons EJ has started 14 games and Cassel 12, so the games played is very close. Don't forget that for 9 of these starts Cassel had Adrian Peterson in his backfield. Their numbers: Cassel Passer Rating - 78.1 TDs (both running and throwing) - 15 Turnovers (ints and fumbles) - 16 EJ Passer Rating - 78.5 TDs (both running and throwing) - 19 Turnovers (ints and fumbles) - 15 EJ has played two more games and has fewer turnovers. Hell, people want to say EJ has been "bad" the past two years yet he's been better than this supposedly rock solid, "consistent" vet. Granted, obviously stats don't tell the entire story, but you can get a pretty good picture from them. I can't wrap my mind around how anybody would want Cassel as the starter when you have two young guys who have been playing their asses off. If the coaches go this direction I'll lose some faith in them.

I'd say it's a bit of both. Once a player can stop thinking of all the little thinks he can concentrate on just making his reads and everything else will just be muscle memory. At the same time coaches have to put the players in a position to succeed. Roman has done a much better job of that than Marrone/Hackett ever did. I

If a player completes 87 percent of their passes their YPA should be through the roof. Any NFL QB can complete 80+ percent of their passes if all passes are within 5 yards of the LoS. That's not going to get the job done though. As Jaworski has said for years, points come from big plays. An offense can not rely on 12+ play drives to consistently get points. At some point in that drive there is going to be a mistake that kills it. A hold, offsides, drops, turnovers, etc.

No doubt. You can't try to coach a player to not be themselves. That's always a recipe for disaster. They took away EJ's legs and his long ball - which are two of his biggest assets. Of course he was going to look horrible trying to be a Cassel type player. The good news is that I think it's helped him become a better pocket passer. He's much better at side-stepping pressure and climbing the pocket than he was in the past two years.