MDH

I don't think that is what prevented him from being a decent QB. He actually wasn't a fragile guy, he just took WAY too many shots. I don't know how many times I saw him get creamed and think, "well, he's knocked out of the game" only to see him scrape himself up off the turf and go back to the huddle. He did get hurt an inordinate amount of times but it had to do with how many shots he was taking, not that he couldn't take a shot. His main problem was a lack of awareness. If he had any type of pocket presense the guy would have been a good QB...but alas, he didn't. That being said he's one of the toughest QBs I've ever seen as I don't think I've ever seen a QB take as many shots as he did and keep picking himself up. The guy had the physical tools and the heart to be great, he just didn't have the head for the game that was needed.

By Bledsoe "winning" that AFC Championship do you mean that the special teams put up 14 of the 24 points the Pats scored against the Steelers? Bledsoe played well during the first drive (throwing a TD pass I believe) but giving the guy credit for the win is far-fetched as he looked pretty bad for most of the second half. Your statement should read, "The Pats would never (have) been in the Superbowl had their ST not put up 14 points on returns."

But...but...but, we could have made the playoffs!

You appear to be doing your best to give the Bills low grades whenever possible. TD can't control injuries and you need to forget the "(based on age and future potential)" stuff because that's all based on your negative speculation, not on actual production. I suppose it does depend on how one defines "average" but I'd say you've ranked many of the players lower than their production warrants (bad teams, and the Bills are certainly that, aren’t bad because every single player on their roster sucks). Villariel is a decent player and by no means has his production been below average. He's the definition of a hard-nosed average player. He won't star on any lines but many teams would be happy having a player like him on their line. Not only is Shelton not a below average FB he's an above average one. He struggled at times last season but given his production previously he's considered by many to be one of the best blocking fullbacks in the league (check out the latest Pro Football Weekly guide). While I don't agree with that stellar report he's still above average. Fletcher is an above average LB, trying to sell it any other way is disingenuous. Spikes is an above average LB, one of the best in the league in fact. You can't count it against TD that Spikes was injured and his status is unknown. Those things happen and it shouldn’t reflect poorly on the GM when they do (unless one is trying to create an argument stating how bad a GM is, then everything counts against him I suppose). McGahee, while not a top tier back, if definitely above average, particularly considering the OL he runs behind. I can't say I can argue with most of your other ratings (though I could see some people disagreeing with Teague and Milloy. Milloy was bad last year but much of that could be attributed to injury. Before that injury he was an average S). So if you reconfigure the totals you have based on the above it looks like this: +'s: 7 0's: 5 -'s: 10 While the above isn't really a vindication of the job TD did I think the other poster is spot on. TD needed to be fired but he wasn't nearly as bad as many here want to make him sound.

That's one of the longest run-on sentences I've seen in quite awhile.

I have it on good authority that Holcomb can indeed throw the ball two yards past the LoS....but only when it's 4th and 10.

From what I've been listening to recently: Jane's Addiction - Three Days Pixies - River Euphrates Pixies - Broken Face Disturbed - Diefy Faith No More - Anne's Song Neil Young - Southern Man At The Drive In - Pattern Against User At The Drive In - One Armed Scissor The White Stipes - Dead Leaves on the Dirty Ground Radiohead - Sulk The Urge - Played Out

What incredible insight Chris Neubauer provides.

Heh, that is exactly what I was going to say. Though I was going to add something about posters bitching at the national media for never giving the Bills any respect.

It really depends on how you would define "elite" and how much homerism would dictate McGahee's rise up your list of "top teir" backs. Two years ago I might have agreed he was on his way to being a top teir back, but after last years perfromance I'd rank him behind the following backs: Tomlinson Alexander Portis Larry Johnson Tiki Barber Edgerrin James I'd say the above are CLEARLY better than WM and are the "elite" backs in the league while the ones listed below are 2nd teir backs: Cadillac Williams Rudi Johnson Warrick Dunn Willie Parker Steven Jackson LaMont Jordan Jamal Lewis (he could prove last year was a fluke and return to elite status) Thomas Jones Reuben Droughns Which group do you think Willis belongs in? Willis is a good back but unless he gets his burst back from college (which I doubt) and gets the stiff arm back he had in year one (which I hope) I don't think he'll ever be on of the elite backs in the league. That's not a bad thing, a team can certainly win with a "good" back...in fact I think it's preferable as it's unececary to blow a huge chunk of the salary cap on a RB but let's not overstate how good WM is just because he's a Bill.

The guy said he saw them as pointless to ride, not that there were absolutely pointless. Not to mention it doesn't really matter whose fault the accident is, the bottom line is the motorcycle rider is more susceptible to injury when an accident does occur. What would normally be a fender bender in a car turns into a chance for serious injury on a motorcycle. In any facet of life people have to make risk/reward decisions. I agree with the other poster, I don't see the reward being worth the risk as there are just too many bad drivers out there and I'm not taking that large of a risk and hoping everybody else on the streets/highways drives safely. Obviously you do think it’s worth the risk and I doubt anybody here would begrudge you that choice.

Out of curiosity, why not Pat Williams? Because he’s the obvious choice?

That's because you've been deaf to it. You're looking for stats, unfortunately there are no stats for "got there late" or "misplayed the ball" or "can't tackle worth a damn". You have to watch the games for those. Most people who watched all the Bills games last year recognized Vincent's poor play. The fact that he had 5 good plays doesn't wipe out all of his bad ones.

I don't think it was that at all. I believe everybody was prepared for JP to struggle. What they weren't prepared for what the Ds total collapse (if you want to pick an "ultimate miscalculation" I'd go with letting Pat Williams go) and Mularky's inability to put together a conservative gameplan with JP in the lineup. If you recall, that was supposed to be the Bills ticket last year. Great D with an offensive philosophy that minimized JP's importance in the offense as much as possible (i.e. the same formula that led to Big Ben’s emergence in Pittsburgh) Obviously none of that happened.

The fact that Bruce Smith has already been voted off tells me that people aren't voting based on who was the better player. It's a simple popularity contest and QBs tend to win popularity contests.

I'm not going to argue that Holcomb doesn't read defenses quicker at this point in his career than Losman, obviously he does. However, the key element you're leaving out of this is that Holcomb dumps the ball off repetedly even when he HAS time. He pretty much dumps the ball off all the time. If Holcomb played anything like Brady I'd be happy to have him back there as my QB. Unfortunately he doesn't as Brady throws down the field lots when given time.

Those lamenting the loss understand what Moulds meant to the offense, as pathetic as it was. He made life easier on all the other WRs, I'm anxious to see what Evans can do when all the attention is directed at him. You can quote numbers all day long but I personally see those numbers reflecting more on the passing game as a whole (QB play, OL and a viable running game to bring the safeties up to the line) than I do on Moulds decline. Sure he's lost a step but he's still a fantastic possession WR (which the Bills sorely lack atm). Oh, and you want stats? Just check out the last three games to see what a motivated Moulds (and a QB that won't throw it more than 10 yards to other WRs) can bring to the table: 27 rec. for 305 yards Yet you think he should retire? That says a lot for our current WRs. If Moulds should retire then we don’t have a single WR on the roster who deserves to be in the NFL because he was the best we had.

I agree that pressures are far more important than sacks but sadly there are no "official" pressure stats. The teams keep them and they tend to pad the stats of their stars. As for Schobel's sacks coming in bunches that's generally how most guys tally them, you just don't watch every single game that Freeney or Peppers play. My brother is a Indy fan and his main complaint about Freeney? It's that he's streaky and disappears for stretches. There is no way for any DE to be dominating all the time though the great ones do tend to make big plays at big moments.

Schobel has tallied 40 sacks in the past 4 years. While those numbers don't put him in the Strahan, Taylor, Rice or Freeney class they're still pretty damn good (in fact Julius Peppers only has half a sack more than Schobel over that period). I doubt there are many players in the league that have as many sacks as Schobel over that span yet he is consistantly overlooked by everybody, including Bills fans. Schobel is no Bruce Smith but I'd say he's a top 10 DE.

So the real question is which is worse, ESPN or MTV?

Sadly you're probably right. The fans in WNY need a team to relocate to LA before Ralph kicks the bucket.

Vincent!?! Vincent isn't in the top 5 on the defensive side of the ball and I count him as one of the spots that needs vast improvement.

There is a new offense being installed it would be nice if WM could take a few days out of his busy schedule to get on the same page with his teammates. The day Willis has shown that he totally understands his responsibilities with blitz pickups I won't mind him missing these camps. Until then I'll continue to be annoyed by the guy.

You've got to be kidding. Perhaps it isn't the criticizing for you but for the majority here it is. Just go back the past few years. Whenever anybody in the national media predicts the Bills to finish in last place or says they have a bad draft or criticizes the Bills in any way there are multiple threads calling the writer a moron, and idiot, a fat slob...or a combination of the bunch (some posters actually get creative which makes it a worthwhile read). Of course posters love to point out that these writers are never held accountable for their opinions (and I agree, they should be) but the same posters are never accountable for their’s. They lambaste these writers for criticizing the team but when the year is over and the Bills have missed the playoffs (again) I don't see anybody saying, "wow, Peter King was right, we do suck!" In fact, they line up to rip into the same writers next year when they predict the Bills will suck once again. Bottom line, it is the criticizing for most here though there are a few posters that just enjoy taking shots at anybody and everybody no matter what.

What exactly do you want when someone analyzes the draft? You simply want them to report which player was selected in each slot? Because anything more than that is giving an opinion. The problem with most of these types of reports isn't that they give an opinion it's that their opinion isn't very informed. That being said there are plenty of guys that have given informed opinions and tend to get trashed on this board. Of course, most people tend to think of any opinion that isn't the same as their's is uninformed.