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TKO Roscoe Gabe Northern (Flame away) RJ (Inferno) Riemersma Darrick Holmes Nate Clemments Just to name a few

I have seen a lot of good names that bring back memories. Likes of Ronnie Harmon, Scotty Norwood, Rob Johnson and such. I am going to cover a bunch and lean in a different way. Piss on every ex-Bill that was drafted by the Bills and developed for years, usually 3-4, and left for huge contracts. Todays players have no loyalty and do not care about the game, it is all about the money. Hey ****heads if I can make and budget $30,000 a year certainly you can on your salaries. So to guys like Nate Clements I hope the rest of your career sucks.

On the Contrary, all it took was back to back 2-14 seasons in 84-85 to spur some change, and the GM having a heart attack, then Bill Polian in 1986 to supplant that GM to start the Bills to a rather speedy recovery. HC Chuck Knox left after 1982 a strike season 4-5, and the Bills Hired Kay Stephenson in 1983, and they went 8-8 with mostly players from Knox's regime. In 1983 the Bills did manage to draft TE Tony Hunter #1(12) along with Jim Kelly #1(14) who bailed to the USFL and then Darryl Tally with a #2, the rest of the draft was a bunch of nobody's. The squirrel found two nuts in this years draft in Jim Kelly and Darryl Tally. In 1984 the Bills had Kay Stephenson as head coach, that years draft included #1 RB Greg Bell-#2 WR Eric Richardson, 3-3rd round picks in DB Rodney Bellinger-DE Sean McNanie-RB Speedy Neal and a bunch of nobody's. In 1985 the Bills got the first overall pick and selected DE Bruce Smith, then in round 4 picked WR Andre Reed. In 1986 the Bills fired HC Kay Stephenson and hired Hank Bullough who started off the year at 2-7 and was fired, the Bills hired Marv levy who went 2-5. The Bills finished that season 4-12. In 1987 the #1 was Shane Conlan #2 Nate Odomes, the Bills only went 7-8 but you could clearly see the turnaround in the team. The team made a "blockbuster" trade deal around Halloween to acquire Cornelius Bennett from the Colts. Marv Levy's statement, "we want to get as good as we can, as fast as we can" So, the Bills got extremely lucky in finding Bill Polian to rebuild the Bills 1986 4-12 to 1988 and 12-4, two years. They also pretty much hit rock bottom the prior two years to propel the team to a #1 overall draft choice to find Bruce Smith. I suspect that the Bills will look horrid this season and pretty much hit rock bottom, lets hope they get that #1 overall and select Jake Locker

Great point. I remember reading Brian Billick's book last year. In it, there was a section where he discussed that every team in the NFL has a particular position, that based on its philosophy, is going to tend to be its weakest. I think what you mention here is of excellent merit- when the Bills were going to Super Bowls, the offensive line was a priority. Since those days (w/perhaps John Fina and Ruben Brown being the last good picks- w/the exception of E. Wood) the offensive line has been an afterthought. Other teams scrap heap players are brought in (Villarial, Teague, Simmons, Incognito, Meredith, Walker, Dockery, and possibly Hangartner), and everyone wonders why our QB's are constantly on their arse. The offensive line has been an afterthought. They just don't consider it one of the most important aspects of the team. Now, compare that to the strength of our secondary. Is it any coincidence, that Jauron was a defensive back when he played, his first coaching gig was w/Jacksonville in the secondary, and he is a defensive coordinator by trade AND the strongest position on the Bills team is the defensive secondary? How many high round draft picks this past decade went to the CB and Safety positions? Antoine Winfield, Nate Clements, McKelvin, Whitner, Ko Simpson, Bryd, McGee, Youboty. What is interesting is that even before Jauron, defensive coordinator Jerry Gray was a secondary specialist before becoming coordinator, too. Note how S Pierson Preleau followed him to Washington. So, the pattern of emphasizing the secondary has been in place for this past decade. What I cannot understand, is how after all of the turnover in the past 15 years of coaches, trainers, and GM's...how can the offensive line be considered such an afterthought given the Bills struggles at the position since pretty much 1999. What I think it may be, may have to do with a certain gentleman by the name of Jim Overdorf. Looking at salaries of players, and how to build and manage a team financially, the defensive secondary may have more instant bang for the buck with having high round rookies start. I don't agree with that strategy, as it all starts and finishes on the lines. And if the past 10 years have been an indicator, it should be clear to everyone involved in Bills land that placing the O-line on the backburner is a great way for your team to get, well...burnt.

I hear ya one hundred percent dude. I agree with you with the Nate Clements decision, At the time i was pissed, thinking why the hell wouldnt we resign him. But like you said, it turned out to be the right move because i think after watching his last few seasons, he is very overated. As for london fletcher and pat williams. Fletcher has been in the top five leading tacklers category in the past ten years, so i was pretty mad that we let him go too. But as i reflect on him, he never had any interceptions or never was a huge game changer playmaker. He was just a tackling machine. So just like clememts, it turned out the right move by not resigning them. With poz coming on strong and hopefully maybin too, as well as kawika, andra davis and antonio coleman out of auburn (if he makes the roster) i think linebacker will be a very good and deep position on our roster. And as for winfield, he is the same as fletcher...all he did was tackle tackle tackle, never had any interceptions or never was a game changing corner. And to go with your last statement about being positive...dude ive never been more positive about a season then this one coming up. I mean last year i was so positive i thought for sure wed prove everyone wrong. But with the new staff, i think we are going to shock the league and all these bills haters. One week dude and training camp is here, billieve man. Time to BILLIEVE

Nate was very easily replaced, however i dont think winfield is. Winfield is a great cover guy and a tremendous tackler. Winfield is not overrated at all, he was and still is in the top five corners in the nfl. He sticks to the receivers like glue, and when he does get beat he tackles them better than any corner in the league. He is the best corner tackler in the league.

In my ealier post i said that nate and winfield were the best corner duo in the league. Which they damn well were. However, his time in san fran has proved that he is overrated. But when he was in buffalo he was a great corner. And ralph didnt resign him because he was too cheap and didnt want to spend large money. But now i am saying that i would much rather have terrence and leodis anyway so im glad ralph was too cheap. But in this latest post all i said about nate is that we didnt resign him because ralph was too cheap. In the last post i never said that i wish he was still here. It was all about winfield and pat. So just answer the question that you have been avoiding for two weeks now...why didnt we resign winfield and pat?

Why would you ask me to explain why we didn't resign Clements, when you don't think we should have? Here's your post: "And im glad we got rid of clements, the 49ers overpaid him and he is not the same lock down corner as he was when he was with the bills." But then earlier you said this: "I just think Ralph can do much more to help this team. Look at Nate Clements and Antoine Winfield. Two great corners, and Ralph wouldnt resign them. Why? Because they were too much money. Dont get me wrong, terrence mcgee and leodis mckelvin are great and i love them way more than nate and antoine but come on. At the time they were the best cornerback duo in the game and he wouldnt resign them. Thats being cheap." You're saying you love Mcgee and McKelvin more than Winfield and Clements. Which is it? You define contradiction.

You are like a little child. All you try to do is pick little fights. So tough guy, you never answered my post last week...Why didnt we resign nate clements and antoine wilfield, oh and that guy named pat williams?...Maybe, just MAYBE because umm Ralph is cheap. He didnt want to pay top dollar. Ever since winfield and pat left, they both have been the best two players at their position in the game. If Ralph wasnt cheap, they would still be here. And our defense wouldnt be so bad. Ever since pat left, our defense has **** the bed. Maybe if he was resigned by the cheap owner, our running defense would be much much much better. Maybe if your little brain can remember, our run defense was in the top five every year we had pat in the middle of the d line. And Winfield was and still is the best tackling corner in the game. The only reason them two were let go is plain and simple, Ralph did not want to pay them. Its been how many years since they have been gone? And THEY ARE STILL DOMINATING THEIR POSITIONS. Maybe those are some facts to back up my opnion tough guy. Have you by any chance paid any attention to the bills for the past ten years? Ralph has not once hired a top notch coach, and has not once signed a big name play making player. He signs players who are desperate and who are certaintly no longer in their prime. Like T.O, and Troy Vincent, and Kawika Mitchell (who is always hurt). I understand that Ralph does spend some money, like resigning lee evans, and aaron schobel. But instead of going after big name free agents every year, he signs no names to a lot of money.

Ralph isn't the GM...he didn't make the calls to let Winfield and Clements get away...it was Donahoe who made the call in Winfield and Jauron who made the call as far as letting Nate get away....though the latter departure...was a smart move...San Fran WAY overpaid for him

I 110 percent think the bills can win every year. Every year when the fans and media predict the bills to finish dead last in the division im always saying how wrong they are. I just think Ralph can do much more to help this team. Look at Nate Clements and Antoine Winfield. Two great corners, and Ralph wouldnt resign them. Why? Because they were too much money. Dont get me wrong, terrence mcgee and leodis mckelvin are great and i love them way more than nate and antoine but come on. At the time they were the best cornerback duo in the game and he wouldnt resign them. Thats being cheap. Sorry I dont waste time to use spell check. Again, I just think Ralph can help us a little more by signing more players and resigning players when their contracts are up. I dont want to be like little girls going back and forth. Just billieve. As a fellow bills fan, come on...billieve and make peace.

Please don't shoot me about this, but last year our DBs were ranked second and picked off a number of passes, but: 1. Couldn't we have been ranked #2 partially due to how bad we were against the run; 2. Honest question - how good were we really as far as coverage with our DBs; 3. Finally, it could just be that the individual statistics for our starters just doesn't add up in Madden. Man-o-man is it tough being a fan of this game and of the Bills...Years spent waiting for them to be mediocre. The only glory years were Madden 05/ ESPN NFL 2k5 - you may not have liked the REAL team, but in the game you had rated players like Bledsoe, Moulds, Price, Henry, Willis M., Pat Williams, Sam Adams, Antoine Winfield, Nate Clements, Fletcher, from a gaming standpoint they were loaded.

Hossage nothing I previously wrote was meant to be insulting, but this is, either you're a low-life who recounts tales of drug use, sex with minors, and and putting people in jeopardy by fleeing police at 130mph, without a hint of shame or you are stupid and crass enough to think such made up tales humorous and cool. You say you are a hard-core "finance dude" but go on an antisemitic cry-baby rant when a real businessman like Nate lays down the law to you when you don't keep your property up and ruin property values in the neighborhood. btw that's one battle of Midway you don't want to engage in.

I am only basing what I am saying on the title that Jauron was the problem...I didn't have enough time to read the entire blog although it seemed well put together. I only know that Jauron wasn't part of the solution, I think he was a problem, but I think the Bills have/had many problems both organizationally and as a team. I have been saying for a while now that Tom Modrak needs to go away. He has ample time to positively add to a team that has many holes to fill. He has missed more than he has hit by a big margin regarding drafts, and the only reason he is still here is that he has a good working relationship with D. Whaley who came over from the Steelers. Whaley is held in high regard and should help the Bills management internally in the future. But, because Modrak is part of that good 'ole boy network that remains he will stay put. It is worrisome that the Bills choose not to properly address QB and Left tackle. Supposedly, the Bills like Wang and possibly feel that he could fill the void...but I am not convinced as his college scouting reports clearly state that he was a consistent underperformer, that sometimes lacked in initiative and failed to give max effort in practices. (Mike Williams II?) I think we made a token effort by choosing Levi Brown QB in the 7th round of the draft. Maybe enough to leave some room for optimism in some people's minds that he may one day become a starting QB in the NFL. I don't know the answer to this, but I'd be curious to find out just how many 7th round QB's became successful franchise QB's in the last 20 years ? Maybe a few? Maybe none? I wouldn't bet the house on it working out! By the way that's not pessism like a few on here would lead you to believe. That's just facing the facts, based on history, and based on the likelihood that he'll be the next Jim Kelly, Dan Marino, or Joe Montana. So so far, Jauron, Modrak, the draft, including drafting a RB with your 1st rounder when your stocked at that position and have dire needs, plus the team continually creates additional hole by not competing with other teams when it comes to keeping players like....Nate Clements, Jabari Greer, Pat Williams, Antwoine Winfield, etc....(many more)... Also, deciding that we want Toronto to take some of our games eliminates our home field advantage pretty much for those games. It's not home turf...Toronto is a remarkable place, but it's not home for us or the team!!! Part of the problem is Ralph remaining as the owner! He's frugal in the wrong places at times...especially when hiring a coach that was out of football entirely on his couch playing Madden! It may prove to be a great hire, but it was a cheap hire compared to most options and I have my doubts until the Bills prove otherwise!!! So was Jauron the problem, was G. Williams, Malarkey ?_ Not entirely, it starts from the top!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am only basing what I am saying on the title that Jauron was the problem...I didn't have enough time to read the entire blog although it seemed well put together. I only know that Jauron wasn't part of the solution, I think he was a problem, but I think the Bills have/had many problems both organizationally and as a team. I have been saying for a while now that Tom Modrak needs to go away. He has ample time to positively add to a team that has many holes to fill. He has missed more than he has hit by a big margin regarding drafts, and the only reason he is still here is that he has a good working relationship with D. Whaley who came over from the Steelers. Whaley is held in high regard and should help the Bills management internally in the future. But, because Modrak is part of that good 'ole boy network that remains he will stay put. It is worrisome that the Bills choose not to properly address QB and Left tackle. Supposedly, the Bills like Wang and possibly feel that he could fill the void...but I am not convinced as his college scouting reports clearly state that he was a consistent underperformer, that sometimes lacked in initiative and failed to give max effort in practices. (Mike Williams II?) I think we made a token effort by choosing Levi Brown QB in the 7th round of the draft. Maybe enough to leave some room for optimism in some people's minds that he may one day become a starting QB in the NFL. I don't know the answer to this, but I'd be curious to find out just how many 7th round QB's became successful franchise QB's in the last 20 years ? Maybe a few? Maybe none? I wouldn't bet the house on it working out! By the way that's not pessism like a few on here would lead you to believe. That's just facing the facts, based on history, and based on the likelihood that he'll be the next Jim Kelly, Dan Marino, or Joe Montana. So so far, Jauron, Modrak, the draft, including drafting a RB with your 1st rounder when your stocked at that position and have dire needs, plus the team continually creates additional hole by not competing with other teams when it comes to keeping players like....Nate Clements, Jabari Greer, Pat Williams, Antwoine Winfield, etc....(many more)... Also, deciding that we want Toronto to take some of our games eliminates our home field advantage pretty much for those games. It's not home turf...Toronto is a remarkable place, but it's not home for us or the team!!! Part of the problem is Ralph remaining as the owner! He's frugal in the wrong places at times...especially when hiring a coach that was out of football entirely on his couch playing Madden! It may prove to be a great hire, but it was a cheap hire compared to most options and I have my doubts until the Bills prove otherwise!!! So was Jauron the problem, was G. Williams, Malarkey ?_ Not entirely, it starts from the top!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Couple things about Chan Gailey- during his last job as head coach I think some forget what he walked into in Dallas over that two year period Jason Garrett had to make seven starts First year Billy Davis was opposite Irvin the next year goodbye Irvin hello Ernie Mills There was no Jay Novacek try David LeFluer instead The well known O-line had changed out Tuinei, and Gogan gone, Stepnoski injured , Nate Newton now 38 You had Everitt McIver and Clay Shriver breaking in The first year Kawicka Pittman and Harvey McCormack combined for 11 sacks to lead the way The next year Alonzo Spellman and Greg Ellis teamed up for 12.5 This was not a great team or even a talented one except they did have Aikman 75% of the time and Emmitt Smith was getting older but still pretty good. Our current roster is possibly more talented over all but the quarterback question makes you feel lost on where we are. I don't think there should be much question on Gailey's abilities he's proven it over and over, he's good. He's a bit of a tyrant, demanding, disciplinarian what a change on our sideline and practice field

Thank You!!!! I agree with you fully and will attempt to give a break down of some of what I see... I'm optimistic or pessimistic based on the realities that I see after careful analazation(lol). If Pilsner really did their research they would realize the following: That in almost every instance (if not every one), a team who switches their base defense from 4-3 to 3-4 typically has a terrible year statistically in the initial year of the change including a very poor win/loss record. My prediction is 5 wins and according to history that is very "optimistic" given history which normally dictates 1-4 wins. This team has not drafted well in the past decade or longer, and that's a fact! Just because they have a high ratio of draftees that become starters doesn't mean that the caliber of the player is typical of starter material on your better teams. Most of our roster would not start in New England, or Indy, and several other "winning" teams. We seem to veer away from the popular assesment of other teams scouts, and our board is much different on draft day than the consensus of talent evaluators inside the NFL and of prominent publications. Of the 20 small school prospects listed in the draft guide..I believe it was The Sporting News...We drafted or signed as FA's 5 of these players! 25% !!! Now, I like Easley at WR from everything I've read, but...and it's a big butt!!! Usually these small school prospects don't pan out! Sometimes they do and someone out there will provide a list I'm sure! First thing is that the measurables are deficient in some way... HT/WT/ 40 Yard dash times / injury prone / intellect/ law & moral etc....but typically there is a reason they weren't heavily recruited....Also the talent level is not on par with the big schools neither. When the player jumps to the NFL they usually no longer dominate the competition as they did against inferior competition. Point made! The Bills have severe needs and have not properly addressed them. The Bills also create their own failures and roster holes by grooming the few talented players they have, and then when it's time to re-up at FA time they refrain from coming to terms with the player ie: Antwoine Winfield, London Fletcher, Pat Williams, Nate Clements, Jabari Greer, and many others. Do you think Ralph will pay to keep J. Byrd when the time comes? No! So, what do we do with our patchwork mentality? We ignore our need at QB and OLT and draft a RB? Yet we keep the bad apple who is rotting away so he can mentor little junior? What gives? Wang isn't a franchise tackle and sometimes lacks drive/effort...Mike Willims II Winning organizations typically win! They almost always keep their winning GM's ! Polian went to Indy and designed a winner based on the 1990 Bills! He even admits it, and the similarities are striking! He brought winning to Indy and hasn't stopped yet! Ralph hires on the cheap....at least in NFL terms. He found someone to coach who was entirely out of football for a couple of years. Gailey was on his couch playing madden at the time! The only close contacts he had were with former assistant's to the second best College team in Georgia! He could only get them to coach by promising them to move them up one slot from what their college football duties were. Modkins is OC in title only as he has 0% experience as a OC !! Gailey will also play OC on the sidelines besides being a head coach! What a joke this whole endeavor is! The Bills will be lucky if they start better than 1-5 based on their schedule. Where do some people find 8, 9, or 10 wins? at Packers, at Patriots, at Jets, at Dolphins, Steelers, at Vikings, Browns-we lose to them every year lately, Jets at home-they are stocked up w/talent, Dolphins at home, Patriot's at home, at Baltimore? That's 11 losses unless they steal a game or two! They had the Jets number recently so maybe a win there? So, Pilsner wants optimism? Well no disrespect towards him, but he/she talks about doing research yet provides nothing of value to mention except that we should basically be blindly optimistic of a team who has a poor track record from top to bottom and who has done little if anything to change that perception! So just why again am I suppose to be optimistic about the 2010-2011 season?

Exactly, Nate. I don't want to get into another colossally brain numbing argument with bone heads who defend Vick with ridiculous logic, because you said it all. He was the ringleader. He provided the property. He allowed the dog carcasses' to be hung from a tree in his backyard! I mean, talk about savagery. Dead dogs dripping blood, hanging from his tree!! He allowed them to be buried in his yard. And to show callous disregard for it all; Vick is the true animal. And for all of you single-brain cell Vick defenders, that was not a compliment.

Who the !@#$ is Nate Benderson... I am too lazy to Google.

No way on McGahee, no way. We all liked the idea, let's be honest. We especially liked it because we were giving an underdog a chance. But, we found out that this guy wasn't an underdog, he was just a dog. I couldn't care less about babies/not liking Buffalo. If I have to signal in plays from the sideline because you are either too dumb to remember them, or, to cool to come to practice and learn them, you aren't on my team. And, given what we got for him, and what we did with it? That is one of the biggest steals the Bills have ever had. So, no way. I agree on Pat Williams, I do not agree on Bledsoe = prolonging the inevitable with that guy. The DB thing is like Lord of the Rings, it spans a decade, and has lots and lots of characters: I think that while Winfield wasn't the best, we expended an awful lot of draft value trying to replace him. Which lead to Nate Clements, and clearly, letting him go was a good move. Is there a better example of OVERPAID in the NFL right now? Yeah, yeah we drafted a lot of DBs.....which means....we now have one of the best secondaries in the league....in a passing league, btw. So, whether drafting DBs is good or bad, remains to be seen. What I like about our current Defensive backfield unit is, it is that: a unit. We don't rely on a big star, shut down CB, and pray that the other guys can cover their assignments. We are still looking to replace Henry Jones at safety, especially since Henry Jones couldn't replace Henry Jones from the season before. If only he had been able to replace himself, but he didn't, and moving him out was ultimately a good move. Ko Simpson was a bust. Coy Wire was a bust. Jim Leonhard was an incredibly knowledgeable, and smart football player, who is pretty good, but I want a Gary Fencik type hitter that makes the QB think when he comes up to the line, and makes WRs think before they go over the middle. Henry Jones, when we was Henry Jones, did all of those things. So, the DB saga goes on.....

if you get raped by a pack of Nate Benderson it will be all your fault

Man, the Jewish billionaire who lives next door to me, Nate Benderson, is a real prick.

players who were whipping boys that we should have kept QB-Doug Flutie RB-Joe Cribbs WR-Chris Burkett C-Ziegler is a good one G-Rueben Brown for sure the dude was good LB-Sam Rogers guy had to stay at home to flack for it but was a good player DT-Sam Adams CB-Nate Odomes

I have grumbled about the Bills on here for a while now...I got lectured for being so negative when I felt as though I was being realistic in my assesment of the Bills. I tried being an optimist for a week and put a positive spin on things. But, I really had to dig deep and hard to reach optimistic conclusions on most fronts. I really think the Bills are a 5-11 team this year and I have been saying that before the schedule even came out. Looking at the schedule I am concerned that the Bills may not even reach that win total. They would have to beat the teams they should beat like K.C. and Detroit and have to pull one or two out of the hat as they are over matched early and often. They may be able to beat Jacksonville, and should be able to beat Cleveland, but they have not fared well even against them the past few years. This organization sure have made some head scratching moves over the past several years in hirings, firings, and selecting personnel in the draft. I still don't understand how the heck we selected Maybin over B. Orakapo at DE. That was such a gift and we turned it down without an afterthought! This year our 2 most pressing needs were OLT and QB and we waited until late in the draft and took chances on projects that are iffy at best! QB is almost always a chancy selection in the draft except for maybe Peyton Manning, and these upper management people in the Bills War room are not willing to take a chance on a potential franchise QB. The Bills just about always shock me with their inept assesment of college talent. I mean these people are supposed to be experts, and it's not just talent...but they fail to recognize the need to fill holes that they often create themselves by not being willing to pay a player NFL value prior to them jumping ship in FA. It's really self-defeating creating additional holes each year when your ship is sinking! Nate Clements, Jabari Greer, Anwoine Winfield, Pat Williams, and you could just continue to add names to that list. Unfortunately, the Bills have not even adequately filled those holes that have accumulated over the past several years. Who did we ever replace Pat Williams with? Were they as good? No! etc.... I just hope that when the time comes that Jim Kelly and his associates come up with the necessary funds to keep this team in Buffalo and take a different approach than this organization from top to bottom currently takes. There is a reason why successful GM's typically win, and the same teams are winners.....then slouch and rebuild...and become winners again...look at Indy with Bill Polian...He brings winning wherever he goes. He knows the winning formula and is not hindered by his owner. Pittsburgh is a winning organization, and New England will bounce back and knows about winning. San Diego has been in and out and back in the winning frenzy over the years. These are all good organizations and the Bills are just a cut above Detroit which may change after Detroit's last couple of drafts. I am not typically a pessimist, but I am pessimistic about the Bills of 2010-2011 with reason to be. I hope for the best and expect the worst. If nothing else, I hope Trent Edwards's GPS points him to a new destination by years end. I'll root for him, and then if there is pressure, or he's playing a good team, or it's snowing, raining, windy, muddy, loud, or his head hurts he'll probably fall apart or get injured once again! History, just like in winning tends to repeat itself. We haven't made the necessary to make the appropriate roster changes to indicate any changes in the wind! 5-11

Williams and Winfield would be my top picks, but Marcellus Wiley had a couple pretty good years with SD after leaving the Bills. Nate Odoms tore his ACL before ever playing a down with the Seahawks (charity BBall game) and Nate Clements has seemingly played his way to the bench in Denver so I guess neither of those really merit consideration.