my $.02 worth...

[OldTimer1960]

Well, training camp is almost 3 weeks old and the Bills have played 2 preseason games. My thoughts

so far (FWIW):

 

1. The OL is struggling and probably doesn't have enough talent to be very good this year.

a. When they decided to spend most of their draft choices over the last 2 years on defense, we knew that

this unit would struggle. Upgrading through FA is sketchy and this year's crop of FA OL was weak. The

team went after Clabo hard and lost out to his current team. Not sure that there were any other OL FA

that would have upgraded our OL commensurate with the cost. This team will address this area hard

in the '12 offseason with only QB a higher priority.

 

2. The defense looks significantly improved. Dareus looks like the real deal, Kyle Williams is the

workaholic that overachieves and last year's 2nd and 3rd picks (Troup and Carrington) look like they'll

contribute a lot this year.

 

3. Rookies: Marcel Dareus looks like he'll be very very good. Aaron Williams has shown flashes of being

very good. We don't know anything about Kelvin Sheppard due to injury. I think I've seen flashes from

4th Searcy, 5th White and 6th White. I am pulling for Mike Jasper, but he looks to have gained significant

weight since the draft. I am holding out hope that OT Chris Hairston can help, but that may be wishful

thinking.

 

4. I REALLY don't understand the hatred directed at CJ Spiller. The guy did not have a big impact in his

rookie year after coming from a spread offense in college. He would do well to learn whatever magic

Fred Jackson has for running behind this weak OL, but Spiller has undeniable physical talent. Will he

maximize it in the pros? I don't know, but I am willing to wait this year and into next year.

 

5. I don't agree with the general view that the Bills have an abundance of talent at WR. I hope that

Stevie Johnson can match/improve on last year, I think Roscoe Parrish (when not hurt) is a good #3WR.

I like what I have seen of David Nelson. I don't know what to think of Donald Jones, but he is a very

good athlete. Marcus Easley hasn't impressed me and I like what I've seen of UDFA Kamar Aiken. I think

he has out-produced Easley so far.

 

6. I can't tell if Fitz can be a mid-upper tier QB because the OL and TEs are so weak. I love his intelligence,

effort and leadership, though.

 

7. TEs: I am not falling for this year's "next great reclamation project" Scott Chandler. He looks to be

the best of a very weak group, especially since the talented but injury prone Shawn Nelson hasn't seen

the field yet.

 

8. OL: I think Wood is very good. I don't have a clue what the issue with Levitre is - I haven't seen him do

anything wrong so far. Demetrius Bell is the best that we've got at LT this year and I want to see him for

a full season. I haven't watched enough of Erik Pears to have an opinion, but I don't think Kraig Urbik is

the answer at RG and Wrotto has looked awful from what I can tell.

 

My view for the season: I think the defense will be much improved, especially if Shawn Merriman is not

injured or suspended for steroids. I think that Fred Jackson will put up decent numbers, I hope that Spiller

shows that he can learn to follow his blockers and that he becomes a pass-receiving weapon out of the

backfield. I hope Johnson excels at WR and someone steps up (maybe David Nelson?).

[ajzepp]

I definitely share your optimism about the defense. I love that we have drafted heavily on that side of the ball and I think some of these younger guys are going to end up being solid contributors. I'm drinking the Dareus/Williams/Merriman kool-aid for sure.

 

I think what bothers me most about SAturday's game was the fact that we seemed to just get plain beat up. Denver was one of the worst teams in the league last year, and to see our guys just get pummeled like that was very disappointing. It it was just a matter of not executing, I'd feel better about it. We still have another couple weeks of preseason to get things ironed out. But that's not what happened. We were physically knocked around all game by a team that was clearly the aggressor. Aside from Stevie getting in the faces of some of the Broncos after the hit on D.Jones, this team just showed no fire in their bellies at all. I don't expect us to go out there and be dirty, but I've been waiting for a team from Buffalo, NY to PLAY like a team from Buffalo, NY for years...just as all of you have. I hope that what we saw on SAturday was a total fluke and not representative of this team at all. I don't put a ton of stock in the preseason match ups, so I really hope that by opening day we are ready to line up and lay some lumber.

[Alphadawg7]

There are some interesting threads today on this board. Some are all doom and gloom after the teams performance yesterday, and others are all Allen Iverson like and proclaiming "Its just preseason...are we really talking about preseason" type respones. This thread is refreshing...nice OP.

 

The way I see it both sides of the "doom and gloom" and "its only preseason" argument have some validity. First off, Fitz has not been good in practice or preseason with his accuracy. What was his biggest Achilles heal? Accuracy. To see no positive improvement in that is not exactly something that gets the masses excited. Many posters on this board are completely delusional to the quality of Fitz's season last year with the impression he was better than he was. In almost a week to week basis, our offense struggled to move the ball. 2 games (Balt and Cincy) made his totals look respectable (along with a little garbage time padding in 3 bad losses before the Balt game). Truth is, in the 9 games after Balt, he had more turnovers than TD's, completed just 56% of his passes, and had a QB rating of 70. He was one of the lowest rated QB's in the NFL over that stretch to end his season.

 

So, coming into this year, he had to make major strides for this team to be able to start turning the corner. Thus far, he has struggled all camp with his medium to deep ball accuracy as he has his whole career. He has not done much in the preseason games either. In other words, there is no evidence that he is making any progress or elevating his game. Doesn't mean he won't by week 1, but thus far, the evidence of improvement just isn't there.

 

That being said, it is still just preseason and there are still 2 more preseason games and a bunch of practice before week 1. Preseason results can be pretty meaningless...the year Detroit went 0-16 they also went 4-0 in the preseason for instance. However, the way our team played this week and how the starting unit looked was concerning. So while it is preseason, and records in the preseason are completely meaningless come week 1, it is still concerning to see our first unit still look so flat but not yet time to panic.

 

Personally, I have a hard time finding optimism in a QB who has been in the league as long as Fitz who has a career long issue with accuracy suddenly becoming an accurate and consistent QB. Taking away a vet like Lee for unproven young receivers isn't going to help and an inconsistent OL with little depth is also going to make it even more difficult. So, I don't hold a lot of optimism in our offense this year with Fitz looking like Fitz (which isnt exactly a good thing), no Lee, no OL upgrades, and a bunch of unprovens at WR and TE.

 

That being said, I am optimistic like you about our D. So, the good news, hopefully the moves we made in the draft and FA to improve the D will make a big impact allowing us to address the offense in at least 3 of the first 4 rounds in next years draft. I expect a 5 to 7 win season this year personally unless Fitz can find some magic and find it fast.

Edited August 22, 2011 by Alphadawg7

[NewEra]

My 1 cent:

 

-I've seen a lot of people here saying "it's not fitzys fault. -Blame the OL". Yes the OL was bad, but Fitzy was worse yesterday. He made a few really bad reads and threw a few really bad passes. Defend him all you want, last game, he was putrid. More so than our OL (which was bad too).

 

-cut torbor please.

 

- Where are all of the Von Miller haters? They guy is going to be a pro bowler for years to come. Any haters care to chime in? Just look at the kids explosion and use of hand and body and it's easy to see he's special.

 

- Barnett whiffed bad on the moreno screen, but I really like what I see from him. Great addition.

 

- good to see Stevie get in Moores face after the cheap shot. Hopefully we can resign him long term ASAP.

 

- god I love Both of his sacks so far have come vs the double team.

 

- we need a Shawne merriman.

 

- I hope Donald Jones doesn't play scared now. He was effective over the middle last year. A hit like that may sway his fearlessness.

 

It was a bad 2nd-3rd qtr. Not the end of the world. Let's just hope fitz can step it up. It's doubtful the OL will improve very much. Fitz needs to play to his level of last year if we want to win some games. So far, he's regressed (I know....it's only been 6 series of so)

[playboy reese 2.0]

The thing you dont evaluate in the preseason is who wins or loses.Player performance is evaluated.You make the team or get cut based on your preseason.Why people want to dismiss the preseason when NFL organizations dont I dont understand.If you play bad now you will in the regular season.

[K-9]

My 1 cent:

 

-I've seen a lot of people here saying "it's not fitzys fault. -Blame the OL". Yes the OL was bad, but Fitzy was worse yesterday. He made a few really bad reads and threw a few really bad passes. Defend him all you want, last game, he was putrid. More so than our OL (which was bad too).

 

-cut torbor please.

 

- Where are all of the Von Miller haters? They guy is going to be a pro bowler for years to come. Any haters care to chime in? Just look at the kids explosion and use of hand and body and it's easy to see he's special.

 

- Barnett whiffed bad on the moreno screen, but I really like what I see from him. Great addition.

 

- good to see Stevie get in Moores face after the cheap shot. Hopefully we can resign him long term ASAP.

 

- god I love Both of his sacks so far have come vs the double team.

 

- we need a Shawne merriman.

 

- I hope Donald Jones doesn't play scared now. He was effective over the middle last year. A hit like that may sway his fearlessness.

 

It was a bad 2nd-3rd qtr. Not the end of the world. Let's just hope fitz can step it up. It's doubtful the OL will improve very much. Fitz needs to play to his level of last year if we want to win some games. So far, he's regressed (I know....it's only been 6 series of so)

 

I think you and the OP pretty much nailed it.

 

Definitely not one of Fitzy's better games. Like Alpha has pointed out for a long time now, his accuracy will hurt him at times. But I'll wait until Fitz has a week of game planning and audibles to use before I worry too much about him. I already know he'll have me pulling my hair out some of the time but, more importantly, I know he's gonna put the offense in the best position more often than not.

 

Torbor can't leave quick enough. He's really bad. Chan said they played base purposely to see who can do what (a time-honored coaching tactic and one that makes sense when you didn't have the time with the players this year} and Torbor proved he can't do much at all.

 

You won't see the Von Miller haters until he has a bad game. And he will. But he's a force on the football field. The Maybin comparisons were ludicrous then and just plain stupid now. But the haters are out there waiting to pounce and say, "I told you so!"

 

While I would have been happy with either Miller or Dareus, I couldn't be more pleased with Marcel. To borrow a line from Lindy Ruff, Dareus plays with a lot of "jam." Him and Merriman bring a certain infectious swagger that can only help the rest of the young guys.

 

I look forward to the Bills wanting to set a tone in their first home game next Saturday. Much like the Broncos were intent on doing. I see lots of blitzing on defense and perhaps a modicum of game planning for the first team offense.

 

GO BILLS!!!

[stony]

My 1 cent:

 

-I've seen a lot of people here saying "it's not fitzys fault. -Blame the OL". Yes the OL was bad, but Fitzy was worse yesterday. He made a few really bad reads and threw a few really bad passes. Defend him all you want, last game, he was putrid. More so than our OL (which was bad too).

 

-cut torbor please.

 

- Where are all of the Von Miller haters? They guy is going to be a pro bowler for years to come. Any haters care to chime in? Just look at the kids explosion and use of hand and body and it's easy to see he's special.

 

- Barnett whiffed bad on the moreno screen, but I really like what I see from him. Great addition.

 

- good to see Stevie get in Moores face after the cheap shot. Hopefully we can resign him long term ASAP.

 

- god I love Both of his sacks so far have come vs the double team.

 

- we need a Shawne merriman.

 

- I hope Donald Jones doesn't play scared now. He was effective over the middle last year. A hit like that may sway his fearlessness.

 

It was a bad 2nd-3rd qtr. Not the end of the world. Let's just hope fitz can step it up. It's doubtful the OL will improve very much. Fitz needs to play to his level of last year if we want to win some games. So far, he's regressed (I know....it's only been 6 series of so)

 

1. Regarding Fitz...he wasn't good but oline was still worse. He was getting touched when throwing quick slants.

 

2. Here, here. He is bad even for "depth."

 

3. Too early to tell but no one cares because we have a guy as good as or better. He looked good, as did Dareus.

 

4. +1. Can he play outside on passing downs because he is great in space/coverage?

 

5. Stevie and a few other guys too. Correct about signing him up. Just get him some help ASAP.

 

6. Dareus is sweet. Putting it mildly.

 

7. If Merriman is the key to our defense, please let him stay healthy. I know it's preseaosn, but I hope were not sitting in prevent D during the regular season w/ our slap-ass secondary. Yup, I said it, they scare me.

 

8. Speedy recovery for Donald.

Edited August 22, 2011 by stony

[Dragonborn10]

Well, training camp is almost 3 weeks old and the Bills have played 2 preseason games. My thoughts

so far (FWIW):

 

1. The OL is struggling and probably doesn't have enough talent to be very good this year.

a. When they decided to spend most of their draft choices over the last 2 years on defense, we knew that

this unit would struggle. Upgrading through FA is sketchy and this year's crop of FA OL was weak. The

team went after Clabo hard and lost out to his current team. Not sure that there were any other OL FA

that would have upgraded our OL commensurate with the cost. This team will address this area hard

in the '12 offseason with only QB a higher priority.

 

2. The defense looks significantly improved. Dareus looks like the real deal, Kyle Williams is the

workaholic that overachieves and last year's 2nd and 3rd picks (Troup and Carrington) look like they'll

contribute a lot this year.

 

3. Rookies: Marcel Dareus looks like he'll be very very good. Aaron Williams has shown flashes of being

very good. We don't know anything about Kelvin Sheppard due to injury. I think I've seen flashes from

4th Searcy, 5th White and 6th White. I am pulling for Mike Jasper, but he looks to have gained significant

weight since the draft. I am holding out hope that OT Chris Hairston can help, but that may be wishful

thinking.

 

4. I REALLY don't understand the hatred directed at CJ Spiller. The guy did not have a big impact in his

rookie year after coming from a spread offense in college. He would do well to learn whatever magic

Fred Jackson has for running behind this weak OL, but Spiller has undeniable physical talent. Will he

maximize it in the pros? I don't know, but I am willing to wait this year and into next year.

 

5. I don't agree with the general view that the Bills have an abundance of talent at WR. I hope that

Stevie Johnson can match/improve on last year, I think Roscoe Parrish (when not hurt) is a good #3WR.

I like what I have seen of David Nelson. I don't know what to think of Donald Jones, but he is a very

good athlete. Marcus Easley hasn't impressed me and I like what I've seen of UDFA Kamar Aiken. I think

he has out-produced Easley so far.

 

6. I can't tell if Fitz can be a mid-upper tier QB because the OL and TEs are so weak. I love his intelligence,

effort and leadership, though.

 

7. TEs: I am not falling for this year's "next great reclamation project" Scott Chandler. He looks to be

the best of a very weak group, especially since the talented but injury prone Shawn Nelson hasn't seen

the field yet.

 

8. OL: I think Wood is very good. I don't have a clue what the issue with Levitre is - I haven't seen him do

anything wrong so far. Demetrius Bell is the best that we've got at LT this year and I want to see him for

a full season. I haven't watched enough of Erik Pears to have an opinion, but I don't think Kraig Urbik is

the answer at RG and Wrotto has looked awful from what I can tell.

 

My view for the season: I think the defense will be much improved, especially if Shawn Merriman is not

injured or suspended for steroids. I think that Fred Jackson will put up decent numbers, I hope that Spiller

shows that he can learn to follow his blockers and that he becomes a pass-receiving weapon out of the

backfield. I hope Johnson excels at WR and someone steps up (maybe David Nelson?).

Nix didn't soley focus on the defense the last two drafts. He took a RB and a WR with two of the first four picks last year and another RB this year. He has completely failed to improve the OL while choosing skill position players. Wasn't that Donahoe's undoing?

[clayboy54]

The thing you dont evaluate in the preseason is who wins or loses.Player performance is evaluated.

 

I just took several hours to review the tape and based on this concept, we do have some glaring issues. That said, it is not at all like what many of these posts represent. While none of us have any idea what any given player's assignment was, we do know when obvious mistakes occur. Here are my thoughts on individual player performances based on only the obvious.

 

• 
   
  
• Bell clearly did not have any chance in the passing game. If they keep him on the field, they need to give him help on every passing down.
  
• Wrotto did not appear to even understand his assignments. On multiple occasions he was looking around and blocking no one.
  
• The rest of the OL were not over-matched one-on-one, but looked bad trying to make-up for the above two.
  
• Florence and McKelvin were not going full speed. For whatever reason, they were waltzing around in slow motion with the 1st unit. They don't suck.
  
• Fitz has no timing established with the receivers. Perhaps it's because of the lockout. Perhaps it's because there are too many receivers. The only balls consistently way off the mark were due to pressures. (mainly under-throws)
  
• Defensive play calling was bad. Was this because it's preseason without a game plan or was Edwards out-matched?
  
• Spiller was fine. When there was somewhere to run, he took it. It looked mostly like he was seeing a brick wall in front of him, however.
  
• Easley needs a lot of work to get better. He seems to be thinking too much or pressing. He obviously can run a good route and has great potential. He needs to learn the position better.
  
• Wang isn't there yet by any means but he is improving.
  
• Troupe looked pretty good considering he had one arm tied behind his back, almost literally.
  

 

The linebacking is much better than last year and way better than you guys led me to believe.

The Bills are doing a lot of work on various screen plays. How long have we waited for that?

 

While we probably aren't going to win many games, it looks like an improving team in my opinion.

[K-9]

[*]Defensive play calling was bad. Was this because it's preseason without a game plan or was Edwards out-matched?

 

As Gailey was quoted as saying in the post game presser last night, they specifically played a base defense because they wanted to get a look at everybody in that scheme.

 

GO BILLS!!!

[Bills!Win!]

FWIW, that Dotson guy on the defensive line has caught my eye this year. It seems like he's there on every tackle and puts forth a nice effort every play

[ganesh]

There are some interesting threads today on this board. Some are all doom and gloom after the teams performance yesterday, and others are all Allen Iverson like and proclaiming "Its just preseason...are we really talking about preseason" type respones. This thread is refreshing...nice OP.

 

The way I see it both sides of the "doom and gloom" and "its only preseason" argument have some validity. First off, Fitz has not been good in practice or preseason with his accuracy. What was his biggest Achilles heal? Accuracy. To see no positive improvement in that is not exactly something that gets the masses excited. Many posters on this board are completely delusional to the quality of Fitz's season last year with the impression he was better than he was. In almost a week to week basis, our offense struggled to move the ball. 2 games (Balt and Cincy) made his totals look respectable (along with a little garbage time padding in 3 bad losses before the Balt game). Truth is, in the 9 games after Balt, he had more turnovers than TD's, completed just 56% of his passes, and had a QB rating of 70. He was one of the lowest rated QB's in the NFL over that stretch to end his season.

 

So, coming into this year, he had to make major strides for this team to be able to start turning the corner. Thus far, he has struggled all camp with his medium to deep ball accuracy as he has his whole career. He has not done much in the preseason games either. In other words, there is no evidence that he is making any progress or elevating his game. Doesn't mean he won't by week 1, but thus far, the evidence of improvement just isn't there.

 

That being said, it is still just preseason and there are still 2 more preseason games and a bunch of practice before week 1. Preseason results can be pretty meaningless...the year Detroit went 0-16 they also went 4-0 in the preseason for instance. However, the way our team played this week and how the starting unit looked was concerning. So while it is preseason, and records in the preseason are completely meaningless come week 1, it is still concerning to see our first unit still look so flat but not yet time to panic.

 

Personally, I have a hard time finding optimism in a QB who has been in the league as long as Fitz who has a career long issue with accuracy suddenly becoming an accurate and consistent QB. Taking away a vet like Lee for unproven young receivers isn't going to help and an inconsistent OL with little depth is also going to make it even more difficult. So, I don't hold a lot of optimism in our offense this year with Fitz looking like Fitz (which isnt exactly a good thing), no Lee, no OL upgrades, and a bunch of unprovens at WR and TE.

 

That being said, I am optimistic like you about our D. So, the good news, hopefully the moves we made in the draft and FA to improve the D will make a big impact allowing us to address the offense in at least 3 of the first 4 rounds in next years draft. I expect a 5 to 7 win season this year personally unless Fitz can find some magic and find it fast.

 

Great post. I have been worried about Fitz, especially with the big drop off in the 2nd half of the season even though we went 4-4 during that stretch and were a couple of plays from beating Baltimore, Kansas City and Pittsburgh.. Folks cannot keep on pounding on the OL...The OL is what it is....very average and poor tackles. IT is up to the QB/WR/RBs to elevate their plays to mask our weak OL. That is what good teams do. That is what good coaches game plan. I wish Gailey realizes that and puts his best blocking TE on the field as an additional tackle and have Fitz throw off short and quick drops.

[NewEra]

Great post. I have been worried about Fitz, especially with the big drop off in the 2nd half of the season even though we went 4-4 during that stretch and were a couple of plays from beating Baltimore, Kansas City and Pittsburgh.. Folks cannot keep on pounding on the OL...The OL is what it is....very average and poor tackles. IT is up to the QB/WR/RBs to elevate their plays to mask our weak OL. That is what good teams do. That is what good coaches game plan. I wish Gailey realizes that and puts his best blocking TE on the field as an additional tackle and have Fitz throw off short and quick drops.

I wish our OL was very average. Our interior line is very average. Our Tackles might be the leagues worst. Average + worst = certainly below average

[NewEra]

1. Regarding Fitz...he wasn't good but oline was still worse. He was getting touched when throwing quick slants.

 

2. Here, here. He is bad even for "depth."

 

3. Too early to tell but no one cares because we have a guy as good as or better. He looked good, as did Dareus.

 

4. +1. Can he play outside on passing downs because he is great in space/coverage?

 

5. Stevie and a few other guys too. Correct about signing him up. Just get him some help ASAP.

 

6. Dareus is sweet. Putting it mildly.

 

7. If Merriman is the key to our defense, please let him stay healthy. I know it's preseaosn, but I hope were not sitting in prevent D during the regular season w/ our slap-ass secondary. Yup, I said it, they scare me.

 

8. Speedy recovery for Donald.

 

1- the reason I feel fitzys play was worse than our OL: his reads. Fitzys biggest attribute last year, IMO, was his presnap analysis. He knew what the defenses were doing and he chose his targets accordingly and very quickly. Not so much last game. The plays where his did, his throws were off. Examples of bad reads (forget which drives each was on): a play where Chandler and a Wr did 5 yard hook routes. Both were open, fitz threw to the Wr directly behind a DL (bunkley). The pass was knocked down. Chandler was wide, with a clear path; another play, Denver brought 6, fitz had naaman wide open from the get go, he waited, got flushed by dumervil (or bunkley, I forget) stepped up and threw and off balance pass which wasnt even near naaman. He should have hiked and got rid of it to the uncovered Wr. Another play: 3rd and over 5, Fitzy throws to naaman, who was blanketed by champ Bailey. Naaman may have been the first option, but did he realize who was covering? Going after one of the best CBs ever on 3rd down = a no no. (especially when it's a slow Wr. He's naaman is a slow Wr). He's got to improve his reads, especially when his accuracy is off.

 

Yes...I know it's preseason.

[Chandler#81]

Nix didn't soley focus on the defense the last two drafts. He took a RB and a WR with two of the first four picks last year and another RB this year. He has completely failed to improve the OL while choosing skill position players. Wasn't that Donahoe's undoing?

 

 

Pffft! It's so incredibly rare when a drafted OL steps right in and is a dominating force, that it's easier to say they all need time to develop. Gailey's been the Coach for just over 1 year, has drafted Wang & Hairston and screened other teams' PS for players he feels may pan out.

 

Just a bit early for such an emphatic indictment, don't you think?

[LabattBlue]

Pffft! It's so incredibly rare when a drafted OL steps right in and is a dominating force, that it's easier to say they all need time to develop. Gailey's been the Coach for just over 1 year, has drafted Wang & Hairston and screened other teams' PS for players he feels may pan out.

 

Just a bit early for such an emphatic indictment, don't you think?

Actually they have had TWO off-seasons to improve the OL. Do you relly believe that spending a 4th and 5th round picks along with watching the waiver wire is "all they could do" over the course of two off-seasons to improve the OL?

[Beerball]

4. I REALLY don't understand the hatred directed at CJ Spiller. The guy did not have a big impact in his

rookie year after coming from a spread offense in college. He would do well to learn whatever magic

Fred Jackson has for running behind this weak OL, but Spiller has undeniable physical talent. Will he

maximize it in the pros? I don't know, but I am willing to wait this year and into next year.

You seem to be implying that Jackson is at this time a better runner than Spiller behind this O-line. If that's a true statement what does it tell you about Gailey that (according to Tim Graham) "it is Spiller's job to lose."

 

He was given the start last year in week 1 and it was downhill from there. Who is the more effective runner? Can anyone prove to me that Spiller is that guy?

 

 

Maybe some of that 'hatred' comes from the fact that we took a part time gimicky player in the first round when the team had two decent RBs and huge holes elsewhere (holes that BTW still exist to this very day).

[The Senator]

Meanwhile, 5X Pro Bowl guard Brian Waters is still out there, unsigned, as is Vince Manuwai - both are decent rush-blockers that could bolster our interior O-line. Veterans Leonard Davis and Shawn Andrews are both 3X Pro Bowl guards that are also still available.

 

Available OTs include Bryant McKinnie, Nick Kaczur, Mario Henderson, Max Starks, Flozell Adams, Mark Tauscher and Langston Walker.

 

I understand that Buddy wants to draft, develop, and play his own young guys, but right now a little veteran o-line help seems necessary.

[Chandler#81]

Actually they have had TWO off-seasons to improve the OL. Do you relly believe that spending a 4th and 5th round picks along with watching the waiver wire is "all they could do" over the course of two off-seasons to improve the OL?

 

Of course not. Where they selected OL in the draft had everything to do with who was available at the selection and what their board looked like at that time. As fans, we HAVE to believe that any available OL at earlier selections were not rated that high. Whether we agree isn't important as we're not on the Bills payroll.

 

As for FA's, it certainly appears to the masses that 'nothing is being done', but we're not there and don't have access to pro-player scout sheets that actually are based in fact -not that a fan has 'heard of him'..

[Green Lightning]

Meanwhile, 5X Pro Bowl guard Brian Waters is still out there, unsigned, as is Vince Manuwai - both are decent rush-blockers that could bolster our interior O-line. Veterans Leonard Davis and Shawn Andrews are both 3X Pro Bowl guards that are also still available.

 

Available OTs include Bryant McKinnie, Nick Kaczur, Mario Henderson, Max Starks, Flozell Adams, Mark Tauscher and Langston Walker.

 

I understand that Buddy wants to draft, develop, and play his own young guys, but right now a little veteran o-line help seems necessary.

 

 

This....it seems crazy to have to even to post this it is so damn obvious.