My Offseason Plan for the Bills

[1billsfan]

Three of the top seven teams run 3-4 defenses too, and they attack the run differently. If we should look to emulate anyone on the list it's the Bears, who run a very similar defense. Tank Johnson and Tommie Harris are not gi-normous beefy guys compared to many others. Whom do you suggest to fit the kind of run-stuffer we need? Ngata is nothing like those guys.

 

I think what they want to do is stop the run at all costs. If a DT falls to them that can stop the run but doesn't necessarily fit the the scheme they'll fit the scheme around the player that can stop the run. At least I hope they'd do this. What we have on the defensive line is clearly not going to get the job done. Tripplett was below average, Williams does look solid, McCargo had 6 tackles in 5 games , Jefferson had 2 tackles. Kelsay DE isn't any world beater either, we could upgrade there. They also need to upgrade the middle linebacker postion as well. I see the draft going:

 

Willis LB, Tyler DT, OL in third

Okoye DT, OL, LB in the third

Anderson DE, Tyler DT, LB in the third

 

This team is going to concentrate on finishing the rebuilding of the defense. If they fail to upgrade the DT position this offseason, the Bills will still have major problems stopping the run next season.

[obie_wan]

I think what they want to do is stop the run at all costs. If a DT falls to them that can stop the run but doesn't necessarily fit the the scheme they'll fit the scheme around the player that can stop the run. At least I hope they'd do this. What we have on the defensive line is clearly not going to get the job done. Tripplett was below average, Williams does look solid, McCargo had 6 tackles in 5 games , Jefferson had 2 tackles. Kelsay DE isn't any world beater either, we could upgrade there. They also need to upgrade the middle linebacker postion as well. I see the draft going:

 

Willis LB, Tyler DT, OL in third

Okoye DT, OL, LB in the third

Anderson DE, Tyler DT, LB in the third

 

This team is going to concentrate on finishing the rebuilding of the defense. If they fail to upgrade the DT position this offseason, the Bills will still have major problems stopping the run next season.

 

Brandon Siler from Florida in the 2nd to play MLB. He had great production on a championship Gator team

[JDG]

Minor quibble, JDG -- but the Denney that we are sending to NFL Europe is Chris Denney, the small UDFA receiver from camp last year, not Ryan the five-year vet DE. He is certainly in the Bills' plans.

 

Doh! That's what I get for doing TBD in the morning before coffee.... that would have registered eventually.... thanks for the pickup....

[JDG]

I will definitly give you credit for taking the time to write out such a detailed plan, but there are something I can't see happening and it revolves around your lines.

 

Ralph was not happy with our ability to stop the run, and neither was Marv and the coaching staff, soi you have to figure that is the top priority this year, I can see alot of reshuffling of the DT's and atleast one low budget FA pickup and a 1 draft pick being brought in. (if you re-sign Kelsay and hargrove, I think the DE's will remain as they were)

 

As for the O-line, There is no way it stays as is, and the first player that gets replaced is Preston. Peters is pretty much a lock so LT is fine. JP has already said Gandy is the leader of the o-line and he played much better at Guard, so if peters is happy with him there and JP is happy, I think he gets re-signed. Fowler was not a Pro Bowler, but he is smart and played well, and I don't see the Bills replacing him if it is not absolutly necessary. Preston was mediocre for a first year starter at guard and is probably the first choice for an upgrade. He would provide depth at the o-line position (RG and C) but nothing more. The coaching staff seem to think they have something in Pennington at RT and I think a Vet RG next to him could help him develop into the RT we all want. I think a OG in the Draft and a FA OG are probably the most we get this year (one starter, one for depth) as they hope to develop the young players they have and hope a little more time together will help them Gel into a great o-line.

 

You have to remember that I'm thinking in terms of the 46 players you bring to a game, not the full 53 man roster.

 

We agree that it is a reasonable approach to resign Kelsay and to tender Hargrove, which would leave us with the same four DE's - Schobel, Kelsay, Denney and Hargrove.

 

At DT, if you bring a 4th DT to the game, you need to reduce a player at another position - probably one of the special teams linebackers. I actually kind of agree that we are likely to see a low-budget FA pickup or a late draft pick used at the DT position. I don't see at all, however, one of those players beating out the three guys that Levy and Jauron hand-picked for the position, Triplett, Williams, and McCargo for a gameday roster spot. So then the question is, do one of those guys beat out one of our special teams LB's for a gameday roster spot? Its a tough call, but my thinking here is that the answer would be "no."

 

The same thing is true on the offensive line. A team typically brings no more than six linemen to a game, five starters, a third tackle, and a backup interior lineman. Thus, your approach is actually very similar to mine, the only difference being that I have a free agent and Preston starting at Guard, and you have a free agent and a re-signed Gandy at guard. Since Gandy played for Jauron in Chicago, I think, the more I think about it, the more I think Jauron will try and sign him. That would leave Preston as the 7th lineman on gameday, and putting Merz back on the inactive list for another season of potential development. Yeah, I could very easily see that happening....

 

JDG

[Tcali]

For what it is worth, here is my current thinking on how the Bills should tackle their offseason. I've based this plan on thinking about the 46 players who are on the typical active roster for gamedays (counting the special 3rd QB rule). I know its a little unusual to think about a roster in terms of the active players, rather than the full 53, but I think that its a more useful approach. I'll first list this year's 45 for each position, and then give my recommendations.

 

QB (3) - Losman, Holcomb, Nall

 

Recommendation: Losman is clearly the starter. Unless Levy and Jauron think that Nall is a total bust, now that Nall has had one year in our system, they can hopefully elevate him to #2, bid farewell to Holcomb, and draft a #3 on the second day of the draft.

 

RB (2) - McGahee, Thomas

 

Recommendation: I only give McGahee an extension if the price is right, he just hasn't shown enough as a complete back (pass catching and pass blocking). Even as a runner, he's disappear for far too long stretches for my taste. With that much talent, it wouldn't hurt to get an extension for the right price, but you can't break the bank for that kind of production either. Thomas is unrestricted, but the Bills should have no trouble resigning him. The Bills also may need to seriously consider reducing a player at another position in order to add a 3rd RB who plays special teams to the gameday roster for next season. If so, that could be a 2nd day pick, or perhaps even a 3rd rounder if the player was right.

 

FB (1) - Shelton

 

Recommendation: Daimon Shelton is 35 years old and a free agent; the Bills could tender him an offer to bring him back to camp, but this will be a priority for replacement. Ideally, I'd like to see the Bills use their 3rd round pick on a FB who would hopefully beat Shelton out in camp this year. Otherwise, the new guy may spend most of next year on the inactive list while Shelton plays one last year, or a different veteran is brought in to hold the fort.

 

WR (6) - Evans, Price, Reed, Parrish, Davis, Aiken

 

Recommendation: Davis is a free agent, who will certainly be resigned and at least brought into training camp. I was very impressed with him on special teams this year, and would like to see him back on the gameday rosters next year. If so, that would mean another year with 6 WR's on our gameday rosters - which I suspect that both Bobby April and our Mike Martz alumni offensive coordinator would both be more than happy with. The places to make a cut would be to drop either Reed or Price, but both received signing bonuses last year, and Price seems entrenched as a starter, and Reed seems to be finally emerging as the "3rd Down guy." That leaves three special teamers, Parrish as the returner and occasional "secret weapon" on offense, and Davis and Aiken as the gunners. I'd tag Aiken to possibly be a late cut and replaced by a 3rd RB or a backup FB (particularly if we project a first-day drafted rookie as our eventual starter, but just not on opening day.) On the other hand, I thought the same thing about Aiken this year, and he made the active roster anyways.

 

TE (3) - Royal, Cieslak, Everett

 

Recommendation: Royal is a coaches favorite, and I like Cieslak a lot, especially since he can be a backup FB. I suspect that Everett will be cut in training camp next season. Ideally, I would hope that the Bills use a 1st Day pick on a TE who will beat him out for the spot. Its conceivable that Neufeld could come back and take the spot too. We could bring in Eric Johnson from the 49ers or Reggie Kelly of the Bengals. Johnson graduated from Yale, so you've got to think that he might get a look from this staff....

 

OT (3) - Peters, Pennington, Butler

 

Recommendation: This young trio appears to be set. Butler should see some competition, from a mid-round draft pick or a lower-tier free agent, with Butler being demoted to the inactive list for one more year of development in that situation if he should lose out.

 

OG/C (4) - Gandy, Fowler, Vilarrial, Preston

 

Recommendation: Gandy is a free agent, whom I don't expect to resign. Or if we do, to be cut in camp. Vilarrial could retire with injuries, and Reyes, who began the year on the above list, I would expect to be cut. Preston is a restricted free agent who should be brought back. I'd then look to sign free agent at the interior of the line. One place I'd start would be David Diehl of the Giants, whom I believe is a free agent. McNally drafted him in his last year in New York, and while he's not great, he would probably be an instant starter for us. Next year's four at this position would then likely be:

Diehl, Fowler, Preston, Merz - although Merz should face competition for an active roster spot.

 

DE (4) - Schobel, Kelsay, Denney, Hargrove

 

Recommendation: Kelsay is a free agent, and I'd put signing him only behind Clements. If there is a pass rusher available in the first round, I'd probably take him though, which would complicate this scenario - but otherwise I'd plan on resigning Kelsay and standing pat.

 

DT (3) - Triplett, Williams, Anderson

 

I expect Anderson to be cut and replaced by McCargo in the rotation. Jason Jefferson might come back on the inactive list, or a late-round draft pick could take his spot.

 

LB (7) - Crowell, Fletcher, Spikes, Ellison, Haggan, DiGiorgio, Stamer

 

Fletcher is a free agent, and its open secret that he won't be resigned. Its time to get younger and bigger in the middle, and with the need to resign Clements (or else sign his replacement), as well as Kelsay, there simply isn't money to go around. Spikes was a shadow of his former self this season, but I bring him back for another year to try and fully recover from his injuries and retgain his former glory. Coy Wire is a free agent, but I think we should be able to bring him back cheaply, and I expect will take either Haggan's or Stamer's roster spot as a special teams linebacker. DiGiorgio seems to have earned an active roster spot as a special teamer as well, and Ellison will remain the top backup. With our first round pick, I would draft Paul Posluszny of Penn State. With Fletcher moving on, we'll have a glaring need for a middle linebacker, and Posluszny would seem to be the sort of high character, big time player who could fit right in.

 

CB (4) - Clements, McGee, Thomas, Greer

 

This is where Marv will earn his bucks the big season. I advocate making Clements the highest paid CB in football after the season that he just had - he's that valuable to us. If we let Clements walk, then we need to sign Asante Samuel - otherwise we'll be in trouble and things will start falling apart. Kiwaukee Thomas is unrestricted and Greer is restricted. Greer will be tendered, and Thomas could probably be brought back for camp. Ideally, Yobouty will claim the nickel CB slot this year in camp, and then a second day pick or UDFA could beat out Greer for the gameday roster spot.

 

S (3) - Whitner, Simpson, Leonhard

 

Whitner and Simpson ain't going anywhere next year. I'd love to see Leonhard continue to defy the odds and keep earning his active roster spot with special teams play and an awful lot of heart.

 

Specialists (3) - Moorman, Lindell, Schenk

 

With Lindell resigned, there's no worries here.

Summary:

 

Free Agency -

Resign Clements, Kelsay, Thomas, and Davis. Bring in an interior offensive lineman, ala David Diehl. Look for lower-tier help at FB, TE, and backup offensive line.

 

Draft -

First Day - LB, TE, FB

Second Day - RB, CB, OL, CB

[Tcali]

For what it is worth, here is my current thinking on how the Bills should tackle their offseason. I've based this plan on thinking about the 46 players who are on the typical active roster for gamedays (counting the special 3rd QB rule). I know its a little unusual to think about a roster in terms of the active players, rather than the full 53, but I think that its a more useful approach. I'll first list this year's 45 for each position, and then give my recommendations.

 

QB (3) - Losman, Holcomb, Nall

 

Recommendation: Losman is clearly the starter. Unless Levy and Jauron think that Nall is a total bust, now that Nall has had one year in our system, they can hopefully elevate him to #2, bid farewell to Holcomb, and draft a #3 on the second day of the draft.

 

RB (2) - McGahee, Thomas

 

Recommendation: I only give McGahee an extension if the price is right, he just hasn't shown enough as a complete back (pass catching and pass blocking). Even as a runner, he's disappear for far too long stretches for my taste. With that much talent, it wouldn't hurt to get an extension for the right price, but you can't break the bank for that kind of production either. Thomas is unrestricted, but the Bills should have no trouble resigning him. The Bills also may need to seriously consider reducing a player at another position in order to add a 3rd RB who plays special teams to the gameday roster for next season. If so, that could be a 2nd day pick, or perhaps even a 3rd rounder if the player was right.

 

FB (1) - Shelton

 

Recommendation: Daimon Shelton is 35 years old and a free agent; the Bills could tender him an offer to bring him back to camp, but this will be a priority for replacement. Ideally, I'd like to see the Bills use their 3rd round pick on a FB who would hopefully beat Shelton out in camp this year. Otherwise, the new guy may spend most of next year on the inactive list while Shelton plays one last year, or a different veteran is brought in to hold the fort.

 

WR (6) - Evans, Price, Reed, Parrish, Davis, Aiken

 

Recommendation: Davis is a free agent, who will certainly be resigned and at least brought into training camp. I was very impressed with him on special teams this year, and would like to see him back on the gameday rosters next year. If so, that would mean another year with 6 WR's on our gameday rosters - which I suspect that both Bobby April and our Mike Martz alumni offensive coordinator would both be more than happy with. The places to make a cut would be to drop either Reed or Price, but both received signing bonuses last year, and Price seems entrenched as a starter, and Reed seems to be finally emerging as the "3rd Down guy." That leaves three special teamers, Parrish as the returner and occasional "secret weapon" on offense, and Davis and Aiken as the gunners. I'd tag Aiken to possibly be a late cut and replaced by a 3rd RB or a backup FB (particularly if we project a first-day drafted rookie as our eventual starter, but just not on opening day.) On the other hand, I thought the same thing about Aiken this year, and he made the active roster anyways.

 

TE (3) - Royal, Cieslak, Everett

 

Recommendation: Royal is a coaches favorite, and I like Cieslak a lot, especially since he can be a backup FB. I suspect that Everett will be cut in training camp next season. Ideally, I would hope that the Bills use a 1st Day pick on a TE who will beat him out for the spot. Its conceivable that Neufeld could come back and take the spot too. We could bring in Eric Johnson from the 49ers or Reggie Kelly of the Bengals. Johnson graduated from Yale, so you've got to think that he might get a look from this staff....

 

OT (3) - Peters, Pennington, Butler

 

Recommendation: This young trio appears to be set. Butler should see some competition, from a mid-round draft pick or a lower-tier free agent, with Butler being demoted to the inactive list for one more year of development in that situation if he should lose out.

 

OG/C (4) - Gandy, Fowler, Vilarrial, Preston

 

Recommendation: Gandy is a free agent, whom I don't expect to resign. Or if we do, to be cut in camp. Vilarrial could retire with injuries, and Reyes, who began the year on the above list, I would expect to be cut. Preston is a restricted free agent who should be brought back. I'd then look to sign free agent at the interior of the line. One place I'd start would be David Diehl of the Giants, whom I believe is a free agent. McNally drafted him in his last year in New York, and while he's not great, he would probably be an instant starter for us. Next year's four at this position would then likely be:

Diehl, Fowler, Preston, Merz - although Merz should face competition for an active roster spot.

 

DE (4) - Schobel, Kelsay, Denney, Hargrove

 

Recommendation: Kelsay is a free agent, and I'd put signing him only behind Clements. If there is a pass rusher available in the first round, I'd probably take him though, which would complicate this scenario - but otherwise I'd plan on resigning Kelsay and standing pat.

 

DT (3) - Triplett, Williams, Anderson

 

I expect Anderson to be cut and replaced by McCargo in the rotation. Jason Jefferson might come back on the inactive list, or a late-round draft pick could take his spot.

 

LB (7) - Crowell, Fletcher, Spikes, Ellison, Haggan, DiGiorgio, Stamer

 

Fletcher is a free agent, and its open secret that he won't be resigned. Its time to get younger and bigger in the middle, and with the need to resign Clements (or else sign his replacement), as well as Kelsay, there simply isn't money to go around. Spikes was a shadow of his former self this season, but I bring him back for another year to try and fully recover from his injuries and retgain his former glory. Coy Wire is a free agent, but I think we should be able to bring him back cheaply, and I expect will take either Haggan's or Stamer's roster spot as a special teams linebacker. DiGiorgio seems to have earned an active roster spot as a special teamer as well, and Ellison will remain the top backup. With our first round pick, I would draft Paul Posluszny of Penn State. With Fletcher moving on, we'll have a glaring need for a middle linebacker, and Posluszny would seem to be the sort of high character, big time player who could fit right in.

 

CB (4) - Clements, McGee, Thomas, Greer

 

This is where Marv will earn his bucks the big season. I advocate making Clements the highest paid CB in football after the season that he just had - he's that valuable to us. If we let Clements walk, then we need to sign Asante Samuel - otherwise we'll be in trouble and things will start falling apart. Kiwaukee Thomas is unrestricted and Greer is restricted. Greer will be tendered, and Thomas could probably be brought back for camp. Ideally, Yobouty will claim the nickel CB slot this year in camp, and then a second day pick or UDFA could beat out Greer for the gameday roster spot.

 

S (3) - Whitner, Simpson, Leonhard

 

Whitner and Simpson ain't going anywhere next year. I'd love to see Leonhard continue to defy the odds and keep earning his active roster spot with special teams play and an awful lot of heart.

 

Specialists (3) - Moorman, Lindell, Schenk

 

With Lindell resigned, there's no worries here.

Summary:

 

Free Agency -

Resign Clements, Kelsay, Thomas, and Davis. Bring in an interior offensive lineman, ala David Diehl. Look for lower-tier help at FB, TE, and backup offensive line.

 

Draft -

First Day - LB, TE, FB

Second Day - RB, CB, OL, CB

2nd day OL..plus one lower tier O lineman?? nad no D linemen in free agency or draft??? you must love our powerful high motor D line..LOL.U R joking I hope.

[woolley]

I think that the Bills have way too many "nice" players who we overvalue...and that may extend to the front office...I hope not, but maybe it does.

 

Besides Jason Peters, we simply *don't* have any O Linemen worth getting excited about. We just don't. Yeah...Pennington...it's great that a 7th round rookie ended up as a starter. That's one way of looking at it. Or how about this. He started because we have ZERO talent on the line besides Peters. In other words it's a *bad* thing that a 7th round rookie ended up as a starting tackle.

 

Fowler...Villareiel...Reyes...they are *nice* linemen to have if you have 2 or 3 other studs on the line.

 

With all the warm bodies we don't have to worry about depth, or worry about what to do with Gandy. Get a couple of studs on the O Line. Use a 1st or 2nd round pick. Give $4 million to an all-pro caliber guard. I'm sick about hearing about how Preston is an adequate guard. We have more than enough adequate players to be a 7 and 9 team.

 

Same problem on the D Line. I put Triplett in the same category as Fowler and Reyes. A nice player, and we're stuck with him for another few years. McCargo is the wild card...and we may not get anything out of him til 2008. We need a Pat Williams. Aaron Schobel is a nice Phil Hansen, but I'd settle for fewer sacks out of him if we had a Bruce Smith on the other side.

 

By May, through the draft and free agency, let's get a few pro bowl potential players on the line to go along with Peters and Schobel. One on the O Line, one on the D Line. That would make me happy. As for the filler, too much talk and worrying about them, we have plenty.

 

That's two out of three. All-pro caliber O Line and D Line. And an all-pro caliber linebacker. We've got 30 million to spend. Between a first rounder and a second rounder and some *big* free agents let's fill those needs. I like the idea of a wide receiver to complement Evans as well. Let's think big. Here's hoping Marv was just playing it safe/getting his feet wet last offseason.

 

Woolley

[apuszczalowski]

I think that the Bills have way too many "nice" players who we overvalue...and that may extend to the front office...I hope not, but maybe it does.

 

Besides Jason Peters, we simply *don't* have any O Linemen worth getting excited about. We just don't. Yeah...Pennington...it's great that a 7th round rookie ended up as a starter. That's one way of looking at it. Or how about this. He started because we have ZERO talent on the line besides Peters. In other words it's a *bad* thing that a 7th round rookie ended up as a starting tackle.

 

Fowler...Villareiel...Reyes...they are *nice* linemen to have if you have 2 or 3 other studs on the line.

 

With all the warm bodies we don't have to worry about depth, or worry about what to do with Gandy. Get a couple of studs on the O Line. Use a 1st or 2nd round pick. Give $4 million to an all-pro caliber guard. I'm sick about hearing about how Preston is an adequate guard. We have more than enough adequate players to be a 7 and 9 team.

 

Same problem on the D Line. I put Triplett in the same category as Fowler and Reyes. A nice player, and we're stuck with him for another few years. McCargo is the wild card...and we may not get anything out of him til 2008. We need a Pat Williams. Aaron Schobel is a nice Phil Hansen, but I'd settle for fewer sacks out of him if we had a Bruce Smith on the other side.

 

By May, through the draft and free agency, let's get a few pro bowl potential players on the line to go along with Peters and Schobel. One on the O Line, one on the D Line. That would make me happy. As for the filler, too much talk and worrying about them, we have plenty.

 

That's two out of three. All-pro caliber O Line and D Line. And an all-pro caliber linebacker. We've got 30 million to spend. Between a first rounder and a second rounder and some *big* free agents let's fill those needs. I like the idea of a wide receiver to complement Evans as well. Let's think big. Here's hoping Marv was just playing it safe/getting his feet wet last offseason.

 

Woolley

What your suggesting is that every linemen should be a potential Pro Bowler in order for the Bills to have a chance at improving and making the playoffs. That would be nice, but its dreaming. What we have only needs a little improvement to make it a better line. LT is set, RT is looking good, and will hopefully be much better next season. Centre could be improved, but there isn't anything available that is better then what we have, and what we have is pretty good. LG is good, and the QB has spoken out and said he is pleased with Gandy and calls him a leader of the o-line. The only position that NEEDS improvement is RG were Preston was adequate but not good enough.

 

On the d-line, only one more run stuffing DT is needed to help stop the run to halp improve this team.

 

They are not going to go from Turnstile lines to Brick walls in one off season, and they should be focused on improving them one step at a time. I can handle an o-line that is good and gets the job done, and not spend my days crying over the Bills not having o-line from the starting lineup of the Pro Bowl

[tennesseeboy]

I think the sine qua non of getting to the playoffs is signing our own players. I think we HAVE to move heaven and earth to sign Clements. Kelsay and Thomas would be nice. I'm coming to the conclusion that the downside of Fletcher is the real problem of not having a run stuffing DT and he is probably unjustly taking most of the heat for that. I'm coming to the conclusion that we should re-sign him for two years. Now I know that is not the conventional thinking, but I think the only weak spot on our D is the DT and we can solve that with Okoye (like we could have last year with Ngata). We do that and our defense is fine. I think we've got to improve our offensive line and I see our second round going to a guard and maybe something in free agency. Also in free agency I see Kelly Washington of Cincy as a real possibility. Stuckincincy likes him and I've been watching him since his stint in Tennessee and have a feeling he may solve the #2 WR problem "on the cheap". Frankly we have a darn good team and we should have a real contender, not just to GET to the playoffs, but to maybe go farther with a little bit of tweaking. Very optimistic about this team.

[woolley]

What your suggesting is that every linemen should be a potential Pro Bowler in order for the Bills to have a chance at improving and making the playoffs. That would be nice, but its dreaming.

 

No, just 2 (or 3) on each line. One more for the O Line, one more for the Line. Giving $3 million a year to guys like Fowler and Reyes or Villariel and Panos or haven't helped us the past 5 or 10 years and won't help us for the next 5 of 10 years, unless our goal is continued mediocrity.

 

What we have only needs a little improvement to make it a better line. LT is set, RT is looking good, and will hopefully be much better next season.

I think RT is looking good because of low expectations for the guy who is occupying the position. Does Pennington have Wolford or Ballard upside? I guess I don't know, but I'm not in favor of waiting for 2 or 3 years to find out.

 

Centre could be improved, but there isn't anything available that is better then what we have, and what we have is pretty good. LG is good, and the QB has spoken out and said he is pleased with Gandy and calls him a leader of the o-line. The only position that NEEDS improvement is RG were Preston was adequate but not good enough.

 

I think if we can plug in an all-pro caliber guard things will be looking good. I also think it would be nice to draft an olineman with a 1st or 2nd round pick. We haven't done that since when, Ruben Brown?

 

On the d-line, only one more run stuffing DT is needed to help stop the run to halp improve this team.

 

Yes, let's get an all-pro caliber DLineman. -Woolley

[jimmyv.]

I think what they want to do is stop the run at all costs. If a DT falls to them that can stop the run but doesn't necessarily fit the the scheme they'll fit the scheme around the player that can stop the run. At least I hope they'd do this. What we have on the defensive line is clearly not going to get the job done. Tripplett was below average, Williams does look solid, McCargo had 6 tackles in 5 games , Jefferson had 2 tackles. Kelsay DE isn't any world beater either, we could upgrade there. They also need to upgrade the middle linebacker postion as well. I see the draft going:

 

Willis LB, Tyler DT, OL in third

Okoye DT, OL, LB in the third

Anderson DE, Tyler DT, LB in the third

 

This team is going to concentrate on finishing the rebuilding of the defense. If they fail to upgrade the DT position this offseason, the Bills will still have major problems stopping the run next season.

 

Finally, a guy who understands what Bills needs are. I think P. Fewell was quoted as saying Bills need to get bigger and stronger on DL. Everyone agrees need at DT, and I think where everyone gets tripped up is to follow this narrow minded approach to get a DT that fits their system. That's the wrong way to go, if you have a run plugger, space eating monster, you get him. period. The DEs also need upgrading, as I'm not sold on either Kelsey or Denney as starters. LB and OL also need to be addressed. I hope that Bills don't start drafting CBs in early rounds, but something tells me they will. If they select a CB over DL, OL or LB of equal or near equal value/ability, then they're destined for mediocrity, IMO.

[frogger]

1-Patrick Willis, he makes the most sense, starter out of the gate, there isn't a DT that I would pick at 12. Okoye has what they say is upside, and if Willis goes early, yeah I would take him. But Willis is better.

 

2-Tony Ugoh-Tackle from Ark, it's not that I think Pennington isn't going to start, but if he has 2nd year growing pains I don't want to have to start Brad Butler. Tony Ugoh could also play guard.

 

3-Craig Davis-LSU WR with good size, was the 2nd WR there and would be here as well, but actually has the speed to open the field and size to not be knocked out of his route.

 

4-Manuel Ramirez-has Larry allen type size. good back up, could start.

 

6-Tyrone Moss-short and squatty RB. more Gore than McGahee, was injured a lot in college

 

 

 

after signing, Daniel graham, Eric Steinbach, and Robaire Smith

 

and re-signing Nate Clements and Mike gandy

 

we have plenty of cap room to do this.

 

this is would be my simple plan

[jimmyv.]

1-Patrick Willis, he makes the most sense, starter out of the gate, there isn't a DT that I would pick at 12. Okoye has what they say is upside, and if Willis goes early, yeah I would take him. But Willis is better.

 

2-Tony Ugoh-Tackle from Ark, it's not that I think Pennington isn't going to start, but if he has 2nd year growing pains I don't want to have to start Brad Butler. Tony Ugoh could also play guard.

 

3-Craig Davis-LSU WR with good size, was the 2nd WR there and would be here as well, but actually has the speed to open the field and size to not be knocked out of his route.

 

4-Manuel Ramirez-has Larry allen type size. good back up, could start.

 

6-Tyrone Moss-short and squatty RB. more Gore than McGahee, was injured a lot in college

after signing, Daniel graham, Eric Steinbach, and Robaire Smith

 

and re-signing Nate Clements and Mike gandy

 

we have plenty of cap room to do this.

 

this is would be my simple plan

 

You definitely uprgraded OL with Steinbach and draft pick, and resigning Nate lessens need area for CB in draft...TE you got a good man, no doubt. And you've got LB #1 to replace LF. Tell me more about this Willis guy...and Robaire Smith, as signing him also means DT not a prime area of need in draft. Overall Not a bad plan, my only question is do Bills have enough cap space to sign all these players?

[BillsSouth]

The problem I see here is that many people assume the Bills will spend a lot of money in FA. They won't. Ralph has already said he can't compete with the larger markets. We have cap room but no money to give two or three huge signing bonus.

 

So, look for one major signing and a few mid-level guys to fill some holes. The rest will have to come from the draft.

 

And I'd put my money on Eric Steinbach. If Graham wants less than a 10 mil signing bonus, I can see the Bills trying to sign him too.