Is Another “Extreme Makeover” Coming to Buffalo To Fix the Bills?

After a local Buffalo home and surrounding area were fixed up with the coming of the ABC hit Extreme Makeover, Home Edition most Buffalonians thought that the drastic makeover was over for the time being.

That may not be the case, as it looks like another extreme makeover might be coming to town, and it involves the local football team.

Instead of Ty Pennington and his group of volunteers, Ralph Wilson Jr. looks to be overhauling the operation.

Wilson talked to the Associated Press today in his first interview since head coach Dick Jauron was let go. In the short interview, Wilson made several strong statements, leading fans to believe that enough is enough, and that there will be some big changes this offseason.

“I tell you, we have a lot of work to do,” Wilson said. “We’ve got to revamp and take a look at the whole operation and that’s what we’re going to do.”

It isn’t going to be an easy process turning this team around, but Wilson sounds willing to try.

But what exactly is going to happen?

Over the past decade, Wilson hasn’t been one to spend a great deal of money. The only way he could pull this off is to have a strategy in terms of bankrolling the entire make-over.

“It’s not about money, it’s about winning,” Wilson said. “If it was about money, we wouldn’t have brought in and paid for somebody we know was a great player.”

Wilson was referring to the signing of Terrell Owens, the Bills’ big signing of the offseason.

It might not have worked out like he imagined, but just the fact that Wilson made the move to bring in an NFL star with a big contract shows that he is willing to throw around some cash to improve the team.

Yesterday, most Bills fans were excited (or at least intrigued) to hear that the Bills were talking to a proven coach.

The ones who weren’t calling for the Bills to throw everything they had at the possibility of landing a big time coach (like me, for example) looked for reasons why the Bills wouldn’t go after one.

One big reason was money, but it seems that Wilson may have changed his ways.

“Anybody that says I’m cheap is looking down the wrong side of the street,” Wilson also said.

It looks like Wilson had a change of heart about his football team, and it has Bills followers excited about what is to come.

Now I don’t really care (and neither should anyone else) what the reason was for the change on Wilson’s part—whether it was to make more money, to help fix his tarnishing legacy, or just because he was finally sick of losing, too.

It doesn’t really matter to anyone in Buffalo if it means the Bills are winning football games again.

Read more NFL news on BleacherReport.com

Give Mike Shanahan Anything He Wants If It Means He Will Come to Buffalo

When NFL Superstar Terrell Owens came to Buffalo after he signed a deal in the off-season with the Bills, he was greeted with cheers and given the key to the city.

If Mike Shanahan somehow comes to coach in Buffalo, give him the whole damn city.

It was first reported by ESPN’s Adam Schefter that the Buffalo Bills have contacted the Super Bowl winning coach.  Buffalo was believed to be setting up a meeting with Shanahan, to take place some time in the next week.

Enough is enough with the Bills just going out on Sundays and losing horribly.  I can say honestly, that they are turning into the joke of the NFL.  Think about it, what comes to mind when you think of Buffalo? 

Snow, chicken wings and the Bills losing.

It is time for things to change in Buffalo.  Enough of the losing mentality that has surrounded the team over the past decade. 

How could a team that was so great fall so low, so quickly?

Lack of stability is one problem. Lack of talent is another. 

The Bills haven’t had a legitimate quarterback option since Jim Kelly retired after the 1996 season and many of their top players went to different teams.  Terrible draft classes over the years certainly haven’t helped either.

One of the main problems is the fact that owner Ralph Wilson hasn’t been a big spender in players or coaches in recent years, but now he might give anything just to win again.

And Mike Shanahan is that hope, the hope to return them to their winning ways in Buffalo.

Speaking to WGR550 AM , former quarterback Jim Kelly had this to say about the Bills ageless owner and the chance that he would bring in a big name coach;  “Do I think Mr. Wilson will do that this coming year? To be honest with you, I really do. He’s tired of losing, he’s tired of putting money into coaches that have not panned out in the past, he’s going on 92 years old—I really think if he doesn’t do it this year, he may never see this again. For him, he wants to go out and build something before he goes and I hope he lives to 110 years old but the thing is I feel he has gotten to the point where he is saying right now I’ve got to do whatever it takes. I want to get that winning feeling not only back for the city for the Buffalo and for the fans but for himself too.”

I personally don’t care what it takes for the Bills to seal the deal with Shanahan, they need someone with his expertise to come in and turn this team around.  Give him a blank check signed by Mr. Wilson that he can fill out himself and give him the control of the entire team.

As a Bills fan, all I am looking for is hope.  I have sat through countless Sunday games watching a mediocre team finding ways to lose games. 

An outsider wouldn’t understand how much Buffalo fans just want the team to become relevant again.  It is one of the best fan bases in the NFL that hasn’t been treated to a winning team.  With tough times hitting the city, all anyone is looking for is a winning football team here to take their thoughts off of everyday problems. 

It is more than just a team here, it is a way of life.

In all honesty, I personally don’t see Shanahan or any other big name coach for that matter coming to Buffalo.  The organization has so many holes in it that a coach like Shanahan won’t even want to waste his time here when he can go to a much better team.

Just that little hope though is all anyone is looking for.  As Bills fans, we just want to be able to rally around something we haven’t seen in quite sometime.

A winning football team.

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Trent Edwards Isn’t the Answer at QB for Buffalo Bills, So Now What?

For all intents and purposes, the Trent Edwards era in Buffalo is over after this season.

It is really simple, Edwards just hasn’t been any good.  After watching him play this year, it has just helped draw the conclusion that many people were forming after last season; Edwards should not be starting in the NFL.

He isn’t a rookie anymore, which some people like to argue.  He has played in 30 NFL games, and still hasn’t shown any signs of improvement.  Sure he has games where he puts up solid stats, but they are usually against sub-par defenses and are few and far between. 

In his three years as a starter, he average 177 yards per game, which is absolutely pathetic.  Throwing one more interception (24) than touchdowns (23) doesn’t help the matter. 

Most importantly though, he isn’t a winner either.  His career record of 14-15 as a starting quarterback is dreadful and that includes loses in 10 out of the last 14 games he has started in, with his back-up earning two of those wins.

Not only does he not win, but he can’t stay on the field either.  He was missing time in college and that followed him into the NFL. 

Blame the offensive line if you want, but that is trying to make excuse for a bad player.  Give him the New England Patriots offensive line and he still wouldn’t be a difference maker. 

The reason: he lacks confidence that is needed to play the position.  He doesn’t look down field in the passing game, instead going for the safer, check-down patterns.  He has weapons around him and still can’t get them the ball. 

Go ahead and bring up the fact that Edwards has a career completion percentage of over 61 percent.  That is a stat that is highly misleading.  Looking at that number, you might say that he is a very accurate quarterback, which is certainly not the case. 

His intermediate to deep-ball accuracy is below average, and his check-down completions help pad the numbers.  Remember, this guy has a career average of 6.7 yards per completion.  Think Chad Pennington, but worse.

Blaming the coaches, offensive line, Terrell Owens, and anything else you can think of is just trying to stick with your guy.  I get it, I am a Bills fan.  We don’t want to go through anymore rebuilding, I get it. 

People are still holding out hope for Edwards because of the few flashes that he showed early on last season, and because they don’t want to go through it anymore.

Trent is not the answer we are looking for.  Good quarterbacks stay on the field and win games, even when their team is not playing its best. 

The problem is that the Bills don’t really have anywhere else to turn to as they only have three options to move on with Edwards now out of the equation.

 

 

Acquire a Quarterback in Free Agency

Sometimes a team gets a good break when they go out and pick up a quarterback off of the free agent market.  When all of them resemble Edwards’ production though, you might just want to pass.

Kyle Orton, Jason Campbell, Chad Pennington, Tarvaris Jackson, Kellen Clemens, Kyle Boller, Charlie Batch, David Carr, Daunte Culpepper, Rex Grossman, Joey Harrington, Jon Kitna, and Troy Smith are all free agents after the offseason (with Smith being a restricted free agent).

Who out of that would you want running your team?

Orton just wins games, but he is most likely going to be resigned by the Denver Broncos.  Campbell and Jackson are two younger quarterbacks compared to the rest, but neither one of them have really developed.  Ditto for Clemens.  Pennington might be able to be a stop-gap solution, but how much longer can he go on a bum shoulder?

The rest of the list just makes me laugh.  If the goal of the game was to collect as many terrible or washed-up quarterbacks as you could, I would like the Bills chances, however, the name of the game is to win and none of these quarterbacks can do it anymore. 

Free agency is out.

 

Go Get Michael Vick

Now this option is not one I see as very likely, I just wanted to throw it in after the rumors about the Bills being interested in Vick this offseason were confirmed this last Monday by Tony Dungy. 

Vick was never a quarterback who was accurate or read defenses well, he used his physical talents to overcome his shortcomings.

We haven’t seen much of him this season in Philadelphia, but trust me, the arm strength is still there and his legs are still capable of outrunning NFL defenders.   

Character issues and his NFL IQ will be his downfall to teams, and many won’t give him the chance.

In my mind though, he is worth a shot in Buffalo.  He can use his feet to make plays and can get the ball down the field to Lee Evans.  His confidence was always high and after a year working on his footwork and fundamentals, along with an offseason to prepare for the season, he might turn into his former self. 

He is still only 29 years old and isn’t really washed up.  Yes I know he isn’t playing now but why would he with Donovan McNabb in front of him?

Again I don’t see this as a likely choice at all, but if Buffalo was interested when he got released from jail, why wouldn’t they be after a year on an NFL team?

 

Draft a Quarterback

This is the most likely option the Bills could go with in my mind.  They are going to have a top-15 pick, maybe even a top-10 with the way they have been playing. 

The Bills will have some top prospects to pick from as Jimmy Clausen, Sam Bradford, and Tim Tebow, who I would personally love to see them get.

Go ahead and jump all over me for wanting Tebow, but I believe that with his attitude and leadership abilities, he can help change the culture for the better at 1 Bills Drive.  Plus you wouldn’t have to worry about him not being able to suit up for a game, he is just an absolute warrior.

Well that and the fact that other teams need help at the quarterback position and the Bills are not going to want to trade up into the Top 5 and lose picks and money to draft one player.

With a new coach likely coming after this season, he is going to want to bring in his own players and start from scratch.

We can all sit here and argue about what the Bills are going to do, whether going to get Vick or drafting a quarterback. 

One thing we should all be decided on is the fact the Trent Edwards isn’t getting the job done, and someone needs to be brought in who will.

Read more NFL news on BleacherReport.com

NFL Week Two Predictions

Week One finally came!

After a long summer and what seemed like a thousand preseason games, the fans finally got their early Christmas present as the season kicked off.  The week had great comebacks, a quarterback going bananas, and gave most fans optimistic views on their teams.

Let’s see what Week Two will bring us (picks are in bold).

 

Houston at Tennessee

The Houston Texans are an up-and-coming team with young talent on both sides of the ball.  This year I really do believe that they can piece it all together and finally make it over the hump and into the postseason. 

Matt Schaub, Andre Johnson, and Steve Slaton run the offense while Mario Williams, Amobi Okoye, Brian Cushing, and DeMeco Ryans help lead the defense into battle week in and week out.

Despite how much promise I think this team has, it won’t come together this weekend against the Tennessee Titans who are hungry after an over-time loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers last weekend.  They have too much on the defensive side of the ball and with Kevin Curtis most likely out for Houston, they can really focus on shutting down Andre Johnson.

The Texans still need to come together. The Titans are the pick.

 

New Orleans at Philadelphia

The Eagles looked like an elite team last week, with QB Donovan McNabb leading a strong passing attack.

However, McNabb won’t be playing this week and it is uncertain who will line up under center for the Eagles.  In any case, the defense needs to put pressure on Saints QB Drew Brees, who has thrown 22 touchdown passes in the last seven games.  If the Eagles can’t get pressure on him, Brees will have a field day.

The Saints will need to stop the running game, as the Eagles will turn to Brain Westbrook to take some of the pressure off of whoever plays QB.  If the Saints can stop the run, and put points on the board, the Eagles shouldn’t stand a chance.

New Orleans is the pick.

 

Arizona at Jacksonville

The struggle with last years Arizona Cardinal’s team is that they couldn’t run the ball during the regular season.  Last week, they couldn’t do it again, gaining a mere 40 yards in their home loss to the 49ers.  In order for the Cardinals to make another run at the postseason, they need to get the ground game going with Tim Hightower and rookie Beanie Wells.

I like the Cardinals more than I like the Jaguars this year, despite the fact that they have the most all around back in the league.  The Jags do have one thing going for them though, the Cardinals lost all five games in the regular season last year when they had to travel across the country to play an east coast team.

If the Cardinals are sluggish, Jacksonville will take it to them early.  I think veteran Kurt Warner will find his rhythm though and get the Cards a win on the road.

 

Oakland at Kansas City

If this isn’t the worst game on the schedule, I don’t know what is.

Both the Oakland Raiders and Kansas City Chiefs have huge question marks on all sides of the ball, as both are in full rebuilding mode.

Why waste my time going into this game anymore?  I will spend as much time talking about this game as you should be watching it.

Oakland is the pick.

 

Cincinnati at Green Bay

The Bengals are the joke of the NFL, and knowing how that team is run (not to mention the huge late second loss last week) I don’t see them keeping up with the Green Bay Packers at all this week.

The Packers are good on all sides of the ball, and Aaron Rodgers is leading the offense against a very weak defensive unit that the Bengals have.

The Packers offense alone should be too much for the Bengals to handle, and I don’t see them putting many points up either.

Packers are the pick.

 

New England at NY Jets

The game of the week pits two AFC East rivals against one another, both coming off big wins last weekend.

The Jets showed that they have one of the best defensive units in the entire NFL last weekend as they dominated the Houston Texans attack.  The question mark on the team is still at the quarterback position. 

Yes, I know that Mark Sanchez played very well last weekend, but this isn’t the Houston Texans defense.  He is facing one of the best coaches of all-time who will certainly be disguising their coverages and blitzing schemes.

Look at that, already a few lines in and I still haven’t even mentioned that Tom Brady is back and is looking for revenge.  He didn’t play well starting out of the gate against the Buffalo Bills last week but finished strong. 

Look for him to build off of the second half performance against Buffalo and to get the ball to their playmakers, Wes Welker and Randy Moss who both hauled in 12 catches last week.

It will be very close, but ultimately it will come down to quarterback play against two very good defenses.  I’ll take Tom Brady any day of the week.

Pats are the pick.

 

Carolina at Atlanta

Just watching the highlights, it was hard not to just assume that the Panthers are not a very good team.  Jake Delhomme had five turnovers last week in the Panthers flop.  However, the defense played huge, giving up just 267 yards of total offense.

The Falcons bring in an explosive offense though, with Matt Ryan, Michael Turner, Roddy White and Tony Gonzalez.  The Panthers will have to try to take all of their playmakers out of the mix, which I don’t think will be possible.

Atlanta takes this one.

 

Baltimore at San Diego

The San Diego Chargers were my Super Bowl pick, but last week they looked very average, just squeaking past the Oakland Raiders.

Baltimore has a much better defense than the Raiders, and will look to stop the run against a Chargers team playing without running back LaDainian Tomlinson.  Darren Sproles will try to take over the workload, but he is not a between-the-tackles runner like LT, and won’t fair well against the Ravens killer defense which limited the Chiefs to 1.7 yards a rush. 

The Chargers will turn into a one-dimensional team which is never a good thing to do against the Ravens.  Phillip Rivers might put up some good stats, but it the end, the Ravens defense will be too much.

Ravens taking this one.

Pittsburgh at Chicago

As if franchise quarterback Jay Cutler throwing a ton of passes to the other team wasn’t bad enough, the Bears lost Pro Bowl linebacker Brain Urlacher for the season.  It shouldn’t get any better for them this week as the Bears go up against a very strong defense.

Big Ben should be able to make enough plays to be able to take it to the Bears.

 

NY Giants at Dallas

This is the first regular season game to be played in the new Cowboy’s stadium and Dallas fans are hopeful about Tony Romo after his strong performance last weekend.  Dallas is 4-0 against the Giants in the regular season all-time, but I have a feeling something is about to give in this game.

The Giants defense will be getting after Romo all game and will force him into turning the ball over.  I am still not high on Eli Manning, but with the great running game behind him, he should be able to manage the game well.

Giants in a close one.

 

Indianapolis at Miami

The Monday night matchup pits together a team battling injuries against a team trying to regain the momentum they had last season.

Even with wide out Anthony Gonzalez and safety Bob Sanders out for Indy, they still have Peyton Manning who will keep them in every game they play.

In what could turn into a high-scoring affair, I like Peyton to keep the Colts ahead on the score board.

Colts are the pick.

 

The rest

Minnesota at Detroit

St. Louis at Washington

Tampa Bay at Buffalo

Seattle at San Francisco

Cleveland at Denver

Last Week: 13-3

Season: 13-3

Read more NFL news on BleacherReport.com

Enough Is Enough, Denver Broncos Suspend Wide Reciever Brandon Marshall

The Denver Broncos have finally had enough of the drama.

They have now officially suspended diva wide receiver Brandon Marshall for conduct detrimental to the team, according to multiple reports.

According to ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter, the suspension is only for the rest of the preseason, and then Marshall can return for the season opener if he behaves during that time period.

If he does not, however, he could be facing an even longer suspension.

Under the Collective Bargaining Agreement between the league and the NFLPA, the maximum suspension for conduct detrimental to the team is four games.  Including Denver’s last two remaining preseason games, Marshall could return during week three if he doesn’t turn around his behavior.

Even if he does return for week one though, it is not a sure thing that he will start.

Because of his behavior and his lack of knowledge off the team’s playbook, Marshall has worked with the second team during team practices and will have to show the coaching staff that he is ready to go if he wants to start again.

It does  come to no ones surprise that the suspension was handed town from the front office.  The entire offseason Marshall has been pouting about still being on the Broncos and after he saw franchise quarterback Jay Cutler shipped to the Chicago Bears, he wanted out, too.

Team around the league are not willing to give up what the Broncos want in return for the the pro bowl wide receiver and Marshall himself has shown no reason for a team to trade away at least a number one pick to get a player who has had his problems on and off the field.

The talent has also been there however he is too much of a high risk player to give away multiple top picks for.

Marshall was already suspended last season for three games (eventually turned into one game after the appeal process) after seven police-related incidents with his former girlfriend, Rasheedah Wately.  Marshall was also arrested for the fourth time since 2006 this offseason on disorderly conduct charges (which were later dropped).

On the field hasn’t been much better for Marshall either this offseason as he has been sitting out of practices because of injuries and when he finally gets onto the practice field, he goofs off and doesn’t show that he even cares about the team.  He also has admitted that he does not have any grasp of new head coach Josh McDainels playbook.

Marshall has now put up back to back 1,000 yards receiving seasons and has eclipsed the century mark for receptions the past two years.  Marshall also hauled in seven touchdown receptions last season.

This article also appeared at SportsFullCircle.com.

It’s Very Simple, Eli Manning Is Not a Top QB and Is Now Highly Overpaid

The Giants didn’t really have a choice. In their eyes the New York Giants had to give quarterback Eli Manning a contract extension. What he got though is out of this world.

Manning was entering the last season of his rookie deal he signed back in 2004 that was going to pay him $9.4 million. Franchise quarterbacks certainly don’t just pop up, and some teams spend years looking for the right piece to fall into place to lead their team.  The Giants felt they had their man, and had to give him the money he was looking for.

When the two sides eventually reached an agreement, it left Eli with the highest annual salary in the entire National Football League.

The two sides agreed to a six-year, $97.5 million contract extension, that will run through 2015 (it includes the last year of his current contract which makes the total value of the new deal at $106.9 million over seven years, or $15.3 million per season).

What puzzles me though is why didn’t the Giants front office wait until the end of this up-coming season before throwing bags of money at Eli?

Sure, they might have been worried about his mind set, and wanted to make sure contract talks didn’t affect his play on the field, but Eli is way too inconsistent to be getting the money he is currently getting paid.

It all comes down to the fact that Eli Manning is a middle of the pack quarterback, even Giants’ fans will admit this.

Don’t get me wrong, the guy knows how to win. Since becoming the starter for the Giants in 2004, Eli has a 42-29 regular season record and a 4-3 record in the postseason (including a Super Bowl win).

However, Eli hasn’t been one of the top quarterbacks in the league (he has even struggled to be in the top 15). The guy has a career 55.9% completion rate, 98 touchdowns, 74 interceptions, and a 76.1 quarterback rating for his five-year career.

In comparison to the top picks of his draft class, Manning has a lower completion percentage than Phillip Rivers (+6.4), Ben Roethlisberger (+6.5) and even now UFL-star J.P. Losman (+3.4), and trails Big Ben and Rivers in almost every other passing category.

It also needs to be mentioned that Eli has had a great team around him for most of his years with the Giants. He has constantly had one of the best running backs lining up behind him (whether it be Tiki Barber or Brandon Jacobs), one of the best offensive lines in the game, a top of the line receiver in Plaxico Burress, and to help take the pressure off of him even more, one of the best teams on the defensive side of the ball.

Manning needed to prove that he is one of the best QB’s in the NFL while also showing that he needed to be consistent over the course of a season.

Why not wait until this year plays out to offer him a deal like this? Even if worse comes to worse, and you sure aren’t sure about Eli after this year, you could’ve stuck the franchise tag on him after next season and you still get two more years of Eli playing in the Giants uniform.

There are just too many questions marks in Eli’s game and there is an even bigger one coming into this season—Can he succeed without a pro bowl caliber wide reciever to throw to?

Elite quarterbacks create great wide receivers (Tom Brady anyone?) and Manning has not played well when he hasn’t had an elite threat in the line up. In the five games played last season without Plax (including the first game of the playoffs for the Giants in the divisional round against the Philadelphia Eagles), Manning threw just two touchdowns to four interceptions, didn’t throw for more than 191 yards in any of those games, and the team went 1-4 when they needed their quarterback to step up the most.

Manning is being paid as not only the best quarterback, but the best player in the entire league, and that just isn’t the case.

Give me a choice and my top quarterbacks consist of Brady, Peyton Manning, Roethlisberger, Rivers, Brees and Donovan McNabb.  It’s not like Eli is a throw in right after the top-tier players either. I’ll even take Chad Pennington, Jay Cutler, Carson Palmer, or Aaron Rodgers over Manning. And with guys like Matt Ryan waiting in the wings to become an elite quarterback, Eli has trouble even cracking the top 10 list of current NFL quarterbacks.

Has Manning been very durable? Yes.

Has he won games? Yes.

Does he have a Super Bowl ring?  Yes.

But just because he has all of the things above, doesn’t mean that he is worth $100+ million over the course of the next seven years.

I don’t know about you guys out there, but $15 million per season is way too much to be paying a guy to get me 3,000 yards,  23 touchdowns, and 17 interceptions a season.

Especially if the winning stops.

Will Donte Whitner Start in 2009? You Better Billieve It!

Buffalo Bills safety Donte Whinter has played multiple positions on the football field in his career with the Buffalo Bills. From the two safety to nickel corner back, Whitner has been the most versatile defender on the team.

In the off-season, news came out that Whitner would be moving to the free position full time,  as veteran Bryan Scott stepped into the strong safety role. The move would help Whitner become more of the “center fielder” of the defense to create more big plays,  something that he has been criticized for in his career.

It is now being reported by FoxSports and ProFootballTalk.com’s Gregg Rosenthal that Donte Whitner could be playing a position he has never played before in his career; backup.

FoxSports.com reports that “Buffalo’s coaching staff is eager to see Byrd in training camp at free. If he beats Whitner out, then Whitner, who is being supplanted at strong safety where he has started three seasons by veteran Bryan Scott, will be relegated to a utility role.”

Rosenthal also added that “Buffalo is looking for more play making ability in their secondary and believes Byrd could provide it and that if Whitner loses the starting gig, he won’t be moving back to nickel corner. He’ll be a utility man at both safety spots.”

While it may be true that Byrd, a former corner back selected in the second round of this year’s draft, may be the starting free safety come September, it certainly doesn’t mean that Whitner will be spending the year on the bench.

For starters, in order for Byrd to start, he will have to have a very strong training camp and preseason (he has already missed OTA’s due to final exams), and even then it might be tough. He does have potential and has superb ability to intercept passes (17 interception during his three year college career) but he is learning a new position and it will take some time. 

Remember the Bills didn’t just trot out No. 11 overall pick Leodis McKelvin last season, even when starter Terrence McGee was playing through an injury. The coaching staff is not going to throw someone out on the field if they don’t feel that he is ready.

If Byrd does perform well enough to start though, Whitner will be moved back to the strong safety position.

It is no knock on Scott, who is a serviceable vet, and plays very well against the run.  Scott also plays the game very physical and does a good job at taking the opposition’s tight end out of the game, however, Whitner is still a better player overall. He is faster, a stronger hitter, and still has more upside.

The knock against Whitner is that he doesn’t make enough plays.  Writers and fans alike are quick to bring up the fact that Whitner has only two interceptions in his three year career. They don’t, however, look at the fact that Scott has only four interceptions in his six year career and hasn’t picked off a pass in the last two seasons.

A move back to the strong safety spot suits Whitner better in my eyes.

Whitner is great against the run and playing strong safety will keep him closer to the line of scrimmage.

He is a very strong hitter that should be attacking the ball carrier. Playing strong safety makes him like a fourth linebacker on the field in certain formations, a spot in which he thrives in.

Not to mention, that he is a great leader on and off the field. He wasn’t just named team captain last season for no reason.

No matter if it is at free safely or strong safety, Donte Whitner will be starting in the 2009-10 season.

Playoff guarantee for the upcoming season?  Not included.

 

You can find more great articles on every team of the NFL at NFLTouchdown.com.

Fumble! Former Buffalo Bills QB JP Losman Is Heading To The UFL

After the football season came to a close, everyone in Buffalo knew that Bills quarterback J.P. Losman would be playing for a new team in 2009.  No one could have guessed that his new team would be playing their games in Las Vegas.

Losman, the Bills’ first-round pick in the 2004 NFL Draft, is set to be the signal caller on the Las Vegas team in the United Football League, according to UFLAccess.com.

It is now clear that Losman has officially hit rock bottom. After being benched for the last two seasons, Trent Edwards took the reins of the Bills starting job and now Losman is taking snaps in a UFL jersey.

Losman certainly has the raw talent to make it in the NFL, that was never a concern about him.  What hurt him was his inconsistency, his lack of field vision, undiscipline play, and locking onto wide receivers even when they were tightly covered.  

He had his good times with comeback wins and almost leading the Bills to the playoffs in 2006. He also had his bad times, with not being able to finish critical drives and constantly coughing up the football in the absolute worst moments.

The move makes sense for Losman as he is trying to work his way back onto a NFL squad.  With most spots already filled this season, Losman didn’t have many opinions in terms of teams to go to, and the ones he did he had no chance of starting.  He chose playing over sitting the bench and the UFL will give him a chance to show that he still has some talent worth putting on a NFL depth chart.

The UFL (which doesn’t even have nicknames for its four francishes in Las Vegas, Orlando,  New York and San Francisco), only plays six regular season games, and is expected to have a Championship game around Thanksgiving.

Who knows, there may even be an injury to a team at the quarterback position in which they will be looking for depth.  If everything goes right for Losman, he might even be back in a NFL uniform during the 2009 season.

In his five-year NFL career, Losman completed 558 of 941 passes (59.3 percent) for 6,211 yards, 33 touchdowns and 34 interceptions.  Losman also gained 489 yards on the ground, scoring three touchdowns.  He also fumbled the ball 32 times during the five-year span, 17 of which that were lost to the opposing team. Overall in his career, Losman accounted for 36 touchdowns but 51 turnovers. 

Most fans have already said good riddance to the 28-year-old quarterback. However, I am quite interested to see how this whole thing turns out.  Maybe under Las Vegas coach Jim Fassel, Losman can finally turn the corner in his development and turn into a serviceable NFL QB… 

…or maybe Losman might be looking for a new day job come next year. 

Either way, you can’t blame him for trying. 

Visit NFLTouchdown.com where you can see great articles like this one on all 32 teams of the NFL written by the die hard fans!

Buffalo Bills B/R Community Newsletter Vol. 3

Welcome to the Buffalo Bills Community here on BleacherReport.com!

In case you missed the first two newsletters (here and here), the point of these short write-ups is to bring the Bills community together and improve communications between all of the Bills fans here.

This newsletter will focus mostly on the community and some ideas to improve it. Included will be monthly/weekly awards during the regular season, ideas for writers, round-table discussion topics, and much more.

The newsletter will come out during both the off season and the regular season.

Right now there is no set date for these newsletters to appear, but by the start of the preseason they will become a weekly event.

Also, there will be a few tweaks each time, based on your suggestions of what you want to see.

Without further adieu, lets get the third newsletter underway!

 

Welcome New Writers!

I haven’t had a chance to welcome all of the new members to the community, so I will do it very informally right now.

Welcome! 

I know that most of the writers jumped aboard because of the CBS Sports competition, but only one person can win that, so I hope that most of the new writers stay because there has been some great work coming out of the Bills B/R section this month!

 

Bills Bleacher Report Community Now on Twitter!

In an attempt to get more great writers to jump on board with us here, along with getting out the great work already in place, I have set up a Bills Community twitter for the writers here.

You can visit the site by going here: twitter.com/billsbr.

As of yesterday when I started it, I will be updating the twitter page with the great work here everyday!

The format of the postings will be the writers last name (to get you guys recognition with the people seeing it), a small overview of the article, and the direct link to the article.

Hopefully this brings in new members to the community here while also getting out the great work done here to new readers.

 

Bills On-line Radio Show

No I haven’t forgotten about it.

I will be looking to start up the show around the start of the preseason, so if anyone is interested, sent me a message, PM, or write a comment in below.

I have narrowed it down to two sites, either blogtalkradio.com or ustream.tv.

I am still looking at which one would be better so we can get multiple people on the air at once.  Right now blogtalkradio is leading the way, but I will be testing both in the near future. 

 

Bills Community Ranks at B/R

With it being the end of the month, I thought I would update everyone on where we stand with the rest of the 32 teams. 

Here is a quick rundown of where we stand for this month:

• Articles: 259 (11th)
• Comments: 337 (24th)
• New Writers: 147 (6th)
• Active Writers: 22 (7th)

I will take no credit for any of these stats of course, seeing as you guys were the ones who kept pumping out great articles.  

With the explosion of new writers, we have now passed both the New York Jets and Miami Dolphins, to settle into 2nd in the AFC East in terms of total members.

 

Two Minute Drill

Your ideas, suggestions, and comments about this newsletter are greatly appreciated. 

Any ideas on how to strengthen the community would be great too!

If you need me for anything, you can contact me through my B/R profile, by sending me a private message here on bleacher report or by sending an e-mail to buffbillsfan517@yahoo.com.

I am available at anytime for anything you need or any question to be answered.

Thanks for reading the third volume of the Bills Community Newsletter! Have a great day everyone, and…

LET’S GO BUFFALO!

Day Two Pick Shawn Nelson Will Contribute Right Away For The Buffalo Bills

He wasn’t expected to be there in the fourth round, but the Bills were sure glad he was still on the board.

Top rated tight end Shawn Nelson took an unexpected free fall and was snatched up by the Buffalo Bills with the 121st overall selection in this year’s NFL Draft.  The former wide receiver will have the chance to make an immediate impact on the field.

Tight end has been a position in Buffalo that has recently been turned into the sixth offensive linemen.  The Bills went after guys who could help out greatly in the run block.  Robert Royal was the latest tight end to fit this mold for Buffalo, but was released in the off-season, creating a hole in the depth chart.

While a blocking tight end is nice to have on the roster, he should be a guy you pick up for cheap in free agency or late in a draft.  The problem with Royal was not his blocking, which was excellent, but his ability to make a difference in the passing game.

Linebackers who played against Buffalo the last few seasons were not exactly keying on Royal, in fact they didn’t need to.  The tight end hauled in 33 passes for 351 yards last year, which were both career highs.

Unlike other tight ends in the league, Royal was not a goal-line threat to score either and scored only one touchdown last season.

Nelson will bring a new mentality to the tight end position, and to be honest, it is about time.

Blockers are nice, but the Bills haven’t had a tight end who could help contribute to the offense since Jay Riemersma in the early 2000s.  Nelson finally brings the skillset the Bills have been looking for.

 

Pros

Nelson is a prolific receiving tight end who caught 157 receptions for 2,054 receiving yards, recording 16 touchdowns in his collegiate career.  

He has great size at 6′ 5″, 240 lbs, and an amazing wingspan which allows him to pluck passes out of the air.  Nelson does a good job of shielding the ball from defenders, has great overall speed (ran a 4.56-40 at the combine), and has a quick burst off the line of scrimmage. 

He also has good footwork and good lateral ability to be able to get off jams at the line so they won’t affect his route.  He can gain separation on slower linebackers in man-on-man coverage, has decent strength and shows good efforts in terms of blocking. 

His greatest ability is he is able to stay balanced when fighting with defenders and constantly makes the hard play look easy.

 

Cons

He lacks the bulk to become a good blocker right away and also needs to add more upper body strength to help out in the run game.  His routes can be inconsistent at times, which he got away with in college. 

Nelson can also lack concentration at certain times which leads to drops of easy passes.  He lacks the agility down-field to make defenders miss and pull away from would be tacklers.   Some say that Nelson looked the same playing as a senior as he did as a freshman which leads them to believe he might have maxed out already, or lacks the drive to become the best player he can be.

 

Where He Will Fit in the Offense and Season Outlook:

The Bills currently have Derek Fine, the fourth round selection of the 2008 NFL Draft, and Derek Schouman at the tight end position.

Fine played well at times last season, but wasn’t used much in the passing game and was mostly brought in to block on two tight end formations.  He was also used at the goal line, again, mostly for his blocking skills. 

When given the chance, Fine showed soft hands and the ability to get open, hauling in 10 passes for 94 yards and one touchdown.  He will stick mostly to his role last season, coming in for blocking purposes or double-tight sets.  He is a great special teams player too, and will certainly be on the roster for the up-coming season.

Schouman, a seventh round pick in the 2007 draft, split playing time with Fine in double tight end formations and when Robert Royal was not on the field. 

His blocking skills are certainly up to par, as he had a similar role to Fine last season.  Also remember, in his rookie campaign he was moved into the “H-back” role, a hybrid of the full back position, basically a guy who can block but can catch passes out of the backfield too. 

Schouman also showed the ability to catch the ball, having 15 receptions for 153 yards and one touchdown. 

Depending on how Fine and Schouman progress overall, they should be expected to come in on running downs again, and used mostly for their blocking skills.  However, opposing defenses have to pay attention as the two of them can turn into reliable targets on play action passes.

Nelson should step into the starting role and will be utilized as a pass catcher.  Towards the end of the season, his blocking skills should start to come around, but for the most part of his rookie year he should be expected to be a pass catching tight end only.

Nelson adds to a receiving corps that already includes deep threat Lee Evans, Terrell Owens, “Mr. First Down” Josh Reed, Steven Johnson, James Hardy, and speedy wide-out Roscoe Parrish. 

The Bills now have the option to spread the field against weaker defenses.  In terms of targets, the they have plenty and it should greatly help out third year signal caller Trent Edwards.  Reed and Nelson should wreak havoc on the middle of the defense while Evans and Owens spread the field with their deep threat ability.

Overall, Edwards has plenty of weapons to get the ball to and with Marshawn Lynch (after suspension), Fred Jackson, and Dominic Rhodes in the back field, along with the addition of Nelson, the Bills should have an offense that defensive coordinators will be up late at night studying for.

Or at least spending more time than they have in the past.

 

This article was also featured on NFLTouchdown.com.

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