patmoran2006
10-16-2006, 11:34 AM
So after what seemed like a promising start, the Buffalo Bills are struggling to gain respectability. The team is 2-4 and when you examine the first six games, only the victory over <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" /><st1:State><st1:place>Minnesota</st1:place></st1:State> now seems impressive. The win at <st1:City><st1:place>Miami</st1:place></st1:City> seemed like a stepping stone at the time, but we’ve since learned that beating <st1:City><st1:place>Miami</st1:place></st1:City> is no daunting task this year. We lost a close game at New England that many (including me) think we deserved to win, but the giveaway loss at home to New York, along with losing to the lowly Lions and being dominated by Chicago have impeded almost all progress we thought the club was making.
<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p> </o:p>
So what is the biggest reason this team seems to be quickly going into the tank? Many think it starts with the quarterback and Losman. Not so fast. He’s young and even his most ardent supporters couldn’t have expected him to come out and look like John Elway off the bat. Injuries have played a part as well. Takeo Spikes showed how important he is the first play of the season, before hurting his hamstring and basically doing nothing since then. Troy Vincent was an unexpected blow as well. Having so many rookies in a starting/contributing role has contributed to the slide as well. It takes time to for a rookie to learn how to play in this league.
<o:p> </o:p>
But if I’m being honest here, I think the biggest reason the Bills are suddenly tanking and look more and more like the Bills of old with each week, is because Marv Levy plain and simply dropped the ball when it came to free agency. For all his genius and lovability when it comes to Buffalonians, he’s flat-out made some bad signings in the free agent market and it’s really starting to cost the team.
<o:p> </o:p>
A look at each free agent and their contributions to the team.
<o:p> </o:p>
FLAT OUT BUSTS
Larry Tripplett: When you get a 5-year, $17 million dollar contract you’re expected to come in and be a factor immediately. Lets be honest here, Tripplett’s done next to nothing this season unless you consider 9 tackles, zero sacks, zero forced fumbles, zero tackles for losses and zero fumble recoveries a good investment. You want further evidence Tripplett’s done nothing? Fifth round draft pick Kyle Williams has five more tackles and has played considerably less.
<o:p> </o:p>
Matt Bowen: Hasn’t even played a single down this season. Yes, I’m aware of him being injured all season-long. But even before that this was a bad signing. We kept Coy Wire for special teams purposes and used our first round pick, an important 8<SUP>th</SUP> overall pick on a safety as well as taking Ko Simpson in the fourth. So someone tell me why Bowen was signed to begin with again and before you answer, remember he didnt get 4th safety on the depth chart money either.
<o:p> </o:p>
Peerless Price: It’s not that he’s done nothing, its that he got a $10 million dollar deal, including $2.5 million up front to be the team’s fourth best WR. 18 catches and only a 8.8 average doesn’t get it done for that kind of money. Roscoe Parrish has made more plays and Josh Reed is a better blocker. Except for one play vs. <st1:State><st1:place>Minnesota</st1:place></st1:State>, Price has been a non-factor. I’m seeing more and more why <st1:City><st1:place>Atlanta</st1:place></st1:City> and <st1:City><st1:place>Dallas</st1:place></st1:City> casted him off.
<o:p> </o:p>
WHO CARES SIGNINGS
Robert Royal: Six games played, five catches from the starting tight end. Nothing changed over the past few years, except the price tag. Call me crazy, but I haven’t seen many of these bone crunching blocks that he’s known for either. IN fact, I can recall a pair of back breaking penalties called on him, including a huge block in the back that killed a drive against <st1:place>New England</st1:place>. I’m not saying he’s a total bum, but he’s done little to make me forget about Marc Campbell or any of the “so what” tight ends that came before him. Just for the record, Campbell only has 12 less receiving yards than Royal this year and I'm pretty sure his price tag is lower.
<o:p> </o:p>
Andre Davis: Hasn’t even caught a pass this season. Oh, he’s a special teams guy huh. How many tackles does he have on special teams this year? (zero)
<o:p> </o:p>
Craig Nall: Now, I understand he probably wasn’t coming here to start. I understand every team needs three quarterbacks and he was likely headed towards the clip board. That’s all fine and dandy. But my only question is; does your GM really need to give a guy a $1.3 million signing bonus to be a clip-board holder? Todd Collins or about 150 other guys around the league could do that for the league minimum. Just a flat-out waste of money.
<o:p></o:p>
THE TRADITION OF MEDIOCRE OFFENSIVE LINEMEN CONTINUES
Melvin Fowler: Flat-out undersized and despite his “athleticism” the bottom line is he’s mediocre and little more than a younger Trey Teague. Have you watched the past three weeks? Kevin Williams, Tommie Harris and Shaun Rogers push him back—a lot. Justin Hartwig or a couple of others would have been the right choice.
<o:p> </o:p>
Tutan Reyes: Maybe, just maybe there was a reason why <st1:City><st1:place>Carolina</st1:place></st1:City> had no interest in paying him starter money. He’s a borderline starter at best. That’s fine- if you’re goal is to continue to be mediocre upfront. Sure, he’s better than Bennie Anderson, but is that really saying anything?
<o:p> </o:p>
THE BEST SIGNING
Anthony Thomas: He’s a quality backup to Willis. He scored a nice touchdown against <st1:place>New England</st1:place>. He hasn’t had the chance, but if given so he looks like he can carry the load should something happen to McGahee.
<o:p> </o:p>
But that’s where the big problem lies. What does that tell you about the organization when the best free agent signing this off-season was a backup veteran running back?
<o:p> </o:p>
All the blame shouldn’t and in my mind doesn’t lie with just Levy. Ralph Wilson, all 174 years of him has to sign off on every move. I’m fairly confident that he put a strain on what Marv was allowed to spend. To his credit, Levy did bring back two players in Josh Reed and Ryan Denney with little fanfare, two guys who’ve contributed their fair share this season so far.
<o:p> </o:p>
But the problem is the Bills spent a lot of money in free agency. Unfortunately, they decided that quantity is more important than quality. Tell me this team wouldn’t be far better off had they saved the money on Bowens, Price and Nall and paid market value (maybe even more) to a quality defensive tackle like Ryan Pickett (who signed with Green Bay- and did visit Buffalo.) Pickett would’ve made this entire line better. Or perhaps they threw that money at Darren Howard. Either guy is far more valuable than the collection of basement bargains we signed.
<o:p> </o:p>
Or how about the offensive side of the ball. Stephen Neal would have been a nice pickup at guard, or Kevin Shaffer at tackle… Yes, they both would’ve costed some bucks.. But again wouldn’t you rather have 1-2 SOLID people at these need position, or a host of so-what players filling out the others?
<o:p> </o:p>
For the basement money we threw at guys like Price, Bowen, Royal, Nall and Reed couple with the money saved by dumping Moulds, Adams, Milloy, etc and already being under the cap, we could’ve EASILY been able to seriously upgrade the OL and DL better than we did had this organization not taking the cheap way out. Again, quantity over quality.
<o:p> </o:p>
The bottom line is until we find a general manager who’s established at finding diamonds in the rough (which Levy is showing this year he’s not that guy) and/or an owner who will open up the vault in his senile old age, we’re going to continuously stockpile our roster and coaching staff with castoffs, rejects and retreads at bargain prices who will do nothing but keep Buffalo at the 4-8 win mark for years to come.
<o:p> </o:p>
This free agent class SUCKS. We signed 9 new players, five of them are starters, and NONE of them have done anything of significance. Like it or not, that’s the way it is.
<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p> </o:p>
So what is the biggest reason this team seems to be quickly going into the tank? Many think it starts with the quarterback and Losman. Not so fast. He’s young and even his most ardent supporters couldn’t have expected him to come out and look like John Elway off the bat. Injuries have played a part as well. Takeo Spikes showed how important he is the first play of the season, before hurting his hamstring and basically doing nothing since then. Troy Vincent was an unexpected blow as well. Having so many rookies in a starting/contributing role has contributed to the slide as well. It takes time to for a rookie to learn how to play in this league.
<o:p> </o:p>
But if I’m being honest here, I think the biggest reason the Bills are suddenly tanking and look more and more like the Bills of old with each week, is because Marv Levy plain and simply dropped the ball when it came to free agency. For all his genius and lovability when it comes to Buffalonians, he’s flat-out made some bad signings in the free agent market and it’s really starting to cost the team.
<o:p> </o:p>
A look at each free agent and their contributions to the team.
<o:p> </o:p>
FLAT OUT BUSTS
Larry Tripplett: When you get a 5-year, $17 million dollar contract you’re expected to come in and be a factor immediately. Lets be honest here, Tripplett’s done next to nothing this season unless you consider 9 tackles, zero sacks, zero forced fumbles, zero tackles for losses and zero fumble recoveries a good investment. You want further evidence Tripplett’s done nothing? Fifth round draft pick Kyle Williams has five more tackles and has played considerably less.
<o:p> </o:p>
Matt Bowen: Hasn’t even played a single down this season. Yes, I’m aware of him being injured all season-long. But even before that this was a bad signing. We kept Coy Wire for special teams purposes and used our first round pick, an important 8<SUP>th</SUP> overall pick on a safety as well as taking Ko Simpson in the fourth. So someone tell me why Bowen was signed to begin with again and before you answer, remember he didnt get 4th safety on the depth chart money either.
<o:p> </o:p>
Peerless Price: It’s not that he’s done nothing, its that he got a $10 million dollar deal, including $2.5 million up front to be the team’s fourth best WR. 18 catches and only a 8.8 average doesn’t get it done for that kind of money. Roscoe Parrish has made more plays and Josh Reed is a better blocker. Except for one play vs. <st1:State><st1:place>Minnesota</st1:place></st1:State>, Price has been a non-factor. I’m seeing more and more why <st1:City><st1:place>Atlanta</st1:place></st1:City> and <st1:City><st1:place>Dallas</st1:place></st1:City> casted him off.
<o:p> </o:p>
WHO CARES SIGNINGS
Robert Royal: Six games played, five catches from the starting tight end. Nothing changed over the past few years, except the price tag. Call me crazy, but I haven’t seen many of these bone crunching blocks that he’s known for either. IN fact, I can recall a pair of back breaking penalties called on him, including a huge block in the back that killed a drive against <st1:place>New England</st1:place>. I’m not saying he’s a total bum, but he’s done little to make me forget about Marc Campbell or any of the “so what” tight ends that came before him. Just for the record, Campbell only has 12 less receiving yards than Royal this year and I'm pretty sure his price tag is lower.
<o:p> </o:p>
Andre Davis: Hasn’t even caught a pass this season. Oh, he’s a special teams guy huh. How many tackles does he have on special teams this year? (zero)
<o:p> </o:p>
Craig Nall: Now, I understand he probably wasn’t coming here to start. I understand every team needs three quarterbacks and he was likely headed towards the clip board. That’s all fine and dandy. But my only question is; does your GM really need to give a guy a $1.3 million signing bonus to be a clip-board holder? Todd Collins or about 150 other guys around the league could do that for the league minimum. Just a flat-out waste of money.
<o:p></o:p>
THE TRADITION OF MEDIOCRE OFFENSIVE LINEMEN CONTINUES
Melvin Fowler: Flat-out undersized and despite his “athleticism” the bottom line is he’s mediocre and little more than a younger Trey Teague. Have you watched the past three weeks? Kevin Williams, Tommie Harris and Shaun Rogers push him back—a lot. Justin Hartwig or a couple of others would have been the right choice.
<o:p> </o:p>
Tutan Reyes: Maybe, just maybe there was a reason why <st1:City><st1:place>Carolina</st1:place></st1:City> had no interest in paying him starter money. He’s a borderline starter at best. That’s fine- if you’re goal is to continue to be mediocre upfront. Sure, he’s better than Bennie Anderson, but is that really saying anything?
<o:p> </o:p>
THE BEST SIGNING
Anthony Thomas: He’s a quality backup to Willis. He scored a nice touchdown against <st1:place>New England</st1:place>. He hasn’t had the chance, but if given so he looks like he can carry the load should something happen to McGahee.
<o:p> </o:p>
But that’s where the big problem lies. What does that tell you about the organization when the best free agent signing this off-season was a backup veteran running back?
<o:p> </o:p>
All the blame shouldn’t and in my mind doesn’t lie with just Levy. Ralph Wilson, all 174 years of him has to sign off on every move. I’m fairly confident that he put a strain on what Marv was allowed to spend. To his credit, Levy did bring back two players in Josh Reed and Ryan Denney with little fanfare, two guys who’ve contributed their fair share this season so far.
<o:p> </o:p>
But the problem is the Bills spent a lot of money in free agency. Unfortunately, they decided that quantity is more important than quality. Tell me this team wouldn’t be far better off had they saved the money on Bowens, Price and Nall and paid market value (maybe even more) to a quality defensive tackle like Ryan Pickett (who signed with Green Bay- and did visit Buffalo.) Pickett would’ve made this entire line better. Or perhaps they threw that money at Darren Howard. Either guy is far more valuable than the collection of basement bargains we signed.
<o:p> </o:p>
Or how about the offensive side of the ball. Stephen Neal would have been a nice pickup at guard, or Kevin Shaffer at tackle… Yes, they both would’ve costed some bucks.. But again wouldn’t you rather have 1-2 SOLID people at these need position, or a host of so-what players filling out the others?
<o:p> </o:p>
For the basement money we threw at guys like Price, Bowen, Royal, Nall and Reed couple with the money saved by dumping Moulds, Adams, Milloy, etc and already being under the cap, we could’ve EASILY been able to seriously upgrade the OL and DL better than we did had this organization not taking the cheap way out. Again, quantity over quality.
<o:p> </o:p>
The bottom line is until we find a general manager who’s established at finding diamonds in the rough (which Levy is showing this year he’s not that guy) and/or an owner who will open up the vault in his senile old age, we’re going to continuously stockpile our roster and coaching staff with castoffs, rejects and retreads at bargain prices who will do nothing but keep Buffalo at the 4-8 win mark for years to come.
<o:p> </o:p>
This free agent class SUCKS. We signed 9 new players, five of them are starters, and NONE of them have done anything of significance. Like it or not, that’s the way it is.