xXSpIkes5IXx
12-04-2006, 12:11 PM
At the beginning of this year, expectatons were very low for this team, and so far they are playing better football than anyone anticipated them playing. From what i see from this team i think we can be a legitimate player in the AFC next year if we make the necessary moves in the offseason.
Lets be honest, if we beat SD and found someway into the playoffs do you think we would have made it past the 1st round? In fact we may have been humiliated. This young team is starting to hit its stride, which is huge, i thought at the beginning of the year that we wouldnt be able to contend till '08 at the earliest, but my perception has changed.
I love JP Losman's attitude, i feel like he wants to be on the field with 2:00 left and his team down by 4. Hes still is not a franchise QB, but hes improving by leaps and bounds. Lee Evans has proved hes a legitamite #1 reciever in this league. Those were 2 big question marks coming into the season. Willis McGahee is an enigma to me, he plays when he wants to it seems, I think if we start winning he will start playing hard every week, which is what we need out of him. A Train is a solid spell/3rd down back.
Defensively Simpson and Whitner have played incredible, and really only looked like rookies when they were trying to cover Antonio Gates yesterday. Crowell is turning into a stud, and our DE's can rush the passer very well. The game Takeo played also made me believe that he can return to his play making form next year.
So, heres the question, how do we fill our holes?
The run defense has to be #1, we can not contend for the AFC title with that run defense. The upcoming free agents dont yield a stud NT, which i think is our biggest problem. The guy I like has flown under the radar, Terdell Sands of the Raiders. The man is 6'7'' 335, however he may be too big for the Tampa 2 system. DT Robaire Smith or the Titans is 6'4'' 328, and could be what we are looking for too. I think with a true nose tackle that demands a double team, Larry Tripplett will be more productive getting penetration and reaking havoc like he did in the Jacksonville game.
Next, the offensive line. Peters has proved he can play left tackle at a high level, and Fowler has been a good center. The way i see it we need 2 starters, potentially 3. The line has played better in recent weeks in the pass blocking department, but our run blocking has not been good all year. There are 3 quality guards that i see that could be a solution in free agency. Eric Steinbach of the Bengals, Chris Dielman of San Diego, and Vincent Manuwai of Jacksonville. Hopefully Marv will make a pitch to get one of these guys. as far as a right tackle goes, I can see us drafting Sam Baker, which many mocks have us taking. He will be a starter from day 1, and should be a definate upgrade over Pennington. On the free agent side, Leonard Davis and Max Starks are the 2 best out there. I dont like Davis, hes overrated, but who knows Marv might. Starks is an RFA and Pitt will probably bring him back. Ravens OT Tony Pashos has played well this year, but i think he would just be another Bennie Anderson type signing
The #2 wide reciever position is tricky. Right now Lee Evans has above 40 percent of this offense's recieving yards. That is ridiculous. Price, Parrish, and Reed have not stood out at all and they all have similar numbers. We need to give JP more weapons. Eric Johnson is a pass catching tight end out of San Francisco, who probably wont be resigned due to Vernon Davis. I like him, but I also want to see more of Brad Cieslak, who has looked a little like Jay Riemersma to me the last few weeks. The Best free agent wideout is probably Drew Bennett, who would be a nice compliment to Lee, hes big and has great hands, however i see tennessee resigning him. In the draft, depending on how we finish, we may have a shot at Dewayne Jarrett, who would give us JP 2 first round targets to toss the ball to.
Now with Clements and Fletch as free agents, i want to see us resign BOTH of them, i know that might mean shelling out some bucks. I believe Clements is worth it, considering theres no one really out there to replace him and play at the same level as he does except for Asante Samuel, but with the season hes having he will want just as much money. Fletch is our d's leader, and he is having an outstanding season, and even though he is getting up there in age, he has at least 2 good years left.
With cap room to work with, and this team improving every week, i think if we play our cards right we can be a surprise team next year, in Marv I trust
Go Bills
Lets be honest, if we beat SD and found someway into the playoffs do you think we would have made it past the 1st round? In fact we may have been humiliated. This young team is starting to hit its stride, which is huge, i thought at the beginning of the year that we wouldnt be able to contend till '08 at the earliest, but my perception has changed.
I love JP Losman's attitude, i feel like he wants to be on the field with 2:00 left and his team down by 4. Hes still is not a franchise QB, but hes improving by leaps and bounds. Lee Evans has proved hes a legitamite #1 reciever in this league. Those were 2 big question marks coming into the season. Willis McGahee is an enigma to me, he plays when he wants to it seems, I think if we start winning he will start playing hard every week, which is what we need out of him. A Train is a solid spell/3rd down back.
Defensively Simpson and Whitner have played incredible, and really only looked like rookies when they were trying to cover Antonio Gates yesterday. Crowell is turning into a stud, and our DE's can rush the passer very well. The game Takeo played also made me believe that he can return to his play making form next year.
So, heres the question, how do we fill our holes?
The run defense has to be #1, we can not contend for the AFC title with that run defense. The upcoming free agents dont yield a stud NT, which i think is our biggest problem. The guy I like has flown under the radar, Terdell Sands of the Raiders. The man is 6'7'' 335, however he may be too big for the Tampa 2 system. DT Robaire Smith or the Titans is 6'4'' 328, and could be what we are looking for too. I think with a true nose tackle that demands a double team, Larry Tripplett will be more productive getting penetration and reaking havoc like he did in the Jacksonville game.
Next, the offensive line. Peters has proved he can play left tackle at a high level, and Fowler has been a good center. The way i see it we need 2 starters, potentially 3. The line has played better in recent weeks in the pass blocking department, but our run blocking has not been good all year. There are 3 quality guards that i see that could be a solution in free agency. Eric Steinbach of the Bengals, Chris Dielman of San Diego, and Vincent Manuwai of Jacksonville. Hopefully Marv will make a pitch to get one of these guys. as far as a right tackle goes, I can see us drafting Sam Baker, which many mocks have us taking. He will be a starter from day 1, and should be a definate upgrade over Pennington. On the free agent side, Leonard Davis and Max Starks are the 2 best out there. I dont like Davis, hes overrated, but who knows Marv might. Starks is an RFA and Pitt will probably bring him back. Ravens OT Tony Pashos has played well this year, but i think he would just be another Bennie Anderson type signing
The #2 wide reciever position is tricky. Right now Lee Evans has above 40 percent of this offense's recieving yards. That is ridiculous. Price, Parrish, and Reed have not stood out at all and they all have similar numbers. We need to give JP more weapons. Eric Johnson is a pass catching tight end out of San Francisco, who probably wont be resigned due to Vernon Davis. I like him, but I also want to see more of Brad Cieslak, who has looked a little like Jay Riemersma to me the last few weeks. The Best free agent wideout is probably Drew Bennett, who would be a nice compliment to Lee, hes big and has great hands, however i see tennessee resigning him. In the draft, depending on how we finish, we may have a shot at Dewayne Jarrett, who would give us JP 2 first round targets to toss the ball to.
Now with Clements and Fletch as free agents, i want to see us resign BOTH of them, i know that might mean shelling out some bucks. I believe Clements is worth it, considering theres no one really out there to replace him and play at the same level as he does except for Asante Samuel, but with the season hes having he will want just as much money. Fletch is our d's leader, and he is having an outstanding season, and even though he is getting up there in age, he has at least 2 good years left.
With cap room to work with, and this team improving every week, i think if we play our cards right we can be a surprise team next year, in Marv I trust
Go Bills