Positional debates critical to each team's '07 success

[G. Host]

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/writers/bucky_brooks/05/11/afc.personnel/index.html?eref=si_nfl

How can the Bills survive the loss of LBs London Fletcher-Baker and Takeo Spikes?
They will actually be better defensively. Fletcher-Baker and Spikes were good players during their tenure in Buffalo, but both were on the downside of their careers and not great fits in Dick Jauron's Cover Two defense. The youthful trio of Paul Posluszny, Keith Ellison and Angelo Crowell will make some mistakes early on, but have the skills to develop into solid contributors.



Article on AFC is by Bucky Brooks, Former 2nd round pick of Bills.

[OpIv37]

and what kind of a hole will they dig us in while they're making those mistakes behind our crap-tacular DL?

This D is still a full season and a good off-season from being competitive.

[Jan Reimers]

Op, I respect your posts, but you have a remarkable ability to make your negative opinions sound like proven facts. You don't know any more than the rest of us how our young D will perform next year.

And you ***** about us not making the playoffs for 7 years, then you ***** even more when we clear deadwood like Spikes and Fletcher in an attempt to get better.

[OpIv37]

Op, I respect your posts, but you have a remarkable ability to make your negative opinions sound like proven facts. You don't know any more than the rest of us how our young D will perform next year.

And you ***** about us not making the playoffs for 7 years, then you ***** even more when we clear deadwood like Spikes and Fletcher in an attempt to get better.

I'd rather have more than an "attempt". Different isn't necessarily better. I think Crowell is decent and Poz has potential- I'm not sold on Ellison at all- but we're still nowhere close to where we were with the LB's before Spikes' injury when the D was actually good.

Do I know any more than anyone else? No. But I don't have the naivete of the people here who are saying "I think the D will be improved because IF McCargo playe well and IF Kyle Williams' extra weight helps and IF our rookies improve and IF Youboty can step in and play well and IF Poz is good from Day 1 and IF Stamer and Wire can provide depth in the Cover 2, we'll be better than last year!" It's just not realistic to think all those things are going to work out in our favor.

I just find it shocking that our D was 28th against the run last year and we have clear issues at CB, LB and DL that were barely touched in the off-season. And as if that wasn't bad enough, people here somehow have confidence in this D. It's completely illogical.

[Don't Panic]

Great analysis... I love it when the media actually have a clue. Bucky Brooks no less... classic!