New Whipping Boy...

[lordofgun]

OK, since Chris Watson is gone this year, which player is gonna be our new whipping boy?

[Romes]

Although I disagree, I have a feeling its either gonna be GW or Jerry Grey.

[lordofgun]

Yeah, but which player? :D

[LtBillsFan66]

Jeff Posey
Pierson Prielou
Coy Wire
Sam Adams

[HenryRules]

My guess is Josh Reed and Pierson Prioleau.

Reed for Price is the most significant change in our offense over the season so most people will be blaming him if our offense doesn't perform in the top 5. This is because people forget the second half of the season when evaluating last year's offense and forget we weren't even a top-10 offense at the end of the year. Add in that we subtracted 160 receptions while adding Bobby Shaw as a receiver, and I think we're doomed to be a middle-of-the-road offense and Reed will take all the blame. I'm not saying he deserves it, I just think that his ability has been overstimated by a lot and he's being put in a position to fail.

I say Prioleau cuz he was starting to become a whipping boy at the end of last season once Watson was benched.

[Shasta McNasty]

I agree with Adams or Wire. Denney too!

[Earthquake Enyart]

Fletcher

:ontome:

[lordofgun]

Good call on Reed, HR. He has to step into some pretty large shoes.

[Romes]

Prielou/Reese and Wire, everytime they get beat over the top.

[Pride]

Gilbride...

If Travis doesnt get 1500 yards this year and at least 23 carries a game, Gilbride is at fault if we dont score points.

This "commitment" to run will be tested week 1.

[clumping platelets]

Possibilities:

Denney: if he makes the team
Lindell
Prioleau: if he's named starter at FS
Ruben: many of the past whipping boys have been OL
Henry: if he pouts and has bad start w/ fumbles

I'll go with Travis Henry

[HenryRules]

Pride, I'll tell you right now that Henry won't match those numbers and it has nothing to do with Gilbride being a bad OC. 370 carries is way to much for a RB, you're gonna knock a year or two off of his career by overusing him that way, especially when you consider that he's our main receiving threat out of the backfield as well. If Gilbride does get Henry those sort of numbers, then he is a bad OC.

We have Gary this year so unlike last season, there's no reason not to get the backup involved more. Look at Henry's carries last year, even though most people think he was underused, he was in the top 5 in carries. Our problem last year was not underusing Henry, but underusing our backup RBs ... and considering who started the year as the backup RBs (Bryson, Burns, and Morris), can anyone really blame him?

[Ebenezer]

It will probably be a defensive player...Prielou or Posey

[Thailog80]

Also Denney will be a whipping boy. Ruben will be too.

[BillsNYC]

i'd prefer to find a whipping girl....

[Pride]

But this system doesn't allow Smith to help young quarterbacks or a young offensive line as it did in the past. A back such as Smith can get the 20-to-25 carries a game and allow the quarterback to handle less of the load. That's exactly the formula that is being used in San Diego. LaDainian Tomlinson gets between 25-to-39 carries a game. Drew Brees doesn't bear the pressure of the offense.

http://espn.go.com/nfl/columns/clayton_john/1449823.html

I think a RB like Henry needs 23-25 carries a game... most strong RB's like Henry get better as the defense gets more tired. That is how Bettis does so well in the 4th quarter. If the steelers have a lead in the 4th quarter, it is very difficult to come back on them, as they just run Bettis all quarter long.

[TypicalBill]

i think its gonna be Lindell

[Michael82]

I'm worried about that one too, TB! :ontome:

[HenryRules]

Pride, we'll see if LT can keep that up. Remember, people said the same thing about James a few years back, that he needed 25-35 carries per game to get going. Also, the Bus maybe got up to the 370-carry range once or twice in his career. Other than that, he's had too many injuries to sustain it. That's the problem with overburdening your RB, he gets injured ... especially if he's a power back.

[Michael82]

How about Takeo Spikes? We Bills fans have him ranked right up there with the best LBs ever. We put him on a VERY high pedestal, I just hope it isn't too high or we'll all be disappointed. Be nice with your replies to me. :D

:ontome:

[Kicker22705]

Travis also has a very physical running style that can lead to injuries. Although its nice that he breaks tackles, sometimes he just won't go down when he should which can allow a Defensive player to take a clean shot at him. He should learn to pick when to really try for the extra yards and when to just go down, it should mean a longer career and less fumbles.

[Lone Stranger]

Drew looks like the one to me. He's not going to put up the numbers he did last year.

[venis2k1]

Im gonna put my money into Drew, and Trey Teague

[Ð]

Wire, hands down. The boooy can sure hit, but does he have a head on his shoulders ?
We'll see..

[venis2k1]

I sure hope Wire does good this year, i like that kid alot.

[mypoorfriendme]

if its going to be the running game that kills us, posey will be the man everyone blames because he hasnt proven hes near the caliber of player that fletcher and spikes are, and with assuming adams and pat do their job clogging up the middle, posey will be blamed as our hole in the running game. in the passing game though which will probably be our soft spot in the defense, our whipping boy i say is going to be wire because basically hes a linebacker with safety speed. good on run support, but he i think is going to be blamed once we start getting burnt deep

[BillC]

Sam Aiken / Bobby Shaw/ That DB they drafted from Northwestern


When the return game doesn't produce a threat for TD's they will get all sorts of grief.

[Schobel94]

Wow, what is wrong with you people... If you hadnt noticed one or two players rarely lose you a game. Remember when Bledsoe sucked against SD but we still won? If we had lost that game but Drew had put up the same #'s, every1 would blame him, but it obviously wouldnt have been entirely his fault. You cant say things like this until the season starts. We're not gonna have a guy that will let us down bigtime like say Watson or Robinson. When (more like if) we lose a game, it will be the TEAM that lost, mos of the team will have to do bad, and thats usually how it is.

[mypoorfriendme]

obviously every organization in the nfl wins or loses as a team. some more, some less but this is a team game. BUT there are times when the team would have won if there wasnt a huge soft spot in that side of the ball. but with your theory, lets put me starting at defensive end because after all, itll be the team that needs to get blamed not me when im on the back the entire game

[Demon]

I know you guys want players but i honestly feel top 3 whipping boys will be after loses,

1. Gregg Williams
2. Jerry Gray
3. Kevin Gilbride

It's a make it or lose it season for them, if Buffalo loses i think tons of blame will be on them becasue of the fact that they havn't lead us to the playoffs in the 2 years they've been here (besides Gilbride, who this will be his 2nd year).

[WCoastFin]

Jeff Posey or Drew Bledsoe....or even K.Thomas

[TigerJ]

There are already people calling out TD for not signing Hollis. If Lindell doesn't have a standout year, he'll be wearing a huge target. Also, whoever returns punts and kicks is going to be under the microscope of some fans. I think Teague is seen as the weak link on the line and could face a lot of criticism if DB faces much inside pressure.

[BuffaloRanger]

If the Bills start 1-3, whobecomes the whipping boy? GW would be IMO.

A coach has got to put his players in the position to win with a good game plan.

I hope there's not a whipping boy, maybe just an occasional goat.

[TheGhostofJimKelly]

I would either go with Jennings or Lindell.

[WG]

1-3 ranger, WOW!!

I can't even fathom that right now, but if that happens barring a particular player's fault, then I would fully agree w/ you. We do have a horrendous 3 of 4 first games against sure to be 3 playoff teams.

As to the whipping boy, it'll have to be someone who's overrated to begin with.

That excludes Winfield, Clements, Spikes, Pat Williams, Schobel, the entire OL except for Teague, Moore, Henry, Moulds.

Since we have a solid enough team this year to make any weaknesses become much more clear, no player for whatever reason other than Ostrich Club favoratism will be beyond reach criticism wise.

Some players that I see taking on more heat this year:

On O:

Bledsoe: His play v. teams above .500 will become very, very apparent especially w/ the first 4 games we have. I just hope he doesn't cost us 2 or 3 of those games by making stupid throws and decisions. A rift in the fan base I see forming as a result. I see big struggles for Drew v. N.E., Miami, and Philly in the first few weeks.

Lindell: Ks always take heat, and he's a first year guy in a very tough stadium wind wise.

On D:

Fletcher: He's been touted as being great, but the fact is that he really hasn't played to that standard. He plays middle so w/ Adams in there alongside Pat, any issues w/ our rushing D will go to him first, no one else. He'll either shine or take heat this year. There's no middle ground.

Posey: If he regresses to the levels that he played with prior to last season, we've found our whipping boy. Posey has very little leeway w/ this and will need to step up as a seasoned vet and as someone whom the Bills have placed a tremendous amount of faith in this year. He cannot afford to lapse past the Pats, Fins, and Eagles games before showing up.

Could be Adams if he doesn't come close to matching Williams' play.

The whipping boy won't be:

Prioleau. He didn't come here w/ many preconceived notions. Watson came in a trade for a 4th rounder and was "supposed to be" all that. He sucked. So it'll have to be someone who at least there was a little hype to.

Denney won't be that guy unless he starts. He won't play enought to take the heat.

Wire. He's too new and has plenty of promise.

It could very well be whomever ends up playing DE opposite AS.


My money will go on Posey. As to offense, I will say that the player who singlehandedly starts taking heat, although it will be in the form of "why has his play slipped so much...blah, blah, blah..." will be Drew. I don't see him doing much else than he's always done and we don't have a schedule that will allow for that kind of sloppiness this year. Miami may be as good as we are, Philly may be better, and N.E. we've struggled with.

I don't see Drew being the whipping boy, but I do see him being the most criticized player on O this year unless we have a slew of injuries to the OL to defer the heat.

[Turf]

I want to go with Lindell, but I'm going to say it will be whoever is playing safety, and maybe even both safety positions.

[yle]

I think it would probably be Lindell ... the kicker's mistakes are obvious, even to casual fans. The other possibility is Adams if teams can still run on the Bills.

[Judge]

It'll be Travis Henry if he starts his fumbilitis routine again. Otherwise it's always safe to pick a DB- Pierson Prioleau sounds like a good bet.