If the Bills Lost xxxx They would have no chance...

[Mahdi]

For fun lets see who the Billszone feels the Bills most critical player is.... The player that if lost would mean the Bills season is over....

[Jan Reimers]

I'd say Trent Edwards. With Fitzpatrick, Hamdan and Baker behind him, we would have little chance of success. There is more depth, although not always great depth, behind the other players listed. Stroud would be my second choice.

[Tatonka]

i am going with aaron schobel. there has been a lot of hate directed his way recently because he was hurt last year.. but the guy is a legit pro bowl defensive end that produces. our pass rush was SIGNIFICANTLY effected with the loss of him last year. we can not afford to go through the season without him this year. him being on the field changes a LOT for the defensive line. It should help Stroud out a ton and vice versa.

trent would probably be a close second, but the way trent played last year, i dont know that fitzpatrick would be a downgrade to be honest. so that really depends on if trents internal clock is still broken.

[Mahdi]

I say Stroud because without him on the field offenses would run all over us and Trent and the offense would rarely see the ball and our pass rush would be irrelevant.

[psubills62]

This is easy...Joel Bell.

[OpIv37]

i am going with aaron schobel. there has been a lot of hate directed his way recently because he was hurt last year.. but the guy is a legit pro bowl defensive end that produces. our pass rush was SIGNIFICANTLY effected with the loss of him last year. we can not afford to go through the season without him this year. him being on the field changes a LOT for the defensive line. It should help Stroud out a ton and vice versa.

trent would probably be a close second, but the way trent played last year, i dont know that fitzpatrick would be a downgrade to be honest. so that really depends on if trents internal clock is still broken.

Our pass rush with Schobel was sub-par. Our pass rush without him was horrendous. Getting back to sub-par isn't going to fix the problem. The guy's always had a tendency to disappear for weeks at a time and rack up stats in garbage time, even in his best years. He's been on the decline ever since he got his big paycheck.

A big part of our season depends on Trent a) being healthy and b) improving over last season. I agree with you here- if we get the same QB play from either Trent or Fitzpatrick, we're going nowhere.

[OpIv37]

btw I think the answer is Lynch. I like Jackson but I don't think he can handle the full load over the course of a 16 game season. I think Lynch will also take pressure off of Trent and help us control the clock.

[cocamide]

I'll tell you what the Bills can't afford to lose...

Any more games!

[SABURZFAN]

how the hell can two rookies who haven't played a down be on there? :shakeno:

[elltrain22]

Gotta be Trent, b/c we don't have a capable backup

[OpIv37]

how the hell can two rookies who haven't played a down be on there? :shakeno:

because we had huge holes at those positions and the FO chose to fill them with rookies. If we don't good play out of them, then we're no better off than we were last year.

[Mahdi]

because we had huge holes at those positions and the FO chose to fill them with rookies. If we don't good play out of them, then we're no better off than we were last year.
Exactly.

Our whole issue last year was running the ball and pass rush. We are depending on Maybin and Wood to get that done for us so they can be as vital as anyone else on that list.

[SABURZFAN]

ridiculous.......... :rolleyes:

[OpIv37]

I agree- it's ridiculous. But that's the situation this FO has put us in.

[Jan Reimers]

There have actually been rookies who have performed very well in the NFL. I'm not sure that starting a couple of rookies on each side of the ball is going to destroy us, particularly when those rookies are replacing nonperforming, underperforming, or mediocre veterans.

[SABURZFAN]

I agree- it's ridiculous. But that's the situation this FO has put us in.


no. it's ridiculous that their names are on this list.

[OpIv37]

There have actually been rookies who have performed very well in the NFL. I'm not sure that starting a couple of rookies on each side of the ball is going to destroy us, particularly when those rookies are replacing nonperforming, underperforming, or mediocre veterans.

It's not about destroying us. It's about improvement. We need significant improvement in these areas, and we're trying to get it solely from rookies. If they don't come in and play significantly better than the vets they're replacing, we're no better off than we were last year.

[Mahdi]

no. it's ridiculous that their names are on this list.
Well whether you think its ridiculous or not doesn't change the fact that Maybin will most likely start at LDE and Wood will anchor the interior of our OL. And seeing as how we are going to need to run the ball to win football games that makes Wood a critical player.

[HHURRICANE]

Jason Peters

[HHURRICANE]

how the hell can two rookies who haven't played a down be on there? :shakeno:

Post of the day.

Even if Maybin is great as a rookie that translates into 4 sacks tops.

[Mahdi]

Post of the day.

Even if Maybin is great as a rookie that translates into 4 sacks tops.
Great. But my reasoning for putting him on the list is not how many sacks we believe he will get. Its for the fact that Our pass rush HAS to be good this year and we all know that even with Schobel it was pedestrian.

As crazy as it may sound our pass rush relies on this kid being able to generate pressure not necessarily getting 10 sacks.

And if he isn't capable of getting pressure on QBs as a rookie our pass rush will suffer as it did last year and the year before and we will go 7-9 again.

Which is why I put Maybin on the list.

[HHURRICANE]

There have actually been rookies who have performed very well in the NFL. I'm not sure that starting a couple of rookies on each side of the ball is going to destroy us, particularly when those rookies are replacing nonperforming, underperforming, or mediocre veterans.

This team looks no better than the 7-9 team we had last year.

The biggest losses last year were Josh Reed, Crowell, and Schobel.

[venis2k1]

Presuring the QB is more important than sacks. having said that...I answered trent. Ive said this on march 1st, and ill say it again. This teams refusal to get a decent backup qb will be our downfall. At some point this year we will have to play an important game(or games) with Fitz as our starter. We will lose that game.

[psubills62]

I said Stroud. Right now he's the most important piece, imo, to our D-line.

[Dying_-2-_Live]

Trent Edwards is now our make or break player.
If Edwards is injured or plays terribly, we have little to no chance of winning

[Don't Panic]

I think Fitz can do a lot better as a fill in than people think... that Rhodes and Jackson could get it done for a short span... that if we have Evans we can live without TO and vice versa... that no rookie can be on this list, but only because we do already have guys who could fill their spots... that we've lived without Schoebel before, and can much more so now with Maybin in tow...

That leaves Stroud and Walker. I wanted to vote for both, but in the end I see Walker as the bigger loss. With peters gone, we are going to be very dependent on him being in the game. There simply is not enough depth at the position to sutain long stretches without him, and if our line goes, all that talent at the skill positions will be rendered usless.

[kid mickey]

I voted Marshawn. He is the best offensive weapon on this team.