Grading the Bills, position-by-position, tonight on Buffalo Bills Now! at 9:30pm

[Coach Sal]

Tonight, on Buffalo Bills Now! at 9:30pm......I'll be going through the Bills position-by-position and giving YOU the chance to grade each position and chat and debate about it with other fans as we do it. I'll have my own grades, too, of course.

Join me for that, as well as NFL Now! at 8pm with my co-host Johnny Von, as we break down what happened in wild card weekend, look ahead to the 2nd round, and talk about the latest coaching news around the league......

NFL Now! at 8pm
Buffalo Bills Now! at 9:30pm

www.Justin.tv/coachsal

[Coach Sal]

Re: Grading the Bills, position-by-position, tonight on Buffalo Bills Now! at 9:30pm

bump.

[Extremebillsfan247]

Re: Grading the Bills, position-by-position, tonight on Buffalo Bills Now! at 9:30pm

This would be a fantastic idea for a thread but since this one is already posted, and even though its meant for something else, I'm going to piggy back my grades here.

On offense:
QBs = C. I would have graded B here but the Coaching staff decided to roll with Trent Edwards at the beginning of the year which I believe was one of the factors in leading this team to an 8 game skid. Ryan Fitzpatrick saves this one from falling all the way down to an F. Even though he took over as starting QB in game 3, His outstanding play the second half of the season is really what turned a lot of heads league wide. This one gets a C because we still only got 4 wins out of it.

RBs = D. I don't like how they started the season out here either. After the year Fred Jackson had in 09, he should have been the starter from the get go since he earned it. Of course injury did play a roll in that early on but that's why you draft Spiller. Spiller was under utilized and Lynch should have been off this team before pre season even began. Starting the year off with 3 RBs, no clear cut starter, really hampered the production in the running game, and also was a contributing factor to an 0-8 start.

WRs = B. We had a lot of young receivers who stepped up late in the year when veterans found themselves on IR. It's debatable whether Lee Evans was missed at all. His counterpart Roscoe Parrish became a force early when he was a frustrated afterthought the previous year. Stevie Johnson went from hero to zero, then back to OK at the position all in the span of 16 games. His performance though, as well as other young receivers like Roosevelt, Jones, and D. Nelson played huge rolls in turning what was left in a horrible season around.

TEs = F. It's another woeful year at the position for this team. The Tight End position has been irrelevant to this offense long before Chan Gailey took over, and not a lot has changed since. We continue to lack a real threat at the position in both receiving and blocking. At this point it would be great to get a Tight End who could at least step in and do one of those things well for a change.

OL = D. If it were not for Fitzpatricks ability to scramble and extend plays, this grade would have also been an F. All one has to do is review our games with Trent Edwards, and Brian Brohm behind center to see how bad this Oline really is. I understand for the most part that its a young group, and they played banged up all year. Eric Wood coming off a devastating injury the year before played really well considering the circumstances. He also contributes in saving this grade from becoming an F.

Overall Offensive grade = C-

Defense:

Dline = D. as one of the worst defenses against the run in team history this year, the only player on our entire defensive line that saves this one from getting and F grade is Kyle Williams. What can I really say here? He is the only one on that Dline who came to work like it meant something to him, or so it seemed that way.

LBs = F. Arthur Moats was a stand out here, and Poz racked up a lot of tackles this year. But, giving this one anything more than an F after we went out and drafted, signed free agents for the position, it was the group that struggled the most on the entire team. It's not all too surprising to see this as one of the common factors leading to the firing of the LBs coach.

DBs = D. This group should get a C. I went with a D here because they underperformed from the year before with virtually the same cast that was here in 09 minus one Terrence McGee who was hurt all year. Although lack of a running defense was a contributing factor to the lack of ints., also starting the year in a new defense, it doesn't excuse this group because its probably one of the most experienced as a unit on the team.

S = F. Although we didn't get burned deep a lot this year, this was a group that always seemed to be a step slower than the team it was facing pretty much all year. Whitner although heavily criticized here, really outperformed this entire group. Byrd was a disappointment in his Sophomore year. George Wilson when he did play, played ok, but not great. Overall this group like the LBs were a major contributor to the overall record.

Overall Defensive Grade = D-

Special Teams

Kicking Team = C. This group was ok, not great but not bad either.

Kick Return Team = D. This group went from prominent in 09 to underachieving in 2010. This group made me miss Bobby April.

Punting Team = D. Moorman struggled a lot this year. It left a lot of people wondering if this team shouldn't start looking for another Punter. As a unit though they were not overly terrible. But I feel they could improve here.

Field Goal Unit = C. This group played well as a whole, but like Moorman, Lindell had his share of struggles.

Overall Special Teams Grade = C

Overall Team Performance:

It was a year of transition, trial, and error. A new Coaching Staff, New schemes on both sides of the ball and underachieving veterans summed up the 2010 season. I watched a team with little talent for the most part, rally behind a QB who most thought to be no better than a back up, and a Head Coach who never gave up on them. The best 2 win team in the league, lovable losers are tags that frequented this team among sports media outlets this year. Although we played really well for a team in a transition period, we still only won 4 games. It begs the question of whether we improved as a team at all, or if we are back to square one.

Overall Team Grade = C-

Thanks for reading.

[Extremebillsfan247]

Re: Grading the Bills, position-by-position, tonight on Buffalo Bills Now! at 9:30pm

Also, I would like to add my award winners for the year.

Assistant Coach of the Year:

Stan Hixon - Receivers Coach

Offensive Player of the year:

Ryan Fitzpatrick

Defensive Player of the year:

Kyle Williams

Rookie of the Year:

Arthur Moats

Most Improved Player of the Year:

Stevie Johnson

Comeback Player of the Year:

Eric Wood

Team MVP:

Ryan Fitzpatrick

[NOT THE DUDE...]

Re: Grading the Bills, position-by-position, tonight on Buffalo Bills Now! at 9:30pm

hey coach do you think you could squeeze in 5min on dave wanstedt?

[Coach Sal]

Re: Grading the Bills, position-by-position, tonight on Buffalo Bills Now! at 9:30pm

hey coach do you think you could squeeze in 5min on dave wanstedt?

Oh yeah I did. The show was last night, but the podcast is already up. Check it out on my home page, you can just listen to it from there, without having to download if you want. I talked about Wanny about 20 minutes into the show.