Trouble spots: Running down biggest holes that need filling

[G. Host]

http://cbs.sportsline.com/nfl/story/9417598
They drafted defense, and that meant left tackle was still a glaring hole. Mike Gandy wasn't too good there last year and the Bills have to be concerned about him penciled in as the starter again right now. The candidates to take his place don't exactly bring up visions of anything more than a journeyman player.

Evidently Bills grade Gandy different than Pete. I think a good portion of the time Gandy was trying to cover for a weak guard.

[Jan Reimers]

Pete Prisco is a sports writer. Modrak, Jauron and Levy are long time personnel evaluators/coaches, who make their living working in tne NFL. Is Prisco better equipped to evaluate Gandy versus our other "needs," and to rebuild the Bills, than our 3 guys?

[YardRat]

Pot, kettle. Prisco is a 'glaring hole' himself.

[!Papacrunk!]

Pete Prisco is a sports writer. Modrak, Jauron and Levy are long time personnel evaluators/coaches, who make their living working in tne NFL. Is Prisco better equipped to evaluate Gandy versus our other "needs," and to rebuild the Bills, than our 3 guys?
SO what you're saying is that they (Levy/Modrak,) can do no wrong and they should never be questioned, even by a lowly sports writer who has no right to even think about questioning them? I remember a bunch of Phin fans defending Wanny when he would make unpopular decisions by the media, when at the time, the choices seemed to have made sense, or at least after we tried to apply different forms of rationale with the decisions made.

On a side note, since it seems like a lot of sports writers out there are ultimately wrong for questioning the draft or choices made by the Bills we should no longer respect what they say, even if they say something positive? Because I would assume if they're always wrong when they say something negative, then no one should even MENTION an article or an opinion if that places something in a positive light either, correct?

On another side note, has anyone seen the new Simpsons movie trailer, with Homer on the couch? Good stuff.

[jamze132]

I still would rather listen to NFL coaches and managers talking about evaluating a player rather than a sports writer trying to do the same. Writers are normally good at their job and are entitled to there opinions but it seems that most people put them up on a pedastool and whatever they say, it must be the gospel.

[!Papacrunk!]

I still would rather listen to NFL coaches and managers talking about evaluating a player rather than a sports writer trying to do the same. Writers are normally good at their job and are entitled to there opinions but it seems that most people put them up on a pedastool and whatever they say, it must be the gospel.
Even Dave Wannstedt?

[Jan Reimers]

I would rather have Dave Wannstadt running my team than Pete Prisco, for sure.

I'm not sure why anyone puts any stock in the opinions of talking heads like Prisco, Kiper, King, et. al. when none of them put their jobs on the line everyday with coaching/personnel decisions. They don't spend hundreds of hours evaluating film, etc.

They simply regurgitate the second hand opinions of others.

[!Papacrunk!]

Wannstedt shouldn't even be coaching a Pop Warner team. If anyone brings up the success he had in Miami--he was just riding the groundwork that was laid down from Shula and Jimmy Johnson, and we saw what happened when that started to dry up.

[FlyingDutchman]

Wannstedt shouldn't even be coaching a Pop Warner team. If anyone brings up the success he had in Miami--he was just riding the groundwork that was laid down from Shula and Jimmy Johnson, and we saw what happened when that started to dry up.

100% agreed. Now hes bringing down Pitt.

[jamze132]

Even Dave Wannstedt?
Yes

[Jan Reimers]

SO what you're saying is that they (Levy/Modrak,) can do no wrong and they should never be questioned, even by a lowly sports writer who has no right to even think about questioning them? I remember a bunch of Phin fans defending Wanny when he would make unpopular decisions by the media, when at the time, the choices seemed to have made sense, or at least after we tried to apply different forms of rationale with the decision.
Did I say that Levy et.al. could "do no wrong?" No. My post simply pointed out that I have more confidence in them than I do in Pete Prisco. Perhaps he is a football genius and the Bills' talent evaluators are a bunch of dolts. Only time will tell.

But for now, I have to wonder how much game film of Gandy has Prisco analyzed compared to our Bills' personnel people and coaching staff? How much has he seen of our draft picks compared to our scouts, coaches and front office?

Prisco has a right to his opinion, and I have a right to question it.

[Bulldog]

100% agreed. Now hes bringing down Pitt.

How do you figure? According to Scout.com, Pitt has damn near a top ten recruiting class coming in this year(11th to be exact). Wannstedt may have been a terrible NFL coach, but I think he'll be successful at Pitt. I won't say that he'll accomplish what Carrol has at USC, but he'll have that program in the top 20 for many years to come.

[TedMock]

It's crap like this that really pisses me off. I'm not suggesting that all sports writers are bad. I believe many are very good. However, let's be honest, they're much better at following their own teams. It's near impossible to be well versed on every team. My problem comes when they make stupid statements as if they're factual.

The Bills o-line in general played poorly last year. Nobody will dispute that. My problem is when a guy like Prisco just assumes that the left tackle gave up all the pressure. Obviously that's completely false. Gandy, in fact, played very well. To say otherwise only proves that he didn't watch any games. We all know that the pressure came mostly from the inside, but Prisco having never watched, doesn't realize that it was indeed Anderson and Teague that were the bigger culprits.

It just irritates me that he goes out and writes something like that when he's totally off base.

[mikemac2001]

Pot, kettle. Prisco is a 'glaring hole' himself.

thats funny

[ICE74129]

http://cbs.sportsline.com/nfl/story/9417598
They drafted defense, and that meant left tackle was still a glaring hole. Mike Gandy wasn't too good there last year and the Bills have to be concerned about him penciled in as the starter again right now. The candidates to take his place don't exactly bring up visions of anything more than a journeyman player.

Evidently Bills grade Gandy different than Pete. I think a good portion of the time Gandy was trying to cover for a weak guard.

Comments like this crack me up. Mike Williams flat sucked. Did you hear the Bills say that? In fact have they EVER come out and said, ' this guy friggin sucks and is a major liablility on our team'? Or 'we failed to address a glaring need this offseason, but we will get by'?

They are going to try and pimp Gandy to the fans as a damn good LT and all is good in the world.

[Bulldog]

Comments like this crack me up. Mike Williams flat sucked. Did you hear the Bills say that? In fact have they EVER come out and said, ' this guy friggin sucks and is a major liablility on our team'? Or 'we failed to address a glaring need this offseason, but we will get by'?

They are going to try and pimp Gandy to the fans as a damn good LT and all is good in the world.

Gandy was by far not the worst lineman on the team last year. That honor belongs to Teague & Anderson, who have both been replaced. You can only make so many changes in one off season. It only makes sense to address the weakest areas of the team first and address the rest later on. What would you have liked Buffalo to do Ice? And please be realistic.

[TedMock]

Comments like this crack me up. Mike Williams flat sucked. Did you hear the Bills say that? In fact have they EVER come out and said, ' this guy friggin sucks and is a major liablility on our team'? Or 'we failed to address a glaring need this offseason, but we will get by'?

No, but his benching last year and subsequent release by the new regime certainly spoke volumes. Prior to that you had to give the young man time. We all know you can't judge a player early on. Sometimes it takes a couple of years. We gave him a chance, he failed, he was cut. He has talent, which is what the front office said, but he had no passion which is what got him yanked, and released.


They are going to try and pimp Gandy to the fans as a damn good LT and all is good in the world.

Wasn't Gandy a decent tackle? I understand the concept of solidifying the LT spot, and I agree. However, our situation was soooo bad on the inside that it had to be addressed first. As for the draft, it could've gone either way, and I think we just added 4-5 starters by 2007 for years to come. It can't happen all at once. Gandy was more than good enough at the tackle position to keep his spot for an extra year. Before we needed a LT, we needed a guard, center, DT, and safety. Those were the bigger priorities. I'd also say another DE would be nice too.

[Statman]

http://cbs.sportsline.com/nfl/story/9417598
They drafted defense, and that meant left tackle was still a glaring hole. Mike Gandy wasn't too good there last year and the Bills have to be concerned about him penciled in as the starter again right now. The candidates to take his place don't exactly bring up visions of anything more than a journeyman player.

Evidently Bills grade Gandy different than Pete. I think a good portion of the time Gandy was trying to cover for a weak guard.
I think just about everyone grades Gandy differently than the Bills do.

[ParanoidAndroid]

I don't think that McNally is a bs artist. When he says that he thinks Gandy did a nice job, I think he means it. I watched all the games and I never saw anything terrible about Gandy. He seemed fairly solid to me.

[Tinboy]

I can't understand why everybody complaing about Gandy. He's no superstar but he is doing a good job.

[Night Train]

I can't understand why everybody complaing about Gandy. He's no superstar but he is doing a good job.

Because it's the "in" thing, like Red Bull, picture phones and Nick Saban. :chuckle:

[G. Host]

Comments like this crack me up.
I guess you are THE expert on crack.
I mean you were the inside dealer for information to one who knew Whitner was Bills' 1st round pick! :rofl:

[Bill Brasky]

I think the Bills' biggest need is the massive black hole called an offensive line. You guys would be have to be more blind than Ray Earl Jones in The Sandlot to not realize this.

JP's gonna sit on his ass all season long. This line will give up at least 40 sacks, maybe even 50.

It could be pretty comical. I can't wait to see Craig Nall run for his life on a play by play basis. It's gonna be the equivelant to when Water Buffalo's make a mad dash for their life before a pack of Lions come out of nowhere and tear the **** out of them.