I am reluctant to say it, but I am getting excited.

[ICE74129]

I like several things that are going on.

1) I am hearing more and more that DJ is a good coach. One that had a very unusual situation in Chicago with the cards stacked against him. I love the fact he is going to let his coaches coach. He has a base line way of approaching things and his OC and DC understand this. They will keep to his overall ideas while being allowed to do quite a bit of what the want.

2) I think marv has IMPROVED in his thinking with his time off. It is just how he speaks now vs when he was here. I hear something different, better than when he was a coach. It is said the best never stop learning, and I think Marv has learned from his mistakes as Bills coach, while keeping the qualities that made him a good coach.

3) on that theme, I LOVE absolutely LOVE the fact Marv and DJ get it. Defense and OL. That is where the money needs to be spent. If you can get this defense back to a top 5 Defense that can create turnovers and GET OFF OF THE FIELD ON 3rd DOWN, then you are going to be ok. If the OL can block, create running holes and give your QB more than 2.5 seconds to get rid of the ball and you are ok. I feel Fairchild will call a good game as will our new DC. So if you upgrade the Talent on D/ OL and have good coaching, you are going to do just fine.

4) I want more draft picks. I love the 8th pick, and make no doubt, we can get a stud there (And yes Ngata will be a stud). But I see a CB from TexASS that would make an impact Safety for us. There are DL, LB's and DB's that could come in as rookies in the Cover 2 and actually IMPROVE this team.

I would like to see us Package #8 and maybe Moulds for Denvers two firsts. But in reality I see us going in with #8 and taking Ngata. Marv was damn near giddy and couldn't get the smile off of his face when he was asked about him earlier this week.

5) I have a feeling LG and maybe center are the only changes on the OL This offseason and I can be ok with that. Reading McNally's interview this week he is so damn high on Peters it isn't funny. Gandy did a serviceable job. Don't be shocked if they switch places this offseason. He is also really high on Preston. He raves about how smart and how big he is. He just needs a little more offseason work. I bet he plays center for us. SMARTS more than anything is what a Center needs, that and technique. Preston is about 300lbs so that isn't an issue. I can see it being, Peters, FA, Preston, Villarial and Gandy.

Now lets talk about this. How much of a bad position did MM And Clements put Mcnally and our OL in? One thing I haven't seen mentioned was a very key thing in JMac's interview. something like 'We are going to sit down and see what plays/types of runs willis McGahee does best...' That is one of the most exciting things I have heard from a coaching staff in a long, long time. See what you do best with the personel you have, then find different ways to execute it.

I have a feeling by keeping the meat of this line together, Letting Jmac get with DJ and fairchild and being allowed to give his two cents AND IT BEING LISTENED TO, This line might be improved just by the plays that are called and the way the offense is ran.

Again it is guarded optimism...but there are reasons to possibly be excited for this coming year.

[fushetti]

who cares? its hockey season.

[dolphinssuck]

I like several things that are going on.

1) I am hearing more and more that DJ is a good coach. One that had a very unusual situation in Chicago with the cards stacked against him. I love the fact he is going to let his coaches coach. He has a base line way of approaching things and his OC and DC understand this. They will keep to his overall ideas while being allowed to do quite a bit of what the want.

2) I think marv has IMPROVED in his thinking with his time off. It is just how he speaks now vs when he was here. I hear something different, better than when he was a coach. It is said the best never stop learning, and I think Marv has learned from his mistakes as Bills coach, while keeping the qualities that made him a good coach.

3) on that theme, I LOVE absolutely LOVE the fact Marv and DJ get it. Defense and OL. That is where the money needs to be spent. If you can get this defense back to a top 5 Defense that can create turnovers and GET OFF OF THE FIELD ON 3rd DOWN, then you are going to be ok. If the OL can block, create running holes and give your QB more than 2.5 seconds to get rid of the ball and you are ok. I feel Fairchild will call a good game as will our new DC. So if you upgrade the Talent on D/ OL and have good coaching, you are going to do just fine.

4) I want more draft picks. I love the 8th pick, and make no doubt, we can get a stud there (And yes Ngata will be a stud). But I see a CB from TexASS that would make an impact Safety for us. There are DL, LB's and DB's that could come in as rookies in the Cover 2 and actually IMPROVE this team.

I would like to see us Package #8 and maybe Moulds for Denvers two firsts. But in reality I see us going in with #8 and taking Ngata. Marv was damn near giddy and couldn't get the smile off of his face when he was asked about him earlier this week.

5) I have a feeling LG and maybe center are the only changes on the OL This offseason and I can be ok with that. Reading McNally's interview this week he is so damn high on Peters it isn't funny. Gandy did a serviceable job. Don't be shocked if they switch places this offseason. He is also really high on Preston. He raves about how smart and how big he is. He just needs a little more offseason work. I bet he plays center for us. SMARTS more than anything is what a Center needs, that and technique. Preston is about 300lbs so that isn't an issue. I can see it being, Peters, FA, Preston, Villarial and Gandy.

Now lets talk about this. How much of a bad position did MM And Clements put Mcnally and our OL in? One thing I haven't seen mentioned was a very key thing in JMac's interview. something like 'We are going to sit down and see what plays/types of runs willis McGahee does best...' That is one of the most exciting things I have heard from a coaching staff in a long, long time. See what you do best with the personel you have, then find different ways to execute it.

I have a feeling by keeping the meat of this line together, Letting Jmac get with DJ and fairchild and being allowed to give his two cents AND IT BEING LISTENED TO, This line might be improved just by the plays that are called and the way the offense is ran.

Again it is guarded optimism...but there are reasons to possibly be excited for this coming year.

Im with ya ICE I think its gonna be a improved and better next season.

[BAM]

Excellent post. It's not going to be hard to improve over last season, let's just hope it's a significant improvement and we find our way back to the playoffs dammit!

[ICE74129]

One thing I didn't mention. To players Belief is the biggest thing. If they believe in the front office, Coaches and the System, that makes all the difference in the world.

I think the players will have that in Marv, DJ, Fairchild etc. Esp if we do well in FA and the draft.

[Jan Reimers]

What I like is that we have so many young skill players in place from the Donahoe era. If we can give Willis some decent blocking and JP some protection, our offense might really come together. Evans should be ready to break out, and we haven't even seen what Parrish and Everett can do.

Now, with better coaching and Marv and DJ retooling the O line and the Defense - putting the emphasis where it should have been all along - I think we'll be a pretty good football team.

[gr8slayer]

who cares? its hockey season.

Who cares about hockey?

[TacklingDummy]

To early to get excited.

Reasons why...

1) QB situation (Holcomb is ok for 1 more season, but we do need our QB of the future, something we haven't had since Jim Kelly)

2) Is Moulds, Clements, Adams coming back?

3) Still need someone to stop the run.

4) Still need another DE, we need pressure on the QB so the CBs dont get hung out to dry all day. And pressure on the QB leads to turnovers.

5) Will Spikes be the player he was before the injury?

6) Will Mike Williams finally become the player he was drafted to be? If he isn't cut.

7) The Bills need a center. Kevin Mawae might be a cap cut by the Jets. He would be a decent pickup for the right price, since he is getting old and is coming off a injuried season.

[ICE74129]

What I like is that we have so many young skill players in place from the Donahoe era. If we can give Willis some decent blocking and JP some protection, our offense might really come together. Evans should be ready to break out, and we haven't even seen what Parrish and Everett can do.

Now, with better coaching and Marv and DJ retooling the O line and the Defense - putting the emphasis where it should have been all along - I think we'll be a pretty good football team.

I am not sold on Everett at all. Has a seperated shoulder at Miami then just running around with no contact, tears and ACL. I think this is going to be another Donahoe bust pick.

If moulds is traded/ Cut, I would like to see a tall posession WR brought in to complement Evans.

And let me say this, we have people saying Evans will never be a true #1 WR. They better look at a guy from Washington and a guy from Carolina before making those comments. Evans has better all around skills coming out of college than either of those guys. close to their speed, but overall better coming out.

[ublinkwescore]

I agree about Evans - the guy will be the next Steve Smith - he's already drawn that comparison - if we could just get JP some time from our O-line, we'll be seeing many, MANY games like the Miami (which I am pinning solely on the shoulders of Jerry Gray and Mike Mularkey) and KC games - just send him on a go-route, and tell JP to just heave it as far as he can, and let Evans just chase it down for 6.