Next steps for the Bills

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With the two most recent roster moves by the Buffalo Bills, there are a few spots remaining under the current roster limit of 90. Chris Brown of Buffalobills.com points out that the roster can stay at 90 players until August 30.

I would assume the roster will not stay at 90 (or 87 in this case) up until that date. The staff will need to pare down the roster to only include the players they really want to keep a keen eye on for the final regular season games. I fully expect to see more players released in the next few days, probably after the game against Denver.

That being said, the Bills have the opportunity to sign some help for their offensive line. Right now the group of five that is atop the depth chart stinks. They flat-out stink. Eric Wood and Andy Levitre are the only two quality players they have out there. The jury is still out on Erik Pears, but he can’t support Craig Urbik – neither can Wood. Same goes for Demetrius Bell on the left side. He is a turnstile over there. In the bright side there is help out there if the Bills are willing to sign the players.

Among the remaining free agents; Leonard Davis, Nick Kaczur, Bryant McKinnie, Max Starks and Jon Stinchcomb are all relatively attractive options. Starks reminds me too much of Cornell Green ann Davis is way past his prime. I would rule out those two. Stinchcomb has some injury issues and I feel like McKinnie could be a total flake (being from The U and all). Kaczur and McKinnie would be the two tackles I would consider. Both are capable NFL tackles who have seen plenty of success. They would bring much more stability to the Bills’ line and offer Ryan Fitzpatrick much more pass protection. They wouldn’t help in shoring up the perceived weakest spot, right guard, but I feel like Chad Rinehart or Geoff Hangartner offer better skill argue position. Not to mention a more stable tackle on the right or left side makes the entire line better.

The unfortunate part of this situation is the likelihood of the Bills to stand pat. They will sing a chorus of how happy they are with their prospects and about their ability to develop. Sadly, all that will result in are sacks and a poor running game.

Bills waive Aaron Maybin

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Buffalo Bills fans got their wish. Aaron Maybin was waived by the team this afternoon,mercifully ending two pitiful seasons by the former first-round pick.

Maybin was drafted out of Penn State after having a breakout season in 2008. Considered to be an elite pass rusher, the Bills drafted him over Brian Cushing, Clay Matthews and Brian Orakpo. Michael Oher also was picked after Maybin. Losing those four players alone probably make Bills fans want to pull their hair out. The fact that Maybin was so useless makes matters that much worse.

I wasn’t a fan of Maybin. I wanted Cushing or Everette Brown. They were more explosive and had a better body of work. They also played in a much better conference in college. The most overlooked fact about Maybin was his experience, he had one huge season and declared for the draft, there was no real history on him. Add to that the fact he was a fast player playing in a slow conference, it was a recipe for disaster.

Maybin made plays in college because he is fast and agile. Outside of the two, maybe three, big games a Big Ten team plays in each year, Maybin was playing against inferior opponents. What made it was the fact that he could run by the slow and sluggish Big Ten tackles. That didn’t translate to the NFL and it was painfully obvious.

I rank Maybin as the top bust in Bills draft history. There have been some bad ones, Mike Williams comes to mind. However, no one has been as useless to the team as Maybin has been. That is why I rank him first for Bills draft busts.

Deskchair Quarterback – Bills vs. Bears

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In an attempt to bring a fresh look at each Bills game this season, I’ll try to use this space to offer some analysis and a breakdown of the team’s effort from the last game.

The Bills’ first effort of the preseason ended up as I expected, although there were some high and low points that surely stood out to everyone. Aside from the fact that the NFL preseason is a complete waste of time, the exhibition schedule always catches my eye because I enjoy seeing some of the young talent carve a niche on the roster. For example, Antonio Coleman really stood out as an effective OLB last year and was – and still is – far more effective that Aaron Maybin at the same position.

Saturday night showed me a few things. The most glaring issue is that the Bills’ offense has the potential to be REALLY bad this season. Even before the idiotic trade of Lee Evans, I felt like this would be a down year for the offense. After watching on Saturday I feel like my fears are all but confirmed.

The Bills have no tackles. They have some big guys who are listed as tackles, but they’re not very good at the position. If this team tries to play 16 games with Demetrius Bell, Erik Pears and Ed Wang as the top three bookends, Ryan Fitzpatrick will die. This was the second biggest need for the Bills to address this off season and they failed to do so.

It seems as if this will be a season full of three-and-out, sacks and clogged running lanes.

On the bright side, C.J. Spiller appears to have improved patience and additional duties in the passing game. His rushing numbers didn’t reflect his play, another indication of the porous line, but he looked much better after seeing a handful of plays. Brad Smith also looks like a wise acquisition as he is a true run/pass threat out of the wildcat. Josh Nesbitt was equally impressive in that scheme, it would be cool if they could utilize him as a two-way guy (safety and QB) but there is no need for two wildcat quarterbacks.

Defensively it would seem as if the Bills had adopted the 2000 Baltimore Ravens. Marcel Dareus was beyond disruptive and Shawne Merriman was scary good coming off the edge.

The secondary is still good, the Bills are crazy deep at corner and it will only help if Terrence McGee is going to be healthy all year. The safeties are a little average for my liking. I suppose the organization is hoping Da’Norris Searcy comes along fast and is able to start at strong safety. If that is the case there should be no worries, if Bryan Scott is playing all the time it could get ugly.

The special teams didn’t look good, but there are no set responsibilities yet in the system. There are still guys adjusting to kick coverage who have never done it before. I will say that Bruce DeHaven’s crew was pretty average last season and the results on Saturday didn’t inspire much faith. After years of Bobby April’s brilliance, I worry about the mediocrity of this new system.

The second and third preseason games are always the most entertaining for fans and also offer the most insight as to which players are really going to stick around. The next two Saturdays will tell a whole lot more in regards to what kind of team the Bills will have this season.

Lee Evans traded to Baltimore

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Adam Schefter of ESPN reported that the Bills have traded Lee Evans to the Baltimore Ravens for a 4th round pick in the 2012 NFL Draft.

This is a major move for the Bills as they are trading away one of their most lethal offensive threats, well at least on paper. Evans hasn’t been the same threat since J.P. Losman was removed as the starting quarterback. Since then Evans has seen his number dwindle -blast year he recorded a career-low 37 receptions.

That is pretty much the end of the reasons why it made sense to trade him. Frankly, he is a highly paid decoy. He doesn’t do much other than run a mean nine route, but he freeze up plenty of coverage for Stevie Johnson.

Now Johnson and David Nelson become the top receiving threats for the Bills as they hope that Marcus Easley and, San Diego castoff, Buster Davis can produce. All of that for a fourth round pick next season.

The main need for the Buffalo Bills is to fill their holes at tackle. They continue to ignore that need and the years pile up since the last time they had a true duo of NFL tackles (Howard Ballard and Will Wolford by my count). Instead Nix opted to remove a veteran talent for a draft lick that will turn into a guy like Dwayne Wright, Shawn Nelson, or Ko Simpson. Forgive me for not jumping out of my chair for this trade.

It seems like the Bills are turning into the Cleveland Indians from Major League, just get enough players to fill the roster and play the games. No need to worry about winning in these parts I guess.

Sabres re-sign Gragnani and add to AHL depth

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Nearly a strong month of silence from One Seymour H Knox III Plaza was ended this week when the Buffalo Sabres announced a trio of new signings.

The final signing, a one-year deal for Marc-Andre Gragnani, is the most important of the three. The Sabres no longer have any players left without a contract after Gragnani agreed to terms. Earlier in the week Buffalo came to terms on one-year contracts for Mike Ryan and Paul Szezechura. Both will play in Rochester this season.

The acquisition of Ryan and Szezechura was a good move by the team as the Amerks were in desperate need of help at forward, particularly at center. Szezechura is a natural center and Ryan will likely allow for Matt Ellis to serve as a pivot as well. Both players are capable of putting up numbers at the AHL level in addition to having some NHL experience. Strong marks to Darcy Regier for finding two strong veterans for the Americans. Continue reading →

Brad Smith listed as a QB, Moats moved to ILB

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The Bills opened training camp today and there are already a few interesting tidbits floating around.

Arthur Moats was deadly at OLB last season, apparently the Bills prefer him as an ILB

The first comes from Mark Gaughan’s report in The Buffalo News. Right now, Brad Smith is listed as a quarterback on the roster. This means two things to me. One, they do not want to sacrifice one of their wide receiver positions on Smith when they can “hide” him elsewhere. Basically, Smith can play a variety of positions and you can’t necessarily pigeon-hole him into one. I was concerned after his signing because NFL teams have such ridgid numbers set as they enter camp and the regular season. It is a safe bet that the Bills will not have more than six receivers on their roster entering the year meaning Smith would have likely forced out either Marcus Easely, Donald Jones, David Nelson or Naaman Roosevelt. Now that he is listed as a QB the Bills won’t likely have to part with one of their youngsters.

The second thing this points out to me is the fact that they must really like Easley and Nelson. They are my favorites to secure the final WR spots behind Lee Evans, Stevie Johnson and Roscoe Parrish. I was particularly worried that Nelson would be cut due to the signing of Smith. Now it seems as if he may be safe. That being said, Jones and Roosevelt are likely the odd men out in the grand scheme of things. Smith can run out in kick and punt coverage like these two did last season. They became expendable when the Bills signed Smith. Continue reading →

Bills opt for fringe signings as camp approaches

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Surely the Bills are working towards some bigger free agent signings to address the holes they have at linebacker and offensive tackle. However, they have yet to sign any players at those positions. Rather, they have signed a back-up quarterback and a utility receiver/returner.

Brad Smith wouldn't be a bad signing if the Bills didn't have other glaring needs

Buffalo opened free agency by declaring their desire to get Paul Posluszny signed only to have him leave for more money and a better playing situation in Jacksonville. Buddy Nix was able to get Drayton Florence re-signed for three more years, a big signing considering the loss of their former middle linebacker.

They followed the Florence signing with back-up quarterback Tyler Thigpen. The three-year deal was necessary but extremely underwhelming considering some of the glaring needs on the Bills’ roster. However, I like that they pursued a player who is familiar with Chan Gailey and his offense. It is reassuring to know that the back-up quarterback will know the system and can have success if called upon.

The second free agent signing Buffalo made isn’t as impressive to me. Brad Smith is an exciting player and a valuable weapon. This is why I was happy to hear the Bills signed him. However, a third or fourth wide receiver is the last thing Buffalo needed. I guess the Bills are hoping to sport the greatest roster of kick returners ever assembled. Continue reading →

Sabres/Canisius rink gets some teeth

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It seems my spitballing for a Sabres practice arena wasn’t strictly conjecture. Well, I had no idea that this plan could ever come to fruition. Also my plan would call for the arena to be built in the Cobblestone District near HSBC Arena. But, it is still cool to know that these discussions are occurring.

Give credit to Nick Veronica for getting details on this story at It’s Always Game Seven (Bucky Gleason also mentioned the rumor in a recent column). He explained that the school will be joining Niagara University, Robert Morris University (PA) and Mercyhurst College in meeting with the CCHA on potentially joining the conference when the Big Ten and NCHC poach all of the strong programs in college hockey.

In addition, it seems as if preliminary discussions have taken place for Saint Terry to make a donation towards erecting a rink for Canisius and the Sabres to share on the school’s campus. Continue reading →

New Winnipeg Jets logo = fail

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After quite a bit of hype, the Winnipeg Jets finally unveiled their new logos. Of course, they didn’t include the jerseys, just the logos. What I was left wondering was, is this seriously the best they could do? Honestly, I understand that True North wants to establish their own brand separate from the former franchise that now resides in Phoenix, but c’mon.

The former Jets logos, while similar, were iconic to the team. They also grew somewhat of a cult following after the team left. The same can be said for the Whalers and other defunct franchises.

My problem with this logo is that it is so bland. They do a good job playing off the True North name by giving the compass look, same with including a real jet. Those are really the only good points about the primary mark. Otherwise I just see the same thing as the Penguins Winter Classic, Florida and Columbus third jersey logos. Continue reading →

A closer look at the Sabres’ depth

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With the Buffalo Sabres re-signing Matt Ellis, Jhonas Enroth, Dennis Persson Andrej Sekera and Travis Turnbull this week, the opening day roster is all but set. While there will be tweaks as training camp comes and goes, the main body of the roster is pretty easy to piece together right now.

The Sabres have a boatload of depth at this point and a look in the prospect cupboard reveals even more. I was linked in a post about the Sabres depth being mistaken for a logjam. While I certainly see portions of the roster that are clogged I did not mean to portray the point of view that bodies need to go and go fast. Darcy Regier and Lindy Ruff need to capitalize on the depth at their disposal. In two seasons this could be a very different team and that depth will be the reason why.

I divided the team up by position in a relative depth chart. Anyone under a professional contract for this season was accounted for (ex. Shawn Szydlowski). I also included Marc-Andre Gragnani even though he hasn’t officially signed. Of note; the defense isn’t in pairs, it is just split into a relative depth setting to account for who I expect to be on the opening night roster, and the order of call ups. Additionally, the forwards are offset because there are more right wingers than left wingers or centers at this point. Continue reading →