1 QB: Value for an elite talented QB is very high. Teams who don’t have an elite talent here are forced into more of a game manager type of offense.

2: Dline: A very good Dline can mask many other defensive problems.

3: WR/TE: Getting a very talented WR/TE pays dividend WHEN you have a good qb.

4: Cornerback/ Safety: Good cover corners and good safeties with a good defensive line let you focus LBs on the run or blitz. Value for top corners is very high they are expensives and their worth is basically determined by their speed.

5: Oline; The reason I don’t put them higher is because you can have a very good offensive line for basically nothing but there is a bit of luck involved and they have to function well as a unit. The Steelers don’t have tons of big names some of them are free agents off the street but they still work well. Why it’s 5 is because a great LT is hard to get but serviceable ones are aplenty.

6: RB: Elite ones can carry your team, but the truth is that there are good ones everywhere, and the elites are wearing down faster than ever. Ironically RBs wear down usually when they turn 30 but Fullbacks can last forever.

7: Special Teams: Useful in that Kickers and Punters can remain viable for a long time. If specialists are in coverage units and that’s all they do they will last a long time too. Return men might have a lower shelf life however.

8.: LB: An elite Secondary and Dline will make about any LB better. I sincerely believe that, and I don’t feel that a good LB core will improve a Dline or secondary in that same way. On paper the Seahawks have a great LB core but they aren’t a good defense. Good LBs are available in abundance. Keith Ellison isn’t a bad example of just a guy who runs around tackling. Basically I’d want a MLB who was smart enough to command the defense. And really good tacklers, which are in abundance compared to some of the other positions.

I like your icon. Frank Reich….

I like the rankings. I would put LBs ahead of DL after what we’ve seen this year bu that’s just me.

The next step is trying to identify how you are going to fill these needs. The Rumblings staff is goign to do all of it during the offseason so you can wait until then if you want. :-)

1) I my world the Oline goes first. Without it, even a great QB will fail. Another good reason is O-Linemen tend to stay for 10+years with their teams so start with O-Line. And I think O-Linemen are obtained through the draft not FA. Most teams hold on to their star linemen so FA is often second tier players.

2) QB is number 2, Draft
3) DT, Draft or FA
4) DE (4-3) or LB (3-4), FA or Draft (These positions require experience and FA can be quite beneficial)
5) DBs, FA or Draft (These positions require experience and FA can be quite beneficial)
6) RB, Draft (This is a position of youth, FA candidates are often past their prime)
7) LB (4-3) or DE (3-4), FA or Draft (These positions require experience and FA can be quite beneficial)
8) TE
9) K/P

First you have to start with a GM and go from there

I think number one has to be QB. I don’t think it’s even close. Like 80% of the QBs to win a Suber Bowl during the last 15-20 years are HOFers or HOF bound. For every Trent Dilfer, there’s 5-10 Bradys, Roethlisbergers and Peyton Mannings. I don’t buy that a QB needs an OL any more than an OL needs a QB. We’ve seen Rodgers, Roethlisberger and Warner all have great seasons with subpar OLs recently, but who are these below average QBs getting it done behind great lines? It wasn’t working in Minnesota. Joe Thomas, Eric Steinbach and Alex Mack form an absurdly good left side of the line in Cleveland, but they can’t pass or run. Aren’t the Titans supposed to have a great line? They’ve got an elite RB who gets tackled in the backfield a ton, a former fat 2nd rounder who is stinking it up and no passing game. Even Eli Manning has run hot and cold behind that Giants OL. Nothing comes remotely close to matching the importance of QB play.

Number two is a pass rush. Doesn’t matter what positions the scheme relies on for pressure. It could be DEs, OLBs or the DL as a whole with some undersized DTs. The correlation between Super Bowl winners and a great pass rush is almost as strong as the quarterback. The Steelers obviously have a great pass rush. The Giants sacked Brady five times in the SB. Freeney and Mathis were dominating when the Colts took it all. Seymour and Vrabel were both double digit sack guys with the Pats. Leonard Little was putting up 15 sack seasons while the greatest show on turf was getting all the attention. Simeon Rice and Warren Sapp with Tampa. Who could forget those historic Ravens defenses. Those weren’t historic defenses that Elway and the Broncos had, but Trevor Pryce, Neil Smith, Bill Romanowski, Alfred Williams and Maa Tanuvasa had that team in the top 10 in sacks during both Super Bowl seasons. Reggie White was a champ with Favre.

Since the best teams tend to be the ones with the best QBs, the way to beat the best teams is with a pass rush that disrupts that QB. partyboy says it well:

If you ask anyone how they beat Tom Brady or Peyton Manning they’ll answer by saying “pressure them”.

To win a Super Bowl, you have to beat the best and that is really tough to do without a pass rush.

It gets wide open after that. After seeing the recent impacts of safeties, I’ll put the DBs at number three. Watching big time players like Polomalu and Sanders dominate as both run and pass defenders, I’m thinking there’s something to it. DBs prevent big plays as the final line of defense and are often the players who are getting the turnovers. I’m of the belief that it’s big plays that win a football game. The team that forces a couple turnovers and doesn’t allow the quick strike scores is going to win a lot of games.

I’ll put the core of the run D fourth. By the core I mean the interior run D, the defensive tackles and middle linebacker. Whether your scheme attacks up the middle of forces everything back towards it, it’s the heart and soul of the D. This is something I would like to have higher, but simply don’t think that a run defense is as important as a pass defense. I know that sounds nuts at first, but look at the Bills hold their opponents to pretty low scores with a horrific run D.

Give me some weapons at number five. WRs and TEs. I’d rather have an Andre Johnson, Randy Moss or Larry Fitzgerald than whoever the best offensive lineman in the league is. I think you can win with average players on the offensive line, but need above average guys at the skill positions. There aren’t many teams who have won with a great OL and sucky WRs. Brad Johnson has come up recently, but that wasn’t that great of an OL and his WRs (Keyshawn Johnson, Keenan McCardell, Joe Jurevicious) were the key to that offense. Brad Johnson threw 22 TDs and 6 INTs the regular season leading up to his SB win and he did it with big physical and reliable WRs who knew how to get open and get open quickly.

Six is finally the OL. I think having a pair of players to run behind is very, very important. Whether it’s a center/guard combo (think Birk/Hutchinson) or a guard/tackle duo (Snee/McKenzie), the ability to pound the ball on the ground and always pick up the few yards you need is crucial. An elite pass protector who can take the opposing teams best pass rusher out of the game makes a huge difference too. The reason I’ve got the OL this low is that it’s a five man unit that can get away with having weaknesses on the line. late rounders develop into starters much more often than at other positions. People talk about the way the Giants assembled that OL, but it’s realy just a pair of 2nd round picks, a LT who nobody thought would ever be a good LT and a pair of undrafted players. The OL is largely a strength and technique position, so first round type talent becomes less important while tougher, meaner guys, hard workers and smart veterans can get the job done better than similiar players at other positions.

RB/FB can be found all over the place, but when you get a good one, they can break games wide open. Should probably be higher based solely on the amount of touches they get. I can’t put a position with as short of a shelf life as they have any higher than this though.

I never mentioned 4-3 OLBs. I guess it’s because I think you can find them anywhere. It’s not that the position isn’t important, but I think you can build that area of the roster through Kawika Mitchell type FAs and mid round draft picks.

Special teams is only this low because there are so many players involved and the cost is so low. Kickers are very important, but there are also a lot of reliable kickers around the league and nobody who is so good that they give their team a huge advantage. Punters are punters. Returners are a big deal, but they’re inconsistent and have short careers. I’ve always defended cover guys, but they’re available to be groomed by the dozens after the draft.

I still don’t get why people are so hell bent on drafting a DT with the first pick in April. We have so many bigger holes (no pun intended) that we can draft a developmental guy to put behind and learn from Stroud and take over McCargo’s spot. We need major help on the OL and LB corps.

BILL POLIAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!

id like to reiterate the importance of linebackers. We gave up the moment shifting TD because we couldn’t tackle. We missed a ton of tackle on D’Angelo in the Panthers game too as well as in the Jets game . Great linevackers are key to good run defense.

I haven’t been on the boards for a while, but I feel strongly about what I’m about to say.

The Bills need to find a way to protect Trent Edwards. Trent plays very well when he is protected. And as much as people criticize him, the Bills have not been able to run the ball consistently and the offense is very predictable which makes it hard for Trent to excel. I’ll admit Trent isn’t perfect, but if he got the protection that Brady and Manning got, I bet you he would be WAY better and good enough to start.

If you want to know who to get ride of, get rid of the guy who cut Jason Peters. IMO the Bills would be a MUCH better team with Jason Peters. Isn’t it a good thing to have the highest paid LT in football? Is that not a position you want to be in? Peters is a great player in the prime of his career and deserved the money.

The guy I like for the coaching job is Kyle Shanahan, the offensive coordinator for the Texans. He’s very underrated, which means he probably won’t cost that much. He’s got good bloodlines (his dad is Mike Shanahan). And most importantly, he has directed a very potent offense for the Texans the past couple of years.

Having a winning football team is all about executing well. The Bills cannot execute well because they can’t protect Trent Edwards, they can’t run the ball consistently, Dick Jauron knows nothing about offense, Alex Van Pelt is not qualified to be an OC, and the defense has a ridiculous amount of injuries.