Web Rumblings: Buffalo Bills Links, 3/30

by MattRichWarren on Mar 30, 2010 7:05 AM EDT in Buffalo Bills News

Confirmed: Tebow at One Bills Dr. – Inside The Bills
Florida QB Tim Tebow is a confirmed visitor at One Bills Drive. The quarterback prospect is among a group of about a dozen draft prospects making a pre-draft visit at One Bills Drive here on Monday. No workouts of any kind are being conducted with respect to the player prospects.

'Poz' ready for 3-4 shift - Hornell, NY - Hornell Evening Tribune
"It seems like it’s a great defense to be in," Posluszny said. "I think the coaches will let us play within the structure of the defense and allow us to make plays. I know a lot of the guys are excited about (the switch)." Posluszny gives a lengthy interview about the defensive changes.

NFL -- Bill Barnwell: Ranking the best and worst at every OL position - ESPN
"In 2009, the offensive line that allowed the most sacks was also the one that went through the most players. The Buffalo Bills had 11 different players start at least one game up front for them on offense, and those linemen combined for a league-high 28.5 blown blocks leading to sacks. In addition, running back Fred Jackson led all backs with four blown blocks that led to sacks."

Free Agency
Donovan McNabb has a baker's dozen of possible destinations - Mike Florio - MLB - Sporting News
"The Bills have a trio of second-tier quarterbacks, and they are one of only two teams who have been linked to McNabb that have not denied it. Some think that owner Ralph Wilson won't pay McNabb's eight-figure salary for 2011 or give him an extension that might approach nine figures. But if the Bills are serious about becoming a contender in this quarterback's league, they need an elite quarterback."

Twitter / Adam Schefter
Oakland has emerged as leader in Donovan McNabb sweepstakes. Doesn't mean another team couldn't get deal done, but Raiders are team to beat.

Bucs re-sign Crowell | ProFootballTalk.com
"The Bucs added to their linebacker depth Monday, re-signing unrestricted free agent Angelo Crowell to a one-year contract. The former Buffalo Bill has missed the last two seasons with a chronic knee condition, and then a torn biceps muscle."

Buffalo Bills Should Trade For Baltimore Ravens OT Jared Gaither | Bleacher Report
"The Bills have the 9th pick in the second round this year, and dealing the pick for Gaither could allow Buffalo more flexibility come draft day, where they are expected to take a left tackle with their No. 9 pick in the first round. The Bills would be getting a proven talent with experience for a second round price, over a risky selection in the draft."

Tulsa World: Pro Day Notebook: Numbers game
"The other receiver who caught Bradford's passes was Josh Reed, a free agent on the market after spending the past eight years with the Buffalo Bills." HUH???

2010 NFL Draft
Twitter / Scott Wright (Draft Countdown)
Why do I get the feeling that there is a very good chance the Buffalo Bills may take Florida QB Tim Tebow at #9 Overall? #Tebow

Twitter / Scott Wright (Draft Countdown)
In regards to Tebow and the Bills, there's no guarantee that he will be there for Buffalo in Round 2 at #41. In fact, it's unlikely. #Tebow

Cam Thomas | North Carolina Scouting Report - 2010 NFL Draft Prospect
Scott Wright of Draft Countdown provides analysis and predictions for prospect Cam Thomas of North Carolina

Twitter / Doug Farrar
Watching a lot of Clausen for Yahoo feature -- teams will have to ask whether it's worth a high 1st pick for a very limited downfield arm.

Twitter / Rich Eisen
Wow. Gil Brandt says Sam Bradford's workout was the best he's seen since @Troy_Aikman worked out for Cowboys. And that's saying something.

How to Lose Fans And Alienate People - The Goose's Roost
So apparently Chris at TGR really doesn't want the Bills to draft Tim Tebow. Really. They give me a shout out so I'll include it in today's links. :-)

BUST-O-METER: Jimmy Clausen - Mocking The Draft
Mocking the Draft outlines the chances of Jimmy Clausen busting at the pro level.

Draft Profile: Cal back hopes he's saved Best for NFL - BuffaloBills.com
BuffaloBills.com profiles Cal running back Jahvid Best who could join fellow Bear Marshawn Lynch in the Bills backfield nest season.

RB Best’s interesting comment – Inside The Bills
"There’s a bunch of teams like the Eagles, the Bills are in the picture now, the Saints might be in the picture," said Cal RB Javhid Best at the Combine. "There’s a lot of teams because there are a lot of running backs whose contracts are coming up. And then there’s a lot of teams that just need running backs, because running backs come in and out of the league every year now."

Early reports positive on Bradford – Inside The Bills
"Oklahoma QB Sam Bradford had his pro day Monday and early indiciations are it went very well for the player many think could be the top overall pick. TFY Draft Insider did report that receivers did have to wait on some throws early in the workout, but Bradford was accurate with his passes on the move and though he did not show a "rifle arm" he did prove that he can make all the throws."

Tebow works out for Bills : Buffalo Bills : The Buffalo News
"The Buffalo Bills got an up-close-and-personal look at the most headline-grabbing prospect in the NFL Draft on Monday. Florida quarterback Tim Tebow was among about a dozen college prospects who visited One Bills Drive. Every NFL team is allowed to bring 30 draft prospects to its facility for visits in the weeks leading up to the draft."

BillBoard: Draft watch: Toby Gerhart
A quick look at the Stanford RB.

The Who's Who - Offensive Tackles - WGR 550 SportsRadio
Joe Buscaglia gives his top tackle, honorable mention, quietly rising, overrated, and super sleep prospects before listing his top 15 at the position.

Ex-Buffalo Bills quarterback Jim Kelly has dinner with Tim Tebow - ESPN
"The teams that are struggling, they don't have a quarterback," Kelly added. "You need that guy behind center, not only the guy who can throw the ball and make big plays. But to be the leader and be able to pull people together."

Other Bills Links
Bills alumni and Jills visit Variety - BuffaloBills.com
"The 48th Annual Variety Kids Telethon was held at the Adam's Mark hotel in Buffalo on March 28th, and the Buffalo Bills Alumni (including former Bills safety Jeff Nixon '79-'84 and former Bills wide receiver Charley Ferguson '63-'69), the Jills Cheerleaders and Billy Buffalo appeared on the show to "Help Our Kids Smile" and encourage donations for children that Variety serves."

Norwood’s life after football is business as usual - Wellsville, NY - Wellsville Daily Reporter
"The former Bills’ kicker has made good use of the business degree he earned from James Madison University, working as a financial planner, selling insurance, and being a real estate agent since his NFL career ended after the team waived him following the 1991 season."

Player Tweets
Twitter / drayton florence
The season has officially started find a way to seperate yourself... Team ProveIt

Twitter / Aaron Maybin
Didn't realize how much I missed my team. Great first day of workouts down and in the books!

Twitter / Steve Johnson
Today was a Good Meet & Greet day.We Put in Work in that Weight Room tho. Coaches sound Gr8. Players were excited u can see it. All Onboard

Twitter / Stevie Johnson
Please dnt ask me am i startin.My mentality since i've playd FBall never been focused on starting.Jus want 2 wrk myself n2 bein a FACTOR.

Twitter / Stevie Johnson
Team is Talent Full Plus we still have additions coming in. We Expect A LOT more and We Owe it to You Awesome Buffalonians YaDeeeiggg!!

Twitter / Stevie Johnson
Oh yea so after wrkouts we went to hoop. had to DESTROY @draytonflorence in a game of PIG!!Lol nah we broke even n he beat me n 3pt contest

Twitter / Stevie Johnson
But I did have to beat @bscott43 in PIG with some nice Dunks! He jus couldnt keep up wit these Bunnies i have haha.. But he Got Game tho.

Twitter / Aaron Maybin
About to make it an early night so I can fire it up again in the AM! Be blessed pple

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So… Josh Reed and Bradford have the same agent, and he wanted 21 teams to indirectly have a look at him? Makes sense to me.

by Krenn on Mar 30, 2010 7:51 AM EDT reply actions

The ESPN Bill Barnwell O-Line ranking article

For those of you who don’t have Insider:

Bad pass blocking can neuter even the most talented of offenses; when offensive linemen consistently can’t sustain their blocks in pass protection or let opposing rushers slip through, the whole offense suffers. Wide receivers don’t have the time to get downfield, preventing them from making big plays and eliminating the possibility of double moves. Running backs and tight ends that would be safety valves or mismatch opportunities have to stay in and block instead, allowing the defense to focus more of their attention on fewer receivers. Oh, and the quarterback doesn’t have much fun, either. This paragraph can be used in full to describe the offense of the 2009 Chicago Bears.

You don’t have to be a Bears fan to know that offensive linemen are hugely important, though. Some things are impossible to quantify when it comes to offensive line play, but one thing we track at Football Outsiders is “blown blocks,” those plays in which an offensive lineman is responsible for a quarterback hurry or a sack. These numbers are inexact, but represent a decent approximation of how many sacks or near-sacks a player was responsible for over the course of a given season.

In 2009, the offensive line that allowed the most sacks was also the one that went through the most players. The Buffalo Bills had 11 different players start at least one game up front for them on offense, and those linemen combined for a league-high 28.5 blown blocks leading to sacks. In addition, running back Fred Jackson led all backs with four blown blocks that led to sacks.

On the flip side were the Tennessee Titans. With an excellent line that stayed relatively healthy all season, Tennessee’s five linemen combined to allow only 5.5 sacks from blown blocks. Combined with the 6.5 blown blocks they allowed that led to quarterback hurries, their total of 12 blown blocks was the best total in the league.

One of the things we can learn from looking at both blown blocks that led to sacks and those that led to quarterback hurries is what different quarterbacks do with the ball when they’re pressured. Take Aaron Rodgers of the Packers; his offensive line was credited with 28 blown blocks that led to sacks, the second-highest total in the league. However, because Rodgers holds onto the ball longer than most quarterbacks to avoid sacks, that same line only had four blown blocks that led to hurries, the fifth-best total in the league.

Contrast that to the team that ended up leading the league in total blown blocks, the Arizona Cardinals. Perhaps owing to his days playing under Mike Martz in St. Louis, Kurt Warner developed a reputation for being extremely conscious of the pass rush, and became very effective at getting the ball out just before taking a sack. The Cardinals’ linemen had 19 blown blocks that led to sacks, just above the league average of 16.2, but they had 26 additional blown blocks that led to hurries. That led the league in 2009, as did the combined total of 45 blown blocks. It’s also something to watch out for next year with the decidedly plodding combination of Matt Leinart and Derek Anderson.

To properly compare individual linemen, you need to compare them to players of a similar position — a left tackle gives up more sacks, on average, than a center, so their figures aren’t directly comparable. We’ll go position-by-position and provide a look at the best and worst performers in the league.

Getty ImagesJoe Thomas has become elite at the LT slot.

Left Tackle
Worst: Jason Peters, Philadelphia Eagles (7 sacks/4 hurries/11 total blown blocks)
Best: Joe Thomas, Cleveland Browns (2 sacks/0.5 hurries/2.5 total blown blocks)

The Eagles used a first-round pick to acquire Peters in the hopes that he’d be their left tackle of the future, but he was extremely erratic in 2009. Thomas is pretty clearly the best left tackle in football at this point, but no one knows it because he plays for one of the league’s worst teams. He’s the offensive Nnamdi Asomugha.

Left Guard
Worst: Alan Faneca, New York Jets (7 sacks/3 hurries/10 total blown blocks)
Best: Kris Dielman, San Diego Chargers (0 sacks/0 hurries/0 blown blocks)

Seemingly the only Chargers lineman that could stay healthy all year, Dielman did a fantastic job of keeping Philip Rivers upright in a very difficult offense to block for. Meanwhile, while Faneca remains a very good run-blocker, Jets observers tend to agree that his pass blocking is below average. His Pro Bowl nod was based mostly on reputation this year.

Center
Worst: Geoff Hangartner, Buffalo Bills (5 sacks/1 hurry/6 total blown blocks)
Best: Matt Birk, Baltimore Ravens (0 sacks/1 hurry/1 total blown block)

Hangartner actually started all 16 games for Buffalo, giving them at least a modicum of stability, but he was surrounded by fill-ins and often left with little help against bigger players. Birk was a great short-term replacement for the departed Jason Brown in Baltimore, and while he wasn’t as effective a run-blocker as Brown was in 2008, he’s a better pass-blocker and communicator up front.

Right Guard
Worst: Chilo Rachal, San Francisco 49ers (4 sacks/4 hurries/8 total blown blocks)
Best: Jahri Evans, New Orleans Saints (0 sacks/2 hurries/2 total blown blocks)

Rachal is a bad fit for a pass-happy scheme like the one the 49ers were moving to with Alex Smith towards the end of the season, leaving his future as a starter in doubt. Evans, on the other hand, is the best all-around guard in football, a mauler who is also excellent in front of Drew Brees.

Right Tackle
Worst: Levi Brown, Arizona Cardinals (7.5 sacks/9.5 hurries/17 total blown blocks)
Best: David Stewart, Tennessee (0 sacks/1 hurry/1 total blown block)

Brown wins the ignominious title of most blown blocks in the league, although honorary mentions at right tackle go to Tampa’s Jeremy Trueblood (nine blown blocks that led to sacks, a league high) and Denver’s Tyler Polumbus (6.5 sacks and four hurries in only eight games). Stewart combined with left tackle Michael Roos to allow only four total sacks all year, a league low.

by Renegade23 on Mar 30, 2010 8:22 AM EDT reply actions

Business as usual for Jason Peters

It’s nice to see that Peters was exactly the kind of player I thought he was. If anyone watched him last year, he seemed to dog it when the Eagles were down, even if only by a few points. In his defense, that’s probably a virus he caught while playing for the Bills.

Is anyone else with me thinking the Eagles may just regret what they’re about to do?

by syrbillsfan on Mar 30, 2010 8:38 AM EDT up reply actions

Thanks Renegade

I always wonder what the insiders are getting that i am not because im too cheap to fork over money to ESPN. Thanks for posting it.

by SamD8n on Mar 30, 2010 10:45 AM EDT up reply actions

I agree with most of that that analysis of Hangartner.

You can't have CHANGE without CHAN.
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by MattRichWarren on Mar 30, 2010 10:47 AM EDT up reply actions

Fair read

I was surprised, actually, how even-keeled the analysis was. Strictly numbers and then a little explanation for outliers like Hangartner. It was also Hangartner’s first full season at center, and if the reporter knew how much of an improvement he was over the previous garbage we had manning that position, he would know we will be alright. I think this year we will see some improvement from Hang.

by syrbillsfan on Mar 30, 2010 2:15 PM EDT up reply actions

it's funny

Only one Bill on the worst list? Guess the rest of the line didn’t play enough to make the list.
Plus, I vaguely remeber some calls for us to pick up Levi Brown and/or Trueblood. Looks like we lucked out there. Course the article tells only half the story, run blocking isn’t addressed.

by terrafflo on Mar 30, 2010 12:13 PM EDT up reply actions

Other players at OBD?

We all know Tebow was in, but who were the other college players brought in to Buffalo yesterday?

by Pistol on Mar 30, 2010 9:42 AM EDT reply actions

They don’t usually reveal the names.

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by MattRichWarren on Mar 30, 2010 10:45 AM EDT up reply actions

From the Goose's Roost post

Actually, someone just assure me that there’s no way the Bills draft Tim Tebow at all. The franchise has so many holes that to waste a draft pick on a project like Tebow would be the absolute dumbest thing they could do. It would set the franchise back and the Bills would continue to be a punchline throughout the league.

One of the most ridiculous things I have read in a while. This is complete and total frantic fan syndrome. Look. This team isn’t going to contend this year, they MIGHT contend next year. The idea that this team has a bunch of holes and using 1 pick on a guy that doesn’t work out sets the team back is a complete joke. The Arizona Cardinals took a QB in the top ten by the name of Matt Leinert back when they were rebuilding. To say Leinert hasn’t done much to date as an NFL QB is pretty accurate. Who took then to the Super Bowl? A free agent QB by the name of Kurt Warner.
If the team is ready to contend and Tebow is holding them back the Bills can always get a vet QB who can get the job done while Tebow sits and learns for a bit. I will say this yet again; Who cares if they select a project type player? THEY ARE NOT GOING TO CONTEND THIS YEAR, do they need an immediate impact player in round one and two? No. They. Do. Not.
As I have said I am not against Tebow per-say, but I am against this kind of thinking. This team needs talent. PERIOD.

No weekend spent pantsless is a wasted weekend.

by sireric on Mar 30, 2010 9:53 AM EDT reply actions 5 recs

Every Bills fan needs to read this post. Twice.

by OMGSTUFF on Mar 30, 2010 10:27 AM EDT up reply actions

Yep, totally agree. Good stuff. Rec'd

by StroudFanClub on Mar 30, 2010 12:55 PM EDT up reply actions

rec'd

A married man should forget his mistakes. There's no use in two people remembering the same thing!

by Joe P. on Mar 30, 2010 2:16 PM EDT up reply actions

Very good

Most people don’t seem to remember when QBs, even number one overall picks, would sometimes sit the bench for at least a year before they were thrown into the fray. The over-achieving of the Bills in the first 2-3 years of the Dickie J experiment really messed up a lot of fans heads as to what the real state of the Bills is these days.

I agree with Nix on the steady improvement philosophy, especially with us being a small market team with an uncertain future. Let the redskins of the world buy, buy, buy their average, losing seasons. The Bills need to follow their plan (it is nice to know there is one!) and fill holes / draft talented players until we have improved enough.

We are only going to be marginally competitive this year. I think the worst thing for Nix and Gailey would be a fluky playoff season that throws them off of their plan. Jauron had one of those in Chicago. That kind of instant success can not usually be maintained. I will be happy seeing an overall quality improvement, with some of the young guns breaking out. I also want to watch a Bills game where it’s not a David vs Goliath situation, like every game for the past two years. I’m content to wait a couple of years for that, if it means we can make it to the playoffs consistently for the next 5-10 years.

by syrbillsfan on Mar 30, 2010 2:26 PM EDT up reply actions 1 recs