Personally I think that the only team in the AFCE that didn't have the best draft was the Bills. Their first 3 picks were questionable at best. They passed on Oher and Orakpo for the rawer Maybin, then reached pretty badly for Wood, and the Byrd pick was also poor value. The rest of their draft was solid, but those guys are probably all depth at best. I thought that the Dolphins did the exact opposite; their first 3 picks were damn good but the next few after that were questionable. Turner and Hartline were reaches where they were picked. However, Davis, White and Smith are all great prospects and held good-to-unbelievable value where they were picked. They'll all make an impact. The Patsies had a very Pats-like draft. Their second round picks were all very solid, with my personal favorite for them being Butler. They also picked up 2 2010 second rounders, which scares me a lot. The rest of their draft was pretty good for them overall. With the Jets, they didn't give up too much to get their QB of the future and got the guy who possibly would have gone #1 overall next year had he stayed at school. They gave up a lot of picks in a weak draft to trade up to get Greene, but got a guy who fits absolutely perfectly on this team. They also get rid of any leverage Thomas Jones had over them in negotiations. Slauson is a good pick and they needed OL depth. The key to their draft is that they retained all of their picks for the strong 2010 draft and only gave up 3 players who didn't have too much value on this team and picks from this weak 2009 draft.
It's a fluke. Baltimore totally shut it down. Every other team in the league will learn from what they did. It doesn't take long in the NFL for teams to figure out gimmicks.
The wildcat is nice in that it allows you to have something else for a team to have to worry about, but really it was by far most effective against the Patriots in the first game because it was new and the Pats hadn't broken it down and gameplanned for it. it's nice, but not going to be a major factor this year.
Later in the year it wasn't that effective. The wildcat wasn't that effective against the Jets, and they only use it a handful of plays per game.
Baltimore shut the wildcat down because they have one of the best defenses in the league and they were just more seriously talented than my dolphins. Years of head coaches named Wannstedt and Cameron decimated our team. When the Dolphins run it this time they won't have the surprise value but they'll have a lot more firepower. For one thing we have receivers you actually have to pay attention to and a QB who can actually throw out of it. It won't be as stunning as last year against the Patriots but we'll get some yards out of it. As for the division going through the Patriots I have the feeling they peaked in 2007. Not scientific I know but you can only keep a dynasty together so long. They haven't won a superbowl since 2005. I think they'll be competitive but I think their dynasty is coming to an end.
If Williams wouldn't have dropped that pass it would have been effective enough. I wont say the WC is dead until its actually dead. Pat White should strike fear into us.
IMO, Patriots #1, Bills #4. Dolphins/Jets will be tight for the #2 but neither will make the playoffs.
I think both the Dolphins and Jets improved themselves a lot this offseason. I think Brady just came back from a season ending injury and their defense is yet another year older. There is only so long they can keep it together and stay on top. I think the talent gap between the teams has narrowed and that the division is wide open. I'd prefer my Dolphins to win the division again but at this point anyone but Tom Brady and his cheating HC.
I hope you're right, but I'm just not that optimistic. We both finished at 11-5 last year and they played with Matt Cassel while playing a harder schedule. Now we're playing the #1 schedule(Pitt and SD) and theyre playing the #2, with Denver being their #2 in rebuilding mode and Baltimore losing Rex Ryan and Bart Scott...
Just re-watch how the Ravens attacked the Wild Cat. Unless Sporano & Co. can reinvent it and continually add wrinkles to it, it will fade pretty quickly. As Ignatius said, it's a fad. By definition, it has an expiration date; we just don't know when that is. My guess is sooner than later.
Like I said the Ravens have one of the best defenses in the league and our offense line was decimated by injuries. Even healthy they probably would have won the game. This year we got bigger at center, we have Pat White and new receivers and we have Greg Camarillo our very underrated WR back. We have the offensive firepower now to make a game of it. I think we still use the Wildcat to make teams at least waste time planning for it. And some teams will get bitten and bitten hard by it.
A defense like the Ravens is why they got Pat White the help the WC. I can see White taking over for entire drives so they could switch into and out of the WC. White is a lot more dangerous at WR then Chad. He could be used in a ton of ways.
LT isn't really a need like the media is making it out to be. Butler should be kicked out to LT from the RG position and Langston Walker should stay at RT. But it seems like Walker may move to LT... Maybin gives the Bills an immediate upgrade and his upside exceeds Orakpos. Orakpo is just a big, strong dude who takes too many plays off. Maybin plays with a faster game speed and will be better in the future. Wood wasn't a reach at all. In fact the Steelers were targeting him at #32. Wood played C/RG in mini-camp today and he should play guard for a while and maybe in a few years play center. Byrd was a great signing actually. The Bills will finally have a ball-hawking FS that they have been lacking for years. Whitner just isn't a FS, which is why he will not stay at SS and do what he does best...hit people and run protect.
I'm in the minority here I think, but I'm not all that sure they picked up Pat white just to use in the wildcat, I think they are done with beck and that White will have a legitimate shot to compete with Henne for the spot as Chad's eventual successor. White is a better passer than people give him credit for, given a bit of time to learn the systems and work with a qb coach he could be a pretty decent starting QB
The Dolphins have already cut Beck. Pat White is going to run the wildcat and challenge for the starting QB spot. The GM here and all the press here is stating that Ron White is going to be used as a QB.
I'm loving all of this lack of respect for the BILLS. If it weren't for JP Losman last year, the BILLS and JETS would have had the same record. Losman, Peters, Dockery, Preston, all dead weight, all gone. Remember, the FINS, JETS, and PATS all run the 3-4, and that's the area that the BILLS addressed in the offseason (signing Hangardner, drafting two mean, interior OL.) Their offense is much improved. TE is the only question mark, and they cut the brick-handed Royal. I wouldn't be so quick to dismiss them.
You look good on paper, but your coach is a drooling mongoloid. That's why no one respects the Bills.
