SB Nation User Blog: patamunzo

Bills Insider Draft Guide

patamunzo — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 22:25:55 -0000

Bills Insider Draft Guide

Huge, Bills-oriented, pdf draft guide from BillsInsider

Peters trade and the need of a blocking TE

patamunzo — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 10:45:52 -0000

Since Peters flew towards greener pastures, everyone is speculating what the OL lineup will be, of course. But there is one aspect that may be a bit overlooked.

It is impossible to predict who will start on the left side of the line, but I think we can say for sure that he will need help. As Andy Reid said, Peters was often left on an island by the Bills (with mixed result, I add) and this simply can't happen with his replacement, be him a rookie OL or Walker or Cambers.

If our own informed speculations are true, the Bills are high on Pettigrew. He is considered NFL ready and he is valued as a decent-to-good receiver on short routes and a good blocker.

All the positives of Pettigrew perfectly match the needs coming from a reshuffled line with reduced experience and one, possibly two absolute beginners. Pettigrew may start from day one; his blocking skills may help Walker, or whoever will start on the blind side; he may be a life saver for Trent as a safety valve should the pocket collapse early and often.

So if Pettigrew was valued before Peters' trade, it should be even more now. I'm not confident that he will be still on the board at #28, but there are plenty of scenarios for the Bills resulting in a mid-first pick, either trading down from 11 or trading up from 28. I think this kind of move is more realistic than the "trade up for an OT" scenario.

But what if no trade develops, and Pettigrew is gone? Do we stick to the Derek twins? I'm not a draftaholic, and as far as I remember most of the prospect evaluated here at BuffaloRumblings were evaluated mainly by their receiving skills. Apart from Pettigrew, who is the best blocking TE of the draft?

Manly House of Football: The T.O. edition by Nick Bakay

patamunzo — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 12:43:03 -0000

Manly House of Football: The T.O. edition by Nick Bakay

Nothing new, but the Kelsay comment is eerily familiar...

Thank you Buffalo Rumblings!

patamunzo — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 14:56:18 -0000

NOTE: I wanted to add this as a comment to the "Beginner's Guide" FanPost, but it is now closed, so here I am. If this FanPost is unappropriate, please forgive me.

I was out all weekend without internet access, so this morning I was buried with two days' worth of TO signing opinions on all the usual NFL news channels. Mostly crap.

Luckily, Buffalo Rumblings was the first place I visited, as usual. Apart from Tim Graham's AFC Blog on ESPN, this is the only place in the net where the matter has been clearly reported, well detailed and immediatly analyzed in terms of football. As always.

Kudos to you all!

No more intangibles please!

patamunzo — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 13:47:24 -0000

Sorry for the rant but this is something that puzzled me for quite some time.

At the start of 2007 the Bills' offense showed all its limits early in the season. Some roster changes were made on the run, mainly because of injuries, the most important of which the QB switch from Losman to Edwards and the #2 WR switch from Price to Reed. The result didn't change: the Bills had one of the worst offenses of their history, and were at the bottom of the ranks in nearly every offensive stat. Simply put, the 2007 Bills' offense was simply awfu, no matter who was the quarterback or the receivers or thestarting tight ends.

Fast forward to september: at the start of the 2008 campaign, the Bills' offense was rated at least above average. Some (both fans - me included - and so called experts) even considered the Bills on the verge of becoming a dominant attack. But if we look at the Bills' roster from the end of 200, the only change has been in the TE position, where the 2nd year Schouman filled the position left vacant by Michael Gaines.

	Start 2007	End 2007	Start 2008
WR	L.Evans	L.Evans	L.Evans
TE	R.Royal	R.Royal	R.Royal
LT	J.Peters	J.Peters	J.Peters
LG	D.Dockery	D.Dockery	D.Dockery
C	M.Fowler	M.Fowler	M.Fowler
RG	B.Butler	B.Butler	B.Butler
RT	L.Walker	L.Walker	L.Walker
TE	K.Everett	M.Gaines	D.Schouman
WR	P.Price	J.Reed	J.Reed
QB	J.Losman	T.Edwards	T.Edwards
RB	M.Lynch	M.Lynch	M.Lynch

This is the puzzling part. The starters were virtually the same, so why so much optimism? What was the charm that led me (and many of us, and the whole Bills' organization) to believe we were a legitimate playoff team?

I think that we all put too much hopes in the so-called intangibles. We thought that Edwards would blossom with more experience; we gambled on the Hardy making an early impact; we were sure the OL was to become a dominant unit; most of all, we were all intrigued by the "Bill Walsh" background of our young QB and new OC, Turk Schonert.

Now we know where all the intangibles have lead our team, and I wonder: can we still count on them for next year? Do you feel we are a center (or an OC) away from turning in a good offensive team? Will 2009 be Edwards' year? Can Hardy and Johnson step up? Will Lee Evans return to the Pro Bowl? Why I feel like deja vu?

Keeping perspective: standings after week 8

patamunzo — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 13:35:22 -0000

Just to keep things in the right perspective, this is where the Bills stands after 8 weeks of NFL football, roughly half of the season. Source is the NFL.com standings page.

The Bills are on top of the AFC East (same record as NE but net points)
The Bills are the second team in the AFC, after the Titans
The Bills are the fifth team in the NFL, after Titans, Giants, Panthers and Redskins.
The Bills 3-2 in the last 5 games. Only 4 teams (Titans, Giants, Panthers and Redskins, again) have a better W-L ratio.
3 of the last 5 games for the Bills were away. Apart from the Titans, all the other top 5 teams already played at least 4 games at home (Carolina is on top with 5 home games out of 8).
The Bills are the only AFC team, together with the ubiquitous Titans, without home losses.

As a side note, remember that what really counts are the W, not the stats, as our unfriendly neighbours - the Patriots - know well.