Originally posted by TigerJ
Thanks, dolfan, for some objectivity in your posts. Bledsoe clearly is the key for the Bills this year. It is a given that he still has a gun, and is one of the smarter QBs in the league. It's also true that his production tailed off over the last several years. Some of that may be Bledsoe's fault, but there are other legitimate reasons. After Martin departed for the Jets, the Patsies had no running game for several years, until Antowain Smith arrived last year. They also did not replace their great offensive linemen or receivers with comparable players. Moreover, Bledsoe had to cope with a series of new offensive coordinators.
These are some of the same issues that the Bills had. What's different now? Buffalo has paid great attention to their O-line in the off-season. They feel their running game will be stronger with that improved line as well. Buffalo has a stable of good receivers. Moulds had an off year last year, and was discontented. There might be a connection there. He is excited about the prospects for the offence this year. Price began to show the potential the Bills thought he had when they drafted him. Reed looks like he's far more advanced in route running than the typical rookie and has great hands and running skills to boot.
The Bills want to keep Remiersma, but this is admittedly up in the air. Remiersma had the dropsies last year. That was Tom Donahoe's and Gregg Williams' first impression of him. First impressions count for a lot and Tom Donahoe is known for not wanting to over pay people. Remiersma is willing to renegotiate, but won't at this point take a pay cut. He wants to shift some salary to signing bonus. Donahoe finds this onerous because signing bonus is guarranteed money and if Remeirsma were not able to turn things around he would be cut sooner or later and bonus money becomes dead cap money when they do. The last thing Donahoe wants is to risk new dead cap money after fixing all of John Butler's mistakes and extravagance.
Following the Bills this spring, it's been clear that they are getting great leadership from Bledsoe on offence and from Fletcher and Robinson (LBs) on defense. On the O-line Jennings is proving not only to be a good center but a leader who knows how to make the line calls. The Bills' all pro guard Rueben Brown has complemented Jennings on his ability to make those calls and stand up for them.
On the loss of Fina: Perhaps Fina could have been better this year than last when his knee rendered him just about the worst starting left tackle in the NFL, but Fina never counted much as a leader and almost anybody would be an upgrade at this point in time. If Teague ends up as starter at left tackle and is average, average is still better than the worst. Besides Teague was coming off an injury last year and played better for Denver than Fina did for Buffalo. This year he should be fully recovered, and that should result in even better play.
