What I learned about the Bills preseason

If you want to read my thoughts goto Buffalowins.com

My ode to James Hardy

I'm still on network blogs, so if you want to read what I have to say about Hardy's career in Buffalo check it out at http://buffalowins.com/buffalo-bills/articles/my-ode-to-james-hardy.html

My reactions to the Bills cuts

If you want to hear my take...Head over to www.Buffalowins.com

Weekend Brief

Because I'm still on blogger...I'm going to post some of my future articles on here that will direct you to the new site. If you want to read what I think about the Bills battle for the #3 quarterback/My predictions on the depth chart/ Why James Hardy coming or going will satisfy me/ Why a 4-3 works/and more...click on http://buffalowins.com/

We are moving!!!

So, long story short: A couple of weeks ago the CEO of http://www.bloguin.com/ contacted me regarding an opportunity for his website. I hadn't heard of the site (sorry, new boss). However, after going to Bloguin.com, I couldn't help but notice that this was a really cool place.

Pretty much Bloguin.com is a online community of writers, who all blog about different teams. For example, You got one guy who writes about the Detroit Red Wings and then you got another guy writing about the Oakland Raiders. By my count, there are about 40-50 sports blogs on the site.

The CEO then told me that he had been looking to launch a Buffalo Bills and Buffalo Sabres section for the website. So, take a guess at who he picked to run the content?

Well, it wasn't an apologist.

So, today marks the last blog that I post on my Joefromnyc website. No worries, because even though I'm changing my address, my style of writing won't be changing for anyone. I'm still going to be the Jabroni-beatin, pizza-eatin, trail-blazin, swear-raisin, faster than a cheetah, stronger than Marcus Stroud, and the hottest thing to hit Canada because the Maple Leafs suck!

If you want to rejoin the party, just click on the link below:

http://www.buffalowins.com/

Come on in and bring a friend!!

Should the Bills go after Matt Leinart?

In a word: NO!

First off, it wouldn't work between the fans and Leinart. I can already picture fans b!tching up a storm whenever Leinart would struggle. I'm talking, "Oh, the guy is from California and he can't possibly play in the cold. He's Hollywood and he only cares about being a celebrity. He's not blue-collar enough for me and Jim Kelly must be rolling over in his grave." It would be a disaster waiting to happen.

Secondly, Leinart is a media whore, who is in love with being a celebrity (C-List, of course), because he can goto clubs and hang out on red carpets (Think the opening of ESPN Zone in Omaha). He is all about getting his mug plastered on the back pages of US Weekly. Sorry, but Matty boy isn't going to get that sort of coverage in Buffalo.

On a side note: You know how you always hear experts say that NFL franchises should be cautious in drafting college players from the University of Texas and Penn State? Well, I'd throw USC into that mix. The whole mentality of that University is to try and make their athletes embrace a world of entitlement. Sorry, but you may play in LA, but you're no different than the athletes who play for The University of Michigan. Check your ego before you enter the NFL. Sorry, but you shouldn't be on GQ or Rims Magazine until you make a pro bowl.

Lastly, and probably the most important issue, Leinart isn't any good. The guy has been benched more times than Jeff George and has wasted a number of chances in the desert. The organization tried to spoon feed him the starting job on multiple occasions, yet, he has always managed to barf up the opportunity.

Leniart's career stats go like this: 57.1 comp, 3893 yards, 14 TD, 20 INT, 70.8 rating in 29 appearances (15 games started). That's not good. And considering that he played with the likes of Larry Fitzgerald and Anquan Boldin, and couldn't even muster up a decent passer rating, should tell you more than enough about Leinart. Plus, he's making five million dollars each of the next two years, which is way too much for the Bills taste. Not to mention, he's not worth the money.

Anyways, I probably shouldn't have wasted my breathe on this post; since the Bills already denied the report. However, since this was the talk of the day, I thought I should throw in my two cents. BTW, had to love the pissing battle between Adam Schefter and the Bills regarding the report. Frankly, I'm glad the Bills called Bupkus on Schefter. Sorry, but I still haven't been able to get over Schefter planting the Shanahan seeds of interest to come to Buffalo, when we all knew he was just trying to up the ante with the Redskins.

Look, I'm not a fan of the Bills current quarterback situation and if I were to place a bet on the future, I'd think that Edwards will be gone by next year. However, the Bills next quarterback has to be someone with a clean start (2011 draft pick) or an established quarterback. Leinart doesn't fit that criteria.

BIG NEWS!!! You know how I've been teasing my big announcement regarding this site? Well, the announcement should be made by Friday. Pretty much, I'm moving to a BIGGER platform. Stay tuned.

5 questions

1) Who starts, McKelvin or Florence?

Nothing against Drayton Florence, the guy can play and was arguably the best cornerback for the Bills last year. However, when you're going into your contract year and the other party is two years from being a 1st round pick, you have to go with youth. Before training camp, the only assumption I had towards Leodis McKelvin fighting for a job was so the Bills could get a 100% effort from him in training camp. You know, light a fire underneath him. Now that we are less than two weeks away from the start of the season, Chan Gailey hasn't blinked on giving McKelvin the job. If you look at both players statistics for the preseason, they are relatively the same. They are close in tackles and pass breakups, and really haven't made enough plays to separate themselves from each other.

Prediction: Flip a coin for this battle, but I'm going with Florence. If it was going to be McKelvin, he would have started by now during the preseason. I'll say this though, fans shouldn't get up in arms about McKelvin not starting. Sure, it's not a great sign and would signal another questionable draft choice under Tom Modrak, but it's not like he's going to ride the bench. This is a throwing league, where offenses play with 3-4 wide receiver sets. McKelvin will get on the field and should eventually take over the spot.

2) Will James Hardy get cut?

I wrote earlier in August that I felt the Bills should give Hardy every opportunity to win a job on this team. I happen to come from the old-school when it comes to being patient with draft picks. Especially when high draft picks are wide receivers. However, things aren't looking quite becoming for the former 2nd ride pick. Hardy has struggled this preseason with injuries and competition from other wide receivers like Chad Jackson and David Nelson.

Prediction: I think Hardy survives, barely. Something tells me that because Chan Gailey is an offensive minded coach, he's going to elect to have more wide receivers on the roster than normal. Dick Jauron used to be known for keeping a large amount of cornerbacks, why? Because he's a defensive back coach by trait. When Mike Mularkey was the head coach, he had seven wide receivers on the roster at one point, why? Because he's an offensive minded coach. Not to mention, it's not like there's a wide range of outstanding wideouts on this squad. Really? Are you that impressed with Stevie Johnson? Besides Lee Evans, the majority of these wideouts don't seem to have much upside and because of Hardy being a former 2nd round pick, it should allow him to stay.

Rapid fire questions

3)Will Aaron Maybin start a game this year?

Seriously? Chris Ellis and some dude named Torbor are playing ahead of Maybin? Something tells me that with the injury history of Ellis and the fact that Torbor is a journeyman, Maybin will eventually start a game.

4) Will a Buffalo defensive player get more than 10 sacks?

Marcus Stroud's career best for sacks in a season was 6.5 for the Jags during the 2002 season. Doesn't seem like a lot, does it? Well, that tops the most sacks by anyone for a season on the Bills roster. Judging by the Bills no-named outside linebackers, which are normally the players that would lead the team in sacks in a 3-4 defense, the Bills won't get past 10.

5) Will CJ Spiller get over 1,100 yards rushing?

Yes! Spiller is the talk of the preseason and because of his talent, I can't see the Bills not giving him 15-20 carries a game. When he was first drafted, I thought the Bills were getting their version of Reggie Bush, a guy that would return kicks and catch passes out of the backfield. I know it's still early, but Spiller looks like our version of Chris Johnson and I think he's the type of back that can average almost five yards a carry.