Archives for April 2006

‘The final grade on Donahoe’s drafts is yet to be written. His record will take a significant bump up if quarterback J.P. Losman, who cost the Bills their 2005 first-round pick, turns out to be good. But if Losman busts, Donahoe’s overall grade will drop to a D or maybe an F. Why? Because he will have failed on decisions involving four of his six No. 1 picks (Mike Williams in 2002, the 2003 pick given away in the ’02 Drew Bledsoe trade and Losman in ’04 and ’05).’

‘”It’s a cheaper way to get players, it’s still about developing a talent base for your team. To me, free agency augments the draft, not the other way around. A lot of people didn’t think that early on, but it hasn’t been the case. The draft is the reason why the Pittsburgh Steelers won the Super Bowl. I don’t know of any team that won the Super Bowl because of free agency.”‘

‘But what if a consensus can’t be reached. Will the buck stop with him? “I’ve never thought of it in those terms,” Levy said. “I’m never going to bring it down to a final say. In the 12 years I coached here, I can remember only one time I said, ‘No, we’re going to take this guy.’ We picked Shane Conlan instead of some guy (Reggie Rogers) that wound up going to jail.”‘

‘We won’t subject you to another mock draft, not even just the first round. Instead, the staff here at Greater Niagara Newspapers will take a stab at who we think the Buffalo Bills will tab with the eighth overall pick. Just don’t hold us to it.’

‘Should Ferguson or Hawk somehow fall to Buffalo, it would be hard to pass them by. But if they don’t, and a team wanted to take a shot at the remaining quarterback(s), the Bills trading down and taking Bunkley, Huff or Ngata wouldn’t be a surprise.’

‘Why would the Bills let the Eagles trade up to get Bunkley if they want him? Well, maybe they wouldn’t. But some observers think Buffalo has quite a few other needs and might be better off with the extra draft pick or picks it presumably would get for switching spots. The Eagles have three picks in the fourth round, but without something else – say, a decent player – those picks wouldn’t be enough to trade up from No. 14 to 8.’

‘The Buffalo Bills, with the No. 8 pick in the first round, would be more than happy to move down to No. 14, if the Eagles included their No. 2 pick (the 45th pick overall), according to sources very close to the Bills.’

‘Thomas is expected to compete for a job backing up running back Willis McGahee. “My understanding is they want a guy to help McGahee out,” Thomas said. “We know that he’s the guy, but it’s a long season and guys get banged up. “They want to know if anything happens that they have someone they can put in there that can play.”‘

‘Matthews spent his 13th season in the NFL with the Buffalo Bills, and it figures to be his last. A career backup quarterback, Matthews didn’t play a down as J.P. Losman and Kelly Holcomb shared duties under center for the Bills.’

‘Thomas became the third fastest running back in Bears history to run for over 2,000 career yards – only Walter Payton and Gale Sayers, in terms of games, did it faster.’

‘The Michigan product’s production has slipped the last two years. He gained 404 yards in 2004 with the Bears before rushing for only 92 yards on 43 carries last season when he split time in Dallas and New Orleans.’

‘Before signing as a free agent with the Saints last season, Thomas visited the Bills. This time, he had another reason to make the trip to western New York — new Bills head coach Dick Jauron. Jauron, then head coach of the Bears, selected Thomas out of Michigan in the second round of the 2001 NFL Draft.’

‘The Buffalo Bills on Friday signed free agent running back Anthony Thomas, who spent last season with the New Orleans Saints.’

‘"It’s an honor playing for coach (Jauron)," said Thomas. "He’s a good guy and somebody you want to play for. You go out there and lay it on the line for him because he’s one of those special kinds of coaches."’

‘Despite playing well for the Panthers the past two seasons, Carolina showed little interest in re-signing Reyes this spring, in part because they want to move younger players into the lineup. A native of Queens, New York, Reyes considered the Bills in part because of the relative proximity to his family.’