Archives for May 2006

‘Buffalo appears to be a perfect fit for Butler, who started 37 games at Virginia. Hall of Fame offensive tackle Anthony Munoz is the president of the Integrity Financial Management, the agency that represents Butler. Bills offensive line coach Jim McNally coached Munoz when he was in Cincinnati.’

‘Former Missouri linebacker Derrick Ming signed a contract to play fullback for the Buffalo Bills. Ming said his phone was ringing an instant after the seventh round ended, and that the Bills told him he was a perfect fit for their offense. He also had an offer from the San Diego Chargers, but signed with the Bills because they only have one true fullback on the roster. Ming said he felt ecstatic when the deal was done.’

‘”They are going to keep four defensive ends,” Hall said. “They have three right now, but they don’t have that fourth guy yet. … Basically, it would be mine to lose.”‘

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‘”I’m excited to be picked by the Bills,” Ellison said. “They were a great team back in the 1990s, and they are on their way back up again. They have a great fan base, and I want to be part of that.”‘

‘”We felt that with [defensive tackle] Sam Adams not being here and [strong safety] Lawyer Milloy not being here and with the defense that had not been successful at all, the core of what we needed to do was build the middle of our defense,” General Manager Marv Levy said during the post-draft news conference. “That’s where most of the slant went.”‘

‘”We had him rated as a good player who would go in the first day,” said Bills scout Joe Haering. “To be there in the fourth round we were surprised. He’s got size and speed, a very productive college player.”‘

‘”With Marv, we always knew the philosophy,” Majeski said Sunday on the second day of the NFL draft. “Smart guys get better.”‘

‘Buffalo took McCargo, the defensive tackle from North Carolina State, 26th overall. Where did the draft guru’s rate him? Pro Football Weekly rated him 21st, NFLDraftScout had him 38th, the Sporting News 51st and the Dallas Morning News 52nd. Mel Kiper had him outside the top 100, as the 11th defensive tackle. McCargo was the third defensive tackle taken. No defensive tackle went off the draft board for another 42 picks, when Claude Wroten went 68th.’

‘Steve Tasker, former Buffalo Bills All-Pro player and National Football League announcer, will be the principal speaker at the 31st Iroquois Trail Council, Boy Scouts of America, BoyPower dinner starting at 5:30 p.m. May 23 at Batavia Downs.’

‘Just about every expert is going to call the Bills a draft loser. The truth is we won’t know for a couple of years. But it’s my opinion that they will had had a good or bad draft based on who they did take, not on who they did not.’

‘Neill, a two-time all-Big East selection who also served as Rutgers’ long snapper, signed with the Buffalo Bills, while wide receivers Tres Moses and Chris Baker signed with the Baltimore Ravens and the San Francisco 49ers, respectively. Neill made 21.5 tackles for loss in 2005, ranking him second in the conference and eighth overall in Division 1-A. He also tied for second in the Big East with 10 sacks and was a finalist for the Ted Hendricks Award, which is presented to the nation’s top collegiate defensive end.’

‘"We definitely had needs there," said Jauron of the defensive side of the ball. "But I don’t feel like we’re a need-based drafting team. We drafted by the skill of the player and the grade on the player. When there was a tie (between players) we had to consider needs. And early in the draft clearly the needs went to the defensive side of the ball. As we went through those first five picks we thought we went with quality."’

‘After turning in one of the best seasons ever for a freshman defensive player at South Carolina in 2004, Simpson came back in 2005 to earn first-team All-America honors from the Football Writers Association of America and consensus all-SEC recognition. Simpson ranked third in the SEC and led all SEC defensive backs with 103 tackles, 72 of which were unassisted. His 13 pass breakups tied for the second-highest total in the SEC. Simpson was honored as the SEC Defensive Player of the Week after making 13 tackles (nine of which were unassisted), picking off a pass and recovering a fumble that he returned 19 yards for a touchdown in the Gamecocks’ win over Kentucky. Prior to the season, he was ranked as the top safety in the country and was a first-team All-America honoree from The Sporting News.’

‘The 6-7, 325-pound tackle was a two-year starter for the Lobos and averaged a career-high 6.5 knockdown blocks per game as senior.’

‘"Buffalo. Buffalo. Buffalo,” screamed family friend Edward Gaither, a die-hard Dallas Cowboys’ fan who spent the entire day Saturday at the Simpson home watching the draft, before throwing himself to the living room floor. "That’s my brother-in-law’s team, but the important thing is that Ko was picked. He’ll go up there and knock their socks off, make other teams question why they passed on him the first day.”’