Archives for April 2010

‘The one hope Bills fans have is that Nix strikes gold, often, starting tonight when the NFL Draft commences. This three-day meat market is the most important step in the rebuilding of the Buffalo roster, and Nix – a career scout who finally has a chance to call the shots for an NFL team – has a solid reputation for being an astute judge of talent.’

‘"Our philosophy is to put as many good players on this team as we can," he said. "We would like to fill a need, but if we can’t, we want to make sure we don’t compound the problem by putting another one in that position that cannot play."’

‘"Because it’s a short week, my guess is, the starters will play a bit more than usual [in Toronto]," said Polian, who got his start as a pro scout in the CFL under then-Montreal head coach Marv Levy. "It won’t be into the third quarter like they usually do in the third exhibition game, but I suspect they’ll be in there a bit longer than normal."’

‘The trenches is where the Bills need to start building, but with Suh and McCoy gone, the picking gets dicey. On the defensive side, the next best nose tackle prospect is Tennessee defensive tackle Dan Williams.’

‘The team needs to turn their attention toward the offensive line. No matter how good a quarterback is, he can’t play behind a bad line. He can’t be effective if they are spending most of his time on his back.’

‘”You’ve got more time to go look at the board. My first thought was it’s going to aid the guys that struggle some. The Friday night draft will be like getting ready for the first round (again). It starts over because you’ve got all day to look at your board, you should be able to assess your needs, discuss them again and get them in the right order. I think that’ll be the biggest difference.”‘

‘But the schedule itself is pretty friendly. Buffalo’s worst stretch begins right after its bye week – No. 6 – as it’s at Baltimore (Oct. 24), at Kansas City (Oct. 31) and at Toronto for its “home game” against Chicago (Nov. 7). Then comes a home game against Detroit (Nov. 14) followed by a visit to Cincinnati, meaning Gailey’s crew is away from “The Ralph” four weeks out of five.’

‘After playing two seasons with the Giants, he split parts of the past two years with New England and Detroit. He appeared in only three games with the Lions last season.’

‘Oklahoma State’s Russell Okung, Oklahoma’s Trent Williams, Maryland’s Bruce Campbell, Rutgers’ Anthony Davis and Iowa’s Brian Bulaga are the top candidates, with many mock drafts pencilling in Bulaga as the Bills selection. If that is the case, it is paramount that the Bills then take their quarterback of the future in the second round, whether it be Florida’s Tim Tebow or Colt McCoy of Texas.’

‘The Bills play eight teams that reached the playoffs last season, including six of them on the road. The Bills get all three of their AFC East rivals in the first four weeks as they host the Miami Dolphins in the opener Sept. 12 and the New England Patriots on Sept. 26, followed by an Oct. 3 showdown with the New York Jets at Ralph Wilson Stadium.’

‘The past two opponents – the New York Jets and Miami Dolphins – are AFC East rivals of the Bills and the fact that those games were played in Toronto annoyed Bills fans.’

‘”If we can play the game with the roof open, it would be great for the fans,” he said.’

‘”We think it’s a good football date,” he said. “You can watch the Bills at 1 p.m. and the Argos at 4 p.m. If the Argos had been playing at 1 p.m. then the Bills would have played at 4 p.m. We’re trying to be considerate of them, as much as we’ll take criticism for it.”‘

‘Paul Beeston, president and CEO of Rogers Sports and Entertainment, said his organization pushed for an earlier spot on the calendar in the hopes that the game would have greater playoff implications for Buffalo.’

‘”We told the Argos what we were going to do,” said Paul Beeston, the president and CEO of Rogers Sports & Entertainment. “We have very few dates that we can play, between their schedule and between killing October for the Blue Jays and the other events that are happening in here.”‘