Archives for April 27, 2013

‘The Bills had a need at receiver after failing to re-sign David Nelson and Donald Jones this offseason. That left no established receiver to play opposite starter Stevie Johnson.’

‘Woods heads to Buffalo after hauling in 76 receptions for 846 yards and 11 touchdowns during his junior season, his final season, with the Trojans. Woods’ best season came as a sophomore a year earlier when he posted 1,292 yards with 111 catches, 15 of which went for touchdowns.’

‘Named the Rose Bowl’s Defensive Player of the Game in Oregon’s 45-38 win over Wisconsin, Alonso racked up 5 tackles, 1.5 sacks and 1 interception. He played in 12 games in each of the last two seasons for Oregon after missing all of 2010 while serving a suspension for a DUI while also rehabbing a knee injury. He also missed Oregon’s first game in 2011 after being arrested during the offseason on charges of burglary, trespassing and criminal mischief.’

‘Goodwin was clocked at 4.27 seconds at the 40-yard dash at the scouting combine and also excels at track. On the football field, he reached the end zone 6 times in 2012 — 3 times through the air and 3 times on the ground. He caught 26 passes for 340 yards and returned 13 kickoffs for the Longhorns last season, amassing a total of 327 yards.’

‘Whether you like E.J. Manuel or not, as a Bills fan you have to appreciate what it represents — a bold move to take a swing at a quarterback in the first round that could have positive gains if done correctly. Now, it can also not work entirely, leaving the Bills with their last two first round quarterbacks picked to have left a lot to be desired.’

‘”When Dion Jordan got selected, someone called my hotline phone that was there at the draft,” Manuel told Patrick. “I think they were looking for Dion, but I got excited because I heard it ring. I was like, Man, that’s a prank call right there.”

‘”I stuck around and watched the draft until EJ was selected,” Smith said, “and then I immediately texted my son, who plays at Virginia Tech now. EJ and my son Alston are very good friends as well. His exact words were, ‘This is crazy, Dad,’ the fact that he’s going to be going to the same team I played for, and all the history that was created there.”‘

‘Well to me it was more so that there only needs to be one team to fall in love with you. Whether it was the Buffalo Bills, Philadelphia Eagles or the Cleveland Browns-I knew one of those teams was going to take a quarterback. I did not know how soon. I am just extremely elated I was taken at 16 when I saw the Bills trade back from eight to 16. I knew they would probably take a quarterback. When my phone rang I was extremely excited.’

‘The Bills spoke highly of Woods before the draft and described him as one of the most NFL ready receivers in this year’s draft, with Bills scout Brad Forsyth calling him “as polished a receiver as I’ve seen in a while.” Nix affirmed that belief Friday following Woods’ selection.’

‘It comes with the territory. I know coming to the NFL (you’re) playing some bigger and better corners. Like I said, it comes with the territory. I’m ready and willing to go against each and every corner in the league. I feel like with a great scheme you can beat anything with the book.’

‘”Mike and the defense is excited to bring him in,” said head coach Doug Marrone. “A young player that hasn’t played as much as the other players that we’ve had. He’s shown that he can play multiple positions. He’s shown that he can play on teams. He’s shown that he’s instinctive.”‘

‘Yeah, definitely. I think, not taking credit away from the offense obviously because they are awesome putting up the points and yards per game. It is really hard to look past them, but we have a lot of great players on the defense. We already had one picked with Dion (Jordan). We have a ton of players and a lot of talent who do not really get looked at because of what the offense is capable of doing and what there is on that side of the ball.’

‘”When I look at offense, I try to look at playmakers; people that can make plays, people that can be productive,” explained Marrone. “The whole thing in this league is how are you going to score?”‘

‘I’m a football guy that just happens to run track because I just got drafted by the Buffalo Bills. First of all given my honest to God for the opportunity, my school and everybody. But I don’t think if I was strictly a track guy trying to play football that I would’ve been drafted, especially in this round with the numbers that I have. Obviously somebody thought enough to invest in me because they saw me as a football player.’

‘Well we’ve been talking about getting a receiver. And Robert Woods we were fortunate that he was there and the guy’s got the intangibles; plus made all these catches. We got to know him a little bit when we were out there working out Matt Barkley. We’d already written him in that kind of thing. The individual workout we got to visit with him a little bit.’