Archives for April 29, 2013

‘”I had a really good feel when I came up and met with Coach Marrone and Coach Hackett and Mr. Nix and Mr. Whaley and we had great conversations,” said Manuel. “I think I picked up the offense that he taught me and I think we met for four or five hours and I think they see I fit best into what they want to do.”‘

‘”Speed is hard to coach,” said Marrone. “I think that when you look at the picks you’re looking at players that have a lot of speed. I think the versatility is important because I think when you have versatility within the players then you don’t get stuck. Then you can get the best players on the field.”‘

Another draft is in the books and the Bills have shown what type of team they would like to be under Doug Marrone. They want to be a fast team and added a lot of speed to an offense that will play an up tempo game. On defense they looked for versatility to play the hybrid defense that Mike Pettine plans to run.

‘”He said this is a great town … the fans love their football team. When they’re winning this is the best place to be in the world. Obviously, the fans all want this (team) to be back on the positive note.”‘

‘But, to me, there’s plenty to be excited about.’

‘If you weren’t sure what the Bills assessed as their areas of need, this year’s draft gave a strong indication.’

‘You can’t say the Buffalo Bills didn’t draft for need.’

‘”It’s frustrating, but I did it to myself,” Rogers said of his draft stock two months ago at the NFL scouting combine in Indianapolis. “And I realize how hard I have to work now that I’m behind the 8-ball. It’s going to make me work that much harder.”‘

‘One thing was clear: Felser loved football, the way Buffalo fans do – not just for the dazzling one-handed catches or the thrilling touchdown drives, but for the hard-fought goal line stances and the gritty 3-yard struggles that so often make the difference between a win and a loss.”

‘Turnley chatted with the Bills throughout the day Saturday and the conversations with the Bills were strong enough that it eliminated any drama. He added that several other teams contacted his agent, but Buffalo was always the frontrunner. It’s a little odd, because the Bills hadn’t been in touch with Turnley prior to the draft.’

‘Aside from Rogers, the Bills also reached deals with two more undrafted rookie free agents. Washington State quarterback Jeff Tuel and Eastern Washington receiver Brandon Kaufman agreed to sign with Buffalo, the players’ agent, Cameron Foster, said.’

‘Anyway, as usual the Bills like all the teams drafted a bunch of guys I’ve never seen before. Maybe it will work out. It usually doesn’t but you never know.’

‘I’m intrigued by one of the players signed after the draft was completed. The Bills agreed to a deal with Da’Rick Rogers, wide receiver from Tennessee Tech. He has good size at 6-2 and 217 pounds and he led the SEC in receiving in 2011 while playing for Tennessee. But Rogers was kicked off the team last August after failing multiple drug tests. The Bills pride themselves on having character players so this is out of character for them but if he’s cleaned up his act, Rogers could turn out to be a steal.’

‘My first impression of Manuel is that he has the charisma and confidence you like to see in such a leadership position. Of course, none of this will matter unless he delivers the ball on-time to the right receiver and finds the end zone often on game day.’