San Jose Bills Fan

Comment From Guest How big of an impact do deeper positions in the later rounds affect your top few picks? Buddy Nix: It does affect it. If you think you can fill a need later on it'll help determine what you do early. Comment From Trev Ronholm How do you feel about the value at LB versus the WR position in this years draft? Do you feel LB is a position of need for the Bills? Buddy Nix: I think depth at LB is certainly a position of need. I think the draft is much deeper at WR than it is LB. And a few weeks ago, Nix said he wanted to get two offensive tackles. Now when he makes these comments he could also be including undrafted free agents. To the smokescreen conspiracists, Nix is no dummy. He's shrewd as hell and he works in a hyper-competitive business. Of course he's not going to tip his hand. But if you compare Nix's chats/interviews with those of other NFL moguls, he IS very straightforward. He may have said that "lying isn't a sin this time of year" but in the time he's been in Buffalo, he's never said anything which later could be seen as deceiving. He'll keep some things secret but he's not going to mislead.

Nicely done.

I love Schefter and consider him to have high credibility but Schefter worked in Denver for a long time at both newspapers. He might have more inside sources with the Broncos than he does the Vikings. Also Schefter has inevitably reported on many rumors that didn't turn out to have happened.

A lot of you are saying things along the lines of "the players know what they're getting into… they understand the risks." What no one here is mentioning is the position that the NFL held under "Concussion Czar" Elliott Pellman from 1995 until he stepped down (under pressure) in 2007. For 12 years, Pellman was the Chairman of the NFL's MTBI (Mild Traumatic Brain Injury) Committee. During that period the NFL officially downplayed brain injuries and abetted the football culture which encouraged players who "had their bell rung" to return quickly to games. The committee made statements discrediting studies which showed a link between concussions and permanent brain impairment and took a casual position on brain injuries suffered by players. Pellman as Jets Team Doctor encouraged players with concussions (Wayne Chrebet for one) to return to games after suffering concussions. The only question is whether Pellman was doing the NFL's bidding, or if Pellman took it upon himself to suppress the advancement of theories linking head injuries to long term brain function. Pellman was/is a rheumatologist, not a neurologist. Pellman loved Chairing the NFL Committee and he loved being employed by an NFL team, roaming the sidelines freely during games and practices. Pellman was also found to have falsified information on his resume. It's possible that he downplayed the importance of brain injuries under tacit pressure from the league to do so. It's possible that he acted on his own to preserve his access to the sport he loves. Does the fact that for 12 years, the NFL and its foremost "expert" in the area downplayed the effects of head trauma and encouraged the players to return to action quickly change how all of you feel about how much personal responsibility a player has in protecting his own health?

The Chargers' recent signing of Roscoe Parrish was interesting too. And of course this is all in the context of the Merriman signing and Nix's non-amicable departure from San Diego. It's not hard to imagine some competitive dislike between the two organizations.

Yeah I agree. I was trying to think up an analogy but my brain is too foggy from the benadryl I took last night. It still has some value… it's just not the definitive tool.

Yes, I love Fitz but realistically this is THE pivotal year. Does he continue a Rich Gannon-like journey towards excellence or is he just another journeyman? On the subject of Bradford (because as a St Louis-area person, you've commented on him frequently), I cut him a lot of slack not only because of the disappointing offensive line last year but also due to a lack of targets in the passing game and the fact that he had a new OC last year and no offseason to learn the new offense. That's a pretty tough deal for a 2nd year QB. Bradford will have his 3rd OC in 3 years this year. Bradford did very well under former OC Pat Shurmur but had a bad year in a new, injury-depleted offense under Josh McDaniels who in my eyes, has yet to prove himself a competent offensive mind. Not to mention that after the trade of Lee Evans, Donald Jones, Roscoe Parrish, and Marcus Easley went down to injury. Last year's receiving corps at one point featured running back CJ Spiller and QB Brad Smith. People (not you) seem to seriously dismiss the affect of multiple injuries at virtually every offensive position last year.

Thanks! Yeah that in and of itself is ridiculous, one person playing GM for both teams.

That would give the Bills 13 picks in one draft year. As I've pointed out before, that's too many. You'd end up cutting too many of your draftees… you can't develop that many rookies. It becomes wasteful. The only way you accumulate that many picks in one draft is if you plan on packaging them to trade back up for a player or you trade some of them for picks in future years (which devalues them). Anyways, the first question in my mind: is there a link for this draft? Second question: What blogger is representing the Bills? There are several Bills bloggers that participate on this forum. Is it one of them?

To follow OC's point, you can't throw out the draft value chart. It is a tool, a starting point. You refer to it to reaffirm some loose parameters. The actual trade is always based on what the market will bear or put differently, teams make the deal they're willing to make. When the Bills traded up for the pick they used on Poz, they actually overpaid but they liked the player so much that they felt it was worth it. If you examine draft day trades over the years you'll find that many of them don't strictly adhere to the chart but you can bet the chart was referred to at some point in the process. I'm trying to think of an analogy but I can't come up with one right now. Anyone?

I continue to be completely baffled as to why Adams is considered one of the top OT prospects. In fact, in Mark Gaughan's discussion of draft-eligible OT's he talked about Adams but didn't even mention Cordy Glenn. I admit to having watched only about 120 plays from Adams this year but he looks like a zombie out there. He's probably gonna be as good as Langston Walker, IMO. Not a true left tackle but I guy with long arms.

John Shoop. I personally have no worries or concerns about Fitz. I love the guy and think that David Lee will help him take it to "the next level." Have a great day everyone.

New Orleans has a great stable of running backs.

I never!

Good post. BTW, there is a case where you can have too many draft picks and your scenario above is one of them. You can only bring along so many young players and you have to maintain a good balance of rookies, 2nd year guys, and veterans. When the Cheatriots* traded their way into an over-abundance of draft picks, they reversed the process and traded some away for future years. You don't want to be able to draft 12 players only to cut 5. You're better balancing out a good number every year… maybe never fewer than 7 but no more than 10, depending on the state of your team. Remember, some day soon (hopefully) the Bills first rounder will not automatically be expected to start. They wouldn't make a trade until they are on the clock.

Don't forget missing out on Matt Flynn and missing out on Jeff Fisher!

Anyways, if the Bills wanted Mallett, they would have drafted him last year. They picked 3 players before New England took him at #74.

I'm with you. I've been much more impressed with the video of David than that of Kuechly.

I am certainly prepared to let those Shep and White show their stuff. But I would like to draft a few linebackers this year… just not at #10. BTW, I actually think this is a good linebacker draft and see some nice prospects in the 2nd, 3rd and 4th rounds. Top to bottom it feels like a better linebacker draft to me than last year.

I would almost always want a safety covering a tight end than a linebacker… especially if they are tall safeties like Wilson and Scott. Sometimes when Gronk and Fernandez split out, they're covered by cornerbacks. I think a worst-case scenario is one where they are being covered by any linebacker.

Greer is a pretty interesting case. Undrafted, smaller guy, getting up there in years, he missed games in 2009 and 2010 and you might think he was in decline. Then he played every game last year and got a second contract that can possibly be worth more than the "once in a lifetime contract he signed over 3 years ago. It couldn't happen to a nicer guy. Real happy for Jabari.

And one of our favorite ex-Bills has inked a 3-year extension in New Orleans. The "total deal" is said to be worth $23 million in new money. Greer is 30-years old. He had one year remaining on the free agent contract which took him from the Bills which was a 4-year, $22 million contract. http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/04/20/saints-extend-jabari-greer/

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/04/20/during-replay-reviews-fans-in-stadiums-will-see-what-the-referee-sees/ Besides needing a different subject to discuss, this is actually pretty significant.

Interesting also is the discussion of the dynamic that Tannehill holds over the dominos in the first round. That player was Kevin Williams… a great player. And in fact, two teams, Jacksonville AND Carolina slipped in picks before the Vikings recovered. That's VERY interesting. So if you're taken in the Top Ten of the draft, your 5th year salary is based upon the Top Ten players at that position? I wonder how much weight teams give that, especially regarding Talley… er… Tannehill who might have to sit for a year or two. Again though, even if the compensation for our first is not necessarily fully in line with previous values that have been established, you have to consider each proposal as a unique entity.

Easley? Still, you'd rather not put all your eggs in that basket. The Bills have a lot of pretenders at wideout but only one contender. Maybe one of the unprovens will rise from the group but I certainly hope they add another receiver to the mix… however study be damned, not in the first round.