WhitewalkerInPhilly

Excellent point. There's no denying that Stevie has the highest production, and will likely continue to do so. Might he be more effective in the middle of the field? Maybe, but he's doing a pretty good job right now. Really, I'm stoked about the talent that we've brought in this offseason: Woods seems ready to start, Goodwin might be that deep threat we need, and Kaufman and Rodgers are looking like possible UDFA gems. Between them, and with Stevie returning, and throwing Brad Smith, TJ Graham and Dorin Dickerson in the mix I think there's going to be a lot of scrapping for who is in the top six.

I'm kind of conflicted, because I think they have a point but I don't want to detract from SJ. An alternate view: Was Wes Welker a #1 receiver for the Patriots? By the obvious logic of how he plays, no, you don't want to line him up on the outside. He's a slot player. Of course, for the last few years the man has been putting up tremendous numbers and was the Patriot's best weapon. I see Stevie the same way. He might not fit the classic #1 mold, but his incredible shiftiness let him be the one guy who Revis couldn't automatically shut down. If two prototypical receivers were to be the #1 and 2 (say Woods and Rodgers for example) Stevie might be able to go crazy.

That does seem to be what they have him working on first. From the reports we've heard two days in, that seems to be the big problem. That this seems to be a known quantity is slightly reassuring, but it looks like Manuel is going to need a lot of polishing. Thanks for the link. It does seem like our WR corps is making a lot of strides.

Well, I'm trying to keep perspective, as this is the first rookie minicamp of the season, and I REALLY shouldn't be analyzing it in such depth, but so far it seems like we are getting what we expected. Manuel had some very nice throws, much showed some maddening inconsistency, and is spending time working on his footwork with Hackett. Woods apparently showed a lot of polish, amazing hands, good speed and looks to be ready as a day one starter.

Why don't we just put a blond stripper on stage and have her whirl around a bag of full of cats on acid. It can't sound worse. Yeah, I hate country music.

I would definitely like to see it. I'm personally in the camp of "sprinkle it in, rather than make your offense about it" but I would definitely like to see it, especially with out strength at RB. If you have to defend against the pass, CJ Spiller and an EJ Manuel simultaneously good things will happen for the Bills. My one concern is with what happened with RG3's injury at the end of last season.

I agree. If Smith turns out to be an amazing QB you are going to see people who complain about the pick. That said, if the Jets wound up picking a guy who turns out to be a less talented Prima Donna, we can all bask in the schadenfreude. Hehe, yeah, I saw that one. It's part of a bi-weekly comic that's usually pretty good, even if it's written by a Giant's fan. I have to say, I'm a fan of black humor, so I still have to laugh my ass off, bad taste or no.

I agree. I think I speak for everyone here in that we don't hate Ryan Nassib as a person and I can get how Marrone would feel bad passing over someone he likes as a person and has a connection with. It seemed that almost every sportswriter made the lazy pick of "The Bills take Nassib" or "the Bills take Warmack". They were calling for the Bills to take him at 41, and to take him at 8. In the end, he went where people said he would before the hype. Yeah, from what I've heard (all secondhand) people are pissed. In all fairness, Marrone left the program and stripped it of a lot of its coaches, just as they started to get some consistency. Am I happy the Bills have them? Yes. Can I see why people are upset...oh hell yes.

Mmmkay, let's break the sumbitch down... First, from OTA's we saw Mario at OLB. Not saying he'll be there all the time, but looking at Pettine's time with the Ravens they would use someone as a pure rusher, only not keeping his hand on the ground and there is no one we have more dominant at the role than MW. He is likely backed up by Anderson and Hughes. Two, Alonso seems likely to start at Mike unless they pick up Dansby Three, DL is likely to be K Williams, Dareus, Branch, in some order. Backed up by Troup and Carrington. Fourth, Sam LB is Lawson, but Buddy has said he thinks that Hughes could back him up there as well as his role as the Hybrid DE/OLB

Suddenly, finishing this off makes a lot of sense. Seriously, to swap Sheppard with Dansby, and get another depth pass rusher on the team we'd be looking at a DL of K Williams, Dareus and Branch, with Mario as a designated rusher and Bradham, Dansby and Lawson as pure linebackers....they would look scary.

I like Gilmore. I think he was a good pick, and I think he's a good #1 CB, but I agree that no one here would call him elite just yet. Then, there's the obvious depth issue: McKelvin, Brooks, Rodgers? Possible...but not confidence inspiring.

We're going to spend the money. In fact, the only way we don't spend the money at this point is if Byrd decides to hold out past midseason to sign his Franchise Tag, or make a deal. I do honestly believe that if Byrd doesn't sign his tender and agree to work out a deal, he makes l less money. We know who he is. A lot of analysts and coaches know who he is, but does he really have the bidding power of someone like Landry? I don't think so.

That would make sense, and I bet the market has closed for Moore as well, considering the massive run on O-line players that happened in the early rounds. I agree for the most part...only you're wrong about the DE's, DT, LBs, QB, all but one spot on the O-line, the Coaching Staff, FO and Ownership. In short, GTFO.

This seems like a likely sticking point. Dansby is good, and I would be happy to have him, but no one is going to overpay for a non-superstar, non-pass rusher QB who is past 30. As also pointed out, it could be gamesmanship, and taking a LB who could possibly start, I don't know of any other suitors who walked away from the draft desperate...maybe the Ravens, but they just had a ton of cash tied up with Flacco.

Probably because, out of everyone we took, his position is most secure and defined. He's almost certainly going to be a starter, unless Brad Smith, TJ Graham or (more likely) Rodgers really blows us away in camp but it's doubtful he will edge out Stevie this year. He was picked pretty much where everyone said he was going to be picked and while having good all around tools it appears that his route running is his most prized skill. All in all, he's the least controversial player we'll taken over the past few days.

Well, the team I'm looking at now is different than the one we saw at the end of last season. We completely changed out coaching staff, went from a 4-3 to a hybrid which appears to be based in the 3-4, gutted out WR corps, and let go of some popular veterans, cut Fitz because he wouldn't take a pay cut, and lost Levitre and Rinehart. Alternately, we brought in Kevin Kolb as a veteran who fits the system but has run into injury problems and took a high risk, high reward pick with EJ Manuel. While we lost Nelson and Jones, we drafted Woods, Goodwin and took Rodgers. While we lost Barnett, we picked up Lawon, Dowtin and Alonso. We cut Wilson, but moved A Rodgers to SS and took two more safeties as well. So far, I think we're a stronger team for it. We cut the players who were pretty dependable but had long reached their ceiling. I can think of 5 rookies who could all start together (Manuel, Woods, Alonso, Rodgers and Hopkins). But in the end, you can't fix all of your problems in one draft. Where do we think the Bills are still weakest? For me, it's at CB. The additional safeties will help, especially if Pettine is intend on using A Willams, and D Williams and nickel and dime guys, but they're really safeties. I see very little depth after Brooks, and Brooks and McKelvin at #2 and #3 doesn't sound all that promising. After that...as much as I have to say it, it's at Guard. I absolutely, positively did NOT want Cooper or Warmack in the first round but I can't deny that while the Bills have depth, we have yet to see a stud starter, even if Nix and Marrone look satisfied.

Thanks for the merge. I thought I had seen this thread before but I couldn't find it this morning.

Easy everybody, can we stop bickering over who we credit for a draft we like and just enjoy it? ... ... ... Right...I forgot where I was . Carry on

Which guy are you talking about? I can definitely see Woods (who I think is a lock to be one of the starting two) or maybe Rodgers?

Wow, I forgot his name already... Nice job new WR's!!!!

*headdesk* Seriously? The Bills have what appears to be their best draft in years. They pick up a bit of depth so that their backup at FS isn't necessarily Mana Silva? They pick up a guy who may be competition between Aaron Williams and D'Norris Seacry at SS? How will they handle that overflow of talent? *facepalm* Seriously, we do the bare minimum for a position that is bare bones as it is, and that suddenly translates into. "We're not going to make a deal with the guy we signed a franchise tag to?"

People were mad about losing Donald Jones? I think,at worst, we were worried about depth. I still think they may have been hasty with Nelson, but now depth doesn't seem to be a problem. For once.

Agreed. That's why I put the question mark. With all the competition, plus all the people on practice squad and the new UDFAs he'll need to impress. It's strange, suddenly seeing competition at the spot. Good point. After going over some analysis, he seems to be a real plug and play guy. I see him in instantly at #2, maybe #1 eventually, especially with Rodgers now.

I was watching Buddy and Marrone's sum up Williams alcohol problems I just burst out laughing at Buddy's response (paraphrased): "We got caught for underaged drinking...beer. Has anyone here done that?" *Hands go up, sheepish laughter throughout the press room*

I'll be the first to admit that I was feeling a little leery of our WR going into the draft. The Bills could have kept David Nelson and Donald Jones who are both...decent, if not exceptional or above average players. They didn't. With the flurry of WR's in Free Agency, we were hoping the Bills would take someone. Stevie pleaded the Front Office to pick up DHB. They didn't. So, to be honest, I was a little leery of how things were going to go in the draft. I didn't think that Tavon Austin was a perfect fit with us, and Cordarelle Patterson kept falling back in predictions as we went along. As thrilled as I was for EJ Manuel, I was getting kind of worried. Friday and Saturday changed that. Woods is considered an immediate starter,and like Stevie, he has the reputation for getting open and making possession plays. Goodwin looks like he's immediately on par with Graham, which isn't saying much, but at least there's competition. Finally, we took Da'Rick Rodgers, a man who was considered first round talent outside of personal issues, a 2-3rd rounder with them, and we got him as an UDFA. He looks like the big, fast, "is open even when he's covered" guy we said we wanted. We have gone from 2012 SJ Donald Jones David Nelson TJ Graham Brad Smith to 2013 SJ Da'Rick Rodgers Robert Woods Goodwin Graham? Brad Smith? For the first time in years, it feels like there is real competition of #2...and maybe #1. Stevie could be phenomenal in the slot, and it's starting to feel like the Bills could come out of the huddle and the defense has no idea where to line up.