JESSEFEFFER

I hope it's in their people skills. Sending him out to talk to the press has given us a glimpse of his demeanor. I'll admit that the pool table/video games vs. ping pong take had me thinking back to Gregg.

"Fight on, my men, Sir Andrew said, A little I'm hurt but not yet slain. I'll just lie down and bleed awhile, And I'll rise and fight again."

Ah ha! A case of knee jerk pessimism! Check my signature line. It's the only way I can still be a Bills' fan. Otherwise there would be no point.

This is my answer. Will he ever be one man short on the field and after a TV timeout and have neither he nor his coaching staff nor the 10 men on the field not know it? Will his field goal unit ever attempt a kick with the ball marked ready for play with only 8 seconds on the play clock and have similar teamwide cluelessness? Will he have a system for replay review decisions that involves anything more than someone's gut instinct? Will players constantly be unaware of their assignments or even whether they should be on the field or not? Would he punt on 4th and 2 with 4 minutes to go in OT of a game where a tie eliminates his team from the playoffs? Will he make good use of time and resources to prepare his team to perform well in games? We'll see but my guess is he will pay attention to details like this either personally or by delegating responsibilies to the players and/or assistant coaches and holding them accountable.

Sixth roung picks that cause problems in the locker room do not last long in the NFL no matter what their last name is. Take a chance on a QB that scored Sport Science's highest grade in 6 years, put 40+ points on Alabama twice, won a NJCCA championship, lead his team to wins over Alabama, Auburn and LSU in the same season for the first time ever and lead Ol' Miss' to their first Sugar Bowl championship in nearly five decades. Near as I can tell, he is way more Victor Franco than AJ Maggot.

There is a difference between 2014 and post chemo 2016 tape, imo. The Clemson game last year was closer to full recovery. He claimed in has letter that he was @ 18% body fat to start last year and is at 7% now. Robb Riddick had a couple of great seaons as a 3rd down shotgun back and short yardage/goal line specialist. He had a punishing running style that agressively struck would be tacklers. He was probably closer to 200 lbs. I see Conner as being great in that role but @ 233 lbs.. I would bet he shows well as a blocker in much of the Peterman highlight tape.

True. When the Pats signed TD Mike to the offer sheet, I started a thread titled "If the Bills lose Touchdown Mike...." and then made the case for drafting Conner. I think he'd be great value in the 4th or later as most sites have slotted him. At some point the Mods closed all threads that mentioned Gillislee in the title other than the one with 100+ pages. This has to be an NFL message board record for pages devoted to a backup RB, btw. I think Conner is a special player that remarkable things in his Pitt career. He will be a good pro, imo. A called him a 233 lb. Robb Riddick, who is one of my favorites.

I see him as outperforming his draft position, wherever that may be. Here is an interesting read from the player himself: https://www.theplayerstribune.com/james-conner-pitt-letter-to-nfl-gms/ I would love to have him on my team.

Just curious why you omit James Conner from this. A copy/paste job from my closed thread: then draft this guy........ http://www.nfl.com/v...es-James-Conner He is complementary to Shady. Great at short yardage/goal line and at blitz pickup which are not McCoy's strengths. His personal story makes for a unique lockeroom presence. He oozes "accountability" out his pores, you won't need to sell him on it. Coming back to practice and play months away from an ACL tear and during chemotherapy treatments is a huge + in my view. He's from Erie, Pa which is in the heart of the Buffalo, Cleveland, Pittsburgh triangle. This buys the Bills some extra credibility there which is a nice side benefit. He patterns his running style after Marshawn Lynch. I see him as a 232 lb. version of Robb Riddick, who is one of my all time favorites.

I don't think Spicer knows who Gronk is. No look of recognition there.

Me too.

Now that the offer has been extended, I think it unlikley the Bills will match. I am just thinking that they have a dollar value to the position and I don't know if they are willing to exceed it much. FWIW, most draft sites have Conner as a day 3 pick, 4th-5th round. I think he would complement McCoy nicely in that his strengths match McCoy's weaknesses. Being a Pitt guy, maybe DW has more insight into his career and has him higher on the Bill's draft board than others do.

ESPN's Sport Science gave him the highest overall score of any QB in the last 6 years. He got perfect scores on their accuracy test from both 10 and 15 yards, which was the first time it had ever happened. His on field actions and emotions seem right. I think only a mental health professional could unwind his off field behavior. Being tabbed as a child prodigy can do strange things to a developing mind. It must be tough to have to constantly try to justify the hype. I wish him success wherever his football career takes him. Not so much due to his last name, but more because of where he is from.

Did you watch the video? This was mostly a constructive challenge to BarleyNY who wanted an adult debate to his points. If he still was looking for one.

then draft this guy........ http://www.nfl.com/videos/nfl-videos/0ap3000000797826/NFL-Draft-Stories-James-Conner He is complemeentary to Shady. Great at short yardage/goal line and at blitz pickup which are not McCoy's strengths. His personal story makes for a unique lockeroom presence. He oozes "accountability" out his pores, you won't need to sell him on it. He's from Erie, Pa which is in the heart of Bills, Steelers and Browns territory. This buys the Bills some extra credibility there which is a nice side benefit. He patterns his running style after Marshawn Lynch. I see him as a 232 lb. version of Robb Riddick, who is one of my all time favorites.

Here's a film breakdown that I mostly agreed with from someone named Voch Lombardi, who has an entertaining style to breaking down film. I have no idea what his credentials are but he has alot of material out there. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vtvvz5bj93Q Top takeaways: NFL BigBoy throws with anticipation, hanging in the pocket to deliver accurate throws in the face of imminent hit--"hero throws," can "scoot" and shows excellent ball placement, especially on fade routes. He criticized him for "high" throws at times but that's akin to criticizing an above the rim pass for an alley oop dunk. It's where it needs to be to beat the defenders.

Highly recruited. local kid. 4X pp&k champ, JUCO national championship, Sugar Bowl MVP. Above and beyond his last name, these things are worthy of many of us paying attention. I still follow Naaman Roosevelt in the CFL, for instance. Anyone with a WNY connection for that matter. Boneheaded might be OK in the locker room as long as he is a good teammate and will take to coaching. Seems to have some leadership qualities in a Victor Franco kind of way.

I just remember a db, running from the right side to the left to cover for the missing man, right at the snap, He left the spot right where Ajayi gashed the D. Very, very bad that none of the 10 players on the field, Rex, or his 27 assistant coaches took time the time to count to 10 during the TV stoppage. This is why McDermott gets praised for "attention to detail." It's the anti-Rex compliment.

Mississippi's Pro Day today. Should see some interesting stories. Teams, who's representing them, and how well it goes. Also, I read that Chad did a bit for Sports Science which will air on 4/15, according to the FB post or tweet.

This was a nice topic, worthy of relevance up to the draft. If there is a guy out there that is a "value" pick iyo, make a case for him as a Buffalo Bill.

Most are thinking 1st roung guy but I am thinking this way. James Conner, Pitt RB. Pitt's offense was fun to watch and he was a big part of it. He was very productive in their wins against Penn State and Clemson. I do not know where he will be taken, but I strongly believe that his value will exceed it. >The 2014 ACC offensive player of the year >Battled an ACL tear and Hodgkin's lymphoma in 2015/2016 and came back to wear the "C" for Pitt in 2016 and gain 1000+ yards. >Recruited as a DE prospect from McDowell HS in Erie. PA. Erie is in the middle of the Steelers, Browns and Bills triangle and it would be a nice PR move to help expand Bills' nation. >Won ESPN"s Disney Spirit award. Watch this video and tell me that wouldn't be rooting for this kid in the NFL: http://www.espn.com/video/clip?id=18239403 >He ran in the Mid 4.6s range which maybe is a tad slow even for a 230 lb but............... >He is an excellent short yardage/goal line runner that punishes would be tacklers. >I think he is very good to excellent at pass protection and has good enough hands. >His strengths are a nice complement to McCoy's weaknesses. Think of him as a 3rd down back, pass blocking and running draws and screens against all the small defenders in a dime defense. >I think of him as a 230lb version of Robb Riddick and Robb is one of my favorite Bills. >Since I would root for him anywhere in the NFL, just save me the trouble and make him a Bill.

Here's a list of things he's done in no particular order: 1) Kicked off HS team for threatening a teacher (hearsay) 2) The Bar incident with bouncers 3) Swearing at coaches in spring game at Clemson for punting on 4th and short 4) Running on the field at SJ's game to support his brother 5) Texting the backup at Clemson (Cole Stoudt?) that he was coming for his job and that he was #2 for a reason 6) Being at a poker party and using marijuana 7) Parking lot incident involving a fender bender, a teammate and threatening the other party. 8) Texting back and forth with a porn star. 9) Recorded a rap song about himself. I really enjoyed watching him play at Ol' Miss. He is hyper competitve to a fault in the societal sense but it works fine on a football field. You do not do what he did against Alabama both times by being a coward or playing scared. I often think about what kind of additional trouble our beloved SB Bills would have gotten into in the age of hyper social media. I see him as a better athlete than Jim but with a slighter build. Of all the bad behavior listed above, I think that #5 is the worst in the football/locker room sense. Is he a good teammate or does he act like a jerk there too? That and how coachable he is are the two questions I'd want answered before I used any draft choice on him. I suspect that he is not any worse of a human being than Jim was at that age and that he needs coaches that know how to coddle his ego.

Did he really just say that the #2 key to winning was "winning?"

The Alex Smith comparison is a good one. I thought about starting a thread to state that case but there has been too much higher profile nonsense going on with which to compete. It's the best argument for why keeping Tyrod makes sense. Near as I can tell there is nothing about Rex's firing or the new hire process that is inconsistent with what we were told previously about the power structure or the events as they took place.