CodeMonkey

It was a good draft to be sure, and probably the best in the last decade as well. But that's not really saying much is it. I can see why the normally very positive posters are feeling good now as well they should. There are things to look forward to this season for the first time in a long while. But my analysis is somewhat more tempered. I love the Dareus pick, but lets face it, the Bills really could not have messed up that pick if they tried. It had to be Dareus, period (not that the Bills nation didn't hold it's collective breath until his name was read at the podium ). If you exclude the automatic pick of Dareus, what do you grade the rest of the draft? Certainly better that last years but not so sure I see the Bills putting fear into the hearts and minds of the AFC East. The got better on the defensive side of the ball almost certainly, but to be seeing that porous D from last year turn into the steel curtain overnight is fantasy. Give Nix and Gailey some time. Don't get your hopes up too high too quickly. Keep an even keel and enjoy what might well be a fun ride over the next few years.

I have to disagree. With the defensive coaching being [greatly] improved and the first two picks likely to step in and make an impact this season, I expect the defense be be noticeably better. If "lights out" can actually manage to make it on to the field and turn out a few lights this season even better. The absence of solid linebackers should be exploited however, and with the offense still being weak I don't expect a huge improvement in the teams overall record. But I do not expect them, particularly the defense, to be an embarrassment either. Lets face it, the team has been decimated by the decade of suck + 1, one draft is not going to fix that. But this draft finally has me thinking they may be headed in the right direction. Lets hope for more of the same in the upcoming years.

Yup Oh certainly, the "Rudy" stories do happen. But by far are the exception rather than the rule. Some borderline practice squad player who makes the big team in a special teams role maybe. But for the QB position in particular, "fire in the belly" is only going to take you so far at the NFL level. But dare to dream

People have the right to have and express their own opinions, whether the OP or anyone else agrees with those opinions or not. That being said I personally don't understand how anyone could call this a bad draft. One of the Bills biggest weaknesses in my opinion is how small they are, particularly on defense. I know that was on purpose, but I would like to think by now that everyone would agree that experiment failed. The D clearly got more talented and bigger this draft and that can only be a good thing in the long run. Will they make the playoffs this year? I highly doubt it. The defense will be better but still not great, and the offense is basically the same as it was last season. And that is not nearly enough to lift a 4-12 team to the playoffs ... at least not in the AFC east. But I think they are headed in the right direction and that this draft is leaps and bounds better than last years.

Break Tom Brady in half and you can make me your B word.

And I think Bambi's mother shouldn't have died and lap dances should be complimentary after the 6th drink. But go ahead and billieve. More power to you

I'm no expert. All I can do is point to team history. Whatever it is they are doing, it seems to be have been working in recent history.

Or perhaps it is the sign of a fan of a team that has sucked and drafted the same way for so long that they can't recognize how good teams without gaping needs at every position tend to draft. I'm no expert either, but I wouldn't, for example, write off the Mallet pick so quickly. Pats hate is understandable by any Bills fan. But don't be blinded by it.

And what a lot of people, particularly the hopeless hapless homers, seem to forget is that this was in no way his fault. If you are going to hate, it is probably better placed on the people responsible for picking the underachiever at #8. This includes many people still involved in the organization. He didn't pick himself after all. Just sayin.

I stand behind my statement. When compared to actual ability these "intangables", as the talking heads like to call them, are indeed of minor importance. They are wonderful things for fans to talk and post about because they make the player much more likable, particularly on a team with little ability. But at the end of the day pale in comparison to getting the job done on the field. They are nice qualities to have to be sure, and given a choice I'd rather have a player with than without. Not saying those things are worthless, just no where near as important as ability is all. That would be a beautiful thing and I would like little more than to have Nix and Gailey (and Fitz) prove me wrong. I just don't see it happening. This isn't a second year kid we are talking about here remember.

Unfortunately I have to agree completely. How many teams passed on Brady as well? As anyone with half a brain knows, you can never be sure if anyone is going to be great, a bust, or somewhere in between. But given the history of the Pats and the Bills, particularly when it comes to drafting, what team do you think most likely made the right decision?

Ahhh the age old rallying cry for people who lack ability. List things of at most minor importance and can't be quantified. Fitz is a great guy, a gamer to be sure, and is a stud backup QB. He will be fine for this year but starting the year after we will need a QB with the ability to start for a good NFL team. Not just one who doesn't suck as bad as the guys who held that position previously. The sooner they get said QB and let him start learning under Fitz the better.

A+ C B-

I respect your opinion, but do you really see the Bills fighting with either NE or NYJ this season for a wildcard and coming out on top? I don't. They are more than "one less injury" or bad call away from that in my opinion. Some more solid drafting today and tomorrow as well as next year, a couple well placed free agents, and a stud QB and they can make a race out of it. But certainly not this year in my opinion anyway. But right at this moment I think almost everyone agrees the Bills are a better team now than there were 24 hours ago

Agreed. Yesterday was a no brainer for the Bills. Interesting to see how Nix goes today.

The fans got their instant gratification pick (and a good one) already. Everyone knows this team still isn't likely to do much this season, too much reconstructive surgery to do after more than 10 years of bad early draft picks. The Bills ARE going to need a QB if they are going to be competitive someday. Fitz is a trooper, but just doesn't have the talent to be more than a stop gap. I don't know enough to have an informed opinion on Mallet, but if Nix thinks Mallet even could be the real deal they would be crazy not to take him now. My $0.02 anyway.

Don't like QBs much eh With Newton off the board the Bills would have had to try REALLY hard to !@#$ up that pick. I was hoping for Miller just because I think a LB would have more immediate impact, but Dareus is obviously an instant starter as well in a big position of need and a solid pick. With the Jags taking Gabbert, it begs the question what will Trentative do?

I look forward to seeing the video evidence From both of you!

You are 100% correct. But some people need to blame a particular person when their team loses instead of seeing the big picture like you do.

You have to look at the overall lack of skating talent on this team. Given this fact, the last 2 months and particularly the flyers series was very impressive. The clearly overachieved as a team. In my opinion if they were to acquire a play-making forward such as Briere (it still burns me that the sabres let him walk away so easily) and a stud defenseman who can carry the puck our of their own zone they could do some real damage next season. Any anyone who blames Miller for that loss yesterday either does not know hockey or has their head up their ass. If it wasn't for Miller the Sabres would have been down by 5 goals or more going into the first intermission.

Those 3 are pretty much everyones consensus to go first. With Buffalo picking whoever is left. As long as Buddy doesn't pull another waterbug out of his ass this year and sticks to the predictions I will be satisfied.

I have 2 sons and both are fairly athletic, one is sports minded the other not. The sports minded one wanted to play football when he was very young and he did play flag football and enjoyed it. He asked about playing tackle football when he was older and he was not allowed to. My wife and I know too many people in the medical profession, including one who specializes in head trauma, and we decided that the risk did not just outweigh the reward, but by so much there was not even a question about our son playing. There are a great many other sports available that he can: 1) Play without one of the main goals being to damage another player. 2) Get good exercise while playing, not be off of the field half of the time (at least). 3) Have a reasonable expectation of not having multiple concussions before being even out of high school. 4) Have a reasonable expectation of not blowing out a knee or some other lifetime handicap before being even out of high school. 5) Can play his entire life, even when he is a old fart like me They play soccer, basketball, hockey, and have played baseball (thank God they lost interest in that marathon snooze fest). But never football. They both understand the reasons why, and they are both Bills fans. Bottom line, just not worth the risk. We have the rest of their lives to think about.

He wants to know if you would prefer a Bill who is a decent person but is average or worse at football, or a scumbag who is a very good player or better. Me, I want good players. I don't give a flying !@#$ what they do off the field as long as they don't miss games. All of the high and mighty "not on my team" people need to look at themselves in the mirror first then STFU. This is football, not an audition for sainthood.

That remains to be seen. His clearly whiffed on his first draft as a GM in my opinion. I'm hopeful of a much better performance this time around but we will see.

It means an end to all the fantasy GMs here declaring the best picks for the Bills and a start to the posts about why the Bills picks are either great or sucked.