starrymessenger

Hard to say for sure of course, so maybe not. But he was projected by many as a solid fourth round pick who could make it into the third. Some commentary has suggested that top of the 3rd was a bit of a reach but I acknowledge Buddy's view that if you really like a guy you just go ahead and draft him. Just saying what I would have done. Its clear that Buddy (and lots of other GM's)really did not like Mallett at all and was simply not going to draft him period. I disagree with the Bill's on this one (I'm allowed) and think Belichick saw great value even though he already has a HOF QB and a promising backup in Hoyer and even though he badly needs a pash rush. Time will tell if we did the right thing in passing on Mallett.

Entirely agree, esp with Mallett being in the running for TB's job some years down the road. I like Sheppard but he most likely would have been there at the top of the 4th. Mallett should have been our pick in the 3rd. Bill's not dumb.

Stuff happens I guess. When Jamarcus took it, he cleaned out a foodcourt.

Well that strategy worked out just fine for Schula and the Fish.

Can't believe the misconceptions surrounding this kid. He's a drug addict, except that he has been tested for drugs by the NCAA many times and the University of Arkansas has confirmed that he never tested positive for drugs. He's stupid, except he had a high grade point average and mastered Petrino's massive playbook. He's unathletic, well yes, but no more or less than any pocket passer, you know, Peyton, Troy Aikman - and BTW though not fast he throws well on the run: 5:0 TD to Int ratio in 2010. He has no leadership skills, except that he was twice voted captain by his teammates (a 100% player decision at Ark). Amazing what a hatchett job people with an agenda have laid on this kid. Truly pathetic. Incidentally, he's one of the best pure pocket passers on the planet, right now. If he's there at #34 I think he's a Bill whether people like it or not.

Sam Bradford also took snaps under centre in college. Don't know about Freeman.

Well if he has a chronic drug use problem the FOs and pro talent evaluators will get to the bottom of it. If its not true, then it just goes to show how scuzzy the national football media is.

Ok thanks. Sounds like a difference in degree, not so much in kind.

Don't understand "figuratively". A difference only in degree? Is football different than prizefighting? Is the answer to make player safety the main priority? Provide a more generous safety net and support system for former players?

The NFL is a creature of its fanbase, who ultimately finance it. So what does that make us when we file into the Ralph? The Roman blood mob in the colliseum?

John Mallett is good at moving around and in the pocket between the tackles to buy time. He also appears to have that mental time clock that permits good QBs to feel the pressure and buy time. He is also capable of throwing on the run, mechanically speaking I mean, although those opportunities are not likely to be many for him in the pros given his admitted limitations re mobility. But Peyton isn't all that mobile either. Mallett has very good football IQ. Petrino has a poor record of graduating QBs to the bigs, but Mallett is no Stefan Lafors, who can't even play in Canada, and no Brohm either. Although Louisville's offence was allegedly pro style (actually not, two thirds spread, one third power 1)it was a one read scheme when Brohm was there because thats all he was capable of. Mallett is the only QB prospect in this draft that was trusted with audibilizing at the LOS based on the coverages he saw. He also routinely went through 2,3,4 read progressions. He has made bad i.e. ill advised throws from time to time, but the thing to remember is that its not as a result of a lack of vision. He actually knows that the free safety is coming over to help in coverage, its just that he thinks he can beat the guy with arm strength. Well when your playing a highly ranked D like Ohio State with a particularly strong secondary you can get burned yourself. His pro coaches will presumably beat that out of him And Mallett was also victimized more than any other SEC QB by receiver drops. The other thing to bear in mind in my opinion, is not that he is the best passer in this draft. He is one of the best pure passers on the planet today, right now, and hes just a kid (flame away ladies and gentleman). Just as Newton may be in a class by himself athletically, there is no one in this draft that can reasonably be compared with Mallett as a passer. I don't think he will be a Bill unless Buddy trades back into the first to get him. IMO the pro talent evaluators will know better than the mock draft experts and he will be gone by the mid first. Having said that, if he is there at #34 I think Buddy jumps. I think he will see Philip Rivers, someone he knows and likes. Having Mallett drafted in the second and sit behind Fitz for a couple of years as we get better is ideal for the player. He wont have the pressure of being a mid round first, will likely have a chip on his shoulder and will benefit from the instruction of good coaches and a very, very smart starter. Don't see it happening though.

Disagree. I honestly think (hope) we have a credible FO now. Figure not even we can get it wrong this time.

Don't buy the "character" concerns surrounding Cam Newton. All of the top prospects get mud thrown at them by their detractors this time of year. I say this even if Cam actually stole a computor or knew or should have known it was stolen when he bought it. We're not talking Lawrence Philips here. I did some things as a kid I wouldn't be proud of today. He's not a one year wonder. I have no doubt that if he stayed in school he'd likely be even more dominant in 2011 than he was in 2010. My problem with Cam is the offence he played in at Auburn. If he had played the last three years in the O that Mallett did I think we'd all be a lot further ahead in terms of knowing what we need to know about him footballwise. Maybe he is the cutting edge of a new wave of pro QB (Galliford and others seem to think so) and Gailey has said that the college game may be starting to change the game at the pro level. Its possible and of course its happened before. The game was ready for a different direction at DE when Deacon Jones came into the league and he was the right guy to show the way. Maybe Cam will be the same. As for now though I don't think so. With all due respect for the differing opinion (I mean you Dr.) I don't think his game translates well to the pros. He's still a one read spread option QB. They have basically always come up short in the pro ranks. Manning and Brady are athletic enuf for my liking and it looks like their teams are bending over backwards to lock them in for the rest of their careers. Have they failed to notice the bold new wave? If Chan and Buddy pick him at #3 I will defer to their judgement and fully support Cam. I will however also hold my breath and cross my fingers. A possible alternative would be to pick a blue chip DT at #3 and if he is still there at 34, draft Mallett. His ceiling is pretty high too. Think Philip Rivers.

For those who say MD is not athletic, go back and look again at his pick six in the 2010 BCS National Championship game. Tyson was very much a surprise pick and generally considered a reach at #3. MD will not be a surprise at #3 when the Bills take him.

Agree. IMO I think we will wind up with Dareus or Fairley at #3. Prefer Dareus but would be very happy with Fairley.

Disagree Billsfan. Don't deny your stats but I have seen MDs sack totals variously reported for 2010 as 5 and 6. In any case, as you say, MD accumulated those numbers having missed two games. Also have to bear in mind that Bama uses a rotational system (just a philosophical thing, not a knock on their DL players) and so Dareus saw less of the field than Fairly. He will see more of it in the pros. I might have a slight preference for Fairley in a 4/3 but the Bills will apparently run a hybrid and MD is scheme flexible, unlike Fairley. MD will do much more to bolster our run D. Tell Colt McCoy he can't get after the QB. I like Fairley's aggression too, but unless he cleans up his act he will get into trouble in the pros. They are both blue chip, and I agree MD is the safer pick, but I also think he is the better pick for the Bills.

You're right. Maybe thats why Warren doesn't like him.

Ryan Mallet. Routinely lined up under centre and was trusted to audiblize at the LOS (BTW I would not pick kim #3 either). And I disagree with the notion that you can coach vision into a QB. There are plenty of first round QBs who are/were physically gifted and who were willing to learn but could not. The reason? - You don't learn this. It is inate, it is either there or it is not, and unfortunately it is 50% of the successful QB equation. If it was just a matter of coaching/learning don't you think a bright boy like Trent would have figured it out a long time ago? Joe Montana was not 1/10th the athlete Cam Newton is but he was a decent athlete with fabulous vision an an inate understanding of how live action on a football field is likely to develop.

If they believe we are interested in Cam, they will speak to Denver, who could also use more picks. Buddy is not that dumb.

If you believe Buddy that he was not looking to move back into the first to draft Tebow, and if you believe the pundits who say Denver thwarted his move, then the guy we were really after last year was D. Thomas, who Chan had at Tech. Anyone who saw his highlight reel probably broke their jaw when it hit the floor. Averaged something like 25 yrds per reception. Just a great kid. Hope things turn out ok for him. And BTW if they were really going after him, especially when they had already picked CJ earlier in the first, it lends credibility to the Green to Buffalo possibility.

Of course he didn't progress through his reads, because he played in what was essentially a one read scheme. Thats the real problem with Cam - we don't know if he has the ability to do that. Without football IQ in pro game situations against sophisticated and confusing defensive alignments he will not make it in the NFL even if he possesses absolutely all the physical skills needed to succeed - which clearly he does, and in abundance. Thats why he is and remains a high risk pick and probably needs careful "project appropriate" grooming. He could surprise and progress rapidly but a successful transition is anything but assured. Thats why I don't think the Bills wil take him - they cannot afford so big a risk given their many needs and the abundance of less risky immediate impact players, especially on the defensive side of the ball, available at #3. Of course we may regret passing on him (if thats what we do) in years to come. Doesn't alter the fact that not taking him, or the risk I mean, is the right decision now. Ryan Mallet catches a lot of flack, but he is by far the most pro ready signal caller in this draft. Petrino's offence at Louisville (and his successors) was not exactly "pro-style" (something I like to point out to Brohm fans). It was basically 2/3 spread, 1/3 power I. Mallet lined up under centre at Ark more than Stefan Laforsa or Brian Brohm ever did. For those who believe Mallet is a bone head, he was trusted with changing plays at the LOS based on defensive alignment. His "bad" decisions were typically, as has been pointed out, not so much lack of vision but gunslinging on the basis of a belief in an infallible arm. I think the Bledsoe (not Leaf) comparisons are probably appropriate. Drew Bledsoe was a very good pro QB and a football player. He took his team to the Super Bowl, just like Jim Kelly did.

I strongly suspect you are a child. If I were your teacher I would make you stay after school and write "Aaron Maybin is not a football player" on the blackboard one million times.

Brown deserves a closer look. Has the physical and athletic attributes. Entirely appropriate to reference his pass on the out pattern againhst the Jets. I did a double take. If his arm is as accurate as it is strong we may have something. In the same game however (same series I think) he repeated the same mistake that earlier got him an earful from Chan and a pink slip - was not on the same page as his receiver who was running a different pattern than he was throwing. Again, Chan was not pleased.

He would also like to have some more controlled substances, though only for personal use of course. So the federal government is just going to hand over the stadium building site in Downsview for nothing and the franchise owner, who will have just paid $1Bn for the team is going to shell out hundreds of millions more to finance the 75,000 seat facility. Hello! Ted Rogers is dead and the best deal he was able to cut was to give Ralph Wilson 78MM for exactly squat. Mayor Ford also stipulated that as a condition to all of this the NFL would have to promise Toronto a Superbowl within four years. I can just picture this clown trying to negotiate with NFL owners. Jerry Jones and Al Davis would have him for lunch. He wouldn't even make Ralph's dessert menu.

You are right on about Aaron Rodgers, of course. Right now, today, I have him down as the best QB in all of football. You're also right about Sanchez, sort of. The point is he is not consistent (yet), can be good, even very good sometimes, and very, very bad at other times. The other thing about your post, IMO, is that you are somewhat ahead of yourself. What about the Steelers and Ben R? Unless last week's victory signals the for real arrival of Sanchez as a franchise QB, or unless he is able to somehow string together two outstanding efforts in a row, the Jets have little chance of beating the Steelers. Anything but Sanchez's A game and the Jets get blown away. Unlike last week, he is also going against a Dick LeBeau D that is absolutely loaded with star quality veteran players and playmakers. Watch for the killer turnovers. I expect some for sure. At this point in their respective careers, I easily put my money on Ben as the safer bet. What people say about Pitt's mediocre O-line and the Jets D is true but Ben is a truly great clutch player who can often get it done by himself - and he does have good weapons that he also knows how to use. Steelers 27 Jets 13. As for the Pack/Bears, these two teams are actually pretty evenly matched right now, especially with Findley and Grant out. Pack has good momentum going in though and Rodgers is on fire. Pack 27 Bears 24.