OldTimer1960

I am sure that some or all of these have been mentioned, but for Bills only, here are my picks: Robert James CB: I believe he was undrafted and was very very good. Sam Cowart ILB: was really very very good prior to his injury which just killed his career. Jeff Nixon S: He was really looking good and then he hurt his (knee I think). Takeo Spikes OLB: was DOMINANT before his achilles injury. He has hung on for many years as an OK starter (now with SF), but he has been no where near his level with Cinci and the Bills. Jerry Butler WR: Might have been the Bills' best WR ever had he not gotten hurt early in his career. I remember him making some just AMAZING catches. Of them all, I think it is a toss-up between Butler and Spikes as to who would have been the very best, but I think all of the above would have had outstanding careers if not for the injuries.

I have had the pleasure of seeing both OJ and Thurman run. I think Thurman Thomas was a GREAT RB - perhaps Hall Of Fame, but Simpson was INCREDIBLE. He had no passing game to speak of to draw the defense off, as Thurman had. Yet, Simpson could NOT BE STOPPED. In terms of surrounding talent, Thomas by far had the better set of teammates. No question in my mind, Simpson was one of the 10 best individual players that I've ever seen.

While I think the team is finally on the right track, I really think that your "grades" are very very lenient for a 4-12 team. For example, giving the QB position with a journeyman starter and 2nd year 7th round pick a B is very easy grading. How the DL and LBs come out with even passing grades is quite surprising given that the team was dead last in stopping the run last year. To be clear, I see reasons for optimism. I like Nix and Gailey and I think that last year's rookies will continue to develop. I like this year's group of rookies, too, but every team likes their rookies a lot. This is a team (IMHO) that will have to inch its way up in a very good division. I think that they could take another step towards the playoffs this year, but I do think that: 1. the lockout will hinder a very young team like the Bills more than veteran teams like the Pats and Jets 2. the Bills still have a lot of unaddressed holes including both OT positions, OLB, TE and starting QB. 3. I think that the WR corp is highly over-rated. They have Lee Evans on the downside of his career, one-year producer Stevie Johnson, undersized niche player Roscoe Parrish and some guys who showed a little, but not enough to call them good bets. Your description of Marcus Easley is highly inflated. What potential? He played a bit in training camp and was hurt early in the preseason. He was not a productive receiver in college until the 2nd half of his last year. All in all, I want to be optimistic and to some extent share some of your enthusiasm, but I can't escape the fact that this team was 4-12, has a lot of young players missing valuable coaching during the lockout and has questions at most positions.

Thank you, you are SO right. It isn't just about the biggest or strongest, it's also about leverage, instincts, technique and effort. I love the Jasper story as much as anyone. I also see that he is an outstanding athlete for someone so large. However, remember he was 440 lbs last year playing at a very low level of competition on the OL. Yes, he did play defense the year before, but he was also playing against 230-250lb OL at that level of play. His athletic ability, size and strength gives him a CHANCE to make it in the NFL. I don't know why some here want to give up on Troup after one year where he didn't light it up. It is VERY common for DL, especially DT/NT to take 2-3 years to get stronger and learn technique to play well at the NFL level. Troup, by the reports I've seen, is a hard worker and has talent. Don't give up on him yet.

Why so little reported? Because even less happened. C'mon, they did some running drills and 45 minutes of weight lifting. I am no pro athlete and I am 50 years old and I do 40 minutes of aerobic exercise and 40 minutes of weight lifting on most days. I am sweaty when I am done, too (yes, sometimes I even wear a grey shirt to show the sweat). Point isn't that I am some great athlete (I'm not), just that there is no news here for professional athletes to get a light workout in.

One reason is because those players are under contract with the NFL.

Sometimes stats aren't as clear as they seem. I think that the turnover ratio also reflected how bad the team was (rather than it being the reason the team was bad). I would not be surprised to find out that a high percentage of those turnovers was late in games when the offense had no choice but to throw because they were playing from behind.

He go to a big school and was not academically eligible, transferred to Tennessee Martin or something then to Bethel. He was also seriously overweight. He has dedicated himself to getting in shape and has done a wonderful job to come this far. Now, we'll see if he can continue and if he can play at the NFL level.

Well, he did say that in the video so the quote was correct. I am sure that Jasper meant that he improved his forty time.

I am not sure that leadership is quite the right word. The entire team can't be leaders or there is no one for them to lead. I think that the have drafted players who are self-motivated, self-starting and dedicated. A few may be leaders of the group, but I think more important is that most of these guys, based on the scouting reports I've seen, don't need motivation from anyone else. Look at Torrell Troup busting his butt this offseason getting stronger and putting on weight. I don't think anyone is leading him to that, he is doing it on his own because he wants to be good.

Well, perhaps because they thought that the player that they were going to get without trading down was worth more than the two later picks that they'd have gotten? Remember, for a team to offer a package of later picks for one earlier pick, they must've felt that the one earlier pick was equivalent or better than the package of later picks or they wouldn't have made the offer....

I don't think Troup is getting enough respect. He is reportedly working his butt off and says he is up to 327lbs of pretty solid muscle (saw his twitter pic). I like Troup's effort, work-ethic and intensity. I don't think you can write the guy off because he wasn't a full-time starter as a rookie. Many interior DL take a few years to get stronger and learn to play NFL techniques. Agreed, some folks' expectations of rookies are way out of touch with reality. Charley Casserly did a study recently looking at the drafts of the previous 10 years. With a successful draft pick defined as someone who is starting 4 years after his selection, Casserly said the success rate by round was: 1st round: 75% probability of success 2nd round: 50% probability of success 3rd round: 25% and it goes down significantly from there. There is also a contingent of folks who don't seem to understand that the team didn't have an infinite number of draft picks. The didn't pick a QB, they didn't pick any OLBs,....

I think that they love guys who put their all into playing and preparing more than they love mobile QBs. Vince Young has proven that he isn't a leader and doesn't want to prepare to succeed. He does have "elite" physical skills, but that wasn't enough to convince Tennessee to keep him. I can't think of any other QB who had great physical skills, but didn't work hard on preparation, who succeeded in another location after failing at his first stop. Maybe I am missing a few guys who did?

Looking strong and in pretty good shape for a NT!

I don't disagree, if the team is going to be competitive. However, look at the Pats and Jets in this division. Do you honestly think in Ryan Fitzpatrick's ultra-dream season with the Bills' supporting cast that they have a chance to win this division or even compete as a wild-card?

Because they drafted that "another CB" in round 6? Really, after the 2nd,3rd or 4th round, they should be picking whomever they think has an outside shot of being a decent backup and special teams player, regardless of position. Look back over the last 10 years at the percentage of late-round draftees who have actually started any respectable number of games other than because of horrible injuries in front of them. I don't think you will like the picture and it may cause you to say "hey, they thought that the 5th round RB might be able to play a few snaps a game at RB and play special teams effectively - good pick regardless of who was in front of them". You didn't like the "selection at all" based on what? Was it the web-sites and draft mags? Those sources don't spend 1/100th of the time and energy scouting players that any NFL team does. If you didn't like the Troup selection, you didn't like the Pats' draft this year, either. I,for one, am not going to criticize Bill Belichick and the Pats. For those that are upset that the Bills "wasted a 5th round pick on a RB when it wasn't a need", guess you would've hated the Pats' selection of Tom Brady in the 6th years ago. They already had Bledsoe, they didn't "need" a QB.

Boy, I've seen "elite" over-used and then there is this. Fitz is a stop-gap based on what he has shown to date in his NFL career. Is there a chance that he shows that he is better this year? Yes, and I'd be thrilled because I root for him. BUT, based on what I've seen so far, he isn't a good starter, let alone an "elite" NFL QB. Still, I don't think that they should bring in a good NFL backup. If Fitz gets hurt, the team will truly flail with Brown or Brohm at QB. Is that such a bad thing? They appear to have enhanced the D this offseason. With a year of experience last year's and this year's rookie defenders will hopefully gel and make a pretty good D. If the QBs suck (if Fitz gets hurt), the Bills will pick high again with the makings of a solid D already in place. Not bad, given that the team will not vie for a playoff spot in this division this year, no matter what (unless Brady and Sanchez break their legs in game 1 and a lot of other crap happens).

I've been fanatically following the draft for >20 years now and as best I can tell based on my favorite draft "scouting services" (ProFootballWeekly and GM Jr - Russ Lande was an NFL scout for Cleveland ant Stl.), the Bills did well and addressed needs. One thing that I've learned over the years of following the draft is that every team has a different draft board based on skills/traits coveted, schemes and needs (among other things). The draft prognosticators and websites seem to do a pretty good job of identifying the to 15-20 players and are OK up until a little into the 2nd round. Once the 2nd round starts, there are many "reaches", but who is right? The NFL teams that spend $millions scouting the players or the the draft services who scout their own players with significantly less resources or the purely "media" web sites who go by what they are fed by NFL "sources" and what other sites say? IMHO, I hated the idea that they might take Cam Newton. He might be great, but to me he has never demonstrated the skills that make great NFL QBs (fast decision making, hitting receivers that are open by an inch). I agree that he has ALL of the PHYSICAL tools and then some to succeed. I just don't think, based on the academic cheating and other off-field transgressions, that he is a slam-dunk to be a good NFL QB. To me, he is the anti-Ryan Fitzpatrick. Now, I don't think Fitz can lead this team to the Super Bowl w/o an all-time great D, but in terms of building a good team, I agree with the Bills' moves. I love the idea of Dareus at #3. He has the potential to significantly upgrade the Bills' run D. I expect that he will play 3-4 DE, so teams could run away from him, but at least the Bills will know that and can slant additional run help that way.. I am so-so on Aaron Williams in round 2. I know he was rated a borderline round 1 pick, but I am not sure where he plays. If he becomes an answer at CB or S, then this is a good pick. In round 3, I loved the Kelvin Sheppard selection. Given that the Bills staff coached him for a week, could they possibly know any more about a prospect? Round 4: Russ Lande liked DaNorris Searcy and S was a need position. He is reportedly big and has some coverage skills associated with smaller safeties. OT Hairston was someone who I liked based on ProFootballWeekly's analysis. I liked what I read about RB Johnny White's football temperament and special teams ability along with his production at RB with limited opps. Beyond that, I am intrigued by the Bills' last pick, Michael Jasper. That they even know who this guy is is a testament to the thoroughness of their scouting. He has the ht, weight, strength of a potential contributor and looks to have much better athleticism than a 380 pounder should. I think he is a long-shot, but has a chance to contribute in the next couple years, provided that he really sets his mind to it.

Every player and circumstance is unique. I think that it is good that they don't have a "basic blanket policy" against players who had one year of success. Now, I wouldn't have liked Newton at the 3rd overall pick. I happen to agree with you that he will be a major bust, but who is to say we are right?

I am generally not the optimistic type, but I think the defense can jump even higher than that this year. I think (hope*?) a DL of Kyle Williams, Dareus and Dwan Edwards with Troup, Carrington and Spencer Johnson rotating in will be pretty darned good. I still think that our LBs are a little weak, but I hope they resign Poz and that Kelvin Sheppard and Andre Davis can be a good combo next to him. At OLB, I think that Merriman (IF healthy) and Moats can be respectable. Hopefully, AntonioColeman and Danny Batten can help out, too. In the secondary, I hope they can re-sign Drayton Florence and that McKelvin steps up. McKelvin is a TREMENDOUS athlete and can be a good starting CB. I think McGee will start out at the other CB and Aaron Williams can help a lot (along with a respectable Reggie Corner). At S, I think that Byrd will be much improved with not having to focus on run D as much and I believe that George Wilson will be adequate at the other S with help from Bryan Scott and Williams.

I think this means more that they didn't like the QBs available rather than that they didn't think that they needed a longer-term answer than Fitz. I think that they are rightfully comfortable with Fitz for now and that they felt that there was significantly better value at other positions of need, so that is where they used their picks.

I think that the Bills want to resign Florence and I believe that they would be happy to resign Whitner if he is willing to play for reasonable money. I know that Whitner has shortcomings with regard to covering TEs, but maybe a lot of that is because he has to sell-out helping against the run all the time. That would likely have gotten him out of position to have good coverage. I am hopeful that the addition of Dareus and Sheppard will upgrade the run D to the point that the Bills safeties can be less worried about run support. Heck, maybe Jairus Byrd will be able to focus on pass coverage and bump up his INT total again. He clearly can make plays in pass defense - he demonstrated that big-time in 2009.

I think the explanation would go something like this: "We think that Kelvin Sheppard is a better ILB than Martez Wilson for the type of defense that we plan to run. We like his attitude, physical skills and his production. We got a first-hand look at the guy at work for a full week in the Senior Bowl practices and games and are very comfortable with our evaluation of him."

I really don't think that they avoided it because they think Maybin is the answer. They said a few times before the draft that they felt that they needed inside LBs more than outside. They did note that they were comfortable with Merriman's health outlook and like Moats. I also think that they didn't like the OLB players available after Von Miller. There was a lot of mixed opinion on Akeem Ayers and Justin Houston. For Houston, in particular, I saw reports that he didn't play all-out all of the time. If you look at the guys that they Bills did take, the vast majority are described as being self-starters, highly motivated, hard workers. I think those are the reasons that they passed on OLBs.

Some interesting prospects to consider: DE Christian Ballard (downgraded for failing drug test), Brandon Bair (overaged, but has good size to play 3-4 DE) NT: Ian WIlliams, Jerrell Powe (HUGE) ILB: Greg Jones (undersized, but productive), Casey Mathews (same as Jones) OLB Sam Acho (one of my favorites left), Mark Herzlich (THIS GUY IS GONNA MAKE IT), Jeremy Beal TEs: DJ Williams, Lee Smith (blocker), Luke Stocker (ht/wt), Virgil Green (great speed) OG: Clint Boling (very tough) RT Lee Ziemba, James Brewer, Jason Pinkston CB: Josh Thomas (from Buffalo and very talented)