Astrobot

But I donated it to charity...

11/4 - 2011 Big Board Revision Nick Fairley has been a destructive force on the Auburn defensive line and has been climbing our Big Board (#3 overall this week, an increase of 14 spots) due to raves from our scouting department. Quite frankly, we feel he will play equally well as a DT in a 4-3 alignment or a DE in the 3-4... Although he will probably require a year or two of grooming in the pro game, we have seen enough of Cam Newton's athletic prowess to project that some team will invest a 2nd round choice on the big QB from Auburn, moving him up 83 slots to #44 overall. Junior RB Mikel LeShoure of Illinois has been on our radar and makes his Big Board debut this week at #48. Two Big Ten linemen, one defensive and one offensive, jumped 50+ slots as Wisconsin DE J.J. Watts and Indiana OT James Brewer made huge strides. Astro

I was just on DraftTek and in our Consensus Draft, the Jets took Heyward in RD#1 : http://www.drafttek.com/CMDRound1_17-32.asp

But, done right, it tastes like chicken! Put gaily into a Wood-fired oven and you'll cook for 8 seasons. Put in a Super Bowl. I can almost taste it!

Fitz is also #1 in the NFL in TD percentage. I'm impressed with what he's shown since being named the QB. I don't think Fitz ever started a year as the #1 QB.

Weeden (Oklahoma State) is playing vs. Kansas State right now. He's above average. Kendall Hunter, the running back, is ranked #216 at DraftTek. He's a human cannonball (5'9", 225) who'd be a nice 6th-round or 7th-round complement to Jackson-Spiller. His yards per carry is 2nd only to Barry Sanders'.

I've been watching your watch, Ramius! I've liked his "presence" in the huddle and his manner off the field. Those don't show up in stats, but they matter. Wilson is extremely fun to watch. Maybe Wilson will want Wilson.

Our Big Board has them in this order this week. I was disappointed in Ponder last night but I think he's got to be in the discussion. QB's 1. Andrew Luck 2. Jake Locker 3. Ryan Mallett 4. Christian Ponder--I like his temperament but the NC State game left me disillusioned. Still 4th for me, too. 5. Nick Foles----Has more great games than craaaaap games. He'd be a good 2nd round pickup. 6. Pat Devlin--Has been moving up draft boards but I think 6th is where he'll end up. RD 2-3. 7. Colin Kaepernick---Steady guy. I'm interested in following the next couple of weeks. 8. Blaine Gabbert---I keep thinking Drew Bledsoe when I see him. Good pocket passer, needs an OLine. Do we have one? 9. Cameron Newton---Stock continues to go up; will he be Top 5 by January? Best mobile passer in college, great runs. 10. Ricky Stanzi---I think he'll be Top 7. 11. Nathan Enderle---Can I get excited about the Idaho Vandals QB with victories over Bowling Green? Uh.....no. 12. Brandon Weeden---OSU older guy (Yankees prospect) has mentor in Graham Harrell. I like his patience and skillset. 13. T.J. Yates 14. Terrelle Pryor---Don't compare him to Vince Young. He's far more inaccurate. Likely #16-17 before bowls start. 15. Andy Dalton 16. Greg McElroy----I think he has a lot of potential, and wouldn't be surprised if he's top 10 by April. 17. Jerrod Johnson---I think he's a better mobile QB than Terrelle Pryor. Not a start-quick NFL prospect tho. 18. Adam Froman, Sr. 19. Mike Hartline, Sr. 20. Ben Chappelle, Sr. JUNIORS: Matt Scott, Jr., Arizona Kellen Moore, Jr. Ryan Lindley, Jr. Kirk Cousins, Jr Kevin Riley Sr., Dan Persa Sr. Steven Threet, Jr. Scott Tolzien, Sr Adam Weber, Sr. Dominique Davis, Jr Tyrod Taylor, Sr

Halloween, The Bills, and the DraftTek Simulator are right up there with Jack Daniels Manhattans and my grandchildren. Not necessarily in that order.

LOL! Just done with my costume for my school's Halloween parade, and had some time to kill.... http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=242923&id=542099262&l=a51ad4af96

DraftTek's Simulator http://drafttek.com/new%20simulator/frmLogin.aspx now has the 2011 Big Board loaded and is working quite nicely. It will let you make trades, then when you run the simulator, it takes each team's positional needs into account in making selections for every team. We have it set for 6 rounds right now. To make a switch in the picking order: --->Click to select a replacement team in the selection box on the right hand side --->Then Click on the line number/team you wish to replace --->Wait a couple seconds and the new team will appear in red --->Repeat with other teams as desired Note who we get when we trade Chicago our #1 pick for their RD1 and RD2 pick. Enjoy! Astro

Here's your homework: Saturday --- 3:30 PM ET No. 5 Michigan State at No. 18 Iowa ABC, Watch Adrian Clayborn against Michigan State. A real test. Only Clayborn is above Luck on our Big Board right now. http://www.drafttek.com/BigBoardPg1.asp

Too many yards in penalties to win against a Super Bowl caliber team, but great show by our #1 WR, Stevie Johnson!

You mean Locker wouldn't do well unless there was a good offensive line in front of him, and would need 3 years of grooming? We think he's going to go to a team who can give him both the line and the time.

Hogue was player of the day. He almost singlehandedly shut down several WVA drives. I'm advocating he be moved up our Big Board.

The numbers in front of each player are where we have them ranked on our Big Board, not player numbers. 12:00 PM ET No. 7 Michigan State at Northwestern ESPN -----20 Greg Jones Michigan State 6'2" 235 WILB 12:00 PM ET Purdue at No. 10 Ohio State Big Ten Network -----76 Ryan Kerrigan Purdue 6'4" 263 OLB34 -----32 Cameron Heyward Ohio State 6'5" 288 DE34 -----73 Devier Posey Ohio State 6'2" 200 WR -----92 Chimdi Chekwa Ohio State 6'0" 190 CB -----117 Ross Homan Ohio State 6'0" 228 OLB43, WILB -----166 Mike Adams Ohio State 6'8" 322 ROT -----175 Justin Boren Ohio State 6'3" 320 OG -----241 Brandon Saine Ohio State 6'1" 220 RB 12:00 PM ET Syracuse at No. 20 West Virginia ESPN2 -----158 Ryan Bartholomew Syracuse 6'2" 298 OC -----121 Noel Devine West Virginia 5'8" 180 RBC -----232 Robert Sands West Virginia 6'4" 215 SS 12:00 PM ET Penn State at Minnesota -----23 Stefen Wisniewski Penn State 6'3" 298 OC OG -----211 Evan Royster Penn State 6'1" 213 RBF 12:00 PM ET Rutgers at Pittsburgh ESPN3 -----33 Jonathan Baldwin Pittsburgh 6'5" 225 WR -----114 Jabaal Sheard Pittsburgh 6'4" 260 OLB34 -----136 Greg Romeus Pittsburgh 6'5" 270 DE43 OLB34 3:30 PM ET No. 6 LSU at No. 4 Auburn CBS ------10 Patrick Peterson LSU 6'1" 211 CB ------34 Drake Nevis LSU 6'1" 292 DT43 ------51 Kelvin Sheppard LSU 6'3" 240 SILB WILB ------96 Joseph Barksdale LSU 6'5" 315 ROT LOT -----176 Terrence Toliver LSU 6'4" 206 WRF ------65 Josh Bynes Auburn 6'2" 240 SILB WILB ------75 Nick Fairley Auburn 6'4" 298 DE34 ------90 Mario Fannin Auburn 5'11" 227 RBF -----133 Lee Ziemba Auburn 6'8" 320 ROT LOT -----190 Cameron Newton Auburn 6'6" 250 QB 3:30 PM ET No. 13 Wisconsin at No. 15 Iowa ABC ------50 Gabe Carimi Wisconsin 6'7" 318 ROT LOT ------62 Lance Kendricks Wisconsin 6'4" 239 TE -----112 J.J. Watt Wisconsin 6'6" 285 DE43 DE34 -----148 John Moffitt Wisconsin 6'5" 323 OG -----219 Josh Oglesby Wisconsin 6'7" 331 ROT -----188 John Clay Wisconsin 6'1" 248 RBF -------1 Adrian Clayborn Iowa 6'3" 285 DE34 ------14 Tyler Sash Iowa 6'1" 210 FS SS ------84 Christian Ballard Iowa 6'5" 297 DT43 DE34 -----180 Derrell Johnson-Koulianos Iowa 6'1" 200 WRF -----191 Ryan Donohue Iowa 6'3" 190 P -----194 Jeremiha Hunter Iowa 6'1" 235 OLB43 -----220 Ricky Stanzi Iowa 6'4" 230 QB Possibly More Later. Gotta Work on my school Halloween Costume, which I will post here with my others: http://www.DeanKindig.com/Halloween

I like Ditka's suggestion---no helmets. Don't tell me there isn't a small company who has sent prototypes of a new helmet to the NFL, only to find out Riddell has the monopoly. Helmets can now be fitted with accelerometers that measure impact. Git 'er done, and suspend the offenders like you suspend juicers..

+1 Note also the success of the Jets after previously drafting D'Brick, Mangold in 2006.

The other reason we need Merriman is to cross one need off the positional needs list. If you need QB, LT, ILB, OLB, and some add NT, DE, TE, and WR, you need to have 1 or 2 of these addressed--not only for going into the draft, but for getting through this season.

I think the Ravens will get run on by the Bills. Speed bump, schmeed bump.

We had him as the 10th best OG at Northern Iowa, so a 5th Rounder type. Surprised he went in the 3rd. The negative on him was he wasn't great at getting to the second level but would be a solid backup OG. He had a boken fibula a year ago last November, and a public intoxication arrest but was released.

DraftTek's latest mock, not yet posted, will have the Bills picking: 1 Buffalo Andrew Luck QB Stanford P1 33 Buffalo Marcus Cannon ROT TCU P2 65 Buffalo Aldon Smith OLB34 Missouri P2 (Just the first 2 rounds will be posted tomorrow) I'd consider this a good draft, because it takes BPA each time (although I like Luke Stocker TE who was drafted #68), while addressing big needs. Some of the QB's who fell, based on teams' needs not being in the QB arena, were: 11 Jacksonville Jake Locker QB Washington P2 35 San Francisco Ryan Mallett QB Arkansas P1 40 Seattle Christian Ponder QB Florida State P2 44 Arizona Nick Foles QB Arizona P2 55 Kansas City Pat Devlin QB Delaware P3T

I'm interested if you'd still pick Ponder after the game he had today. I think the Bills should draft Robert Quinn OLB in Round 1, and Cameron Heyward DE in Round 1A (using a RD2 and RD4). Then draft Ricky Stanzi in RD3. I don't see a LT in the beginning of the second round. At ~#60 you can take Orlando Franklin and ~#63 Nate Solder. Guard Clint Boling is a possibility. I really think the Bills will acquire a tackle rather than draft one.

I like your thinking. Heyward and Ponder, followed by Marvin Austin, changes two weaknesses into strengths. DeMarcus Love will go in Round 1. Astro

You stole my line! LOL!