Astrobot

Agree. Arrived late, signed late, still late. He needs game experience at a position better suited to him. Plus we were down LB's.

I'll take D'Alessandris over the last regime. Under Gailey and D'Alessandris, Georgia Tech's 2005 team started "three sophomores and a freshman on the offensive line and finished third in the conference in rushing and first in pass protection." We'll get to see two O-Lines on Friday night that are "rebuilding". Can't wait to see Redskins Derrick Dockery and the Trent Williams we passed on vs. Torrell Troup, Stroud, et al.

2 days before the first preseason game, and BB.com still has no pictures of first year players. Disgusting. ---Astro

Excellent Speech I hope Maybin DOES extract mayhem on quarterbacks this season. He's speaking from the heart there with some maturity I didn't see before. Having a first child can do that, and becoming an integral part of a team can do that. Go Aaron, Go!

How about we try this on the next draft: QB: P1 (too many good ones will be there in RD1) LT: P2 (if Carimi is there it'll take him if he's less of a reach) RT:P3 OLB34: P3 NT: P3 (we need two; rather see Kyle Williams at DE) WR: P4 OC/OG P4 (if Woods moves to OC it's a guard) ILB:P5

Luck is a junior, and may not come out this year, but agree he'd be in the mix in RD1, likely around 10th.

That's a good solution, and maybe throwing RT in at P3 as well?

I can only have one P1; would you think LT as a P1 and Right Tackle as a P2?

Yes, I think Nelson is a shoo-in for the PS. I'm pretty sure Felton Huggins is still eligible, too, and he's a dangerous deep man.

Without live bullets flying yet, it's hard to make the call for the Bills' August 2010 positional needs for next April's 2011 draft (if there is one!), and we'll update our mock after a couple preseason games, but a few question marks still linger. LT--Is Bell the man? Could Jamon Meredith surprise? Is Wang the answer? Could Levitre slide outside? Too many questions here, but I'll be the Bills take a tackle early in 2011. Priority P1. OLB--Will Kelsay-Maybin and Ellis-Torbor be your OLB's in the 3-4? This one is harder to answer than LT. Torbor had shoulder surgery in January, but he's back in the position he played with the Giants--can he excel in the 3-4? By the way, don't hope to get help from the Bills' website; it still lists our OLB's as Bryan Scott Nic Harris Ashlee Palmer on one side and Chris Draft Jon Corto on the other LOL. I'll guess that OLB will be our 2nd or 3rd pick in 2011. Priority P2. QB--Is Edwards' confidence going to be shaken early given the flux at LT and injury at RT? Is Brohm the real deal? Did the Bills secure a gem to polish in the seventh round in Levi Brown? Will Fitzpatrick enjoy his new team (wherever he goes)? I think the Bills look hard at Jake Locker (if they are convinced he won't be a Los Angeles Angel), Ponder and possibly Mallett, but I expect Edwards to flourish and Brohm to impress. Priority P2. NT--Will Torrell Troup be able to occupy two blockers consistently and make tackles? Will Kyle Williams' approach to nose tackle (hang on to one guy and stay the course) begin to wear on coaches and fans? Expect Troup to be seeing more and more work as we head into the real season, but we need depth at nose. Priority P3. WR--I am enamoured with Steve Johnson and Chad Jackson, and think they will be WR2 and WR3 by September. Evans-Johnson-Jackson will put up better numbers than the entire receiving corps last season. Parrish will be a role player with a moderately-improved stat line, but his size may lead to frequent injuries. He makes the cut, however. Marcus Easley will be injury-free to start the year, but will be underplayed in preseason due to injury. He'll be selected as one of the 53 to prevent exposing him to waivers. Priority P3. That's my recommendation. All other positions would be Priority P9. Right now our 2011 NFL mock shows the Bills picking Gabe Carimi LT from Wisconsin with the first pick overall. I don't know if this will be possible picking 32nd, however. I'd like to get your input before submitting August's positional needs to DraftTek. I don't ask any other board for their input; this is where I come for opinions. Lord knows we have those! Astro

James Hardy could be the most enigmatic decision the Bills will need to make. There's talent there, sure, but the coaches will think long and hard about taking him over Chad Jackson.

Houston Texans here we come. I liked Schobel when he was an all-out player. I wish him well on the Texans.

Nice post. Must go get some Immodium.

Agree Jay. I'm heading to Sutherland tomorrow. The buses run constantly. There is always one there. You pay a buck when you get on, and pay nothing when you return.

I'm 5 minutes away from training camp--please don't leave, Chan! Don't believe that where you train has anything to do with the Bills' playoff drought. New trainers, new coach, Spiller-Jackson-Lynch with a little Evans-Hardy-Nelson might have more to do with a turnaround.

That's what McGlothlin is saying as well as many others. Here's Gil Brandt's 2 cents' worth from NFL.com. Brandt has Locker at the top of RD1; he has Ponder at the bottom third, but we're a long way off: http://www.nfl.com/news/story/09000d5d818e...spects-for-2011

Awaiting yours.

Locker and Luck aren't the locks people think. We might still be looking at O-Line or NT, OLB or WR next April, and the DraftTek Big Board ( http://drafttek.com/2011players.asp ) shows a host of them. 1 Robert Quinn North Carolina 6'5" 268 DE43 OLB34 0 0 2 Gabe Carimi Wisconsin 6'7" 318 LOT ROT 0 0 3 Prince Amukamara Nebraska 6'1" 205 CB 0 4 Christian Ponder Florida State 6'3" 227 QB 0 5 Marvin Austin North Carolina 6'3" 305 DT43 DT34 -29 0 6 Julio Jones Alabama 6'4" 212 WRF 0 7 Patrick Peterson LSU 6'1" 211 CB 0 8 Cameron Heyward Ohio State 6'5" 288 DE34 DT43 -12 0 9 DeAndre McDaniel Clemson 6'1" 210 SS FS -9 0 10 Don'ta Hightower Alabama 6'4" 250 WILB SILB -11 0 11 Jared Crick Nebraska 6'5" 285 DE34 DT43 -2 0 12 Mark Ingram Alabama 5'10" 215 RBF 0 13 Jurrell Casey USC 6'1" 295 DT43 0 14 Jerrod Johnson Texas A&M 6'5" 243 QB 0 15 Clint Boling Georgia 6'5" 310 ROT LOT -13 0 16 Adrian Clayborn Iowa 6'3" 285 DE43 DE34 -1 0 17 Marcell Dareus Alabama 6'3" 306 DE34 0 18 Deunta Williams North Carolina 6'2" 210 FS 0 19 Greg Romeus Pittsburgh 6'5" 270 DE43 OLB34 -3 0 20 Jerrell Powe Mississippi 6'2" 328 DT34 DT43 21 Akeem Ayers LSU 6'4" 255 SILB OLB34 -40 0 22 Von Miller Texas A&M 6'2" 240 OLB34 OLB43 -8 0 23 Mike Pouncey Florida 6'4" 310 OC OG -31 0 24 Ras-I Dowling Virginia 6'2" 200 CB FS -19 0 25 Greg Jones Michigan State 6'2" 235 WILB 0 26 Evan Royster Penn State 6'1" 213 RBF 0 27 A.J. Green Georgia 6'4" 205 WRF 0 28 Anthony Castonzo Boston College 6'7" 295 LOT 0 29 Ryan Mallett Arkansas 6'6" 238 QB 0 30 Travis Lewis Oklahoma 6'2" 232 OLB43 0 31 Michael Floyd Notre Dame 6'3" 220 WRF 0 32 Jake Locker Washington 6'3" 226 QB Here are DraftTek Analyst Rick McGlothlin's preliminary comments about the Top 5 Quarterbacks: Christian Ponder, Sr., 6-3, 227, FSU-Check him out in the game at N. Carolina (one of the best defenses in the nation) as he led his team back from a 24-6 deficit to win the game. Nice, fluid motion. Doesn't get rattled in the pocket- good awareness. Excellent ball skills when utilizing play action fake. Decent arm strength and can make tight, quick passes or drop the longer ones into the hands of the receiver in stride. Could be the sleeper pick of 2011 that ends up being a solid NFL QB. Jerrod Johnson, Sr., 6-5, 243 Texas A&M-I like this kid. Of all the QB's in the college ranks right now, JJ could be slotted with an NFL team today and probably make the most of the opportunity. He has all the throws, long or short, laser or soft, he's accurate and is deadly scrambling out of the pocket. He is a natural at the position, though a bit unorthodoxed at times. Even so, he makes the plays. In two years as a starter, he's tossed 51 TD passes against just 18 picks. In 2009 alone he threw 30 TD's and only 8 INT's. In his two years he's amassed over 6,000 years as the Aggie starter. Sure, he doesn't have quite as strong an arm as say, Michael Vick, or some other powerful NFL gun-slinger. However, the kid can put it where it needs to go. Two major drawbacks for JJ as I see it. 1) His decisions to run rather than pass could cost him a long career in the NFL and 2) he throws off-balance too much for my liking and will ultimately cost his team some critical interceptions. But then again, so did/does Brett Favre. Keep an eye on this guy no matter if he goes pro this year or next, 1st round or later. This is the type of guy the Rams should've waited on while building a dominating defense and special teams unit. Ryan Mallett, Jr., 6-5, 238, Arkansas-Exceptional size and mechanics, with a large amount of upside potential. Excellent touch on the ball, decent to average accuracy but tremendous velocity when needed. Mainly a pure, traditional pocket-passer with marginal mobiltiy. Can make all the throws but at times strays away from the fundamentals and makes some questionable decisions. Needs additional help on his footwork. Passed for over 3200 yards in his sophomore season with Arkansas, for 30 TD's and just 7 INT's. Utilizes many weapons out of the Razorback offense and can hit the big play often, and the bulk of receiving corps were sophomores. Imagine him with some NFL wideouts at his disposal. The negative mark against him early on is being too anxious, which takes away from his accuracy. That will come with more game experience and maturity, but in the interim he is a solid QB with unlimited potential. If he turns it up a notch or two in 2010, an NFL team with a top QB coach would be crazy not to select him in the first-round next April. Jake Locker Sr., 6-3, 226 Washington-When it comes time for the 2011 NFL Draft, it might be interesting to see if Jake Locker is even available. He may opt to go with the Los Angeles Angels baseball team, who has already signed him to a contract. It may have ultimately been the reason he decided to return for his senior season at Washington and could signal his intention to play pro baseball instead of football. Locker isn't the ultimate QB in terms of reading defenses and being able to pick them apart at their weakness. His progression reads need improvement and has only above average arm strength. He does have a quick delivery and knows what's happening around him while in the pocket. His 21-11 TD to INT ratio isn't glamorous, but it's steady. I'm going to go off on a bit of a strange tangent here for a moment.....and tell you where this guy could be playing at the NFL level - tight end. He's pretty elusive with decent speed and does well when he runs the ball. Could be a solid hybrid TE at the next level, but let's wait and see what he does in his final year for the Huskies. Andrew Luck, SO., 6-4, 235 Stanford-I'm going to jump off the Luck bandwagon for the moment, but only as it relates to being drafted in the 2011 NFL draft. The kid is a phenom, but much too young and still a bit wet behind the ears to be an NFL QB at this point. Part of his success in his freshman season can be attributed to a strong running attack behind Toby Gearhart, and also the exceptional coaching from Jim Harbaugh. So I would suggest Luck use at least two more seasons of collegiate play and refine his already solid skills. The thing that jumps out at me when watching tape on Luck is his uncanny accuracy and delivery when rolling out of the pocket at almost a dead sprint. He does it as well as anyone I've seen and can also throw all the other passes with solid consistency.His footwork is good, lets the ball fly on time, has very good awareness while in the pocket and works hard off the field. Again, he needs some more game experience, especially as it relates to reading his progressions. More developmental time with coach Harbaugh would be good too, because he hasn't had to step up and be the team leader to this point. I would say that by the time the 2012 NFL Draft rolls around, he'd be a lock for a top 5 pick.

Continued Prayers and Karma, Rich family! So glad things went well.

Although the crystal ball is certainly hazy (or opaque) before the Bills put on pads, I'll try my hand at a 2011 Mock Draft for the Bills. I'm using the preliminary Big Board at DraftTek. http://www.drafttek.com/2011players.asp I'm assuming no trade (e.g., Lynch for McNeill), and the Bills drafting 4th. 1#4-Jake Locker Washington QB (Gabe Carimi, Cameron Heyward, and Marvin Austin will be gone) - run/pass threat played this year in a pro set and will do the same as a returning senior. 2#36-Stefen Wisniewski Penn State OC/OG - Bills continue to add versatile, physical, instinctive big nasties. Likely to resume play at Guard with Wood sliding to Center. 3#68-Clint Boling Georgia OT - This guy could end up being drafted iin RD1 but CDS and DraftTek say RD3 right now. A shade on the light side, Boling could bulk up and dominate. I think the Bills will need some defensive reinforcements as they unveil their 3-4, possibly Linebacker or DE. If this holds true, look for help in RD2 (Sam Acho? Jeremy Beal?).

Until the Bills have their website done by a local company and stop outsourcing it to a company that does dozens of websites, you won't have quality on that website. Go check out the player roster (Don't expect to see Reggie Torbor there--that's new information received on a weekend, and the website doesn't work on weekends). Mouse over the drafted rookie names that are now in camp (Spiller, Carrington, Troup) so you can see their pictures--Can't see them? Sorry--They're not in the system yet. Transactions after 5-11-10 are not listed on that page. Now go to www.jaguars.com, a former client of the Bills' website maintainer (now done in-house) and look around. Flashy, current. Click "Team-->Roster" and click on Tyson Alualu. Wow! Our little mouse-overs with missing graphics are a poor excuse for a website. /rant

Try Sports Locker in Olean 716-373-1411. They changed somebody's "Bledsoe" to "Parrish" last year for under $20

DraftTek's initial mock has the Bills taking Jake Locker at #4 and Luck going to Jacksonville at #6. I suspect LT Gabe Carimi of Wisconsin will be in play when the Bills draft. http://www.drafttek.com/Round12011.asp

Everybody chung Wang tonight!

More because he was projected to be a Guard, plus they felt that Ferentz made him better than he is, plus the DUI arrest. CBSSports and NFLDraftScout thought more highly of him going into that DUI: "Although he's not the elite prospect that Gallery, Steinbach or Verba were, Calloway's length, strength, footwork and technique give him a chance for a long pro career -- no matter where he's placed on the line." Projected as a top three round pick."