Astrobot

Oh, did you say something? I was distracted by your avatar...

While I believe the Bills will address their top need, ILB, in Free Agency, if they don't they are left with a horrible alternative to Mosley: reach for Skov earlier than RD2. You can not be excited about Mosley at 9, but until Whaley gets the need addressed, you'll have to tell me your plan for ILB.

I work at DraftTek, and the formula that is used relies heavily on team needs here and a Big Board here. The computer then does the drafting, not reaching for a player if a similarly-prioritized position is available. I agree with you that, if the Bills address ILB in free agency, they won't take a chance on Mosley. But Mosley is rated the highest, and is the least reach, at a position of top priority. That''s how we got him in this sim.

The comments I put in the DraftTek mock were that Sources close to GM Doug Whaley have tweeted that ILB is his biggest concern entering Free Agency. The Bills absolutely need to find someone to play next to Kiko Alonso, either as SILB or WILB. Arthur Moats, who was the understudy ILB last year, is a free agent, but there are still 28 free-agent ILBs to look at: Jameel McClain just paid us a visit. Others might be Akeem Jordan, Dansby, Spikes, and Wesley Woodyard. New LB Coach Fred Pagac will find that Kiko Alonso is not loquacious, and DraftTek's Top ILB C.J. Mosley won't be interrupting. Both just let their play do the talking for them ( ). Psst...if you've read this far, you're a true Bills fan. I've put up a "Grab This Guy" Poll here for you to vote on a player to take at #9 for our next DRAFTSIM. Just don't give the link to them Raiders, Falcons, or Bucs people. I think the Bills will take care of SILB before the draft. I don't think they trust Mosley's medical concerns, and don't think Skov makes it to them in RD2.

Tender offers today to their three Exclusive Rights Free Agents help with depth. FB Frank Summers (5'9", 248) is starter material, but the Bills opted for other offensive schemes. When you have Spiller and Jackson, you may think Summers is vestigial. But the man is really cut. I think they'll bring in a UDFA to compete with Summers for the job, so not Prosch or Copeland, who might go in RD7. My guesses are Trey Millard from Oklahoma, Ryan Hewitt of Stanford, or Michael LaGrone of Idaho. All three can catch the football, which they had Summers do for a touchdown this year. WR Chris Hogan (7-11, always open) seems to get separation at times, but doesn't have the speed to do it consistently. He can catch the ball pretty well when he's covered. Hogan also contributed on Special Teams (10 tackles). The Bills have other taller, untried guys already on the squad, so everyone will be competing for touches to see who sticks around. Hogan was UDFA with the 49ers, and on the Fins and Giants' practice squads, so he's a long shot, but a St. John Fisher favorite. OL Antoine McLain is a 2012 UDFA signed originally by the Ravens and released by the Raiders, then signed to the 53-man roster by the Bills. He's mountainous (336 lbs) with pretty good feet. He'll play OG, but doesn't mean we wouldn't draft or sign a Guard. There are good ones (Gabe Jackson), Day 3 guys with A+ intelligence (John Urschel), and Day 3 guys you haven't heard of yet (Dozier, Edwards, Burnette). The Bills signed Brandon Smith in September of last year, and was on the field for two games when we had CB injuries. His size helps him (6-1, 205); but again, we're still looking; Whaley mentioned that CB and DE are important cogs in the defense, even before Safety. Schwartz has drafted a ton of DEs and DTs while with his previous teams. I think he still gets those positions through FA or the Draft.

I've had Sankey at the top of my board at DraftTek since October. We should wait to take RB until RD 6. Niklas is still too low at TE, will be most versatile. Love Ebron but would be happy with Niklas in RD2-3 if there.

I've put up a http://www.drafttek.com/2014-bills-nfl-draft-poll.asp "Grab This Guy" Poll here for you to vote on a player to take at #9 for our next DRAFTSIM. Just don't give this link to them poaching Raiders, Falcons, or Bucs people. I want to know who you want to take next week if he's there at #9. --Astro

My Dream Draft: R1 -OT GREG ROBINSON R2 -OG DAVID YANKEY R3 -ILB SHAYNE SKOV R4 -WR DONTE MONCRIEF R5 -QB A.J. MCCARRON R6 -RB JAMES WILDER JR. R7 -TE JOE DON DUNCAN

Excellent first 3.

He wasn't gone. This is the result of fans voting for 1-8 in previous weeks. Fans don't always know, so a guy gets "famous for being famous". Here's a FanSpeak Sim of the first 8 picks: ALL PICKS 1 QB TEDDY BRIDGEWATER HOUSTON TEXANS 2 OT JAKE MATTHEWS ST. LOUIS RAMS 3 DE JADEVEON CLOWNEY JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS 4 WR SAMMY WATKINS CLEVELAND BROWNS 5 QB BLAKE BORTLES OAKLAND RAIDERS 6 OLB ANTHONY BARR ATLANTA FALCONS 7 DE KONY EALY TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS 8 QB JOHNNY MANZIEL MINNESOTA VIKINGS The "9th Name" you speak of is Kony Ealy, who's getting some love.

http://www.drafttek.com/ We've been conducting a fan vote mock draft on our home page, and we're up to Buffalo's pick at #9. 451 have voted so far, but it's on our home page where even NEP fans can vote LOL. Please click on your favorite choice! Astro

I think this will be the choice at 9, and right now, this is the value I'd place on them to the Bills if they didn't trade down, if they keep Byrd, don't get a ILB in FA, and if Mosley checks out medically. Too few ILBs. C.J. Mosley ILB Alabama Eric Ebron TE North Carolina Taylor Lewan LOT Michigan Mike Evans WRF Texas A&M Anthony Barr OLB43 UCLA Ha'Sean Clinton-Dix FS Alabama Darqueze Dennard CB Michigan State Timmy Jernigan DT43 Florida State Justin Gilbert CB Oklahoma State

Wait for the dust to settle. For "great place" and ILB need I think of Denver, Baltimore, Tampa Bay, Buffalo in that order. Forget Minnesota. Bills likely will want to get full medical evaluation on CJ Mosley. The other thing I thought of is whether the ILB releases/interest in FA will affect how early Mack, Skov, and Borland are drafted.

Three great years with the Browns inn three years without injury. Allows us flex inthe draft especially at 9. Sign him up.

I am wrong, you are right...just looked in my email inbox and it was from OL Analyst: "Morgan Moses moves up from 92 to 31" Good Call. He's saying Moses is the 2-3rd best run blocker in the draft (Robinson, maybe Yankey).

Mosley's as disciplined as they come. He's the more natural fit for a 4-3 defense and is the run-stopper that the Bills need. I don't care if you have worries about Alabama DL---Steen plays OL.

Nailed it. I think Mack and Watkins are now gone at 9, but you take one if they fall due to runs on QB and OL. Watkins' destination would be #2 Rams, #5 Oakland, or #7TBay.

Richardson was our pick at #41 in a sim I just ran with the new Big Board. Would you prefer Ebron-Richardson, Mosley-Richardson, or neither? Evans went one pick after us to Detroit in my sim, so not a reach any more. He answered the big question, speed. What he still doesn't have checked off is his ability to run a full route tree.

Mosley. I don't think Watkins is there any more. He'll go at #2, #5, or #7. Still not bad RD1-4: 1 9 Buffalo C.J. Mosley ILB Alabama 2 41 Buffalo Troy Niklas TE Notre Dame 3 73 Buffalo Anthony Steen OG Alabama 4 105 Buffalo Morgan Moses RT Virginia

The...The...Buffalo Balls?

I'm using a revised Big Board for this, and it will likely change again after the next day or so with the Combine still going on, but here's my thinking here and now: ILB has only three difference-makers in the draft: Mack (gone), Mosley, and Skov. After that, Borland, Smallwood, Jackson etc. are a major drop-off, and I'd stick with whom we have if that happens. IF we need a difference-making TE (Murphy says we don't), we better pull the trigger at RD1#9 or RD2#41 (Ebron-Niklas-AS-J, in that order). Ebron just distanced himself from the others. But AS-J is a viable RD2#41 option, as is Niklas. Amaro is more of a slot guy and is the most predictable what route he'll be running from that spot. I actually like Niklas over Amaro for what Hackett's trying to do (three-tier zone-read), as Niklas can also be in-line as if to block and end up running a seam route. Except for DT43 IMHO, WR is the deepest in the draft and several FA WRs could be considered #1 or #2 quality. Bills will likely signal their intentions early which way they'll go at WR. However, Bills shouldn't rely on the draft, as we need to get one of the bigger redzone guys left when we pick in RD2#41 (Mike Evans will be gone; Donte Moncrief and Kelvin Benjamin might be gone). Plan B is still a good one--you take the TE that's left between Niklas or AS-J. I don't think both will be gone. We can wait 3 rounds max for a difference-making OG, and even longer for our RT. Still think the OGs at RD3 and RD4, as well as Brockport native Branden Albert and the uber-smart Urschel make sense. We could also draft a swing tackle earlier and have him play RT. Due to upcoming 2015 FA, we also have to consider DE (Dareus), S (AWilliams and Searcy), and RB (Jackson). The Bills looking at RD4-5 Safety this past weekend and RB Andre Williams (who I have at RD4 but moved up a bit over the weekend with his Combine results) shows me their hand. My draft, then, would take the ILB at RD1#9. I'd want Mack, Mosley, or Skov next to Alonso. I'd then have the flexibility to take my TE at RD2#41, the big WR. RD3 is OG, and RD4 is the RB, RD5 is their S, and RD6 is a OL guy and RD7 is a DT43 to back up Dareus.

Cleveland's Picks Shown Visually: http://www.drafttek.com/NFL-Trade-Value-Chart.asp?RequestTeam=CLE

Players With Anticipated Round and YPC vs AP-ranked Teams: AP rank Player College ROUND avg 1 Bishop Sankey Washington 2 5.1 2 Carlos Hyde Ohio State 2-3 5.9 3 Jeremy Hill LSU 3 4.7 4 Andre Williams Boston College 4 4.2 5 Tre Mason Auburn 3 5.2 6 Lache Seastrunk Baylor 3 4.6 7 KaDeem Carey Arizona 3 4.7 8 Charles Sims WVU 4 4.5 9 Jerick McKinnon Georgia Southern 4 0 10 Devonta Freeman Florida State 4 3.7 11 Marion Grice Arizona State 4 4.9 12 Terrance West Towson 5-6 0 13 James Wilder Jr. Florida State 6 4.7 14 Rajion Neal Tennessee 6 4.4 15 James White Wisconsin 6 4.9 16 Antonio Andrews W Kentucky 6-7 0 17 Storm Johnson Central Florida 6-7 5.1 18 Tim Flanders Sam Houston State 6-7 8.9 19 Tyler Gaffney Stanford 7-UDFA 4.7 20 David Fluellen Toledo 7-UDFA 5.1 21 Kapri Bibbs Colorado State 7-UDFA 2.4 22 Isaiah Crowell Alabama State 7-UDFA 4.8 23 Lorenzo Taliaferro CCU 7-UDFA 0 24 George Atkinson III Notre Dame UDFA 5.9 25 Silas Redd USC UDFA 0

I'm doing this for the Bills, at #9, and I'll put where I would put "trade-down" as an option: Robinson Mack Matthews Watkins Ebron Trade Down and take Martin (or Clinton-Dix is we "freeByrd", which is unlikely) Seferian-Jenkins If we do take Greg Robinson, I put him at RT for a year and draft: 1 9 Buffalo Greg Robinson RT Auburn P2 +3 Value 2 41 Buffalo A Seferian-Jenkins TE Washington P2 +0 Value 3 73 Buffalo Anthony Steen OG Alabama P2 +1 Value Now you have a Line and a better run game, and you've saved EJ's knee from a 4th surgery. Now to make Jim Schwartz happy: 4 105 Buffalo Aaron Lynch DE43 South Florida (or Kelcy Quarles DT43 South Carolina) 5 137 Buffalo Andrew Jackson ILB W Kentucky P2 +4 Value Then, get your big RB to complement an aging FJ and CJ: 6 169 Buffalo Terrance West RBF Towson P3 -1 Reach Finally, a 6'2", 220-lb. Div 2 WR who's capable of a 4.37 this weekend: 7 201 Buffalo Jeff Janis WRF Saginaw Valley P3 +5 Value

I'm not seeing anyone in low 20's with extra picks in RD2, but Cleveland has the 4th pick but wants our 9th (1350) as well. They give 26 (700), 35 (550), and 83 (175), total 1425. Bills take: 26 Buffalo Jace Amaro TE Texas Tech 35 Buffalo Kelvin Benjamin WRF Florida State 41 Buffalo Shayne Skov ILB Stanford 73 Buffalo Jimmy Garoppolo QB Eastern Illinois 83 Buffalo Josh Mauro DE43 Stanford 105 Buffalo Morgan Moses RT Virginia 137 Buffalo Brandon Linder LG Miami (FL) 169 Buffalo James Wilder Jr. RBF Florida State 201 Buffalo Caraun Reid DT43 Princeton