Astrobot

That's why I wised up. I have bet on the Bills to win the AFC Championship. No really, I did. Placed the bet at Caesar's.

Good to see you back, Ice! Growing up in the 50's, I was a Packers fan (before the era of green uniforms--they were blue). If they're in the Super Bowl this year, and by some weird quirk the Bills are not , I will be rooting for my childhood Favre-rite team.

Well said, CBF! Me too!

The guy looks like Captain Kangaroo. Another childhood hero goes to prison.

Using ProFootballFocus Signature Stats, Byrd is hands down the best coverage safety in the NFL, far andbaway. He is second overall to Eric Weddle, but pass coverage isn't Weddle's strong suit.

I'll be there almost every day, frogger!

Nanker, great call on the Cheatin' Eagles as Parker's possible nest for Byrd!! PHI has Rogers-Cromartie at CB but lost Asomugha to the 49ers. And PHI's best safety, 4-year man Nate Allen, is tied for #201 in passes defensed. They drafted Earl Wolff NC State in RD5 this year.

Agree about CB. Gilmore was 9th among CB's last year in passes defended; the 2nd best pass defender was Bryan Scott at #78, and Aaron Williams was tied for #96. So, yeah. LB Courtnei Brown was doing very well at minicamp, so he'll be the surprise guy to come out of preseason. I think we'll see a learning curve with Kiko Alonso. Pettine likes versatile, hybrid players, so we won't necessarily be picking the "name" college guys at one position. This makes positional needs for the Bills somewhat difficult. The interior O-line guys don't usually come off the board early. Do you want a Guard like Cyril Richardson of Baylor in RD2 who won't ever be a RT, Travis Swanson of Arkansas at OC, or a OLB-DE like James Gayle or a TE like Colt Lyerla with the same pick? FAR too early, but I'm guessing we'll still need CB in Round 1 (Bradley Roby, Ohio State), TE in Round 2 (Colt Lyerla), and hybrid LB-DE in Round 3 (Chaz Sutton of S Carolina).

I've changed positional needs to reflect all of the posts above this one. These are not displayed yet on the DraftTek Team Needs page, nor are they in the Simulator yet. Here is the 2014 Big Board, which IS up to date: http://www.drafttek.com/Top-100-NFL-Draft-Prospects-2014.asp

Thanks for the feedback, Bags. I have changed Drafttek's Bills Needs to reflect your thoughts! -Astro

Best topic of the Doldrum Weeks so far. 24 more days until Training Camp. Hope to see many of you there. Best Touch: Drew Brees Best Long Ball: Matt Stafford Best Pocket Presence: Aaron Rodgers Best Stature: Ben Roethlisberger Worst on Roller Coaster or Waterslide: Tom Brady Biggest Bust: Sanchez Best Interview: Terry Bradshaw Best Future: EJ Manuel

Based just on the end of last season, the draft, and minicamp information, how would you rank our positional needs? This is my regular task at DraftTek as it is for the other 31 analysts, and I set initial guesses for this week's 1-round mock as follows: CB=P1 (top need--if there's a player still on our big board within 1-8 slots at this position, the computer drafts him. Can only have one P1 need; if you have more than one, make all of them P2's). I think we have the scheme and the pass rushers now; we need another CB at Gilmore's level to take out the #2 receiver. DE34, OLB34, SS34=P2 (important need--if there is no P1, the computer takes the next player on the big board at one of these positions). Anderson could be odd man out at DE as he's the least positionally flexible. Pettine wants hybrid OLB's who are big and can move. Byrd is a wildcard for the next 7-10 days. TE, OC, ILB, FS=P3 . Gragg-Chandler-Smith is iffy, but Chandler could be huge this year if healthy. Wood needs depth behind him with 3 injuries in 3 years. Is Kiko the answer? Does Pettine want more positionally-flexible LBs, and are current ILB's a good place to look? Is Free Safety a good place to look? LT, RBF, FB=P4. Should LT be lower since we have like 9 tackles on roster? We need depth behind Freddy as Feature RB not named Tashard. Spiller's great but start looking for midround value now. Also Fullback here. RT, OG =P6. There is a lot of players on the roster, but we get good value from OL in later rounds. RBC, QB, WRF, WRS, DT34, PK =P9. Spiller's the best RBC (Change of Pace Back) in the NFL and proves it this year. We're set at QB and Wide Receiver (Featured and Speed Receiver). We have incredible on-paper talent at DT34 (Williams, Dareus, Carrington, Branch). We have good competition at Punter and Placekicker. We'll do this again in the middle of minicamp and after some preseason games have been played. -Astro

That's my guess for FOUR-WR set, Stevie-Woods-Graham-Goodwin. With Brad Smith, Easley, or Da'Rick Rogers as backup. THREE WR could be Stevie-Woods-Graham with Chandler at TE.

According to Premium Stats on ProFootballFocus.com, the Bills ranked ninth in pass coverage last season: [list=1] [*]Seattle Seahawks [*]Green Bay Packers [*]Chicago Bears [*]San Francisco 49ers [*]Denver Broncos [*]New England Patriots [*]Cleveland Browns [*]Cincinnati Bengals [*]Buffalo Bills [/list] We'll be fine in pass defense. Byrd doesn't fit as well into Pettine's Big Nickel scheme, so the Bills won't overpay. Byrd is smaller and slower than Meeks, Duke Williams, and Bryan Scott, who'll all see increased time in this scheme, in addition to Searcy, Silva, and Aaron Williams. They'd like to have Byrd at the right price, but they won't overpay. Good summary of our Safety picture: here

That does it. I'm getting Marquise's jersey. Hopefully the jersey reminds me of that story every time I put it on.

Prayers for Jimbo, his family, and his full recovery.

Thought I'd get this up early! 1 Jadeveon Clowney South Carolina 6'5 272 DE43 2 Teddy Bridgewater Louisville 6'3" 218 QB 3 Marqise Lee USC 6'0" 195 WRF 4 Taylor Lewan Michigan 6'7" 302 LOT 5 Jake Matthews Texas A&M 6'5" 305 ROT 6 Anthony Barr UCLA 6'3" 238 OLB43 7 Sammy Watkins Clemson 6'1" 205 WRF 8 Bradley Roby Ohio State 5'11" 193 CB 9 Daniel McCullers Tennessee 6'6" 377 DT43 10 Tajh Boyd Clemson 6'1" 225 QB 11 Austin Seferian-Jenkins Washington 6'6" 266 TE 12 Kyle Van Noy BYU 6'3" 235 OLB43 13 Jackson Jeffcoat Texas 6'4" 245 OLB34 14 Cyrus Kouandijo Alabama 6'5" 312 ROT 15 Ifo Ekpre-Olomu Oregon 5'10" 190 CB 16 Trent Murphy Stanford 6'4" 261 DE43 17 Deandre Coleman California 6'5" 309 DE34 18 C.J. Mosely Alabama 6'2" 232 OLB43 19 Brett Hundley UCLA 6'3" 227 QB 20 Shayne Skov Stanford 6'3" 242 ILB 21 Ed Reynolds Stanford 6'2" 205 FS 22 Marcus Roberson Florida 6'0" 178 CB 23 Jordan Matthews Vanderbilt 6'3" 205 WRF 24 Colt Lyerla Oregon 6'5" 256 TE 25 Louis Nix Notre Dame 6'3" 326 DT34 26 Stephon Tuitt Notre Dame 6'5" 303 DE34 27 Carlos Hyde Ohio State 6'0" 235 RBF 28 Josh Shirley Washington 6'3" 230 OLB34 29 Loucheiz Purifoy Florida 6'1" 189 CB 30 David Yankey Stanford 6'5" 302 LOT 31 A.J. McCarron Alabama 6'3" 205 QB 32 Ha’Sean Clinton-Dix Alabama 6'1" 208 FS 33 James Gayle Virginia Tech 6'3" 268 OLB34 34 Aaron Colvin Oklahoma 6'0" 182 CB 35 DeVante Parker Louisville 6'3" 205 WRF 36 Johnny Manziel Texas A&M 6'1" 200 QB 37 Max Bullough Michigan State 6'2" 252 ILB 38 Cody Hoffman BYU 6'3" 215 WRF 39 Mike Evans Texas A&M 6'5" 225 WRF 40 Christian Jones Florida State 6'3" 232 OLB43 41 Cyril Richardson Baylor 6'5" 335 OG 42 Karlos Williams Florida State 6'1" 230 SS 43 Silas Redd USC 5'10" 200 RBF 44 Morgan Breslin USC 6'2" 250 OLB34 45 James Hurst North Carolina 6'6" 310 ROT 46 Brandon Coleman Rutgers 6'6" 220 WRF 47 Ra'Shede Hageman Minnesota 6'5" 302 DE34 48 Damien Williams Oklahoma 6'0" 208 RBF 49 Justin Gilbert Oklahoma State 6'0" 195 CB 50 Aaron Murray Georgia 6'1" 212 QB 51 Calvin Barnett Oklahoma State 6'2" 300 DT43 52 Derek Carr Fresno State 6'3" 212 QB 53 Timmy Jernigan Florida State 6'2" 298 DT43 54 Jeremiah Attaochu Georgia Tech 6'2" 240 OLB43 55 Andrew Jackson Western Kentucky 6'1" 262 ILB 56 Kareem Martin North Carolina 6'5" 260 DE34 57 Chaz Sutton South Carolina 6'4" 256 OLB34 58 Gabe Jackson Mississippi State 6'4" 320 OG 59 David Fales San Jose State 6'3" 220 QB 60 Bryan Stork Florida State 6'4" 312 OC 61 Jason Verrett TCU 5'10" 182 CB 62 Craig Loston LSU 6'2" 205 SS 63 Anthony Johnson LSU 6'3" 305 DT43 64 Scott Crichton Oregon State 6'3" 263 DE43 65 Morgan Moses Virginia 6'6" 325 ROT 66 C.J. Barnett Ohio State 6'0" 190 FS 67 Demarcus Lawrence Boise State 6'3" 244 OLB43 68 Jared Abbrederis Wisconsin 6'2" 188 WRF 69 Eric Ebron North Carolina 6'4" 245 TE 70 James White Wisconsin 5'10" 198 RBF 71 Russell Bodine North Carolina 6'3" 305 OC 72 Alfred Blue LSU 6'1" 220 RBF 73 Jack Mewhort Ohio State 6'5" 310 LOT 74 C.J. Fiedorowitz Iowa 6'6" 265 TE 75 Antonio Richardson Tennessee 6'6" 332 ROT 76 Dri Archer Kent St 5'7" 175 WRS 77 Adrian Hubbard Alabama 6'5" 252 OLB34 78 Seantrel Henderson Miami (FL) 6'8" 345 ROT 79 Quandre Diggs Texas 5'10" 200 CB 80 Zack Martin Notre Dame 6'4" 305 OG 81 Justin Ellis Louisiana Tech 6'2" 330 DT34 82 Ty Zimmerman Kansas State 6'1" 203 SS 83 Odell Beckham Jr. LSU 6'0" 207 WRF 84 Chris Borland Wisconsin 5'11" 242 ILB 85 Logan Thomas Virginia Tech 6'5" 254 QB 86 Dee Ford Auburn 6'2" 238 OLB43 87 JaWuan James Tennessee 6'6" 324 LOT 88 Anthony Steen Alabama 6'3" 303 OG 89 Will Clarke West Virginia 6'6" 271 DE34 90 Tyler Larsen Utah State 6'3" 312 OC 91 Ashton Dorsey Texas 6'2" 295 DT43 92 Lamin Barrow LSU 6'2" 232 ILB 93 Travis Swanson Arkansas 6'4" 305 OC 94 Jeoffrey Pagan Alabama 6'4" 285 DE34 95 Walker May Vanderbilt 6'5" 250 OLB34 96 Spencer Long Nebraska 6'3" 308 OG 97 Dominique Easley Florida 6'2" 280 DE34 98 Charles Sims Houston 6'0" 205 RBF 99 Glenn Carson Penn State 6'2" 235 ILB 100 LaDarius Perkins Mississippi State 5'10" 195 RBF

Marquise Goodwin was a RD6 for them. I think the 'Boys need some new scouts. Their Johnthan Banks rating (also 6th RD) is laughable. He went #43.

Do you have a cocktail table in your man-cave? Get a piece of glass the size of the cocktail table, arrange the cards on top of the table, and put the glass on top of them. You can look at them while you drink and watch football, not spilling a drop on them.

When I was out in Vegas with DraftTek, I bet $20 that the Bills would win the AFC the morning of Day 1 before the Bills drafted EJ. I got 40-1 at Caesar's Palace.

His clipboard-holding skills weren't what they thought?

Actually, Bills should have Wrangler Stadium. A Levi's contract would be too binding, and we'd soon realize the luxuriant combed cotton dome wouldn't work in Buffalo winters. Perhaps Carhartt Stadium? I am okay with Amazon Stadium (only if we could have a Lingerie Football Team). I am not OK with Dickies Stadium, American Eagle Stadium, Hollister Stadium, Abercrombie Stadium, or JCrew Stadium.

The present Bills roster doesn't have McGee (#8 in career tackles with 440), Kelsay (#15, 293), Scott (#20, 237), Wilson (#21, 234), Jairus "flew the coop" Byrd (#29, 219), as well as Barnett (#41, 150) and Sheppard (#58, 95). http://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/buf/career-defense.htm. Almost 1500 tackles that will have to be made up.

I wear my blue Winfield the most. My Poz collects dust. And I paint in my Bledsoe.

I'll go out on a limb and say that Brandon Kaufmann also makes the team, even if it's the Practice Squad. So I'll say WR Active: Stevie, Graham, Woods, Rogers, Easley, Goodwin WR PS: Kaufmann, Elliott Nope: Brad Smith,