hondo in seattle

Ken, good luck and have fun on Murph's show. Sadly, I haven't read your book yet though it is on my Amazon Wish List. As a pro football researcher, I think it would be cool if you expanded the topic and wrote a book on the history of professional football in Buffalo prior to Ralph Wilson. I'd buy that right away. For anyone wondering about KRC's book, you can learn more and order it here: http://www.amazon.com/The-Original-Buffalo-Bills-All-America/dp/0786446196/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1400785096&sr=8-1&keywords=%22Original+Buffalo+Bills%22

The analysis provided in the article also shows that: "Historically quarterbacks start to hit their stride at 25..." EJ turned 24 in March.

I'd say it was the 1920s when the NFL was new and exciting - and players played for the love the game and not for riches - except I'm still upset about the Staley Swindle when the Buffalo All-Americans were cheated out of the NFL title. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1921_NFL_Championship_controversy

You're right. That's why Steve Largent never played in the NFL or was inducted in the Hall of Fame. Oh, wait... Largent was also clocked at 4.6 coming out of college and was once called "The Caucasian Clydesdale" be Lester "They Call Me Assassin" Hayes. Curiously, despite being slower than a 3 legged hippo, Largent averaged 23.5 yards on his 100 TD receptions. Holley's vertical, 3 cone drill and broad jump are all better than most the numbers posted by the WRs invited to the combine. He might not be fast but he is an athlete. http://blogs.buffalobills.com/2014/05/20/a-bit-more-on-wr-holley/ http://espn.go.com/nfl/draft/combine/_/id/1/sort/broad/order/true

I think the Bills have had a good draft and off-season in general. I was really glad we selected 3 OL in the draft - all with potential to be starters. Our offensive line needs to get better. The talents of good skill position players can be negated by bad line play. While I'm excited about Sammy Watkins, I do wonder if the price was too high. Using two first-round draft picks to acquire one first-round talent isn't a sound draft strategy. Apparently, though, Whaley thinks Watkins will be special as a pro. I hope he's right. A lot, obviously, is riding on EJ. If EJ plays well, our draft will look better because we'll earn some wins. I think the opinion that Whaley wants to win now is both right and wrong. Of course he wants to win this season. He should be fired if he doesn't. But Whaley is clearly thinking long term, surrounding EJ with a lot of young talent. Pollock is simply writing about his experience receiving a lot of negative commentary. None of it really matters. We fans typically don't know jack about the quality of a draft. Let's see what happens in the fall.

If the Fountain of Youth was relocated to Niagara Square, I'd choose Manning, Brady or Brees. But given their ages, I chose Andrew Luck though I was sorely tempted to go with Rodgers.

I voted that it's too soon to tell. Every year the pundits rate everyone's draft. And often even the most knowledgeable draft gurus will give out some low grades to what turns out to be great drafts and high grades to what turns out to be poor drafts. If the smartest draft gurus don't actually know, I won't pretend to know how Whaley did on this - his only - draft. But if I had to take a stand, I'd say I like that Whaley went out and aggressively pursued some good FAs who didn't break the bank. And while the trade for Watkins was awfully expensive, I like a GM who believes in his evaluations and will do what it takes to acquire difference makers. But I really need to see the product on the field before judging Whaley.

A nice article for a 22 year old college kid. OTAs and preseason will be interesting this year. A lot of guys are in tough competitions for starting positions and roster slots.

I know it's a highlight reel but, man, he looks like a starter.

This is a curious evaluation. I notice that they have Thad Lewis is rated over EJ. And Tony Moeaki is rated as an "Average Starter" same as Eric Wood. Also, we have 31 players that are average or better. Wouldn't that make the Bills a winning team?

I'll be a homer... OROY: Watkins DROY: Mack

I thought his illustrator career was just beginning.

I still think that only if Watkins turns into a perennial Pro Bowler, the trade was worth it. Otherwise, we spent two first round picks to acquire one first round talent. Very high price, indeed. But it's also obvious what Whaley is up to - build a team around EJ. Stevie is an odd talent who doesn't always run routes as designed. EJ didn't exhibit any chemistry with SJ while Watkins - with his RAC ability - is someone who will make EJ look good. If EJ, Watkins, Woods, Goodwin, etc all live up to their potential - and if Hackett can figure out how to use CJ correctly - this could be a very potent offense for years to come. I don't see Whaley working on a WIN NOW solution (perhaps worried about the ownership change). I see him collect a bunch of young guys who can, cross our fingers, win for several years. Welcome to the club!

Yep. Heard mixed things about him. I hope Pettine succeeds as HC but not sure he picked the right OC.

Hackett had some disadvantages... A rookie QB who kept getting injured... A star WR who was injured... And Hackett himself was a rookie OC. But I really didn't like how he used CJ. CJ's YPC dropped from 6.0 (2012) to 4.6 (2013). Hackett seemed clueless on how to give CJ the space he needs to show his stuff. I also didn't like the uptempo offense. An uptempo offense makes sense when you have an offense that can sustain drives. We didn't have that. So instead we just gave our opponents more possessions. This is one reason why our run defense was ranked poorly last year. Thanks to Hackett, our D was on the field a lot and faced a high number of plays. I really hope Hackett takes a step forward this year.

I agree he's good at his job... which is predicting the draft and making fans feel informed. He's not especially good at predicting the future NFL success of college players.

Kiper spends hours and hours researching college players. I think it's probably safe to say he knows more about college football players than anyone on this board. But he's just one man. Teams have several regional scouts and national personnel guys. They do campus visits. They interview players - and their coaches. They check police records. They have a medical staff doing physicals. The resources a NFL franchise brings to the draft dwarfs what Kiper can bring to bear. Let's not forget, in the end, Kiper is just entertainment. He's got a job as long as we're amused by what he does. And apparently he's got some talent at amusing people because the public remains interested in what he has to say. Personally, though, I never take any entertainer too seriously.

Good, bad, or indifferent, Whaley is certainly making his mark on the Bills. Interesting picks, interesting trades. It's like watching a secretive gardener plant some mysterious seeds. It will be interesting to see what grows.

Wow. We traded a starting WR for a 3rd string back???? Whaley's making a lot of "bold" moves. It will be interesting to see how it all pans out.

The problem with SJ is that he needs to freelance to get open. He doesn't have tremendous speed but he is cunning and elusive. Fitz, for all his shortcomings, seemed to have developed a rapport with Stevie and knew where he was going even when he wasn't running the play exactly as designed. EJ, being a rookie, never developed that ability. Maybe EJ would never figure SJ out. SJ may do great with the 9ers. I don't think he would have ever been great again with the Bills. Surrounding a young QB with a group of young WRs who can grow together makes a lot of sense.

Well, we acquired him with a 7th round draft choice. We got 3 thousand yard seasons out of him. And now we get a 4th - maybe a 3rd - round draft pick for him. All-in-all, a very good deal. While I hate to lose SJ when he's the only proven WR on the roster, it's hard not to notice that EJ and SJ never seemed to find any chemistry last year. Maybe EJ is too young to know how to work with someone who freelances like Stevie does. So maybe this trade really is best for all concerned. Best of luck to Stevie... hope he's happy back in the Bay Area.

Fair enough. But that's why I prefer more picks. Every pick is a throw of the dice. The odds of getting a winning roll are better when we have more chances to roll 'em. And yet... I find Whaley's enthusiasm infectious.

You may be right that Sammy will be a star. But you don't think there were any future Pro Bowlers - or maybe future Hall of Famers - still left at #9? We could have potentially had two Pro Bowlers with those two first round picks. Instead we have one. Watkins needs to become very special for this trade to make sense.

We essentially gave up two first round players to acquire one first round player?!?!?! With all our needs, wouldn't two first round players be better? I get why people like TXBILLSFAN say this goes beyond bold, it's reckless. It seems to me the spectrum of possibilities are... HUGE MISTAKE <<< ----------------------------------------- >>> BARELY WORTH THE PRICE Yet Whaley knows this and did the deal anyway. Apparently, he's pretty confident. I'm willing to suspend judgment until we see Watkins in a Bills uni. BTW, I do think it's awfully cool Watkins is a Bills fan.

I think the Bills want to move up but find the price too expensive. I believe Whaley's dead serious about giving EJ a better supporting cast and will draft offense with the first round pick. I'm thinking OT but wouldn't be surprised by a WR or TE. It depends on how the first 8 picks go down .