obie_wan

Johnson will go #1- whether they trade Moss before the draft or not.

He should get Ricky Williams from the Phins.

Crowell has what experience? Crowell has played zero games at MLB in his college or pro career. Crowell played in a 3-4 in college. The year he backed up Fletcher at MLB, they were not running the cover-2. Willis at least played the middle and is familiar with the reads. The only part that will be foreign is having to drop to cover the deep zone- which Crowell has zero experience doing as well. If he has so much trouble with it as a rookie, Jauron will probably scale back to a normal cover 2- just like they modified teh zone coverages last year to accomodate McGee. The Bills are not expesctding to compete for teh SuperBowl in 2007. Why would they put off teh learning curve until 2008 when they could actually be contenders. If tehy draft Willis, he will play MLB from day 1 - where his big plays will outweigh the rookie mistakes.

You are seriously deluded if you think he was the same player in 2006 than he was in 2005. The knee had a huge impact on his play in 2006. Maybe he comes back, maybe he doesn't. The Bills can not afford to take that chance with a 1st round pick, especially #12.

The actual trade was not the point of no return. that was 2 years later when Teflon Tom compounded the problem by extending Drew even though his late season performance did not justify it. All of the prior cap hit from his contract with NE was eaten by the Patriots. However, the big new signing bonus turned into big dead money when he was cut.

He's got similar stats to other all-time greats like Vinne Testeverde.

Crowell has never played MLB in a cover-2 either and doesn't have the athleticism that Willis does. At least Willis has played MLB (not inside in a 3-4) his whole career. The Bills will not lose the Superbowl in 2007 because Willis made a few rookie mistakes in 2007, but he could make them a legitimate contender in 2008.

If you like your LBs with a bad knee. Hard to justify buying damaged goods when you can get a comparable player who is healthy.

As noted above, this list does not equate to where players will go. If Bills want the best MLB in round 1, the Rams at #13 who want a MLB would preclude trading down. Interesting that he ranked everyone's favorite Penn State LB at #39.

too bad he tore up his knee and ruined his career.

I think Occum's razor applies. The right answer is the simplest one. Bills need a playmaker at MLB. Willis is the only one available. Willis will be the pick. I think they will strongly consdier moving up to #10 to get him. However, if he is gone, I agree that WR may be the next best value if they can't move from #12. Even if they take Willis in the first round, I think that WR is a strong possiblity in round 2 with CB and RB in round 3.

The Bills may have offered a 3rd rounder instead. Mort has as much inside info as I do.

not only that - but anything you are reading in a magazine format is about 2 months outdated. As noted above, the lack of perceived speed had Willis as a lower 1st round talent in most mocks. However, the recent on -line material that reflects the combine, senior bowl and pro day have him in the top 15. The complete lack of MLB in this draft may push him into the top 10 as teams have cooled on early favorites like Ted Ginn and Jarrett, and Branch.

Since he can pass block, run block, run patterns and catch the ball in addition to running with it - pretty good. On Turner- My point is that Turner has more chance of being a one dimensional player who benefitted greatly from LT wearing down a defense than he does at being a feature back - especically for teh picks and cash needed to acquire him.

Brandon Jackson has been flying under the radar, but I have been pimping for a while as worthwhile target in the 3rd round as a viable cog in the the Bills RBBC. If the Bills can't get Turner for a 3rd round pick, they should consider Jackson in the 3rd. Breaking Down the Tape - Brandon Jackson, RB, Nebraska by John Powderly (aka ConstruxBoy) Highlight Video http://nfldraftguys.com/features/Tape_Brea...don_Jackson.php Break Down the Tape: 1st Run - 00:05 Decisive and strong through the hole; good pad level; nice forward lean; does a good job at 00:09 leaning forward and right to absorb the hit and fall forward for several more yards 2nd Run - 00:14 - TD Tough camera angle here; looks like a nice plant and go through the hole; nice job lowering his pads and protecting the ball as he takes a hit getting in the endzone 3rd Run - 00:19 Quick through a big hole; needs to make a better stiff arm at 00:21, looks indecisive there, slowed for stiff arm, but then tried to run left and got tripped up by the ankle 4th Run - 00:23 - TD Sweep left; pursuit is there first, not sure if he's slow to the corner or if they read the play; nice gear down and cutback move at 00:26 when he realizes he can't outrun them; good balance getting his hand down; good vision and wiggle in tight space to get through crowd and to the sideline; excellent juke at 00:29 without gearing down very much; nice job to keep legs churning and spin into the endzone; good run 5th Run - 00:32 - At Kansas State Nice hesitation in the backfield to let the hole open, does it without wasting motion; great tight space vision, moving to the right to avoid the LB and then turning it back to the left to avoid the crowd; good vision and avoidance of the official at 00:38; stumbles for some reason at the 45 yard line, must be that Kansas State turf monster; defender has a bit of an angle but a faster RB would have run away from him and eliminated the angle; nice stiff arm/shoulder put on the defender as he goes out of bounds, doesn't go out without a fight 6th Run - 00:44 Nice quick move in the backfield at 00:47 to allude a defender breaking through the line; nice speed turning the corner and runs away from pursuers without an angle; decent gear down when he sees the defender has the angle and nice move to the inside, but a defender is right there 7th Run - 00:54 - At Kansas State Very nice cutback at the LOS to find a hole; nice quickness in a tight space to get by the group of defenders; good avoidance of a diving defender at 00:58; ball not quite as tight to the body as it should be when he gets hit from behind, but he has a nice forward lean there and keeps driving through the tackle 8th Run/Catch - 01:02 Nice catch, although he seems to fight it a bit; bad camera angle and the clip cuts off 9th Run - 01:08 - At Oklahoma State Very fast through a big hole; seems to make the wrong move at 1:11, looks like the left side is more open with a blocker as well, not a good open field move there 10th Run - 01:13 Very nice slip move in the backfield to get by an upfield defender; plants and gets through the hole quickly; runs pretty well in tight space, but runs up the back of his blocker, but does a good job of keeping his legs churning; this clip shows pretty well that he's really more of a downhill runner and isn't going to making many multi-cut runs 11th Run - 01:18 Nice plant with the left foot as he gets through the hole; nice pad level; just as I say he doesn't make good open field moves, he puts a very nice move at 1:20; loses his balance after the cut though 12th Run - 01:22 - TD Pretty quickly through the hole, but a little bit too upright; looks like a real nice juke at 01:24, hard to tell with the video quality; sees the opening to the outside and gets to the endzone quite easily 13th Run - 01:32 Outside pitch, turns it upfield well without needing to gear down; hard to tell because of the video, but it looks like he does a great job lowering his shoulder and hitting a defender(#33) with power at 01:33; slides off the defender well and heads upfield; a freeze frame at 01:34 shows him in great form after getting by the defender: crouched at a great pad level, ball in a safe position and right arm extended, hips upfield; uses that extended arm to stiff arm a defender and get several more yards; very impressive run Replay of 13th Run at 01:37 Shows fantastic pad level and power at 01:39 when he takes on the defender 14th Run - 01:44 Nice job running through a small hole and breaking into the second level; nice job getting into the third level, but gets tackled by a DB; might be better suited just running away from the player and trying a stiff arm instead of trying to make a open field move there; does do a very nice job fighting for extra yards by keeping his legs moving 15th Run - 01:52 Very nice breakdown move in the open field at 01:53; uses off arm well to finish off the move; nice job continuing upfield, this time doesn't make too much of a move, but tries to get away from the defender using a stiff arm; runs with a lot of energy, if not explosiveness 16th Run - 02:02 - TD Bad camera angle; cuts back across the field on a misdirection play; does a nice job with subtle change of speed moves here, slowing down a little and then just speeding up and stretching his body away from the tackle, it might not be as effective in the NFL, but it's still a nice move for him; although he does have the ball close to his body, he should have switched it to his outside arm, this is correctable however; freeze frame at 02:13 shows the great forward lean he has as he gets by the last defender and starts a sprint; film cuts off, but I assume he scored here 17th Run - 02:21 Nice vision and lateral quickness here to cut the run back; at 02:24 you see a problem with the stretch away from the defender move, it leaves him off balance and he gets pulled down by the helmet, leading with his helmet and shoulder there would probably have prevented that; notice the ball in the left arm again 18th Run/Catch - 02:27 Good catch in stride, very nice juke at 02:29 without gearing down; runs through an arm tackle well; does a good job protecting the ball with both hands when being tackled 19th Run - 02:33 Runs with a purpose; seems to take a little more time with cuts than he should here; gets through a tight hole and goes; ball in correct arm here; shows that he lacks the long speed here, but that's still almost a 30 yard gain 20th Run - 02:40 goes outside and shows nice acceleration around the corner here; nice plant and go without much gearing down as he turns the corner; good job lowering his pads at 02:43 to take on the defenders and get several more yeards after initial contact 21st Run - 02:45 Quick burst after the handoff and makes a good cut in the backfield to hit the hole with speed; gets tripped up by a low arm tackle, looks like he tried to shuffle to his right instead of running through it; shows some nice balance keeping his feet and getting 4 or 5 more yards 22nd Run - 02:49 - Oklahoma State - TD A slow motion highlight from the low defensive backfield; lead blocker (#41) makes it hard to see Jackson; does a nice job following the blocker and then avoids a diving defender to get into the endzone 23rd Run - 03:02 Short clip; makes a quick move outside to get around the corner; puts a decent juke on a defender, but clip ends before we can see the result 24th Run/Catch - 03:07 - TD Very nice catch at the back of the endzone; looks like he ran a wheel route and beat a linebacker 25th Run - 03:12 Big hole up the middle; nice quick direction changes with minimal gear down; very nice job of running in a tight space at 03:15, sees there is no opening for a cutback, so he goes right in between masses of bodies, protects the ball and keeps his legs churning, bouncing off several; great job at 03:16 to keep moving even as he gets turned around; outstanding effort 26th Run/Catch - 03:18 Nice catch in the flat; very nice breakdown move at 03:21 to get by first defender; very strong stick by the defender at 03:23 to knock him back, he wasn't square because of eluding another tackle right before the hit, not much he can do there; shows good effort trying to get back to the first down marker, maybe should have just fallen at the initial hit to ensure the first down but that's much easier to say than to do 27th Run - 03:26 - TD Nice balance at 03:28 to stay on feet after an ankle grabber; slides into the endzone; really moves well laterally 28th Run - 03:32 slow motion low angle clip; nice cut into the second level; slides past a defender at 03:38; shows some good determintaion and hand fighting skills at 03:43 and through the end of the run; would have liked to see him lower the shoulder a little bit more there; I think that he sometimes isn't sure when to make a move and when to drive into the defender 29th Run - 03:48 Sweep; reads hole well and cuts to it at 03:50; good quickness through the first level; nice slide to avoide diving defender at the 10 yard line; good job turning it up the sideline with minimal down gear when he sees the small gap between defenders 30th Run/Catch - 03:57 Very nice catch on a high throw and does a great job of getting in a positive position as he hits the ground; because he got into that position he has time to quickly duck down and spin out of a move; clip ends before we can see much more 31st Run - 04:03 Lots of room to run; does a good job of eating up the angles of defenders 32nd Run/Catch - 04:09 Screen pass; nice quickness through the hole; good body lean; good balance at 04:14 as he avoids an ankle tackle; camera angle switches to a better view at 04:16 as he does a very good job hand fighting and continuing to gain yards; takes two defenders to finally get him down; impressive run 33rd Run - 04:19 Outstanding example of running in a tight space here as he picks his way through groups of blockers and defenders; slides through into the second level without losing much momentum; great start/stop move at 04:20; when he sees that there isn't much more he can do laterally, he lowers his shoulders and plows ahead for as much yardage as he can; this may look like a rather blah highlight, but it is really an excellent example of what a run by him in the NFL may look like, with lots of tight spaces and fast defenders, his ability to pick his way into the second level here is an excellent indicator that he should have success in the NFL 34th Run - 04:23 Nice quickness through the hole; great job shaking off the ankle tackle at 04:25; nice job protecting the ball with both hands as he gets into a group of defenders; as we've seen before, he does a great job fighting for extra yardage in the scrum 35th Run - 04:30 At Oklahoma State Very nice speed into the second level; Great open field breakdown move at 04:33, leaves the defender looking silly; good lean at the end as he gets tackled from behind to get more yardage Brandon Jackson Summary: Whew, is it over yet? Very long video with some short clips and bad camera angles. But I saw enough to be very impressed with Brandon Jackson. He runs with purpose and high effort. He has enough quickness and very good vision. He runs very well in tight spaces and yet can make a great breakdown move on a defender in open space. He catches the ball very well and looks natural and fluid translating the catch to a run. Jackson is a great example of a Non-one cut runner. Other RBs I've reviewed, like Pittman and Hunt, make one cut and are then running downhill with only small lateral movements. Jackson is always looking for cuts and lateral moves to make as he gets into the second level. He could use some more work on protecting the ball and using the correct arm to carry it, as well as on the decision making aspect of lowering his shoulder versus making a move. But those are minor things. He looks the most like the model RB, Tomlinson, of anyone I've reviewed so far.

Not sure why you insist on trying to fit a square peg into a round hole. The Bills need an impact MLB and have no one with any experince at teh spot. There is only one player in the draft that they can have some confidence in starting at MLB. Others may get there, but they'd be crossing their fingers big time. The Bills will make every effort to draft him, even considering a move up to #10- which may not be high enough. If the Bills do trade down, Willis won;t last past the Rams at #13.

The Bills need to get an impact playmaker in the 1st round. They would be extremely shortsighted to avoid an elite player in Willis because he has things to learn about the cover-2 and "settle" for a safer option that may never approach ProBowl caliber. The Bills are not going to win the Superbowl in 2007 with whoever they draft. However, by acquiring impact players and living with the learning curve in 2007 will put them muich closer to becoming a legitimate contender in 2008 and beyond.

more likely the Lions will try to trade down to the lower part of top 10 and take Willis there.

looks like Lee Evans has some competition.

Clayton is a buffoon. He has no better inside info than I do at this time of year-which is apparent from his thoughts above. Whatever GMs feed him is to manipulate the media to their benefit.

1. If the Raiders want McNown- they won't be taking another developmental QB in round 2 or Russell in round 1- they already have Walter. 2. If Detroit cuts ties with McNown, they may very well want Russell and all the trade down talk is a smokescreen.

Bills will not draft Buster Davis to play MLB- he is a clone of Fletcher and the anti-MLB for a cover-2. Too short and gets lost in the trash when tryign to tackle. As you state, the Bills would be better served by using inferior players to play the most important position in the cover-2. They would know where to go, but just couldn;t get there due to their physical limitations. I don't think so. You take the elite player with the speed and athletic ability to make gamechanging plays, play him and live with his mistakes - which will be overshadowed by the great plays.

because he's soft and has terrible balance.

Wade is rated too high. He gets heavy deduction for totally ignoring one third of the team - special teams.

The only problem is that the Raiders will take Calvin Johnson at #1. Al Davis does not have time to wait for a rookie QB. They passed on 2 QBs better than Russell last year. They will continue that trend and go with the playmaker with the least downside in Johnson.