2003Contenders

Just because Peterson is a top 5 prospect, it does not mean that he will be drafted in the top 5. While it is unlikely that he would fall that far, something like that could happen if the teams picking in the top 15 feel that they have a greater need at another position. Personally, I think he would be hard for the Bills to pass up at 12, if he falls that far. With all of that said, this guy's mock draft is definitely different from conventional opinion about how the players should be ranked -- and I second-guess a good number of his picks.

There are many compelling reasons to consider drafting a DT early again this season... 1. McCargo is an unproven commodity. 2. Even if McCargo pans out, you can never have enough big bodies to rotate on the interior of the DL. Just because we went that direction last season, doesn't mean we shouldn't go that way again. The Jags drafted Stroud and Henderson in the first round in consecutive seasons. That worked out pretty well for them. 3. Thankfully, Anderson is a goner, so we may as well seek an upgrade. 4. For as much as K Williams was a pleasant surprise last season, he is not a long term solution. 5. The interior was horrible at stopping the run last season -- and still needs to be addressed. With Clements and London both possibly gone, we may have needs to fill at DT, CB, and MLB in addition to our always OL requirement. With the 12th pick overall, we will probably have the luxury of taking the best player available -- without having to pinpoint a specific position. Heck we could even draft a WR or RB with that pick if there is a player too good to pass up there (i.e. Peterson).

Are you guys talking about Will Blaylock? If so, he's probably a Day 2 pick.

Actually the Redskins were in BIG trouble last year prior to the CBA extension. In fact, it was Lavar Arrington's willingness to return some of his original signing bonus (effectively buying his way off the team) that allowed them to sneak under the cap. This year, even with the large cap ($109 M), which has MOST teams in great shape, the Skins are still having to resort to these kinds of restructures to save face. The bigger problem for them is that they don't get good value for their mis-spent money. Last year Archuleta and Brunell may have been the high paid scout team players in NFL history...

Jansen's original base salary was set to be $4.25 M this year. Without knowing the full details of his contract, by spreading the $10 M signing bonus over a five year extension, assuming that his new base is something around the league minimum, that should cut this portion of his cap liability down to less than $3 M this year. Thus, the 'Skins probably saved between $1 M to $1.5 M against the cap in 2007 by doing this. Of course, Jansen has a nasty history of injuries, so you have to wonder how wise this decision was in the long haul.

The sad thing is that he STILL out-rushed Willis last year.

One thing I always found interesting about the situation is that when the 2003 season came to an end both Gregg and Killdrive were gone -- as was the OL coach at the time. Thus, Brown's departure was NOT driven by animosity from the coaching staff.

A few years ago the Jags picked DTs in the first round in two straight drafts. Marcus Stroud and John Henderson have done a fine job solidifying the interior of that line for years to come. Without knowing about what is going to happen between now and draft day (i.e. free agent gains and losses), I see no reason to pass on Okoye if he is there.

I'm guessing that someone was trying to make the comparisons between Polian's Colts and Bills teams.

Excellent points. The funny thing is that Reyes was probably the highest profile FA signing of all from last year. For what it's worth, in Chris Brown's blog yesterday, he predicted that the Bills will let Gandy walk and go after Eric Steinbach in a major way. Also, don't get too excited about Briggs. Supposedly he and the Giants' Antonio Pierce are good friends -- and Pierce has been trying to woo him to come play for the Giants. Pierce told the press that he didn't think that the Giants would be able to afford Briggs... If the Giants can't afford him, where does that leave the Bills?

Forget about Aikman too... His overall stats were inflated by that first game in which he threw 4 TD passes -- thanks to the horrible job our own offense did setting him up with 8 or 9 turnovers. Believe it or not, Kelly outplayed him in the second Super Bowl, and he didn't do anything all that special in the win over the Steelers either. He was a decent QB -- who was blessed with a great offensive line and Emmit Smith. (Take a look back at what his career record looked like WITHOUT Emmit!)

If the draft really did break down like that when we're sitting there at #12, I sure hope we'd take a long look at A Peterson or Okoye...

Actually I think it had less to do with money -- and more to do with the manner in which the players felt that they were being treated. TD had a knack for putting out a "Take it or leave it!" offer that was often viewed by the players as being insulting. He would then demonize the player in the press to make them seem greedy for not accepting his low-ball offer. Many of us admire TD at the time for driving a hard bargain, but (in the long run) I think it had a negative toll. I think Marv has done some positive things (including the way he handled the troy Vincent situation last year) to help turn that feeling around. That is one reason why I don't think that we can write off Nate coming back so quickly. Of course, Nate's situation is much different than, say, Pat's was because Pat really wanted to stay here -- and a reasonable offer would have kept him from ever testing the free agency market. The contract he signed with the Vikings was not THAT extravagant. As for Nate, we all know that his goal is to see how much he can get paid in free agency. A player has the right to test the market, and the front office shouldn't be vindictive, when the said player chooses to do so. At least Marv has done a decent job of building up morale to make players WANT to stay here. If Nate prices himself out of our reach, then so be it -- but at least it won't be because he felt disrespected by the current organization and went somewhere he felt wanted.

Reminds me of the Super Bowl XXVII highlight film that ESPN shows every year that Jimmy Johnson narrates in his monotone voice for some inane reason: "I liked Jim..." (at the point when JK gets knocked out of the game).

Also, signing Hood would be very similar in style to what the team did last year in free agency, when instead of tabbing big names, they went after guys that they thought were on the cusp of being quality players.

I think some people are placing too much emphasis on his weight. By all accounts he has looked exceptional this week in Senior Bowl practices. And 287 lbs of lean muscle is still harder to hold at bay than 300+ lbs of fat goo...

Also, in Reed's defense that was a pretty good Giants defense he faced, which was predicated on stooping the passing attack with as many as 8 guys dropping back into coverage. To me it was pretty amazing that he managed to get open as often as he did.

I would say that some of the acquisitions that we made on defense in the off-season between 2002 and 2003: TKO, Sam Adams, Lawyer Milloy -- made a difference in elevating the defense from the bottom of the league to #2. Of course, Bledsoe and the offense were so bad we still finished with a 6-10 record.

There are several high profile Jewish people that work as ESPN. I would assume that if this had any teeth to it, then ESPN's response would have been much different than it was.

Agreed. And note that he excelled later in the season, when being matched up against the opponent's top receiver. Harrison, A Johnson, Coles and Chris Chambers were virtually shutdown by Nate.

That Madden guy was pretty good too...

We laugh at Davis, but he usually "picks" the right coach. (He really wanted Sean Payton a couple years back). Too bad no one wants to work for him.

That's because with few exceptions (Hawk, Urlacher) LBs are not a premium draft position, and you can usually nab a good one in the later rounds.

I have too chuckle at those who worry about how much money Nate can command. It's not OUR money we are talking about spending -- it's Ralph's, right? Now, I suppose I could understand if we were in cap trouble and folks felt that it would be smarter to allocate the money elsewhere. However, we look to be $40 M under the cap! A team that everyone keeps saying may be a suitor is Washington. Now THAT is a team that is in serious cap trouble. Thus, there is no way that they would be able to outbid for his services if it came right down to it. The truth of the matter is that Nate was a positive for this team last season. Given that we have some holes to fill -- which in my opinion are actually "fillable" -- why should we open more holes by letting someone like Nate walk. So what if he signs an over-inflated contract? It is worth more to our team to keep him, than it would be to spend the money on finding someone else to back-fill him. Has everyone forgotten how awful McGee was last season? Do you really want to imagine him as our #1 CB? I keep hearing all of this media speculation that Nate may have priced himself out of Buffalo, but I wonder why that seems to be a given. During the Super Bowl years Ralph had no problem paying guys like Kelly, Thurman, Bruce, Cornelius, etc top dollar. So why should he now? In my opinion, if Nate leaves it's either because 1. He didn't want to come back. or 2. The coaching staff felt like they had a better alternative. From the quotes I've read, it sounds like he wants to be back. And Fewell made it a point to identify him as a strength for our defense. Thus, I do not see either of the above points as factual. The reality is that Nate is excited about testing the market because this is his best shot at getting a big payday. Thus, I do not necessarily feel that the team's inability to sign him to a long contract prior to now means that he doesn't want to be back. Rather, he knows that there are LOTS of teams out there with cap space, the CB position is always in high demand -- and he is coming off a very good season. Thus, it would be foolish of him NOT to test the market. Now, maybe some team will make such a ridiculous offer that it is NOT in the Bills' best interest to meet or exceed it, but I still believe that he has a better than 50/50 shot at re-upping with the Bills, provided that he is sincere about wanting to come back.

I seriously heard this same report last week, when Parcells first hinted at retirement. It would make sense on a number of levels, given that the Cowboys are currently running a 3-4 scheme -- and fans out in Dallas will probably warm a little easier to Wade than Buffalo fans ever did. Note without comment: we play them next year.