simpleman

The only player with the potential impact to justify the true cost of doing this is the "almost" sure thing great QB. And there is no longer a QB in the draft with the name Luck. A few years too late.

I thought I would approach the trade back talk a little differently and focus on the type of talent those extra picks might make available to the Bills to build the team for the now, and the future. I only listed extra picks from 2nd though 7th we might pick up through a trade back deal. I purposely skipped Round 1, since it most likely would be a swap of position, not an extra pick. With the depth of talent in this years draft in the 2nd, you choose players that you hope will not only be solid, but will someday be in the conversation about being Pro Bowlers at their respective positions. Austin Seferian-Jenkins, TE 2nd Morgan Moses OT 2nd David Yankey, OG 2nd Trent Murphy, DE 2nd Troy Niklas, TE 2nd In this deep draft you expect 3rd rounders to be the foundation of your team. If you are lucky, they become Pro Bowlers. But you are happy if they just become solid players that anchor your team’s strengths. Donte Moncrief, WR 3rd C.J. Fiedorowicz, TE 3rd Dakota Dozier, OG 3rd In this deep draft in the 4th you choose players who may never become pro bowlers, but are solid good players who you expect to contribute very soon and for a number of years. They become part of the steady but not splashy foundation of your team. Cyril Richardson, OG 4th Kenneth Ladler, FS 4th Christian Jones, ILB 4th Shayne Skov, ILB 4th In the 5th you take players you think have the potential to blossom in a few years, or as depth and as backups. And hope to be pleasantly surprised. Aaron Murray, QB 5th Andre Williams, RB 5th Crockett Gillmore, TE 5th In the 6th or 7th you take players with high rewards/ high risk. Either they make it big or they crash and burn. You don’t expect them to contribute much the first year. Included are those that have 1st round talent & skills but, character issues that can easily cause them to crash and burn. (Lyerla & Lynch) Cody Latimer, WR 6th Colt Lyerla, TE 6th Aaron Lynch, DE 6th Hakeem Smith, SS 7th Tre Boston, FS 7th Logan Thomas, QB 7th Ethan Westbrooks, DE 7th If they make it through the draft, you quickly gobble them up as UDFAs and give them a shot.

Nice dream, but no way it will happen. The team has already said that they will be posturing themselves to make the team give the best return to Wilson's heirs. And they will do that by making purely business decisions that increase the amount of money the sale of the team will generate for the heirs. Sadly being a good or winning team does not increase the sale value of the team. It is about dollars, not about love of the sport or how popular the team is when it comes to buying a business asset. The buyers are buying one of an artificially capped number of only 32 teams. And the location of the team, it's market size, its winning record, and even its players under contract are not a huge determining factor. It is the fact it is one of only 32 teams, and the buyer will do what they want with the team within reason after they have it. Whatever will make the new owner a greater profit. That is how business works.

I would have no problem with this as later round developmental pick. But picking him in the third would be like picking TJ in the third. A huge reach when we have real needs and a lot of real talent available in those need areas that could contribute immediately. Considering the talent available above him, noway I would use a 3rd on him. Now in the 5th.

From Mrags post it sounds like you should take the time to visit your local sporting goods superstores and check out the jerseys in person before ordering online. And surprisingly, you actually sometimes even can save money buying locally. There are only a few legitimate manufactures and they will all be available for your personal examination. Make sure you buy a quality jersey that will make you feel proud for years to come.

I was saying that Hughes was going to cost way too much to keep beyond this 2014 season for his very limited role as someone who just rushes the passer. Not saying he isn't good at that role, or that he should have the role changed this year, just that paying him what he will want next year for that role will just not be reasonable for the economics of the team as a whole after this year. We need to find a DE that is more balanced and fill more roles well. And with a rookie contract we could afford. Astro was talking about Hughes contract expiring in 2015 in his original post.

Other than at CB, I don't see our FA activity as changing the needs I perceive on the team, other than adding another hole at S. I still would have liked to see someone like Clements brought in there at safety who could effectively fill the hole,but the Bills seem poised to repeat the mistakes of last year by not doing the right thing. While Spikes was a good signing, I just see him as a situational player,not an every round LB solution for the future. I can not see using Round 1-4 picks on future needs, when you have immediate critical needs to fill first. Plug the leaks before the ship sinks and only when you have the leaks plugged do you try to rebuild the boat. A G and a RT. A ILB who can stuff the run AND cover the pass, a big tall TE or WR with sure hands. After that Williams RB in the 5th would be great. A QB in the 5th or 6th. A LDE in the 6th or 7th. Do you really think we could afford to keep a situational Hughes for what he does in 2015?

Thanks for the suggestions of Westbrooks & Webster as late round picks. I see more potential in them than the 15-20 earlier mid round picks rated higher than them. Both seem great choices in the late rounds. Neither would be impact this year, but both are great development projects with all the right measurables and lots of potential upside. I don't see him as even lasting till day two.

Makes absolute sense. When you make 7 Million a year,you should be spending some of your own time and money improving your job skills. In most fields, professionals spend a lot of their own time and money doing so, why shouldn't big bucks sports figures do so. I wish it was a trend.

To all those knowledgeable draft prospect pros out there. Considering our change of Defensive coach and our need to improve our defense against the run, who would be the best prospects in the mid to later rounds to play the opposite side of Mario in obvious run situations? And Why?

While I would like to trade down, any trade would have to at least include another 2nd round pick, even if it involved switching later picks as well to keep the points reasonable. At #9 this year and with the QBs expected to use so many of those picks, there are huge odds that top 5 talent at one of our positions of need will be there at #9. No way you give up top 5 talent for just a 3rd round pick.

Facetious is hard to do in print. I hope that was the case with this post.

Hard to disagree with what you said. You balanced fan boy optimism with realistic caution without sounding like a Koolaide drinker. Thanks you sharing your thoughts

I just can't get my head around the belief on this board by so many that being a first round selection even means anything positive, if after 4 years of actually playing in the NFL, you are consistently graded among the worst at your position. As I posted in a thread a while ago, even first rounds picks made by teams that do all the legwork and research admit that the chances of drafting a solid player is still merely no better than a simple coin flip.

I admit I did not see all the games last year. But I just can not remember Lawson having a game where I said "Boy is he bad". Not a superstar by any means, but I remember seeing a smart, solid player. To you and those that seem to think he deserves a demotion, can you point out specific plays in specific games that gave you such a negative view of Lawson? Please educate this obviously uninformed football viewer with specifics that will educate and inform me better.

Since we strengthened ourselves at LB and CB in FA, I modified my draft needs. I’m still worried about the OL and safety, but the Bills seem unwilling to address that properly, I hope it doesn’t turn out tragically like the Lev situation did last year. I’m not saying the Bills did wrong letting Byrd and Lev go, just that they tried to address from within (or this year by overpaying REALLY bad FA talent) and failed horribly. Ideally a trade down, if available for more picks in 2nd (& 3rd? ). But if not: BPA at WR, TE in the 1st who is big, tall, good hands, ability to run good routes and give the QB relief when things go wrong. BPA at OT in the 2nd. (Cyrus Kouandjio, Morgan Moses, Antonio Richardson, Jack Mewhort ) If no TE in the first, ASJ or Nikolas in the 3rd , CJ Fiedorowicz or Gillmore in the 4th If TE already selected in the 1st, then LB Skov or Jones in the 3rd or 4th BPA at Guard in the 4th if no TE or ILB taken If Williams (RB) drops, select him or your QB prospect in the 5th (Murray?) BPA at need positions in 6th and 7th (OL, S, WR, QB developmental)

Now Sign S Chris Clemons and I will consider FA a success. We can concentrate on getting a S , TE and ILB in the mid rounds without having to reach in the early rounds. Let the rookies we already have and the new draftees grow into the position. The Kiko's who contribute immediately are the exception, not the expected. Love the Spikes, Graham signings. The early signings were of the WTHWYT type, but they recovered.

This sounds reliable enough for me, LOL! LOL! LOL!

Thank you, that is the bottom line so far. I guess to some, the Bills have successfully set the bar so low in their minds they find that a good result.. Although I question whether a guard rated in the bottom 10 out of over 80 active guards is just "below average". And since some posters seem to be implying that former 1st round draftees just have to be a good signings, regardless of his actual play in the NFL, I hear there is this former 1st round number 1 pick QB with the initials JR that is only 28 years old and very low mileage that is available for signing. He just must be an incredible signing. Get it done!

Something makes sense when it is a good value. It isn't just the position a player is listed at, it also is how well they play for how much you pay them. Rogers was listed at the right position, CB, would resigning him make sense to you at 4 Million a year? Signing one of the worst rated guards at a ridiculous price makes sense? Going dumpster diving and buying a bottle of sparking water does not turn it into a bottle of fine champagne, even if you pay for it like it was.

Finally, a FA signing that actually makes sense!

Oh Great. We pay 3 Million a year for one of the 10 worst rated guards in the whole NFL. Great signing

:thumbsup:

When I look back at last year there are a number of players I thought at one time or another, "get rid of the bum". I never said "That Lawson is a superstar", but he never was a player I said "what a bum". Solid, reliable. A team needs more of that kind of players than they do superstars. Except maybe at QB

Not sure the Bills could afford Graham, but I would hope they at least talk to him if he does not resign with the Ravens. It would give the Bills extra quality depth at CB and be a definite upgrade for #3 CB. Does not hurt that he is a homeboy.