Cheddar's Dad

Can he play both guard and center positions? Without a doubt.

Did you notice how well the Jets stuffed our run game this past season? Urbik proved to a valuable player at RG and C but he does not impress me as being tough and nasty. DeCastro is tough and nasty. Watching the way teams like the 49ers play shows that, if you want to win, you need players that are willing to brawl. I don't think Urbik is that player. He is big enough but doesn't have that, you will not beat me, attitude.

Many criticized him for selecting Spiller when we had Lynch and Jackson on the team. Those people are now thinking, I think, that it was a pretty good move. Many criticized him for selecting Spiller when we had Lynch and Jackson on the team. Those people are now thinking, I think, that it was a pretty good move.

I know. It's an opinion not shared by many of my fellow arm chair quarterbacks. But Buffalo has such a bad drafting record. (That's prior to Buddy.) And the draft is naturally an iffy thing. So I've come to feel there must be a smarter way to play this game. Salary cap implications of trades? I think the acquiring team has to handle the impact of the acquired player's contract unless a new contract can be worked out with the player. I don't think Buffalo needs to worry about it's cap unless the acquired player is Payton Manning.

Would I take Trent Richardson if he were there? Absolutely. If you gather very good players at one position. You can trade one for a proven veteran player at that position of need. This is much better than reaching for a collegian who, you may hope, can play a positiion. A high 1st round pick should not be spent on a reach. Doing that accounts for the list of #10s referred to in the article I mentioned. One more thing about guards. Guards are not valued as highly as tackles. We all know that. Many mock drafts grade players on perceived positions of importance rather than true rankings of best player available. In my opinion, that is why some have a player like Reiff rated higher than DeCastro. When you find mocks that rank a guard above the best tackles in a draft, you have good reason to think that guard is a special player. Buffalo has, all too often, gone for that need player and, all too often, selected busts. This team cannot continue to do that.

Upshaw would be my choice for the 34 OLB position; not my choice for the 43 at DE or OLB. I'm not sure I'd take anyone in this year's draft at #10 for the 43 OLB or DE.

Let me refer you to a piece just put on BUFFALORUMBLINGS.COM titled 2012 NFL Draft: Buffalo Bills Must Shake No. 10 Stigma. It talks about an unimpressive lists of players selected at #10 by several teams over the past recent years. I think a GM should be able to get an elite player in the top 10. The reason, in my opinion, that GMs often fail in that regard is that they reach to fill positions of need. I think the way to build a team is to get as many elite players that you possibly can and fill around them with good players. Yes we have some guards. I think our LG is very good. I think our RG is OK. I must agree that this is not a position of great need. But I would rather get an all pro at RG than another Edwards or Kelsay at DE.

I think it was both. When you pick that early in the first round, your chances of getting the best player on the board at your greatest position of need is much better that if you pick later on in the 1st. Last year, Buffalo needed to draft a run stuffer and, I think, got the best one in the draft. This year we pick 10th. and there seems to be no consensus about the pass rusher this year. If you read these boards; some like Coples, some Upshaw, some Mercilus. Which one is the best? I don't know. And that is precisely the trouble with this years' draft in my opinion. No one has separated himself from the others as the best pass rusher. We know who the best guard is, it's Decastro. In fact, I think he's the best O-lineman, better at his position than any of the top ranked tackles are at their's. Blackman and Jeffrey are the two best wr's and it's close. But the toughest question to answer is this; would drafting Decastro improve the play at guard more than drafting a lessor player at DE when that lessor player would still be better than what Buffalo currently has at DE? And that gets me back to picking the best player available. With the 10th. overall, if it's Decastro, I think you pick him. Have I heard anything about our base defense? No. Buddy said that Buffalo played the 34 and 43 last year. Does the promotion of Wannsted to D-Coordinator mean Buffalo is to be a primary 43? Maybe. Then again, maybe not. Not knowing makes it tough on a draft addict like me.

Agreed. Buffalo has some serious needs on defense. But the big question to me is can the Bills fill one of those needs with pick #10? Specifically; these are my concerns. Pass Rush is the top need. If Buffalo moves to the 43 defense, the need becomes a pass rusher at DE. Which one would you select. Coples? Have you read all of the negative articles about him being a me first underachiever with a bad work ethic? If Buffalo uses #10 on Upshaw. Is he a top notch rusher? Would either Coples or Upshaw give the team the kind of production that Alshon Jeffery, or Decastro, two highly rated players on offense, might provide? The 10th pick is a premium pick and should not be used to select a bottom half of the 1st. rd. or top half of the second round player. Buddy has proven to me that the right thing to do is to select the best player with that premium pick as he did with the selection of C.J. and to try to fill those other needs in subsequent rounds assuming the best defensive players at your positions of need are not equal to the best player available at another position. It could be that when it is Buffalo's turn at #10, that best player available will be Jeffrey or Decastro.

After watching Tebow last night, it looks to me like Denver needs Quinn much more than we do and will not let him go.

Now that's the kind of discussion I hoped to stimulate. Playing the 43 47% of the time sounds like playing the 34 53% of the time. Let me check my math. Yes. That's it. This means to me that the 34 was our base D in 2011 and could be again in 2012 despite the clues you mentioned. I think I'm hoping the team uses the 43 as our base in 12 and it is disconcerting that so much effort was made to acquire 34 personnel. Yet, I don't know if the effort was wasted. I think Troup, Carrington, Batten and Moats can develop as valuable backups in the 43. That means Buffalo's primary needs are pass rushing DE and fast OLB. That is why passing on the chance to get Upshaw will confirm, in my mind, that the 43 is definitely in since I don't think he can play 43 OLB.

Let me re-state. 1.If you read the latest mock drafts, you notice some things. A. Many have the Bills selecting Upshaw. B. Many have Upshaw ranked in the top half of the first rd. of the 2012 draft. 2. There have been a number of topics started here that have discussed Upshaw; especially since the BCS Championship game in which he was named defensive MVP. Some here want him badly, others less so. 3. A strong argument can be made that the Bills' greatest need is for a pass rusher and some feel Upshaw could be that for Buffalo. With the above as a backdrop, I proposed the idea stated above focusing on Upshaw and no one else. It's just an idea but one that I think has merit; especially if the Bills DO select Upshaw. I think that would be a strong indicator they will stay with the 34 defense. Now, how is that circular?

No! Not flawed. The subject is Upshaw. It is not that there might be a player out there that the Bills like better than Upshaw. My statement included such speech as "could signal" and "likely means". It's merely an interpretation or theory about what selecting Upshaw or not selecting him MIGHT mean. Reading comprehension is important here, folks.

The Bills are not likely to announce whether or not they are switching to the 43 defense. To do so would not be smart. But if they do not select Upshaw with their 1st., that could signal that they are moving to the 43. The reason is simple. With the 43, they need more speed at OLB than Upshaw can deliver. He is a 34 OLB. If they do select Upshaw, the opposite would seem to be true. It likely means they are staying with the 34 as their base defense.

I don't think C. Upshaw is quick and he's not really fast. He appears to be very strong and good vs. the run. But his lack of quickness and speed would suggest he is not a pass rusher which is what Buffalo will be looking for with their #10 pick. I could be very wrong here as I like the way he uses his hands and I've notices that, at 6'2" and very strong, he has a dip move and is able to get under an OT to make a sack. It's hard to say who would be a good pick at the #10 position. Upshaw is questionable because of speed and there are other Upshaw types like Mercilus and Melvin Ingram, DE from S. Carolina, that may be there for Buffalo in the 2nd. Coples is questionable because of work ethic. I wouldn't be surprised if Buffalo took an O-lineman or WR at 10. There is an O-lineman that I really like but he plays a position where buffalo is well set. That player is OG David DeCastro who I think is the best guard to enter the draft since Steve Hutchinson. I think DeCastro is a top six pick and will be as good as Hutchinson in his prime or Logan Mankins. Would Buffalo take him? Probably not. But if they did I would feel they have added a great player to their roster.

Don't speak for me. I didn't want Mathews. I thought he was too small and too slow. I have seen nothing, so far, that causes me to think my first impression was wrong. What "places are falling into place" that makes you think Buffalo will trade for Mathews? I think you've been eating too many "crayonz".

Their best players got old.