Mickey

I get what you are saying but you know, I think this is a time to look forward with hope and not the time to ponder how and when to immerse ourselves in the past and wallow in thoughts of how it all went wrong. There will be time and reason enough in the future to be miserable, goodness knows. Can we spend a day or two looking forward and not backward? Can we celebrate just a little about the highest drafted Buffalo QB in team history coming to town?

Let me translate this for those who don't speak whiner: I didn't get what I want so I am going to throw a non-stop, non-sensical tantrum until my adderall wears off.

I was hoping for Rosen but I have been positive about Allen and defended him hereabouts for awhile. I choose to be optimistic here and will remain so. I worry that people aren't going to give him a chance and will be calling for his head after any and every mistake. I understand people feeling strongly about this, especially those on the board who have been arguing against Allen for quite awhile. The thing is, the debate is over. You can let it go and give him a legitimate shot at winning your support or you can immediately shift into arguing that "they blew it, just wait and see" without missing a beat.

the Gronk Killer

gotta be edmonds

how do we give up nothing for him and not get undercut by Miami at 11 or AZ trading up??

time to pull the trigger, don't let miami or arizona jump us

I hear Trent Rudolph is the guy, or is it Mason Edwards?

So...asking for a friend here, whats the right way to do it, across the wrist or lengthwise?

Looks? Well, I think Josh Allen is oh, soooo dreamy but Baker does have his own car so that's way cool. Rosen isn't as cute but he is kinda rich so we could go to lots of totally expensive places and that Sammy, he is just sooo funny and you gotta....uh-oh, I'm late for Trig, see you in study hall...

Highly doubt Edmunds will still there on the board but I suppose it's possible. I'd prefer Smith personally but I also like liver & onions so...there's that.

I like 15, in honor of Jack Kemp

Maybe so but two of those guys are safeties and one is a corner, neither is a position of need for us let alone worth a first round pick. Another one of those guys is a RB and we already have a great one. The guys we could most use are the 4 QB's, Edmonds, Smith, Nelson and Chubb. Add in the guys we don't really need, Barkley, James, Ward and Fitzpatrick and thats your 12. Vita Vea would be nice as would DaRon Payne but neither is really an impact player or a game changer. Maybe Calvin Ridley will be there at 12 but I have had enough of trying to build a winner with first round WR's. Many of the rest are on the OL and yeah, we could use help there but other than Nelson, none of them is anywhere near "elite". The good news is we are another day closer to all this guessing being over!

Smith and Nelson will be long gone by 12. Not really any game changers past the top 10 or so. Maybe an OT or a DE.

Nothing because its all a crapshoot and if I keep my picks and bide my time, QB Reggie Collier of Southern Miss. would have fallen into my hands in the 6th round. Good mediocre things come to those who wait. Plus, I could have used those picks to fill the many holes the Bills of 1983 had up and down the roster.

I agree. I certainly see that moving up high enough might not be possible so I won't be shocked at all if we end up stuck at 12. I'll be absolutely sick about it but I won't be shocked. Ugh.

I will not explain my art.

Scene: an apple farm in western ny. Narrator: It was finally September and little Brandy Branbean was soooo excited. For years young Brandy had tended to the apple tree in his back yard, waiting and hoping for the day to come when it would finally bear fruit. And the time had come, his little apple tree now stood tall and proud and in its upper branches grew four, shiny red apples ripening in the late summer sun. “Should I pick them all? He wondered. "If I pick just one, which one should it be?" His father warned him that these apples could be sour as the tree was still young and you simply can’t tell if an apple is sweet until you bite into one. "And even if one is sweet, how do you know which one is the sweet one? Its all a crapshoot" his father explained. “Better to wait until next year” his wise old Dad explained. “The tree will be older and bear more apples that are bound to be sweeter. Pick one now and you will stunt its growth, you’ll have fewer to pick next year.” Brandy decided to listen to his Dad and, as hard as it was, he picked no apples that fall. He waited and waited and waited for spring. Spring came after a long, desolate winter, bereft of apple pies, apple fritters and candy apples. Spring gave way to summer but Brandy Branbean’s apple tree did not flourish. It grew many feet higher but this time, it sprouted but two, small, wormy-green apples. Wrinkled and rotten, they hung from the tree unmolested by birds or squirrels, or dolphins or cardinals, who had no interest in the rotting fruit. Brandy didn’t bother to pick the worthless apples and set aside his hopes for another year. Winter came with a vengeance, and without sweet, sweet apples, was all the harder to endure. A wet spring caused Brandy Branbean’s apple tree to grow and grow and grow until it was twice as high and thrice as wide as it had ever been. And that summer many beautiful, ruby red apples grew and ripened in the highest branches. September came at along last and Brandy Branbean went and got the tallest ladder in the county so as to finally reap his harvest of apple treats. But alas and alack, not even the tallest ladder in the land could reach those ripe, ripe, sweet, sweet apples. Brandy could pick and pick and pick but he couldn’t pick high enough to reach his heart's desire. He traded his ladder for a big stick and whacked at the tree, whack, whack, whack! But nothing dropped, his mighty tree stood still and the apples would not fall. Brandy was clever but the tree was cleverer and once again, Brandy Branbean faced another fall and winter without apple pies, apple butter, apple jam, apple wine, apple fritters and his favorite of all, spicy playoff apples. Brandy Branbean’s old Dad picked the apples close to the ground but they were small, dry and without flavor. "No matter," his fathers said, "at least they were easy to reach." Little Brandy Branbean's mom tried to console her apple-less son with words sage and wise: “Sometimes son, you should maybe ignore your Dad for being old doesn’t make one wise, it just makes one old. Besides, that man once went 17 years without growing a single, edible apple." End Scene.

What is to be gained by announcing it publicly since any GM can find out in 5 minutes if they are interested in trading? The reason to say something like that publicly has nothing to do with other GMs, or their actual strategy. It has to do with public relations with their own fans. By saying this, if later they don't trade down and people criticize them for it, they can say that they tried but no one gave them a good deal. If they were to say ahead of time that there was no way they were going to trade down, people would criticize them for not at least listening to offers. In the end, they said the thing that means nothing at all. "We are open to a trade". It immunizes them against criticism. Fans that want them to trade down will be thrilled to hear it and those that don't want a trade down can take comfort in the fact that they haven't committed to anything. Fans in the middle will be happy to hear they are considering all options.

Yes, because you can always trust what NFL GM's say publicly about their draft intentions. Play it close to the vest? Misdirection? Nonsense. The secret to a solid draft is to burble your strategy to the press. Its like poker, the best plan is to show your opponents your cards. People respect that kind of honesty.

Denver being "open to trade out of 5" means nothing. Only an idiot would say, a week before the draft, "no, I am not open to trading down, even if offered a King's ransom".

No, not Gaelic Rules Football, apart from a few gems they mostly played mediocre rules football. Tyrod is one of them and granted, he was a starter and he wasn't drafted in the first round but he also wasn't good enough to keep on our roster. Good QB's can be found in rounds other than the first, you are absolutely right. Thing is, I don't think anyone is arguing with you. All they are saying is that statistically, the hit rate on QB's is higher at the top of the draft. Responding to that with examples of non-first round QB's is just not relevant. Its like responding to an argument that water is wet by steadfastly maintaining that fire is hot. You're not wrong but...

Saying "we traded up to get a QB" does not = "the only reason we traded up is to get a QB". I don't know anyone who is taking the position that the absolute sole consideration was getting a QB. The fairest and most reasonable interpretation of "we traded up to get a QB" is "the primary reason we traded up was to get a QB". Excellent analysis but, full disclosure, I am partial to yeast based metaphors so I'm more than a bit biased.

No you don't because history shows that the hit rate is higher at the top of the draft than the bottom. And if you are planning your draft strategy based on your evaluation team not being competent enough to find winners in the first round, why would you trust them to find winners in the 5th round? As for the Patriots trading down, you can do that when you have the best QB in the league, not when your future currently depends on a bottom of the barrel free agent back-up from Cincinnati.

“One source, who has dealt with quarterbacks at the top of the draft the past five years, believes Mayfield to the Jets is a ‘done deal.'” What does "...has dealt with quarterbacks..." mean? And why would someone who has "dealt with quarterbacks" know what three NFL GM's are going to do on draft day? How can you have a "done deal" if two teams will have the chance to draft the player you want? A "done deal" is a deal that is actually done as opposed to a deal that is merely possible or desired. And just so we are clear, the word "done" means "brought to an end, completed or finished". This needs to stop before someone gets hurt.