Bagel

Trent had bad luck in that he just missed Ty Willingham's tenure at Stanford and had to suffer through Buddy Teevens and Walt Harris -- although Harris is an elite QB coach. In Ty's last year at Stanford the team went 9-3. Gordio, I'm not quite sure what you are referring to with regards to players leaving. Trent came in with an excellent recruiting class, including the number 1 DE in the country (Julian Jenkins). In Trent's first three years as a starter the team went 13-20. In Trent's junior year (2005) Stanford was one blown call away from 6-6, beating Navy, Washington State, Arizona, Arizona State and Oregon State. They also took UCLA to overtime and almost beat a 9-2 Notre Dame team (Notre Dame won in the last minute). In Trent's senior year at Stanford (2006), I thought that the major problem was his receivers. Once Bradford and Moore (both of whom should be on NFL rosters next year) got hurt, he was throwing to walk-ons and redshirts who could not get any separation. Opponents crowded the box and blitzed at will because they could cover the receivers one on one. It was an awful year. But saying that Stanford had no talent during Trent's tenure is misleading. In the last 10 years Stanford has had 35 players drafted by the NFL -- second most in the Pac-10 behind USC. Since 2002, Trent's freshman red-shirt season, they have had 26 players drafted.

Two points: 1. In Trent's four year playing career at Stanford his team was down by 30 at the half once (USC in 2005, Trent missed the Notre Dame in 2003). 2. In Trent's worst year at Stanford (2006), I thought that the major problem was his receivers. Once Bradford and Mooore got hurt, he was throwing to walk-ons and redshirts who could not get any separation. Opponents blitzed all day because they could cover the receiveers one on one. It was not pretty. But let's not forget that in Trent's junior year (2005) Stanford was one blown call away from 6-6, beating Navy, Washington State, Arizona, Arizona State and Oregon State. They also took UCLA to overtime and almost beat a 9-2 Notre Dame team (Notre Dame won in the last minute). Clearly, he did have some success.

It appears that Carlson's draft status may suffer like Trent's last year in that both: (1) played for lousy teams their senior year and (2) were affected by the flu at the time of the combine. Similarly, Carlson, like Trent, would be an absolute steal in the third round.

One other interesting note from that article regarding old friend Eric Moulds: There were two surprises in the highest and lowest success percentages for wide receivers. The lowest success percentage belonged to Chris Chambers (44.8). His 16 drops certainly didn't help, so Chambers is capable of bouncing back. The highest success percentage belonged to Eric Moulds (79.7). While his 7.8 YPA was not all that great, any wide receiver still able to post a success percentage that high deserves a roster spot somewhere in this league. Success Percentage: The percentage of plays a player does something successful with the ball. Successful plays include completions (for offensive players), incompletions (for defensive players) and penalty plays that go in the player's favor.

This is what he said about JP in today's chat: Tony (Rochester, NY): Hey KC, Been wondering about JP Losman? What were his 2006 metric like? What's your analysis of his play last year? J (Milwaukee): How were JP Losman's bad decision metrics this year? And were they an improvement over last year? To the untrained eye it sure seemed that way. KC Joyner: (4:05 PM ET ) You guys are something like the 4th or 5th persons to ask me about Losman in the past few days! Losman had very good deep metrics (5th best YPA in bombs) but his combined medium/short metrics were terrible, especially the bad decision percentage. Overall his bad decision percentage was around the Jon Kitna level, if that tells you anything! Lane (Kukuihaele, HI): Losman gets help with the additions of Walker, Dockery, and Whittle to the offensive line. Pass protection may have been a part of his bad decisions. Do you think these additions will help him even though there's no running back threat yet? KC Joyner: (4:09 PM ET ) Lane, all of those things could help him but my scout's eye says that Losman just doesn't see the short/medium parts of the field very well. He's a gunslinger and the best way to use a gunslinger is to try to get his YPA high enough to offset the bad decisions.

Just curious OHBillsFan, have you ever even seen this kid play?

Todd McShay of Scouts Inc. -- the other draft pundit that you often see on ESPN has a new mock out today. He predicts the following selections by the Bills: 1. Patrick Willis (LB Ole Miss -- APete to the Browns at 3) 2. Antonio Pittman (RB OSU) 3a. Tim Shaw (LB PSU) 3b. Tarell Brown (CB Texas) 4. Kareem Brown (DE Miami) 6. Le'Ron McClain (FB Alabama) 7a. David Ball (WR New Hampshire) 7b. Anthony Pudewell (TE Nevada) A nice haul for the Bills, although I would be somewhat surprised if we went for a DE/DT in the 4th. For what it's worth, he has Hughes going to the Steelers at pick number 77.

Jokeman, I understand your point regarding Hughes, but I didn't see any lack of speed on the field (as much as it pains me to praise a Cal player since I'm a Stanford guy). In addition to his ball skills, Hughes is also an eager and effective tackler. I figured that a cover-2 team would grab him before the end of the third. But perhaps I should stop drinking before work.

In today's four round mock draft Mel has the Bills selecting: 1. Patrick Willis (LB Ole Miss -- APete gone to the Vikings at 7) 2. Antonio Pittman (RB OSU -- third RB selected) 3a. Jonathan Wade (CB TN) 3b. James Marten (OT Boston College -- curious pick in my opinion) 4. Rhema McKnight (WR ND) I thought one of the surprising predictions was Daymeion Hughes going to Indy at pick 136. I know that his 40 times are lousy, but I watched him at Cal -- he's a playmaker at CB.

I believe that he is the much younger brother of former Bill JD Williams (now a coach a UW).

For what it's worth, prior to last season Walker was rated a "good starter" by Scouts Inc. 2006 Scouting Report - Scouts Inc. Grade: 73 | Key (70-74 is a "good starter") Alert: None Comment: Walker is quick, active and experienced. He is somewhat versatile. He has played three-technique and nose tackle. He is at his best using his first-step quickness and hitting gaps. He reads quickly and gets good jumps on plays. He is tough to block when slanted into gaps. He can get sideways, make himself skinny and give linemen little surface to block. He can play laterally and has the quickness to get down the line and make plays. He uses his hands well to keep blockers off his lower body. He is a solid wrap-up tackler who strikes with force. But Walker is aging and coming off an injury-plagued 2005. He isn't a power player. He isn't physical at the point of attack and doesn't split double-team blocks effectively. He won't stack, shed and make tackles in the hole. He has lost some pass-rushing ability. He no longer gets on the edges quickly. He doesn't counter effectively when he gets tied up.

From today's Michigan pro-day: [it begins with a glowing description of Lamarr Woodley.] Alan Branch did not fare as well. Just as we reported at the combine, Branch looked sluggish and out of shape during the position drills. Perhaps Branch does drop to us?

xjumpx, Other than pulling Ashton's name, OSU and certain dates, this was taken word-for-word from the Scout Inc. review. I believe that Scout Inc. is a relatively credible draft rag. Ashton's grade placed him in the first round of last year's draft and would place him in the first round of this year's draft.

The player is described as follows: 5'11", 189, 4.43, Excellent college football program, Scout grade of 90 (Behind Leon Hall (95) and Darrelle Revis (91), tied with Aaron Ross) Strengths: Possesses ideal height, adequate bulk and the frame to get bigger. Is a smooth and fluid athlete for his size. Possesses good top-end speed. He has long arms and good leaping ability to challenge for the ball in the air. He is intelligent and should be able to learn from his mistakes. He plays aggressively in run support. Fills hard, takes decent angles and has developed into a solid open field tackler. Shows playmaking instincts when the ball is in the air and he has outstanding ball skills. He has experience returning punts and shows NFL upside in that capacity. Weaknesses: Recognition skills are below average. Remains too inconsistent in coverage. Gambles too often and will give up too many big plays consequently. He gives away his tendencies and got burnt for it on several occasions as a junior (see Minnesota and Texas games). Lacks ideal bulk and strength. Will have some more trouble taking on bigger blockers and taking down bigger runners in the NFL. Overall: He played as a reserve defensive back in all 13 games of his true freshman season. He started nine of the 12 games that he played as a sophomore and finished with 61 tackles, four interceptions and 14 passes broken up. He started all 12 games as a junior and finished with 56 tackles, six TFL, one sack, one interception and nine PBU. He is an early entry prospect with loads of upside but also lots of room to improve. He possesses an outstanding combination of size, athletic ability and speed, and he also flashes playmaking skills as a man-to-man cover corner. However, he is inconsistent in terms of his technique and recognition skills in coverage, which leads to entirely too many big plays allowed on his watch. In short, he is by no means a finished product but he has the potential to develop into a shutdown cover corner in the NFL, which is why he could come off the draft board late in the first round. ___________________________ This is last year’s pre-draft profile of Ashton Youboty. Presumably, his two greatest deficiencies (1) inconsistent technique and (2) lack of bulk have been somewhat addressed in his first year with the Bills. Perhaps our hole at cornerback is not as deep as some fear.

Jim Plunkett was also Mexican-American.

Does this mean the game won’t be blacked out because of regional coverage (WIVB) because the game is on 719 in HD?

Here is some rare national media love from KC Joyner expressed during today's ESPN chat: Aaron (NYC): I think the Bills will surprise a lot of people this year...JP looks good and so does our revamped tampa 2 defense...what do you think? KC Joyner: (4:55 PM ET ) Finally a Bills question! Losman gives the Bills a ton of upside over Holcomb, especially in the vertical game. If Losman keeps progressing I think Buffalo could be a darkhorse wildcard contender this year.

I'm pretty intrigued by Butler. He's a smart, nasty and efficient tackle. My only concern is whether he can handle the speed rushers in the NFL (better footwork should help). If he develops as hoped, perhaps in future years he could man the RT spot and allow JPeters to move to LT.

For what it's worth, in his 2 years as a college starter JP completed 57.4% and 59.5% of his passes -- behind a pair of awful offensive lines.

I think that there is a misconception that Ngata is fat. A note from the combine: "Looking very fit, Oregon defensive tackle Haloti Ngata is expected to take part in the complete combine routine. Weighing 340-pounds, Ngata has checked in under 11% body fat, an incredibly low number for a man his size." Ngata is not fat. He's just an enormous human.

I think you must have him confused with someone else. Tank Williams scored a 28 on the wonderlic at the combine in 2002.

Interestingly, Tank and Coy played together at Stanford. Both graduated in 2002. The difference is that Tank actually played safety.

Jon played outside linebacker for Stanford. He had a great Jr. year, but had some nagging injuries that limited him this last year. He excelled at pressuring the QB. The 4.4 does not surprise me. Some players claimed he was the fastest player on the team -- faster than the DBs who also run track for Stanford.

After several years of living a few blocks from McFaddens/Calico Jacks (good times), I have relocated the family to Darien, CT. Any suggestions on where I can watch Bills games in that area? ps For those of you who haven't made the pilgrimage to McFaddens/Calico Jacks yet, it's worth the trip -- great venue and even better people.

The Clash - London Calling