Brandon

Its very close between Willis and Lynch. I've been in favor of drafting Lynch, but some arguments regarding Pittman and a couple of other 2nd round RBs are starting to convince me that those guys can play. My opinion of Posluszny is also improving, though there's still a gap between he and Willis/Lynch. So I'm leaning, if very slightly, towards believing Patrick Willis should be their pick at 12. My top 5 of that group would be: 1) MLB Patrick Willis 2) RB Marshawn Lynch 3) OLB Paul Posluszny 4) WR Robert Meachem 5) CB Leon Hall

As far as I know, Posluszny's knee injury didn't even require surgery. His mid-4.6 40 isn't great, but its better than a lot of NFL LBs, including Ellison and Crowell. He's not my first choice at #12, but if the Bills select him, I'm pretty confident that he'll be a very good player. BTW, Lee Evans also looked a half-step slow during much of his senior season following a much more severe knee injury. He was lucky that he was 100% (or close to it) for the combine and proved the doubters wrong.

Considering the contracts we've seen handed out at the position this offseason, its probably not unthinkable that Turner would receive $35-45 million over 6 or 7 years from someone in the next offseason. If he follows that up with even a 1,000-1,200 yard season, I think he could very easily net the Chargers a 4th round compensatory pick in 2009 assuming they sign no outside FAs.

That may or may not be true, but he's not the player that the original poster asked about.

It makes perfect sense given the Chargers' status as a Super Bowl contender. Should Ladainian Tomlinson be injured, Turner has proven that he can be very effective within their system. They're not rebuilding and certainly don't *need* the draft pick. Unless they know that they can draft an immediate impact player with the pick received, it makes more sense for AJ Smith to hang onto Turner for 2007, even if it means losing him for no compensation a year from now. Turner simply provides more value to that particular team than would a 2nd round pick. On the other hand, for a team like the Bills, he would seem to be a poor value given that a RB could easily be selected in R2 or 3 that will immediately improve this team. Now maybe we can argue that Pittman, Irons or whoever isn't as good as Turner, but there's little question that the 600-800 yards they'll likely provide this upcoming season would make the Bills a MUCH better team than they currently are. In other words, the Bills (and others in need of a RB) don't necessarily need Turner in order to signficantly upgrade their team. This is why he'll remain a Charger. He actually IS worth a 1st to them, yet every team actually needing a RB could reasonably expect to make a significant upgrade at the position in the upcoming draft with even a 2nd or 3rd round pick. Its not going to happen unless someone, including the Chargers, gets desperate for some reason.

You're not going to get any disagreement from me. I'm very skeptical of Turner and would rather the Bills steer clear of him.

Its definitely not hate for Tony Hunt, but definitely concern over whether or not he's just a good collegiate RB. Its not just his 40 time. His overall workout was very poor. I look at him and see another Jonathan Linton; a player with good strength, intangibles and receiving skills, but quite possibly lacking the athleticism necessary to play in the NFL.

My bad. I should have realized that immediately. As far as Hill is concerned, he would seem to be a very good 2nd round pick.

Hunt may be slightly better than Pittman as a receiver, but he doesn't seem to be a player who adds a significant extra value as a true receiver. He's a screen pass or dumpoff target only, even if a very good one. He's not Lorenzo Booker or Marshawn Lynch, both of whom are skilled enough to be dangerous downfield receiving threats. I'm sure we'll disagree on this, but I believe that size is also one of the most overrated attributes when evaluating RBs. People equate size with strength and its not always true. Acceleration and short area quickness are at least as important. The average 210lb Rb is going to break his share of arm tackles. Its an exceptional 235lb+ RB that can make an NFL CB or S miss in the open field with some consistency. Short yardage is where size can help a bigger RB, but on the flip side, with defenses stacking the LOS, they can also become a big target. BTW, Hunt averaged a little over 9 yards per reception in college, not 18 (88 receptions for 799 yards). http://web1.ncaa.org/d1mfb/playerDetail.js...9&player=26

Opinions on Meachem seem to be all over the board. Most all of the fan sites have in the 15-30 range and the 2nd best WR available. However, I've seen a few articles indicating that several teams rate him much higher. Obviously, I don't know if that's true, but it honestly wouldn't suprise me to see him go as high as #8 to Atlanta.

Hunt and Pittman are such different types of players that I would have a very hard time considering one as an adequate replacement for the other. I don't think they're in the same group in this draft, anyway. While I'm not overly impressed with Pittman, I do think he's probably the best of the 2nd tier Rbs in this draft. Meanwhile, I think Hunt is at the top of the third and final group.

I'm not going to bet against it. They clearly need an upgrade at the #2 WR position, yet they have three decent situational players already. As a result, if they're going to draft a WR, they'd better do it pretty early and select a guy capable of making an immediate contribution. Otherwise, that player is very likely to get buried on the depth chart behind Price, Reed and Parrish.

Definitely. If trading up to get the 2nd or 3rd most talented player in the draft costs us a 3rd round pick, so be it. The Bills could use a difference-maker, whether its on offense or defense.

Its not just those three. You also have to consider that Baltimore, Cleveland, Denver, Houston, Detroit, the Jets and the Giants were also active in the RB market this offseason, whether in trades or in FA. With the exception of the Giants, all of them made significant moves at the position. That's a lot of interest in RBs this offseason and according to this board, Turner is as good as any of them, if not better. So why is he still sitting in San Diego? The only reasonable answer seems to be the pricetag.

That could possibly explain why the Bills haven't traded for him, but again, placed in the larger context of the league-wide interest in RBs last month, you'd think someone would've already pulled the trigger.

You might want to check up on that character issue with Eric Wright.

I'm pretty sure I know what he's thinking: if the Bills draft Hunt and Irons, two very different Rbs, they will cancel out each other's weaknesses. Looks good on paper, but in reality, only one of them can carry the ball at a time. In the end, you're just going to net two less than ideal RBs.

That depends upon what it actually was. Lee Evans is a good example.

Why two RBs?

I doubt that's the case. He may be that type of player, but the Bills would have long since known it and would've had no reason to bring him in unless they were OK with it. The most likely explanation is that either Turner or the Chargers (or both) simply want more than what the Bills are willing to give up in exchange. Considering how long Turner has been on the trade block, as well as all the activity at the RB position in FA a few weeks back, I think a deal would've already happened somewhere if either the Chargers' or Turner's demands weren't exorbitant. And while I'm not a big believer in the pre-draft smokescreen stuff, that may be the case here. The Bills may be trying to convince a few teams that they're unwilling to use a #1 pick at RB and thereby reduce the odds that someone trades ahead of them.

If the season were to start today, I think they're probably a 4-12 team. It would just take one addition, a quality RB, to move them up to 8-8 in my mind. I just don't see Anthony Thomas as an effective full time starter. MLB and CB additions would help as well, but neither as much as improving the running game, IMO.

I'm not buying his arguments against Lynch. The off-field incidents seem to be a non-issue and I haven't seen anything from coaches or players at Cal even hinting that he has character issues. It may also help the Bills that they can ask his former teammate, Aaron Merz, about any problems. He also tries to say that Lynch had a poor combine performance, but all of his combine numbers are very comparable to those posted by Adrian Peterson with the exception of the short shuttle. That said, Adrian Peterson's short shuttle time was only a 4.40, which isn't too good, either. The only legitimate argument that he makes is the reference to a possible back injury. If its true, it could be a problem depending upon the severity. Note that Mike Mayock, who has mentioned Lynch possibly having a back problem, still rates him as the 17th best prospect in this draft.

So the Bills MAY have offered a 2nd for Turner. Wow, thanks for that insight, Mort.

Seems to be a great talent, but he hasn't produced, even while playing at a smaller school. Considering that WR is one of the few deep positions in this draft, I'd rather see the Bills select a more productive WR with a 3rd or 4th round pick.

While I do not want the Bills to trade for Turner, I also think its a bit unfair to throw out his longest carry in each game. You'd have to do that for every RB in the league as a fair basis of comparison. One 80 yard run in a season could be dismissed as an abberation and I have no problems tossing it out, but if he's averaging one 20-30 yard run per game, those start looking like a trend and not as easily dismissed.