Brandon

Guard, tackle, center...I really don't care as long as the Bills find someone for those three spots on the left side of the OL that can actually play.

I'm not as convinced that it was a good deal for the Bills. $23M over 5 years is a lot of money, especially for the third best starter on the Bills defensive line (well, now he's the 2nd best). Schobel is a little better than average, but he does not command double teams and is not someone I think opposing teams really worry much about.

2) G David Baas, Michigan This pick is projected to be acquired by trading our 3rd round pick in 2006 and Travis Henry to Arizona in exchange for their R2 pick this year. 2) C Chris Spencer, Ole Miss 3) WR Terrence Murphy, Texas A&M 4) CB Alphonso Hodge, Miami (OH) 5) RB Brandon Jacobs, Southern Illinois 6) K Tyler Jones, Boise State or K Jonathan Nichols, Ole Miss 7) Defensive Depth Obviously, the first two picks are made with the intent of helping correct this friggin' mess known as the Bills OL. Both are excellent prospects who should be come, at the least, above average NFL starters and I think there's a good chance both will be on the board. Trey Teague would have to move to LT, where I don't think he'll be particularly effective, but IMO, he's the best of a sorry bunch of available options. Baas and Spencer compete at LG and C, respectively, with Tucker, Gandy and Smith for the interior starting spots. Hopefully, these two picks will improve the interior of the OL enough that the Bills can hide their weakness at LT. LT will probably be a priority in the '06 offseason. I don't think they'll find one this offseason. This isn't an ideal solution, for sure, but given that the Bills OL situation is currently pretty bleak, its about as good as can be expected. Murphy and Hodge could potentially see close to 50% of the snaps this year if they can win the #3 roles at their respective positions. Jacobs gives the Bills a strong backup to Willis McGahee who can help wear defenses down. Either of the two kickers represent good value in R6, and I believe both will have very good NFL careers. In R7, who knows who the Bills will pick, but hopefully they can find a little defensive depth. Admittedly, this draft would be very light on defense, but given our needs on offense and our strength defensively, I don't see the Bills actual draft being much different, barring additional FA signings.

That's an excellent signing. Holcomb is the guy I wanted them to sign to backup Losman. He's good enough to be a short term starter, yet he doesn't have the ego that a longtime starter might and shouldn't be a lockerroom problem.

I'll choose to believe the older numbers until another source confirms that the Bills are in this type of cap trouble. This is far worse than what anyone else is projecting for the Bills cap situation.

And the Giants OL was absolutely awful his last year there. He's a good OL coach, but he can't perform miracles. He needs some talent to work with.

There's always something to be said for taking a risk and going for the home run. He's not a safe pick, but he is indeed one of those players with a rare level of talent that could be a truly great player a couple of seasons down the road. Every once in a while, you have to roll the dice and this deep in the draft, the Bills likely won't find a more talented prospect on the board. So, I would have no problems whatsoever with making him our pick in R2.

TE Bubba Franks, Green Bay. He would seem to fit well in the run oriented offense the Bills seem intent on installing. Given that the franchise tag rate is about $2.7M for TEs, signing him shouldn't break the bank.

It would be a pretty easy choice for me. Baas is a relatively safe pick at a position of need who should, at the least, become an above average OG starter. If he's gone, its a lot tougher. Kevin Burnett would probably be my number two choice, but I'd also be very tempted to select Chris Henry. Henry is one of those players who will probably be either great or terrible and nothing in between, but late in R2 is a place where you can afford to take a risk on a boom-or-bust prospect. Eric Green would also be an option, though I think we're OK at CB for now.

I'd vote for a representative republic, so I guess that puts me in the 2nd category of indirect democracy.

But the problem with putting him at TE is going to be his blocking skills. He doesn't have any. At WR, yes, he'll be going up against some very fast players, but Jones himself is fast and again, he'll have a big advantage on them in terms of size and strength. There have been WRs in the NFL smaller and slower than Jones who have had great careers because they could overpower and out-position the opposing CB. Think about it. He's 6'6 240. Your average CB goes about 5'11 190. Its a total mismatch, especially when you consider that he's at least as fast as a typical NFL corner.

I've watched him for four years playing for the Razorbacks. I doubt he will ever be an NFL QB. He's got the arm for it, but he's inaccurate and makes way too many bad decisions with the ball that he won't get away with in the NFL. I think his future is at WR or TE. Some will say he's not quick enough to play WR, but I don't agree. He does not look quick, but that's because of his size. He made more than a few SEC defenders miss him as an open field runner in college. I think he can make it at either position, but will probably settle in as a WR. He may have trouble gaining separation on a few routes, but it won't matter due to his advantage in size and strength over any CB he faces.

I didn't see any of it myself, but everything I've heard indicates that their coverage did indeed suck. As I understand it, they covered very little of the combine itself, but instead focused on interviews and stories on players. I suspect that most people would have rather skipped that and focused on the actual combine performances.

I remember Teague's days at LT from Denver. He was bad. Unless he has improved dramatically over those days, I think JP Losman will be in a world of hurt if Teague is protecting his blindside this upcoming season.

There's always a risk that a guy will get lazy after signing a big contract, but there's also a risk in letting good players walk. If the Bills choose to go that route with Jennings, they'd better be damn sure they can find a quality replacement. If they can't, this will be a long season and I'd all but guarantee that it will ensure JP's failure if the replacement LT can't get the job done. Just bite the bullet and pay the guy. It amazes me that after nearly a decade of crap OL play, now that its finally starting to come around, everyone is perfectly willing to let the Bills best player up front walk. Did we not learn our lesson when Wolford and Ballard left?

How much do I expect Donahoe to spend? Enough to get the job done and field a solid OL. Perhaps we should rename this team the Buffalo Bean Counters?

Not necessarily. It depends upon the other terms he's seeking, particularly the yearly structure of the contract.

I'm sure they've tried. But that doesn't mean I'd slam the door shut and pull the trigger on a trade out of desperation, either. BTW, has it occurred to anyone that, given the fact that the Cardinals apparently have given Shelton permission to seek a trade, they may just release him if they can't get any trade offers?

I never said that the Bills should use the franchise tag on Jennings. However, I do think they should attempt to sign him to a long term contract. I don't think he should be paid like a top 5 NFL OT, but I don't have a problem with paying him $4-5M/yr, which is about what I expect him to ultimately sign for. In any case, the one thing I certainly wouldn't do is trade for someone else's cast-off and try to pass it off as a lateral move at the position.

I don't see any problem with signing him, though I wouldn't give him much more than the minimum given his injury history. He can be a very good backup if he can stay on the field and it would mean that the Bills could probably wait until the last three rounds to add a little more competition at the position during the draft.

I'm not implying anything. I'm simply stating that the Bills would be making a mistake trading for a $3M a year player who couldn't hold a starting job with the Cardinals. For the record, I think their best bet is to just pay Jonas Jennings his money and be content with having a good, if somewhat overpaid LT.

I wouldn't trade for him, period. He's a $3M backup on a team with a pretty mediocre OL. No thanks.

If he'd be willing to accept a backup role, I'd sign Brad Johnson. With the exception of Kerry Collins, Johnson is the only one on that list that I believe would have a decent chance of stepping in and truly playing well if Losman were injured.

That's pretty much the way I see it. There's no reason to keep crapping all over the guy. He was a model citizen while he was here who, at the very least, gave an honest effort. No, he was not a successful QB for this team and I agree with the decision to release him, but the constant Bledsoe bashing is getting old.

And now time for some perspective... Drew Bledsoe: 6049 career pass attempts 181 Interceptions Jim Kelly: 4779 career pass attempts 175 Interceptions