Ozymandius

I have a hard time picturing one of these guys being third string for us. For the sake of no distractions, the Bills may draft a late round QB and trade the last place finisher of the three-way battle for starting QB.

You can make the same case for any number of positions. The Bills have lots of holes...

You just described an undrafted free agent. While I do agree that D'Brick is overrated (he gave up a sack to Tapp during the regular season and one to Mark Anderson in the Senior Bowl) and will tend to overset to the outside sometimes, he's still nowhere near as bad as you describe. He has the potential to eliminate RDE's for a decade and that's what we would be using the #8 overall on him for should he slip that far. He won't be instant Pro Bowl, but he can immediately start and in three years, he should be a great LT and Pro Bowl contender at that position.

Okay... well then that article Ramius linked could be a smokescreen as well...

??? Modrak himself said that Ngata fits. Do I need to link that press conference again?

Yeah. The Bills are in a situation where the player they've targetted will still be there after #8 but only for "four more spaces" according to Marv (i.e. Ngata to Cleveland). So they're limited to trading with Detroit, Arizona, or St. Louis and only if those team desperately want a player that they believe won't be there when they draft in their original draft slot. A trade would be like threading a needle and is very unlikely to happen. Ngata at #8 overall, that's our pick.

Based on previous track records (either none or poor), there's really no reason to be hopeful that this new regime will succeed. Also, the talent on this roster is pretty poor so it doesn't look good from that angle either. At this point, I'm not going to get my hopes up for this team. I'm taking a "show me" attitude with them, and before I invest hope in them, I need them to show me reason for hope. It starts with the draft.

Fasano is a good prospect but at this point, if I'm going to add a TE to the team, he needs to be a downfield threat.

Forfeits wouldn't change the national champion so no big deal even if they do occur.

We're going to suck this year but it'll be tolerable as long as we draft well and have some nice, young athletic talent in the pipeline to look forward to in the coming years. To me, the most important thing is to have all of our draft picks be athletic with good upside, even if that means they're raw to start with. I'm tired of low upside, you-know-what-you-get, high-motor white draft picks and hope that those guys are long gone from the team's draft plans now that TD has been axed.

Nobody is saying to draft him in the first round...

In the case of the Browns trading a second to move up one spot, there was competition to get that spot and draft Winslow. When the Bucs moved up from 21 to 14, they were badly trying to get Kenyatta Walker. The only way we get more than a third for moving down a few spots is if there's a very desirable player (Vernon Davis) left on the board and there's competition for him.

Reyes is a mediocre-to-bad starting guard and would make a good backup, nothing more. He's a poor run blocker, which we need like a hole in the head. Signing him would add depth, which we do need, but should not really affect our goal of getting two future starting guards from this draft. Reyes = Panos.

Note: I've said many times before that between Davis and Ngata, I take Davis. But, I really believe Marv and Modrak tipped their hand yesterday, and it's Ngata that they're targetting so I'm trying to analyze everything according to that assumption.

I actually think if the Bills can trade down, it will be a move where the team we're trading with is targetting Vernon Davis, not Jay Cutler. If Davis somehow slips by both SF (Huff) and Oakland (Young), then there should be a number of teams willing to trade up to get the next Gates or Gonzalez that will make their offense dynamic. Under that scenario, I can see the Bills getting interest from Arizona, St. Louis, and most importantly, Denver. The Broncos would offer by far the best package of picks because they're looking for the one impact player to win the Super Bowl NOW during their window of opportunity; however, since we're targetting Ngata, we can't trade down past Cleveland. So we use Denver as leverage against Arizona and St. Louis, and while we don't end up accepting the best offer (Denver), we do get a 3rd rounder and 5th rounder out of St. Louis to drop 3 spots and still be able to stay in front of Cleveland to draft Ngata.

Well, I was arguing more about likelihood, then possibility. I know it's possible, it's just not likely that we can trade back one, two, or three spots. Haloti Ngata is our pick at #8 overall -- that's the most likely scenario.

Unfortunately, if any of those three guys are the target, and I think it's Ngata at this point, then they can't trade down very far and still nab them. For example, if it's Ngata, they must stay in front of Cleveland at #12. That leaves only three teams they can trade down with, and that's assuming one of those three teams have some urgent need to trade up to #8 instead of just waiting. It's very unlikely to happen. Haloti Ngata at #8 overall. That's our pick.

He's going to probably be a second day guy now and the Bills should take a chance with him. Low risk, high reward if they want the athlete they desperately on the defensive line.

Also, Claude Wroten will slip into the third round or second day of the draft. He tested positive for marijuana at the Combine. If the Bills have a chance to draft him in the 4th or 5th round, they should go ahead and do it. It's low risk, high reward for a talent like him.

The Bills are going to draft Haloti Ngata... I'm very confident about this after reading what Marv and Modrak had to say yesterday. I'd label it a 90% certainty to be honest and the reason is that Marv and Modrak don't strike me as people who play the deception game. They'll withhold information as is their right, but anything they actually put out there is going to be reliable. They're not going to bring in players just for show, so when Haloti Ngata is brought in for a private workout, it means something. Here are the two links again to what they said in the press conference: http://www.buffalobills.com/news/news.jsp?news_id=3725 http://www.buffalonews.com/editorial/20060...?tbd1021607.asp Modrak leaves no doubt that Ngata can fit the Cover 2: ---Is Haloti Ngata a fit (for Buffalo)? TM: "Yes. He's a little bit different than Bunkley. Ngata is pretty much a one or two gap, run down plugger, push the pocket kind of guy. Bunkley is more of an edge guy. But Ngata is (a fit.)" "Edge guy" here is somewhat backhanded and eliminates Bunkley, imo, because the Bills are looking for someone who can be the overtackle next to Tripplett, who will play undertackle. Also: ---What is your assessment of Brodrick Bunkley? TM: "He's a high-motor guy who is a three-technique who could be a one (technique). He had great workouts and a very good Senior Bowl. He competed well at the Senior Bowl, had a good career at Florida State. Again, we have a backhanded compliment about Bunkley. "Great workouts", "very good" Senior Bowl, but only "good career" at FSU. Like any good scout, Modrak will value what happened on film at FSU more than anything else. ---Another key quote was: "In fact, the guy we sort of like right now, my strong guess would be he'll be there four spaces below," Levy said. That eliminates Michael Huff, who was also brought in for a private workout. Huff won't get past Detroit and everyone knows that. It also eliminates Vernon Davis. ---And: "On the offensive line the one caution is he isn't going to do it this year very often. The offensive lineman is rarely going to be a quick fix unless he's a Tony Boselli or Anthony Munoz." No Justice. The Bills are going to draft Haloti Ngata. Pencil it in.

You guys do know that Ngata scored a 17 on the Wonderlic, right? If you like Ngata, you shouldn't bash Bunkley for the wrong reasons, i.e. stupidity. You should bash him for the right reasons like injuries, only one good season

"Serious consideration" is way too vague to take anything from it. Also, I'm not sure we should believe the Rams webpage on who they're going to draft. I can see why they MIGHT be interested, I don't see why they're so desperate as to trade up to get him.

Our best chance for a trade down is if Vince Young makes it to #8, or Davis or Huff. But then, maybe the Bills should draft Davis if he's available.

And my point isn't that Detroit and St. Louis have absolutely no chance of drafting Cutler... hell, the Bills might even draft him, we just can't be sure of anything. BUT... my point is the signs don't point to the Lions and Rams being in a battle with Arizona to draft Cutler. I don't think any of the teams drafting directly behind us wants him so bad as to trade up to get him.

And here's the link to the Bills being interested in Cutler: http://www.sportsline.com/nfl/story/9388328/2 All these links and media reports are completely meaningless. You just have to setp back and use common sense. The Bills have a QB of the future as much as the Lions do. Detroit has spent their last 7 first rounders on offense and with the hiring of a defensive minded coach, they're gonna go defense this year. St. Louis has Marc Bulger and Frerotted to back him up.