Ozymandius

Reason #1 is all you need. The QBs in this draft suck. Tank the 2011 season to get Luck.

If you're a Bills fan, how can you root for the Pats? I'm hoping that they are stuck on 3 Super Bowl wins forever. There's actually a lot at stake for them. Belichick and Brady are the best coach and QB in NFL history but they really can't claim that until they win 5 Super Bowls or at least tie Noll, Montana, and Bradshaw with 4. That's what the New England franchise and fans are rooting for. To be the best ever. And you're going to actually root for them?

Please. Everyone here knows it's the right move. But we also know the Bills are either too gutless or too incompetent to position themselves for Luck in 2012, so we pretend like the plan is ridiculous.

All plans have risk. I'd rather follow a plan that gets us Andrew Luck than whatever plan the Bills come up with. We're probably going to stay put, draft the next Spiller/Maybin/McKelvin/Whitner at #3, and build around Fitzpatrick. Yawn. Let's see how that works out compared to whatever franchise lands Andrew Luck.

No team who is in position to draft Luck would accept that trade.

Well, Marv's stint at GM kind of tainted people's memories of him... A Super Bowl winner would be revered and relieve all the angst. Hopefully we get that trophy one day.

Bills fans would avoid the 2011 games but would flock to buy 2012 season tickets with Luck at QB. Same with 2013, 2014, 2015, etc season tickets. It's only sensible to sacrifice one season for 15 prosperous ones. I couldn't care less about the impact on the league in 2011. The Bills are in competition with the other 31 franchises. We've got to do what's best for us. The effect on the players would be the toughest. No doubt they would be upset if Fitzpatrick and Williams were traded. In the end, though, they are professionals who will go to work. And there are a lot of young players on this team who are trying to improve and make a name for themselves and will try hard regardless. I would expect team morale to recover. It certainly would by 2012.

Don't know if you watched it but I thought Miller dominated the Nebraska game this season. Plus, 17 sacks last season and 10 more this season. Domination occurred at some point along the way.

Nah, we're not drafting #1 with Fitzpatrick and Williams on this team. Too risky. My plan virtually guarantees Luck. Whoever drafts #1 next year is not going to pass on Luck for more #1 picks. QB position is too important.

Yeah, but in the movie I stole Manhattan's energy instead and blew stuff up. GD Hollywood. I'm completely serious

I like him a lot and think the Maybin comparisons are way off. For one thing, he dominated for two years, not just one like Maybin.

I think people are okay with good players showing bravado. They want the bad players to shut up and improve.

It makes less sense to not try for Luck, imo. In the NFL, the rules are slanted towards the passing game, and you have to have a great talent there to succeed year in and year out. Also, I'm not getting rid of all the good players. I'm building/keeping a good offensive line and receiving corps for Luck. I'm sure Harbaugh wants him but he's too good a coach and has too much talent on the 49ers to not go at least 8-8 next year. With the #1 overall pick, the Bills would have control of the situation anyway.

I don't care if we couldn't get 7th-rounders for them. Get them off the team so we can position ourselves for Luck. But seriously, Kyle Williams would net a first-rounder and Fitz would net at least a 3rd-rounder.

There are risks associated with any strategy but those two scenarios seem unlikely. Luck stayed to graduate and he'll be graduating next year. And there are far more examples of QBs like Bradford accepting their destiny of going to a bad team than there are of QBs pulling a Manning. Besides, Luck would hopefully be intrigued by the Bills' strong offensive line, strong receiving corps, and offensive-minded head coach under my plan.

It's simple to rebuild this franchise. It just takes a little bit of guts and imagination. (1) Trade Fitzpatrick. He was the one thing keeping us from getting the #1 draft pick THIS season. Luckily, Andrew stayed in school. Do not allow Fitz a chance to interfere again. His value is at an all-time high and you could probably get a second-rounder for him, perhaps even a 2012 first-rounder from a QB-starved team. (2) Trade Kyle Williams for a 2012 first-rounder. Just pick a team that you think will suck bad in 2012 and trade him to them. Denver? Cincinnati? Carolina again? This simultaneously accomplishes the goal of making the Bills worse while eliminating one team in competition for Luck. (3) Use 2011 draft picks ONLY on offensive linemen and tight end. That means trading down from the #3 overall unless a stud offensive tackle emerges. The Bills already have enough good, young talent at WR and RB. Use this draft to build a strong offensive line for Luck and give him a TE safety blanket as well. Once we've drafted something like two tackles with starter potential, a backup guard, and a highly-rated tight end, trade all excess 2011 picks for 2012 picks. (4) Start Brohm in 2011. If he begins to improve to where he might be able to win a game (I highly doubt this, LOL), then bench him and start Levi Brown. Just alternate between those two QBs all season as needed. The idea is simple. Create a strong support system for Andrew Luck by giving him a strong o-line and receiving targets and spend the 2011 season developing the young offensive talent in those areas as much as possible. Meanwhile, DEPLETE the team everywhere else. Don't stop with just trading Kyle Williams. Trade Moats and any other good player on the roster (there aren't that many) that isn't an offensive lineman or receiving target. (I do have a soft spot for Moorman and would prefer that we keep him, though). Coach and gameplan as normal. Don't tank games on purpose. Try to win them, develop good habits, develop the skills of the depleted roster so that they can become good backup or role players, etc. But with Brohm/Brown leading the way and no defense, the #1 draft pick in 2012 should be easily attainable even while trying to win. Then, in 2012, Andrew Luck steps into a good situation for him with a strong o-line and strong receiving targets. And THEN you rebuild the defense. We would be contenders for the next 15 years with the QB situation settled. It's a simple plan but it takes guts and imagination. Do the Bills front office have it in them? I doubt it.

Depends on Fitz. If he regresses or gets injured next season, Bills could very well be in position to get Luck. Fitz will be in a very merit-based situation. If he plays well, the Bills have no shot to draft his replacement. But if not...

Newton played poorly. Both QBs did. Maybe the long layoff and slippery field affected these prolific offenses but that game was a mess. I'm intrigued by Newton as a physical specimen with a normal throwing motion (unlike Vince Young or Tebow) but he is a project for sure and dumb. Would not mind if the Bills took a chance on him but would not care if they didn't also.

Many DTs would've been too slow to force Thomas to make poor decisions on the option, which he did repeatedly because Fairley beasted.

I wish it were the Rays but with the way we draft...

Yeah, I'm scared, Senator. We now have to deal with two Belichicks in the division. Sigh. If only Ralph were competitive enough to pay top dollar for coach and GM.

It's not like he's an unknown quantity. Had a long career in the NFL. Tons of connections in the league. The coaching community is a very small and close-knit group and they universally regard Harbaugh as a great one. Everyone knows he'll become a star in this league. Tiger Woods was unproven coming out of Stanford but everyone knew he'd kill on the tour. Same thing here. Everyone knows Harbaugh is great. If he wanted to come to Buffalo, I'd have no qualms firing Gailey if I were Ralph. Of course that's a pipe dream.

You have never played poker then. Sometimes when you receive a bad beat or get outmaneuvered by an opponent, you go on tilt and end up quickly blowing your entire chipstack. Carolina outmaneuvered everyone by tanking on purpose when they trotted out Jimmy Clausen to go under center every week. Gailey and Nix would be seething and CONSUMED by the fact that they came close to Luck but another organization showed better moxie. There's no way their personnel decisions this offseason wouldn't have suffered. But now, they can rest easy knowing that they didn't lose anything at all. Carolina's front office is now on tilt.

I don't think the decision was necessarily foolish. Especially if the new rookie scale already kicks in for this draft. Let's say you held an auction for billionaires and one of the items you auctioned was the following: The ability to spend one year on campus as the most recognized star QB in the country and Heisman favorite. You don't think Warren Buffett would bid $200 million to spend one year as Andrew Luck? Hell, many billionaires own $150 million mega-yachts. They wouldn't derive more entertainment from spending a year swarmed by tight Asian poontang? Of course they would. I watched The Social Network. I want to be Andrew Luck. Oh, man, I want to be Andrew Luck. Now we have a chance albeit small to get him next year. And also, it's about regret. Now Nix and Gailey can operate without the regret of having missed out on Luck and letting Carolina out-maneuver them to get the #1 pick. They won't go on tilt and make even worse personnel decisions. They can operate with a sound mind.

Uh, no. I am definitely hoping Harbaugh lands in SF. He's a great coach.