RochesterRob

21, 53, and Shaq Lawson will not get us to 8. Maybe to 11 or 12. With Barkely, Chubb, presumably 3 QB's in the top 5-6 teams sitting at 7-10 will know enough to charge more of a premium. Lawson is maybe worth a late second pick as he cannot plug into any and every defensive scheme.

And this is why I have felt for a while now and indicated last week that 3 high picks will not get it done for the Bills. Think of it in terms of the game of Monopoly. Denver has the greens (Pacific, North Carolina) and we are offering down in the purples (St Charles Place).

Just another fanboy thinking that he is putting heat on his hometown team by saying somebody else will get the jump. Yep, fans are taking this unverifiable statement as proof positive that the Bills will break the bank to jump up into the top 5. Further, that other QB needy teams are taking naps at Buddy Nix's house.

That happens more often than you think and to more teams than you think. It takes a lot of things to come together to create a dynasty. It's just how the league is when you look away from the dynasties. It just takes lightning to strike in the right place and time with the right GM or coach. Such as it was with us when Polian and Levy came along. Do the Browns now have their own Polian and Levy? Too early to tell. Does not quite a few members of the board subscribe to bottoming out hard and then bounce to the top in part by having top 10 selections to work with?

Drafting well solves a lot of problems. Worry about the contracts when they come due. Further, stuff happens and one has to account for career ending injuries and players having career ending legal problems. The bottom line is if you do not draft well year after year you are always going to have to overpay for various positions and struggle to man other positions with competent players due to the cap system. This is the Brown's chance via having multiple picks to set the team up long term for success instead of putting Band-aids on every year. If the Browns were really worried about signing players and losing player capital then they could always trade the least valued players one year prior to their contracts expiring. I envy the position the Browns are in.

I think that your question is a very fair one despite the hysteria of those who seek to suppress it. There is no getting around the random nature of how well a college player will do in the pro's.

I suspect that many will find it painful to face what you have pointed out. What if by the metric that Beane and McDermott are using that nobody grades above the 21st pick and 4 QB's are off the board when we do choose ? Despite what is said here I doubt that many believe the Bills used a satisfactory metric if the chosen QB of each board member is not selected. We will truly know that the current regime is incapable of building a team if they take a QB to satisfy a vocal but tiny minority here.

Are those the ones that have the Raiders logo on the flip side? They'll come in handy during the Raiders lame duck season(s).

From pick 20 downward I would be happy with guys who would be top 10 at their position and 10 year careers to boot. Once addressed the position is set for a number of drafts and will not command a ridiculous contract when the time comes. Of course there are exceptions but for 15 plus of your starting 22 that would be just fine.

We will have to offer quantity as we do not offer quality. Namely, the 5th overall pick in the case of Denver. So we have to offer quantity to make up for it. It's like a Craigslist list ad that says "rare car, will consider trades" and "make offer" for what is for sale in the ad. Denver with the 5th is like a 5 year old pickup with around 75,000 miles valued at 15,000 dollars while us with the 21st is like offering a 10 year old Toyota Corolla with 125,000 miles worth 7,000 dollars. One for one we do not match Denver at all in terms of value. We have to keep offering things such as the John Deere garden tractor and hope Denver does not offer things as well. If we have the big box store D140 tractor and Denver has a X530 then we have to dig around in the house or garage to out do what Denver just put out.

It's called out bidding the other guy in an auction setting. If these guys grade out as top material to us then they should grade out as top material to other teams as well. Nobody is obligated to use Jimmy Johnson's trade guide or any other guide. If you really want pick 2,3,4, or whatever it means raising your hand until the other guys stop bidding. I don't get the mentality here that our supposed high rating of these QB's is going to be some sort of secret or that we are the only team that decides that it thinks that it is in need of a QB. Never mind that some think (not me) that 40 plus year old QB's can will themselves to play at previously productive levels. I am sorry that some here are bothered by what myself and others have to say about the matter.

I would guess as everybody puts their cards on the table regarding their intentions that it will cost 6-7 high picks to get up to 2 or 3. Subtract one 2nd round type pick if Glenn is worked in.

There is already media speculation, namely CBS Sports, about Denver moving up. Their cost to move up a few spots will be far less than us so they could afford to play a bidding war. Buffalo is not in a position to give up a half dozen picks or players.

For the record I would NEVER, EVER say Hitler was a great man. Having said that IF someone here by some chance said Hitler was a great man and thought that mortgaging the farm for a QB that nobody can predict the outcome of was a fantastic idea where does this person stand with you?

Hitler? Seriously? We are talking about the freakin draft where nobody here has access to a pro-grading system to know how these guys stack up in one evaluation system. Some people are going off the deep end here and it ain't me. It's all subjective here and don't tell me you are any different. By the way Csonka, Riggins, Payton (from the great beyond), Emmitt Smith, Roger Craig all say hello with their SB rings.

Dan Marino won lots of games singlehandedly but has little to show for it. Stafford in Detroit. A QB can still throw for 300 yards plus and still have his team lose. Brady just threw for an astounding amount of yards and lost. It's a team game.

Are you still an idiot if in three years Barkley gains 2,000 total yards from scrimmage and your team is playing in the conference championship because of that?

The mentality that kept up out of the playoffs the past 17 years was Ralph refusing to let go by 2005. Further, it was reaching on players such as Roscoe Parrish and Aaron Maybin. Being in a bad position in the draft with no clear cut top prospect regardless of position and taking Eric Flowers. Taking players such as Whitner and expecting them to play beyond instincts. Had the outcome been different on these issues we would have won a couple more games in those numerous 7-9 seasons and made the playoffs.

Everybody is entitled to an opinion here and nearly all of what you have stated is opinion. You have no idea as to what Barkley's impact will be because at this point because we do not what team he will go to and what the offensive plan will be. I think that if I were Beane and thinking about jumping to the number 1 slot it would be to take the best player in the draft. It makes the most sense to take the best players for now and let the QB be the icing on the cake for at least Buffalo. Mortgage the farm when you know you have most of the other pieces in place.

I agree. There easily could be a dozen teams interested in this spring's prospects at QB. If they are good enough to win a SB for Buffalo as some here imply then they must be good enough for other teams as well. Also, that QB's are going to play at a highly productive level going into their 40's is wishful thinking and not much more.

We all know that is true. The same guys hollering today we need to reach for a QB will be the same ones to run Beane out of town in 2 years when that plan back fires. I am willing to bet that Beane likes his 7 figure per year job too much to play riverboat gambler.

My logic is no more or less faulty than anyone else's here. I believe drafting high for need does not help the team long term if a much better (graded) prospect at another position is left for another team. Barkley who is a running back seems to carry a higher degree of respect versus any of the top 3 QB's and with Shady most likely not having many years left would fit the needs of the Bills just as much as any of the QB's. Guys here complain about reaching and reaching for a QB can be just as bad as reaching for any position. The Ravens back in 2000 won with a game manager QB along with a powerful running game along with a stiff defense. The Ravens would most likely have missed that window for a SB if they had reached for a QB versus taking the best player regardless of position.

We can't get a dozen ordinary joe's to agree on a consensus top QB and yet the Bills are suppose to vault to number to take somebody that clearly has drawbacks as well as positives? I am hoping when it comes to personal decisions that the wives hold the checkbook for these genius keyboard GM's.

But all those picks are in the bottom half of each round. Not the same as offering a top 10 pick in each round and will be discounted accordingly. Throw Jimmy Johnson's guide in the bottom desk drawer as it will not be relevant this spring. Teams like the Giants and Colts know there are a fair number of potential trade partners out there interested in a QB so they are not going to fire sale their top picks. If the QB's are as good as people here seem to think they are it will take a lot of convincing i.e. premium draft choices to convince the top sitting teams to move out of their slots.

Half of them carrying signs saying "We want Grogan!"