Mikie2times

Tell me about it. Just because I quit, I'm not one of the holier then tho types. It's part of my life, history, I'm not happy about it in some ways, but I'm not mad either. You live, you learn, you prioritize, thats life. I'm sure a day will come when I will smoke again, it just won't ever be a way of life for me. I've done my fair share of drinking, hell, I used to be known for being able to handle amazing amounts of Jamison/Makers/Jaiger. For better or worse, that was a big part of my college experience, and I wouldn't trade it for anything. But if for one second people thought I was more of a danger to society and those around me when I smoked compared to drinking, well those are the people on the hard drugs. The only danger I was when I was smoking was to the large pizza sitting next to me.

I like AC, but I see him as good as gone after this season. Chalk me up as one who feels we will draft a OLB higher then people think. Mayo is the guy I think we might be targeting in the 2nd (if available). That pick might get some a little frosty, but he would be a damn good OLB in the cover 2 for the future, especially if we don't plan on retaining AC.

What a idiot. The grass cost him several hundred thousand dollars if not more. I smoked multiple times, everyday for the last four years. It never interfered with my job, or ability to get one (no testing). If it did I would have quit, no doubt about it. During that time I just felt like it was better to be stoned then think/confront adult problems. I still hold the opinion that marijuana is less dangerous then drinking, but if it becomes a way of life it has a lot of negative consequences, especially toward motivation. After all that smoking I quit, with no "withdrawal feelings" about a month ago. It's not a hard drug to get off of. The fact that he kept smoking this close to the draft, AFTER his possession charge at UNC, with so much to lose.... I just wouldn't consider drafting him. Not in the 7th round, not in the 15th round if this was the 60's. He clearly doesn't have his head on straight to risk so much over something so insignificant.

I forget about April fools every year, of course I got a guy at work who probably hasn't touched a women in 8 years who loves it more then anything. The dude took a screen capture of my computer screen and set it as my background, removed my mouse ball, hid my telephone cord to the phone, unhinged the bottom part of my seat so I fell on my ass, and gave every customer complaint he received (his job) to my extension number. That was sickening. This was just in poor taste.

Don't know much about him, and not to pre-judge but a 6'7 guard? I would have to wonder if he ever struggles with his pad level, or might be better suited at the tackle spot for the next level. Again, not saying a 6'7 guard can't work out, but G/C is such a leverage based position which is why you usually see more stocky compact players at these spots. His build looks ideal for a LT.

Good for JD, he deserves it. I followed him threw high school, college, and now he ends up as a major contributor with my Bills. Can't complain about a guy that busts his arse for everything he's gotten to this point. Now he just one of many players who provide us with excellent depth, and improved ST's play because of the last years injury crisis.

I saw a few Kentucky games this year, liked Burton as more of a middle round guy, like you said, somebody who could be developed. As for your point on Kelly I couldn't agree more. Edwards has west coast QB written all over him (probably why Walsh liked him so much). Kelly has West Coast WR written all over him. He's not the YAC guy Andre Reed was (few will ever be), but he's tough as nails on those slant routes, and does provide some YAC and major RZ upgrades. His body control and hands are out of this world. Recently Jauron discussed more three step drops, and quick throws. I expect the progression of this offense to be very timing based, stressing YAC. Will we come out and say it's a true west coast offense? Probably not, but it's a system that would seem to compliment our players and the inclement weather we face late in the year. Throw in our RB's who can catch, and the many suitable receiving FB's in the draft and it makes even more sense.

What many here miss and many experts miss, is the deceptiveness of big WR's and the 40 yard dash. I'm a very small example of this, playing a few years at the small college level. No I'm not big, only 6'0, but I have good timed speed in the 40. I have very long legs, and run fast in a straight line. My problem always was acceleration, and agility. Tall people, and long legged people can, and often will post decent 40 times. Some even great 40 times. They have a stride that covers significantly more area then the stride of a shorter/shorter legged player. This is the exact reason many of the 6'3+ types, who run fast, and get drafted high, fail. They just don't have appropriate football speed for the next level, which is just as much about timed speed, as it is agility, acceleration, and balance. Matt Jones is the definition of this type of player. James Hardy is this years definition of this type of player. The last few years dozens of "fast" big receivers have been drafted to high for this reason. Size does matter for a WR, because a bigger, taller receiver can do things a smaller player can't do. The thing is, it's only an advantage if you have football speed. Size and football speed together is a very rare combination. IMHO the only big WR in this draft who has both is Malcolm Kelly, which is why I've been such a proponent of his. I've watched enough film on him to know he does have football speed. As long as his injuries check out and he doesn't totally suck in his 40, I would take him at 11 all day long, and twice on Saturday.

Maybe you misunderstood the intent of that comment. All franchises with top 5 QB's have a chance to reach the playoffs and super bowl in any given season. The league as a whole is that watered down, and exceptional QB play is the great equalizer for long term success and ultimate success in most instances. If Trent somehow raised his play to that level next year, which I admit, is EXTREMELY unlikely, I feel we have no limitations on what we can accomplish as a team. Brady was often called an overrated check down guy in his earlier years as well, thats is until he just kept succeeding. He developed more to his game down the road, and now will go down as one of the best ever. No denying Trent is not much more then a check down guy at this point, but I think he has real potential as a true west coast style QB down the road. If/when the potential is ever realized it could finally take our team to the next level for a long period of time. I would like more strength at Center just because we face so many 3-4 schemes with huge DT's. Fowler is often overpowered forcing guard help, freeing one of the MLB's, screwing the pooch on our end. That said, it's nice to return 5 guys, we will see the rewards from that, even if all 5 aren't considered great players (the whole right side from center down could be better IMHO, you just can't have 5 studs across the board). From what I understand he is, so is AC at OLB. I think many would be shocked to see an OLB drafted early. I expect it. Teams often draft for expected departures the year prior.

Thanks, I tried changing it back after I realized nobody will respond to your posts if they don't recognize your name! Server said I couldn't switch back for another few months before the great wall crash of 08. Thanks SDS, helped me. As for the schedule, I thought about including it. It doesn't seem like it could be more brutal then it has the last two years. I decided to leave it out because you just don't know who will be good one year to the next. Lord knows we sure could use a break in that department.

I agree, PLEASE LET THE MAN STAY HEALTHY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Not disagreeing with any of your comments, but this is more about 2007 vs 2008. Sure we still have some major shortcomings as a team, but I see us improving in these areas vs 2007, which was a fringe playoff year (luckily or not). Anything can happen that debunks some of these, like another rash of injuries etc.

Let them hammer away, I will happily beat them down one by one. All I said was he should improve from his play in 2007. That doesn't mean he will be great, or even good in 2008, just improved. I see no logic behind a rookie QB regressing with additional experience from year 1 to year 2. Maybe increased film on that player, but to me that hurts runners more then pocket guys, and I just don't see it effecting Trent.

In no particular order 1. Trent Edwards- Who knows if he will be dud or stud, but it doesn’t take much to believe he should be better next season. One more year of study, learning from experiences, more time to get comfortable with the WR core. If he turns out to be substantially better look out, this team would have no limitations. 2. Defensive depth- KC Joyner said this is the deepest defense in football. While I disagree on that front, I do agree we have incredible depth because of our injuries last season. We go two to three deep at several positions with young players who have starting experience. We have several situational players who will allow our starters to play at top speed all game. Look at the Colts 2006 super bowl run to see how important that is for the cover 2. 3. Continuity on the offensive line- The line is made up of 5 individuals who must work as one. Every year for as long as I can remember we’ve been switching out one or two starters per year. For the first time in a long time, we return our group of 5. It will pay huge dividends early in the year, a time in which we’ve started slow for several years in a row. 4. Audibles- Who knows how good Turk will be, but as an NFL team, it’s inexcusable to not allow your QB to audible out of a bad play. We will be incorporating that this season, and that alone is enough to make a substantial improvement in our predictability and offense. 5. Thunder and lightning- Rookie running backs almost universally improve from year one to year two. We didn’t even discover what Jackson could do until it was too late. Lynch and Jackson were never utilized in the passing game. All these failures and scenarios of 2007 should play out to our advantage in 2008. 6. Injured players returning- You can’t overstate the massive depletion of this defense last season. It’s incredible they played as well as they did with so many players missing action. Those guys will be back, and we will notice that impact from the beginning. 7. Young team matures- We have one of the youngest, if not the youngest group of starters in football. Players progress in time, do the math. 8. Addition without subtraction- We won’t lose any major contributors, while we added some guys that will contribute from the start. Stroud is a big player in this equation; Mitchell should support and strengthen the run defense. The draft will certainly yield more offensive options. We could stand to improve substantially because of this. 9. Speed matters- The cover 2 is all about speed. Speed is not only dependent on physical ability but reaction time. In our third year in the cover 2 our reaction times will certainly improve as players get even more comfortable with the system. 10. Pressure- We don’t have overly physical ends, but they are good of the edge, especially Schobel. We had no interior push last year to force the QB to the edge. Johnson, Stroud, and an improved McCargo should be able to provide that forcing QB’s into more quick throws (increased turnovers, sacks, decreased YAC)

Good for JP that he showed up. Honestly, it takes some character to do that, no matter that he makes millions. That said this debate with Trent and JP is making me puke. I'm sick of it beyond the level in which I vomit in my own mouth. Most of us don't have jobs in which excuses are relevant, justified or not. He had his chances, he didn't take advantage of them to the point he needed to. We have a new QB who may or may not work out, who certainly will have an entire fan base waiting to say I told you so if he doesn't. Can we just drop this BS and support our team, no matter who our QB is?

On the positive a young Tom Brady On the negative an old Kelly Holcomb

At least somebody understands marketing principles.

Bet you watched a lot of him at ND huh? You couldn't ask for a better receiving threat.

Each year he's coached he's had substantially more defensive talent then offensive talent. While many view him as a conservative coach he may just be a coach devising the best formula to win and cover up his teams shortcomings. You can't say this for sure, but you can't say it's not true either. He needs a team with more offensive talent to really tell why his teams play the way they do.

Well then its useful for that. I would still like to see one thread for this information so we can at least keep it in one spot.

I've seen a bit from Henry and Wheelwright. I like Henry, Wheelwright not as much.

I was hoping we could get a thread started, pin it, and keep updating it as the draft approaches. The purpose of the thread would be to post any links, articles, etc that indicate Buffalo taking an in depth look at a player. It would be neat to see how much of these snippets we can gather, and if any ring true come draft day. Please post anything you come across so we don't lose the information (as I did with Barber). Devin Thomas WR Michigan State http://www.nfldraftscout.com/ratings/profile.php?pyid=67905 Kellen Davis TE Michigan State (from another thread) "WR Devin Thomas was one of 14 players from the 2007 squad to work out Wednesday in front of 39 scouts representing 27 NFL teams...also in attendance were prospects from Grand Valley State...Thomas stood on his 40 time from the Combine, but recorded a 33 inch vertical and did 16 reps at 225...Thomas was also very impressive in the receiver drills...Thomas and TE Kellen Davis will travel to Buffalo for individual workouts later in the week, and Thomas has a workout scheduled with Minnesota as well..." --East Coast Sports News Dominique Barber FS Minnesota Read somewhere that Buffalo was putting him threw several interviews, couldn't locate link anymore.

Agree totally, but will we be able to get an elite pass rush out of our DL? I just don't think we can generate it, even with Stroud. Schobel is a great DE, but he's not a headliner DE for an elite cover 2 front. Kelsey/Denney don't qualify as that either. We have a lot of $ already locked into our ends, and now our DT's, so I can't see us spending that much more on the front 4. In an ideal world the upgrade at DT will solve most our problems, it's just hard to tell if our DE's will respond enough to make this work conventionally. I hate this defense because it places such a high value in areas that are very hard to find good players in. In our situation the quickest path to recovery might be an elite CB in a hybrid cover 2 system. Obviously a better pass rush is ideal, I just question our ability to GW (execute) it, and lets face it, without that rush if you play conventional cover 2 your screwed.

Wow I've been way on the Kelly bandwagon but if his health is that bad I would stay the hell away.

We have a few posters consistently devalue CB's because we play the zone based cover 2. The theory is why waste resources at CB when we don't lock up in man situations. While the theory seems logical, I don't feel like it applies to our situation. No cover 2 teams play both corners up, two safeties deep, and drop the mike LB every play. Having said that I do recognize we play cover 2 on a good percentage of downs, and when the system is played as intended it would devalue an elite CB. This situation actually played out in Detroit, as they switched over from man to zone, and Dre Bly (an obvious man corner) got frustrated and demanded a trade. If you recall the same situation was also playing itself out in Buffalo before the 2006 bye week.. In 2006 over the first 7 games Buffalo gave up an average of 221 yards passing, with 10TD's/5 INT's. Nate was getting frustrated he couldn't show off his talents in a contract year, and McGee struggled without the additional help he was used to. It was clear to many our CB's were playing in a system that under utilized our talents. After the bye week Jauron decided to abandon the original game plan and revert back to more man coverage. The result over the final 9 games was an average of 193 passing yards per game, with 8TD/8INT. In terms of yardage we actually finished 7th in pass defense in the 2006 season, and 3rd in DVOA vs a teams #1 WR according to footballoutsiders.com. In 2007 we suffered threw a lot of injuries to our secondary, but it was clear from the outset our pass defense was going to struggle. When it was all said and done we finished 27th in yards per game, and 12th vs #1 WR’s (keep in mind we ranked 30th against #2's, which makes you wonder how often we doubled the #1’s). Irregardless our pass defense dropped off dramatically from 06 to 07. Jauron showed us he is willing to adapt to a hybrid cover 2 if the talent warrants it. The drop off in production from 06 to 07 suggests we would benefit from such a talent. To further the case we face Randy Moss twice a year now, and he's just not a guy you can release to a SS or FS deep (see George Wilson). Sure we need to keep improving the pass rush, but that’s not always an option, and if a true #1 CB is an option I don’t expect us to shy away from it just because we play this style of defense.