Tipster19

It doesn't the likes of Robert Meachem, Mike Williams, Matt Jones, and Rashaun Woods ( isn't he in the CFL right now?) count? Calvin Johnson-#2 pick overall. Santonio Holmes-#25 pick overall and the only WR picked in the 1st rd that year. Braylon Edwards-#3 pick overall. Larry Fitzgerald-#3 pick overall. Charles Rogers-#2 pick overall. Don't we pick 11th overall? There hasn't been anything conclusive stating that there is a sure fire 1st rd WR in this draft class. I know that we are only looking for a #2 WR but that is even more of a reason to not take with our 1st rd pick at #11. Ok, now it's my turn to cherry pick. I'd like the values of James Jones, Chris Henry, Bernard Berrian, Kelley Washington, and Nate Burleson that were taken all in the 3rd rds of their drafts. I haven't bothered with some better 2nd rd WRs or Brandon Marshall who was taken in the 4th rd. I haven't seen anything yet on this thread that convinces me to change my opinion of choice #3.

Only one out of the four WRs that you mentioned was a 1st rd pick but I do agree that the WR position does need to be addressed no later than the 3rd rd. I challenge everybody to either make a mental list, or even write them down, of the upper echelon WRs in the game today and look them up with the links that I provided and see where they were drafted. I think that you may be in for a surprise.

Quite the contrary. Going and building the rest of the roster would only validate this thought all the more. Obviously the Bills' FO didn't determine that the available players in free agency were the solution.

The writing is on the wall for Losman with the validation of this article. I'm thinking that Hamden and Trent Dilfer would be solid back-ups to Edwards. What would be useful with Dilfer is his mentoring, not only to our young QB but to the offense as a whole.

I'm thinking that the Bills may feel comfortable with Hamden. If nothing happens before/during the draft in terms of moving Losman and we draft a QB in the mid-to-late rds like Kevin O'Connell or Matt Flynn, then I would suspect that the Bills will stuff him in a trade for alot less than we would like it to be. If this were to happen then I would rather have it be for a player versus a future pick.

I think that there could be three schools of thought on this matter. 1. That making a WR a priority in the first rd will increase our percentage of success in finding a bonafide #2 WR. 2. That drafting a WR in the first rd is risky based on if he doesn't fulfill his potential or value. 3. That no matter where you draft a WR it still takes time to develope the bulk of the prospects before they contribute in a significant way. I'm thinking that #3 is the most applicable. There is always the exception to the rule either way but the teams that are most solidified are the ones who have the luxury of time to develope their young prospects. I don't believe that Buffalo is quite to the point of having the priviledge of using a top pick on a player/position that has either a high risk success to failure ratio or the margin for a time consuming developement process. The Bills are best served to continue to fortify both sides of the lines and other positions. Running a ball control offense with a good ground game and well managed possessions will bear the most fruit. We have a premiere RB, a solid WR and supporting cast and a OL that has started to jell. I believe that if a #2 WR were crucial than it would have been fulfilled in free agency. This didn't happen, most likely due to the economics. Why would this principle be abandoned now in the draft? I want to go on record as saying that a WR or two and a valid TE is very important to our young offense's growth, it's not the end all that some believe. A good percentage of fans are clamoring for the sexy pick but the overall shape of our roster should be top priority. It wasn't too long ago that we were all squawking for playmakers and bulldozers for our DL and OL. While we have made tremendous strides in these two areas in the last year or so, we are still not there. I still have two questions rolling around in my head. First, although we did address the DL in this year's off season let's keep it in our perspective that Stroud is a great addition but he's approaching 30, came off a big surgery and even if this is all overcomed, no one is immune to injuries. Spencer Johnson just might be a real pleasant find but before we signed him I never heard of him, and though I'm not any kind of an expert, I'm not quite ready to drink the Kool-Aid of belief that these two players are going to deliver us to the promised land, at least just not yet. The other question I've got is well I was feeling quite smitten with our OL as the year progessed, I was brought crashing down to earth when T Jason Peters was injured. There was a huge drop off immediately, not just in his replacement but more importantly in the whole OL's continuity. Where was our depth? All I want for this team, franchise and community is success with the Bills' return to glory and post season and not just for a year or two. It's about foundation and we just started building a solid one. We are so close to really solidifying ours, let's not stop one step too short. A good draft here could provide us success and continuity for years to come. I've spoke too much. Here's the last 5 past drafts. I think that 5 years is a proper barometer to the current times and trends of what is going on in the league. Judge for yourselves. http://www.nfl.com/draft/history/fulldraft...mp;round=round1 http://www.nfl.com/draft/history/fulldraft...mp;round=round1 http://www.nfl.com/draft/history/fulldraft...mp;round=round1 http://www.nfl.com/draft/history/fulldraft...mp;round=round1 http://www.nfl.com/draft/history/fulldraft...mp;round=round1

That's accurate but in addition to that is that Albert projects to being a great T at the next level. I can't post or provide all that I heard on Sirius or read about him at this time because I'm off to work right now. Having a monster being able to play T and G would be an addition that would be fantastic. Him being a homeboy is of course a huge bonus.

Seeing that the 2007 season has past, I'm only concerned about 2008. When Moulds wasn't receptive (literally) to Losman he was traded. The same with Travis Henry'Willis McGahee. Evans hasn't been the biggest Edward supporter. Why is it taking so long to re-sign him? The Bills have been professing that they want to. When Nate Clements was nearing the end of his contract and Buffalo was stating that they would like to keep him, what happened? They let him walk. Zero compensation. How did you like that? The hole isn't created at the #1 receiving position this year. We would have Evans this year. I don't think that the Bills are looking to becoming the Greatest Show on Turf this year or in the future. We need solid receivers, not superstars. That's why they were going after the likes of Willford and Johnson.

Neither of them were a #1 receiver. If Buffalo can't or Evans won't re-sign then the Bills should make it a priority to insure that Evans has a monster year. Trading our #1 pick in 2009's draft and pairing it with Losman should be enough of a compensation to get Minnesota's pick at #17 in this year's draft. The Bills should then fortify our lines on both sides of the ball (Derrick Harvey and Branden Albert). They could grab WR Jordy Nelson in the 3rd and C Fernando Velasco in the 6th and I expect Hamden to be our #2 QB. That leaves us our 2nd, 4th, 5th and two 7th rders to address our needs at the CB and TE positions. I would still like to see the Bills take another DT and players at the LB and secondary positions for depth/rotation.

Jordy Nelson isn't a #2 WR??! As far as a #1 TE goes, you rather have one of them over a strong DL and an improved secondary?

His stats look to be a bit underwhelming until you look at his Stanford's Pro Day. His familiarity with Trent could come into play. The size is there and he might be a safety net in the late rds that none of us are expecting. http://www.nfl.com/draft/story;jsessionid=...mp;confirm=true http://www.footballsfuture.com/2008/prospe...k_bradford.html http://www.nfldraftscout.com/ratings/nflco....php?pyid=15464 http://www.nfldraftcountdown.com/scoutingr...rkbradford.html

I'm out on Flowers, there's character issues with him and there is no way that I would like to see the Bills use two out of their top four picks on TEs. Read the notes on Flowers...he's trouble. http://www.nfldraftcountdown.com/scoutingr...donflowers.html

I think that you answered this yourself about our need for a DE and the available talent to fill it. Why would we forsake this position if we don't address it with our 1st rd pick but address our #2 receiver position with our 1st rd pick when there is ample talent for this position in the 2nd and 3rd rds?

Before anyone takes this literal just consider what could result from it. If the Bills felt that the money would be just too much to sign Evans to an extension, or that he doesn't want to, then Buffalo could tag him next year and then trade him to another team. Buffalo would save money, and we all know how much we enjoy this mentality, and would be able to recoup our 1st rder that we used to get into the 1st rd again this year. I wouldn't suggest doing this just to get back into the end of the rd this year but if it could get the Bills into the late teens/early twenties and for a player that they really coveted then I would be for it. I think the Bills really do want to retain Evans but if he overprices himself or Buffalo is trying to shed themselves of the last remnants of the Donahoe Era, then make it count now. Now if this hypothetical scenario pisses you off then let me really put you over the edge. If this were to ever happen with this second 1st rder, I still wouldn't want the Bills to use it on a wide receiver but instead on our OL. I think that getting OL Branden Albert would pay huge dividends for years to come.

That's fair to say but I don't believe that it will happen drastically overnight neither.

I'm sorry but with all due respect I don't see it. These three positions, WR, TE, and CB, appear as positions that are important but not crucial. The WR we need is for the #2 receiver position, the TE isn't a position that we ever relied heavily on, so why now and CB in the Cover 2 defense isn't someone that needs to be a high profiled CB. It's the safeties and DL that is critical to this type of defense.

Virginia's coach Al Groh was on Sirius radio and just absolutely loves this guy. Let me put on some armor before I say this but I wouldn't mind one bit if we used our 1st rder in next year's draft in a package to get this kid.

1. DE Derrick Harvey 2. CB Tracy Porter 3. WR Jordy Nelson

This story is kind of hard to believe. There's been several players in the past that come up with excuses that are just off the wall. This has the smell of a domestic dispute if you ask me. http://www.profootballtalk.com/2008/03/22/...m-in-tv-mishap/ Apparently the injury is much more serious than first believed.

I have a little side story if anyone is interested. Denver signed K Matt Prater awhile back, anticipating that terms couldn't be worked out with Elam. I know Prater and his family, he's from Fort Myers, Fl. His bio from the Broncos' official website says that he was born in Mayfield Hights, Ohio but he grew up here. My son is his age but was better friends with Prater's older brother Mike. When all the parents were at the orientation for freshmen football I see this mother just hammering the coach about her son who is a kicker. I tell my wife why in the hell is that lady going on and on about her kid being a kicker. Now I know why. He's a nice kid and he's from a good family. Matter of fact his old man is a psychiatrist, so they never really have hurt for money. I ran into him and his brother at breakfast a few weeks back and he told me then that he has a real good chance of staying on with Denver but only if Elam were to retire. Once he went to college, I read about him from time to time. He's got some credentials, I think he tied the school record for the most kicks or longest kick, some crap like that. It was pretty exciting to know him and then see Detroit give him a chance. It didn't work out so he came home, which is only two hours from Miami but on the other coast, and kept practicing when Miami decided to give him a shot. It looked like he had a good chance to stay on because there was rumblings and dissatifaction with current kicker Olindo Mare at that time. Prater got cut but that's when Atlanta picked him up under that Petrino maniac. The kid finally makes the big times and is going to stick but then he goes and misses two out of three easy enough kicks and gets the boot himself. What's ironic is Prater gets cut from Atlanta and goes to Denver and Elam splits and goes to Atlanta. In this whole kicker merry-go-round process is that Martin Gramatica, who is from this area also (Port Charlotte?), replaced Mare in New Orleans. I don't know Gramatica personally but I do know a few people who do, one kid even was coached by Gramatica's father in soccer. I always thought he was a goofball by the way he would jump up and down when he was in Tampa but he's actually supposed to be a really nice guy. Well, I really didn't mean to get into all this but I thought it would be interesting to share this with everybody and I'm real happy about this opportunity for Prater. I hope that it works out for him and he lands up with a nice, successful career in Denver, he's a good, respectful kid.

It's my favorite time of the year, it's great to have all this hope and enthusiasm. I wouldn't want this draft personally but I love all the speculations. Keep it going. Go Bills!

No, that wasn't me.

I thought the same thing. Showing the highlights from one game doesn't mean anything. If that were the case than we should be drafting WR Jordy Nelson in the first rd because of the way he turned CB Aqib Talib inside out in that Kansas/Kansas State game. Man, I sure do like that Nelson though!

Nope, just a football maniac.

I'm in support of your theories. If we spend the money on a wide receiver with our first pick and don't re-sign Evans then we're right back to where we started. When you stated that we are building a smashmouth defense, I also noticed that ALL of the players that we have recently been signing have been much bigger players than their predecessors. Our offense is pretty stable. We are missing a #2 WR and a better pass catching TE. Both can be taken with early-to-mid rd picks. People don't seem to remember that we used our #1 pick on Marshawn last year. Let's let the guy play. In addition to our offensive ineptness last year, let's also keep in mind that we were playing with a newly formed offensive line, a rookie RB and playing with two QBs, one a rookie and the other one who is an incumbent, that seemed to not be able to stay healthy.