RuntheDamnBall

What about better, but not great? I still take that plunge. Improvement at that position will make the whole team better even if it isn't elite.

No, from watching as many actual games as I could catch of him.

AUP is pretty strong and has been pretty good at bargaining but it's come at the cost of entry for newer profs who have to adjunct for longer. Supply and demand issue, too. But... football?

Sorta, but SUNY pays tenure-track full-time faculty decently.

When what I read confirms what I've seen on game tape, I sure do, yes. I have seen enough of him to believe he has potential and can do some great things, and that he is inconsistent.

I guess. There's only so much toughness can save you from concussions. I think even Jimbo had some in-game effects from those. He was as tough as they come. In this league I prefer a guy who knows how to beat the rush and avoid the contact. The reason Rodgers is really tough is because he can stand in there, take it, and make the team pay for sending the rush. Ultimately it just doesn't work to send the house against him because the D will be exposed somewhere. I'd argue that he's even better at that than Brady, who clearly can be rattled by the rush if it's pervasive enough (see Giants).

This is true. Yet some teams strike gold. I'd love to see some good research into how that happens. Is it fit with a system? Is it that that player gets a few years to learn under a successful operation? Is it that the rest of the team is so good that he can't help but succeed? These things might describe a guy like Bulger, but they don't describe how a guy like Brady comes in and simply TAKES OVER the league for a team that was sort of a fringey playoff team for awhile. Maybe he is just an outlier, a guy everybody thinks they should have seen but whose combo of work ethic and untapped potential is uncommon.

Attitude will make you millions. Sincerely, Ryan Leaf Come on. That defense didn't just suck, it was the worst. If other teams are putting 50-spots up on you, do you expect to win very often? Please be honest. Thx as usual for the sanity. People don't get this and make all sorts of sh--ty reasons up like body language and attitude. Again, did Steve McNair rip his shirt up and throw temper tantrums and yell at people when he lost? Let's get some perspective.

And damn if that doesn't describe Ryan Fitzpatrick. Terrifically frustrating. Not saying his flaws aren't correctable, but that is cause for concern and certainly reason to shy away from him at #8.

Aren't these the same 2-3 guys who have been saying this since January? If so, how is it buzz?

Because the very real questions about size suggest he's not worth the #8 pick and the Bills' needs for that type of player are exceeded by their needs for others (QB, for example. I am not sold on Kolb yet). If Astro's scenario of dipping down to #15 to get him and pick up a sweet extra pick (day one or two) works out, that's EXACTLY how the Bills should be getting him while filling another position of need with a top-75 draft pick. I love Austin. Absolutely love him. I think it's scary to pick that kind of player in the top 10, that's all. I think many of us are comparing this to the Russell Wilson situation because it has the same kind of risk/reward potential. The risks are real, and so is the guy's performance. At the same time, there is probably actually more history of guys like him succeeding than there is of short QBs. SJBF and a few others have outlined some pretty good questions as to whether the best players sometimes get driven out of the conversation before they get a chance to succeed at some of the more premier skill positions, though.

Let's also compare those statistics, though. Austin had a LOT more touches, yards, scores, everything. He is like turbo-charged Roscoe with a lot more road-testing to see what he can handle and what he's capable of. Again, lunacy to get him at #8, especially for this and most Bills teams, but Austin is going to make someone pretty happy unless they are unable to create space for him.

I wholeheartedly agree. Would not take at #8 and will be annoyed if they do. Those teams drafting in the late teens and twenties are always sitting pretty for the great guards and TEs as well.

THE PEOPLE'S PRESIDENT. SUPREME LEADER OF THE BILLS.

I hope Bills Mafia makes some #FearTheAprilTweet signs.

I don't think their body types are anything alike and I hope it didn't look like I was suggesting that. I just meant that both could be undervalued due to their limitations in stature. A thick-bodied shifty waterbug receiver ain't goin' nowhere in the NFL, anyway. He'll be tracked down and feasted upon like a young gazelle by a big-ass lion. The problem is whether that body can take abuse or not, and whether he's fast enough to avoid it. Roscoe ultimately couldn't. I value Austin a bit higher than Parrish. These last two reasons you note are why Austin would be a substantial upgrade.

Stevie's tweet was basically admitting that the Pats have owned the Buffalo Bills and it would take some kind of international intervention to end their dominance, so I am not sure why anyone on NE would actually give a damn. Scoreboard. Always.

If they need tweets as motivation to beat the Buffalo Bills (as opposed to the humiliation factor), their team might be worse off than ours.

I'd be surprised if he went that early, just because he's soooo small. But to some extent like Russell Wilson, I think he is a guy who could really take off and defy those who doubt him due to his size. It will depend a lot on the team that drafts him being able to create the space he needs to operate. On NE, I would be very scared of facing the guy.

Consider those teams without Aikman, no Nate Newton, missing 2-3 of their LBs, no Alvin Harper, no Moose Johnston, no Jay Novacek, no Darren Woodson, and tell me how many plays those guys would have made. People hold double standards that they are afraid to admit. And they actually hold guys with really minor infractions to far higher standards than their idols.

Can anyone explain to me why the Bills would let go of Levitre because "good guards are easy to come by," then blow a top ten pick on a guard?

You got it.

There's reason to be wary, especially of Austin's ability to not get destroyed in the open field with faster tacklers, but damn if he doesn't present exciting potential. That kid can take over a game. Seeing him and Spiller out there would be a thrill. I would love to see Austin in Round 2 but it ain't happening. I don't think he'd last past NE's first round pick, if that late.

This, this, this. Thank you.

I can't say. I can say he has put up a string of seasons that rival the Bills' best WRs, with some real mediocrity at the QB position. And he himself has admitted the potential to do more. If they don't win, he won't get the same respect. I'm just saying the Bills have a far better shot of winning with him than without him, at present, especially given the way they seem prepared to conduct business. You can either accept that or get all bent out of shape about 140 characters here and there. I look at him like I do an entertainer who sometimes takes a joke too far - Louis C.K. might be a good example. I don't agree with what he does all the time but I still find him good at what he does.