RuntheDamnBall

Hopefully Marcel Dareus is ensuring that a lot more than Henne's feelings will be hurt this fall.

Sadly, Big Mike couldn't eat a guy like Maybin for breakfast. Pee-Wee? JUGS maintenance squad? Ball cleaning? Disagree here. In sports there are more and less valuable positions. That's why when you find the guy who is a can't-miss at a premium position, he's worth more. In baseball a top-of-the-rotation starter is worth way more than a premium closer, because everyone knows the margin between closer A and closer B is pretty narrow, and the year-to-year inconsistency means that you're probably going to find somebody who can do the job from year-to-year. The front-line starter is the guy you develop and hold onto, or spend big bucks on in FA if you think it's the final piece. The all-things-being-equal mentality could suggest that the best kicker on the board is more valuable than the fifth-best DT, which we of course know is ludicrous. The draft shakes out the way it does, with a few outliers, for a reason. Even without the benefit of hindsight, many observers thought Ngata was worth more than any safety on the board in that draft, by virtue of a combination of talent and position.

I don't think they're not trying with regard to the tackles. It's just never worked out. Look at lines around the league and you are going to be hard-pressed to find any one of them made up entirely of first-day picks. Meanwhile, the Bills have a first (Wood), a second (Levitre), both very good, two thirds in Rinehart and Urbik battling it out for RG, Pears (UDFA, but former starter in the league) and Bell (7th Rd). That makeup, just on draft position, compares with most teams. They need first and foremost to avoid injuries and maintain good conditioning. The only way this team develops is with a majority of the line playing together for at least 10-13 starts. Honestly, I think if you want to point to one key development for the Bills OL, it would be to see Eric Wood seize control at C, and to become the leader of the line. Every good team has a great anchor at that position. Hangartner is about league-average at best. Levitre and Wood next to one another could form a really nice interior tandem that is upper third of the league-level.

If they lose Whitner they'll also need someone to step up in all those situations that call for a celebration after the opponent made the first down. I nominate Maybin.

Rich Gannon? Kurt Warner? There are plenty of others.

Orlando sucks balls. I'd just as soon root for the Dolphins, which is never happening.

Ready to move on, satisfied with the players in their system. The Bills are not in as good of a position as the Chargers are, so if taking their cast-offs and gambling on one of their past stars can make the Bills better, I'm for it.

Well, he reappropriate symbols and logos from other belief systems, but they were probably in the public domain by that time, so you have a point there.

I love that what's really just an out-and-out gamble, becomes a desperation move just because it's the Bills that made it. If Belicheck signed Merriman, this would be called a great "low-risk, high reward" signing - which is exactly what it is. If Merriman signed in NE and put up even average production, we'd be reminded of their genius at finding great role players on a budget. Sports media coverage is so much noise meant to prop up the egos of the big markets and moneymakers. Edit: or, what Promo said.

I'm just going to lay it all out there and say that people buying jerseys from Chinese retailers are Hitler.

...and the munchies.

I would love to hear from nevergiveup about this one.

DD, you better be over 51 to really care about what happened back in 1960. What happened in the 1965 draft, or the 1981 draft, doesn't mean a damn to me as pertains to the Bills' present circumstances. I care about the here and now and maybe the recent past as it informs the direction of the present. In this draft, there wasn't a QB the Bills wanted where they drafted. Missing the opportunity to upgrade a D.F.L. run defense so they could draft a QB who maybe plays in two years is a waste of #3 overall. I just vehemently disagree with your thesis. Chan is a smarter offensive tactician than any of us here. So if he didn't want any of these QBs and wants to work with Fitz - and feels/agrees with the scouts that the pick is better allocated elsewhere - why should we disagree with him? If he fails, he's out the door anyway. I want the best team, and the QB is only one of the parts necessary for that.

Because this is an inherently context-free statement you're making. Unless the Bills had the #1 overall pick every draft, what would you have them do. Tell me, in this "one draft where the Giants, Chargers and Steelers used their first selections on QB's and got pro bowl players," which QB would you have had the Bills rush to the podium to select at #13 overall? Unless the answer was a major reach by anyone's standards for Matt Schaub the answer is a #13 pick on JP Losman instead of a pick in the 20s. I suppose they don't lose so badly by giving up other picks for JP. OTOH, if, for example, the Ravens had another pick before they selected Flacco, would that make them foolish for not having taken him with their first pick? Of course not. Every draft is different, and every player comes into a different situation. It is not as easy as plugging in first-pick QB and "voila, playoffs."

The Detroit Lions have chosen 3 QBs with their first pick in the past twenty years. You can really see the dividends that's paid so far. The Redskins also chose 3. Heath Shuler, Patrick Ramsey and Jason Campbell. Those dudes just won. Somehow the Kansas City Chiefs have made the playoffs a few times even though they haven't selected a first-pick QB since Todd Blackledge. Ditto the Bears, who made the Super Bowl despite first-round laughingstock Rex Grossman. He was better than complete bust Cade McNown. The Browns addressed their needs with first round QBs Brady Quinn and Tim Couch during the past decade or so. For their storied history, the 49ers have bombed on first-pick QBs like Alex Smith and Jim Druckenmiller. You'd have to go back to Steve Spurrier for their next-most-recent first pick at the position. Somehow they fit 5 Super Bowl victories in-between there without a first-pick QB. The lesson here isn't that first-pick QBs are bad. But picking them because that's the prevailing logic reeks of idiocy. Right here is enough evidence that there is more than one way to do this. If the Bills find their franchise guy anywhere in rounds 1-7, via trade or veteran free agency, or as a UDFA, I really don't care how it happens.

Was Pat playing NT back in the day? I can't remember. I always remembered him being teamed up with Washington, but maybe that was in a hybrid.

Losing will always be for losers. Doc, no disagreements there, but are you comfortable with the depth behind Bell? Please answer this honestly.

I liked this draft, but I think we could have used one less DB pick and grabbed another OL prospect, or a TE. Given the propensity for linemen to start dropping like flies around October in Orchard Park, adding quality depth and high-potential players for the future would have been nice. I sure hope they make some noteworthy additions once FA is in play. I do think their attention to the front seven will make the current crop of DBs look better, hence my opinion that they could have allocated one less pick to that part of the field. Perhaps David Nelson is being looked at as a pass-catching TE type, as some have suggested. I don't think he has the body for it at all, but it would be a way to get more of these receivers on the field. I wish Shawn Nelson were going to be what we imagined he'd be, but it seems unlikely given his migraine troubles and other injuries.

I owe you one.

That chip on his shoulder? He just made it into nachos and ate it.

Thanks for the info, NGU. That said, brick: meet tv if it's a wide receiver. I don't care if he's cloned from Jerry Rice's DNA. We need help way more in so many other areas. I am wary of Miller's size but his performance dictates that he's worth a shot and he can certainly rush the passer with a complement of moves that distinguishes him from Maybin.

He didn't draft Maybin, numbnuts.

I'd imagine they are home emptying the old hundred dollar bills out of the bathtub and filling it up with fresh ones, playing video games and eating Chee-tos®. I mean, if they're not at Ryan Fitzpatrick's house, they're obviously not working hard and can pretty much be branded as poor teammates if not outright criminals. Sanders is an idiot, bar none, and he's the worst kind - an idiot who thinks everything he says is either brilliant or hilarious. You can't dispute a fact.

LMAO.

Thanks Mr. Krumrie.