RuntheDamnBall

That kind of confidence can evaporate against a real NFL pass rush and coverage scheme.

I've seen a lot of the latter. To answer your question, yeah, this kind of WR does help a QB get better. If you don't believe me, watch playoff QB Andy Dalton sometime. He is nothing special. His WR definitely is. Not only do you have a WR that actually catches more balls thrown to him than, say, a TJ Graham, you have a radius of about 5" more to work with -- at least. It surely helps a QB keep drives going, which is the #1 problem the Bills have. Johnny Numbskull has had a pretty nice college career. He has size going against him with Brees and Wilson as outliers. Maybe he shows how trends are changing and succeeds. Maybe he is a guy who has smarts akin to Jim Kelly but just knows how to play the game. Maybe he would do nothing more than EJ has with the kinds of weapons we've had here. I simply don't want to court a QB controversy. You draft this kid, and you are hitching the wagon to him. There is no drafting Manziel and having an open competition. I don't get the sense that the Bills want to hand the keys to another rookie for a second year in a row, let alone a guy who just turned 21 and reportedly has maturity issues. Finishing out of the top 10 doesn't mean you weren't contending all year. They were ranked #3 in week 5, and still were in the top 10 until the Fla loss.

It's a bit of hyperbole to be sure, but the primary point stands.

Hell, why stop at drifters?

This.

There are three scenarios in which you trade up. 1) The QB of your dreams is there, and he is all you need. 2) You are fleecing the other team 3) You're a pick away from grabbing a guy you love, before a sizable drop-off in talent, and are afraid someone else will take him. That's a lot of conditions to deal with, and the chance that you meet any one of them is rare-ish.

BANG ON my friend.

You said "poop." [/butt-head] O RLY. Guess we never signed Kevin Kolb. He also chucks it up to a 6'5" receiver better than EJ. Oh wait, EJ doesn't have one of those.

I count six. You reading this thing on a plasma TV? That said, I'm a fan of line breaks. Writers gotta design for the eye.

It shouldn't be lost on anyone that the Toronto adventure is a clarion call to tried and true Bills fans that they aren't needed, or that as much / enough support can come from Southern Ontario to fill the stadium. I am all for growing the fanbase in S. Ontario. Putting the team in an overpriced football mortuary of a dome with horrific turf is not the path to that growth. It's a misguided response to that growth. Win and this fanbase will support the hell out of them. It's a notion that is as true in New Orleans as it is in New England, as it is just about anywhere short of the places where there are waitlists for PSLs. Berate the fanbase all you want. The team isn't worse because of its fanbase. It's the reverse. Correlation <> causation.

Agreed completely. All you need to do is listen to guys like Wood to get a sense of how much playing in TO takes the wind out of this team's sails. Does a great team win there, no matter what? Sure. But I think a team that is learning how to win doesn't need any extra distractions or excuses available to them.

I have to watch more of Watkins, but the first half of this is cold hard truth. Smith is a baller and has a borderline case for the HOF with a real cast of middling QBs until Newton came around. He makes QBs better.

He could be a bit better than Dockery, but that does put it into relief, a bit. The smartest teams draft interior linemen every year and have really good people teaching them.

True.

He won't be available, and on the real off chance that he became available, there'd be a bidding war and an opportunity to go anywhere in the country. In which case, you go to beautiful San Diego and replace Gates, somewhere where there are low taxes, or your favorite place in the world. Buffalo would have to pay him QB money to bring him here, honestly.

True, all of it. Roethlisberger, as I recall, had a pretty limited playbook, limited attempts and a real Pittsburgh power run game to rely upon. It's almost as if they knew what to do with a rookie QB and what to surround him with.

FWIW Eli was NOT good early on, and also had time behind Warner. There was a lot of time where people thought he was going to flame out. They stuck with him and he developed as they acquired more weapons and he acquired more experience. He could potentially be a fine comparison for EJ.

Well, the good news is of course that FA begins far before the draft. If this FO does a good job, then a lot of these problem areas will be addressed and the draft becomes a chance to acquire the best talent on a purer level. Those areas include TE, another QB who can potentially start, another WR, MLB or WLB, and preferably a guard and a tackle. These are of course assuming that they don't jettison SJ13 or any pricy players. I would be comfortable with a 50/50 split in where the upgrades come from. It'd be nice, if the BPA truly is a WR, for the team to have the luxury of taking him because he'll improve the team. If it's simply another above average guy like Evans, that's not enough, though.

Pretty small sample size to be working with, IMO. It's a lot easier to gather and compare data when athletes are all performing the same task, I.e. hitting in baseball. Working with a pool reduced to first rounders at a single position over 8 years or so - during which the game itself has changed - is extremely difficult. Something to remember when we berate the talent evaluators. They have a really hard job, at least when it comes to the world of sport. This list also must be prior to Alex Smith, Vick and Rodgers, though Rodgers of course sat his rookie year and then some.

Would you take Desean Jackson right now? Yes, yes you would.

I hope that assessment is based on more than the guy's showing against the Buckeye D. I like Boyd but I saw things I liked from Manuel in college too.

I'd argue, on the contrary, there is no point in drafting guys who clearly don't have much of a future when you need to fill a 53 man roster. You can't will franchise QBs into being just by selecting a lot of players at the position. The chances increase, sure, but you also want to give the guys you have a chance. You also need a line that isn't going to get the guy killed, and some weapons for him to use. You also need a run defense. You can see where I'm going with all this. I think this QB is capable of solid play. He has much to prove next year.

Detroit is actually not a lot farther. A lot of Jays and Tigers fans make that trip between the two cities. Hell, have them play each other there every year. Call it the "Ralph Bowl."

Fair 'nuff. I think a real backup plan would have been to get somebody with > 1 year starting in the league before June came around (Legursky signed June 5, and was coming off injury IIRC - maybe I don't!). I also feel like it's possible - not necessarily probable - that Wood could net top 3 center money in FA, but that's splitting hairs. You're pretty much right. Also, note that few here think that Kelsay was worth what the Bills gave to him, or Langston Walker, or Dockery, for example. This trojan horse that we Bills fans always want to see players get max money is just that. It's an entrance to an argument that isn't being had.

LOL.