Bill from NYC

I really do understand this. And I think that soon, the cb position will not be valued as high as it is now. A "shutdown corner" is a good thing to have, but at what cost? The Raiders let theirs walk. The Eagles are shopping Samuels (and his huge contract) for a 4th or so. And, let's talk about Revis. According to Sirius (I think it was Ross Tucker), Revis was paid 25 million last season, counting the bonus. Now, he is threatening to hold out. He makes SO much, they had to extend Sanchez (and give him more up front money) just to stay under the salary cap. So what should a team do, let corners walk after one contract? We tried that, and lost football games. None of the above teams made the playoffs. It really isn't smart (imo) to pay huge bucks to a cb given the rule changes. If a team plays 4 wide sets, Revis can only "shut down" 25% of opposing wideouts. And in many sones, receivers are passed on to safties at designated spots. We don't know how good or bad our corners are. Our leading sack artist played nose at least half the time, and after that Kelsay and Moats were our pass rush. And, teams even ran on us. Once the team is stronger and deeper on the front 7 and OL (and maybe even QB), I would probably be OK with a first round corner. Until then, I simply view it as unwise to devote top resources to the secondary. And sadly, there is a body of poor work by Levy and Jauron to make my case.

Happy Birthday!!!

The right thing to do would be Kalil. The Bills would take Blackmon. It's hard for me to believe otherwise.

Fine, but why waste another first round pick? We need a LT and our LBs, other than Barnett, might be the worst in the league. There is no reason at all to throw another first round pick in the garbage. Last winter was mild. This one might not be, and we do have those late season home games. We need to use our best resources on getting stronger, instead of repeating the same mistakes that have kept us locked in the cellar.

Absolutely.

Well, Parcells could not trade out of the #1 spot when he took Jake Long. And look at how much the Raiders spent to bust out on Russell. I think early picks are worth more in terms of owners not having to take a financial risk on an unproven player. These kids were getting 30 million dollar bonuses. Not any more. Even Whitner held out at #8. We will see how it plays out real soon.

1st Round: Floyd. He sells tickets in year 1, but doesn't produce. 2nd Round: Fill in the blank corner. He will be so-so and no real help long term. 3rd Round: Fill in the blank OT. If he ever is good, he will take 2 or 3 years to be adequate.

Hi John! There are many things to address in this post. The first is "fawning hometown fans." This is to be expected on a Bills board, no? There are even some who will defend stupid draft selections til the end. We are Bills fans here, and all of our opinions are just a bit jaded, no? As for Fitz, I think that for the most part you are correct. Losman and Edwards could not win consistently (imo) with a superb supporting cast. Especially Losman. That said, as much as I couldn't take watching JP, the 2006 draft and offseason seemed to kill whatever little chance of success that he had. Fitz IS better than these guys. He is smarter and tougher than either of them. I also like that he was a second teamer with SJ. I believe that he taught SJ quite a bit, and that they have chemistry. This is a HUGE help, and probably at least some of the reason that SJ re-signed with us. In my weekly "Thoughts" and other posts, I broached the possibility that Fitz was hurt last year. I am too lazy to look it up and post a link, but I stand by this. And "Dick Drawn" agreed. I cite him because he really is, imo, the most knowledgable fan I for one has ever talked to. In summary, I agree with you that Fitz is not on the talent level of recent superbowl winning qbs. If he does win one, he would be something of an anomaly. Perhaps even a folk hero. In other words, it is not something one could readily expect. But my thing is to get him more blocking, improve the defense even more, and draft a backup. Let's make the playoffs and see what happens. GO BILLS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sorry, I tried to be, but apparently I was not specific enough. I do not want a db or rb at #10. I never have nor ever will. My point is that imo, Barron is WAY better than Whitner, and imo better than Byrd or Wilson. Is this enough to make me want a safety at #10? No, it is not.

Not bad at all, but I cannot imagine Hightower getting past Pitt, Balt., and the Giants.

Again, he isn't my top selection by any means. But we are not looking at a Donte Whitner here. This kid does it all. Look at Trent Richardson. I can't wait to see where he goes, but consider him the anti-Spiller. He is a bruising, every down back with speed, blocking, and very good hands. I don't want him either at #10, but Greg Cossel calls him the best back to come out since Adrian Peterson. It's all but impossible to predict what the Bills will do. Buddy is one for two wrt drafts. If he has another good one, we can contend for the wild card imo.

I watch Bama. Barron is a star. He covers, blitzes, has great hands, and hits like a truck on running plays. Anybody who has read my posts knows that I dislike drafting defensive backs early. This kid however is going to be a fantastic player. Better than Kirkpatrick imo. Despite the above, I hope that the Bills go OL or even LB. But if they draft this kid, I won't have a "Donte Whitner meltdown."

I didn't expect many to like the idea. But this board is about dialogue. I would only consider a trade because of the raw talent this kid has. And in the OP I did acknowledge the risk. The thing is, Mallet could probably throw Luck 50 yards without much air. I have been around quite some time, and have not seen 5 QBs who can make the throws that he can. Seriously.

He is better than either one of them. LOL!!! I suppose that I used the wrong icon!

That would be great. And fwiw, Barron is a better DB than Kirkpatrick, in my very strong opinion, this from having seen them both play for years. Jmo, but a strong one.

http://profootballzone.com/nfl/patriots-open-to-trading-brian-hoyer-or-ryan-mallett/ Look, I respect any poster who does not agree with me. I'll take it a step further and say that the odds would be in your favor in terms of Mallett having a drug relapse, etc. That said, if I were GM and thought the kid was healthy and not taking drugs, I would pony up perhaps a 3rd and a 4th. Maybe more. This kid has talent that is very, very rare. There is really no throw he cannot make. I saw him throw a 50 yard post pattern.....flat footed. And there was NO air under it. It was like throwing a baseball. I am the very first to admit that if he didn't have major issues, he would not have fallen to round 3. And, I am also VERY suspicious of the fact that Belichick would give him up were there not issues. But I maintain that if he, somehow is, or can get his head on straight, he will be able to do things on the field that only a handful of players could ever do. Nick Saban said that he can make throws that only a few people have ever made (I am paraphrasing, but very close). Blast away at will, but keep in my that my goal, like yours, is for the Buffalo Bills to win football games.

Kelsay is a less than average DE. Merriman is a low percentage abstraction. If they cut both of them, I would be fine. Barnett is our only legit LB imo. I will stick with my premise that a corner at #10 is would be an ongoing picture of stupidity ala Levy/Jauron. And if the new regime can find talent after round 1 as you say, perhaps this would be a good time to look for a corner, no?

I have no issue with a corner in round 3 or so. Again, the position will be easier to play. This would seem to be a given. But, devoting a teams best resources to the secondary is a proven (by the Bills) recipe for losing football games year after year. This too is a given. And btw, Barron is a better football player than Kirkpatrick imo. He, as a rookie, will be better than Byrd in pass defense, and 10x better against the run. Jmo.

Jim, Leodis was a first round pick. Williams was an early second. So was Byrd. Devoting the bulk of a teams early draft choices to the secondary is a recipe for losing. The Bills have proven this beyond any reasonable dispute. The job of a DB on the Buffalo Bills has become MUCH easier. Dareus might be great. Mario is great. Kyle might be back and we signed Anderson. The pressure they will provide will take time away from opposing quarterbacks, providing they stay healthy. I see no reason to waste yet more first round resouces in this direction. This draft is a strange one for the Bills, this I admit. I read on this board (no link) that even old fashioned Buddy said that he would be willing to trade down. We could do this and pick up another pick, AND Donta Hightower, who could make it virtually impossible for teams to run against us. This would help in our winter home games, no? Or, we could draft a blocker who could help our offense in the elements. As much as I HATE the idea of drafting running backs at #10, I would rather grab Trent Richardson than any corner. He will enter the NFL as a better player than FJ, or especially Spiller. I don't want the Bills to keep making the same stupid mistakes. I see them as having a real chance to improve. A corner at #10 would derail the progress we have made in free agency. I have seen this before, and so have you. GO BILLS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Any corner at all in round 1, including Claiborne, would be stupid, and set back the franchise yet again. How long must we throw away draft picks like this? Want to know what is wrong with the Jets? They pay their corners SO much that they had to extend Sanchez for cap relief. How is that working? Or, should we bring in a corner for 1 contract and let him walk? How has this worked for us? We just used an early #2 on a corner last year. Enough is enough.

This is absolutely amazing BV. Both owners were elderly AFC men, and both were burned by early OL draft picks (M.Williams and Gallery). It is especially odd wrt the Raiders. The best Raider team ever was the one in 77 who beat the Vikings in the SB. And they did so in large part because they had one of the best offensive lines ever (2 hall of famers).

Useful comment? Not sure what this means SJB. If the poster would have said that the 2010 draft was great (and it did suck btw), would that remark have been "useful." The 2011 draft looks like it was a good one. For the Bills, it was great when compared to their usual disasters. This is the year for Buddy to show what he can do imo in terms of the draft. Last year we picked 3rd. We picked 9th when Nix tanked in 2010. This is not to say that Buddy didn't do a good job in terms of bringing in ufas and udfas. He did well in this regard. But this year, we pick early and often enough to improve this team a whole lot in 8 days. I have faith in Nix, but he has more to prove. What we have as fans is hope, but I'm quite used to this.

What do you think of Hightower? Have you seen much of him?

Not enough Astro. No way imo. Not with the new CBA. I would want a 2 for 4 slots. Or a 3 this year and in 2013 for our #10.

I agree. The opener vs. the Jets means quite a bit. We need Mario and Marcel to take over that game!