Dibs

The consensus with my group of friends has pretty much always been.... Troy Aikman had basically the same talent as Drew Bledsoe. The logic goes... If Bledsoe had the O-Line & the skills talent that Aikman had around him, he would be HOF material as well. (read neither should be HOFers) When Aikman lost his supporting cast, he simply became the stubborn/statue we all saw in Bledsoe. There is a similar argument regarding Emmit Smith(though personally I think he proved himself as the years went on). Still....Barry or Thurman in the Cowboys backfield.....mmmmm. I guess what I'm saying is... 1. Aikman = overrated 2. Bledsoe = underrated

This comment really puts into perspective the amazing job Peters has done to become starting RT. Fingers crossed he keeps improving at the pace he has done.

Yes, I am too young to remember but no, not tainted by character. Since I am too young to remember, I have to base my opinion on the concensus of football followers who have seen him(not just the Bills fans). Over time, I have seen this argued many times & typically OJ gets left out of a top 5(though obviously not always since it is just opinion) Names like Marion Motley, Bronko Nagurski, Steve Van Buren, Barry Sanders & others... & those you mentioned...Emmitt Smith, Walter Payton, Gale Sayers, Thurman Thomas. You are probably too young to remember some of those players. Unfortunately for us Bills fans, neither OJ nor Thurman are considered(on mass) to be Top 5. But hey, it's all just opinion.

You are absolutely right. Until they play consistent football for us they remain a ???. (Similar to when BA came in. He was quite highly rated as a FA but look what we ended up with) In the context to taking extra rookies though.... Fowler & Reyes have proven themselves to be decent enough to start in the league & both have potential upside. Rookies(regardless of where taken in the draft...i.e. #4) are all huge ???. I guess it depends on where you place your assumptions. I'm assuming their ability remains the same as last year. This would make them competent though not spectacular. They might be worse but...

That site is excellent. Anyone know how many other Bills players(old or current) have first class sites like this one?

I agree. I'm actually looking forward at the 2008 draft where we draft two LBs in the first two rounds.

Hey! We WIN 5 games!!!! I can't wait!! 5 GAMES!!!! 5!!!! !!!!!! well it's better than 4 games

Yeah but...that list is all of the 2nd day picks we have had. Surely we should reasonably assume that at least half(of 2nd day picks) will be total busts. Who remembers a 7th round nobody? I wasn't saying we have done well, I was just pointing out it was better than the 0-for-15! stated.

I don't follow your logic. Not all starters for all teams are 1st day picks. At a guess I'd say more(most) were 2nd day picks. On top of the second day picks we had, we also brought in several free agents. I would love us to end up with 5 pro-bowl OLs but that concept is just plain silly. 2 pro-bowlers & 3 solid starters is more reasonable but... at this point, 5 solid starters would do me fine. Peters-solid Villarial-solid(if uninjured) Fowler-solid Reyes-solid Gandy-solid(though some disagree) Plenty of raw, young talent learning in the background. Motivation in a team sport is usually a vastly underated factor. Let's see what the new regime can get out of these players.

I don't think it's been as bad as all that. Several of those guys were fairly good but had injuries limiting their careers. Most seemed to be late bloomers...i.e. we got rid of them & they went on to start for other teams. Tom Nutten played in the SB for the winning Rams side if I remember correctly. Zeigler & Lacina ended up starting 80 games each. Nails started over 50 then injury finished him. I think what it shows mainly is that we have not been very good at developing the talent. Hopefully this new regime will be able to recognize & develop the talent better than past regimes.

I heard he got pretty close though.

Yes but it's not Smiths fault he played at the same time as the 'best'(White). I would put Smith above OJ. OJ = 1st pick in draft, not Top 5 of all time, 6 pro-bowls. Smith = 1st pick in draft, Top 3 of all time, 11 pro-bowls. & as I said, Tasker = ummm, Top 1 of all time, 7 pro-bowls. Who else is getting desperate for the Bills to have another player of any of these guys caliber?

What about the "20 paragraphs to say 1 good point" guy, or the "I disagree & here's my illogical reasons" guy, or the "20 paragraphs to say 0 good points" guy, or even the "that was an original style post, I'll copy" guy By the way....are there only males(guys) who are on TBD? Just asking.

I would narrow it down to.... OJ, Thurman & Smith....as stated above, Kelly was great but not 'the best'. For similar reasons, I would say Smith. Neither OJ nor Thurman would generally be considered in the Top 5 of all time at their position. Bruce Smith however certainly would, if not Top 3. Mind you, going along this logic.....and here is my vote for my favourite of all time as well. Steve Tasker. Top 1 at his position. Considered by many to be the best special teamer of all time. How many other game-changers have there been from special teams(sans return men)?

Actually, I thought it a reasonable point. It's not really logical to get down on someone because they might leave. Unless he leaves, he has my support.

Didn't Moulds get negative comments when he was a rookie in camp? Was it him who ordered the pizza during training?(or someone else?) Either way, the rookie who ordered the pizza got bbbbad words said about him. Lets hope this rookie class don't like pizza.

My wife's uncle's students' mother has a bunion & uses said specialist. He told her that he was lying to your second cousin's neighbor's pharmacist's son. Why? He said that that's the sort of guy he is.

Ummmm, let me get this straight.... People here are honestly implying(or even saying) that RJ was a better QB than Flutie? GROW A BRAIN PEOPLE!

Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. I forgot he was still playing then. Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes Definitely

If Clements signs a multi-year deal & then performs consistantly, surely he would be a prime contender.

That is an excellent article. I think every Bills fan who went "Huh?!?" during the 1st round (which is pretty much all of us) should take the time to read it, minimally for some peace of mind. Even if you disagree with the 'plan', you will clearly see a plan was evident. Another point.... I distinctly recall pre-draft how the depth at the DT position was great & "even if we don't get Ngata or Bunkley we can get a good one in the 2nd or 3rd." The reality of the draft showed that this was not the case. When will we learn to take the pre-draft media analysis with a grain of salt?

Thanks for that. I find it hard to fathom (assuming those example WL Qs were good examples) that anyone could score overly low. Mind you, pressure test situations can cause a bit of brain freezing in some.

Thanks for that. Pity the older ones are gone, I would have really liked to know how he extrapolated 4.49 from Lewis' 9.92. One thing I learned though...(& please excuse my ignorance in the matter, I'm from Australia & never get to see footage)...the 40 times are timed by hand! That's ridiculous. I honestly would have thought a multi billion dollar industry like the NFL would set up professional timing equipment at the combines. I'm staggered.

I was under the impression that the Wonderlic mainly tested for quick thinking unlike the I.Q. test which is much broader in basis. Theory being that quick thinking is what is really needed on the football field. I've never seen an example of the test so I'm only repeating what was said pre-draft re:V.Young. You sound like you have more knowledge than me in this....do you think there is any validity to this view?

Do you have a link to that? I'd be interested to muck around with his figures myslef.