UticaBill

He's a life long Cowboys fan.... That is a pretty big character flaw with me! :-) While I think he's an exceptional talent, I would much rather have a significant improvement in the run defense (esp. up the gut) and Von just isn't going to help with that as much as a DL would. Personally I would love to have Von Miller's name called, but would be THRILLED if we call Dareus!

If the charts are bunk, then why does every NFL team use them? I know they are not all strict adherents to the values on the charts, but they ALL look at those charts.... That says the research into them is fairly good. They are a tool, nothing more. Its no different than a trading card value magazine or a coin collectors value guide... they are guides, not "Rules" and often times trades do not "equal" each other on the value chart.... that is because of a perceived difference in the players (or choices) involved. Let us not forget N.O. trading their entire draft for the #1 overall.... it didn't work out for them, they did get a stud player, just not for them.

Buddy Nix has stated they would NOT trade out of the top ten.... Now I am always for trading back when your in the top 10 picks. A third of all first round picks never play out their first contracts.... so the shotgun approach is not a bad thing... (See NE) but as stated trading has all but disapeared in the top 7 spots. And I believe no higher than the 8th spot has been traded for in the past 10 years.... so don't expect us to move. A lot will depend on who the first two picks are.

I'd much rather take a QB like Ponder or Kaepernick at #34 then take a chance on either Gabbert or Newton at #3... I'd really like to be able to move back a few spots and pickup another 2nd rounder in exchange...

Well there is NO rookie cap for this year YET.... and we may not even have a season.... but either way it won't happen BEFORE the draft so NO... teams are NOT going to move up any more than in the past....

Really simple, in a draft that is deep in talent at the very positions you covet you trade down a few spots and still grab a top player at his position and also pick up a quality role player or two. If someone offered us a 1+2 in the top 10 spots I would have to take it.... this year... A top 10 pick and two picks in the top 10 in the second round? I'll take that over a 1st next year any day! In the above example, Our #3 is worth 2200 on the NFL value chart.... the Niners 1+2 are worth 2010 for a difference of 190 or roughly a mid 3rd round pick. Knowing the 49ers have those extra late round picks and a desire to move up.... I'd ask initially for their 3rd.... comeback with their 4th, and the settle for one or two extra picks in the late rounds.... still just take a straight 1+2 but I'd make them sweat that one a little.... Now we aren't offering this trade to them, they are coming to us, so we have the position of power!

That's it in a nutshell.... there is so little "Team" focus amongst the players today. The "Teams" are the ones winning the SuperBowls....everyone else is a group of individuals playing substandard football anyways.... Let's get rid of contract and simply make the players employees and pay them a weekly wage instead.... Then the owners can simply dictate things like team incentives. Team based incentives protect players against season shortened by injuries so instead of RB getting $$ for a 1000yd season. It would be paid whenever the TEAM reached a given milestone. Each win would add to their bonuses, each playoff appearance, etc, etc. As for salaries? Standard base play as guaranteed. (use NFL minimum salary chart) and then the players agent would negotiate the incentives. The incentives would would be standardized across the league and only how much each play is paid per incentive would be negotiated. By using a standardize incentive salaries could be "moved" via trade more easily than it is now under current salary cap rules. - (one of main reasons trading players is virtually unheard of today.) Similar to many large corporations today, the league would also begin a profit sharing plan with the employees so they are encouraged to generate more revenue for the league. Further Certain of the team based incentives would be paid into an annuity for the player as a form of "self-imposed" retirement system along with 401K plans etc. Virtually nobody has pensions in private business anymore and the players should realize that. A small portion of the retirement fund would be used to generate small "Lifeline" annuities for ex-nfl players. This would at least guarantee those players with a decent middle class lifestyle for the rest of their lives. Player injuries? They are already protected under the team based incentives but what about career ending or lifetime debilitating stuff? Insurance policies..... of sorts. Basically an owner/player slush fund designed to generate revenue and payout on claims. My thinking is similar to the procedure the Army uses to evaluate you (and re-evaluate you) to determine disability. Any of these injuries or conditions recognized in the evaluations would be paid for life by the league. Once the league stops treating the players like a bunch of subcontractors and treats them as employees nearly all the grievances and monetary issues have been sorted out in modern unionized business. The owners got a raw deal in that they are only allowed a specific figure for operating costs, and since the owners do not wish to open their books, the only manner to resolve that is via the profit sharing, which would need an elected board to oversee and run for the league. Of course none of this settles the larger issue in the league that some of the owners are no longer wishing to share with the others. I personally think not sharing is a foolish path to take as it has ruined baseball and basketball still today as a result. However even this issue could be resolved IF the owners would stop their concept of individual ownership and joined together in common bond as league ownership. This way as the value of the LEAGUE expands all owners would get a bump in value, but it also encourages the new thinkers to get their ideas into more than just their OWN stadiums but ALL stadiums IF the owners vote the new money making scheme in or out or place on trail. But common sense never prevails in these sorts of things.

I really don't see a need to spend money at guard so Mankins is not going to happen. Sioliai is a possibility though I somehow think Miami won't let him come to us.... When I said sign 2-3 of them, I assumed one of them would be POZ so really only bringing in 1-2 FAs and that is what the Bills traditionally have done each year along with another couple "journeymen" type players.... I think we "wind up" with Von Miller at #3 (assuming we don't trade down)since Bowers and Fairley will be gone by then. (I hope we try to trade down!) I think Von Miller, Martez Wilson, and Christian Ponder will be the big three draftees......assuming they are there for us. Ponder is a lot like Fitz but with a few upgrades.... maybe not the guy most fans want, but a very capable starter someday.

While everyone has been focused on the draft, I have been looking over the free agent crop this year, and there are some very intriguing people the Bills might target. (under 30yrs old, not wanting top money) Of course the order is from most costly to least (IMHO) any group of say 2 - 3 would greatly increase the Bills strength. H. Ngata DT, T. Hali OLB, L. Woodley OLB, R. Edwards DE, J. Gaither OT, D. Joseph OT, D. Harris ILB, S. Tulioch ILB, C. Greenway OLB, M. Kilawaka DE/OLB, G. Cofield DT, B. Ruud ILB, D. Free OT, Z. Miller TE, S. Ellis DT, M. Lewis TE, and resign POZ ILB Of course things depend on Wanstedt and the final base alignment. It's my understanding that Dave has always coached a 4-3 base so I tended to lean toward improving the 4-3 but left wiggle room for a 3-4 or hybrid base too. obviously a few of these players will never hit the market....

I am at a loss for why we are not developing this hybrid... that is what we have talent for.... Consider that if you run the 3-4 and you run a nickel package then you still have a 4-down base alignment in your packages. I think running more of a combination of both the 4-3 / 3-4 hybrid would not only fit our current personnel but also keep us flexible for the future personnel we acquire as well. My reasoning is that today's NFL base-7 defense is going to eat up 14-15 roster slots.... so either LB's or DL's that can start in both are needed, but backups that only fit one particular style can still be used... in case of injury those roles are expanded but that is what happens anyway.... Think of it as getting one free roster spot since the ability to shift to a base defense with one less player at the position of injury. Of course you need two things to do this, a strong NT and a quality middle linebacker who can play in both.... The downside is that you need 8 starters instead of 7.... but since one starter at each position can be situational is makes it a bit easier to find one. I also think that running a hybrid can make for some very easily disguised blitz packages and personnel groupings. Our safties / outside LBs would work well in some schemes that would appear to be a 4-4-3 to a QB presnap yet be something else when he looks down field 'ala the zone blitz. I could foresee ellison and scott used like that maybe... Then again I am all for single platoon football to return now that these guys are making so much per game!

Just a note, if you have the game tape of that SB and you slo-mo the TT fumble you will notice that just prior to fumbling TT was face-masked and nearly had his helmet turned 90-degrees as the ball comes out. Yeah its trenches football and sour grapes when the ref misses it.... but its something not often mentioned.

Got to agree with you. The Defense was surprisingly better than expected while the offense was in constant flux adjusting to Miami's D.... I was disappointed with the outcome, but I look at it as loss by less than a TD, a sign of a developing team. However I would like to point out that what nobody has talked about is the HORRIBLE special teams we have this season! The Off. was bad enough trying to adjust quickly, but our ST left the team in some bad positions too! There were many things that went wrong last week, but one thing I liked was our lack of penalties! Its been a long time since I can remember a Bills team that did that.... As for this week, yeah! Lots of interesting questions to be answered. My one good feeling about this game is that both Packers DE's are out and they will be playing backups.... this helps our two Tackles out nicely and may leave TE with enough time to "see" the defense. Those two tackles looked pretty bad despite what the coach said about them. Either that or Miami's DE's are truly awesome. And NO, I am not going to berate TE just yet even though his situational awareness is definitely in question. (throw short on a must win with a TD play?!?!? etc.) I have always said you cannot properly evaluate a QB until he has 2 full seasons starting and at least 4 years in the NFL... to date only Peyton Manning and Ben Roethlisburger have shown themselves to be reliable starters in less time than that. On the other hand there are numerous example of a QB "getting it" after completing 3 or 4 full years... (Brees, Dilfer, Testaverde, DeBerg, Favre, Lamonica, Young, Hassleback, etc.) I also believe that changing offensive systems in his first 3 years will set a QB back a year or more development wise. If you want to point to the Bills lack of success developing a reliable starting QB look no farther than that! <<<Flame retardant suit on>>> Now on Defense, Getting Torbor into the lineup could make things interesting and Ellison once again should come in an do a fine job.... I am expecting the blitz schemes to be better disguised this week and I hope the lack of yellow flags against us continues.

Really if we are talking about potential coming out then Reggie Bush is the closest "Successful" talent you can compare him to.... I haven't seen enough of Chris Johnson yet to make that comparison though physically they are very similar. as for Barry Sanders? Um, no... nobody yet has come close to looking like Barry.... Thurman Thomas? I'd hope so, but TT's "give me a crack, and I'll get you 3+yds." ability has been extremely rare at the NFL level.

Thank you, some reason in all this din of hate.... If we start Brohm its because we want the top pick next year for a QB like Locker... the guy was a PRACTICE SQUADDER!!!! you people should realize that he is horribly raw and we won't win 4 games with him... OTOH either Fitz or TE will deliver us at least 7 W's or more.... The thing that really irks me about all this hating is that everyone agrees we had a crap OC, a crap HC, NO QBC, and for whatever reason and injury plagued season.... If each of those major blows only equal a single win each then the bills "should" have made the playoffs last year.... we don't know yet what we have here, but I am POSITIVE that we have a better staff on offense and possibly no worse on defense, and the switch to the 3-4 I really like.... now for all that crappiness on the coaching staff, is it any wonder all our QB's sucked last year? It couldn't have been the patchwork line, lame play calling, or poor decision making on the sidelines that ruined TE or Fitz....or even JP for that matter... now could it? I just wish everyone would stop throwing the baby out with the bathwater. QB's take 2-4 years to develop occasional 5... bad QB play is not always the result of an untalented QB.... GO BILLS!

The only way Brohm starts is if we are looking to get the top pick in next year's draft so we can take locker, etc....

Not to mention both Jamal Lewis and Priest Holmes Running the ball behind 4-time Pro bowl LT Johnathan Ogden and C Jeff Mitchell.... not to beat a dead horse...

As some very astute people pointed out, a strong Running game shouldered by a quality offensive line are two requirements needed for developing QBs to be successful and those QBs that are not supported by either, typically lose confidence and second guess themselves... ruining their potential careers. I do like the fact that one of the first things I heard Chan say was he wanted to run the ball first.... That takes the pressure off the QB assuming we can actually get more than 3 ypc. and I think we have a threesome of RBs who should be able to achieve that, provided the O-line can get some push or crack a seam. We have three very differently talented RBs who all share some similar talents (speed, catching, elusive) so this could be interesting if it works. Its hard to believe "Fast Freddy" is the slowest back we have.... The worry is really the O-line, I was gaining confidence in it last season before all the injuries decimated it, but this year seems more patchwork and I really wonder how it will all shake out. I think our line play will have a bigger impact on our QB play than the talent (or lack there of) at the QB position. NFL history has proven that the "Franchise QB" is not needed to win in this league. Of course it helps a lot to have a franchise QB, but a strong O-line, Run Game, and stingy Defense are the most common elements of your winning teams. I like the fact Chan has gotten a lot from unknown talent, but who has he really developed? I'll give him the chance to show us, but I remain skeptical that we have everything we need in place to actually develop one of the QB's we have on the roster. If so, then perhaps we have a chance at one of the highly respected QB talents coming out next year. I really like Locker, but I want to see another year before hitching my horse to him. - and we would still need to solve the O-line stability. On the other hand I see a glimmer of a franchise QB in both TE and BB that could be teased out with the proper support.... either one would be an excellent backup QB and both might wind up being, if not for us for another team. Fitz should be let go IMHO.... He is just not going to develop further and doesn't fit the plan. That means BB and TE as the #2's trying to prove they can be #1's a bit like TE and JP or RJ and DF....(dear lord not that again!) I would just hate to see us go "gimmick" like Miami.... IE: the 'pistol offense' (I want a "machine gun" or a "hand cannon" at least! ) K Gun Special - Todd Collins turned into a serviceable backup QB for like 12 NFL years! We are good at cranking out backups QBs!!! Whats your point?!?!? Thurman Nailed it, we take any prospect with a chance at being a #1 and twist him into a serviceable #2 for ourselves or another team. Our history shows the best we ever did at developing a QB was Ferguson.... Hmm the guy had OJ Simpson and the Electric Company... Hmm are we seeing a patern here?

Just out of curiosity, what if Marshawn is attending classes to finish his degree? There has been no word why Lynch isn't in town, perhaps the reason is justified, perhaps not. I don't think we should cast aspersions upon the guy based entirely on speculation.

Well said!

going back over Bills draft history there is a trend of bringing in a vetran and then drafting a 2nd or 3rd rd pick to groom... Vince Ferragamo was brought in while we drafter Frank Riech in the 3rd... Fergy was another 3rd rounder brought in under a vet, so was Daryl Lamonica under Kemp.... so it seems with the exception of Kelly, the bills have always drafted a project QB and bandaged it with a veteran.

Yahoo's improvements last year gives them the nod over the NFL one... the free live game tracker was awesome.... that costs $ over at NFL.com

Sorry, I thought I noted fairly well that they were all 2-3 year prospects and none were legititmate starters coming out of college...

Oh no! He has the QB in a naked reverse choke! Whoops wrong sport! )

Are you totaling all returns KO returns, Punt Returns and Int. returns? or just the special teams returns?

I was having a discussion the other day at work about the Bills problems with developing a QB going all the way back to Todd Collins... We both reached the conclusion that the Bills have been rushing their QB's development ever since Kelly's arm went Noodle in '95... we then rush Todd Collins into a role at least a year earlier than most scouts predicted it would take for him to develop, and he quickly failed. Then we traded for RJ and signed Flutie and utterly failed to develop RJ, or use Flutie properly.... but THEN we trade for Bledsoe and draft JP a 2-3 year project with the idea of JP taking over once Drew's contract ran out after 3 years, but he was forced to start after 2 years (with one cut short) and failed, then we draft TE and bring in Fitz only to realize that Fitz has all the intangibles and only few of the tangibles for an NFL QB, while another long-term development project awaits in BB and is seemingly being rushed into the limelight to withstand the pressure. None of this is news to any of us... but the kicker is that within that span we have had seven offensive coordinators and six head coaching changes! Is it even possible to develop a QB with that much change in leadership and philosophy? Our solution was that we need to have and offensive coordinator and QB that will fit together well and STAY together for 3-4 four years with out philosophical change to truly be able to develop ANY future QB for the organization. I truly don't know if I could stand another 3-4 years of ugly football before seeing success, but I do know that if we are not patient with the offense and allow it to find players to fit it and grow, then we will never return to the Superbowl. Defenses are much more dependent upon athleticism and less on cohesion of specific personnel groupings, thus easier to install quickly.