You know what, forget our needs.

[JAMIEBUF12]

you always take the best player available................unless you have a young all pro at that position and if thats the case you trade the pick away or take the next best player that you can use..................the only other time u dont take the best available is if you have a solid contending team then u can draft for the future..go bills in"06

[apuszczalowski]

What alot of people don't seem to understand is that the term Best Player available does not mean there is always just one player who is better then everyone else. At number 8 most mock drafts have us taking Bunkley, Ngata, Davis, or Huff. All of them could be considered best player available. Just like you could always add in Young (if he's still there) or Cutler. That leaves the Bills with a choice of 6+ Best Players available, so you chose then from who you believe will be the best fit for your team and who will be the best value at that pick. You also look at the rest of the players available at that position and see how the rest of them rate at that position. Is there much of a drop off from Ngata to the rest of the DT in the league, or could you get someone with your next pick that is just a step below him?

 

The biggest problem with drafting this low is that the player is unproven in the Pro's (although he may be regarded as being a great player) and comes at a high price. They are not a player you want to take a chance on or be project players (like changing a RT to a LT, or moving from C to G) The player may be able to do it, but you don't want to take a chance and wind up with a bust on your hands. In the first round (especially top 10-15) you draft a player that has demonstrated the skills required to become a great NFL player. The rest of the draft is for bringing in guys to fill needs and be project players.

[Pyrite Gal]

Your definition of "loaded" must be really convoluted if you think the the Bills are overloaded at talent at LB.

 

Who are these super-quality players overflowing our roster?

 

An injured Spikes, an quickly aging Fletcher, and an underperforming Posey with questionable backups behind them.

 

If Hawk falls to the Bills, they would be hardpressed to pass on him in favor of the studs on our roster.

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Actually my definition of loaded is defined by the total reality of relevant factors to drafting a player and does not mean simply an assessment of the quality of a player.

 

I wish that it was all so easy that it merely were just a simple matter of having an oopinion about the quality of a player play.

 

However, the reality is:

 

1. The NFL use to be a sport which also happened to be a business and now it is a big business which also happens to be a sport. A team operates under the reality of the CBA and a salary cap. Thus, there is a budget of spending for each position and when your por money into one position it simply means you are gonna go on the cheap somewhere else.

 

The Bills are loaded at LB as they have a najor FA contract that they will pay TKO regardless of his injury. The have a significant FA contract which they gave to Fletcher andthough it is coming to an end, the acclerated bbonus makes him impossible to cut without huge cap ramifications. They also recently extended Crowel's contract and gave him a significant bonus prorated over several years.

 

Anyway you cut it we are contractally loaded at LB and you propose to adda #8 slotted cap hit to this load. The kwy question to someone drafting Hawk is given the huge allocation we would have to the LB position which positions to you think we can allocate less too?

 

2. Hawk looks like he will be a great player, but the key to winning this gameis building a great TEAM. I have seen lots of people say he looked like a great player in college, at the Cobine and based on his resume, but I have seen no one say how they would set up our LB corps with Hawk in place. How would you do this?

 

3. Due to the uncertainties of injuries, a kay to a TEAM winning the SB is that they have back-ups who can step up. NE is a perfect example where bad injury luck O got them to draft D players who stepped it up.

 

While no one would mistake Bills back-ups for starters (we proably should not mistakes some our starters for starters) back-ups are key to a good team. One of the few good situation on the Bills is that we are in fact loaded at LB in that we have some good back-ups who are experienced players who produce on ST.

 

If Hawk forces TKO, Fletch or Crowell to the bench (as contractually unlikely as this is) or in the also unlikely case he is benched himself initially because ALL NFL rooks need to learn to become vets) then we have recently extened back-ups Haggan and Stamer and still have current starter Posey on the depth chart.

 

Having 6 guys under contract for 3 spots, five of whom were either recently extended or signed as FAs we tracked down and attracted strikes me as loaded in reality.

[Ramius]

The have a significant FA contract which they gave to Fletcher andthough it is coming to an end, the acclerated bbonus makes him impossible to cut without huge cap ramifications.

 

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For arguements sake, according to clumpy's page, Fletcher costs 4.8 mil against the cap, but would only cost us 800K dead cap if he were to be cut. Doesnt seem too impossible to me.

 

IMO, if hawk is there at #8 and the others are gone (d'brick, williams), we'd be crazy NOT to take him.

[Guest BackInDaDay]

Actually my definition of loaded is defined by the total reality of relevant factors to drafting a player and does not mean simply an assessment of the quality of a player.

 

I wish that it was all so easy that it merely were just a simple matter of having an oopinion about the quality of a player play.

 

However, the reality is:

 

1. The NFL use to be a sport which also happened to be a business and now it is a big business which also happens to be a sport.  A team operates under the reality of the CBA and a salary cap. Thus, there is a budget of spending for each position and when your por money into one position it simply means you are gonna go on the cheap somewhere else.

 

The Bills are loaded at LB as they have a najor FA contract that they will pay TKO regardless of his injury.  The have a significant FA contract which they gave to Fletcher andthough it is coming to an end, the acclerated bbonus makes him impossible to cut without huge cap ramifications.  They also recently extended Crowel's contract and gave him a significant bonus prorated over several years.

 

Anyway you cut it we are contractally loaded at LB and you propose to adda #8 slotted cap hit to this load.  The kwy question to someone drafting Hawk is given the huge allocation we would have to the LB position which positions to you think we can allocate less too?

 

2. Hawk looks like he will be a great player, but the key to winning this gameis building a great TEAM. I have seen lots of people say he looked like a great player in college, at the Cobine and based on his resume, but I have seen no one say how they would set up our LB corps with Hawk in place.  How would you  do this?

 

3. Due to the uncertainties of injuries, a kay to a TEAM winning the SB is that they have back-ups who can step up.  NE is a perfect example where bad injury luck O got them to draft D players who stepped it up.

 

While no one would mistake Bills back-ups for starters (we proably should not mistakes some our starters for starters) back-ups are key to a good team.  One of the few good situation on the Bills is that we are in fact loaded at LB in that we have some good back-ups who are experienced players who produce on ST.

 

If Hawk forces TKO, Fletch or Crowell to the bench (as contractually unlikely as this is) or in the also unlikely case he is benched himself initially because ALL NFL rooks need to learn to become vets) then we have recently extened back-ups Haggan and Stamer and still have current starter Posey on the depth chart.

 

Having 6 guys under contract for 3 spots, five of whom were either recently extended or signed as FAs we tracked down and attracted strikes me  as loaded in reality.

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In a nutshell... "In my opinion, the Bills already have a sizable financial commitment to their current LB corp that may discourage them from drafting Hawk."

[stuckincincy]

In a nutshell... "In my opinion, the Bills already have a sizable financial commitment to their current LB corp that may discourage them from drafting Hawk."

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There must be some subtle planetary influences that we are not quite aware of...

[ch19079]

V. Davis is the best athlete that may be available at #8.