1billsfan Posted January 23, 2007 Share Posted January 23, 2007 Kiper no longer has Patrick Willis listed in his top 29 players, Lawrence Timmons at #23 is the only linebacker listed. What's up with that? What does Kiper not like about the guy? Is this just a horrible draft year for the linebacker postion? http://proxy.espn.go.com/melkiper/index.html I know, I know "Who the hell is Mel Kiper" ha ha ha. But him not being in his top 29 has me puzzeled. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BuffaloWings Posted January 23, 2007 Share Posted January 23, 2007 I pay no attention to Kiper's "Big Board". Teams draft players based on what they need...not on what Mel Kiper thinks they should do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pyrite Gal Posted January 23, 2007 Share Posted January 23, 2007 Kiper no longer has Patrick Willis listed in his top 29 players, Lawrence Timmons at #23 is the only linebacker listed. What's up with that? What does Kiper not like about the guy? Is this just a horrible draft year for the linebacker postion? http://proxy.espn.go.com/melkiper/index.html I know, I know "Who the hell is Mel Kiper" ha ha ha. But him not being in his top 29 has me puzzeled. The whole thing actually matters little for the Bills since it seems quite likely that due to our long-term play-off drought and because Marv and Ralph likely want to at least have a good chance of winning now while they are still on this planet, they should have no interest in drafting Willis as a replacement for F-B. Folks seem to want to take this view to some bizarre extreme to claim I am saying never draft a rookie (I am not), but a look at the role of the MLB in the Cover 2 as the Bills employ it means that our D almost certainly would take a step back in production next year if it depended upon a physically talented but inexperienced player like Willis to try to fill Fletch's shoes. There is some possibility (but only a possibility and my guess is that this team will be too risk averse to lay its hopes on a mere possibility) that Willis has the physical talents to play diverse role of a run plugger AND deep cover guy on speedy WRs going into the middle which the MLB plays in our Tampa 2esque version of the Cover 2. Our MLB is required to plug runs like a DT and also to play the deep zone like a safety. F-B has piled up a record of producing solo tackles to the extent he is perennial tackle leader of the Bills and also showed great ballhawk ability in that he led NFL LBs in INTs last year showing he can play this diverse role (though not to the satisfaction of many TSW posters who whined about him being light in the pants, Howver, though Willis certainly appears to me to be a much bigger and better tackler than Fletch, there is little doubt that a rookie who has seen zero NFL plays will be able to make the reads and diagnose plays like a player with a decade seeing NFL plays develop. Even if (and its a big IF as the draft is always a crapshoot and even top notch teams blow it from time to time with selections and good players can simply be hurt so a plan B is essential always) Willis also proves to have the speed and the ball handling ability that F-B has clearly demonstrated in his career, we simply will have to go through the likely agony of him learning to become an NFL vet next year if we threw him into the starting MLB role. Drafting Willis to learn the game by playing OLB might make sense (I have little idea whether he is good enough to make this switch) but getting a more highly rated than Willis (on some boards such Kiper) OLB like Timmons or Poluszny makes more sense. The things which makes the most sense of all in terms of replacing F-B (if he goes which appears likely but is not certain at all) is that we get an FA OLB like Briggs and switch Crowell to his natural MLB spot or we get an FA MLB to replace Fletch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BuffaloBilliever Posted January 23, 2007 Share Posted January 23, 2007 Mel's a moron. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BoondckCL Posted January 23, 2007 Share Posted January 23, 2007 Mel's a moron. Now i think Mel is a douche myself. He could be much worse, but he is a douche. But i was just wondering, how many people have seen extensive footage of Patrick Willis apart from the run stuff film that has found its way onto this board on several occassions? Because if we are evaluating based on one play, then there are a couple players i would like to bring back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2003Contenders Posted January 23, 2007 Share Posted January 23, 2007 That's because with few exceptions (Hawk, Urlacher) LBs are not a premium draft position, and you can usually nab a good one in the later rounds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Albany,n.y. Posted January 23, 2007 Share Posted January 23, 2007 Pro Football Weekly has PW going #9 to Miami. They have us taking CB Leon Hall. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Astrobot Posted January 23, 2007 Share Posted January 23, 2007 A few others: About.com Justin Blalock G Consensus Draft Services Quinn Pitcock DT D&J NFL Mock Draft Levi Brown, OT DraftAce.com Patrick Willis ILB draftboardinsider.com Patrick Willis ILB Draft Connection Levi Brown, OT Draft Daddy Darrelle Revis CB Draft King Leon Hall, CB Draft Notebook Darrelle Revis CB Draft Season (Lupagus) Dwayne Jarrett, WR East Coast Sports Patrick Willis ILB FFCheatSheets.com Levi Brown, OT FFLiveWire (Lukin) Patrick Willis ILB FFToolbox.com (Matt Monaghan) Paul Posluszny, OLB FFToolbox.com (Dave Thompson) Darrelle Revis CB Fantasy Football Extreme Reggie Nelson S Fantasy Football Jungle Amobi Okoye DT FantasyTailgate.com Gaines Adams DE Football.com (Mike McCollom) Reggie Nelson S FootballMinds.com Levi Brown, OT Great Blue North Draft Report Amobi Okoye DT HailRedskins.com (Akh & Becky) Zach Miller TE HailRedskins.com (BigCountry) Frank Okam, DT HailRedskins.com (Jason Fenton) Levi Brown, OT Heard's Football Report Lawrence Timmons LB Huddle Geeks Gaines Adams DE Inside the Eagles Amobi Okoye DT Junkyard Jake Justin Blalock G Mock Draft City Gaines Adams DE MT's 2007 NFL Mock Draft Amobi Okoye DT NFLAnswers.com (Chad Thompson) Patrick Willis ILB nflanswers.com (Kevin Alvidera) Gaines Adams DE NFLDaily.com Leon Hall, CB NFL Draft Countdown Darrelle Revis CB NFL Draft Dirt Patrick Willis ILB NFL Draft Forecast (DJ Boyer) Dwayne Jarrett, WR NFL Draft Forecast (Michael Coyne) Levi Brown, OT NFL Draft News Brady Quinn QB - Picked 2nd in a big Trade (also Jarrett Hicks WR in 2nd Round ) NFL Draft Site by Robert Bryant Jamaal Anderson, DE NFL Report Levi Brown, OT Northwest Scouting Leon Hall, CB Rob’s Scouting Patrick Willis ILB SaintsReport.com Justin Blalock G Seminole Chief's NFL Zone Levi Brown, OT TheCaptainsDeck.net Levi Brown, OT TheFootballExpert.com Levi Brown, OT UWBadger Mock Dwayne Jarrett, WR Walters Football Site Patrick Willis ILB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Tomcat Posted January 24, 2007 Share Posted January 24, 2007 I keep saying to trade down, get more picks and still get "What 'chu Talkin' 'bout" Willis.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattyT Posted January 24, 2007 Share Posted January 24, 2007 ...switch Crowell to his natural MLB spot ... I think this is the most likely outcome. I'm still holding hope that we can sign Fletch though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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