Riskiest move

[Sisyphean Bills]

Is it possible that the Bills were staying true to their board?

 

"We went into the draft having discussed [offensive tackle] after the trade of Jason," Jauron said. "We said, "Do we feel like we have to have a tackle?' And I think we all agreed that we're not going to stray far from our grades just to draft a tackle.

 

"We felt like we have guys who can play there, so there's no sense in passing up a player we think is significantly better at another position just to feel like we plugged a number. We weren't going to do that."

 

 

I for one, on paper, am very happy with this draft

I think the question should be, "Why do the Bills always seem to have hordes of DBs rated way higher than any other position?" Is it simple man-love for DBs? Dick seems head over heels for DBs. Do the other scouts not file reports? What is it?

 

That statement almost suggests the notion that the Bills had set their draft board before the Jason Peters trade and because the trade happened "so close" to draft day, they didn't want to spend the extra time to reevaluate the board given the new circumstances of not having a LT. The notion that you can just flip a flat footed, slow twitch RT over to LT to face speed rushers is a huge risk, a risk that Trent Edwards and the season may not survive.

[Thoner7]

The '08 non-Peters O line was better than the '08 Peters O line. I have always been a big fan of Chambers at tackle (not so much at guard). I wish I could go back and watch the tapes of the last two games of 08 to check out his play at LT. I really dont think Walker is the answer at LT. I also think thats why we didnt target a tackle in the draft, there were no LTs left at 28. Walker is a RT, Butler could play RT, so could CHambers, why add another player who can only be a RT? I am just concerned about depth along the line. I also am very exited about Bell. This is the first time I have felt good about our O line in a LONG time.

 

If anyone has those two games Tivoed and wants to go back and evaluate this entire board would appreciate it I think.

[Magox]

I think the question should be, "Why do the Bills always seem to have hordes of DBs rated way higher than any other position?" Is it simple man-love for DBs? Dick seems head over heels for DBs. Do the other scouts not file reports? What is it?

 

That statement almost suggests the notion that the Bills had set their draft board before the Jason Peters trade and because the trade happened "so close" to draft day, they didn't want to spend the extra time to reevaluate the board given the new circumstances of not having a LT. The notion that you can just flip a flat footed, slow twitch RT over to LT to face speed rushers is a huge risk, a risk that Trent Edwards and the season may not survive.

OR

 

it could be that they thought Maybin was a better value than Oher

 

OR

 

it could be that they thought Woods was a better value than Britton

 

OR...

[QB Bills]

Ok, so what is the true number for him? Either way it doesn't matter the guy wanted out. He sat out for a tremendous amount of time last year, he was poised to do that again. Why have a cancer like that on the team... and why cry about it when he's gone. I say thank god he's gone. And yes, I spelled his name correctly.

 

It's pointless arguing with the anti-Peters group. The bottom line is, I don't think you can say you know more about football than Andy Reid or the Philly coaching staff, can you? Or combat the fact that Jason Taylor said he was the toughest O-lineman he has ever faced (no, I don't have a link, so you can choose not to believe me if you wish).

 

You don't get better by trading away your best players. Was how he went about renegotiating right? Of course not. Nobody will argue that. But as fans, our concern should always be whether any move made or not made makes the Bills better. And if you don't feel that this trade makes the Bills much weaker, then you really don't know much about football, sorry to say. There's a reason he got all that money he was asking for, and that's because he's a damn good player and the rest of the world knows that except for a few hyper-sensitive posters on this board. No, he shouldn't have given the Bills a discount for taking a chance on him and no, he wasn't a team cancer. He never requested a trade. He was an idiot for sitting out, but he is the kind of player you keep around. The Bills aren't as poor as some may think...they could have easily afforded his contract demands. And none of this precedent-setting crap either. If this was Donte Whitner pulling this stunt, then ya, him you get rid of asap. But Peters was their most valuable commodity.

 

This was, by far, the dumbest move this team has made in a long time.

[BillsCelticsAngelsBama]

OR

 

it could be that they thought Maybin was a better value than Oher

 

OR

 

it could be that they thought Woods was a better value than Britton

 

OR...

HMMMMM OR .. you know our board seems to be different than everyone elses and well we are the model franchise with ... uh zero trips to the playoffs in the last decade, nah take the DE when there are seven or eight just like him NOT the OT that is the last one on the board for the entire draft....BRILLIANT.

DEFEND THE INDEFENSIBLE

[DrDawkinstein]

a dominant interior Oline makes your tackles much better.

 

a dominant LT doesnt do squat for your interior Oline.

 

pretty simple. see: Cardinals last year.

 

plus the Bills play against a lot of 3-4. It's much better for us to have a dominant middle and serviceable tackles than good tackles and pudding in the middle.

 

most overrated Offensive position: LT

most underrated: Center

 

 

*no responses*....

 

 

oh, i see, you guys just want to go back to arguing about Peters and not face reality.

 

ok, well, have fun beating this (irrelevant) dead-horse.

 

i'll be moving on with the rest of the team.

[pBills]

I am getting sick of the constant negative crap. Yes, the Bills have not made the playoffs in a long time. However, each year is different. ANY team can make a run. If don't believe so... look at the Cards and the Fish last year.

 

Jesus Christ be happy for once.

[deep2evans]

It's pointless arguing with the anti-Peters group. The bottom line is, I don't think you can say you know more about football than Andy Reid or the Philly coaching staff, can you? Or combat the fact that Jason Taylor said he was the toughest O-lineman he has ever faced (no, I don't have a link, so you can choose not to believe me if you wish).

 

You don't get better by trading away your best players. Was how he went about renegotiating right? Of course not. Nobody will argue that. But as fans, our concern should always be whether any move made or not made makes the Bills better. And if you don't feel that this trade makes the Bills much weaker, then you really don't know much about football, sorry to say. There's a reason he got all that money he was asking for, and that's because he's a damn good player and the rest of the world knows that except for a few hyper-sensitive posters on this board. No, he shouldn't have given the Bills a discount for taking a chance on him and no, he wasn't a team cancer. He never requested a trade. He was an idiot for sitting out, but he is the kind of player you keep around. The Bills aren't as poor as some may think...they could have easily afforded his contract demands. And none of this precedent-setting crap either. If this was Donte Whitner pulling this stunt, then ya, him you get rid of asap. But Peters was their most valuable commodity.

 

This was, by far, the dumbest move this team has made in a long time.

 

Oh the irony...

[deep2evans]

HMMMMM OR .. you know our board seems to be different than everyone elses and well we are the model franchise with ... uh zero trips to the playoffs in the last decade, nah take the DE when there are seven or eight just like him NOT the OT that is the last one on the board for the entire draft....BRILLIANT.

DEFEND THE INDEFENSIBLE

 

defend the indefensible? what the !@#$ does that even mean? it sounds like, "i'm a huge chode and will refuse to listen to other people's opinions because I think I'm right." IT'S YOUR STUPID !@#$ING OPINION THAT THERE ARE 8 MAYBIN-LIKE DE'S IN THE DRAFT. It's weird though that Maybin was a sure fire consensus top 15 pick by everyone else.

[Sisyphean Bills]

*no responses*....

 

 

oh, i see, you guys just want to go back to arguing about Peters and not face reality.

 

ok, well, have fun beating this (irrelevant) dead-horse.

 

i'll be moving on with the rest of the team.

Walker isn't Gandy.

[colin]

peters has sick talent, that's obvious. the problem is he is a fkn punk and quit on us, is soft and gets hurt, and frankly played very incosistently in 08. we did the right thing ditching his fat ass.

 

the problem now is just getting some production out of the LT position. now we might need to get a new guy for this season, but i think our coaches like bell enough to go with him at least next year. all we need is ok play at the LT.

 

i think our entire line LG to RT is improved, and our skill positions are up a bunch this year, so our O should be nicely better as a whole.

[Wayne Fontes]

With the new picks and Brad Butler with tackle experience, I wonder if Walker makes it out of training camp. He had a decent season in 08, but is way too fat and immobile. He doesn't seem to be very athletic and probably would be more effective (or at least less lethargic looking) minus 25 pounds (maybe 35). I don't think he is worth his salary.

[San Jose Bills Fan]

With the new picks and Brad Butler with tackle experience, I wonder if Walker makes it out of training camp. He had a decent season in 08, but is way too fat and immobile. He doesn't seem to be very athletic and probably would be more effective (or at least less lethargic looking) minus 25 pounds (maybe 35). I don't think he is worth his salary.

Wow. Wayne Fontes calling Langston Walker fat. Now I've seen everything.

[BuffaloBill]

As an individual opposed to the Peters trade I would have been even more upset if the mentality to replace him was simply to draft an unproven rookie and sprinkle holy water on him in the hopes he would work out. The Bills knew the tackles available to them on the roster when they traded Peters and it is my assumption they did not let him go with the idea of directly replacing him via the draft.

 

While time is the true test, I really like this draft class. I think the Bills made smart choices through the first five rounds. Like others I question why so many corners over the years. Six and seventh rounders are flyers anyway so maybe the Bills get lucky with one or both of these picks.

 

Overall, I say the Bills are a better team right now. Thier success this season will largely rest on Edwards - if he is the real deal he will have to show it this year. The interior of their o-line has the pieces in place to be much better. The D should improve if Schobel returns and Maybin can defend the run at the pro level.

[dogbyte]

With all of these DBs selected, I think that it might be the end for KO and Youboty. I do not think that they have progressed enough and their injuries have held them back. I think the writing is on the wall, show up, play good or you are gone!

[djcalvin79]

With all of these DBs selected, I think that it might be the end for KO and Youboty. I do not think that they have progressed enough and their injuries have held them back. I think the writing is on the wall, show up, play good or you are gone!

both of them will have a hard time making it out of training camp even

[buckshot]

It's pointless arguing with the anti-Peters group. The bottom line is, I don't think you can say you know more about football than Andy Reid or the Philly coaching staff, can you? Or combat the fact that Jason Taylor said he was the toughest O-lineman he has ever faced (no, I don't have a link, so you can choose not to believe me if you wish).

 

You don't get better by trading away your best players. Was how he went about renegotiating right? Of course not. Nobody will argue that. But as fans, our concern should always be whether any move made or not made makes the Bills better. And if you don't feel that this trade makes the Bills much weaker, then you really don't know much about football, sorry to say. There's a reason he got all that money he was asking for, and that's because he's a damn good player and the rest of the world knows that except for a few hyper-sensitive posters on this board. No, he shouldn't have given the Bills a discount for taking a chance on him and no, he wasn't a team cancer. He never requested a trade. He was an idiot for sitting out, but he is the kind of player you keep around. The Bills aren't as poor as some may think...they could have easily afforded his contract demands. And none of this precedent-setting crap either. If this was Donte Whitner pulling this stunt, then ya, him you get rid of asap. But Peters was their most valuable commodity.

 

This was, by far, the dumbest move this team has made in a long time.

 

I could care less about Peters at this point, since he does not play for the Bills anymore. I do wonder what Cowboy's fans said when they traded Herchel Walker though. Granted they got 400 1st round picks for him, but I think they managed ok without one of their top players.

[pBills]

It's pointless arguing with the anti-Peters group. The bottom line is, I don't think you can say you know more about football than Andy Reid or the Philly coaching staff, can you? Or combat the fact that Jason Taylor said he was the toughest O-lineman he has ever faced (no, I don't have a link, so you can choose not to believe me if you wish).

 

You don't get better by trading away your best players. Was how he went about renegotiating right? Of course not. Nobody will argue that. But as fans, our concern should always be whether any move made or not made makes the Bills better. And if you don't feel that this trade makes the Bills much weaker, then you really don't know much about football, sorry to say. There's a reason he got all that money he was asking for, and that's because he's a damn good player and the rest of the world knows that except for a few hyper-sensitive posters on this board. No, he shouldn't have given the Bills a discount for taking a chance on him and no, he wasn't a team cancer. He never requested a trade. He was an idiot for sitting out, but he is the kind of player you keep around. The Bills aren't as poor as some may think...they could have easily afforded his contract demands. And none of this precedent-setting crap either. If this was Donte Whitner pulling this stunt, then ya, him you get rid of asap. But Peters was their most valuable commodity.

 

This was, by far, the dumbest move this team has made in a long time.

 

 

Would I say that I know more than the Eagles staff? No. Do I think when motivated he can be tough? Yes.

 

You get better by trading away one your best players if that player has sat out and would continue to sit out. It was reported that the Bills had offered him upwards of 9.5 million per year. He got $10 from the Eagles. And good for him to do that.

However that just goes to show that he did not want to be here. And I am sorry a guy who sat out when he had many years left on his contract is a cancer to me.

 

Who's to say that the Bills will be weaker next year without him? You cetainly can't be saying that.... do you know more that Dick Jauron and the Bills staff? Agree to disagree. I think this could have been a huge blessing in disguise.

[billsfreak]

The Buffalo Bills traded Pro Bowl left tackle Jason Peters a week before the draft and didn't select a tackle.

 

You can look at this three ways: 1) the Bills are confident veteran Langston Walker and second-year project Demetrius Bell can handle the tackle positions; 2) they might be working on a trade for someone like Levi Jones after the Cincinnati Bengals drafted Andre Smith; or 3) Buffalo's front office doesn't know what it's doing.

Buffalo went with Penn State defensive end Aaron Maybin, Louisville center Eric Wood, Oregon defensive back Jairus Byrd, Oregon State guard Andy Levitre, Southern Miss tight end Shawn Nelson, Oklahoma linebacker/safety Nic Harris, Southern California cornerback Cary Harris and West Virginia cornerback Ellis Lankster.

 

Maybin and Wood can easily be justified as first-round choices. But the Bills are adding a variable to Wood's future by moving him to guard after he started 49 straight games as Louisville's center.

What's with all the defensive backs?

 

The Bills seemed to have their secondary penciled out heading into the draft: Terrence McGee and Leodis McKelvin or Drayton Florence at cornerback and Donte Whitner, Bryan Scott and George Wilson at safety.

 

McKelvin was the 11th player chosen overall last year. He is expected to step in for Jabari Greer, a free agent who went to the New Orleans Saints. The Bills brought in Florence for help. Ashton Youboty and Reggie Corner also are on the roster.

 

Whitner was the eighth overall pick in 2006.

 

Within the next nine picks after the Bills selected Levitre, three tackles went off the board. The Minnesota Vikings took Oklahoma's Phil Loadholt. The New England Patriots drafted Houston's Sebastian Vollmer. The New York Giants chose Connecticut's Will Beatty.

 

http://myespn.go.com/blogs/afceast

 

Somehow I just don't visualize the O line being even close to what it was last year. TE had better learn to get that ball out of his hands by 2.5-3 seconds or he will be dust. DJ seemed really happy with Buffalo's draft...

 

Bottom Line: Picked up some solid players, but their inability to find a left tackle to replace Peters could have terrible consequences for the offense.Grade: C+ http://www.sportsnetwork.com/merge/tsnform...aspx?id=4228706

All I can think with regards to all the DB's drafted was the lack of confidence in Florence, since he was the biggest FA bust in the NFL just one year ago. We could be dreamers and say that it is becuase we expect to be way ahead most of the time and the opponents will be passing to catch up to us-OK nevermind I just woke up.

[pBills]

DB's probably equal nothing more than depth or special teams