Archives for April 2004

‘The Pasadena, Calif., native rushed for 961 yards and 10 touchdowns in 2003 while adding 349 yards and another score via pass receiving.’

‘A punt returner and a receiver. I think he’s a fearless guy. He’s a quicker than fast guy who does a great job in the return area but he’s a guy that can give you an extra receiver. A slot type receiver. Big punt returns, tough guy. He’s one of those guys who’s not real tall but always has to be the first guy up off the ground after a hit. Jonathan Smith, he likes to be called Freddy, will be flexibly. He has the capability, it’s nice to have that flexibility with a guy.’

‘On picking five out of six offense picks:

It just happens that way. Obviously going into the draft we felt there were some areas on offense that we would like to address. You can’t go into the draft saying, ‘ok we have to do this and we have to do that’. When you do that, you come out disappointed. You go into the draft and you say we want to try to help our football team wherever we can help the team. This particular case it ended up that way.’

‘My aunt lived out there for a couple years in Buffalo. She was pulling big time for me to be a Bill. I think the weather is fairly comparable to up here in Montana. I’m excited about the snow. I like cold weather and I like to play in football weather. I know the fans are great. I’m just excited.’

‘He’s a good athlete. He’s got size and size potential. He’s a very bright kid. We think he has a chance to be a two position guy in time. It takes a while for guys. We’re looking at him as someone who could do one or the other, tackle or guard, because of his ability.’

‘On being a “slash” player:

I have the abilities to do different things. I’m always up for trying new things, anything to help out the team.’

Are you looking forward to working behind Drew Bledsoe?

Yeah, of course. I was kind of prepared with Green Bay talk and sitting behind (Brett) Favre, and now here I am. You never know how the draft is going to work out. Luckily enough, I am able to be in another situation like this with another great quarterback who’s been in the league so many years.

‘What do you see in J.P. Losman that made him worth moving up for?

Mobile, strong arm, competitive, leader.’

But that wasn’t the most dramatic of the 10 trades made in the first round. That distinction belonged to the deal the Buffalo Bills made to get the Dallas Cowboys’ 22nd overall pick, which the Bills then used for QB J.P. Losman. The Bills gave the Cowboys their second-round choice this year (RB Julius Jones ) and first- and fifth-rounders in ’05.

‘On Day Two, the Bills used their 4th round selection on tight end Tim Euhus out of Oregon State. Euhus, 6’5″, 260 pounds, was three-year starter at Oregon State who has good hands, but lacks pure speed, as he ran a 4.89 in the 40-yard dash. He is known for being an intelligent player, but will need to improve his blocking techniques to succeed at the next level. Euhus also earned letter status playing basketball at Oregon State.’

‘Some folks have panned the top of the Bills’ draft for taking Wisconsin receiver Lee Evans too high at No. 13, and for giving up next year’s No. 1 to Dallas in order to get back into the opening round and select Tulane quarterback J.P. Losman at No. 22. But not me.’

‘J.P. is a guy that we ranked right there in the bulk of guys including the top three people. I wouldn’t say we said he was the best in the draft but he was right there with them. Some times when you put them in lists like that, they are not equidistant from each other. They are very tight in terms of our feelings towards him and the other picks. He was a guy that we said going into the draft, if we end up with him we have a good player. The thinking was from Mike Mularkey that if we don’t draft one this year we’re going to have to go get one next year. We can’t go on and on restocking here. Why this year rather than wait until next year and have a raw rookie that has another year to wait before he’s ready to go before he’s ready to go to play. We’ll give him that playing time, spend that next year’s draft now and get the advantage of the playing time between now and next year. He’s not coming in to take the opener. He’s got a very comfortable transition period here.’

‘Of Buffalo’s six selections during the two-day draft, five were offensive players. It was a trend the team established on Saturday in an attempt to bolster an offense that finished 30th in the NFL last year, and was blamed for Buffalo’s disappointing 6-10 finish.’

‘The last three seasons he has been one of the key ingredients to Montana’s offensive success and has helped the Griz to be ranked among the national leaders in several offensive categories.’

‘Versatile big-play performer who was Tech’s main offensive weapon in his senior year…In addition to regular duties as a wide receiver and punt returner, Jonathan also lined up at halfback and quarterback during his career.’