Archives for April 29, 2011

‘Going forward I know there is some temptation to take a quarterback. Hear me now Buddy. Don’t do it. Second round quarterback picks are nearly a guaranteed flop in the NFL. Drew Brees (I will give you that one) and then a series of John Becks and Tavaris Jacksons. They almost always fail Skip the qb and go with defense again Buddy. Or maybe some quarterback desperate team wants to trade to Buffalo to get Andy Dalton. Steal and extra high pick from them and bulk up the lines (both sides of the ball).’

‘”He plays like a rolling ball of butcher knives.”‘

‘"He has represented the University of Alabama in a first-class way, and I’m sure he is going to represent the Buffalo Bills in the same way," Saban said in a statement. "He is a charac ter, quality guy that has a lot of physical ability and talent. I think any city would be proud to have Marcell Dareus as a part of their organization."’

‘”We really liked this guy, everybody did, and we had him really high from day one,” Nix continued. “We’re excited about having him. We wanted to take the best player at a position that we needed, and that’s what we got.”‘

‘”You guys (media) use the term ‘safe’ pick and I don’t think there is such a thing,” GM Buddy Nix said. “But I think he’s about as close as it gets.”‘

‘He won’t be as flashy as Miller, but he might turn out to be just as good. If he becomes a bust, I won’t be among the second-guessers years down the road because I like the pick today.’

‘ “The great thing about Marcell,” said Bills coach Chan Gailey, “is he played on the tight end, he played on the tackle, he played on the guard, he played on the center. He gives you a lot of versatility. We’ll play him at defensive end initially in our scheme but I can see him lining up in a lot of different spots for us as time goes on.”‘

‘”I can’t explain the way I feel,” Dareus said after his selection in Radio Music City Hall. “Since the fifth grade I wanted to play this game. I never thought it would get to this point where I’m sitting here in the first round, third pick overall, the Buffalo Bills. It’s overwhelming. I can’t even explain it.”‘

‘There were only two options with the pick: defensive stud or franchise quarterback. They didn’t reach. They didn’t panic. They hadn’t expected Dareus to be there until recently and when he fell to them, they didn’t hesitate.’

‘Ryan Fitzpatrick has established himself as the Bills starting quarterback for the time being, so if Nix wants to get an immediate impact player at No. 34 today, he won’t take a quarterback. Popular pre-draft opinion was that the Bills would pick a passer in the second round if they went defense in the first. If that was the plan, it blew up quickly when Jake Locker and Christian Ponder got drafted.’

‘In the end, they did the right thing.’

‘He fits in every scheme. That’s the great thing about him. It didn’t matter who picked him or what defense you had, he fits in all of them. That’s the type of player he is.’

‘The 21-year-old Dareus is Alabama’s earliest draft pick since linebacker Cornelius Bennett was taken with the second overall pick in the 1987 draft.’

‘”Wherever they want me, I’ll be there,” he said. “If I’m not the best at it, give me a couple of weeks and I will be.”‘

‘Listed at 6-foot-3 and 308 pounds, Dareus is a versatile lineman who proved capable of pressuring the quarterback as well as stopping the run. Dareus was the defensive MVP in helping the Crimson Tide defeat Texas in the 2010 national championship game.’