Archives for April 2013

‘They went 6-10 and have lost more starters than they’ve signed since the season ended. The Bills have serious needs: quarterback, receiver, tight end, guard, linebacker, cornerback and safety among them. The Bills have only six draft picks.’

‘Historically, the bust rate on first-round quarterbacks is about 50 percent. Why so high?’

‘But if they identify someone else as their franchise QB, so be it. It’s their job to find the right guy. Just do it. It’s not the end of the world if he turns out not to be great. The worst thing is not taking a shot at all.’

‘Here’s a position-by-position look at the offensive prospects, broken into tiers.’

‘Here’s a position-by-position look at the defensive prospects, broken into tiers.’

‘A Buffalo native, Felser began his newspaper career at the Courier-Express in 1953 and worked there for 12 years before joining The News. He covered the Buffalo Bills from their inception in 1960 to his retirement in 2001. He continued to write a weekly sports column in The News until 2012. He held the title of sports editor for the last 20 years of his News tenure.’

‘Nothing changes Thursday night when the 2013 NFL Draft gets underway; these next three days must be stupendous for the Bills if they hope to start clawing their way out of irrelevance.’

‘Here’s what four of them told me about how those visits went…’.

‘”Long-term? I think you’re looking at a guy who could be a good backup and who, when he plays, can win a few games for you. But I don’t look at him as a future starter.”‘

‘He knew EVERYBODY! I was captivated as he would tell stories about having dinner with Vince Lombardi. He could pick up the phone and talk to anyone in the NFL, from the Commissioner to the game’s legendary owners to the top General Managers. If I wanted to find out what the Bills were thinking, who better to ask than Larry? Ralph Wilson used to call him for opinions and advice.’

‘In a WGR-conducted study using a ProFootball Reference’s Approximate Value metric (a stat very comparable to baseball’s Wins Above Replacement), the Bills’ draft picks ranked 29th in the NFL when compared to the production of the rest of the NFL during the last three drafts.’

‘Guess what, they all tie in to the quarterback position. And they all work under the assumption that by 41 all the quarterbacks they like will probably be gone.’

‘I know there are other needs, plenty in fact, and I know there are many skeptics about this class of quarterbacks but I don’t care.’

Will they take a quarterback with the eighth overall pick in the draft or won’t they? That question is the reason why the Bills have perhaps the most intriguing draft of any NFL team. Just their luck they know they need a franchise quarterback in a year where they is no clear cut franchise player at the position. I strongly believe they need to take one anyway. How many years can you go with ignoring the most important position in the league?

‘That said, the schedule-maker was extremely kind to the Bills over the final quarter of the season. For three of the previous four seasons, Buffalo has had a trio of December games at “The Ralph,” a prescription for non-sellouts due to the combination of poor record-induced apathy and winter weather.’