ColdBlueNorth

one draft area that wished we addressed in a pretty deep TE draft...we have serviceable TE's on the roster, but no one who really creates those consistent size and speed mismatches.

dare I mention an obvious pattern of discussion?

you do have a point. I do believe that a team needs a strong defense to win championships as post season play favors more physical play and less flags thrown, but a solid offense could get this team to the post season and I would take that as progress.

the Bills have Marquis Goodwin a speedster with hands, Mike Williams, Robert Woods, and Sammy Watkins...talk about an embarrassment of riches at receiver and decent depth. They can throw in Chandler, Kaufman, or Hogan and go 5 wide...that's a spread lineup that should give defensive coordinators fits. If the oline can keep EJ vertical, and open some run lanes...who knows?

this tired tune again? give it a rest already - the Bills FO believes in EJ and chose to use their limited picks protecting and supporting him, not drafting another QB. We may see an undrafted FA QB for depth.

Perhaps, because he is coming out of Vanderbilt, but I am kind of surprised with some of the WR's that went before Jordan Matthews whom I think has good size, great speed, great hands and has been very productive.

This. My only concern with EJ's progress last year was the injury bug; otherwise, I saw a rookie who tended to not make the same mistakes he made during prior games - basically a kid who worked on correcting the correctable. I remember when the Steelers threw a lot of cover-2 at him that he neither game-planned for (as the Steelers had not run a lot of that prior), nor had he seen a lot of cover-2. He admittedly stunk up the field, the next team that tried it though, he knew where to go with the ball and where his best match-ups would be and he moved the chains. Progression-wise, that is what you want to see from a young QB - sans injuries.

If they go offense I don't think they go line at 2... that position for G and RT is fairly deep - I think they would go TE with Jenkins or see if B-Lo can be the place where Amaro grows up a bit. If they decide to go defense I believe that both Nix and Hagemen are impact players that would improve our run-stopping. I watched Hageman play a lot of ball in the midwest and I do not get the consistency label. What most folks who watched Gopher football saw out of Hageman last year was a guy who consistently dominated but was used inconsistently by the Gophers. Then we have to nail RT, LB, RB, and we could use an upgrade at Guard.

I think the Bills can find a solid Guard in the later rounds... Hageman is a rare defensive line talent...a game changer and this team needs run stoppers. Or they could go true 2-gapper and take Nix if he falls that far. I could also see them nab Jace Amaro if they want to have a solid TE to groom

If he can stay healthy, he has the tools to succeed.

Everyone is supposed to get their 30 minutes of fame:) Congrats Scott, and your responses were measured and spot-on. Probably not what comes to mind when other fan bases think of Bills' fans. Way to represent.

I still like Vandy's Jordan in the second or if he is there in the early third. He has good size, catches with his hands, and was simply productive as the go-to guy that everyone knew they were going to go-to. Good value I think, where draftniks have him falling.

The POWER... I can feel it now! (insert evil, maniacal laugh) Probably not a good idea for me as I am more than a bit opinionated and enjoy an instigator role. I have seen a lack of moderation by moderators on other boards so I would hate to mess up the good reputation here. To date, the folks that contribute now have been pretty darn good on "the Wall".

Thanks Astro - nice job of breaking that down.

Interesting that I have heard a lot of talk about how weak Martin is or was... I think it takes some serious stones to do what he did. Walk away from an NFL team, contract, reputation, face retaliation from the league, player's union, the public, and from players that most now understand from the independent report who were very capable of being retaliatory. How many "mentally-strong" guys have just caved in and accepted being Richie's B word to fit into his dysfunctional f'd-up locker room?

This. There is a laundry list of teams that are in desperate need of O-Line help at the tackle spot, there is likely going to be a serious run on the top-tier projected talent there leaving Buffalo at a reach position at 9. This would be a great draft for the Bills to trade down and grab an extra 2nd pick as it is deep in quality receivers, tight ends, guards, and linebackers. There are even a few ball-hawking safeties worth taking that will likely be there towards the bottom of the 1st if the Bills need to find a replacement for Byrd...

I agree that Aaron Williams found his fit in the NFL and has embraced it. It looks like there was some caution around the first year guys that played well like Robey, Goodwin, and Woods. I am hoping that Goodwin stays healthy next year and does not get that injury-prone tag...Woods was a stud, but needs to tone down the dumb penalties - it will only get worse for him if DBs know he has a bad temper and feel they can get into his head. I was pleasantly surprised to see Woods make it a full year at center without an injury. Maybe he takes the next step in his maturation as an NFL center and gets a bit stronger - probably would not hurt his game to be bracketed by two Guards that he did not have to worry about.

I watched Carimi when the Bears picked him up from Wisconsin in hopes of shoring up pass protection for Cutler. One game in particular against the 49ers he was so awful it was hard to watch, as he was bull rushed and tossed aside by DEs and LBs that were giving up 50-60 pounds on him. I was amazed because he was such a highly-touted sure-fire pick by the so-called experts. ESPN’s Mel Kiper Jr. wrote that Gabe Carimi is “a guy who loves to run block and will sustain those blocks. But he can also take on great pass-rushers, and has shown enough that it figures he could fill in at either tackle position early, potentially starting on the right side with the goal to become a starting left tackle.” I think he is the poster child example of player evaluators being mesmerized by height and size and just not looking close enough to see what kind of a football player he really was. But he really did not seem to have the issues or the horrible reputation in college that he garnered in the pros. The only sure thing about the draft is that it is never a sure thing.

You are right about the PS eligibility and likely about the apologist role - I am being one. I am playing devil's advocate a bit as I am not really overly intrigued by this topic, but I am bored with this sports season. There is some truth to what I am saying as none of us know the full story, and I am sure that more will come out over time. I just look at the kind of personalities and problem children that are given several chances to turn things around in the NFL with different teams and do not see much of a difference here. Some team will take a shot at Martin to see if there is something there worth salvaging - the Bills have taken longer odds on recycled players.

I would not mind Nix if the Bills trade down. His injury and the Bill's lack of success in landing good two-gap run-stoppers makes me hesitant about that pick. If you think about it, the last good two-gap run stuffer the Bills landed was undrafted Pat Williams.

Texts like anything else can be taken out of context...RI and his lawyer finally pull together some texts to make it look like good-natured ribbing. Martin had some of his own early on, but neither can tell the whole story. I cannot believe folks are this naive. Someone does not play all the way through HS, then college, and make it to the pros without taking some ribbing along the way. And guys that finally realize their dreams and get to the pros do not throw it all away just because someone flips them the bird or tells him to adjust his skirt and play. It went farther than the few texts that have been released and as I said, does not mean that the young man cannot play the game or at least merit a shot on the PS.

so you say RI is crazy, but that Martin should have stuck around and handled it? This was a coaching failure all the way as he should have had his finger on the pulse of the locker room and at least had an inkling of what was going on. I am pretty confident that RI basically had his mafia of followers and yes men and they just let the crap go too far. I doubt any of them would ever be man enough to say f-this I'm out of here. Whatever. I see no relationship between dealing with a crazy Incognito and playing well on the field and you are talking about a rookie that had one year playing out of position. Did the Dolphins have a tough time letting Long go, every team goes through that when they are trying to transition from an aging all-pro that can still get it done more often than not, and a green rookie that they know is going to make mistakes.

So Miami drafts a guy who played LT in college and started him as an undersized out of position RT and he did not grade well in his rookie year. There's a shock. If there was none of the locker drama, teams would not even hesitate to give the kid another shot. This is a guy you stick on your PS and groom to replace your starting LT when he leaves for the FA big payout.

For the two players that I think could help the Bills right away I think that 9 is too high for either of them - my hope is that they are able to trade down for an extra 2nd rounder. If not, and Byrd departs they have to consider the versatile safety Clinton-Dix or if they could go with an impact TE that would be good for their young QB. Ebron is probably the fastest of the group, but I would not mind if they picked up Amaro or Irish's Niklas who declared early later in the 2nd as one or both of those should be available there.

If the coaches look and do not feel he is a good fit for a lot of the things they are going to do schematically they should sell while he has value. It does Hughes no good to ride the pine or be out of place as he was in Indy, and perhaps Pettine would be willing to part with a pick or do a trade - the Browns have defensive talent to spare and he worked well in Mike's scheme.