OldTimer1960

If they think any of the QBs can be another Jim Kelly, then they WILL take them at 3. However, I don't think any of them is that good and given how WOEFUL the D is, I am expecting a defensive player at 3. IF they are VERY lucky, they might be able to trade down and still get a good defensive front 7 player, but I'd bet against that.

I am intrigued by Locker, if he is available in round 2. I think that accuracy can be improved a bit, but I'm not sure if he can improve decision making that much. I think a QB can kind of "get it" or not when it comes to reading defenses and making quick decisions. If it could be learned (to a significant degree), then I think Rob Johnson and JP Losman would have become good QBs because they were reasonably intelligent and worked hard by most accounts that I've seen.

How do you know that Newton is a "difference maker"? He was clearly very good in the ONE (1) year that he started in Div 1AA, but a lot of his success came as a runner. I don't know if he will be great or not, but I also don't think any of us knows if any of the DL will be great either.

I am with you. Miller is much faster, quicker and more athletic (ie flexible, understands leverage, etc) than Maybin. Miller has also started and produced at a high level for 2+ years in a tough conference whereas Maybin wasn't even going to be a starter until the guy ahead of him got suspended for drugs. Maybin had one good year and was still pretty athletic. I don't see the comparison except that both were a bit undersized. Interestingly, Maybin has put on significant weight, but still can't get on the field. I take that to mean that there are more important problems for him than being "undersized".

Boy, I'd love those first two picks. I think that would REALLY improve the defense significantly.

Atogwe had 1/2 the number of tackles, 2 more INTs than Whitner did last year. The Rams cut him because he didn't live up to the big contract that he signed. Now, I am not saying that Atogwe isn't as good as Whitner, but I don't see a huge upgrade there. Money required to sign each would be a significant factor in choosing one over the other (IMHO).

I am not commenting necessarily on Nix's talent judgement (though he has been in the league a long time). Perhaps Jonathan Scott could fill the job in Pittsburgh because there was better talent around him to make up for his short-comings? I also think that Scott was starting as an injury fill-in. Cornell Green absolutely was not a great pickup, but I am pretty sure that they were hoping to get a year as a stop-gap not a long-term starter out of the 34 yo journeyman. That didn't work out very well, but when trying to build from the ground up, you can't fix every problem over night.

It isn't quite as black and white as this, in my opinion. Most players have only played in one system in college, but that doesn't mean that they can't (or necessarily can) learn and do well at another system. That's the thing with the draft - every player is a projection of some sort - step up in competition, change in scheme, etc. I agree, that there is less risk in picking a player whom you have seen play the same scheme/position that he will in the NFL. However, to discount players projecting to other schemes or positions would be ignoring many great players. Again, just my $.02 worth.

Spiller is not tiny. he is 5'11" and 195 (or more) with dynamic speed. I still believe that he will figure it out and have a strong impact. At 21-22 y.o, he is nearly as big as Thurman Thomas. He has a good work ethic, so I think he'll get it. I don't think that 91 y.o. Ralph Wilson is all that tied up in profits. I do think he doesn't want to operate the team at a loss in case he wants to leave it to one of his children. I think that posts like this who claim that Ralph Wilson is a meddling, money grubbing owner are very far off-base. Has he made mistakes in some of his hirings? No doubt, but I don't think any of it was motivated by "screwing the fans and going for profit".

Thank you. The posters here who think this is a sign of weakness or that he isn't getting professional strength and conditioning direction from the Bills TWO strength coaches (one of whom was a National Champion power lifter) are way off base.

Some counterpoints: Kyle Williams at 3-4 DE? Williams is severely undersized in terms of height for an ideal 3-4 end. He is closer to prototype size at NT than he is at 3-4 DE. I am not saying that he can't possibly play there, but I think his size works against him. I don't know if anyone can name a successful 3-4 DE who is less than 6'2" as Kyle is. Fitzpatrick is "pretty good": Well, OK he might be better than the weak players that the Bills have had at QB in the last 10 years, but he might have had his career best year last year and was just OK. The first 2 INT game that Fitz has next year, everyone would be clamoring for Newton and his "awesome running skills". I don't see ANYTHING that Newton has done that demonstrates that he is an NFL QB. Yes, he has great physical skills BUT, he won't make his name in the NFL by running (almost no QBs do) and he hasn't demonstrated NFL passing skills beyond having a strong arm. I am not totally against Newton or another QB at 3, but I am not very sold on any of the QBs in this draft, either.

I agree with the sentiment that I'd like to see them draft players that are as close to sure things as possible, but no draft pick is anything but potential. Some have more risk that can be identified than others do, but that doesn't mean that even the "surest" thing is a 100% slam dunk. While I agree that AJ Green has produced for multiple years and has great measureables, that doesn't guarantee that he will be great at the NFL level. Further, I am with you in regards to thinking that they should hold off at QB this year and address the D, but there is no QB ever coming out of the draft who is a sure thing. ALL of these guys come with risk.

Lot's of athletes and competitors say stuff like that to motivate themselves. I think it is good that he feels that he can and must play better and I'll bet that right after he said "I suck" he went and lifted extra weights. The guy is tough, accountable and a hard worker. He may not be Ray Lewis, but I think they can win with him with some better players around him.

From what I've read, I don't know that either Patrick Peterson or Prince Amakumara (sp?) are "can't miss lock down" corners.

Way too early to give up on Troup (or any rookie). Just a couple of my recollections: 1. Eric Moulds looked like a bust after his 2nd year and he turned out OK 2. Pat Williams hardly played his first 2-3 years and then turned into a top DT 3. The Bills got Ted Washington after he washed out in Denver (or was it SF?). He was an after-thought when the Bills signed him. These are just a few examples of guys who it took a few years to get "it".

I am just not grooving on Cam Newton. He is clearly a superior physical talent, but there is zero evidence that he can read a defense and throw to well-covered receivers at the NFL level. He has only played 1 year of NCAA division1 football and running QBs often don't make it in the NFL. I am not saying that I know for sure that he won't be able to learn to read defenses and make the split-second decisions that an NFL QB must make, just that he hasn't demonstrated that he can and that is too risky for my tastes when you have the 3rd overall pick.

Jones is not described as physical either.

How do you know this is a reach, especially this early in the process. Players "rise" and "fall" right up to the draft with the combine still to come. That said, nobody outside of the NFL front offices really knows who is a reach and who is a steal and THEY don't even know.

Well, that is good to know. Everyone has a right to their opinion and you express your's reasonably without putting others' opinions down and that's great. However, I have reasons not to be so excited about Robert Quinn - 1. he didn't play last year at all. Now, I'm not viewing contact with an agent early as a huge red flag, but he truly had a full year off and how do we know that he wasn't a one-year wonder or that offenses might not have found a way to neutralize him if he had played this year. 2. Quinn played in the ACC - a major conference, but surely not the toughest. 3. North Carolina's defense was STACKED. How good was Quinn and how good did he look because offenses had to worry about Marvin Austin and Robert Carter too? Was Quinn the reason those guys looked good or did he look good because of them and others? 4. Can Quinn play OLB in a 3-4? He was a college DE, but is as undersized to play 3-4 DE as Miller is to play 3-4 OLB. 5. Can Quinn play 3-4 OLB? Is he athletic/fast/quick enough to play the run wide in the NFL? (Opposite question of Miller who is clearly athletic enough, but is he big enough?). To be clear, I am not saying that Quinn might not be a great choice. I am saying that there are no players who don't have some kind of question(s) attached to them.

Well, obviously, we all knew how the following guys that fit the Bills' needs at the time would turn out because we read some mock drafts by journalists who copied other journalist's mock drafts. Tyson Jackson - DE went before Maybin and while he has contributed hasn't lived up to his draft status Andre Smith - mammoth OT from Alabama was dominant in college and the Bengals nabbed him early. Has done nothing. Brian Orakpo - Has proven to be a very very good player. Would have been a better pick than Maybin (by far). Brian Cushing - lots of rumors of steroid use and, lo and behold, he has already been suspended for using. Was a dynamite player before the suspension, not clear how he will do after the bust. Larry English - LB, not much more productive than Maybin has been. Robert Ayers - was a very popular guy around here leading up to the draft and has done little to nothing so far in the NFL Clay Mathews - Was a 1 year starter at USC and was undersized until he put on considerable weight leading up to the draft ('roids? HGH?). Clearly a great pick, but he lasted until pick 26, so the Bills weren't the only team to clearly f-up and not draft him. There were lots of questions like "why couldn't he crack USC's starting lineup until his SR year? EVERY SINGLE YEAR there are draft busts and lots of them were projected to go very high. There are also stars from every draft who were passed over by lots of teams. Now, I am not trying to defend the Bills' draft record as they have clearly missed on too many high picks, but I am saying that there are no sure things in round 1 or anywhere else in the draft.

I don't think that there is any debate that IF there is a QB that has a high probability of becoming a top-eschelon NFL QB, then the Bills SHOULD draft him in round 1. HOWEVER, I'm not seeing that. There have been PLENTY of years where there were no top QBs, yet teams still spent high #1 picks on bad QBs because they were the "best" available that year. Yes, if there is a GREAT QB prospect available in this year's draft it is a No Brainer - the Bills should pick him without regard to any other needs they have. Problem is, I don't see any QB that appears to fit that description. If I am right (and I may not be), then it would be ridiculous to pass on good to great prospects at other positions (DL, OLB, WR) in order to "settle" for a maybe-good-maybe-bad QB prospect.

I don't know if I'd like Mallet even in round 2. He is big and I think his arm is GREAT, but he is not exactly mobile and behind the Bills' line that is bad. From what I've read, he hasn't shown the ability to read a defense consistently, either. I am more concerned with the (reported) inability to read a defense more than the lack of mobility, but an immobile QB who might be slow diagnosing what the defense is doing behind a poor pass-blocking OL doesn't look to me like it will result in success.

At about 6' 1/2", Nevis is conisidered pretty short for a 3-4 DE. I am not saying that he might not be able to play it well, just that he would be considered quite undersized (in terms of height).

Come on, almost ALL players in the draft need to "develop" some in the NFL. 21-22 year olds are not fully physically mature and certainly need to learn the more intricate NFL game. That is in addition to learning to be a "professional". I'll bet that you were better at your job a year or two after you first got it - why do you expect that to be any different for NFL players?

I'd say at 280lbs he could play DE in the 3-4. I don't know if he could play OLB or not.