OldTimer1960

I don't see any comparison. By all accounts I have seen, Locker is a leader, a tenacious competitor and a tremendous athlete on the same level as Cam Newton. He has a great arm and played in a pro-style offense. The admittedly big red flag is his passing accuracy. The fact that he was surrounded by inferior talent may be a mitigating factor. I don't know if the accuracy issue can be fixed or not, but I don't see him as any bigger risk than Newton or any other QB in the draft, especially if he were available in the top of the 2nd. Brohm on the other hand isn't a leader and compiled big completion stats in a contrived offense in the Big East. His arm and athleticsm don't compare at all to Lockers. Just my $.02 worth...

You can't do all that this offseason without spending huge money in free agency, if you can even do it then. You CAN find good players in any round of the draft with some skill and more luck, but obviously you count more on high picks to be your better players that can upgrade your team. I think this team DOES need a better QB candidate than Fitzgerald. That doesn't mean that Fitz is currently the weakest link on this team (he isn't), but he will likely be a limiting factor as the talent around him is upgraded. You GENERALLY don't find good QBs after round 1 (I know, I know, Tom Brady was a 6th rnd pick and Kurt Warner wasn't even drafted, but look at the good starting QBs in the league and most were #1 picks - a good percentage of them high number 1s.) Does that mean that picking a QB high in round 1 guarantees success? Of course not, but if any team thinks that a QB has "it", he will most likely be gone in round 1.

I agree, I have seen other interviews with Peterson and he does not come across as someone who is extremely dumb.

I think Fairly has the higher ceiling and lower floor. He is more athletic than Dareus, but Dareus has a longer track record and, reportedly, has a better work ethic. So, I think that Dareus has less "bust potential" (ie, less likely to be a total washout), but Fairley has at least some probability of being a better player than Dareus. I don't think the Bills can afford to "gamble on greatness" yet again. That's unfortunate picking this high, but their past misses really have set them back. The Pats' formula is to find solid contributors and (higher floor) and hope to occasionally find a star like Brady. That seems to work well for them. Now, to implement the Pats' strategy, it helps to be able to trade down. I understand all the arguments against trading down (again) and the problems finding a partner to trade down with...

I just don't believe in Cam Newton. Newton is: 1. a one year producer that didn't win with NFL skills (more running than passing, no exp under center, ...) 2. a tremendous athlete - nobody doubts that. 3. a guy who has a lot of character red-flags (stolen computers, academic fraud, at least periphery involvement in trying to get money during his recruitment I think Newton is too fake and is a disaster waiting to happen, even if he had no character flaws.

Dontay Moch 40 yd: 4.45 vert: 42" 20 yd shuttle: 4.38 3 cone: 7.09 Sam Acho 40: 4.63 Bench 23 Vert: 33.5 20 yd shuttle: 4.32 3 cone: 6.69 I wouldn't put too much concern into Dareus' bench numbers. The guy is huge and plenty strong. Bench doesn't represent anchor strength and reps of 225 are as much endurance as they are indicative of power (at least for guys as strong as these guys are).

This is not an exact science. There are no "round" grades on players that apply to all teams. In hindsight if some team had taken Tom Brady in the 3rd, should they have been chastised for taking him higher than projected? I am NOT saying that this guy, whoever he is, is remotely close to Tom Brady. I am saying that there might be 2-3 round differences in "round grades" on a given player from team-to-team.

I'll watch both and try not to return to the greedy pair of owners and players in the NFL.

I'll bite: Blaine Gabbert

and suck!

I think that Newton is an AWFUL gamble that high in the draft. Here are my reasons: 1. There are few, if any, running QBs that succeed in the NFL. I guess you could say Vick has - but he was not that successful until Andy Reid salvaged his career (late in his career) and even now you have to wonder if he is a "one year wonder" in the NFL. Maybe you could point to Steve Young (who was actually a good passer, too and played in a more-similar pro-type offense at BYU then got some USFL experience before sitting behind Joe Montana in SF). Of the bunch, I might compare Newton to a bigger/stronger Randall Cunningham. Now, Cunningham wasn't a bad NFL QB, but would he be worth the 3rd overall pick in the draft? 2. Newton has only 1 year of productivity on the NCAA Div 1 level and his productivity was largely running (and passing productivity enhanced by the threat of him running). I don't think that he'll duplicate his running success against NFL defenses and that will significantly hinder his passing success. 3. Newton comes across as a very polished/slimey used-car salesman type. Note that I am not saying that he is dumb as I believe that he's reasonably intelligent. I just think that there is a lot of "fake" to him. 4. Newton comes with a lot of character concerns that can be the death-blow to a team if he is installed as the starter. Allegations of stolen laptops at Fla, allegations of academic fraud in the J.C. ranks and only one year at Auburn.... I am not asserting that Newton will be a bust, only my opinion that he is way too risky for the Bills to consider at the 3rd overall pick.

I respectfully say this should not even be remotely a consideration. They've tried this route several times before and if the team still sucks, it doesn't matter a lick. Personally, I see some case for Gabbert, I'd run away from Newton (too raw, too slick, too much bad character history) and I'd strongly lean toward defensive front 7. If you insist on getting an "athletic" QB, I'd consider trading back into round 1 for Locker or staying pat and hoping that Locker or Kapaernick are there for the Bills' 2nd pick.

I agree with not wanting any of the QBs this year at #3, but the same can be said of any position. Whomever they pick, whatever position is a roll of the dice that may or may not pan out.

I think it's you can't tip your hand, man. As in, don't hold your hand of cards so that others can see them. Tipping your hat is a polite gesture.

I'm just saying that it isn't a given that he can. That type of mobility is sort of innate and is as much mental ability as it is physical. If it was easy, then guys like Drew Bledsoe would have mastered it. Anyone who remembers Bledsoe being a complete statue behind the Bills' OL can readily say that he didn't.

Great, we can put Peterson, Spiller and McKelvin back for KO and punt returns and have the best return potential ever in the NFL. And they'll need it after giving up 200 yards rushing per game again this year. Nobody will ever know if Peterson can cover anyone as no offense will be foolish enough to abandon gouging the Bills run defense and dominating time of possession on the way to easy wins. Seriously, I don't know if Peterson is the best player in the draft or just a very athletic over-size CB who will end up having to move to safety and a good KR. Whatever, without being able to stop the run or generate a pass rush, the Bills could put the best 4 DBs in the history of the NFL back there and continue to get toasted every week.

It's a mixture of both (and an inexact one at that). You have to consider college production, level of competition, scheme played in, number of years of production athletic ability, has he "maxed-out" or does he have upside, injury history, learning ability/versatility and a host of other things. This is exactly why there are high-round busts and late-round surprises every single year. Even NFL scouting offices who spend $millions can't turn this into a black-and-white, easy to evaluate proposition.

I agree that QB 40 time is not a big factor, but I don't know if he even has the subtle movement skill to avoid rushers within the pocket. Combine that with questions about his character, work ethic and judgement and I'm not very interested (though, he has so much arm talent that top o the 3rd I might be tempted).

I have reservations about him based on what I've read. I've seen multiple places question his "instincts". I don't care what kind of athletic freak he is, at ILB you have to be able to diagnose and react quickly. I think ILB is probably the position that you can most get away with less than great athletic ability. Now, I recognize that not all of these draft analyses are dead-on, so I am not dead-set against him, just wary of him is all.

Well, don't I know that! Wish I could come out of retirement to make $750K, but the market for slow, small 50 year old NTs is very weak right now...

I like the Sportingnews' Russ Lande because he is willing to state his opinions about players rather than just rate someone high or low because everyone else rates them that way. Is he always right? Of course not (and neither is anyone else including NFL scouts). Lande has a little more credibility (at least in my opinion) than most because he has experience working as an NFL scout. My favorite sources of draft information are Lande's GM Jr draft guide, ProFootball Weekly's draft guide (Nolan Nawrocki) and Mike Mayock on NFL Network.

There will be different opinions about every player. If there is even a hint of him being lazy when the Bills investigate him throughly, then they should definitely stay away. They may find that this report is unfounded, in which case, great.

You are assuming that there will be a good starting-caliber LB candidate to pick in round 2. I don't know that that is a good assumption.

How does he suddenly become a low risk-high reward player at the 34th pick? Maybe the risk/reward ratio is better then than early in the first, but he would still be a very risky pick that high in the 2nd round (IMHO). He might be a bigger, stronger Randal Cunningham or he might be another Tarvaris Jackson.

The Sportingnews' review of Justin Houston isn't very complementary. It describes him as a tremendous athlete, but raw and lazy. If that is a fair assessment of Houston, then I wouldn't spend a 2nd round pick on him. The Bills are building a team with dedicated, try-hard guys including Eric Wood, Levitre, Kyle Williams etc. They are trying to avoid the elite athletes who don't work. http://warroom.sportingnews.com/nfl/draft/2011/players/10465.html