OldTimer1960

based only on what I've read so far, Charles Brown isn't good enough to play LT in the NFL and showed in the all star games that he isn't a guard, either. I wouldn't touch him until the 4th round based on what I've read.

Not exactly an already-accomplished staff. However, being realistic, the coaching staff matters a smidge, the players matter A LOT. The Bills currently don't have the players to win with if Vince Lombardi were reincarnated as their coach. So, let's get the players to win with and see how this coaching staff can handle that.

Why would we want to sign an over-priced over-the-hill bum like Porter?

While I agree that Iupati (the guard you are talking about) is an outstanding prospect, I wonder how much he'd really help the Bills. I think the Bills are all set with the interior of their OL with Levitre, Wood, Hangartner (and I hope Incognito back). None of those players, inlcuding Iupati (based on what I've read) really would be able to play LT and maybe not even RT. So, Iupati at 9 would seem to bump Wood, Levitre or Hangartner to the bench. Not sure that is a huge upgrade. Don't get me wrong, I couldn't get too upset at drafting Iupati based on the glowing things I've read about him, but I don't think he'd solve the real glaring problem at LT.

One justification is that Anthony Davis is an overweight underachiever (yes, very talented). I can't see the Bills having the luxury of gambling on him. Bulaga is a different story, but there may be significantly better players available at other positions (like DE, LB). Based on what I've read about Bulaga so far, I wouldn't be upset with them taking him at #9, but he may be a bit of a reach at that spot. It is always a balance, best player regardless of need vs. filling needs.

That GB, who drafted Brohm in the 2nd round a couple years ago, had him on their practice squad is a giant clue that the Packers didn't think that Brohm had a future in the NFL. Now, teams do make mistakes in evaluating young players, but think how little they must have thought of him to put a recent 2nd round pick on the practice squad. Teams don't like to admit mistakes with high round picks, especially so soon after drafting him. Maybe Brohm got a raw deal in GB, I don't know, but I wouldn't pin my hopes on him. Sure, let him compete for the job, but he can't be Plan A.

I agree, but to underscore your point that every pick has some risk, take the Raider's selection of OL Robert Gallery a few years ago. He would have been considered a very low risk pick at the time, yet he bombed as an OT in the NFL and hasn't exactly been great even inside at OG. There are many others, but another that comes to mind is KC's selection of Glen Dorsey. He has not played anywhere near the level that most thought he would and there were no particular red-flags on him (at least that I knew about). Still, I think we are both saying the same thing: spend picks (at least the early ones) on as close to sure-thing good starters as you can. While completely ignoring positions of need would be foolish, too, it is more important to get good long-term starters out of this draft. As you said (and everyone here knows), the Bills are not going to be a playoff team next year. Build a sound defense and try to fix the OL further and the Bills could be reasonably competitive next year. Good defense and a good running game may be boring, but if they can accomplish that, they'll be in most every game even without a top QB.

Not everyone thinks McClain is so good. It isn't just Nawrocki (and he still had him in the top 15). Sporting News, which is run by a former NFL scout, isn't sold on McClain anywhere in round 1. Now, I am not sure who I agree with on McClain, but I don't think McClain is this year's version of Patrick Willis who is a true killing machine.

Several of the playoff teams don't have 1st round QBs, either including: Arizona (Warner - undrafted) Minn (Favre - 2nd rnd) Pats (Brady 6th) Saints (Brees 2nd - I think this is right). The same could be said for ANY position. Logically, since teams really only get 1 1st round pick/year (unless there is a trade involved) and there are 22 starting positions, it would take 22 years of #1 picks to fill every starting position. Most players don't even play 10 years, so it is clear that teams must get significant contributions from players other than #1 picks. I agree that some positions are more important than others (QB. LT, DE are probably the most important - but that is debatable and dependent on a team's scheme and other strengths/weaknesses). But, there are a multitude of ways to build a successful team and there will always be tradeoffs to consider. I think that the most important thing for the Bills in rounds 1-3 this year is to get players that will make significant contributions for several years. That does not mean that they MUST start from day 1, but that would help. They need to get 3 good long-term starters out of rounds 1-3. I think reaching for a position of need is a disaster and a way to ensure that they won't get those 3 good starters. So, if they think there is a legitimate good/very good LT or QB at 9 this year, then by all means take him. But, don't reach for a LT or QB and hope that they'll be the answer. We've been there before. Misses happen in the draft all the time to every team. But there are approaches to minimize the risk of this. I think picking players like the Bills did in Wood and Levitre works along those lines. Those guys were low-risk solid selections. Maybe they didn't have quite as high a ceiling as some other players (like Maybin), but their floor was also much higher than Maybin's. You knew much more of what you were getting with Wood and Levitre.

I concur that Nawrocki does a great job. I've been a huge fan of Pro Football Weekly's coverage going back more than a decade. The late Joel Buschbaum (Nawrocki's predecessor) was fantastic. He had a good blend of doing his own extensive evaluations and lots of contacts in the NFL who annonymously shared opinions with him. Nawrocki has done a good job as a replacement. However, I see red-flags all over Anthony Davis. I would avoid him like the plague. Frankly, I'd rather take my chances with the athletic but extremely raw Demetrius Bell than waste a #1 pick on Davis. Bulaga, Okung, maybe Trent Williams OK, but not Davis. I REALLY like Iupati, but he really isn't a LT and maybe isn't a RT, either. So, what would the Bills do with him? Maybe the could move Wood to C and play Iupati and Levitre at G, but that doesn't solve the OT problems that they have.

I generally agree that if there is a very good LT available, they should take him. I DO NOT like Davis from Rutgers - too fat and lazy to take that high. I don't think Iupati is a LT candidate, but I like everything I've read about him, problem is, if you take him and he can't play LT, then what? Maybe he can play RT, but he is really more of a OG and I think the Bills are already pretty solid there with Levitre, Wood and Ingonito. Bulaga might be an OK pick, but #9 might be a little high for him. I think Okung and Williams will be gone. On the QB side, I don't know if I am sold on any of them. I think Bradford will be gone and I don't think Clausen is worth that pick. I don't think Tebow should go before rnd 3 and I wouldn't take Pike or any other QB in the first.

I think Denney, Lynch Whitner, Edwards and Youboty will all still be around. Denney is really not bad and while Whitner and Lynch haven't lived up to their draft status, they are still pretty good players. Edwards and Youboty are cheap so will be given a shot to make the team.

But, if the first 3 picks go to a QB and LT, where is the help for the weak defense? I suppose that maybe some help for the D could come in FA, but the Bills' D was LAST in the league against the run. I think that they do have plenty of talent in the secondary, but both DL and LB must be upgraded significantly.

My problem with this is that there isn't a QB in the whole draft that is worth taking in round 1, let alone trading up for. Sam Bradford is the concensus #1 QB, but he is not big/strong enough to take the pounding he'd receive behind the Bills' OL. Clausen is a mirage. Pike and Lefeavre are projects.

Are you sure that Troy Smith was a 1st round pick? I think it was more like the 5th round, but I could be wrong.

Are you talking about Dwight Adams? I used to love it when he would be interviewed on the radio!

Levitre is not really a viable candidate at LT. He isn't tall enough, nor does he have a long enough reach. If the buzz is that Iupati can't play LT, then the Bills should not draft him. They are reasonably set at OL other than the gaping hole at LT.

Not all scouts are high on Rolando McClain. Sporting News War Room isn't sure he is even a 1st round pick.

I wasn't a big fan of the Maybin pick, either, but you can't declare him a bust after one year. The Bills knew, or should have known, that Maybin would be a project. He was only a true-sophomore and was very under-weight (yeah, I know he bulked up quickly, but you had to figure he wouldn't hold weight gained that quickly). He's also only 20 y.o. and his body may fill-out, especially with more weight training. Now, I don't know if he will ever come around or not. I also don't think it was a positive sign that he got so little playing time. But at least in all the interviews I've seen with him, he seems to have the attitude and work ethic to try to make a go of it. I am as frustrated with the pick and lack of production as most, but he does still have a high ceiling and his slow-development wasn't unexpected. I think (hope?) that he'll show improvement this year and by 2011 (if they don't have a lockout) he might be a very good player.

I must be missing the lines above that qualify him to be a good defensive coordinator.

Oh, I am horribly sorry for misspelling a players name. I am humbled that you took your precious time to point out this terrible error. You know what? After 20+ years of following the draft very closely, sometimes I don't feel like running off to another website to confirm a player name spelling. Now, if you have all night to be on the web checking spellings and admonishing others, then good for you. I have other things to do.

Davis is an over-weight underachieving player whom I wouldn't want to invest the 9th overall pick in and then give him $10M+ and HOPE that he decides to get in shape and try hard. Buluga, by all accounts I've read is not reallty a talented enough player (at this point after his Jr year) to pick that high. From what I've read Campbell would be worth the pick, but likely not available at 9. My opinion, at this time, is to avoid reaching for a LT or QB and take the best impact defensive lineman of LB available. If the Bills can build the Defense into a very good one and can improve the OL a bit in FA and the draft, then they can be competitive most of the time next year.

IMHO, the ONLY big need on the OL is for a very good LT. There are not 5 very good LTs in the draft. I also don't believe that there are more than 3 LTs worth a top 15 selection. Given the premium on the position, I'd guess that the good ones will be gone leaving the Bills to reach for a non-first round caliber LT or a non-first-round calidber QB. I'd much much rather that they get a good value and strengthen another area of the team - particularly the defense. Just drafting a LT or a QB at 9 does not make that player worthy of the pick, nor does it necessarily solve a problem at LT or QB. If the guy is much better than D. Bell or Fitz/Edwards , then OK, but just throwing a pick at a position doesn't make it a good move.

He is so out of shape that I'd hope the Bills wouldn't waste even their 2nd pick on him. Guys like that most often don't have the drive to get themselves into shape and therefore never reach their potential in the NFL. Not saying he couldn't get it together, just that it is unlikely. Bruce Smith is an example of someone who was fat coming out of college who "got fitness religion" and was tremendous - BUT there are really few guys like that.

New coaches do not generally have their staffs lined up before they are hired. The only way that they could possibly do that would be to have lined up other unemployed assistants. They can't legally contact coaches on other staffs and. even if they could, who would quit a secured job to join the staff of some head coach who didn't have a job at that point?