hondo in seattle

I'll be a homer... OROY: Watkins DROY: Mack

I thought his illustrator career was just beginning.

I still think that only if Watkins turns into a perennial Pro Bowler, the trade was worth it. Otherwise, we spent two first round picks to acquire one first round talent. Very high price, indeed. But it's also obvious what Whaley is up to - build a team around EJ. Stevie is an odd talent who doesn't always run routes as designed. EJ didn't exhibit any chemistry with SJ while Watkins - with his RAC ability - is someone who will make EJ look good. If EJ, Watkins, Woods, Goodwin, etc all live up to their potential - and if Hackett can figure out how to use CJ correctly - this could be a very potent offense for years to come. I don't see Whaley working on a WIN NOW solution (perhaps worried about the ownership change). I see him collect a bunch of young guys who can, cross our fingers, win for several years. Welcome to the club!

Yep. Heard mixed things about him. I hope Pettine succeeds as HC but not sure he picked the right OC.

Hackett had some disadvantages... A rookie QB who kept getting injured... A star WR who was injured... And Hackett himself was a rookie OC. But I really didn't like how he used CJ. CJ's YPC dropped from 6.0 (2012) to 4.6 (2013). Hackett seemed clueless on how to give CJ the space he needs to show his stuff. I also didn't like the uptempo offense. An uptempo offense makes sense when you have an offense that can sustain drives. We didn't have that. So instead we just gave our opponents more possessions. This is one reason why our run defense was ranked poorly last year. Thanks to Hackett, our D was on the field a lot and faced a high number of plays. I really hope Hackett takes a step forward this year.

I agree he's good at his job... which is predicting the draft and making fans feel informed. He's not especially good at predicting the future NFL success of college players.

Kiper spends hours and hours researching college players. I think it's probably safe to say he knows more about college football players than anyone on this board. But he's just one man. Teams have several regional scouts and national personnel guys. They do campus visits. They interview players - and their coaches. They check police records. They have a medical staff doing physicals. The resources a NFL franchise brings to the draft dwarfs what Kiper can bring to bear. Let's not forget, in the end, Kiper is just entertainment. He's got a job as long as we're amused by what he does. And apparently he's got some talent at amusing people because the public remains interested in what he has to say. Personally, though, I never take any entertainer too seriously.

Good, bad, or indifferent, Whaley is certainly making his mark on the Bills. Interesting picks, interesting trades. It's like watching a secretive gardener plant some mysterious seeds. It will be interesting to see what grows.

Wow. We traded a starting WR for a 3rd string back???? Whaley's making a lot of "bold" moves. It will be interesting to see how it all pans out.

The problem with SJ is that he needs to freelance to get open. He doesn't have tremendous speed but he is cunning and elusive. Fitz, for all his shortcomings, seemed to have developed a rapport with Stevie and knew where he was going even when he wasn't running the play exactly as designed. EJ, being a rookie, never developed that ability. Maybe EJ would never figure SJ out. SJ may do great with the 9ers. I don't think he would have ever been great again with the Bills. Surrounding a young QB with a group of young WRs who can grow together makes a lot of sense.

Well, we acquired him with a 7th round draft choice. We got 3 thousand yard seasons out of him. And now we get a 4th - maybe a 3rd - round draft pick for him. All-in-all, a very good deal. While I hate to lose SJ when he's the only proven WR on the roster, it's hard not to notice that EJ and SJ never seemed to find any chemistry last year. Maybe EJ is too young to know how to work with someone who freelances like Stevie does. So maybe this trade really is best for all concerned. Best of luck to Stevie... hope he's happy back in the Bay Area.

Fair enough. But that's why I prefer more picks. Every pick is a throw of the dice. The odds of getting a winning roll are better when we have more chances to roll 'em. And yet... I find Whaley's enthusiasm infectious.

You may be right that Sammy will be a star. But you don't think there were any future Pro Bowlers - or maybe future Hall of Famers - still left at #9? We could have potentially had two Pro Bowlers with those two first round picks. Instead we have one. Watkins needs to become very special for this trade to make sense.

We essentially gave up two first round players to acquire one first round player?!?!?! With all our needs, wouldn't two first round players be better? I get why people like TXBILLSFAN say this goes beyond bold, it's reckless. It seems to me the spectrum of possibilities are... HUGE MISTAKE <<< ----------------------------------------- >>> BARELY WORTH THE PRICE Yet Whaley knows this and did the deal anyway. Apparently, he's pretty confident. I'm willing to suspend judgment until we see Watkins in a Bills uni. BTW, I do think it's awfully cool Watkins is a Bills fan.

I think the Bills want to move up but find the price too expensive. I believe Whaley's dead serious about giving EJ a better supporting cast and will draft offense with the first round pick. I'm thinking OT but wouldn't be surprised by a WR or TE. It depends on how the first 8 picks go down .

Thanks for a dose of human compassion. Our prayers are with Perry.

I'm not sure if the comparison is valid but I have to commend you on your memory. I doubt I would have ever again recollected the name "Perry Tuttle" in my life if you hadn't just mentioned him. For a first-rounder, he was pretty much invisible as a player. (Well, as a Bill. The Winnipeg Blue Bombers inducted him into their Hall of Fame).

Interesting - and critical article - on Fantex here: http://blogs.reuters...fantex-edition/ Here's the actual Fantex prospectus: https://fantex.com/fantex-ej-manuel-461919/prospectus

I'd rather buy shares in the Bills. But since that isn't a possibility, shares in EJ will have to do.

It seems we call all buy shares in the EJ Manuel brand. Fantex has purchased a 10% share in EJ's future brand income. It will start selling shares under the ticker symbol "EJML" at $10 a piece on May 5. I might buy $100 worth of shares just for fun, just to have some skin in the game. Anyone else in? http://espn.go.com/n...-brokerage-firm Here's how the EJ Manuel brand was valued: http://espn.go.com/blog/buffalo-bills/post/_/id/9258/dissecting-how-manuels-stock-is-valued

The more I read, the less l think the Bills are taking Watkins. Too many unnamed thrice-removed sources.

This sums it up pretty well.

If this actually happens, I'll be reading KH's posts very carefully in the future.

I used to be an army officer and was taught the Honor Code, "An officer does not lie, cheat or steal; nor tolerate those who do." But the Honor Code had a limited application in war. Every combat mission was laid out in a standard Five Paragraph Operations Order. One of the sub-paragraphs of a 5 paragraph op order was "Deception Plan." It was important to encourage the enemy to think we were doing something different than we actually were. I wonder how many NFL GMs intentionally put together a Deception Plan and how extensive and organized it may be. We heard last year that Nix supposedly made an effort to label Glenn as a guard. Do NFL GMs get together with their staffs each spring to put together their annual deception plan? Does that deception plan influence who they talk to at the combine? Who they fly in for visits? What Pro Days they attend? Do GMs call other GMs asking about trading up, when really they want to trade down?

Nice job, Mike!