hondo in seattle

The draft is looming on the imminent horizon. None of us knows who Buddy will pick. But we should all know what will happen afterwards. This board will be filled with both self-congratulation and self-assassination. Some of the draft gurus will give us good grades: others will give us poor ones. The optimists amongst us will believe the former. The pessimists will believe the latter. Both sides will make cogent arguments to defend their point of view. While I do respect the vast knowledge of guys like Brandt & Casserly and even McShay & Kiper, I don't think any of the media draftniks has a particular strong record when giving out grades. If the published prognosticators are bad, us fans are typically even worse. Me, personally, I think this year I'll just trust Nix and Company and wait 3 years to see if my faith is proven right or wrong.

This made me chuckle.

I didn't agree with all the assessments but the article is really well written. Most amateur sports journalists are barely literate. They offer up some really bad stuff. It's nice to see a guy who can spell and even get a little flowery as well as does his homework.

PFT discussed Arkansas options and lists Wanny with this comment: Dave Wannstedt, defensive coordinator, Buffalo Bills — There’s one reason and one reason only why the former Pittsburgh head coach has been mentioned by a national writer — a previous relationship with Long. Beyond that convenient tie, Wannstedt makes zero sense and would instantly and literally become one of the worst hires in the history of the game. http://collegefootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/04/10/reports-bobby-petrino-fired-at-arkansas/related/

I did better. I watched Archie play. His stats may not be impressive because the supporting cast wasn't impressive.

Thanks for the good evaluation.

Obviously, the Bills had trouble switching to the 3-4 under Edwards partly because Edwards made things too complicated but mostly because we didn't have the right personnel for a 3-4. The switch back will be far less painful because Wanny will keep things as simple as he needs to and with the two DE signings, we have the right people to run a 4-3. I think both Dareus and K. Williams will excel in the 4-3. Kelsay will be a good reserve as a DE in the 4-3 assuming Anderson starts. M. Williams, of course, is built for the 4-3.

All true. And the Saints of old were mediocre instead of bad one because of Archie Manning. No one doubts that the QB is the most important player. But he can't lead a team to the playoffs without a decent supporting cast. Quarterbacks don't kick. They don't tackle. And they don't (usually) block.

Thanks for this! I notice that 4 of 14 players listed are Tackles.

I disagree. Archie Manning never made the Saints into a good team. I remember watching him play. He was good but the surrounding cast wasn't. QBs don't play special team. They don't play defense. How can they stop the other team from scoring? At best, a good QB can make the offense productive. But you still need RBs to run the ball, blockers to block, receivers to catch.

There really isn't a #1 and #2 receiver. Every team has two receivers and one happens to be better than the other so gets more throws. Wouldn't it be an advantage to have another receiver as good or better than Stevie? A team can never have too many weapons. +1

Ray Guy was indeed a first round pick. And he led the Raiders to three Super Bowl championships. Football is a game of field position and the easiest yards to get are through the air on a punt. We could get a game-changing punter with the #10 pick. I'm all for it!

I remember Charles Rome... good DB. And I remember France. My mom's from Drancy and I think I have a second-cousin named Olivier in or near Paris.

Lombardi is a guy I respect for his NFL experience. But I'm not sure his personnel career was as successful as Brandt's. Pat Kirwan is who knows the business from the inside.

This is disappointing for me too! I just moved here 3 years ago and was hoping to see the Bills in person this season. I wore my Bills stuff to games in Miami and San Francisco in years past. The Miami crowd heckled me while the San Fran crowd was mostly very polite. I'm wondering how Seattlelites will respond to someone decked out in Bills logos. Apparently I won't personally find out until 2016 - thanks for the info.

It's not just the addition of one player. Here's why I think the Bills D will be much improved. 1. Injuries. Last year, arguably our best D Linemen, best LB and best CB were all injured. This year, with a complete training camp working with our trainers, we won't be savaged by injuries. Just being healthier (cross our fingers) will make us better. 2. Wanny. Not only is he switching us to a 4-3, he's also simplifying the defense so players can react more quickly and instinctively. As pointed out, he's a Super Bowl winning DC. He'll make some other improvements that we won't anticipate. 3. D Line. The addition of Anderson and especially M. Williams, combined with an improving Dareus and healthy D. Williams makes this line significantly better than last year's line. A better line will make the LB and secondary look better. 4. Draft? It will be interesting to see who the Bills add to the Defense on Draft Weekend.

Brandt is overrated? Along with Tex Schramm, he turned the Cowboys into perennial winners. He's got 30 years of experience scouting for an NFL team. He's forgotten more about player evaluation than you or I will ever know. Of course players have moved up and down on his list. Back in his NFL days, Gil had a team of scouts working for him. Now he does all his work on his own. As he continues to watch tape and talk to scouts, he reevaluates players. Some move up, some move down. Tell me another draft guru who can claim on his resume that he built a Super Bowl team?

Fitz does throw a nice deep ball once in a while. The problem is that when Fitz uncorks a long ball, you have no idea what to expect. It might be a fluttering duck. It might travel to some place unintended. And it might actually land in the receivers hands. Sometimes it seems he's really straining and putting everything's he's got into the throw so it will have the distance. But his forced effort causes the ball to be erratic. Did you ever listen to him when he's wired? He grunts when he throws those frozen ropes. A stronger QB makes long throws look (& sound) effortless. I like Fitz. That means I just live with the fact that his long throws are rolls of the dice.

Thanks for the condescending attitude. May we all be as bright and worldly as you some day. As a business professional, I'm familiar with the concept of "due diligence." I'm also familiar with the concept of "limited resources." As a business owner, I don't waste much time on unlikely scenarios. Time is too valuable. The Bills have only so much time to study players and can only bring in 30 players. When time/money/visits are limited, why spend it on a player we are highly unlikely to draft? I think I'm asking a valid question. And I think Buddy probably has a valid answer. And maybe the answer is indeed "due diligence." Maybe drafting Richardson isn't as unlikely as I assume it to be. Then again, maybe it's not due diligence. Maybe the Bills just want to appear interested in Richardson to influence the decision making of other clubs. I'm not pretentious enough to claim to know Buddy's intent. P.S. My business is highly successful despite your comments.

Here's how I rate Fitz: Better than Rob Johnson, TE, Gary Marangi, AVP, JP Losman, Todd Collins, Vince Ferragamo, Dennis Shaw, Kelly Holcomb, Dan Manucci and the great Brian Brohm Not as good as Joe Ferguson, Frank Reich, Jim Kelly. The Bills have been blessed with some good RBs over the years. But not a lot of good QBs. While Fitz may not be "elite," he's better than a whole bunch of his predecessors. So I'm happy to have him as our starter.

I appreciate your insights on Hairston. I hate watching the Bills lose and so didn't watch a lot of games he played. However, I have to disagree with the part I bolded. Despite not having a viable Plan B, we let Peters go and he wasn't even a free agent. Sometimes teams do let good LTs go, for salary cap or other reasons.

+1 Who benefits society more? Firemen? Law enforcement officers? Teachers? Soldiers? Or football players?

Okay... I guess I'm buying this. If this guy is the next Jim Brown, I want him. Otherwise, I'm very content with Jackson/Spiller and don't want another good back. Too many other, bigger needs.

The Wonderlic already has it's critics and it will have many more if Claiborne becomes a star. And I think that's possible. I certainly don't think he's "doomed." I just think it's easier to coach someone with good learning/analytical skills. This is from PFT: Long-time Buccaneers cornerback Ronde Barber echoed on Wednesday something many have said since LSU cornerback Morris Claiborne’s score on the Wonderlic test surfaced on Tuesday: The 50-question general intelligence test is irrelevant to on-field ability. “I don’t think it’s a factor,” Barber tells NFL.com. “I don’t think it really translates into the football IQ . . . I wouldn’t pay much attention to it.” So why then does the NFL continue to administer the test? Former Cowboys and Dolphins coach Jimmy Johnson said Tuesday via Twitter that “90% of my misses were because I took a chance on marginal intelligence.”

+1