QCity

Curious, where are you getting this from?

There's more than one scout out there that thinks Massie's skillset translates very well to the LT spot in the NFL...

I think it's just a lot of butthurt Notre Dame fans in the area upset we passed on Floyd. Seriously, there's probably around 20 active Notre Dame players in the NFL right now, and the only one worth a lick is Justin Tuck. There's also some weird notion that because we whiffed on McKelvin, we can no longer take a CB in the first round. If we went by that logic, we would never draft anyone in the first round again.

This is an excellent pick, I had Kirkpatrick mocked to the Bills, but in my defense that was 3 weeks ago. If you don't think CB was a huge need for this team, maybe you should step back and reassess exactly how much you know about football vs. how much you think you know about football. I've even heard someone in this thread call CB a "non-impact" position. LOL. Here's some food for thought, after QB and pass rusher, CB is the hardest position to fill. We all know the league has shifted to the pass, and nowadays above average CBs like Carr and Finnegan command $50M+ contracts. Our D may look good in the base formation against a base offense, but bring in N.E. and their 4 and 5 WR/TE sets - and all of a sudden it looks like a train wreck. Yes we need a left tackle, there was one worth taking in the first round and his name was Kalil. That's the reason they are all still on the board (and no, Reiff is not a LT). Sure we could use a WR, but this year's class is very deep, and there are some amazing players left on the board. And for those of you out on the ledge - great news! Nix has said he wants to add two CBs, so when we take another one in round 4, you can finally jump.

Love Tampa taking Barron and love Tannehill in Miami. FYI commercial coming up at the top of the hour will screw our pick lol.

Wow Cleveland, just wow...

I'm hearing from my inside sources that this is seriously going to happen, and that Minnesota now wants our first two picks plus Ville Leino and Brad Boyes.

I get that. But you cannot objectively look at this Bills roster, point at the safety position, and say that it is a pressing need. That's ridiculous. We have one of the top safety pairings in the league. I'm still waiting for someone to list 5 better SS than The Senator. I bet after Polamalu and Berry, you have to hit Google. Did people forget that he got hurt midseason? And that when he was in the lineup we did in fact beat NE? (and btw, he was all over the field that game)

fair enough...

If there are fans that truly think safety is a "pressing need," then it only affirms that people can talk themselves into anything if they think about it long enough. "Hey guys, one of our running backs is 31 - we got another pressing need there!"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ulC0Lerkkbc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S0qjK3TWZE8

Yeah I saw that game, he had a lot of trouble shedding blocks and really didn't make any plays around the line of scrimmage. Got turned around in coverage a couple times too. That's not the tape of a top 10 prospect...

This is the most intelligent post in this thread. Not surprising everyone ignored it. There still seems to be some pipe dream that Merriman will play 4-3 OLB and thus create some kind of insane defense. Come back to reality - he does not have the open field coverage skills for the position, regardless of his health. Wannstedt himself was asked this question at least twice and has stated that no, Merriman will be relegated to DE and DE only.

I think he read my mock, I should get cited IMO.

I'm going to have to respectfully disagree. I think any team picking in the top 10 has to get an impact player that will be starting week 1. (I also don't think Tannehill is anywhere close to being a top 10 talent)

Here's another report on Gilmore (and a very good site for scouting players).

Why is one a Probowler and the other only "starting quality"? If you had your choice between a starting quality QB who sat for the first two years or a Probowl OL, LB or whatever who was able to start in yr one, which would you choose? The 10th pick is going to get a ~ 4yr/$12M dollar deal, that's a lot of money on the bench.

Man I read this great article a while ago (was long like a small book) on the life of scouts, and I can't find the link to it now. I found another small one but it doesn't detail much. The life isn't glamorous at all. But yeah, not only do they get coaches' tape, they also meet with coaches 6 days a week, and try to watch as many practices as they can for their targeted players. I think they said the average nfl scout watches something like 60 hours of film a week during the season. Crazy.

If you are a scout, player assessment is an ongoing process that begins well before the season even starts. Your entire week is spent breaking down tape - every single week of the season. There isn't a period after the season ends where scouts say, "Ok, now let's get down to the real analysis" (most of the second-rate drafniks seem to say this). Wild post-season fluctuations are the result of the combine/pro day/workouts, character issues, or the perception of team need. Another thing to note is that CB is probably the most difficult position to assess from a fan's view. Sure, you can see when a CB gets smoked. But are you aware of when a CB blankets a receiver and forces the QB to his 2nd or 3rd option? Can you always tell when a CB flawlessly rolls to zone coverage and forces the QB to take a sack? You literally are taking the draftnik's word. And what percent of draftniks actually put in the work of a scout and study (or even have access to) scouting tapes? I'm sure Kiper/McShay/Mayock do, but what about the thousands of other internet mockers (Peter King, Walter Football, etc, etc)? With all the second rate mocks out there that parrot each other, it's very easy to create an internet upswell for a player.

I'd say the odds of us taking Barron at 10 are about zero. Cornerback? Very possible. Safety??? You people need to step away from the mock drafts for a while...

Monday Night Football is a massive endeavor that takes something like 4 days just to setup. I remember reading a huge article about it - it's absolutely insane what they setup for a single 3 hour football game (far, far beyond what is done for the standard Sunday afternoon game). The Ralph is basically a big concrete rock carved out in the 70s, I can only imagine what a logistical nightmare it must be to wire anything new into it. Anyways, we don't get Primetime games because we have sucked for the past 12 years.

Don't like starting out on the road against the Jest. Was hoping for a home opener against a team like Cleveland heh.

No, they won't support the NFL because they are a fickle fanbase that has better things to do than root for a 4-12 team. And when their franchise goes on a 3-year skid of finishing under .500 (inevitably they will at some point) the stadium will be half empty, and everyone will be left scrambling for the next excuse as to why. The Coliseum excuse is the dating equivalent of "It's not you, it's me." Seriously LA NFL fans, it wasn't you, it was the stadium (both of them apparently).

Little to do with fan support? It had everything to do with fan support. LA fans are fickle and simply won't support a losing NFL team over an extended period. The Rams played their last 15 years in Anaheim Stadium, so the Coliseum excuse won't hold water for them. And that's all it was - an excuse. Interest in the Raiders waned and the fans became indifferent after the honeymoon phase was over. People on this board say that LA can't support a team because history has shown they can't - twice.