2003Contenders

I think the key point was: "Anyway, when it's all added up, the Bills' defense did more for the team's success than anything Flutie accomplished. " I remember, especially in 1999, when the offense would struggle and the defense would keep the team in games. Flutie and the offense would manage to pull out a 13-10 type game with a late scoring drive, and the press would marvel over "Flutie Magic". RJ certainly wasn't the answer. He was everything you wanted from a physical standpoint: big, strong-armed, accurate, mobile. He just never developed any sort of pocket presence; he had no "timer" in his head and was missing natural instincts. Many of his knock-out hits came as a result of him running full speed into an on-coming pass rusher. Flutie's was a nice story: an underdog who seemed to make good in 1998. Even if he didn't play as well as his mythical reputation in Buffalo would suggest, the truth is that he did play well enough during that stretch back in 1998 when the future of the team's viability in Buffalo truly was in question. The PR folks at OBD were happy to promote the Flutie myth in exchange for unprecedented box seat sales. In the process they helped the already outlandish Flutie ego to get out of control. Every game the Bills won back then was because of "Flutie Magic", and every game they lost was someone else's fault. And Doug had no problem throwing his team mates under the bus, either. Had Dougie been saddled with the horrific defenses backing him up that, say, Fitz endured, Flutie's time in Buffalo would have just been another footnote.

There is an important distinction that you are missing. You are correct that it would not be lawful for the Seahawks to refuse to hire Kaepernick based on his political beliefs. However, they can certainly request that he NOT protest based on his beliefs while he is "on the clock". Also, using your analogy, it would not be lawful for the Seahawks to refuse to hire a player who is a proud gun owner, but they can certainly ask him to not to be passing out NRA promotional materials on the sidelines during games.

I always got the impression with Jordan Matthews that the Bills medical staff was privy to information that was not generally known to the rest of the league. A few weeks ago I heard Matthews himself admit that the Bills uncovered an undiagnosed degenerative leg issue last season.

Or, the Browns deal with the Bills directly, and the Bills manage to trade all the way up to #1. I know this is unlikely given the criticism that the Browns have received for failing to pull the trigger on top drawer QBs like Wentz. And there is a new GM in town for the Browns who appears to be competent. However, I still can't get it out of my head that the Browns opted to trade the #65 overall pick for Tyrod Taylor. Perhaps, a stretch -- but what if they really like Lamar Jackson as the heir apparent to Tyrod? They could wind up with the QB they want at 12, plus multiple other 1st and 2nd round picks from the Bills. This is all very unlikely, I know, but what if Beane went nuts and made Cleveland an offer they simply could not refuse?

Nice work, but I would argue that the 1998 draft was MUCH worse that you indicated. There was a reason that there was no 1st or 4th round pick that year -- and it was because those picks went to the Jaguars in exchange for ROB JOHNSON!

It also helps when the GM and coach are joined at the hip as McD and Beane appear to be. Whaley had no say in hiring Marrone, as that was primarily a Brandon decision. If Whaley had his way, the Bills' next coach would have been Hue Jackson, but the Pegulas (at Brandon's urging) hired Rex instead.

I really do think that there is a strong possibility that Mayfield slides on draft day -- maybe even to the point where guys like Jackson and Rudolph go ahead of him. I am not saying that SHOULD happen, but there are a variety of reasons for why this could happen: 1. NFL scouts and GM's have so many preconceptions about what an NFL QB looks like. Mayfield does not LOOK like a prototypical passer, and his height is going to be a serious issue for many of them. Everyone brings up Brees and Wilson as towering examples of QBs who have overcome being short in stature. However, neither of them were first round picks. Brees, in particular came out of Purdue with quite a pedigree; there was little to dislike about him OTHER than his height. 2. Say what you will, but the QB position is/has been/always will be a position in which personality matters. Every team views their starting QB as the face of the franchise, and it is very important that he represents that franchise in a positive light. Mayfield is a very polarizing figure. Depending upon your tastes, he may come across as confident and competitive. Or, he may come across as arrogant and immature. He certainly is much less polished in terms of his media presence than the other top QBs in this draft class. 3 Video clips like this one serve to crystallize preconceived notions. Worse, they make tangible the unseen and imagined. Ray Rice was dropped from the league only AFTER the video of his abuse popped up; Tunsil slid massively in the draft AFTER the video of him taking drugs was leaked. Both situations were known to have happened, but the videos in each situation served as greater damnations. It just takes one team or decision-maker for that team to fall in love with Mayfield and pull the trigger. So anything can happen. I just suspect that some of the more conservative suits in the NFL may be leery of investing a high first round draft pick on him. I can only imagine watching the heads explode around here should the Bills select Rudolph or Jackson -- with Mayfield still on the board.

Mayock, who has ties to the Giants, made this rather measured analysis the other day: The Giants believe that they are in a unique position this season to be drafting as high as 2. They (like many teams) also believe that there are 3-non QB top notch players in this draft: Barkley, Nelson and Chubb. All three would fill needs for the Giants. However, if there is one particular QB that the Giants are in love with, that trumps everything. So, first the Giants will have to wait and see what the Browns do. If the Browns take the QB that the Giants would be interested in, then the pick could be up for sale. That is because the Giants know that the #1 pick is a QB, the #2 pick (presumably traded to Buffalo) would be a QB and the Jets are almost certainly taking a QB at 3. Hence, all 3 of those non-QB studs would still be available at 4 and at least one would still be available at 6. That is why Mayock believes that the Giants would be interested in trading down if the QB they covet is gone before 2 -- but not interested in trading later than 6. Obviously, the Bills would have to work a deal to move up to 6 (or possibly 4 or 5) prior to the draft for any shot at getting to 2. Then on draft day they would have to work a deal with the Giants to move to 2. However, this presents a huge risk, as the Giants' decision to trade up or down will be dependent upon what the Browns do at 1. Maybe we will get lucky and the Browns will make their intentions regarding the #1 overall pick known ahead of time, and the Bills, Giants and another team (Colts, Broncos or Browns themselves) can work a three-way deal just before the draft.

In addition to 6 QBs going in the first round, I am also starting to get the sense that the order of the 6 could be really surprising. That is, I would not be at all surprised if one of the "Big 4" (Mayfield?) winds up dropping behind Rudolph and/or Jackson come draft day.

This is similar to what Gil Brandt has been saying. He has not released his top 100 yet (to my knowledge), but he said there are about 15-20 legitimate first round talent guys -- and that very little separates the guys in the next tier, say 20th thru 70th. That is why as much as I would love to get a franchise QB, I do NOT think it is the end of the world if Beane is unable to make that move up to get "his" guy. If 4-5 QBs do go early, then the Bills have a great shot at landing two bona fide difference-makers at 12 and 22 at other positions of need (OL, DL, WR, LB). Then with three more picks between there and 65, they can load up on other potential starters. In talking about trading up for a franchise QB, I have to say that I get the impression that, unlike the Jets who appear to be OK with any of their top 2-3 rated QBs, Beane has a particular guy he is targeting. If he can make the move to trade up to get him, I think he does. If he can't, then I don't think the team will overpay to grab one of the "consolation prize" QBs.

You know this is a McD kind of guy... Wrestling champ.

I keep going back to the throw-away comment that Beane made at the Combine, when he said that there were "6 -- maybe 7" QBs who would go in the first round. Obviously he was talking about the Big 4, Rudolph and Jackson as the 6. I wonder if Lauletta was "maybe 7".

This is interesting given that a couple of days ago there were reports that the Browns were planning on taking Allen #1 over all. I think so much of this discussion from various executives about the Bills' plans stems from the likelihood that Beane has been speaking with multiple teams (including the Giants) about moving up in the draft. I still find it hard to believe that the Giants are on board with moving down from 2 to 12. I suppose they COULD use the bevvy of picks extorted from Buffalo to move back up a few spots if they want. But they may decide to place that onus on the Bills FIRST. That said, I would not be surprised if one of the following is a possibility: 1. Gettleman and Beane have a handshake deal in place: If the Bills can get to 5-7, then the Giants are willing to trade down 3-5 spots with the Bills. 2. The Giants draft a QB at 2, then they look to see if there is a player that they truly like when the Bills do pick (at 12 or wherever). If such a player exists, they trade the Bills the QB they drafted at #2 in exchange for the Bills pick plus additional first/second round picks that the Bills still have in their arsenal. This would be an inverse of what the Giants did to acquire Eli back in 2004. Of course, the Giants could just decide to draft the guy they covet at #2 and refuse to make any trade. So many things could happen between now and the day of the draft -- and especially DURING the draft. Beane is just trying to account for multiple possibilities.

It just takes one team -- no, make that ONE person in the decision-making role for a team -- to fall in love with him and draft him higher than the pundits believe he should go. FWIW, he is scheduled to have a visit with the Browns in a few days.

Somehow I am finding it harder and harder to visualize Rosen and McD being able to co-exist, but I could be wrong.

It also helps when your daddy was a Super Bowl winning QB. LOL

Where's the most obvious one of all? Juice?

I doubt it. But who knows? These days the Bills' brass has done an exceptional job of keeping everything under wraps. That said, I don't think the Browns inclination to take Allen (or whomever) at #1 has any bearing on what they believe the Bills may do. After all, as of now, the Bills are picking at #12, right? Also, the last several QBs that the Browns drafted were AFTER they had already drafted one or more players that year: Kizer, Kessler, Manziel, Weeden, Quinn, Frye... going all the way back to Couch. Something tells me that Dorsey wants to set a new tone by making a statement and drafting the QB of choice with the #1 pick overall.

If I am Denver I do not make that trade unless I am getting both 12 and 22 from the Bills. Then if I am the Giants, given what the Jets paid to go from 6 to 3, I would be looking for something similar from the Bills to go from 5 to 2. That probably means both 2's this year and #1 next year (given that the Bills' 2's are substantially later than the Jets'). So, that means 12, 22, 53, 56 AND the 2019 first rounder to move up to 2. That is a lot of premium picks.

Did anyone else catch the odd mistake he made when talking about his first game as a pro. Leaf said he vividly remembered playing against Steve Young and the 49ers. Wrong! That first game came in San Diego against our very own Buffalo Bills. It was also Rob Johnson's first game as a Bill and proved to be a harbinger of things to come, as RJ was knocked out of the game. Flutie (also in his first action as a Bill) came in off the bench and ALMOST pulled the game out. That was 20 years ago, of course, and maybe Leaf truly did "mis-remember". However, the Bills also played the NFC West that season (their first victory of the season, in fact, came in an upset victory over the Niners). So Leaf (and the rest of the AFC West) would not have played against the NFC West in 1998, which means that Leaf didn't even play the 49ers AT ALL in his rookie season. Maybe he played against Young and the 49ers in the preseason that year, which was not the implication I got. Of maybe he is just full of bull.

I wonder if the mom-agent weirdness and his refusal to whiteboard with teams will cause him to fall to the 2nd round.

Jim Drunkenmiller. Dude had a cannon but no touch. Constantly was breaking WRs fingers, etc. The guy was a tool, thought all of that was funny. Easy to see why he never panned out.

Honestly, if the top 4 QBs all go in the top 5 like that (which certainly is a possibility), then the good news is that the Bills will be taking a top 8 overall pick at a non-QB position at 12 (depending on what they think of Jackson and Rudolph). They could even potentially trade up a couple of spots if they need to get a top 5 guy (Chubb, Nelson, Smith, for example), at one of those spots without giving up more than a 2nd or 3rd rounder. I laugh at all of the fans that are DEMANDING that the Bills trade up for one of those top 4 QBs. There are multiple factors in the equation. Can the Bills find a team willing to trade down? And if so, what will it cost? Let's remember that the team has a number of other big needs right now. MLB, WR, OL (both interior and exterior), DL (both interior and exterior) besides depth elsewhere. If there is a trade to be made for one of these top 4 QBs (or, better yet, should one of them fall) then that is great. However, if the draft goes as Kiper has it going, it is hard to complain about using the picks we have to address other areas. I don't doubt that, say, Rosen/Mayfield > McCarron. However, I do not think that the team as a whole will look better with Rosen/McCarron vs McCarron + improvements at WR, MLB and OL/DL. Or, for that matter, Rosen/McCarron vs Jackson/Rudolph + improvements at WR, MLB and OL/DL. And if they do give up multiple high picks to trade up they had BETTER be right or lucky (from a health perspective).

I don't know necessarily about the weakest arm (but probably weaker than the top 4 guys), but Rudolph's hands did measure in at just 9". Gil Brandt talked about this on NFL Sirius radio a few days ago when asked why a QB as prolific in college as Rudolph (who Brandt BELIEVES will be a starter at the NFL level) is not as highly sought after as the top 4 guys. He said the biggest issue was his hand-size and that only one QB in the last 15 years had been drafted early in the first round with such small hands. That QB was Jared Goff. Brandt also pointed out that Goff went to a warm weather team in LA, whereas the QB-needed teams picking at the top this year (including Buffalo, given they have the ammunition to move up) are all cold weather teams (Cleveland, Jersey, Denver, Buffalo) where having larger hands to handle the ball is a premium. He went on to suggest that Rudolph otherwise checks off everything on the list, but the smallish hands and possibly lower ceiling than some of the higher-rated QBs could make him fall to the 2nd round. Then after discussing all of this, he laughed and pointed out that Mayfield too had small hands -- just 1/4" bigger than Rudolph's. Meanwhile, Allen has huge hands (well over 10") .

I think they guy they covet REALLY is Allen. The problem is that he is likely the guy that the Browns like too.