2003Contenders

Remember also that the Pegulas essentially inherited the existing paradigm that was more or less put in place by Russ of having the GM and HC serve as peers -- each reporting directly to the owner. In Ralph's final year-plus as owner, Russ served as the de facto owner -- a role he continued with during the transition when the Pegulas to over. From a distance none of this looks good -- and perception is reality when it comes to sports and entertainment. We have to hope that the Pegulas and others at OBD have learned a very valuable lesson. The good news is that it appears that Russ has been stripped of football-making decisions and that DW has been granted the task of identifying the next coach. DW knows that he HAS to get this right.

This actually brings up a good point that I did not see anyone elaborate on... Rex always chose to defer when winning the coin toss. This past Sunday Lynn decided to receive the kickoff rather than defer. Hmmmm.

That is why you are best off with a guy who certainly understands the game and knows the ins and outs -- but is a leader of men, a strong delegator and detailed manager rather than simply an x's and o's guy. Rex was a defensive-minded coach, who delegated the offense but oversaw the defense himself. Which side of the ball was better? Before him, St. Doug ran the offense (with his boy Nate) but delegated the defense to Pettine and Schwartz. Which side of the ball was better? Regardless of who the next coach is, I want him to bring in qualified coordinators on both sides of the ball -- and limit his own involvement in play selection, etc.

Continued lazy "reporting" by BN. This snippet was taken virtually word-for-word from JLC's piece on CBS the other day predicting the landing spots for various coaches among the 6 openings. Isn't it funny how the local media never seems to break a story regarding the Bills?

Given the scrutiny that teams place on QBs during draft-time, I am fairly confident that Chad Kelly will go undrafted. While he may have plus physical talent, poor decision making on the field will cause his stock to fall. When the multiple off-field issues are taken into account, no team in the NFL (Bills included) will have the intestinal fortitude to invest a draft pick on him. If the Russ, the Pegulas, Whaley -- or whomever -- really think adding him because of his surname will create some positive chatter among the fan-base, they should wait until AFTER the draft to do so.

Also, a couple of long Bills plays called back in the first half on dubious holding penalties -- meanwhile Miami's TE was flagrantly holding all game long and never got called for it.

I also do not think we can overestimate the poor play from the safety position this year. Everything went downhill once Aaron Williams went down. Also, Graham appears to have lost a step and become a liability in recent weeks. As much as many here love NRC, aside from making the occasional big play, he is also a liability in coverage -- especially against big, physical receivers.

He was a welcome addition on Sunday -- and the DL was hardly responsible for the loss. Had MD managed to make the comeback the week before, I am pretty confident that the outcome of the Miami game would have been quite different.

Or -- maybe,just maybe -- DW has hit the jackpot again with amother n'er do well from another team (a la Jerry Hughes) in Justin Hunter.

Not sure if the original intent was to troll -- or if the OP as simply ill-informed. The fact is that over half of Tyrod's yardage came on the 2 long TD passes. The first was on the very first possession, and the 2nd was on the first drive of the 2nd half. The first one put the Bills ahead 7-3, and the second one brought them to within a score. Oh, and the Jets turned it over on their very next drive -- and the TD return put the Bills back in the lead. Hardly garbage time. Look, the offense really struggled against the Ravens. Against the Jets, they struggled to sustain drives; however, they did make good on those big plays, which should have been enough to win the game if the defense show up. Despite all of the wailing, think about this: if Darby doesn't drop a pick six, and Tyrod doesn't underthrow a wide open Watkins (and instead tosses an INT), the Bills are probably 2-0.

Except... Terry and Kim inherited Whaley but brought in Rex on their own.

Uh no. While he had all the necessary physical tools, Rodgers was most certainly NOT a polished QB coming into the league, which is why he fell so far in the draft (coming from a Tedford offense). I remember back in the 2006/2007 timeframe when the Bills and Packers held joint practices and scrimmaged, the consensus was that the Bills had made the right choice trading away that 2005 #1 for the ability to get the 2004 #1 for JP, given that Losman looked so much better at that time than Rodgers did. Doh! History -- and superior QB coaching, or course -- would eventually tell us otherwise. While recent history has shown that Rodgers' back-ups have failed to amount to much, Favre had a steady string of back-ups that went on to become starters around the league: M. Brunell, M. Hasselbeck, A. Brooks, and of course Rodgers himself. It is silly to think that having the opportunity to play behind Favre for 3 years did not have an impact on the QB that Rodgers is today.

When Tyrod leads a late 4th quarter drive to seal a victory, I will consider moving him into the top 12.

Rankins, although he will likely be gone by 19.

Interesting. That is not my evaluation of him. While he lacks a cannon for an arm, I think his arm is good enough. The issue with his deep passes is more mechanical in terms of his footwork and delivery rather than arm strength.

I think Hogan is a real sleeper in this draft. The only real knock on him appears to be his unorthodox delivery, which may or may not be correctable. My suspicion is that he can very easily be a solid, system-style QB that can win some games if everything around him is up to snuff. His experience in a pro style offense -- one that Greg Roman helped to institute no less -- will enable him to be serviceable right away. I would draft him as a solid backup -- with the possibility that he could someday be a starter in the Matt Hasselbeck/Andy Dalton mold. Not bad at all for a guy that we can probably get in the 4th rounder or later. If nothing else, I think he projects to be an upgrade over EJ Manuel -- and insurance in case Tyrod lays an egg this season or bolts afterwards for greener pastures.

I've been saying repeatedly that I hope the Bills actually grab 2 QBs in this draft, one that may be developmental but has tons of upside (say, Cardale Jones) -- and one that has a high floor but possibly limited upside like Hogan. In Hogan I see a guy that is probably going to be a career backup -- but who you can trust and rely on to know his playbook and execute an offense. He's the type of guy who can likely fill that #2 role from day one. In essence, Hogan would be EJ's replacement (recall EJ is a free agent after this year). The developmental QB would be a guy you groom and work with for a couple of years as the #3 -- if he shows no progress then you drop him and find another one.

Call me crazy, but considering that C. Jones is such a boom-or-bust option -- a guy unlikely to even be the backup for at least a year or so -- I would be all on board with the Bills taking a Kevin Hogan IN ADDITION to Jones, say in the last round or two. A guy like Jones has a much lower ceiling but could probably serve as a backup from day one. Meanwhile, in 2-3 years Jones is either starting or out of the league.

The talent is so tempting, I really think some team will take him sooner than he is currently pegged to go. In the right situation, where he is given time to develop, I think Jones could eventually thrive. I will say that with Roman, Palmer, etc. on hand and Tyrod the starter for a year or longer, this may not be a bad situation for him as long as the Bills are patient. Team patience will be key. I would be fine with the Bills reaching for him a bit in the 3rd -- but do not want them taking him in the 2nd (as some draftniks believe he may go now).

Would be happy with either one -- and you know Rex has all the intel on both given the Clemson connection.

Yea, the time frame is quite arbitrary. For example, I dare say that if you looked at the 10 years prior to this (86-95), the Bills likely had one of the BEST draft track records.

So said a scout hoping he falls a little further in the draft than currently projected.

First, let me say that I don't buy what is presented in the article. For one thing the premise is simply wrong: the Bills control Taylor's whereabouts for the next 2 seasons, as he is under contract this year and they could franchise him next year if he plays at a high level in 2016. Honestly, if he plays at such a level, they will likely be all in favor of giving him the big contract he wants after this season. Tyrod's presence, in fact, buys them plenty of flexibility at the QB position -- as they could roll the dice with a high upside QB in the draft who may not be a 1st rounder because he is not NFL-ready for a year or two. Now, lets hypothetically assume for a moment that the trade possibility is true. In essence, what the Bills would be doing is trading a 2nd, future 3rd and Tyrod to move from 19 to 2. We have seen what the price tag has been for some teams to merely move up a couple of spots in the draft -- remember that Washington gave up multiple first rounders to just move from 6 to 2. So the compensation is actually VERY reasonable to make this move. But here is the problem. If this were a team all set everywhere except the one glaring hole -- OK. Or if this was year one of a new regime, where the coach and GM wanted to trade the farm to get their guy at QB, OK. But that is not the case here. Rex and Doug are on a short leash to make it to the playoffs. They need all the impact players they can find in the draft to bolster the front 7 and offensive line. That doesn't happen with the first round pick gone for a rookie QB and no 2nd round pick at all. It also puts the team in the position of starting either a rookie or EJ Manuel at QB. So it is HIGHLY unlikely that either Rex or Doug would be on board with such a trade.

I like to keep old draft magazine publications and look back with the view of hindsight to see how close the "experts" were. Was just looking at an old Sporting News 2006 edition. On the cover was Reggie Bush, Matt Leinart and Vince Young. I know the Bills probably would have been much better off drafting Ngata (as conventional wisdom suggested they should), Cutler (whom they had rated as their top QB prospect in the draft) -- or trading down (as there were supposedly multiple opportunities for them to do). However, they could have done MUCH worse with that pick. Whitner was at least a decent starting safety.

I think if by some miracle the Bills came away with Dodd and Jones after the first 2 rounds, I would consider this to be a GREAT draft regardless what they did in the later rounds.