2003Contenders

Yea... I'm starting to think that Willis is a no-brainer pick if he is still there at #12. The trouble is, I have a bad feeling that he'll be gone.

Marv says they want to go in a different direction. Does that mean that they are close to dealing for Turner -- or targeting an early draft pick? link

Willis may not even be there... I have a feeling that he may not get past the Niners.

Well, we won't know right after the draft either. Think back to last year... Who in late April would have thought that the Bills had (what looks like now at least) to have been one of the better drafts of any team in the NFL? Still, to take a stab at answering your question, last year their aim was to heavily attack the secondary. In so doing, with that single draft, they were able to fortify both safety positions -- and possibly found a future replacement for Clements in Youboty. (Obviously the verdict is still out on that.) If they can do the same thing this year in addressing the weak underbelly of the defense -- by addressing the DT and LB needs in the same manner -- then I will call this draft a HUGE success.

The reality is that this team still needs what it has frankly needed for a number of years: a quality SLB. Jeff Posey was adequate at best in the role, prior to being released last season. The coaches tried to move TKO there last year -- and IMHO his ineffectiveness there had almost as much to do with his playing out of position as it did with the slow recovery from the injury. Yes, when he is healthy, TKO is versatile enough to play any of the LB positions, but he is MUCH better playing WLB than SLB. The fact that Ellison came on and played pretty well at WLB -- and Wire provides decent depth at the position -- is what has made TKO expendable. So there may be some truth to the cynics complaining that this is all about money. Of course, YOUTH has something to do with it too, and if TKO is likely to head out the door after this season anyway, why not try to get something for him, while he still holds some value. Getting back to my original point... we are still faced with the reality that we need a SLB, which would have been the case with OR without TKO on the roster. I really do have a deep-down suspicion that Marv and company are targeting Poz in the draft... I can't wait for the draftniks to criticize the Bills for "reaching" by taking him with the #12 pick...

I think Marv -- to his credit -- has given Brown a take it or leave it offer. Brown and his agent are trying to raise his market value. The problem is that everyone knows that the LAST team that he would want to sign with is Tennessee, as he managed to land himself in Fisher's doghouse.

I hear what you are saying, but if Frank Gore, Willis McGahee and Maurice Clarrett can drafted fairly early...

He IS a major medical concern, which is why he is NOT being mentioned in the same breath as Lynch and AP. However, because of the upside of what the guy can do when he is healthy, SOME team is going to take him earlier than he probably should go -- even with the risks involved. In fact, it would not surprise me if he doesn't last until the 3rd round -- the point at which I said I would be willing to take a chance on him. I actually would NOT want the team to invest such a high pick on him, if they are relying on him to be healthy anytime soon. However, with the insurance of A-Train and Chris Brown (hypothetically, if we were to sign him to a frugal deal), I believe that the potential reward would outweigh the risk.

Actually, if the team were to sign Brown, I think that we will be in pretty good shape in the short term at RB with both Brown and A-Train to go along with the unknown Fred Jackson commodity. Under this scenario, I would advocate going defense with both of our first two draft picks -- and taking a chance with Michael Bush in the 3rd.

That's where Poz comes into play...

Whoops sorry... Didn't see the other post...

He just had surgery to insert a rod into his injured leg yesterday -- and won't even be able to work out at all for several months.

I know this sounds like a cop-out, but my answer is simply: WHOMEVER OUR SCOUTS have RANKED THE HIGHEST. That is really the only bright side to having so many needs... aside from QB and SS, I think you could make an argument to draft the best available player at almost any other position. I am no scout and do not pretend to be. There are however, many scouts employed by the team that are paid to make these kinds of decisions. Based on the early returns from last year's draft, I am inclined to trust their judgment. Assuming that these guys are all ranked very close, that is where I'd try to trade down.

Don't be surprised if the Bills pass on Branch even if he is there at #12. Recall that Marv and crew passed on Ngata last year because they did not want to draft a 2-down DT that early. There were also whispers of him taking too many downs off. My guess is that the same principle may apply here.

The word I heard is that his contract was extended through 2012.

Huh? Personally, I don't get the Alexander comparison because Peterson's running style does NOT remind me of Alexander's running style. Still, if you knew that you were drafting a back that would get you around 1500 yards and 14 or more TDs each year for the next 5-6 years (not to mention a league MVP) -- regardless of what he does after that -- I think you'd use that #12 pick on such a player without hesitation.

This is simply ludicrous. Even if you weren't worried about Ricky's drug problems (which any serious person would have to be) there is still the little matter of fact that Ricky has tons of wear and tear on his body... Why would Marv be interested in this guy?

It's not going to happen. I see no way he gets past the Cardinals at 5. However, if by chance it were to happen, the Bills would HAVE to take him. Then just move Walker to RG -- and we'd be set with Peters and Thomas at tackle. The line would suddenly become rather formidable.

Plus, the team actually does throw him a bone every now and then.

Wrong. At least one analyst (Mike Mayock) had Whitner going to the Bills BEFORE the draft. I noted that someone on here commented that Mayock made this call after the Bills actually selected Whitner, but that is misinformation. In his last mock draft (a day or two before the draft -- once Whitner's stock had peaked), Mayock predicted that he would go to the Bills. Now, maybe Mayock caught wind that the Bills were interested in Whitner, but the fact remains that he was on board with the pick BEFORE it actually happened. Meanwhile, Kiper agreed that it was a good fit and that Whitner was a good football player; he just felt that he was a slight reach at 8. He didn't have a problem with the Bills passing on any of the other available players -- his criticism was that the team should have traded down, considering that both Cutler and Leinart were still on the board. The main dissenter was Chris Morteneson, who had an axe to grind with the Bills for having fired his butt-boy Donahoe. Of course, Mort is no NFL scout, so why anyone would be worried about what he has to say I'll never know. The real point is that it does NOT matter what anyone has to say about our picks. Last year there were some publications that gave us a low grade after the draft -- but they are now changing their tune. Of course, the opposite is also true as well. That is, after just one year, it's too early to call any of these players "reaches" or "steals". From my vantage point, I am no scout, so I have to go by what the experts say and trust our scouts to identify the best players for the system(s) that we have in place. Thus, I was ambivalent regarding the Whitner pick, although I agreed with Kiper in my wondering why the team did not trade down with, say, the Broncos. As far as the trade-up/down possibilities, now that he has a War Room under his belt, I have confidence that Marv will do a good job working the phones. Regardless, I just wanted to set the facts straight that not EVERYONE thought that the Whitner pick was horrible.

True... But he was a "fast riser" up draft boards -- and would have gone no later than 12-13 if the Bills hadn't taken him. When it is all said and done -- he may have been a slight reach but he was a SAFE pick. For those looking at what Marv is liable to do this time around... think SAFE. What player ranked, say, in the top 20-25 (allowing for a bit of a reach) might fill a need -- and at the same time be a sure thing. By sure thing, I don't necessarily mean high upside... I mean someone liable to fill a position of need, has no character issues, no serious injury risks, and would be a consensus type pick. Also think YOUNG. Marv made it a point last year to go after juniors. When we start looking at this kind of profile, I think we can narrow the field down quickly.

I get the impression that the Bills have a take-it-or-leave-it offer on the table for 1-2 years at rate similar to what A-Train got. Brown and his agent are still trying to find a better deal. I find it interesting that Chris Brown originally said that his decision was between the Bills and Lions. Then the Lions signed Duckett. Next his decision was down to the Bills and Browns... So it sounds like the Bills offer remains the best he's seen but he is hoping for something better to come along. That is unlikely to happen, unless the Packers become interested or the Colts decide that he'd be a good replacement for Rhodes.

Ha! I was just going to post something of this variety. In last year's ESPN the Magazine's Pre-Draft issue, AY was projected as a late 1st rounder. The current NFL player that they compared him to was ... drum roll please ... Nate Clements. Of course, all of that means nothing until he steps on the field and faces an opponent's top WR.

There actually is a rookie cap, which is a subset of the overall salary cap. The rookie cap is based on cumulative total numbers of draft picks a team has -- and where they were taken. Check out this FAQ

I would only consider trading with SD if the cost was just ONE first day pick. If we could get Turner for, say, a second rounder I would be all for it, provided that the scouts grade Turner high enough to make such a trade. The only problem is that I think AJ Smith is going to be stubborn about this -- and probably risk the missing out on the opportunity to trade him at all, as I suspect that he'll hold fast to the 1st and 3rd round compensation that they are entitled to with the tender they placed on him. After all, if the Chargers were willing to settle for less, then they could have used a lower qualifying tender that would have entitled them to lesser compensation.