R. Rich

Message board contest to find the most knowledgeable candidate to replace the GM temporarily. If the contestant does well (and I'm sure they will, especially if they come from this board), they get to run the team like the should be doing anyway.

There may be a slight chance that he has seen them play somewhere before. While I'm certainly no expert, I do try to watch as much college football as I can during the year, so that when draft time comes around, I will have seen many of the top prospects play. Thank goodness for ABC, CBS, ESPN, and my trusty ESPN Game Plan! It's because of them that I have a basement full of videotapes from games I've watched.

I thought Faine was still under contract, but the rumor is that w/ Bentley signed, he'll be released.

I always get in trouble using that damn sarcasm. Ah, wadda ya gunna do?

This sounds a bit too confusing. I admit I know very little about football, but I do like to watch the games, translator in tow.

I wish someone would explain to me what a 1 gap DT is.

Do you all think we're better off drafting a DT or two, or should we look for one of the remaining guys to be our run stuffer? I'm not 100% sold on Haloti Ngata, but they may want to @ least consider the option of drafting him, especially if a lot of the top players are gone by our pick. My first choice was Michael Huff, then Vernon Davis, then trading down for either Tamba Hali or Manny Lawson, then Ngata. In light of recent events, I may like the idea of a trade down even more than drafting @ #8. The only problem is finding a suitable trade partner and getting good value for making the move.

About 37 days into 2004.

Yes it does.

Okay, William. Once again: considering Ferguson will be off the board by the 8th pick, which lineman do you take if you stay there? If you move down, who do you trade w/ and what player do you target?

they

...or D'Brickashaw Ferguson...

Dream bigger. I hope Mario Williams falls to us @ #8...

Smith is a nice player. I think he's a great cover guy, though he'll need to bulk up just a bit. He'd be another decent choice for a safety later in the draft.

Pro day stats are not very reliable. Blue's playing speed isn't very impressive, even though his instincts and hitting ability are. Like I said, he reminds me of Thomas Davis, though I think Davis is a much better blitzer than Blue.

Not bad. Greg Blue, though, is more like his former teammate Thomas Davis: great in run support, but a liability to some degree as a cover man. Huff is more balanced than that. Kiwanuka wouldn't be a bad option in a trade down, but I sure hope we'd target Tamba Hali first if that's the route we're taking. Overall, I'd still like to see Huff drafted, but if we can move up to get either Williams or Ferguson w/out really screwing ourselves for the rest of the draft, I'd love to see it happen. Otherwise, I'd like to see us trade down and target a pass rushing DE like Hali, or even an interior OL (that would mean trading down to the later part of the round to get someone like Max Jean-Gilles or even Nick Mangold, who I still think may be around in the 2nd...but better safe than sorry I suppose).

Wasn't Roethlisberger a rookie the year before last?

Someone fix this broken record. Please.

I do like Super Mario. I think he can be a true impact player for a defense.

Yeah. What else would we use the money on? A pass rushing DE? A playmaker in the secondary? A mammoth run stuffer for the DL? Some badly needed help for our interior OL? Don't be ridiculous.

Sure it is. Draft Ngata, sign Tank Williams, draft a few mid level OL later on, and that's how you upgrade the team.

All is not lost, William. If we can come out of free agency w/ the help we need up front in terms of stuffing the run and also in terms of protecting our QB, I'd be okay w/ getting a playmaker for our secondary. It's far too early to tell, but I don't know just how far down the Bills can trade and still land a solid pass rusher like Hali, and I'm not sold on the other first round OTs like Winston Justice (overrated) and Marcus McNeill (overweight). Now, if there's a possibility of trading down a few spots (enabling us to get a guy like Hali) while also getting good value for the move in terms of a decent draft pick, I'm all for it. What I hope doesn't happen w/ the #8 overall pick is that we take a player @ the same position that we've addressed in free agency (possibly TWICE), leaving us to do w/ the secondary (or the pass rush) what we've done w/ the lines in years past: hope for the best in later rounds.

I just hope it's a dynamic, high profile, big money guy like when we acquired Big Ted and Phat Pat. Those signings showed a serious commitment to championship football and I'm so glad that the Bills wasted no time in doing so. If I recall, Washington was signed 31 minutes into free agency while Pat's signing took a lot longer, around 53 minutes.

You shouldn't hate to say it.

Not quite sure what skin color has to do w/ it. In fact, most of the dominant MLBs in league history were white (Samurai Mike and Ray Ray excluded).