Brandon

The point I was making is that we don't even know that there IS a problem. A herniated disk would very likely cause him to fail his physical. If he passed it, he's probably fine.

I don't consider 'unable to touch his toes' to be a major problem.

He either passed his physical or he didn't. 'Disappointed' seems like an odd choice of words. Its possible this is true. Then again, a few teams in the top 10 may be trying to push him down the board with the intent of trading up from their early R2 spots to select him.

Those are the successes, but what of the failures? There are usually about a dozen RBs chosen in R2-4 of every draft. Of those, on average only two or three of them develop into quality starters and maybe another two or three hang around a few seasons as backups. That's a success rate of 25-50%, depending upon how you consider the backups. http://www.drafthistory.com/positions/rb.html On a related note, the drafts of the 1990s were absolutely pitiful at the RB position usually producing only 1 or 2 long-term starters through all 7 rounds. Perhaps the current 'dime-a-dozen' situation is merely an abberation?

That sucks for him. I would imagine that he's now carrying an undraftable grade for at least a few teams. His best option probably would have been to petition the NCAA for a medical hardship and returned for another season. But by signing an agent, he likely doesn't have that option anymore.

He could also be this year's Lee Evans or Mike Williams, both of whom were widely known to have visited the Bills prior to draft day.

Kenneth Davis had over 600 yards rushing for the Bills in 1991 and 1992. Darrick Holmes had nearly 700 yards and was closing in on 1000 yards rushing and receiving combined as a rookie in 1995. The point is that it helps when an excellent starting RB and a good OL have already beaten the crap out of the opposing defense before you come into the game. Turner could be a quality starter who just needs a chance, but he could also be like any number of backups who are largely the beneficiaries of someone else's success.

I think he's probably just this year's version of Tory Woodbury, Ken Simonton, Kamil Loud, Clarence Coleman, George Wilson, Lionel Gates, etc. He may make the team and he may be better than I expect, but I'll believe it when I see it.

These types of pre-draft meetings aren't unusual. The Bills typically meet with a few players prior to the draft every year; if memory serves, its usually three or four. There may be more that we never hear about, though the NFL may also place limits on how many prospects may be brought in for a visit. If true, and it probably is, its a reasonable indicator that the Bills have a high degree of interest in Lynch, but it shouldn't be interpreted as him being their first or only choice.

Even though I think this 2nd tier of RBs is quite weak, for the price tag of a 2nd, I would not be interested in Turner. I don't like trading premium picks for backups. For a 2nd day pick, I think it might be a good deal.

I'd rather trade for Ron Dayne.

I'd have no problems with it and I believe the Bills should trust their scouting staff. He was drafted in the 3rd round for a reason and now its time for him to prove it on the field. They need to add a little competition in the middle rounds of this draft, but I see no need to push the panic button and draft a CB higher than we really need to.

I don't really care about what happened 20 years ago or even 10. These are different players and this is a different scouting staff. The McGahee pick is the only one with any relevance, and I tend to attribute it more toward Tom Donahoe trying to be cute rather than a failure of the scouting department.

Thurman was injured as a junior, not a senior. In fact, he rushed for over 1600 yards during his senior season at Oklahoma State.

The OL additions were certainly needed and will help, but even there the Bills could still stand an upgrade at both C and RG. In the end, I think they have too many players offensively who are just adequate starters. One injury to the wrong guy (Evans) and I think an already mediocre offense will be floating belly up. He doesn't have to be an all-pro or even a 1st round pick, but the Bills definitely need to find another solid, reliable, consistent weapon whether its a RB, TE, or WR who is good enough to carry the offense if necessary.

What do you expect? Arrington plays for the Cardinals. That team would make any RB look bad, as Edgerrin James has found out. James averaged only 3.4 yards per rush this season for the Cards.

That's what worries me about this offense. Besides Lee Evans, what do the Bills really have at RB, WR and TE? Not much. The rest of the players the Bills have at those positions are better suited as backups. This isn't a very good offense, anyway, but if Evans misses any significant time due to injury, its going to get really ugly.

1) RB Marshawn Lynch, California 2) MLB Patrick Willis, Ole Miss 3) WR Dwayne Bowe, LSU 4) CB Leon Hall, Michigan 5) OLB Paul Posluszny, Penn State Those are the top players that I realistically expect to be on the board at 12, with Lynch and Willis being my clear #1 and #2 choices. I don't expect Branch or Peterson to be available, but both would make the list. I also believe that there is a very good chance that Patrick Willis will be selected by San Francisco at 11.

I have no idea how accurate this is, but its somewhat interesting at the very least: http://www.newerascouting.com/index.php?c=33&a=103

Thurman also played his entire senior year following the injury. They had game tapes to evaluate his level of post-injury play. Its a completely different situation.

I've never been a fan of them at all, but yes, the ridiculous pre-draft hyping of Ron Dayne is where I jumped off the bandwagon, never to return.

My unofficial 1st round prediction? The Bills will select Lynch at 12. They will then repeat last year's trade up from same 43rd position in R2 into the late 1st. There, they will select either Posluszny or one of the CBs.

I agree on Irons and Pittman. I also like Brandon Jackson and Lorenzo Booker, but I don't think any of them are worth more than a 3rd. In fact, I wouldn't draft a RB after Lynch before R3. Not at all interested in seeing the Bills pick Michael Bush. The injury scares me, but in general, I do not like oversized RBs. They usually just end up being big targets for the defense to tackle.

I can't imagine that he'll be the lead runner, even in a RB by committee approach. While I think its a good re-signing, their interest in Rhodes, Dillon and Brown kind of makes it obvious that he was not their first choice for a veteran RB.

Nope. I'd rather take Lynch at 12 and then trade up from 43 into the late 1st to select a CB or LB, similar to what they did last year.