Brandon

I disagree. The guy was a winner at Arkansas in every sense of the word. He wasn't perfect, but if he'd have played any better, they'd have won a national championship. They went 10-3 in a division where five of the six teams ended the year ranked in the top 15 nationally. They were one of four teams in the SEC West with 10 wins or more and finished second in that division this year, behind Auburn but ahead of national title contenders Alabama and LSU (and they beat LSU in the regular season finale). They also beat Mississippi State and South Carolina, too, both 9 win teams. That's a hell of an accomplishment given one of the hardest schedules in the country. They've had only one other 10 win season since 1989, and that was in '06 with a completely different offensive coordinator (Gus Malzahn, who has since taken the circus show to Auburn), head coach and with Darren McFadden running the ball. You have to go all the way back to 1977 and the days of Lou Holtz to find an Arkansas team that won 11 games.

Nah. He's Kyle Boller.

I'm not in favor of taking Gabbert at 3 (although I think they will if they keep that pick), but after drafting Carrington and Troup last year, its really not a stretch to think that the Bills believe they can get significantly better against the run without using the #3 on defense.

I'll go ahead and post my guess, just to show how wrong I'll be. 7) DE Cameron Jordan, California 34) DE Muhammad Wilkerson, Temple 45) OT Orlando Franklin, Miami 68) OLB Sam Acho, Texas 100) CB Brandon Burton, Utah 122) ILB Nate Irving, NC State 133) QB Pat Devlin, Delaware 169) RB Stevan Ridley, LSU 206) ILB Alex Wujciak, Maryland 245) CB Justin Rogers, Richmond I expect them to try to trade down if they can. In this example, I have them trading down to 7 with the 49ers and also acquiring pick 45. If the Bills can't trade down, I expect them to select Blaine Gabbert at 3.

I think they're probably going to try to trade out of that spot, but if they can't, their pick at 3 will probably be Blaine Gabbert. At best, I have mixed feelings about that. I can understand the need for a franchise Qb, but I just don't see it with this guy (or Newton). Regardless, I hope they're smart enough to just concentrate on one side of the ball early rather than trying to balance their draft and spreading their resources too thin. They'd be better off with a defense-oriented draft this particular year, but if they do pick Gabbert, I hope they're smart enough to draft him some help in R2-4 at OT and TE.

As long as they remain in the top 10, I think I'd set the starting bid at a 2nd round pick. Obviously, you'd try to get more out of them, and I think they probably could, but given that I don't see a huge separation between the talent at pick 3 and at pick 10, I'd strongly consider it even if a 2nd was the only offer I received.

I wouldn't accept a deal that didn't include a 2nd round pick this year. Not interested in trading a premium draft slot for underachievers and/or mid round picks.

If you're looking for them to make an under-the-radar kind of pick, I think it'll most likely be Ryan Mallett. I've had a suspicion for about a week or two now that he was their guy. Obviously, his draft stock going to be highly dependent on what the Bills and other teams' background checks turn up on him, but if they're comfortable with it, I think this is the pick to watch out for. It runs contrary to their statements regarding their ideal QB having mobility, but at the end of the day, you still pay your QB to throw the ball. You're not going to find a better pure passer in the draft than Mallett very often. And remember what Nix said about the 2nd pick being dependent on their first? If it turns out that they do select Mallett in R1, I'd expect them to draft an OT in R2. They said they'd use most of their picks on defense. They didn't necessarily say they'd do it early...

And what he had wasn't much. The Panthers have issued a statement on the matter, and it matches up with that of Mallett and his agent.

It seems that the Panthers' version of the incident align with those of Mallett and his agent. http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2011/04/20/agents-panthers-respond-to-mallett-report/?loc=interstitialskip

If he really did make the attempt and met with the Panthers OC the next day, then it would tell me all I need to know. He probably was genuinely sick. It happens.

Agreed. That's another hole in 'past as an indicator' theory. In reality, this is the first time that everything has really aligned for his team to pick a QB high. He's in a position of strong influence on the pick, his team has an apparent need, and they have a realistic shot at a top tier QB prospect.

I'm not so sure the past is a good indicator in this case. Dallas and Pittsburgh had no need at QB, Miami had no first round pick in 2000, and the Chiefs would've needed to pick Joe Flacco at 5 in '08, a pick that would've been considered a gigantic reach at the time. And last year, of course, they seemed to think they could fix Trent Edwards, so their interest in a QB probably wasn't that high at the time.

I think its unlikely. They've already got one late round project on the roster, so I'm not sure it makes all that much sense to add another. If they're going to bring someone in, I think they'll want a prospect that's clearly superior to what they already have.

Cam Newton did at 15.4, aided in large part by the fact that everyone was scared to death of him as a runner. Mallett was second at 14.6. Compare that to Christian Ponder and Blaine Gabbert at 11.1 and 10.6, respectively. To highlight just how much better Mallett was on the field, he threw for twice as many TDs and 700 more yards on 64 fewer attempts than did Gabbert.

2006A: Broderick Bunkley, after Vernon Davis was picked two spots earlier. 2006B: Can't remember, but I think it was about even between Marcedes Lewis, Nick Mangold or Mathias Kiwanuka. 2007: Marshawn Lynch 2008: Leodis McKelvin, more as BPA (I expected him to go a bit earlier). I wasn't sold on anyone. 2009A: Brian Orakpo. That should have been one of the easiest picks in years. Idiots. 2009B: Can't remember this one, either (probably still too pissed after they picked Maybin). I think I wanted them to draft either James Laurinaitis or Brian Robiskie. Robiskie would've been a surprise at the time, but I was already pretty sure that Hardy would never make it. 2010: Sean Weatherspoon or Brandon Graham. Much like '08, I wasn't sold on anyone. So far, 2011 looks like another 2008 or 2010. I'm not sold on any of these guys and probably won't be.

The answer he gave 'four or five times' was perfectly reasonable. It seems to me that Mallett has every right to address that issue with the teams *first* if that's what he wants to do. Now, maybe he did the wrong thing in terms of NFL political correctness by cutting the interview short, but I'd guess that most of us would have done the same thing in a similar situation. Of course, idiots in the media can't give the kid a break, so it really didn't matter what he said. They were going to make him out to be the bad guy, anyway.

Its always been a problem for him. He was up around 270 at Michigan. Of course, given that he's 6'7", people would be complaining that he was too thin if he weighed 225-230, too.

Packers 24 Steelers 20

No thanks. Quinn is already a huge risk at 3. We wouldn't need another one in round 2...or 3.

No, what set them back is that they couldn't draft, period. The WRs, Harrington, the OL and defensive front seven picks...none of them really panned out that well. The point I'm making here is that you're generally better off selecting the best player on the board unless you're absolutely loaded at the position. If you try to follow a formula for success like Detroit did, you end up bypassing superior players and building a weaker team in the end.

Detroit isn't the best example. Turn back the clock a decade and you'll see that from '99-02, they tried...and failed miserably...at building a team around their OL and defensive front 7.

If the Bills have Green clearly rated higher than the other prospects on the board, I don't see the dilemma. The Bills offense may have improved a bit this year, but they were still held to less than 20 points in 12 of 16 games this year, including 9 of their last 10. No, you won't win if you can't stop anyone, but you're not going to win if you can't score, either. Add to the fact that Lee Evans...who will be on the wrong side of 30 in a month...had only 37 catches as the team's 2nd leading receiver and I think there's a case to be made for Green. I'm still in favor of concentrating on the defensive front seven in the first two rounds, but if the Bills think they can add an elite scoring threat at 3, why not take it? Their biggest defensive problem is with the LB corps, anyway, and the place to draft those guys has been in R2 and R3 in recent years.

Its going to be tough. There are five guys I can eliminate (Bettis, Kennedy, Doleman, Dent and Haley). Of the rest, Deion Sanders and Marshall Faulk are locks, IMO. Willie Roaf is also deserving. That probably leaves two spots for Reed, Martin, Brown, Dawson, Sharpe and Carter, plus one for either Richter or Sabol (one will get in). I think he may make it this time. I'd rank the receivers as Reed, Brown, Sharpe and Carter. The fact that Sharpe was actually a TE could also help, too, if they decide to pick him as a TE and make room for a true WR.

If he can play, I wouldn't be against it. I don't think it ever hurts to create a dominant position group on either side of the ball and it would be much to the Bills benefit to have a solid rotation of defensive linemen that they could use throughout the course of a game.