Brandon

Agreed. I'd rather they go a different direction in R1, but I've been saying it for the last several years now: this Bills WR corps sucks big time. I even thought they might consider using their latter 1st rounder or their 2nd on a WR a year ago. Obviously, that didn't happen. Lee Evans is a good football player, probably not #13 overall good, but a quality starter. Otherwise, they don't have squat. I share the same opinion of Hardy, and while I don't dislike Steve Johnson, he's not a guy I would trust just handing that job. Roscoe? Pfft. They need quality competition for that #2 WR spot. What they don't need to do is burn a later round pick at that spot and just add to the mediocrity.

I would, but only because of his off-field issues. I'd rather they pick a WR at that spot than a RB or DB. Heck, they've arguably been the worst passing team in the NFL since 2003. Any step they can take to correct that is a welcome one to me and the truth is, they need a starting WR and a playmaker on offense. They aren't going to win squat throwing the ball for 175 yards a game and scoring 15 points like they have for the last several years. I think they'd be better off waiting until the 2nd or 3rd round, which is where I expect them to select a WR, but I wouldn't be overly upset if they do it sometime in R1.

Obviously, I think most all of us agree that they're in the market for a LT, but I'd be careful putting too much stock into something like this. The Bills aren't going to tell these guys anything that they don't want repeated.

Most NTs take their fair share of plays over on the bench in the NFL. Regardless of who they draft, I think you can expect that player will be on the bench for close to half the plays, both for rest and because the team is in an obvious passing situation.

He had the 3rd worst 10 yard split time and the worst 20 yard time of any player at the combine, according to CBS Sportsline's site (1.90 and 3.23, respectively). Compare that to Dan Williams at 1.75 and 2.96. Still, I wouldn't get too wrapped up in it. What were Ted Washington's times at the peak of his NFL career? Probably worse. You're drafting him to occupy a double team and hold the point of attack in the middle of the defense. Can he do that? I think so. All this means is that he might be available a little later in the draft than expected. I don't think it'll be the determining factor for his career.

I don't know. With Fred Jackson playing at such a high level, I think its a waste to burn a high pick at RB. I'm not going to complain a bit if they take someone like Ben Tate in the third or fourth round, but a first round RB seems unnecessary at this time, IMO, especially when there's never a guarantee that he'll be the impact player you expect.

Given his connection to Chan Gailey, I'm not surprised that they're showing some interest. I don't necessarily believe they'll pick Thomas, but they have a major need at the position, one I expect them to fill sometime in the 2nd or 3rd round.

You're not wrong. As you said, its one thing to pick a guy who should've gone several rounds later, but a half dozen spots on some stupid draftnik's player value board makes no real difference, especially when you know you won't get a chance at that player again. In the end, all that matters is whether or not he develops into the quality of player you expect from that position and if he helps your team. Furthermore, once you get past the 6-12 truly elite prospects in any draft, the next 20-30 are usually stacked pretty closely together, and depending upon systems, one team's #10 overall may be another's #30.

On the other hand, anyone can engage in anonymous mudslinging. If you're going to rake someone over the coals using your professional experience to speak for your supposed expertise on the subject, don't be a coward and hide behind anonymity.

I'm not arguing that they should take him at 9, but merely that Tebow is a far better NFL QB prospect than Matt Jones ever was. That said, he's still probably closer to a 3rd round pick, in my opinion, than 9th overall.

Not that I would take him at 9, but Tebow is a better passer than Matt Jones ever thought about being.

Its possible to win without a franchise QB, but in order to do so, a team needs some other way of generating big plays and scoring points. That's hard to do on a consistent basis without a good passing attack and its why teams that are built on the model of a top defense and running game usually don't find long term success, but instead fall back into mediocrity after just a couple of seasons. In the case of the Bills, there's the whole problem of getting their defense and running game to the elite level to begin with, because they certainly aren't there right now. In the long term, the sooner they can find a long term answer at that position, the better. They don't absolutely have to find their franchise QB in this draft, but the odds of winning are much better with a quality passing attack than without one. If you need any more evidence of that, consider how miserable the Bills have been over the last decade with one of the worst passing offenses in the NFL.

That wasn't the verdict when he was preparing for the draft. At the time, there were significant concerns about Collins' delivery. Here's an article from 1999 that mentions it.

Good.

Well, that's one positive example. How many negative examples are there by comparison?

QB-Trent Edwards RB-Willis McGahee WR-James Hardy, Roscoe Parrish TE- Robert Royal OL- Tutan Reyes, Mike Pucillo, Bennie Anderson, Marcus Spriggs, Duke Preston (this list goes on and on) DE- Erik Flowers, Aaron Maybin, Chris Ellis DT- Tim Anderson, John McCargo OLB-Corey Moore, Eddie Robinson MLB-Brandon Spoon CB-Ashton Youboty S- Coy Wire, Travares Tillman K- Jake Arians

A few years ago, I would considered it a pretty good deal, but Donovan McNabb turns 34 during the middle of this upcoming season. The price tag is simply too high for a player of his age. His new team probably won't get more than three years out of him and three years out of an old QB usually aren't that good. Under the circumstances, I probably wouldn't give up more than a 3rd.

There's at least eight inches of snow on the ground here in northern Arkansas where I live. This one began exactly one year to the day after we got hit with the worst ice storm I've ever seen. Thankfully, there wasn't any freezing rain with this one, so no prolonged power outages this time.

52/59. For the life of me, I could not remember Josh Freeman's name or the two QBs from the '92 draft. I also missed Stouffer, Long and Everett... And, of course, I had one real dumbass moment: For some stupid reason, I couldn't remember Elway.

With Owens, Reed and Parrish possibly all on their way out, WR certainly is a need, both in terms of a starter and for depth. My guess is that they'll be in the market for a decent veteran, possibly re-signing Josh Reed, plus will add a rookie in the middle rounds to provide some quality longer term competition for James Hardy and Steve Johnson

Four or five years ago, that might have been a possibility, but rookie salaries seem to have devalued the high picks lately. I doubt the Bills could get an additional second rounder without dropping back into the mid 20s these days.

Its not an all or nothing proposition. They would still have eight more picks to work with. That's true of the QB position as well, but I think this is a much, much better draft for OTs than QBs and that they stand a much better chance of getting a quality LT prospect in R2 than they do a QB.

He has a winning record as both the HC in Dallas and for Georgia Tech.

Good question. I guess its better than nothing, but they look like a one year wonder to me.

Does it? I haven't seen the ad yet.