Brandon

The Bills have been one of the worst run defending teams in the league for the last four seasons. They allow almost 125 rushing yards per game, 4.3 yards per carry and gave up 18 rushing TDs this past season. That was their best effort since 2004...and it sucks. Not only that, but they're paper thin at the position. If (when?) McCargo receives his walking papers in a few weeks, the Bills will be left with only 3 DTs on the roster. One of those, Marcus Stroud, will be 31 this upcoming season and has a recent history of nagging injuries. Given this, its all but certain that the Bills are going to add a DT fairly high, anyway. Given the problems they've had against the run and the need of another quality DT prospect, it seems to me that a strong case can be made for adding Raji at 11 if the Bills believe that he's worthy of that spot. Myself, I can't see Raji's potential addition to this lineup as anything but a positive for the Bills defense.

As I see it, the Bills run D is just as much of a problem as their pass rush. They allowed just under 2,000 rushing yards this past season and 18 rushing touchdowns. As pathetic as that was, it was their best effort against the run since 2004. In my opinion, they may as well take Raji if they think he's a better prospect than the available DEs. Their DL issues aren't going to be fixed overnight anyway and Raji's addition would go a long way toward bolstering one of the worst run defenses in the league. Not only that, but he's a surprisingly quick player for his size and is a decent pass rusher from the DT position. One more thing to consider: the Bills only have three DTs on the roster, assuming that McCargo is released. They're likely to draft one fairly early, anyway, so they may as well get the best one they can, again, assuming they have him rated higher than the DEs on their board in R1.

I suppose that a statistical argument could be made that he was a better RB in 2008, but what about next year? Thomas Jones is going to be 31 years old when the regular season starts. Even if I believed he were better than Lynch right now, I would not trade Lynch for him, even for just the upcoming season. At his age, he's probably just about done. Curtis Martin, for example, had the best season of his career in 2004, but fell apart in 2005 and retired at the end of the season. The same will happen to Jones soon enough.

No, I don't think I would. For the first time in quite a while, the Bills have something on offense that actually works, that being their running game. I would hate to screw that up, only to find that Boldin *isn't* the answer to our passing game woes. Although there's plenty of reason to believe that Boldin would come in and instantly improve the Bills' passing game, there is certainly no guarantee. Its not a risk I'd be willing to take.

Yep, you've missed something, lol. He's staying in school.

The only realistic way they can screw this draft up is if they take a safety in R1 or even another CB. I can see this merry group of morons doing that, too. Otherwise, I think a solid case can be made for selecting almost any of our other need positions in R1, even lesser needs such as LB and, as much as it would irritate the fans, WR.

I like it well enough, but if it plays out like that, I'd rather they pick: 1) DT BJ Raji 2) OC Alex Mack 3) TE James Casey

I agree. There's no 'can't-miss' prospect at DE this year and given the struggles of recent first round DEs, I'd probably shy away from drafting one at 11. These days, it seems that unless the guy is truly a freakish athlete like Mario Williams or Julius Peppers, chances are he's never going to be a dominating all-pro player or even an occasional Pro Bowler. As such, there's little incentive to drafting the typical DE prospect in R1 who is merely 'good', as the dropoff to R2 or even R3 isn't all that significant. As far as this current class of DEs is concerned, the ceiling seems closer to Aaron Schobel's level than it does the two mentioned above. That's not bad, mind you, but that's probably the best case scenario. Its more likely that they will have careers closer to Chris Kelsay and as much as he gets trashed by the fans, he's actually fairly productive in comparison to many of the first round DEs in recent years. That's a little scary, but its something to consider if they plan on going that route at 11.

One point I'd have to make regarding the stats: if you pro-rate the numbers on a per-attempt or per game basis, Warner is as good as anyone. He's the league's all-time leader with 260 passing yards per game, for instance. He's 5th all-time in yards per attempt, 2nd all-time with 65.5% completion rate, and 4th all-time in passer rating. He's thrown for a little less than 29,000 yards and 182 TD passes. He could conceivably reach the same statistical level as Steve Young, Troy Aikman and even our own Jim Kelly in just one more season. All of those guys are in the low/mid 30k range in yardage and Kelly and Young threw 237 and 232 TDs in their careers, respectively (Aikman threw 162). The point is, if he continues playing for another season or two and maintains a high level of play, I don't think the statistical argument will hold water and may not even now. His statistical resume is already a fairly strong one and combined with the Super Bowl appearances, I think a very strong case can be made for his HOF candidacy.

If their defense shows up, I think Arizona will pull off the upset. The Steelers are going to have a tough time moving the ball on the Cards and if Arizona jumps out to an early lead like they have the last two weeks, Pittsburgh could find themselves in trouble pretty early in this game, much as the Panthers and Eagles did. The Steeler coaching staff also has to worry about their players becoming overconfident and underestimating the Cards, much as the Patriots underestimated the Giants a year ago.

Yeah, that too. I've long since come to the conclusion that the QBs are not the reason this offense is terrible. Its been the players they put around them. They seem content with having 3-5 offensive starters who suck every year...and they never attempt to upgrade those spots. Its no wonder the offense as a whole ranges from inconsistent to awful from week-to-week.

The results probably wouldn't have been much different from what we've seen in recent years. The Bills may have gotten a better QB, although I'm not convinced he's THAT good, but lets not forget that it would've likely meant no Lee Evans. Roethlisberger would have Josh Reed, Roscoe Parrish, Robert Royal and, until the '05 season ended, a washed up Eric Moulds as his receiving corps. That's not really a recipe for success, especially for the final three seasons.

I don't know if he's a lock, but I think he now has a very good chance of making the HOF. He now has three Super Bowl appearances to his credit with at least one win and at least one Super Bowl MVP award. Both teams he's led to the Super Bowl were longtime league doormats prior (and the Rams have returned to being doormats since). Although he doesn't have quite as many attempts as most other HOF QBs, statistically he's as good as any QB who has ever played the game when that relative lack of attempts is factored in. That said, if he plays another season, he should eclipse both 30,000 career passing yards and 200 TD passes sometime in the first half of next year, so his HOF resume is by no means weak in that department. The counter argument is that he had that five year stretch in the middle of his career where he was basically a spot starter for the Cardinals and Giants, but I think the last two years, but this one in particular, have been his redemption. He's thrown for 8,000 yards the last two seasons and 57 TD passes compared to 31 INTs. He's proven that he can still play at a very high level and lead a perennial loser to a division championship and a Super Bowl. Incidentally, aside from that 2002 season where he was never healthy, he was never really bad. He wasn't great during that stretch by any means, but not bad, either. In the end, I think he's just a guy who caught some bad breaks in the middle of his career, but who has fought his way back to the top. So yes, I would cast my vote in favor of his HOF bid. Even though he's taken the long road there, he's proven it in my eyes. I think he certainly deserves it.

A TE is a big need, but I'm not sure that I'd draft one at 11 now with Gresham returning to school. I think they'd do just as well waiting until the 2nd round. I wouldn't even be totally surprised if Pettigrew lasts until the 2nd, but even if he's not available, Chase Coffman should be. That's probably a little higher than the draft boards will ultimately say he should go, but there's little doubt in my mind that he'd solve this team's TE problems and be a solid starter within a year or two. In the unlikely event that they draft for the offense in R1, I think the pick will be at WR.

Its close, but I'd probably take BJ Raji at 11, with Everette Brown as my 2nd choice at that spot. IMO, Raji is the best defensive player in this draft and while the Bills have a somewhat bigger need at DE, I don't think I could pass on an elite DT. They made that mistake once before with Ngata and its one I hope they don't repeat.

Arizona was 4th in the league in total offense and 19th on defense and were 28th in points allowed. Their D is playing well in the playoffs, but that's not what got them there.

That's a good idea. We need another Fine or Schouman. Maybe he can be the 4th TE.

If the overall concensus in April looks anything like that regarding player rankings, then the decision is a very easy one. You take Gresham at 11. At DE, Greg Hardy, Brian Orakpo, and Everette Brown are all on the board in the late 20s. The Bills can either take a wait-and-see approach as they did last year at WR or they can trade up a bit from their 2nd round pick in order to pick one of them.

I have no problems with that at all. He's the best defensive player I've seen this year in college and he'd be my #2 choice at 11 after Jermaine Gresham. He was pretty much unblockable in their bowl game and is much quicker and faster than you'd expect, so the Bills really can't use that lame 'doesn't fit the system' excuse, either. One negative? He was suspended in 2007 for academic reasons and for that reason, may not go in the top 15.

Jermaine Gresham. I'd pick him at 11 if necessary. As weak as the pass rush is, the defense overall is still adequate. The offense? To put it diplomatically, they're not so good. 25th or worse six years in a row, folks. You can't win with that and you'd think the Bills would've proven that conclusively. If they do draft a defender, however, my pick would be either BJ Raji or Everette Brown.

Why bother? The stereotype never dies, even if its no longer reality. Times have indeed changed. I've also lived in a southern state my entire life. The fact is, racism is dying rapidly in the region, thankfully. It certainly still exists, but its far less prevalent than it was 20 or 30 years ago and those of us who are younger, especially, simply have no use for it.

A curveball? Quite the contrary. A defensive back is always the odds-on favorite to be the Bills 1st round pick.

That's exactly what's wrong with this team. The coaching staff is too tied to its stupid Tampa 2 defense. They'd rather draft an inferior player to fit the scheme instead of adjusting their schemes to accomodate a better overall player. As for Leinart...why? He's terrible.

I think Kelly Holcomb would be a perfect fit. Granted, I can't stand the guy, but if all they intend to do is throw 2 yard dumpoff passes all day, that's something he does pretty well.

What purpose does trading Jason Peters actually serve? The Bills are just going to have to sign a major FA or burn a 1st round pick to replace him. Its pointless.