AKC

You'll want to show- we need to twist some other local arms to get ChefJim/LarryPlayfair/JohninHemet/LABillzFan/brewski/BillsBackerInLA/etc. to come over and "play" too. The bar is about 2 miles west of the 405 on Santa Monica Blvd. at Berkeley in Santa Monica. It's a sports bar with plenty of distractions, and we'll be broadcasting some web analysis onto big screen throughout the property along with the coverage on NFL Network. Big Bob and his wife are coming up from San Diego and staying across the street at the Days Inn- here's a link: Day Inn Santa Monica! If you have any questions or get lost, give me a call at 310-963-7640.

You're there- the Dean would join on the pullout. The winner of an Indian Leg Wrestling contest between the two of you will have Chile as a sleeping partner.

Accommodations are in place, one block from the draft party ;-)

Who wouldn't want to see Big Bob Lamb, with his assistant (provided by St. Pauli Girl) handling the draft board duties on Saturday morning the 28th? Can Bob keep his big paws off the little buxom blonde? What happens at Busbys stays........ Real Buffalo recipe chicken wings, draft beer specials. The bar's at 3110 Santa Monica Blvd. and it opens that morning at 8:00 a.m. for the draft. It's a great opportunity for anyone to meet some of the family of current Bill's players- there are 5 player families with ties to LA who join us at this location for games, some have already confirmed they'll be there for the draft.

Short or long?

Even if as a kid I though Pollyanna was hot? It's working out this way: Held at our regular game spot; Busby's at 3110 Santa Monica Blvd. in Santa Monica. Big Bob Lamb will be managing the draft board with assistance from one of the St. Pauli Girls. (We'll get him a bib.) Buffalo Wing Specials and of course, St. Pauli draft specials. Kelly The Dog and myself will be setting up online draft reports on screens in the bar. A pin the tail on Joe Theisman contest at some point at least 4 hours into the event. Open to the public- and the crowd will definitely include Bill's player family members. If you want to make a run, there's still an unclaimed bed at our place 2 blocks from the bar. There's also a Day's Inn a block away. It might get ugly- but I guess that depends upon your threshold ;-) Oddly, I'll just be back earlier that week from New Orleans. We're just now using the credit for our last planned visit! I'll make sure to spend some time at the Acme Oyster House for you- mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

For some reason in the Senior Bowl, he seemed to get the most series of anyone on either team. And I thought he was FAR too easy to block inside by the players at that slower speed and skill level; if based on that game alone I'd have some real apprehesions about his name being called on the 12th pick in the draft. Plus he appears to be a natural 225 pounder.

The order of the top three here is debatable, but it's clear that these are the priorities. IMO filling out the DT rotation really allows the team to look at the better LB or CB at the 12 slot, and use the solid balance of our picks to get to everything else. The O attack we're setting up seems to be suited to adding another blocking TE- and there is usually a chance to do with some veteran help as rosters begin getting cut. If you look closely at other teams playing the same D scheme, the truth is that if when DLine rotation is solid, it's actually the second and specifically the third lines that impact run D the most. Indy went from among the historic worst run defenses ever to playoff powerhouse simply by adding their excellent SS back into the mix. It also has been made clear over the offseason that the Bill's felt LFletchers reading style is not a fit for the guy in the middle they really want to help against the run- instead they;re looking for someong who gets his helmet dirty right at the start of the game. The biggest problem among fans though will always be that the D we're building to play well will always give up occasional big runs. It's the trade-off forced by a penetrating D Line. At the same time the disruption of the opponents offense by having extra bodies in their backfield can make up for it in the best possible way, especially against 4 yard offenses like we face 4 times in our division each year.

I like what I'm hearing about Walker and the paper on him supports it. Over 5 sacks a year for the past 5 years playing from the middle, and a reputation for getting runners to the ground. Since there's little value in today's NFL at pissing away a #12 on a running back, the Walker Trade looks to me to give us tremendous flexibility come draft day.

Let's see- He's "only" averaged 5+ sacks from the interior each year over the past 5 seasons- And his tackle numbers match guys like Tommie Harris over the same span- Plus a Philly guy is writing that he can actually tackle runners, a skill until this morning that was a bit elusive amongst our defensive middle- As a fan all for drafting Okoye before this move, IMO we've just opened up that first pick to take the proverbial BPA instead of drafting need. We may truly be entering the draft looking exclusively at the quality of the guys we're adding to the team- both as football players and teammates. All we have to do now is brace for the next month of endless speculation in here about which running back we're going to draft in round 1!

Not a chance. My assessment is that he's played in a running back graveyard at TN, where even a guy who was one of the most incredible specimens at the position only lasted at best 2/3rds of a regular career compared to how EGeorge might have fared at most franchises. The TN attitude for RBs has been ride'em till they die. I say there's enough of a chance that this young kid could knockout 13-17 rushes a game and give ATrain a chance to grab his own 30 tough yards a game that in an assumed 3 man rotation the equation, and the risk associated, makes it all well worth it. Brown drops after 2 games it sucks- but Brown lasting to game 14 with a team best 950 yards would make it all very smart. Given his skillset and the fit I believe he has with our specific big body run blcoking Oline, I'm fine with the Bill's rolling the dice here.

If there's been one impression of Brown's style that is vivid in my mind, it's his decisiveness and ability to make a very slight amount of daylight work. I remember too many times thinking "how'd he ever get in and out of that hole", and for as tall as he plays his balance is pretty good. There'll be no complaints from me if he's signed and gets listed on top of our running back chart going into the first game of the regular season.

It's a shame if his 5th season follows the pattern. The biggest bummer is that his style might be a perfect fit with the OLine we've put together, a guy who runs skinny in the holes, does absolutely no dancing and has the burst to burn dishonest D's bringing their safeties up for run support. Add that to the great changeup ATrain makes to a runner like Brown- a grinder to beat up the D while the "deep threat" takes a blow. The other side of this statistically though is that he has run for an average of over 15 carries a game twice in 4 years. His duties with us might end up right in that range- with the 3 back rotation I expect this year under any circumstances. It's probably wise to consider how quickly the TN offense wore out a very, very good, physical and durable runner in Eddie George. They ask their runners to take a lot more punishment than most offenses.

Would you expand on that- I thought he had one limiting injury over his 4 years in the league, but I haven't really paid much attention to him. What can you tell me about multiple injuries and lost playing time?

Splitting line gaps and disrupting the offensive backfield is the most desired quality, and the best can also finish disrupted running plays by bringing down runners behind the LOS. The whole package is difficult to find. We've assembled a group of the role players you need for the defense without briging in the premium one gapper who makes the defense very dangerous while diminishing the difficulty of the players roles behind him. At least on paper and on the field during the Senior Bowl, Okoye looked like he might just be that next premium Cover 2 monster who can raise a defense immediately up a level.

You've got far too many sinkers on this line.

It's easy to make the argument that he was the best fit for running behind our new OLine of the FA options available to us, and that Anthony Thomas would be a fit as the changeup back to him.

If we allow teams to run all over us like they did last year, this team will not be using the word "playoffs" after the 8th game.

28th against the run last year and a recycling of the JAGs in our Defensive interior is a point of optimism? Not for me- The scheme we play needs rotational guys like we have signed up right now, but it thrives if there is a monster among them. Since there are few of these premium 1 gappers in the league and likely only 1 in the draft, our prospects don't appear all that rosy to me. Nate's departure may not matter if we can't address the quality of our DT rotation in that first round- because who would bother passing against us? We'll get a whole lot of football next season watching an improving offense being put in impossible situations by a defense who can't stop any ground attack. McCargo looks like a very good athlete. Prior to his injury he was also playing too high to contribute against the run. It makes him too easy to block and too easy to knock off the ball, and his injury simply ended the development time he'll now have to put in this season to overcome those weaknesses. I'll go so far as to say that in '07 Lunchpail Kyle will once again outshine his draftmate. And that is not a good thing for the Buffalo Bills.

I'm all ears?

It's safe to assume no one at OBD will make the mistake of thinking Dillon is going to play a feature role for anything but a game or two. That leaves Dillon hanging as far as the Bills are concerned until we show our hand as to the feature back type we really want. If we're thinking a big pounding back behind a big line, Dillon would not be the answer as a change-up. I kind of think Chris Brown's style might be the best for this team. He runs "skinny" and he definitely has a breakaway burst. He doesn't wait but hits holes in stride. With defenses collapsing some to counter the big blockers we'll have on the field, a runner who can make teams pay big for getting too tight on the LOS might be ideal. Dillon would probably fit the counter to that but he wouldn't sign behind a Brown contract.

I didn't watch his college career, but while Patrick Willis had a fine stat day in the Senior Bowl by virtue of playing the whole game, I still saw him being being pushed all over the field by guys who won't even qualify to play in the NFL this season. Getting stout against the run isn't normally a phrase included in sentences regarding 230 pound Linebackers. At least on that one day when Willis was suposed to be highlighting his skills, he instead looked to me like a guy who will be engulfed by the size/strength/speed ratio in the NFL.

I wouldn't say Nate's new contract is "way too much" for one of the best corners in the league today for the right defense. Even if Marv and Co. fail, they do appear to be completely focused on setting their roster based exactly upon the personell priorities as they've been defined by our schemes on both sides of the ball. If that's true, and the evidence seems to be stacking up, it'll be hard to imagine them watching NClements walk without drafting Okoye with our first pick if he's there. The only way you make up for two "regular joe" corners in the league today is to have a consistent push from the middle of your defensive line. Even with our full rotation of DTs last year, including McCargo, we were not consistent in providing middle pressure. I agree Nate is a salary casualty of our new defense, while London was a skill casualty. I'm not so sure that the team is thinking of Crowell as the long-term answer to take the Mike spot, but one good about this D is it doesn't require a Brian Urlacher to play in the middle and there are a number of ways to fill that hole.

That seems like a perfectly fair assessment of our situation today. The question becomes whether we can dramatically alter that before the second day of the draft.

Some truth is commonly woven into a liar's tale, yet the fact remains that Rosenhaus couldn't care less whether McGahee ends up on a team with 5 Pop Warner recruits playing OLine. His only interest is in getting the largest agent commision he can from getting a new contract for McGahee as soon as possible.