maryland-bills-fan

Well the strangest thing just happened. I had to take a cab to a meeting, and I'lll be damned, but the driver looked and talked just like Marc Levy. He noticed that I had a Bills shirt on, so he started talking about the draft. I asked him what the Bills were going to do, and he used a lot of big words but basically said the following. Round 1, pick #13 either CJ Mosley or R Shazier……speedy 3 down linebacker Round 2, pick #41 either Morgan Moses or Joel Bitonio ……RIGHT offensive tackle. Draft the right guy for the job, don’t overspend in money or resources. Round 3, picks #71 and #74 Defensive end. Kareen Martin (N.Carolina) or Scott Crichton (Oregon)………..we get a ~275 pound guy to set the edge opposite Mario, to avoid have a weak spot for other teams to exploit.................... AND Tight end Fiedorowitz (Iowa) or FS Terrence Brooks Round 4 running back the Bills brought in 5 running backs for pre-draft visits. That should tell you something. Hyde (Ohio State) was a smokescreen. They will pick from: Germery Hill (LSU), Terrance West (Towson), or Jerrick McKinnon (Georgia Southern) Round 5 one of the cornerbacks brought in for a visit, Phillip Gaines (Rice) or Walt Aikens (Liberty) Round 6 We traded this pick for a big WR, who was on several rookie of the year teams in 2010 and got 964, 771, and 996 yards receiving in his first 3 years. He had signed a $40,250,000 4 year contract, but went on IR last year and was unloaded as a problem child. Marrone coached him in college and Williams was kicked off the team. I think Marrone and Williams understand each other and Williams will do good here. Round 7 I reach my stop so I never got this pick, nor who we were going after as UFA. I gave him a nice tip and an extra ham sandwich that I had brought for lunch.

Who is playing defensive end opposite Mario in our 4-3?

Once past the first and second round, it is likely that we never heard the name of the low round superstars.

TRUTH Yeah, that Kelly guy was a bust! And he didn't even play for us for a few years as well!

We need a defensive end and have Branch to play tackle. no DT

Heh? So 4 offensive tackles and 4 other players? Mack, Clowney, and 2 WR's?

Yes, this is more likely the route. Think about it- teams line up with 3 wider receivers, why should one of them be guarded by a safety, whose profile is not primarily pass defense? If anything we will draft another cornerback. We had visits from 3 cornerbacks, who are likely to be picked around our 1st, 2nd and 3rd round picks and then 3 more who are 5th rounders. With the higher needs at DE, ROT and LB, I suspect that the first 3 are smokescreen or "chum" (a fishing term) to entice teams to trade up to our picks and we will take our CB in the fifth round.

I think the Bills will not draft a running back but will bring in several UFA's for training camp and sort through them. Every running back drafted and making a roster will bump someone with some NFL experience and the Bills will also sort through these guys. There is only one football.

Gee, we have a guy on the roster who was 2nd place for rookie of the year at WR and we have holes at DE, ROT and LB. So we should trade up for a college guy and not fill those holes?

cf: http://en.wikipedia....ver,_born_1987) 2 Okay, he knows Marrone and Marrone knows him. I don't know what sort of love flows between them, but they gotta have each other's number by now. We got a guy who was the top or near the top rookie of the year at WR and was given a contract as a WR that was 9th among ALL WR's in the NFL. On the risk scale, the guy is about the same as any rookie, who has never played a second of NFL and who has never had to make the transition between a poor-boy living in college and having money coming out of his ears. Also, this guy (read what is written above) HAS BEEN a "go to guy" and "true #1. The Bucs but their money where their mouth was. For 2013 he would be the #8 cap hit wide receiver in the entire NFL. Maybe he needs a life lesson, getting dropped and coming back to Marrone (who has a history of not putting up with his scheiss) is just the ticket. We are not going to spend a top 200 draft pick on a wide receiver. We may send out very minor smoke screens about doing so, in order to enrich trade down offers, but don't hold your breath. Williams is the improvement in the pass receiving corp. We don't need a tight end who is not a red zone threat and drops passes and can't block to "improve" the receiving and offer a deep threat.

+1

Most likely. I vote for trade down.

The red pants!!?? The punk haircut? His brain has turned to mush. He is really thinking about how nice it would be not to have to play foot ball.

I agree with the analysis of the pay of LEFT offensive tackle verus RIGHT offensive tackle. To repeat, what has been written elsewhere, the 13th LOT gets paid the same as the 1st ROT and for the middle tier guys, the LOT gets about $2.5M a year more than the ROT. IF the Bills want to draft a LOT in the high first round to play ROT, realize that his rookie 4-5 year contract will be set by the rookie slot rules and he will be getting paid just like such a LOT. If they Bills then want to pay him like a LOT in his second contract, I might go along with that if I could be convinced that the extra money paid can be taken from some other position. The wiser thing to do is to draft a ROT type player in the lower first or the 2nd round and be competitive with the rest of the NFL in the decision as how to allocate salary.

We have more depth and options on the table at TE than we do at defensive tackle. We traded our 6th round pick for a good WR, who comes with some risk, but not much more than a rookie college guy does. There is your WR fix. Have you thought of another 3 down linebacker or a linebacker with coverage skills? Nope- that is a high need as well.

I just don't get it. Ebron is a big wideout who sometimes lines up next to the tackle. He is a poor blocker, indifferent route runner, drops some balls, is not a red-zone target and is way overrated. I think that every once in a while, there are NFL fad's that break out. A few similar players at a position play good due to a combination of being good, having a temporary mismatch, and having some teams take advantage of those for a couple of years. By the time this "new" thing is noted, it also starts to fade as other teams compensate and other teams unsuccessfully try to find clones to play the "new" technique. Ebron is a very incomplete player and we need to fill holes at DE, OT and LB much more than wasting resources by chasing the latest fad.

I would like to draft both a tackle and a guard this year by trading down and getting more picks in the first 3 rounds. You are risking a lot when you put all your eggs in one basket.

Football teams are built by successfully drafting players that most fans have never hear of in the 3rd through 5th round. You put 22 players out there (actually more) on offense and defense. In 6 years you have drafted twelve players in the first two rounds. Figure it out. In a deep draft I am more interested in getting more picks in the 50-150 range than looking for magic with the first round pick. And I'll bet that I never heard of most of the mid round picks. http://nflcommunications.com/2011/04/18/what-is-average-nfl-player%E2%80%99s-career-length-longer-than-you-might-think-commissioner-goodell-says/

Yes, they all make each other look better. That is a reason why I am leary of taking multiple players or additional players from a college team with a good record. If a team has 11 players who average as B- players- but with no glaring holes, all the players will look good- maybe averaging as B+ players. If you take a few of those players, actual individual grad of B+ and put them on a side that averages C-, then they will not look very good. Nobody will hear of them. Some of their best plays might be a running back fighting his way back to the line of scrimmage. There are loads of good NFL players hidden in the college ranks this way. That is why so many draft picks are answered by "who the f is he, I never heard of him" and "Does anybody know where that college is? Mississippi? North Dakota? The pro scouts beat the bushes for the gems and take risks in picking them. Kutztown University of Pennsylvania anybody?

Gee, a 6-10 team doesn't have any holes. ??? Well we differ in our appreciation by the Bills getting 2-4 players good players. If we trade up we would have the following left: 1...........#1 and nothing and nothing next year and no first in 2016 2...........#2, #73, 5th 7th, LOSE next year’s 1st round pick 3.............#3, 5th, 7th 4.............#4, #73 4th, 7th 5.............#5, #41, 5th 7th 6.............#6, #41, 4th, 5th 7.............#7, #41, #73 8...............#8, #41, #73, 4th 9................#9, #41, #73, 4th, 5th, 7th ....so any higher than trading up to get a #7 pick (where we have a high 1st and our 2nd and 3rd round pick ONLY), we wind up with 2 players in the top 100 (for getting picks #4, #5, #6). If we trade down there is a sweet spot for going down to the #14 to #20 pick, where is still get a shot at a pretty sure starter but also pick up a 3rd round pick and more. 10th pick…….... 5th and 6th round 11th pick............4th and 6th round 12th pick............3rd round and lose our 4th 13th pick............3rd round 14th pick............3rd and 5th round 15th pick............3rd and 4th round 16th pick............2nd round and lose our 4th 17th pick............2nd round 18th pick............2nd and 4th round and lose our 4th 19th pick............2nd and 4th rounds 20th pick............2nd and 3rd round, and lose our 4th 21st pick.............2nd and 3rd round 22nd pick............2nd, 3rd and 4th round 23rd pick.............2nd, 3rd, 4th & 5th or 2nd&3rd this year and a 2nd round next year 24th pick...............~same 25th pick..................2nd round and next year’s 1st and 2nd round 26th pick...............~ same 27th pick............... 2nd & 4th this year and next year's 1st and 2nd 28th pick..............~same 29th pick.................2nd & 3rd and next years' 1st and 2nd 30th pick..................~same 31th, 32 pick...................the above plus a middle 3rd round this year or the following year's 1st I like going down to the #21 pick. We then have 5 picks in the top 100 players. Your move even if just up to the #6 pick gives us 2 picks in the top 100 players. Let me compare where the two strategies get us. The delta is your plan loses picks and the trade down gains picks there. IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE #21 AND THE #6 PICK WORTH 3 TOP 100 PLAYERS IN A DEEP DRAFT?

I always like to look at the rest of the college team, when thinking about the Bills drafting a player whose position requires co-ordination with or depends upon another position on the team. Punters and kickers you can evaluate on the basis of their success and the environment they kicked in. With a safety or quarterback, the play of the supporting cast is important. A defensive tackle lined up next to a top 10pick defensive end is not going to get a lot of double coverage and will look better. For Manziel, he was on a very good football team. He may have had the best offensive tackles in college and maybe even the pros protecting him. It is easy to run around and evade defenders like magic, if the man pass rushers are neutralized. Let's consider the offensive tackles. In 2013 OT Luke Joeckel was draft #2 overall and RB Michael was drafted in the second round. In 2014 Manziel had Mathews at LOT and he is likely an overall top 5->15 pick. At the other tackle last year he had Ogbuehi (6-5 300) who was not exactly chopped liver and will get a FA look. He also had Evans to throw to. How good would Manziel and would his game be if he was being swamped by defensive linemen?

I hope somebody really really thinks that.

I've also lived in Maine, Texas and New Jersey. Some people here think that Natty Bo is actually beer and the Ravens are a team to root for.

There is nothing wrong with the Bills talking that they are seriously considering any player that might be loved by another team, in order to try to stampede them into making us a trade that we can't refuse. Notice that the Bills have brought in three cornerbacks who are predicted by some boards to be taken right around our first three picks. I think that is to encourage some team to trade us some extra valuable pick in order for them to move up a couple of slots to take our pick We move down a few spots, still draft the guy we really wanted, but get some extra rolls of the dice in a deep draft to improve the team. Its a bluffing poker game.

This has a logical inconsistency in it and should not be further considered. If "RB are a dime a dozen" then there is no need to draft one in the second round, is there? We have good depth for this year at RB and can get an okay back up (who may never see the field) in the 7th round or UFA. We have known definite holes at ROT, DE and LB (where we are zero, zero and 1 deep for adequate starters) and that is where the top 3 picks must go.