yungmack

I have been aware of Barkley since he was in high school and I've watched probably 95% of his games at USC. I have plenty of reservations about him. But one area that doesn't bother me at all is accuracy. The kid is deadly accurate. Go back and look at his soph and junior seasons. As for your question about a "face of the franchise," you're right, it doesn't have to be a QB. For years, Ray Lewis was the poster boy for the Ravens. But in case you didn't notice, the Bills are in serious need of a QB, any QB, even a warm body that can line up behind center. Adam Sandler would do at this point. So they're going to take one or two this year, in a draft class without a single "can't miss" guy in it. I think most of us around here have made peace with the idea (the fact?) that we're not going to get a "face of the franchise" guy out of this group. Me, and maybe most everyone else, are just trying to decide who has the highest "better than Fitz" rating. For the record, out of this group, I'm becoming convinced Barkley is our best option.

As we are pretty much in accord, I have to say your son did an excellent analysis. I too have come to think Barkley might be the best option for the Bills at #8, and I like both Dysart and Scott as middle round projects. If he has the time, I think we'd all like to know his take on WRs, LBs and defensive secondary guys.

Ah, the old "throw enough s..t against the wall and see what sticks" approach.

While you're 100% correct, remember you're dealing with the Bills. As a general rule, I don't think taking a running back in the first round is ever the smart thing to do (with the possible exception of a "once in a lifetime guy," and even then I'm no so sure about it). Yet the Bills have taken THREE of them in the last decade. Two of them are no longer with the team and the third one has had difficulty getting playing time over a free agent. So just because it doesn't make sense to take a guard at #8 doesn't mean the Brain Trust won't do it.

:lol:

One of the better breakdowns I've seen.

Let's see: they replaced the entire coaching staff, they cut the starting and back-up QBs, lost the starting and back-up guards, cut two of the three starting WRs, released the starting MLB, CB, had Merriman and Kelsay retire, and the starting TE is far from certain to return in time for the season. And you call the 2013 team "basically...the same team?" The guys who are gone might have been mediocre to lousy, but their replacements are...well, so far there aren't any replacements as the Bills seem to be snoring through free agency and, I guess, hoping to fill all those slots from the draft. Except, oh yeah, they only have six picks. So I'll stick with my assumption that they are tanking the season and that anything other than 0-16 will be a pleasant surprise.

Do you not find it strange that they would cut Fitz then replace him with a Kolb, a Jackson or even a Flynn? I just don't see how any of them are an improvement. And with all the QBs in the draft generally regarded as mediocre, I also don't see how the Bills improve QB play one single whit in '13. 0-16, and the number one pick overall in '14.

p.m.Oh Great Lord in Heaven, please stop with the man lust for "Geno." He's this year's Flop In Waiting. There isn't a QB in this class who will be a franchise QB. Maybe one or two will eventually be servicable, but not this year. And certainly there are none who will be better this year than Fitz was last year.

SF was given 3 compensatory picks so they now have 17 picks. The rich get richer...

I wanted the Bills to take him out of college. If he's healthy, sign him.

I like the idea of trading down & getting another pick. Hopefully Geno will be gone by then so the Bills will avoid the disastrous mistake of drafting him.

A suggestion: instead of wasting time discussing Buffett buying the Bills, I recommend Bills fans buy Buffett. Anyone around here who invests, especially younger guys, put a huge chunk of your IRA, 401k etc. into Bershire-Hathaway B shares. They're a bargain right now (well, relatively speaking) and you have Warren Buffett essential doing your stock picking for you. BTW, another billionaire who is rumored to be very interested in buying the Bills is LA-based, Buffalo-born bond phenom Jeffrey Gundlach. Keep your eye on him as the potential savior.

:lol: Dream on.

Please stop making sense. This is the Stadium Wall, where dick jokes about player's names is considered the height of sophisticated wit.

You overstate about Mayock. In fact, he doesn't think any of the QBs this year are top quality. And he only moved Manuel up because, as he said, if you're going to miss on a pick, at least miss on one who has the basic skills looked for in QBs. That's a long way from "being high" on Manuel.

Your original point seemed to be that no top FAs would come to Buffalo as long as Fitz was the QB. Maybe it's just me, but I don't see how BFLO's chances increase if Jackson or Thigpen are your likely starters. Buffalo will not appeal to top FA talent until the Bills actually have a top QB, of which there are none on the roster, and none appear to be available either in free agency or this year's draft.

Great idea. That would make Tarvaris Jackson the starting QB which means all the top FAs will rush to OBD.

Care to share what you're smoking with the rest of the Wall?

To my eye, there are four interlinked qualities that a top QB must have, and they're all so important that you can't put one above the other: Leadership (teammates must trust you) -- Ability to quickly read the defense (tied to the ability to make the correct changes if necessary) -- Ability to act quickly and correctly after the snap -- Accuracy Accuracy Accuracy Strong arm, running ability, durability, media savvy, etc. are all excellent qualities. But if you don't have the other ones first, it doesn't matter how shifty you are in the open field.

I didn't know you were personally on the hook for that dough, and in charge of cutting players and drafting players. So, who are you picking at #8?

What? What the heck is Fitz if not a stop gap? So your bright solution is to get rid of him, eat his contract and then...sign another guy just like him? Please explain, what the hell is the point of that?

That's the heart of the matter right there. But I've given up expecting your logic to penetrate a certain sector of blockheads on this site. You know the ones I mean, those who chirp up with "Fitz sucks, so get rid of him and sign a guy some other team believes sucks. And then let's draft a guy that the most knowledgeable talent evaluators believe will suck, and then the Bills will somehow magically have a franchise QB and win ten Super Bowls in a row."

I've been aware of Barkley since he was in high school. I was happy he enrolled at USC (and I've watched nearly every game he played there, some in person). And considering he was thrust into starting a year or two too early, he did a great job. HOWEVER, as much as I like him personally, I don't think he'll be a star QB in the NFL. And I certainly don't think he'll be ready to lead a team to the playoffs in his rookie year. I've watched several Geno Smith games and I can see why people are excited about him. But I think they're editing out those plays where he's less than stellar. And he has those plays in every game. My personal opinion about him is that he's not sound enough in all the key areas a QB needs to be and never will be. In fact, I think he's going to be an enormous bust in the NFL. In any case, you can't seriously believe he could lead the Bills to the playoffs in 2013, can you?

Not to belabor the obvious but all this talk about cutting Fitz & drafting a "franchise" QB has to come down to this basic question: do you believe any QB in this draft is a real improvement over Fitz, who can come in & turn things around right now? If your answer is "no," then how in the world can you even think of getting rid of him? That's the heart of the matter. Or to put it another way, Fitz may not be very good, but are any of these guys better? I don't believe any of them are. The Bills are going to draft a QB. Whoever it is will have flaws & will need work, & to my eyes, none of them are anywhere near capable of coming in this year & turning things around.