yungmack

Well done collation. It clears away the underbrush of mock drafts and fan faves and gets us back to the Mind O' Nix. Thanks for taking the time to do this.

Why?

I think Buddy's proven that the slam on him of being "old" doesn't really hold. But there is one area where his beliefs may have been shaped by "the way things are done" from the past, and that's taking a RB high in the draft. By now, it's pretty clear that the league no longer values RBs the way they used to. It seems to me that in the current Pass First NFL, Cornerbacks have replaced RBs as the more highly sought after talents. I just don't know that Buddy has internalized that change so maybe you're right that he might go for Richardson. Jeez, I certainly hope not.

The price was exorbitant because it was for a for-real franchise QB. It won't be cheap to move to #3 but I doubt it will be anywhere nearly as steep as the price the Embarrassing Ethnic Stereotypes paid.

I don't understand your mathematics but I agree the Bills will have a pool of very good players available at #10 like Richardson and DeCastro. The problem is, they're not the ones the Bills really need. And the players they need seem not to be worth a #10 pick. They're pretty much all a reach, including Floyd. With Bell signing with the Igles, LT becomes a critical need. But again, after Kalil there really isn't one likely to be available who's worth a #10. Which is why I think it makes sense to package the #10 with some of the other picks and move to #3 for Kalil. Thinking the teams from 3 to 9 are all going to pass on him is Magical Thinking.

So...quantity over quality? Hmm.

Dear Moderator: Why do you permit Cordy Glenn's agent to keep starting these threads?

The Bills had Matt Kalil in town this week. By every mock draft I've seen, he's expected to be gone no later than pick #5. So why would the FO "waste" one of its 30 allowed visits on him unless...Buddy & Co. are contemplating a move up in the draft. Considering that, aside from Kalil, the likely candidates expected to be available for the positions of need when the Bills pick comes around are pretty much all regarded as not worthy of a #10 pick, maybe they feel they can package that pick with one or two others and grab Kalil for the LT position which now is a position of major need. I'd love it if they did.

Seriously? NO air conditioning in a building donated by and named for the guy who invented air conditioning? Wow!

Austrian.

Doesn't seem like you do, damning with faint praise. So I was wondering if you could explain how drafting a QB that, as far as I know, every pundit, Mayock included, feel is at best a "project" who is far away from being NFL-ready, is a step up from Fitz? And if you do put in the effort to develop Tannehill, assuming anyone would want to do that, what you're likely to wind up with is a younger version of Fitz. That is, a good, middle of the pack, QB. Frankly, I don't see how that makes sense.

The sale of the Dodgers changes everything. First of all, the price paid will cause all other sports franchises to be revalued upwards. So what do you think AEG will now have to pay to get a franchise? I'd say at least a billion. And that has to get the attention of Ralph and his heirs, not to mention the Spanos family, whoever now owns the Raiders, the Rams owners who are anxious to move, etc. Secondly, the only reason the congenitally incompetent Peter O'Malley sold the Dodgers was that the power brokers in LA blocked his efforts to build an NFL stadium on Dodger property. They tried for years to force the NFL to put a team in the Coliseum. However, the Coliseum is now "off the market" as USC has first right of refusal on permitting an NFL team to move there and has made it clear it won't. The NFL has cast longing eyes on the Dodger property for years and years. It meets all the league's key requirements. Now with the Guggenheim Group and its $126 billion and no doubt with serious leverage among the power brokers, the Dodger property is suddenly very much in the picture. In fact, the LA Times reported today that Walter, Johnson, et al, have already had at least one exploratory meeting with Goodell and others.

I pretty sure I'm getting a little daffy as I get older, but my memory says that Mayock was just the opposite of what you say on Gabbert. Wasn't he pretty high on Cam Newton? He was high on both Ponder and Dalton as later picks. And, for the record, the year before, his take on Tebow's abilities and, more importantly, his flaws, has turned out to be on the money. Best of all, he seemed to think Dareus was the best player in the entire draft last year. Or am I imagining that too.

Oh, that's good. Very good.

The Prez makes 400 grand.

Other than a couple of quibbles here and there, I think this is a solid analysis. The signing of Mark Anderson suggests that several current roster guys are on the bubble. Any additional FA signings on that level, plus the draft picks, should clarify who on the current roster is likely to be cut.

Can't remember which of the many shows I saw this week about The Soap Opera That Is The NFL that Stanton is mightily peeved about the Tebow trade. Supposedly he specifically asked some time ago if the Jets were going to go after Tebow and was emphatically told they were not. And now supposedly he wants a do=over on his contract where he is released, not traded. BTW, if I was Sanchez I think I'd be demanding a trade as well. The level of dysfunction around the Jets has reached new heights with this trade and the likely fall off in team performance this season will surely be blamed on Sanchez whether warranted or not. So why bother sticking around?

Doesn't matter how you get them if you're out of the lineup. And Wood's been out a ton. There's also the affect those injuries might have on his abilities going forward.

My guess is that they are very worried about it. Just about everytime D. Bell's name is mentioned around here, so is his history of injuries. On the other hand, Wood's is very seldom noted. Yet he's been about as unreliable as Bell. So while we might not think it's that big a deal, I'll bet the Bills do. For the record, DeCastro is a great guard. However, Buddy has clearly stated that he prefers tackles coming out of college who can be converted to guards.

Really? Based on what evidence? The rap on the guy is that he never bothered to learn the NE offense, that he seemed to feel that wasn't necessary, that his "great talent" was all that was needed. Very similar to the rap on him with Cinci where he seemed much more interested in self-promotion than dedication to learning the Bengals system.

The thing with Tebow is that the teams that need a starting QB do not play his style of offense. They'd have to make major changes to accommodate his game. So if you're going to do that, do you fully believe he can be an elite QB in the NFL? If not, why do it? So if Tebow doesn't fit in as a starting QB, then his only option is backup. But a backup QB is almost always something of a clone of the starter. He has to be because the team is not going to have a second style of offense to accommodate the backup. So I don't see even backup as a probability for him. The one situation where I think Tebow might fit is third string, with a special package of plays like the Wildcat. In other words, a role similar to Brad Smith's with the Bills.

Nice article. And I second your compliment to Scott.

Nice try with this thread, Bob Kraft.

I am not singling you out but using your comment about Bell's injury status because I keep seeing this sentiment turn up around here. While I quite agree he has been injured too often, if we're going to use that as an excuse to dump an otherwise effective LT, then shouldn't we also be saying the same about Eric Woods? For the record, I am concerned about his durability.

It's hard not to notice the difference in the Bills record before and after his and Kyle's injuries. Here's hoping they both are fully healed and remain healthy for the rest of their careers.