yungmack

Same reason NOT to pick a QB at #3: the Bills need ILBs and there aren't any that seem to be worthy of that high of a pick, while there are probably three DEs that are. And DE is as much a need on the Bills as anything else. You do remember that Bruce Smith was kinda, sorta important to the Bills, right? Great DEs contain and control the edges, forcing the RBs inside which suddenly makes guys like Poz look like Clay Matthews. And they disrupt the Oline and the passing game. If there is a functioning brain cell in the Bills front office, if Dareus is available they take him and then pray to the Lords of Football that Cam Jordan is around at 34.

If he's still available, the only pick that makes sense at #3 is Dareus.

I think you've confused Mayock with McShay.

If you're interested, here's Mayock's take on the top 32 players in the draft. NOTE: this is NOT his mock draft, just his evaluation of the talent. http://www.nfl.com/draft/story/09000d5d81eb70a5/article/defensive-players-lead-the-way-on-list-of-top-32-prospects

Fitz may not be the answer at QB. But in the list of critical needs, that's not this year's top one. And in any case, the only reason to draft a massive project like Newton or trade for Kevin Kolb is if they are a guaranteed upgrade over Fitz and I have seen nothing from either player that makes me think either one is. To my eyes, the two best QBs for the Bills in this draft are Ponder and Dalton, and neither is a threat to unseat Fitz this year. The Bills best bets for a successful pick at #3 are DE or ILB. And because the ILB position is a bit thin this year, by default the Bills should take a DE. And I'd love to see that be Dareus.

The only Bills QB ever picked with the first round/first pick was Richie Lucas in 1960.

Goodell's claim that the players turned down the owners' offers of compromise reminds me of an old comment someone made about Dick Nixon: "If you're drowning eleven feet from shore, he'd throw you a ten foot rope and claim he met you more than halfway."

BillsVet is wrong and so are you. This is not a "union question" at all, it's a business partners dispute. Imagine if, when you started your stores, you did so with a partner. Let's say the agreement acknowledged that you were really good at marketing and sales, and your partner was really good at the mechanics of running the business, so those were the areas each of you focused on. At the end of the year, your partner writes you a check for what he says is 50% of the profits. Do you take him at his word? Or do you say, "Let me see the books, partner"? And what if your partner tells you to take a hike, he's not going to show you the books? Do you fold and accept his word, or do you start looking for another partner? That's the deal the owners made with the players years ago. And the players are essentially saying, if we're you're partners, let us see the books. And if you don't want us to see them, then we are no longer partners.

Could you give us all a couple of examples of how Smith is a "hack?" Or how he's doing a poor job of negotiating?

Do you happen to see one in the draft this year? I don't.

Here are the players the Bills didn't make offers to: Keith Ellison, John McCargo, Ashton Youboty, Brian Brohm, Quinton Ganther and Jonathan Stupar. Brohm, Ganther and Stupar will likely be RFAs under a new CBA, according to Chris Brown.

I hear Steven Hawking aced the test. But his 40 was sub-par.

I'd make the trade but not necessarily pick the players you did. The Bills need ILBs more that OLBs, especially if, as Nix is indicating, Merriman is going to be healthy. And the need for D players (DE, ILB, S, and just maybe CB) is so strong, I don't think you use a second round pick on a "maybe he can do it" QB. The Bills should not take a QB earlier than the 5th round, if then. I happen to like Ponder and if he's there that late in the draft, take him. Or Dalton, for that matter. FWIW, I've seen about every collegiate game Rahim Moore played. He's an intriguing guy but I'm still not sold on him (Mayock aside), not the way I was about Clay Matthews who I also saw play nearly every game. Passing him by drove me nuts.

This whole thread has become "I LOVE CAMMIE!!!" to "I HATE CAMMIE!!!" Yet a certain consensus seems to be emerging: that the kid does have some eye-catching talent, that it's of the "potential" type, that he indeed does fall into the "one year wonder" category & that there are questions about both his character and his commitment. The pro-Cammies say he is committed, his "mistakes" are of the forgivable youthful indiscretion sort, that his one-year success is but a foretaste of what's to come, that the right coaching will develop that potential into amazing success. And obviously the anti-Cammies take the opposite view on all of that. So here's what I take from the discussion: that most people, on either side of the question, agree Newton is a high-risk pick who could as easily turn into a major bust or just possibly become a great QB. And I think that's probably the truth about this guy. So the question for the Bills is, "Do you expend your #3 pick on a guy who could be the Bills next Aaron Maybin/J.P. Losman. Or who could become maybe the greatest QB in franchise history?" And, maybe more importantly, when you have a very decent QB with a year already in your system, and huge, huge needs on defense, does it make sense to make your top pick a guy that even people who support him have to say is a risk (albeit one with a high upside if he succeeds)? Can the Bills franchise realistically withstand yet another failure on a high draft pick? Especially when your most immediate need is defense and there are so many "can't miss" defensive players available? To me, it's a no-brainer. I pass on Cammie so hard and so fast I forget he's even in the draft. For the Bills, it's All Defense, All The Time this year.

You, and many others on this board, keep obsessing on "the next franchise QB." And that the guy is right in front of Nixley's eyes if only they'd listen to the fans. And they apparently believe that through an effort of will -- on the part of the fans alone -- the guys in this year's draft can magically be converted into that franchise guy. The flaw in this thinking, as I see it, is that the guys available this year do not have a "sure thing" tattooed on their backs. Newton, Locker, Gabbert and Mallet have huge question marks. And the second tier guys -- Kaepernick, Dalton and Ponder -- are, well, second tier guys. Could one of them (or even an unheralded QB)be the franchise QB for ten years? Absolutely possible. But that gets me to the heart of the question/problem which is, that QB is NOT the Bills most critical problem. It's all about the Defense. And there are several players at DE whose contribution will matter more to the Bills THIS SEASON than any of the QBs under discussion around here. And after blowing a pick on Spiller last year ("blowing" in this case meaning an RB who doesn't immediately contribute at least somewhere in a meaningful way), Nixley cannot afford to expend the #3 pick on another guy who rides the bench for a year or two "while they learn the pro game." If Nixley were to expend the #3 pick on one of the QBs available this year, I believe I'd throw in the towel on this regime because, to repeat myself, it's all about the defense this year. When discussing the QB position, you have to assess what you have versus what you'd be getting through the draft. Right now, Fitz is more than good enough to hold down the position, and none of the kids in the draft is good enough to dislodge him. None of them. If one of them was, if, for example, Luck had come out, then, yeah, I'd grab him in a Noo Yowk minute. But he isn't coming out and the other guys are just to iffy to draft when you do have Fitz, and you so very much need a massive upgrade on defense. Sorry to be so long-winded, but I'm weary of the "magical thinking" about the available QB talent this year. And if, as Nix has said, they will be adding a QB somehow, and if Ponder or Dalton are still available deep in the draft (5th round or later), then I wouldn't be upset if they took one of them. But the first four rounds had better be all D, all the time.

I'm a fan of Dalton and of Ponder, and I'm surprised their names don't come up around here. Maybe I'm missing something so educate me.

I should have added that Nix says he's going to add safeties as well. Now, he didn't say all those positions would be filled through the draft, and with MLB apparently one area in which the draft is thin, it seems more likely he will be looking for FAs to sign (possibly the same with safety), in which case, DE is looking more and more like the area the Bills will focus on early.

Nix has said he's going to add two DEs and two MLBs. Not long ago he also said he'd add another QB. He and Gailey seem to be very confident in Fitz and happy with him so, based on Nix's own words, I expect the #3 pick will be LB or DE. However, if Whitner, Wilson, Florence et al are let go, then who knows what becomes the highest priority. In any case, I don't think Nixley believe that QB is a critical need this year.

I don't know the ins or outs of this situation but I did notice that the Bills are in fairly good company.

Jeez, an intelligent, level-headed comment. This board is going to hell!

Historically, offensive linemen score highest on the Wonderlic test, and RBs the lowest. I find it interesting that QBs are not at the top.

Any chance to get Cam Jordan as well? Just hope we don't get the Cam Shaft.

Well, you can have. Just don't send him over to the Bills when you're done with him, honey.

Here's how you know Nix wasn't responsible for Maybin: One of his top rules is, No One Year Wonders.

This is a pretty good analysis, all in all. One thing: the 60% bar might be crappy, as you say. But it is one of the more "written in stone" technical analysis tools. And it does seem to a useful dividing line. It's one reason (among several) why I'd pass on Jake Locker. However, like you, I think a better, or at least a more "settled" offense might contribute to Fitz getting over that line. And with an improved defense that can actually get two or three more "3 and outs" per game (while stopping the run and the scoring), then the offense won't have to be obvious passing situations so often, which would immensely help Fitz's stats. As to accuracy, I don't know. He seems to have a tendency to make mistakes a little more often than I'd like to see ("mistakes" being interceptions, mostly). In any case, there are at least ten starting QBs, and maybe as many as fifteen, that he's better than for the Bills at this time. And with what looks like a shortage of slamdunk QB prospects in this year's draft, I believe we should accept that Fitz will be the starter this season and next as well. Fix the darned defense!