Inigo Montoya

I don't mind Rudolph, but definitely not the optimal situation. Hope I'm wrong....

The Browns, Giants, Jets all take a QB, Cleveland won't trade back with Barkley or Chubb on the board, Denver takes last QB standing (Keenum did not get a franchise QB contract, I think Elway wants to solidify the QB position for the next 10 years) and we draft Rudolph after trading up to the 8 or 9 spot to prevent the Pats/Phins/Cards from jumping ahead of us to grab him. Final answer; Rudolph at 8 or 9

Estro says; 100% correct. Further evidenced by the fact that they were unwilling to move back to #6 with the Jets and pick up those additional three 2nd round picks. Gettleman may be old school and appreciate his "hog mollies" but he's not dumb enough to turn down that bounty of draft picks unless they absolutely love 1 of the QBs. IMO, it's either Darnold or Rosen the Giants want probably in that order. I happen to think the Bills like the same 2 QBs.....and if both are gone the Bills will not be moving up. I think you're right and we may not be able to find a trade partner and our guy(s) will be gone before we can make the move. Rudolph at 12 may end up being the pick. The question is, will the Bills feel pressured to trade up from 12 to get him? Rumor has it that the Pats are big on Rudolph and now New England has the draft ammo to trade up ahead of us to grab him at 10 or 11. Would hate to have the Pats swoop in and grab Rudolph if he's the best qb left on the board...

No worries Scorp83, it’s all good. I liked your thread. I think the site moderators have combined the different Shady topics into a single thread now.

I don’t understand the desire on the one hand to pay any cost to get a young “franchise quarterback”, and then make sure he goes to a franchise where he has no offense around him to succeed??? Does anyone think Peterman will ever be the same after his little outing last season? Why would you strip our new QB of the only damn weapon on the offense with him? Nothing like getting crushed every Sunday to instill confidence in your budding new QB and help his development along. For God’s sake use your heads and think about the big picture for a moment. Get rid of Shady to save cap room? We are going to have over $100MM in cap space next year, so now we get rid of Shady and we’ll have $105MM? Really? Come on think about it... We need to put a team around whoever our new QB is that gives him a chance to succeed. We have a suspect O line, no wide receivers, and now you want to take Shady away from him, because you think we can just draft a rookie RB that will come in and be just as good as Shady? I think you guys underestimate just how good Shady is. Listen guys, it’s not just picking the right QB in this draft that is the key to the Bill’s success, it’s just as important to give him the best chance to develop and be successful. It makes no sense to mortgage our franchise’s future to draft a young QB and them throw him to the wolves...

I wouldn't. A great RB can be a young QB's best friend, and especially a good receiving back. Having Shady there to hand the ball off to or dump short, high percentage passes and screens to will force a defense to respect the run and should make the new QB's life a lot easier. Hard to blitz the young QB when Shady is gashing you... Drafting the right QB is just the start of it. The Bills need to do everything in their power to put that young QB into a situation where he can succeed. Having a great run game is a critical part of that. No one we draft at #32 in this year's draft will help our new QB develop into a franchise QB more than having Shady lining up behind him every snap as a strong run option that defenses have to respect, as an excellent blitz pick up back on throwing downs, and as a check down receiver / security blanket for the new QB.

This year is absolutely atypical of a regular off season, and it's a great one if you are a franchise in need of a QB. It's not just the number of solid QB draft prospects... Darnold Mayfield Allen Rosen Rudolph Jackson But look at the free agent QBs that were available this year. I don't ever remember so many viable QBs hitting the free agent market in one year; Cousins Keenum Bradford McCarron Bridgewater McCown Tyrod (not a free agent but traded) Foles (not a free agent but available for trade) I don't see this happening again for a long time.

I requested off Thursday and Friday too so I can go to Buffalo Wild Wings with my 20 year old son and watch the draft. I work evenings/nights and I would be absolutely worthless on draft night if I was here at work during the draft. I have never asked off for a draft before. This year is different somehow, it seems like this is the most important draft for the Bills in the last 20 years. I feel like a kid waiting for Xmas...

23.) PATRIOTS: Mason Rudolph, QB I would be disappointed if the Pats get Rudolph. While I don't pretend to have any special ability to evaluate QB talent, Rudolph is the one QB this year who has really started to grow on me. I wouldn't take him ahead of the top four QBs, but if the Bills missed out on the big four for whatever reason, I wouldn't be upset if the Bills took Rudolph later in the first round. I think Rudolph sitting behind Brady for a couple years and learning will end up being a really good pro QB. I'd rather not see that happen...

Being a long suffering Bills fan, I have always empathized with Browns fans. I'm really excited to watch the Browns this year, I think they may finally be on the cusp of turning things around. They will be fun to watch this season. You're right, that pass rush will be crazy if they add Chubb with Garrett.

Nope.

When I was a kid back in the 1800's there was only MNF. It seemed that no one but the Cowboys got more than one MNF game a year.

I understand that they are going to highlight the Pats and Brady and I would expect them to have more prime time games than the Browns (though personally I'm a lot more curious to see what the Browns will look like this year) but it seems a bit excessive to schedule 5 evening games in a 7 week stretch. They are beating a dead horse. Let me give you an example of the telecast for all 5 games; "The forty-one year old Tom Brady drops back in the pocket to pass. He scans the field with his forty-one year old retinas looking for an open receiver. His knees, a combined eighty-two years of age, roll Brady out to the right side. He finds Gronk lumbering down the middle and drills a laser of a pass with his forty-one year old rotator cuff for a touchdown, setting yet another NFL record for the most touchdowns thrown by a forty-one year old quarterback! My God, Chris, it's unbelievable to think that Tom Brady is actually forty-one years old the way he is playing!" "You are so right Al, and that is Brady's third throwing record for a forty-one year old quarterback this quarter, and the thing that amazes me most, and what most viewers don't realize, is that Tom Brady is actually forty-one years and 68 days old!" Cut to commercial about the power of Copper Socks...

In the 7 weeks between Sept 23rd and Nov 4th, the Pats have 5 prime time games, and the league wonders why TV ratings are down? I don't think you have to be a Bills fan or an AFC East fan to have a major case of Patriot's Fatigue. I think this will backfire on the league. I hope it does. Enough already...

Nice to see a home MNF game again. The tailgating will be EPIC. I wish I could be there... Hundreds of white plastic folding tables sacrificed to the football gods to gain their fickle favor and enough drunken tomfoolery to keep YouTube going for another year.

I think I'm in the minority here on TBD in that I don't have a favorite QB prospect. I honestly don't watch enough college football or know enough about quarterback development to have an informed opinion on who the best QB is. I just hope the Bills get their man and if that means "selling the farm" to move up, or sitting at 12 and grabbing a Rudolph or Jackson, I'll be just as happy. At the end of the day, I'm trusting Beane and McDermott to do the right thing. I'll root for whoever they draft.

I agree that one or two of the big four will probably be there at pick 5. The question is, how many of the big four QBs do the Bills feel good about? If the Bills would be happy with any of the four, then I agree with you, a trade up to 5 makes sense. If McBeane only likes one or two of them, then what if they are both gone by pick 3? That's my argument. I would not be happy to trade up to draft Chubb or Barkley. If we are going to trade up it needs to be for a QB. If we could all see the Bills' draft board and see how they rank the big four QBs, there would be no argument between us. I suspect they are not sold on all four of them.

Fair points Boatdrinks... I think we'll just have to agree to disagree. There is still a chance that the Bills QB(s) will be gone by 3. I'd rather have picks 12 and 22 than pick 5. It would probably cost us some of our 2nd and 3rd rounders to move up too. If we can't get our elite QB I'd rather have all of those draft picks to fill the holes on this roster.

I would respectfully disagree that we should trade to 5 now. What if the Giant's pick isn't for sale, what if they want Barkley or Chubb and won't trade out? Even if the Giant's pick is for sale, I see no chance Gettleman trades out until draft night before he sees what he can get for it. That pick will be worth more on draft night than it is today. What if the Bills only have one or two QBs in this draft that they feel strongly about and they are both gone by pick 3? I don't think Beane should trade to 5 now. Beane needs to wait until draft night to see what happens. No point in trading to 5 now when there is no guarantee you can trade higher or that the QB(s) you are targeting will even be there. Now you've wasted draft capital and come away without your QB.

There are so many moving parts in this draft process that it's simply impossible to know how things are going to work out. 1. Who do the Bills have as their #1 QB? 2. Do the Bills believe more than one QB is worth an aggressive trade up for? 3. Will the Bills be able to find a partner to trade up with? 4. Will the Bills QB(s) be gone before they can trade up? 5. Do the Bills see a prospect like Randolph or Jackson as viable alternatives later in the 1st? 6. Will the Bills feel pressured to trade up to snag a Randolph or Jackson to prevent another team (Pats/Phins/Cards) from grabbing them? 7. If everything falls to sh** on draft day, and the Bills don't get a QB they want, is there a trade for Foles in the works? I enjoy looking at mock drafts and enjoy all the speculation here on this board about the draft. The truth of the matter is that there are so many variables that can't be controlled for that any predictions and mocks about who the Bills are going to grab at QB are pointless. Entertaining, but pointless.

I didn’t expect or understand the pay cut this year either. He was clearly their best offensive lineman and wasn’t on some exorbitant contract. The amount of savings for the team was tiny and now they have another hole to fill. Say what you want about Incognito’s quirkiness, but the guy was playing lights out since he came to Buffalo and he earned that pay raise. We are a worse team without him.

I think McBeane will survive either way based on the way they have conducted business and the relationship they seem to have with the Pegulas. I don't see the Pegulas as the type of owners to flit from coach to coach, GM to GM. I think they would like to have some stability in the organization. I think the Pegulas understand that selecting a QB is always a crap shoot and all you can do is gather as much information about the prospects as you can to try and make an informed decision. It's then incumbent upon the entire organization to do what ever they can to give that prospect their best chance at success. They need to be smart and active in free agency next year when they have the money to spend to improve the supporting cast for whom ever they select this year. Like most, I expect most of this year's draft capital and possibly even next year's to be expended grabbing the guy they like. Hopefully they can continue to find talent in the later rounds of the draft again. It seems so far that McBeane has a good eye for football talent.

The character issue is important. How much a player's on field talent will mitigate their character issues in McDermott's judgement is anyone's guess. What is clearly evident after watching McDermott's team is that whatever he is doing, it seems to be working. This team is much more disciplined. I don't spend every Sunday screaming at the TV over the latest, ridiculous, unnecessary, and costly penalty committed by an undisciplined Buffalo Bill that costs the team dearly. I hope he continues to find players that fit his "process". So far it seems to be working.

@26CornerBlitz The article is a two part feature. I’m responding to today’s article which is the second part. I think it’s a good read if you have the time.

There is a great article on ESPN's website today by Bill Barnwell that thoroughly chronicles how hard it is to evaluate a QB in the draft. It is definitely worth the read. There is one paragraph in particular that really struck me, and I'm inclined to agree with it. "As I mentioned earlier this year in talking about Case Keenum, the old trope about how there aren't 32 good starting quarterbacks to go around is naive. The problem is that there aren't 32 good quarterback situations to play within, a reality that was reinforced by the success of Keenum and Foles after they looked disastrously bad under Jeff Fisher with the Rams. Teams that are spending every waking hour worrying about picking the right guy are likely kidding themselves to think that they can reliably pick the best quarterback from this group. They should worry about making themselves the right fit for whoever they end up choosing." It made me think about the current state of our Bills. If we do trade up to grab one of the Blue Chip QBs this year, it will take the lion's share of our draft capital this year and possible our first round pick next year. As any Bills' fan will admit, we have a lot of holes on this team. Our WR corps is incredibly suspect. We have major holes at LB, and our O-Line is not what anyone would call a strength. (UPDATE: Incognito just retired) Enter a rookie QB on this team that is more than just a QB away from being a contender. Who does he have on the coaching staff to help guide him to become a franchise QB, to help him overcome a less than stellar supporting cast? Who is the QB whisperer for the Bills? What about the head coach? Nope, it's not going to be McDermott, he's a defensive guru. What about the Bill's QB coach? The Bills QB coach is David Culley. He was hired last year by the Bills and this is his first shot at being a QB coach in the pros. He has been a NFL coach since 1994 but has been a wide receiver coach for all of it. He was a QB coach at the college level, but that was from 1985-88 for Southwestern Louisiana. What ever you feel about Tyrod Taylor, he didn't really blossom last year under Culley. I don't think we can call him a QB Whisperer. Below is his coaching resume'. 1994-95 Tampa Bay WR Coach 1996-98 Pittsburgh WR Coach 1999-10 Philly WR Coach 2011-12 Philly WR Coach / Senior Offensive Assistant 2013-16 Kansas City WR Coach / Assistant Head Coach 2017- Buffalo QB Coach What about the Offensive Coordinator Brian Daboll? Is he a QB Whisperer? Below are his NFL coaching positions since he joined the NFL. I don't think anyone can look at his resume' below and objectively and say that he is a QB Whisperer. 2000-01 New England Defensive coaching assistant 2002-06 New England WR coach 2007-08 New York Jets QB coach (Chad Pennington's last NYJ year / Kellen Clemens) 2009-10 Cleveland Offensive Coordinator (Derek Anderson) 2011 Miami Offensive Coordinator (Chad Henne / Matt Moore) 2012 Kansas City Offensive Coordinator (Matt Cassel / Brady Quinn) 2013 New England Offensive Assistant 2014-16 New England Tight End Coach 2017 Alabama Offensive Coordinator and QB Coach (Jalen Hurts) So we have a team full of holes including the O-Line and WRs, and no one on the coaching staff that has demonstrated any ability to nurture a QB. The question may not be which of the QBs in this year's draft is the best fit for the Bills, but rather, are the Bills going to be a good fit for any of the QBs in this year's draft? I don't want to poke a stick in the eye of the "draft a QB this year no matter the cost" crowd, but it looks like we might just be setting up whomever we draft this year for failure. Might it be better to fill the holes in the roster with this years draft? Unload a bunch of Terry and Kim's money to lure away a proven QB guru from another team in the 2019 off season, and then "sell the farm" next year to grab the best QB in the draft. Then you will give whomever we draft, the player we are "selling the farm" for, the best possible chance to succeed? We need to maximize the chance that our QB is not just the right QB, but also in the right situation to succeed. Some may counter that we should "sell the farm" for a QB this year and then have him sit a year behind McCarron. My response would be that if there is a QB in this year's draft who is such an amazing prospect that it will be worth it to "sell the farm" to get him, then why does he need to sit a year? Luck didn't sit. Newton didn't sit. Wentz didn't sit. Mariota and Winston didn't sit. Eli, Peyton, Big Ben, Russell Wilson, Derek Carr etc, etc... All of them played rookie year. If this year's QB is all that and a bag of chips, why cant we just start him this year? Ultimately, we may be a year too early in rolling the dice on our franchise QB (and a roll of the dice it will be as evidenced by the perpetual "which QB do we draft" battles on this board). If there was an Andrew Luck in this year's draft I would be all for doing whatever it takes to grab him. But the truth of the matter is... there isn't. There may be some wisdom in building a team that will support our rookie QB first, instead of having a rookie QB come in who will be expected to succeed in-spite of his supporting cast. Just some food for thought before the draft. I will now sit back and await my public lashings...