BillnutinHouston

Not sure who Polly is, but kudos on a good take. Put me in the optimist camp, too.

I think it's definitely more of Marrone's "messaging". I suspect that HE wants to be the one communicating the depth chart to the players, not wanting to leave it to an impersonal website. Smart move by a take-charge coach who is allowing no detail to escape his management purview.

UPDATE: the Bills just selected Marquise Goodwin from Texas. This means, of course, that Buddy has just wrested control of the organization back from Whaley. Do you see how silly this is? By the way, there is plenty of speculation and anticipation about Buddy's departure being imminent, but absolutely no proof that anyone can credibly point to.

Allen or Swope would make me happy at #78.

In the aggregate, southern college programs (especially the SEC) have better players than other conferences. Might that have something to do with many Bills picks coming from the south? Have you looked at the % of southern school picks from other teams? My point: to pigeonhole any GM like this is a major stretch and very simplistic, in my opinion. Do GMs really get jobs in the NFL by telling prospective employers they'll just make picks from the SEC? Me thinks they'd get laughed out of the interview. Isn't Florida State pretty far south? Explain how analytics explains the Woods and Alonzo picks. If 3 of the the Bills' next 4 picks are from the south, will you stand by your "analysis"?

We've had what, 2-3 previous Nix drafts? Not much of a sample size from which to surmise what a "typical Nix move" is. Also, every selection is a product of unique circumstances, both in terms of the status of your roster, that of your competitors, as well as who takes which players just ahead of you. Example: clearly the Bills liked Minter out of LSU (they invited him to Orchard Park for a predraft visit), but Arizona picked him just head of Buffalo's pick. So does the Alonzo pick suddenly become a "Whaley pick" or was the Alonzo pick born out of necessity since Arizona grabbed the guy we liked at the last minute? Reading a changing of the guard into 3 picks is really oversimplifying the situation, in my opinion.

On who's board? Yours? LOL

Why would Russ shake Marrone's hand when Buddy walks in the room?

Posted this in a separate thread but the thread police didn't appreciate it, so here goes again:. ESPN Sport Science: E.J. Manuel Impressive performance that ranked him in between Andy Dalton and Ben Roethlisberger among current pros, and he beat Kaepernick's score in one of the drills. He was the highest scoring QB among this year's QB class. I liked what the host says at the end of the clip: "Now some question EJ Manuel's ability to throw downfield. But consider this: in passes travelling more than 10 yards through the air, his senior completion percentage was only about 2% lower than last year's #1 pick, Andrew Luck."

Apologies if this has already been posted. Very impressive showing by EJ. Enjoy.

No need to apologize. I appreciate your hard work.

I came to this thread for a laugh and went away with a good idea. Thanks.

If true, maybe the Bills' smokescreen is working. Create a buzz where teams HAVE to have the #8 pick.

That's classic smokescreen right there. It's what you leak out to entice someone to trade up into your #8 spot. If they can't trrade down, it's Barkley at 8.

It's possible that they've signed him and have asked all parties to keep it quiet until after the draft. Unlikely they'd be able to keep it under wraps, but it is theoretically possible.

Ditto

Telling the truth about a certain pick ("he was our 4th highest rated QB but we had to pick based on value") doesn't motivate and inspire, thus you will never hear it. Once you pick em, you immediately become responsible for the care and feeding of their morale. Telling the fans the truth comes in a distant last place in the priority rankings.

F5

I'd be OK with this.

Agree. He is? I've never heard that Marrone is taking over the decisionmaking from Buddy. Link?

So you're confident you have all the facts?

As Joe B. said the other day on GR, a lot could depend on where Geno is picked. If he goes before #8, the Bills may feel they can't gamble on a decent QB falling to them at 41, and select their QB. If Geno's still on the board at 8, they may think they can wait until then 2nd round or trade up into the bottom of the 1st.

Good question. Haven't heard.

I've heard this a few times, so maybe I'm missing something. What are you basing this on? What opportunity has he had to demonstrate this to you?

Ouch. I bet 'ol Jimmy's sweating right about now.