Ramius

He was just on NFL Network and just tweeted it, but he says the Bills like Barkley in the second round, and NOT at #8. He also reported that the Bills believe that the Jags will take Nassib at #33, so if they want Nassib, they'd need to trade back into the end of the first to take him. But he strongly implied that Buffalo isn't looking at these guys at #8.

EJ isn't timid, and he doesn't just bail and run. Yes, he will move from the pocket when pressure comes as opposed to stepping up. But he doesn't just run into the line for 1 yard line like your friend says. He doesn't freak out. He'll sit there and throw. I'm not sure what games your friend is watching. EJ actually didn't run much at all this past season after the Clemson game, much to the chagrin of FSU fans everywhere. With the turnovers, he will get into trouble by trying to do too much in the backfield, but he tends to take the sack as opposed to forcing a crappy pass, if thats hat he meant. EJ isn't a franchise guy right now, or else he'd be going #1 overall. But he's got the potential to turn into one, as seen in games like the 2011 Bowl game vs ND (played with a broken leg) and the 2012 Clemson game.

EJ. Based off of the potential and the flashes of absolute brilliance he's shown.

I put some thoughts on this question in the EJ thread.

I haven't done a direct comparison, but based on what i knew and saw in 2011 with Ponder versus now with EJ, i'd say that EJ has the higher ceiling, but lower floor. EJ is the better athlete and has better physical skills, but Ponder was a better pure passer. Both could make plays with their feet. Ponder is a danger to scramble for a first. EJ is a danger to turn a broken play into a 50 yard run. I thought Ponder could come out and play very soon as a rookie, whereas i think EJ will take a bit of seasoning and coaching. Lots of FSU fans rag on EJ and say that they'd rather have Ponder under center. However, a lot of that is Ponder was a 3 star recruit who received little fanfare, but developed a ton under Jimbo. EJ on the other hand was a 5 star prospect, one of the "top" QBs in the country out of HS, and Jimbo's first "big" offensive recruit. The expectations for EJ were so much higher than they ever were for Ponder, hence the reason FSU fans look back that much more longingly on Ponder than EJ.

The Bills chose the new flywire collar design. They didn't have to choose that particular jersey, but its the newest technology that most teams chose. Only a couple of teams kept the "old" jersey without the technology. As for the collars, if you had a different colored collar than the base jersey color, which the Bills did, the polo collar is the result. The Bills "chose" to keep their existing colors and adapt them to the new Nike scheme. There would be 2 options for "fixing" the collar: 1. the Bills could go without the red/white/blue collar, and just go to an all blue home and all white road. 2. Nike could actually figure out how to make the flywire part of the collar a different color than the base jersey color. If they can make these new state of the art jerseys, it baffles me as to why the flywire part of the collar is limited to the base jersey color.

The audible thing was debated. I know for a fact that EJ was allowed to make hot reads and adjust routes at the LOS based on the looks and blitzes the defenses were showing him. And i'll still call BS on the "simplified" offense that a lot of people are saying FSU runs/ran with EJ. Fisher runs a complicated offense, and will not put a QB out there that doesn't understand his offense. That's all the local guys talk about is the complexity of Jimbo's offense. As for the ball handling, its not that he fumbles, its that he sometimes tends to carry the ball away from his body when running, something that's easily correctable.

He was a 2 year starter. His other 6-7 starts came when Ponder was hurt. I'd love for the Bills to draft him, but i certainly wouldn't expect him to start on opening day. He'll definitely need a bit of seasoning and coaching. I'd see him as a projected 2014 starter for whatever team drafts him. I am highly disappointed that the Bills seem to have very little interest in him. They were down here visiting him, had him at OBD, etc. I hope all the other (Nassib, Barkley) rumors are just that, to disguise their interest in him (EJ), but i got a feeling that's not the case at all.

I like the new jerseys, and the helmets are pretty badass. Again, the white "rugby" collars are a product of the Nike overall jersey re-design, NOT a particular choice by the Bills. Most teams have a collar like the Bills do.

Whats up with the 3rd round?

I'm off to a conference call, but SD's round 2 pick choices were PM'ed to Rich.

Tampa selects Zach Ertz, TE, Stanford

Gotta toss in EJ Manuel and some of the QBs into that mix as well.

SD is ecstatic at the way the top 10 picks fell and rushes in their selection of OT Lane Johnson.

I'll be off and on until SD's pick. SD is open to trading down.

If <insert QB du jour here> is the next best "sure fire" QB, then whomever has the #1 overall isn't trading out of that spot. They'll take the QB in the next draft.

You severely underestimate how much the jets losing Revis is going to affect them. They lost the best CB in the league, and arguably one of the best defenders in the league. The guy shuts down half the field, and allows a both safeties to focus on the other half. I don't care that they got a draft pick, because there's virtually way that the player they take at #13 will do more for the Jets than Revis will do for the Buccs, or Revis would have for the Jets (over the next 4-5 years, the length of a 1st round contract). I'll take a proven player over a draft pick any day of the week. From the Buccs side, they had a ton of cap space, so there was more than enough room for Revis. They also play 6 games against Brees, Ryan, Newton, Steve Smith, White/Jones, and Colston. You don't think Revis is going to help? Ridiculous. Now versus the Falcons, they can single up Revis on Jones or White, and let a safety double down on the other. Plus, Revis is infinitely better than whatever CB the Buccs would have taken at #13.

Love the move. Revis is so much better than anyone the Jets (or Buccs) will get at 13. Revis is a sure thing. The 13 already has a 50% chance of being a bust.

Disagree. A pass rusher can single handedly alter and impact a game. He can cause multiple offensive players to have to account for him. An LT simply cannot have that much impact on a game. He blocks 1 defender and thats it. No defense has to account for a great LT.

To add on to this, how did the Rams fare with Orlando Pace, one of the best LTs ever? They didn't amount to anything until they added Warner and Marshall Faulk. Those 2 drove the Rams to 2 super bowls, not Pace.

This is not the 1960's, or the 1980's, or even the 1990's. In today's NFL, fat guys simply aren't worth the high draft pick, because they don't have a very big impact on the game. No, you can't have a garbage OL, you need a decent one. But going from a decent OL, one say ranked 14-16 in the league, to an OL ranked in the top 5, is simply not going to have a significant impact on the number of wins your team has. Its not worth the investment, because there will be limited return on the amount of wins your team improves by. You can get a decent OL in the mid to late rounds. Wasting the #8 on a fat guy will have a very limited impact on the number of wins posted by the Bills. What WILL impact the number of wins is taking a playmaker or someone who passes/catches passes/stops the pass.

In today's NFL you can get by with a decent OL. You simply don't need a monstrous, dominating OL to be successful, so continually blowing high picks on the OL isn't going to bring the long term success. Get a few guys that can play, get yourself a slightly above average OL, and you'll do fine, so long as you fill out the other positions. Look at what the Bills did. There are plenty of good OL that can be found in rounds 2-3 and later, often at a great value. I see no point to wasting the #8 pick on a fat guy, when you can get much more bang for your buck by getting a playmaker. That high of a pick should be spent on guys that can score, or directly stop a team from scoring. Look at the Ravens. Yes they did have a lot of high picks on the OL, but it wasn't until Flacco started playing lights out that they became super bowl contenders and winners again. Also, take your Bryant McKinnie example. As good as he was, when did the Vikes finally get to the brink of the Super Bowl? When they got Brett Favre.

Sorry, no thanks. The days of "monster" O-lines being a key to success are long gone. Fat guys don't win games. No point to go chubby chasing at #8. Take a guy who can pass, catch a pass, or stop the pass.

Whats so great about the 1982 class? Art Schlichter, Jim McMahon, Oliver Luck, and Matt Kofler (Buf) were the only QB taken in rounds 1-3.

I'll take SD.