Bflojohn

Ramius... Cromartie has ALREADY declared for the 2006 NFL Draft. He's in!

1st Round 1.) Houston- Reggie Bush, RB 2.) New Orleans- Vince Young, QB 3.) Tennessee- Matt Leinart, QB 4.) NY Jets- D'Brickashaw Ferguson, OT 5.) Green Bay- Mario Williams, DE 6.) Oakland- A.J. Hawk, OLB 7.) San Francisco- Mathius Kiwanuka, DE 8.) Buffalo Bills- Haloti Ngata, DT, Oregon Ducks 9.) Detroit- Jimmy Williams, CB 10.) Arizona- Eric Winston, OT 11.) St. Louis- Michael Huff, SS 12.) Cleveland- DeAngelo Williams, RB 13.) Baltimore- Lendale White, RB 14.) Philadelphia- Jonathan Scott, OT 15.) Atlanta- Tamba Hali, DE 16.) Miami- Marcus McNeill, OT 17.) Minnesota- DeMeco Ryans, OLB 18.) Dallas- Jay Cutler, QB 19.) San Diego- Antonio Cromartie, CB 20.) Kansas City- Rodrique Wright, DT 21.) Denver (From Washington)- Chad Greenway, OLB 22.) Carolina- Thomas Howard, OLB 23.) Tampa Bay- Winston Justice, OT 24.) Chicago- Vernon Davis, TE 25.) Cincinnati- D'Qwell Jackson, ILB 26.) New York Giants- Jason Allen, CB 27.) Pittsburgh- Laurence Maroney, RB 28.) Jacksonville- Marcedes Lewis, TE 29.) Denver- Greg Eslinger, C 30.) Indianapolis- Chad Jackson, WR 31.) New England- LaRon Landry, FS 32.) Seattle- Max Jean-Gilles, OG 2nd Round 33.) Hou.- Darryl Tapp, DE 34.) Tenn.- Manny Lawson, DE/OLB 35.) NYJ- Omar Jacobs, QB 36.) G.B.- Alan Zemaitis, CB 37.) N.O.- Tye Hill, CB 38.) S.F.- Dee Webb, CB 39.) Oak.- Brodrick Bunkley,DT 40.) Det.- Orien Harris, DT 41.) Ariz.- Daryn Colledge, OT 42.) Buffalo Bills- Darnell Bing, SS, USC Trojans 43.) Clev.- Nick Mangold, C 44.) Balt.- Ryan O'Callaghan, OT 45.) Phil.- Santonio Holmes, WR 46.) St.L.- Elvis Dumervil, DE 47.) Atla.- Abdul Hodge, ILB 48.) Minn.- Will Blackmon, CB/WR 49.) Dal.- Davin Jseph, OG 50.) S.D.- Greg Blue, FS 51.) Mia.- Kelly Jennings, CB 52.) K.C.- Taitusi Lutui, OG 53.) Caro.- DeMario Minter, CB 54.) T.B.- Gabe Watson, DT 55.) Chic.- Derek Hagan, WR 56.) Cinci.- Jesse Mahelona, DT 57.) Wash.- Eric Henderson, DE 58.) Pitts.- Sinorice Moss, WR 59.) NYG- A.J. Nicholson, OLB 60.) Jax- Jason Spitz, OG 61.) Indy- Joseph Addai, RB 62.) Den.- Ray Edwards, DE 63.) N.E.- Cedric Griffin, CB 64.) Seat.- Gaines Adams, DE/OLB 3rd Round 65.) Hou.- Terna Nande, OLB 66.) NYJ- Michael Bush, RB 67.) G.B.- Will Allen, OG 68.) N.O.- Mike DeGory, C 69.) Buffalo Bills (From Tenn.)- Andrew Whitworth, OT, LSU Tigers 70.) Oak.- Claude Wroten, DT/DE 71.) S.F.- Charles Spencer, OG 72.) Ariz.- Parys Haralson, DE 73.) Buffalo Bills- Jonathan Lewis, DT, Virginia Tech Hokies All in all, a couple of runs on positions and a fairly solid draft for Buffalo, I think!

Assuming that the Bills can move down a bit, I'd take the run stuffing DT from Oregon, Haloti Ngata. You are asking this question on the night he declared for the draft! Good timing possibly. I would look to dangle the #8 pick for a team willing to trade up for Kiwanuka, Cutler or Ryans. Arizona @ @10 would be ideal. They need a young guy at QB, if you ask me. They're going to ignore McNown in free agency. How long will it be viable for Kurt Warner to keep that job? Not too long in my estimation.

With the "deep sixing" of staffs throughout the league, Senior Bowl week is the place where assistant coaching candidates flock looking for work! Mike Mularkey and Marv will be presenting a unified front and that's the time in January when staffs are finalized. I'm guessing that the Bills can build a capable staff later this month! One candidate I'd like as the new DC is Dave McGinnis. Here in Arizona, he had the players loyalty, he just didn't get a fair assessment from management, ala Mr. Bill Bidwill. My wild card choice for offensive coordinator would be Rick Neuheisel, who showed well as the QB coach in Baltimore. Kyle Boller started to show signs late in the season. I'm assuming that Neuheisel had an impact there!

I'll put it this way.... in a few months, Marv Levy will be better than three quarters of the GM's in the NFL, gaining QUICKLY on the other quarter! He is just what the Doctor ordered! The Buffalo Bills WILL get much better under his "watch"!!!

The Press conference, to me, was vintage Marv! He even asked the fans to rally and show the rest of the world what Bills' fans are made of.....Outstanding! His delivery was sharp, his wit just as sharp, and his unbounded enthusiasm was infectious! Man I'm pumped! He brings an air of commitment to the Bills that no one could have matched outside the organization. This is NOT a public relations manuever, it really represents a trust between Ralph and Marv, and this alone is worthy of praise (on Ralphs' part). I believe that his meeting with Mike Mularkey later in the day was the first of many "inspirations" that Marv will provide throughout the football side of the fence! Potholes in the parking lot....maybe, but potholes in the football operations... No way!!

... and then again, maybe Super Mario tells his agent, "Get me in on time!", and he signs, tears up training camp and the Preseason games and goes on to win the NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year!!! Oh my, OPTIMISM!!!

Hmmmm.... status unresolved, fresh start..... Status unresolved, fresh start? Which way does everyone lean on this count? I'd say fresh start!!!

Mr. Clayton on NFL Live, ESPN, is reporting that meetings with Modrak and Mularkey are NOT going well and as a result, MM is now on shaky ground! The sticking point is with Assistant Coaches. Tom Donahoe, by the way, is NOT a part of these talks. It's looking like MM is holding firm with his staff. Isn't that awfully like Wade Phillips? Seems that way....

In professional sports, the saying goes, "you're hired to be fired!" or some type of derivation thereof.... so the axiom is true and the basic FACT is that this is a highly charged environment that leaves these people in control of franchises that ALL want to win and fight each other to gain an upper hand! The simple fact is that these positions are high profile and once you are in the Ivory Tower, people will throw stones at you if they perceive you are NOT getting the objective accomplished and once that is the prevelent opinion, you are as good as gone! I chose to root for the Buffalo Bills, if Tom Donahoe doesn't succeed, then I'm inclined to be happy only in the sense that "it" might get better! That's it.... Nothing against Mr. Donahoe, who I thought was the best hire at the time, but he did not get the objective complete! The Bills IMO, can win a Super Bowl, it just won't be with TD at the helm.

On the interception that Shelton "tried" to catch, I laughed till I cried because he was running backward with his back to the endzone and falling over at the same time! The actual "pitch-out" he literally handed the Jets was the most unbelievable thing about the play. It typifies the stupidity of the play calling and the epitome of a stupid player on any given play in a Bills uniform!!! The pitch-out couldn't have looked any better (in a Jets fans sense!) than a option QB heading down the line and tossing it to a back! PITIFUL!!!

Chris Mortensen just said that the "buzz" is that Marv is going to ride to the rescue in Buffalo! Brought tears to my eyes! He is the face of winning for this franchise and I'm thrilled to hear about this news. Ralph Wilson and Marv are good friends and that might be the key to all of this, Ralph probably asked for Marv' advise, and got a proposal he couldn't refuse! Truly great news!!!

I'll try and stick to what I think the Bills will be picking in April. The DT position is pretty deep and a few of them made fairly positive impressions. Dusty Dvoracek looks the part, mainly as a disrupter and he probably will fit best in a 1 gap roll, but he's got a future on Sundays. Haloti Ngata didn't have a top flight game for Oregon, however, I was struck by the constant double team he encountered. Overall, he didn't play too well, but his talent was noticeable. Nebraska also has a DT that has talent and thats Lekevin Smith. He has the tools also! Miami got crushed, and as a result, Orien Harris' game effort was less than I expected. LSU's O-line really had a tremendous game and Harris got caught up in the wash often. from my viewing, Gabriel Watson still must be in the doghouse at Michigan because his playing time was somewhat limited versus Nebraska. That's a shame really, because he's got the prototype size and skill that you look for in a DT! The offensive line was well represented and didn't disappoint. Eric Winston, D'Brickashaw Ferguson, Daryn Colledge, Jeremy Trueblood, and Andrew Whitworth can ALL play. I also thought that South Carolinas' Jabari Levey left a good impression for me against Missouri. Additionally, Leveys' teammate, Na'Shan Goddard, OG, played through a first half concussion and the broadcasters said he was the best lineman for the Gamecocks! At OG, make no mistake, Davin Joseph from Oklahoma can play too. If the Bills take a RB to push McGahee, I really liked P.J. Daniels from Georgia Tech. He is a tough runner who "sticks it up in there" and fights for yards. He's going to be a good pro...Joseph Addai from LSU is also a very fine back. He will fight for the extra yards too and has a wealth of talent. Both could last until the fourth round and would be excellent pickups.

Drew Haddad already signed with the San Diego Chargers! SORRY!!

First and foremost, I have to ask you Billsbabe.... do you have an agenda here for the Bills to bring back your Dad? I, for one, know about your father and think that he's a football guy through and through. My curiousity would be that Dwight was asked to leave and that usually causes hard feelings within a family towards the organization that proposes and carries out this type of split. I read every post from the other post about bringing him back, therefore I think that this begs the question!

The Sporting News just ran an article that merely states that the situation at QB in the NFL is boardering on abysmal! With that said, there are Drew Bledsoe like trades, whereby brighter minds will download a veteran that they have no further use for, for your first rounder. This approach is what it is.... delaying the one thing every franchise needs with the QB position.... LUCK! Drafting Losman was no different than drafting any QB taken in the first round, it was A GAMBLE ON GREATNESS! The Bengals were horrible for years because they drafted David Klingler and Akili Smith with the intention of having "found" their franchise QB! All anyone can hope for is that with Losman or whoever is next, that they finally get it right!!!

I've always thought that Mel Kiper, Jr. has had the itch to ply his knowledge at the General Managers level in the National Football League. Is now the time to give him his shot at building a franchise through the draft and free agency? I don't know if he is considered an outsider by league people, but who cares if he's capable of bringing a winner to Buffalo or another team. The final thought I have about Mel is that he has enough of a "chip-on-the-shoulder" mentality, that it's now too far fetched to think that he could succeed.

WOW, a post that is jam packed full of football facts. Mike Mularkey is starting to sound like Hank, does that figure in?

The Green Bay Packers weren't stuck with Ray Rhodes, and they had Brett Favre! If the mix isn't right, change the ingredients.

The one thing about Jim Haslett that I truly LOVE is that he WANTS to coach the Buffalo Bills! For ALL the Bills historians out there, name one other coach who supposedly has an "OUT" in his contract if the dream job for him opens up, namely BUFFALO. I can't think of one. Passion alone is an interesting dynamic when you think of Haslett taking control of this franchise. That energizes me, and for the rest of you, think about that when you consider his possible hire. Lobbying hard for a particular job is done in industry all the time, but to want the Buffalo Head Coaching gig, and making it public, to a great extent, is uplifting!!

I'll say this as gently as I possibly can.... IF the Cincinnati Bengals WIN a Super Bowl before the Buffalo Bills do, and at this point, that is distinctly more likely, I'm liable to hop a plane and choke the entire front office staff as it's presently is constituted! THAT WOULD SUCK!!!!

First and foremost, Jason Peters is destined for OLT, IMHO, so the plan for him is lock him away in the weight room so he can assume the run blocking role that he is going to have to provide if the running game is to improve. The Center should be LeCharles Bentley from New Orleans, as this position is pivotal (no pun intended!) with the massive DT's that the Bills see on a regular basis. Maybe the Bills can work their way back into the tail end of the 1st round in April to snag Max Jean-Gilles from Georgia, ala the trade that the Bills pulled off for J.P. Losman. This guy played the OLG spot at Georgia and would look great in a Bills uniform!! Since most players improve the most between the 1st and 2nd seasons, Duke Preston may actually be the answer at ORG in place of Villarial (keep Chris for OG depth). That leaves the ORT position open, and I'd say that Mike Williams is still salvageable, and Mike Gandy can play the role of Marcus Price, whereby he can be the OT jack-of-all-trades type this team needs for depth. Geisinger stays for development and draft picks round out your OL roster. Maybe, as someone else has mentioned, Laurence Smith is also due back.... We'll see on him!

The one key for the firing of this management team is whether the game versus the Jets is a classic "run for the bus" effort that the Bills were once known for in the early to mid 80's! That will fuel the wholesale firing of Tom Donahoe, Mike Mularkey and nearly ALL of his staff. They will lose in Cincinnati, so the New York tilt will be the frosting on the cake to me. I'm betting that they are as flat as a pancake for the Jets....

Mike Turico said that the Bills had a stop on 4th and 1 during this game. The utterly unbelieveable statement next floored me.... That was the FIRST 3rd or 4th down and 1 ALL SEASON this defense has turned over to get off the field. How dismal is that little tidbit?! I have never heard a more damning statement about a defense in all my years watching football. THAT is amazing!! You'd think SOMEONE, ANYONE might have tripped into the backfield and inadvertantly tackled the ball carrier for a stop before freaking game 14.....WOW!!!

Actually, I was relieved with this win.... I just don't think that the Sabres should let a varsity hockey team in Pittsburgh hang around! Tommorow night they should skate circles around this bunch! A breather every now and again would do wonders. I guess the results are what really count, but putting the Penguins outta their misery is what I'd like to see on Saturday. Personally, I believe that if the Sabres come out and skate, they're 8-1 or 8-2 better than the Pens.... Make it happen Lindy!!!