marck

I was listening to Colin Cowherd on the 'West Coast Hour" and he just interviewed Haloto Ngata the defensive tackle of Oregon. Ngata was asked of the teams who have brought him in for a workout who showed the most interest. His answer was the Ravens and the Bills. When asked about what impressed each team, Ngata stated his size and quickness were the charactistics that drew the most interest. Don't really know if this helps put any perspective on the draft but since it was news I thought I would pass it on to all the posters.

Teams looking for secondary help in this draft are the Dolphins (hell no), the Chargers (possible) , Kansas City (Possible) are only round one options, possible 2nd round teams would be Green Bay, Arizona or Detroit. The good of a trade - Saving on cap, adding high round pick The bad of a trade - Need to allocate a high pick for a CB, talent level drop-off Much prefer to sign Nate to a long-term contract

Just to let you know, Winston Justice is a RT only because Matt Leinhart was a left-handed QB. He is a natural LT. This is why he should be the 8th pick in the draft going to the Buffalo Bills.

Since you defined my mock as terrible, let me review yours; Bunkley & Stanley as defensive tackles over McCargo & Lewis. Not bad, same thought and same type of player. I prefer taking an OT higher and feel we get comparable value in using 2nd & 5th round picks at DT, however good thought. I prefer Justice over McNeil due to athletism, however both players could play LT as McNeil has great size/speed quickness ratio's. By using your #1 to trade down and get an extra pick, we get Bunkley and McNeil at 42. Totally acceptable. Anthony Smith vs Pat Watkins, prefer Watkins due to being bigger faster, and far more athletic and played against beter level of competition in a winning program, Syracuse is in a down conference and if a choice is available, prefer better athlete who played against better competition. Like the choice of Charles Spencer of Pitt at guard over my choice of Sims. However felt a greater need to get an OT so I could not trade down and Sims or Matua also played at power conferences and have comparable athletic talent. But I agree that the Bills do need a guard. We also agree that a defnesive tackle is needed, Anderson has a much higher upside then Rucker, who is more of a pass ruch specialist only, with limited run stop capability. Stovall is a luxury as we already have 9 WR's on the roster and is unnecessary. A running back is also needed and I prefer a guy like Robinson who also brings some additional skills to the table. At CB, I really like Devin Hester who has great skills for CB and will slip a bit in this draft. Tight End is not a position of need unless we take a Vernon Davis who I agree will be a special player, but with so many other needs is a luxary at this time. Now, don't you feel this is a better and more qualited response then yours.

Thank you for you deeply detailed commentary. Might you actually have some football reasoning why the mock is so terrible.

After reviewing the Bills present needs, I have compiled the following mock draft assuming we use the present 10 picks as of the time of this post. 8th Pick - Winston Justice - OT USC There is a point when you need to invest high draft picks to the trenches. Justice in my opinion has the biggest upside of all tackle prospects in this draft. He is a far better athlete then Ferguson and will be a quality starter for the next 10-12 years barring injury. A cornerstone and need pick with the 8th choice in this draft. 42nd Pick - John McCargo - DT North Carolina State Profile for a nose tackle or a one gap tackle in a 4-3 scheme, is a sound and smart player who would fit into a rotation at tackle with Triplett and Anderson. High motor, strong with great quickness needed in this defensive scheme. Also if Bills move to a 3-4, could be a nose tackle. 70th Pick - Pat Watkins -FS Florida State Pick based on need and outstanding physical gifts. Cover 2 scheme needs ball-hawking playmaker and Watkins is more the playmaker type then the hitter. Good size/speed/vertical ratio at at 4.46 in 40 with a 40 inch vertical, and history in a quality program makes him a steal at this point in the draft deep with safety talent 73rd - Mark Anderson - DE Alabama This is a great value pick as Anderson has solid credentials as a pass rush end, great height at 6'6" and has his weight up to 270 lbs while maintaining 4.68 speed in the 40. Edge pass rusher with a solid base for holding up against the run and played and excellend in a top conference in the SEC. 105th Pick - Jonathan Lewis - DT Virginia Tech Lewis is another tackle that is more of a penetrator in the style of Larry Tripplet, with McCargo more the stay at home type like Tim Anderson, makes for a great rotation of youth on the defensive line and has great strength and size at around 300 lbs. 134th Pick - Devin Hester - CB Miami May not be there at this point in the draft but if he is, would be a steal at this point. Fast with great quickness and fluid hips and great recovery speed. Biggest limitation is strength and lack of experience at this position. Could be a special teams player until he develops skills on the corner, would round out the CB corps with Clements, McGee, King and Hester. 143rd Pick - Rob Sims - OG Ohio State Nasty physical guard who is an up and down player. Has the physical skills to dominate inside, can't be moved outside due to slow footwork. Can be a physical road grader type of Guard and has played against top competition. Fred Matua of USC and Kevin Boothe of Cornell are also guys who would still be available with this pick. All three have comparable skills and would enhance the guard position. 178th Pick - Ingle Martin - QB Furman Transfer from University of Florida. Played very well at lower division school, cannon arm and can make all the throws. Good speed and quickness for a QB. Development team player who can be 3rd string and develop in NFL Europe. 216th Pick - Michael Robinson - Slash Penn State Interesting tweener, physical talent who can run, throw and catch, but none well enough to standout in any area. Might have value at RB or as an option QB for special plays. Could also be an asset on special teams. 248th Pick - Elvis Dumervil - OLB/DE Louisville May not be available here, but some teams have him off their boards due to height/speed ratio. Don't really know if he has NFL talent, but college production makes him worthy of a look. If he the skills to rush the passer, may be able to do it at the NFL level. This is my feel for the draft, love to read your comments.

I hope you are being sarcastic with this post. Good humor, thanks

It came to mind with the loss of Eric Moulds to the Texans that the Bills have 10 draft picks, extra cap spendings and a number of options. One option would be to bypass all of the has-been receivers in the remaining free-agent pool and possibly strike up a deal with Denver for their 2nd pick in this year's draft. I could see the value for both teams in making a move such as this. For Buffalo, it would provide them an opportunity to add one more quality players this year to build a young and developing team. For Denver, it would lesson the burden of a high draft pick under their present salary cap constraints and provide them an opportunity to pick high net year, if the Bills have a very poor season. The way I see it, next year's draft will be much weaker then this years because of all the juniors and redshirt sophomores that ccame out this year due to the projected changes in the CBA. Even though I see the Bills as a 5 to 7 win team next year, and therefore earning a probable top ten pick, the trade woulkd benefit us in that we could have one more quality building block in place and more money available next year in free agency without having to worry about money allocated for a high draft choice. I feel if we use this years draft to build a core base of young talent to go with the talent we already have in place, we could use the next off-season to add just the right mix of free agent help to push us to a strong contending club for the next four or five seasons. Love to hear your feedback on this idea.

No feedback from anyone?

At present the Bills have 10 picks in the 2006 NFL Draft. Numbers 8, 42, 70, 73, 105, 134, 143, 178, 216 and 248. Here is my suggestion: Pick # 8 - Winston Justice - OT - USC Pick # 42 - Jason Allen - FS - Tennessee Pick #70 - John McCargo - DT - NC State Pick #73 - Taitusi Lutui - OG - USC Pick #105 - Jonathon Lewis - DT - Virginia Tech Pick # 134 - Jeff Webb - WR - San Diego State Pick # 143 - Mike Kudla - DE - Ohio State Pick # 178 - Calvin Lowry - SS - Penn State * This is a player at the safety position that brings it on every play, he is a contact seeking hitter as a defensive back, I like his aggressive approach to the game, it is refreshing * He also brings another dimension to the field as a return man on the team, I feel he excels more as a punt returner, he excels more on his fearlessness and instincts as return player, than on being an outstanding athlete back as a return guy * That shows me he is a player that plays for the love and competition of the game, and that are traits of a winner and a player of character Pick # 216 - David Irons - CB - Auburn Pick # 248 - Bobby Iwuchukwu - OLB - Purdue With this draft we make no trades, use all 10 picks in defined need areas. Justice & Lutui give us a left side of the offensive line for the next decade, with a young center in Marvin Fowler, Duke Preston at Guard and Jason peters at RT, McNally could develop this group by the 2007 season. DLine prospects McCargo and Lewis are one gap penetrating lineman that fit the defensive style of our new defensive coordinator, with Tim Anderson their to add into the rotation our line is one that shoots the gaps and blows up plays instead of letting teams jam the ball down our throats. DE Kudla has excellent measureables and played at a quality program at Ohio State and mixes in with Kelsay, and Denny to support Aaron Schoebel. Jason Allen is an explosive athlete who could be the ball-hawking safety this team needs, Calvin Lowry is a hard hitting Strong Safety who has the speed to play the cover 2 scheme. Irons and Iwuchkwu are players to add to the special teams and have some skills to play as back-ups. Please feel free to question and comment.

The way to build a strong offensive line is to do it through the draft. The players available on the free agent market were for the most part in excess of 30, were on the downside of their careers and would provide only a temporary quick fix. This team is being built for a long-term playoff run and Marv knows that 2006 will not be a playoff season. Therefore the approach is to shed age and bloated contracts for players whose skill level is either diminishing (Milloy, Adams) or just because of the team dynamic in 2006 will be under-preforming their contracts (Moulds, Campbell). The free agent moves are designed to bring youth and speed to the team and prepare them for a 2007 playoff run. The offensive line issues will be addressed in this draft. I expect the Bills to add additional draft picks by cleverly manuevering to gain more picks in the 2nd and 4th round. I feel that when this draft is over the Bills will have drafted a defensive tackle, an offensive tackle, an offensive guard and a safety. These are areas that we will address in the draft.

I just read on KFFL, that Miami will open the season in Pittsburgh in the Thursday night opener on September 7th. The remaining games will be played on September 10th and 11th.

Many people tried to tell you that Culpepper won't even get on the field in November if at all in 2006. You simply choose to ignore the intelligent football posts and blab on about how this will reinvigorate the Dolphins. In fact if Drew Brees was cleared by the Dolphin medical staff, Dante would have been cut as there were no other takers. Without Chris Carter and Randy Moss, this guy is a turnover machine with a bad "me first" attitude and horrible leadership skills. The quarterback is the face of your franchise and this man represents the worst type of leader. He will be a huge bust in Miami and this is a move that Nick Saban will regret. The Dolphins of 2006 will be the Bills of 2005. Their great finish was crafted against non-playoff teams with the exception of the win in San Diego when the Chargers were flu ridden and the last game with the Patriots where New England played their 3rd string QB. Faced with a more challenging schedule, an againg defense and no QB until mid-season at best, the Dolphins are more looking like a medicore team in a poor division with the Bills and Jets in a full rebuilding mode and the Patriots in decline due to extensive losses in free agency. With this being a real football expert response to your point, I ask that you counter with football logic as to how the Dolphins will be so great this year. The next response is up to you.

I accept you are a Dolphin fan posing as a Bills fan so you can promote your male love for Dante. Now that you have had your fun and been given the attention you need, go back to more productive things such as surfing the net for porn. Maybe you'll find Dante in his extended mode of the "love boat". In that way you can download the picture and go stroke off. Now f off you ass.

The Dolphins get another criminal to add to their roster of miscreants. What makes you think that Dante "oops I fumbled again" is going to be the stable quality leader that is needed to run Nick Saban's offense. Honestly you sould like a fantasy football geek who is in love with numbers and does not look beyond statistics for the qualities needed in a quarterback such as leadership, comittment and dedication. Dante is nothing more then the personification of the "me" generation athlete who would much prefer to get a hummer from a cheap whore on a cruise ship then prepare for the next game. I would surmise that Miami is just the place for this self-centered, out-of-control sex maniac and I am sure his stay in Miami will be a short one. By the way, it is difficult to run when you have had all your knee ligaments ripped beyond comprehension.

I reviewed the NFL point value chart and for a viable trade between Denver and the Bills to take place with the exchange of the Bills 8th spot with Denver at the 15th spot. The points value for each is as follows: 8th pick = 1400 points 15th pick = 1050 points To make the points add up Denver would have to add 2nd and 4th round picks in this years draft to make this an equitable trade. So if the trade was our 1st round pick for Denver's 1st, 2nd and 4th round pick, would you make the deal.

I assume you are being sarcastic

If there is any possibility that we could trade our 1st & 2nd round picks in 2007 for Denver's 21st and 29th in 2006, DO IT, AND DO IT NOW BEFORE THE BRONCO'S come to their senses. Please remember that many juniors and redshirt sophmores declared this year because of the new collective bargining talks. This makes the 2007 draft class to be potentially weaker, so this would be an incredible deal for the Bills.

With the new developments at QB in the league, here is my take on how it affects the top end of the draft. Houston - Reggie Bush -RB New Orleans - A.J. Hawk - LB (Would prefer to trade down however) Tennessee - Matt Leinhart - QB NY Jets - Jay Cutler Green Bay - Mario Williams San Francisco - Michael Huff Oakland - Vince Young Buffalo - Debrickashaw Ferguson This is how I see the top of the draft board shaping up. Could see New Orleans and the Jets swapping picks and if that happens, the Jets would take Leinhart, the Titans would take Jay Cutler and the Saints taking A.J. Hawk. This leaves Ferguson, Ngata and Vernon Davis at 8 for the Bills.

Here is the link to a report from ESPN regarding Javon Walker of Green Bay: http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=2361969 It states how he is very unhappy with the Packers and wants out of Green Bay. Although he is recovering from a knee injury sustained in last year's season opener, he does represent an explosive offensive player. Does anyone think it would be possible to trade Eric Moulds and one of our 3rd round picks to Green Bay to get Javon Walker. If I was the GM, I would offer Green Bay our lower 3rd round pick and next year's #2 for Walker, bring him in, re-do a new contract for him and then release Eric Moulds. This would be a good deal for both teams as the Packers are rebuilding and need draft choices and the Bills could a potential pro-bowl WR at a contract far lower then what Moulds is making. Also this would alleviate the need to sign a WR as a free agent and cost us only one 1st day draft choice this year. Also, next year's draft looks to be significantly weaker because of the large influx of underclassmen entering this year's draft. Just want to see the prevailing opinion from everyone on line.

The cap goes up every year and the payouts for veteran free agents holds pretty stationary. Antonio Bryant is making $400,000 and paying him an average of 1.3 to 1.5 million quadruples his salary. Wire is an average ST player and could be easier replaced by a safety such as Greg Blue or Pat Watkins which would be available in the 3rd round. The offensive line you suggest will put any QB behind center into the hospital. Tackles are available and should be signed. Peters has the size, quickness and desire to be a quality LT. We need improvement at guard and that is why we should sign a veteran and draft a young guard for the future. The need is for two defensive tackles to be signed, dependent on the type wanted by the new DC in the cover two scheme. Darren Howard is a luxury and will be a significant cost addition, but will well be worth it. Shaun Williams will be a good hard-hitting addition to the safety corps.

The Bills should move forward and make the following additional cuts; Eric Moulds Bennie Anderson Coy Wire These three additional moves add an additional 6.8 million to the salary cap. When the new collective bargining agreement is signed later today, the cap will go to 104 million. With the additional cuts I have suggested the Bills will be 25.5 million under the cap. Assume 3.5 million has to be allocated for the draft leaving 22 million to work with. How do these free agent signings sound to everyone: OT - Jon Runyon or Brad Hopkins or Kennyta Walker (select 1 of 3) OG - Tonoui Fonoti or Matt Stinchcomb (select 1 of 2) WR - Antonio Bryant or Brandon Lloyd or Andre Davis (select 2 of 3) DT - Gerard Warren or Maake Kemoeatu or Ted Washington (select 2 of 3) DE - Darren Howard (big money & big production) C - Mike Flannigan or Kevin Mawae (select 1 of 2) S - Shaun Williams (cover 2 skills) I suggest signing a total of 9 free agents, all players with the exception of Darren Howard and Gerard Warren would be middle to lower tier signings and would be within the 22 million budget I feel we could allocate In the draft with the 1st pick we go with Vernon Davis the stud tight end out of Maryland. The Bills go to a two TE, single back formation with explosion at the TE spots creating major match-up issues for defenses. In round two, DE from Indiana Victor Adeyanju, this guy is 6'4.5, 275 lbs, has 4.6 speed in the 40 and was a playmaker at Indiana. In round 3, Charles Spencer the OG from Pittsburgh and with the other pick either Greg Blue or Pat Watkins, both 6'3", 220 lb strong safeties with speed sufficient to play in the cover 2 scheme Somewhere later in the draft, try and get Ingals Martin of Furman as a QB prospect. Great arm, very quick feet and may be a quality back-up for 8 to 10 years. This is the blueprint I am using to build my team. In later rounds I would try and get an additional RB prospect and a WR with speed who can play special teams such as Jonathon Orr or Wisconsin or Jeff Webb of San Diego State, both guys 6'2, 200 lbs+ who run under 4.42 to develop as special teams players. This is a roster who can develop and possibly contend for a playoff spot. Questions and comments appreciated as always.

Kevin Schaefer is an up and coming player that the Falcons would love to keep. For my wants, he is a lower-tier free agent. Read over his bio and make your own opinion: http://www.atlantafalcons.com/team/playerBio.jsp?id=1854

Moves will be made on the offensive lines and defensive lines during free agency. With that addressed, take the best athlete and difference maker in this draft and let teams worry about having evans, davis, everett, parrish and mcgahee on the field to defend. Assume next year will not be a playoff season and look into the following year to see the team be successful.

The critical element to top offenses in the NFL all are tied to having a game breaking tight end. While factoring in the Bills have major holes on the offensive and defensive lines that do need attention, these needs can be addressed in free agency and in later rounds of the draft. Assuming we either keep Moulds or sign Antonio Bryant at a much lower cost that resolves the WR position. Signing John Runyon would resolve the tackle position as we would have Runyon at RT and Peters at LT Offensive line interior - Use draft to bump up this area Defensive Tackle - Sign Kemueatu from the Ravens and also add Ryan Pickett from the Rams In the 2nd and 3rd rounds Bills will need to select at least one guard, a center and a defensive tackle. In this way, the Bills could go to a two WR, double TE formation with a single back in McGahee. The team would develop and tweaks can be made to the OL in next year's draft and free agency. Questions and comments please.