Bill from NYC

Big Ted Washington! Wade had coached him in Denver.

The last time we brought in 2 players who offered solid front 7 help in free agency was 1995. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1995_Buffalo_Bills_season Btw, it worked. They even had a good draft that year. We advanced in the playoffs. What went wrong? 1) Bruce caught the flu before the Steeler game. I had the same one; it was deadly. There was NO possible way he could have played. 2) Kelly was getting old. 3) Their best blocker was a rookie left guard. My point? This team really can contend. What they CANNOT do is bust out in the draft. Look what happened in the next few drafts after 95..... http://www.drafthistory.com/index.php/teams/bills Right now (imho), the Bills are in a position to put together a very good roster. Looking at the team, they have solved their biggest weakness (pass rush). If healthy, they will have a VERY good defensive line. Imo, Dareus is going to be a beast. What a great kid! He is a disciplined, well coached, very talented player, and he will thrive with pass rushers surrounding him. And, he will make their jobs easier. Now, where are our weakest positions? 1) LB 2) LT 3) WR 4) BACKUP QB With the #10 and an extra 4th, it would seem very possible to strengthen these weaknesses. I haven't been as pumped about this team in many years. GO BILLS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Bryce Paup was the NFL Defensive Player of the Year. C'mon, please.....

Same with Upshaw. I heard Wanny say it on Sirius. He said Upshaw would line up with "a hand on the ground."

They really do. And even more important is the fact that that bad ones LOSE you football games. Players such as Greg Jerman, Marcus Spriggs, Corey Loucheiy, and a litany of other horrid OTs on this football team have lost the Bills game after game after game for a generation. Can you possibly disagree with this?

Thanks! It is very hard to place value on some of these players, but Revis is a great example. The man is great at what he does. But if he was on the Bills making 15 million and sucking away cap space, I make the case that there would be no way we would have signed Mario. The Jets had to re-negotiate with Sanchez just to stay under the cap. This after a very disappointing season. But, Jet fans can sit around and say, "Revis is great." As far as a possession wr vs. a franchise LT, I will always lean towards the franchise LT, if only because they are so hard to get. He wouldn't have to be Ogden/W. Jones/Pace either. A Glenn/Hopkins/Light would suit me just fine. And LTs are the easiest players to keep. Their tag price is lower than that of corners because linemen are lumped in together for some reason. And drafting dbs in round 1, only to let them walk, is a recipe for failure. One created by the Buffalo Bills. Again, jmo.

Absolutely not, at least not with the #10. Remember, we just used a VERY early #2 on a corner. Look at the jets if you will.....They are paying Revis almost as much as we will pay Mario. The results? No playoffs, and they had to extend Sanchez, a so-so qb at best, to do so. Dick Drawn explains it better than me. In 4 or 5 wide sets, even a "shut down corner" only covers one receiver. But, today teams go with 4 or even 5 wide sets. Corners were never a good idea to build a team around. Now it makes even less sense. As for us, we have (imho) but one credible LB on the team. That would be Barnett, who is on the wrong side of 30. And, we have an obvious need at LT. If Nix/Gailey loved Bell, he would be signed. And if GMs around the league believed in him, he would have a 75 million dollar contract. One of the very best posters on this board (John C) hates me for it lol, but I would love to see them trade down just a few spots and draft Hightower. But Martin would make me just as happy, and Upshaw would be great as well. Jmo.

Matt Light was a second round pick, and is still kicking ass 11 years later. Now. I urge you to examine the first round picks of the patsies since they picked Light. http://www.drafthistory.com/index.php/teams/patriots How many would you rather have than Light? My point? Light would have been worth a #10. Do you think that the patsies, as great as Brady is, would have enjoyed the same success with Langston Walker, Greg Jerman, or Bell on a gurney playing LT? I make the case that this would be an impossibility. I also once again bring up the dirty little secret of playing in the elements. This winter was great, but how about next season, and the one after that. I have been to games at RWS where passing was all but out of the question, and 2 of our divisional opponents play in the cold as well. Even in this new passing league, running will always mean just a bit more to the Bills than it does to most other teams. Exceptions? Sure, the Packers. Farve could throw through a tornado, and Rodgers looks like he will be in the hall of fame. This post is not to dismiss yours as rubbish. You DO raise some valid points. I just think that it isn't as simple as you present it, and I believe that a top quality LT would be a HUGE boost to the Bills.

http://espn.go.com/nfl/player/stats/_/id/13995/kelvin-sheppard I hope you are right AJ, but imo he was far from impressive last year. He obviously needs to make some plays.

Very good post! The Bills OL, while not great, is much better than it has been in years. Fitz and the 3 step drops were part of this, I agree. Jackson also enters into the equation. He sees a hole very quickly and is strong enough to get through it. But not to be overlooked was the play of the Guards. Levitre, as I have said many times, is an ideal Guard given the rule changes. He is a fine pass blocker. Both Urbik and Rinehart also held up well. Before this season, when can you remember the Bills having 2 good Guards? I remember when Bledsoe was here and we had a good RG for 8 or so games (a free agent from the Bears, can't remember his name), but his body fell completely apart and then he was awful. Hairston gained much needed experience, and Pears was at least average. Bell? He is good (not great) when he plays. Often he is able to make up for his lack of strength (which was always a problem) with his better than average agility. If he walks, there will obviously be a need at LT, and these guys are extremely hard to get. But I fear that even if he stays, he might not be strong enough to hold down the position without getting hurt yet again. LT will be a tough decision for Nix.

I have no idea how anyone can disagree with this post.

Do you prefer him to Hightower? I for one totally do not.

No, today I was caught up in the excitement. Imo, if the Bills do not tank this draft, they can actually make the playoffs. That said, I will never be at peace with the Spiller selection, unless he turns out to be much better than I happen to think he is. Until proven wrong, I will view him as a situational player. Dick Drawn does a far better job than me wrt explaining the diminishing value of running backs (and cbs) due to the rule changes. That said, today offers us more hope than we have had in many years. Again, a good draft can get us into the playoffs imo. And at least we don't have incompetent persons such as Levy/Jauron/Brandon controlling it.

I hear ya! But ya know, spending 100 million dollars isn't RW's style either until now lol. It looks like we are finally building a football team. Imo, a brutal LB such as Hightower could really play to our home field advantage. This winter was oh so mild, but we still play in the elements. This really is a lot of fun right now, no?

Astro, forget about corners in round 1. And, the wrs early in the draft don't look great this year. Why reach?

I am fine with Martin, but I am also thinking even more about Hightower. He (in my unprofessional opinion) would be an immediate impact player. AND, we could probably trade down a couple of spots and still get him. Astro, with Hightower and MW, the Bills would become a team that is hard to run or throw against. Can you imagine a healthy KW, Dareus, and a blitzing Hightower coming up the middle? With MW on the outside? Also, let me take this opportunity to thank you for all of your very hard work wrt the draft. Seriously, you do a great job, and I for one am greatly appreciative Bro.

My father was born in Alabama. I have watched this great team for years. To be honest, it eases the pain of being a Bills fan lol. These are the only 2 teams I care about, really in any sport. I did read your post, and while Saban is not a nice guy, he is as good as it gets. He hires the best assistants, and has a network of people who, with good reason, buy into his program. And, he is probably the best rcruiter ever. Dont'a Hightower is going to be an absolute star. Upshaw will also, but he is made for a 3/4 imo. Mark Barron is just sick; I like him more than Kirkpatrick. Vlachos is going to be a good OC, combines or not. Their TE would be a late round steal, and their backup corners are great. Nico Johnson is a stud. I could go on lol. Wrt Marshall, hopefully you don't think that I am excusing his violent act against a woman. If he gets jail time, I would be happy. I was agreeing with you that he is an a-hole. This is what borderlines were called before people were aware of this diagnosis. The odds of him getting better, as you know, are quite slim. But, his talent level is SO off the charts, the Bears took a chance on him. One they will probably regret.

AJ, he is a diagnosed borderline. http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/football/bears/chi-borderline-personality-disorder-20120314,0,4191895.story I am positive that you, in your field, have come across hundreds of them. There is no cure, and the dolphins were smart to trade him. I heard him talk on Sirius once, and he isn't stupid. He is sick, and btw has a HUGE amount of talent imo. The Bears made a mistake, or so I think.

Neither will I. There is only so much a GM can do to convince a man to sign a contract. It's hard for me to understand some players. He could have signed a piece of paper last night and been guaranteed 49 million dollars? Is this the report? I would be afraid of breaking my ankle, or getting hit by a car, on the way to visit another team. He would make our defense one to be reckoned with too. Dareus, who is just a kid and already very good, would benefit the most. And imo MW would gain from lining up with him. One more thing. We often beat each other up here, but Bills fans are truly great, devoted fans. He would become an instant hero. Again, I'm having trouble grasping the mindset of leaving 49 million guaranteed on the table. I suppose this is part of the reason I am just a working man.

Minus the bolded, I agree with you 100%. Drafting a first round corner would be the absolutely dumbest thing this team can do. I point to the Jets as an example of the pitfalls of doing so. They gave Revis how much? I'm too lazy to look it up, but I will guess that he makes 15 million or so per year. This is WAY too much of a drain on their salary cap. Hey, they actually re-negotiated the contract of Sanchez, who imo is sub-par. Certainly, the Revis contract entered into this equation. The Bills have but one credible LB on the roster, and he is on the wrong side of 30. They will more than likely need a LT, whereas Bell is all but gone, or so I think. There are plenty of WRs who are UFAs that can help this team. They need to steer clear of the idiotic 1st round picks of the past. PS: Dick Drawn explains this better than me. Corners cover 1 WR, and now there are formations with 5 receivers. The rule changes have made this a different game. QB, pass rush, and pass protection are the way to go. Don't be cruel!

Didn't see this post. I agree, and started a thread about it.

Looking at the Rams trade, I am assuming that the old draft value chart doesn't apply any more. That trade looked crazy from where I sit, but have times changed? Jamarcus Russel probably collected more in bonus money than Luck or RG3 will earn in 5 years (sorry, too lazy to look it up). One season, Parcells wanted to trade out of the 1 spot and found no takers as I recall. Under the old CBA, there was far more risk. Not only could a player bust out, he could hamstring an organization in terms of salary cap, and lose the owner tons of cash. Even under the old CBA, QBs were at a premium. In the dreaded 2006 draft, we sat at 8, and Leinart (then highly regarded) and Cutler were still there. Levy himself said he had numerous offers to trade down, and some included a second round pick and more. Of course, he and Jauron stood pat and took Whitner like morons, but I digress. Now, there is far less risk for an owner/GM in terms of trading up. If the early selected QB busts out, they can cut, or even try to trade him after a couple of seasons, and not suffer the salary cap hit of the amortized bonus. My point to all of this? If a team at 20 or so wants Tannehill and he is still there, we could get an unusually big offer to trade down. Every season we see trade scenarios on this board that many of us snicker at. This could change. Maybe it already has. PS: To my friend John C: I know that Buddy isn't into trading down. But again, I have a hunch that times have changed in terms of value. I sure am glad he isn't into trading up!

The Colts just gave a monster contract to the DE on the other side. Freeney, while good, is starting to be past his prime. A 14 million dollar salary is just too high imo. If they could get him cheaper and not have to give up an early round pick, one would have to find it an interesting proposition.

I voted for what I think they will do, not my choice.

Because I enjoy our conversations so much, I am going to answer as if you were asking me. I want a quality LT, and have posted over and over that they are worth their weight in gold. Again, he would not have to be at the Walter Jones/Jonathan Ogden/Orlando Pace level to please me. A Brad Hopkins/Tarik Glenn would be just fine. Is there one out there at #10? I don't know. Dick Drawn, is Jonathan Martin as good as these two? R.Rich, Astro, are you there? The Bills pass rush is pathetic. Is there a standout DE who will be around at #10? Maybe, but I am not seeing one. This doesn't make me right mind you. Hightower can stuff the run in a big way. He can blitz, force fumbles, and I have seen him cover as well. If he is as good as I think he is, he would help this team big time. As far as comparing him to Sheppard, imo he was better than Sheppard last year. He is bigger, stronger, and hits harder. You are right about Buddy and his comfort zone. If trading isn't his thing I guess he should leave it alone. That said, there are plenty of teams who will scoop this kid up. The Giants, Jets, and Ravens could really use him. And btw, Upshaw, although probably more suited for a 3/4, wouldn't break my heart either. And Mark Barron is going to be a probowl player as well. They should drive a tractor-trailer to Alabama and draft the entire team lol!