Bill from NYC

The 2006 draft was one of the best in recent memory too imo. Bills fans are still paying the price for what Levy/Jauron did to this team in 2006.

For what it's worth, in an article posted on the TBD home page, Dareus is full of praise for Courtney Upshaw.

The kid is great. We really need more players, winners from the Crimson Tide!!!!!

And you will never hear me complain if the Bills draft a top quality LT. He doesn't have to be Orlando Pace either. A LT in the range of Brad Hopkins or Tarik Glenn would be absolutely great imo. If you see one that you project to be in this caliber coming out this year, please let me know. I guess we won't have a clue until we see what they do wrt Bell. I would LOVE to be wrong, but I don't think that Hairston has the total coordination to be a top quality LT. But, he might be a tremendous RT. Tough to say at this stage. What looks to be certain is that if Bell walks, LT is going to be a problem. And if he stays, how often will he be on the bench ala Jennings?

Interesting post as usual. Question.....how would you be with trading down perhaps 7 or so spots, drafting Hightower, and picking up another second round pick? I understand and agree with what you say about the key positions. I only raise this question because imo, our lb corps is as bad as our OL used to be. It really does look that ugly.

Nice pick. Let's make sure that the team continues to suck!!!

Yep.

Of course I would like to see the Bills add more pass rush than one player, but I don't necessarily agree with the bolded above. To key on Upshaw would take a player from someone else. Doing so could even free up Dareus just a bit. If Upshaw can perform well in the NFL (and I think he can), he would be a huge asset to the entire defense. Schobel gets slighted imo because he had big shoes to fill, but I saw him win some games for this team. A young, healthy Schobel would have made us at least a .500 team in 2011 imo.

I agree with most of this post. You brought up Whitner. Some lucky bastard will draft Mark Barron, probably late in round 1. Imo he will be better than Whitner in every phase of the game, and Dick Levy wasted a #8 on him. We used a #9 on Spiller. Do you think he is as good as Trent Richardson? Imo it isn't close. The Bills would be foolish not to dip into the talent pool of the Crimson Tide.

It doesn't matter who as better as much as it matters that we re-sign one of our talented players. I think that most of us know what we need the most to make the playoffs. Losing a talented receiver isn't an option imo, providing of course SJ wants to play in Buffalo.

From what they are saying on Sirius, Manning had no say in any of the decisions. In all probability he will not play in Indy. If he plays, I think he will go to the Jets.

Mine too, but even the above would require a great draft, and a free agent or 2 who could immediately contribute, and keeping our important ufas.

I like him a lot, and Hightower too will be great imo. Again, Barnett is the only credible starting LB on the roster imo. This really is crazy, and I just can't see how we can win a majority of our games if this isn't corrected.

This is a very good article and I thank you for it. The truth is, I have no idea how KW will fit on this team, nor do I know what his health status is or will be. He does make quite a bit of money, as did Lee Evans, ya know? Now PLEASE, do not take the above to mean that I advocate the Bills trading Kyle Williams. I do not. But what I do know is that strange things can happen with highly paid players at OBD.

I absolutely agree, and don't even consider it close. And he would be WAY better if he had more than one credible linebacker behind him.

He does the same 40 time as LaMarr Woodley.

Why do you (and others) think that Kyle Williams can play at DE in any formation? He is a short, penetrating DT. A good player mind you, but a DE? Sorry, I can't see it. Jmo.

As I stated in the other post, pass rushers, qb, and LT are the hardest positions to fill. This is almost beyond dispute. I am going to label Fitz as a "good" quarterback. We have no pass rush at all and big questions at LT. The chances of getting a high quality free agent pass rusher or LT are virtually non-existant. The Bills traded an all pro LT. Other teams simply do not. In a worst case scenario teams will franchise these guys, and do so at a discount rate (all OL grouped together). In other words, it ain't happening. Now, look at the Bills. The only credible LB on the team is Barnett (imo), and he isn't young. This must stop. I am all about "bpa" when a fondation is in place. I'm against buying a fancy new sail for a boat with a leak.

Here is what I don't understand John. I agree with the above. So, how could you fully dismiss any possibility that the Spiller selection was thrust upon Nix, especially given the way they rushed up and took him in seconds? It could have been Littman/Oberforf givong the order, not necessarily Ralph. Seriously, who do you think generated more ticket sales, Spiller or Dareus?

I gotta disagree John. Mike Williams was a fat right tackle (I know Simms was left handed ) with a chronic ankle injury. In college, he just out-muscled his opponents. Remember how well he did at the combines with 225? In those days, my signature on this board was, "Draft McKinnie." He was a MUCH better player both in college and in the NFL. TD really whiffed on that pick, and it cost Ralph millions. After a very good draft in 2001, this was certainly the first step toward Ralph bringing back Levy and REALLY screwing things up. Btw, I recently read that Levy stated that he would love to go back into coaching. You can't make this stuff up. That would be fine with me John.

Good post John. Let's talk about the 2011 draft for a moment, ok? Overall, I would rate it as good. We got a superior DT, 3 defensive backs who look as if they can play, and Hairston, who I think will be a very good RT at some point. And, he has proven that he can fill in at LT. I omitted Sheppard because I am not so impressed. But as you can see, I have no major quarrel with your assessment of the 2011 draft. However, the team is still without any real pass rush, a dependable LT, or a star quarterback. Correct me if I am wrong, but I think we lost 5 games by 7 points or less. I am thinking that pass rush alone might have won us 2 of those, especially the Bengals game vs. a rookie. Now, let's jump to 2012 if you will. Ralph has all but announced that we are going to draft a wideout at #10. Like the Spiller selection, this would excite some fans and sell tickets, but it probably won't win us football games, even if the wr is "good". If the Bills strengthen the key 3 elements listed above, the 2011 draft will look even better. If not, they will still lose more than they win due to a shaky foundation. As you well know, pass rushers and LTs are hard to get. We need to use our best resources to strengthen these positions of great need. It's just so obvious to me. We are not losing football games in a vacuum. You call for steady improvement above. So do I. We won't get it by wasting more prime draft picks at "skill" position. A foundation is desperately needed. Jmo.

Yes, but this was not the highest ladder to climb, ya know?

You are not asking me, but I will take the unpopular position that Aaron Williams was in fact a stupid pick. You know why? Because Nix clearly stated that he had multiple trade down offers in every round. Do you know how much the 2nd pick in round 2 is worth? PART of the compensation would have been a 1st round pick in this draft. So.....would I rather have Ryan Mallett AND another first this year than Aaron Williams? Of course. How about you? To be fair, it's tough to judge Williams. He was injured for a good chunk of the season and we had next to no pass rush. Maybe he will be a very good player some day. I don't know, but taking a corner this early with a crumbling, shoddy foundation was another step in the path of stupidity imo. And we didn't win many games, ya know?

Even if Hightower gets past Pitt, he will be drafted by Baltimore. Ray Lewis is old, Hightower will be great, and Ozzie Newsome is from Alabama. And, he is a great GM. I agree that Vlachos will drop because he is small. Barrett Jones however will move up. He will be a great OG, and can play some LT. And btw, Michael Williams will be a steal at TE. Bama runs alot and the qb is young and even a bit shaky. On another team he would probably have much better numbers. I really hope we can snag some players from the Tide!!!!!

PD, I am making the point that the Spiller selection was part of an ongoing stupid, losing philosophy. Mr. Wilson said that they needed a player to, "add excitement." He meant it imo. Mr. Wilson is a businessman, not a football man, and there is zero reason not to believe that he has not been heavily involved in the Bills drafts. And remember, they FLEW up to the podium and made the selection. There is no reason to suspect that trading down was an impossibility. The other element of stupidity is the emphasis on dbs. WADE PHILLIPPS (not me on a message board) said that he wants players who can rush the quarterback and THEN he will worry about dbs. He is obviously right. We do the opposite and of course lose football games. Imo, it's not about where a player is rated. It's about building a foundation. LaMarr Woodley was a mid second round pick. The Bills need a player like him far more than a flashy, small running back. And as people continue to post, the game has changed. It's about passing and pass pressure these days. Btw, I am not one to demand a consensus. I appreciate the dialogue and hope that you can at least see/consider my points.