Bill from NYC

I am also guessing that they thought he would score in various ways (returns, etc.), add excitement to their product, and increase profit.

It was indefensible because they had bigger needs up front. In hindsight, he did not produce but other than this, in what way was this different from the Bills taking Spiller?

You do not wait until round 7 to draft a QB if he is a part of your "long term plan." Now, don't misunderstand. Brown might be a player. Brady and Hasselback were picked late. My point is if they had a strong opinion on a QB they would have taken him a lot sooner.

It is also said to be a weak class at the LT position. I sure hope Wang can play. Maybe Bell will be good but I am unable to see how. Jmo.

Better than Brandon Marshall? Wow.

Adams has been around a cery long time. To put things in perspective, Adams was drafted the same year the Bills drafted Sam Cowart. Interestingly, Alan Faneca also came out that year (1998). I for one would like to see them sign Adams for a year or 2. But, I think I would rather have Faneca and slide Levitre out to OT as a stop gap. Or, see how Wang does in camp and let him learn with the help of a hall of fame guard. Faneca is still a beast at run blocking. Tough call too, because I am very high on Levitre at OG; I always likened him to Steinbach and am not fond of impeding his progress. IF Wang can play, it would be just the break this team needs.

Assuming Wood is 100% (quite the reach mind you), I think the interior 3 will be good. I like Hangartner more than most on this board seem to. The thing is, the only thing I feel certain about at OT is that we have bad players. Very bad. This is not to say that Wang won't be good. He might be great, but we don't know yet. Gaither would be better than what we have by leaps and bounds, but I hope they don't give away a first round pick, because it looks like it will be at least a top 10.

I am not one who posts horrible things about Mr. Wilson. I respect him, and thank him for keeping the Bills in Western New York. That is not the point. Mr. Wison at 90 knows more about cash than I would if I had 100 lifetimes. This is his forte, and by no means an insult. I don't consider him a "football man." He is about knowing how to make millions. Drafting a first round OT wouldn't get too many fans charged up. A flashy back DOES draw interest and WILL make him more money, assuming Spiller (like any rookie) is any good. Btw, I obviously have no proof that Mr. Wilson was behind this pick but again, picks such as these are not uncommon for the Bills, right?

You see, the bolded is not necessarily true. They might think that Davis is a very good player, or Brandon Graham for that matter. Reid gave up a ton for Graham. What would make you think that the Bills didn't like him? My point is that the Bills (in this case I think that Mr. Wilson was the deciding vote) targeted Spiller. Either they thought he was the best player in terms of winning games, or they feel that if he runs for a few TDs, people will buy jerseys and tickets. In other words, Mr. Wilson makes more money. It is probably some combination of the 2, but we have been down this road before.

How would you feel about signing Faneca and pushing Levitre outside? I am not trying to sell Levitre as a credible LT mind you, but he isn't Demetrious Bell. As for Faneca, he is declining but I saw him play a few games last year and he is still a crushing run blocker.

Come on Dr. Ramius (I'm still quite proud of you ), let's keep it real, shall we? Once upon a time, the Bills had the best defense in the league. They had the NFL Defensive Player of the Year, AND Bruce Smith, and a host of other fine players, right? They lost football games because they couldn't block. Do you dispute this? Later on, we had a certain QB that you were quite fond of. He needed blocking, and they drafted Whitner, McCargo, Youboty and Simpson with the first 4 picks, and by the way Levy/Jauron actually gave away an early third rounder to acquire this pile of junk. How did said quarterback make out? Maybe the 2 late round blockers will be good players. I certainly hope so because you simply cannot hide 2 lousy offensive tackles in the NFL. It can't be done. You MUST know this, or am I telling you something new? Maybe Spiller will be a hall of fame running back. I freaking hope so. What I am saying is that he will not do so well if he doesn't have blocking. Which one of our qbs is good enough (with no blocking) to keep defenses off the line? Sorry, I stick to the belief that Mr. Wilson doesn't care about this stuff as much as he cares about making cash, and he is great at doing so. WE worry about winning more than he does. He can soothe himself after a loss by counting his billion dollars. Either way, GO BILLS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Why are you so sure? Even if Spiller doesn't cause a direct increase in sales, the very least he will do is stop some curious fans from cancelling their season tickets. C'mon my friend, are you telling me that Spiller is not more of a draw than Brandon Graham? Mr. Wilson is a money man. When he talks of excitement, he means profit. The man made 25 thousand dollars into 800 million. And I am not one who hates him mind you; I thank him for keeping the team in WNY. That said, I am astonished that so many do not think that the razzle-dazzle (and the profit that comes with it) were a strong factor in taking Spiller, this on a team with garbage at Offensive Tackle.

First, let me say that I have indeed calmed down after being traumatized by the Spiller pick. I still am angry at the pick mind you, but am thrilled at the rest of the selections, despite the fact that I admittedly know next to nothing about them. My thing is if we are going to miss on a pick, please let's miss on a big, tough player instead of Ashton Youboty. Nix is a football man who took a look at the weak sisters brought in here by Levy/Jauron and saw that the Bills needed to get bigger and stronger. If any 3 of these big guys turn out good, the team will instantly improve and gain respect. I applaud and seriously appreciate this philosophy. The above leads me to the following question: After Ralph's quote about the team needing "excitement," etc., I am wondering how many of you believe that the selection of Spiller did NOT involve the sale of tickets and profit? To be clear, I make the case that taking a RB at #9, let alone a small one who might be more of a 3rd down back, was a poor decision. BUT, Spiller will sell tickets and Ralph will profit. This is a given. So again, without doing a poll, how many of you think that the Spiller selection was motivated more by Ralph's profit motive than Nix wanting him to improve the football team?

"Exiciting" = Ticket Seller to Ralph. This pick was far more about profit than winning football games.

Darin, would you mind explaining exactly what you mean by this?

Happy Birthday to a wonderful young lady! Have a great day!!!

I would draft football players who would make the Buffalo Bills a big, strong football team, rather than use my best resources on small gadget players and defensive backs. This is what gets lost on this board; it always has. Year in and year out we lose football games because our opponents kick our asses up front. It goes on and on. Playing at home should be a HUGE advantage for us. The weather is windy and often very cold, and the fans are loud and GREAT. Instead of using our top picks on big, tough linemen, we use them on tiny little ticket sellers (or so-so defensive backs). Say what you will about Ralph. Call him senile, etc. but if he lives to be 200 (which I hope he does), he will know more about money than all of us combined, and I admire this. However, as a loyal, long term Bills Fan I think that we deserve a decent product. A wild card playoff appearance would be nice, no?

If Clausen drops to us, we could probably get a 2011 1st rounder for the pick. It happend last season (Caqrolina & 49ers). But, I wouldn't expect the Bills to do something this clever.

They might as well get it over with and take Taylor Mays or McCoy.

I know Scott and I'm sorry, but so does losing, and making the same mistakes over and over.....

We need a right tackle who isn't 90 years old, and we didn't look so bad at running back.

He is a jackass for taking a back, and trying to give away picks for a quarterback on a team that cannot block. This was a pick to sell tickets, not to win football games.

I heard the same thing about Parrish and Lynch.

Brandon Graham or Bulaga. Instead, our team just got even smaller. The idiocy never ends.

The Byrd pick was OK, but the first round pick in 2010 we didn't take for that selection would have been OK too.