4BillsintheBurgh

+1 It's been said by various parts of OBD: We are going to build through the draft We are going to play to our players strengths We are not going to sign top tier fa's, we will re-sign our own quality players Seems like we're pretty much on target. Around Pittsburgh, the first day of free agency was pretty much a non event. I'm hoping for the same thing some day, for Buffalo.

Thanks for the input.

I really find it odd that people think Marv did not have a rebuilding plan. Veteran linemen were brought in, some of our current linemen were signed to longer term deals. The deals for these people are coming due in a cascading manner so we don't have a ton of people to bring in at one time. I thought the plan itself was fine, the execution sucked. I understand there is going to be some overpaying, but there was (and is) too much for mediocre talent. The problem was the talent evaluation, not whether the talent came from the draft or FA. When you decide that McCargo can play in this league, you take Whitner because of the need and you spend the extra draft pick to get the DT. It's my opinion the Marv Levy era was more indicative of the talent evaluation going on at OBD than anything else, including Ralph. Marv let those people do their jobs, but unfortunately they were not very good at what they do. I look forward to Nix/Chan making the call on our qb because I have confidence they can rebuild this roster with their ability to make good personnel decisions and get the most out of those players.

Follow Astro's link at the top to Draftek, then link from there.

+1

I'm with you. This is the season for happy, blissful ignorance. New football folks, before any real decision making occurs so everyone can dream of their perfect scenario for the next 3 months or so. I'm sure there will be lots of thuds as people come down to earth.

QB fitzgerald RB Jackson TE Stupar LT 1st rnd pick LG Levitre C Hangartner RG Wood RT 2nd rnd pick WR Evans WR 3rd rnd pick WR Parrish LDE Johnson NT 4th rnd pick RDE Stroud ROLB Maybin RILB Mitchell LILB Poz LOLB Schoebel CB McGee, McKelvin SS Scott FS Byrd Depth guys in free agency for the defensive front 7. Hopefully I would pick some guys that could help later in the draft. I hope Ralph would be okay with this.

Do you see a scenario where this place won't go nuts?

I think the question will be if there is enough tape on him for Buddy/Chan to determine if he is a good OLT. If there isn't, or if he isn't strong enough, we should come up with an OLT who can play in this offseason and let Bell develop for another year or so. Always nice to have a good young prospect around.

I think Spencer Johnson is the best fit we have at DE in a 3-4

I see it as the difference between discussing and arguing. Everyone wants to argue and prove their point of view is correct.

Dez Bryant

I think Chan is probably confident enough in his abilities that we look for a "middle tier" fa qb like tony smith, rex grossman, jason campbell or trade for tyler thigpen (although that's tough to do in the division). I hope people don't get too hung up on a couple of positions like ot or qb in the first round, because the most important thing is that we get an impact player. Personally I would prefer an offensive player, but if Berry is there and can play ss I would take him. Probably the only player that I wouldn't take out of the concensus top 10 players or so is Hayden. The important thing is that the selection HAS TO MAKE AN IMPACT. That's why the "we want linemen" crew don't B word about Byrd, he's an impact player. If we get a Mike Williams, Erik Flowers or McCargo, the problem isn't the position it's the player selection process.

I know there was some concern around Pittsburgh when the Dolphins interviewed Butler for DC because he is seen as the heir apparent to LeBeau

That's not what I heard. PostyLinky

Sorry I didn't put my thoughts into the post very well. I meant to say IF Nix is going to fire Modrak, I don't know if it will be now or after the draft. I agree with you that with Nix being around last year he should have a good handle on Modrak's contributions. Nix may need Modrak through this draft, I have to think that it would be difficult to replace that position in time to fully prepare for the draft since Modrak wasn't shown the door with Guy. But like I said, I think they may work well together because Buddy will come over the top of Modrak's rankings and move some players around on their board because of his beliefs. It will be nice to have that check on the scouting department.

I'd like to see Nix and Modrak (The grumpy boys) stick together at this point. I have to assume that Buddy saw enough over the last year to be able to assess Modrak, although I don't know if he would can him now or after the draft.

I agree. The credit to AP seems to be lacking with all the ESPN tags at the top of the article and the AP tag at the bottom.

If we go with a 3-4, we better not have any injuries in the front 7. Can't we just see what an improved offense will do for our defense? What's wrong with drafting 2 OT's 1-2 this year? Why piss around trying to get the starting 22 spread around as thin as possible? I've had enough of that bs! Work with the roster you have and replace players that aren't good with draft picks. Let's stay off the hamster wheel for a couple of years please!

Thanks for your updates NGU, it's appreciated.

Seems to me that more and more often a spell checker is substitued for another person proofreading articles. Guess it's just the way things are going...

I'm with you on this. Seems like he needs the correct qb or that offense doesn't at all, and I can't believe Todd Collins will stand up for long behind our line.

Standard Steelers operating procedure. You don't pay big money to big people in their 30's. See Faneca, alan; Smith, Marvel and probably Hampton, Casey.

The more I think about it Astro, the more I want best available offensive player early in this draft. I see you guys have been dropping the OT's down your board, but I'm okay if we go OT then OT then QB or wr or rb. If we pick up a fa player on offense (hopefully qb), then maybe we can sneak some defense up there, but otherwise all offense all the time.

We have invested a lot of draft resources in the defense. If we tear that down, and by tear that down I mean change schemes to a 3-4, we are not going to the playoffs anytime soon. We need to get the offense at a level where it is competitive. We have not had an offense rank in the top 25 for 7 years. We need our OFFENSE to make the next jump, if we sink major draft resources into the defense, we may as well include a Hamster wheel in the Bills logo. I'm not saying we can't move away from the T2 into a different defense, but I think whatever defense we play has to be a 4-3 if we want to see a quick turnaround with this team. FWIW Tomlin is a 4-3 guy, but he plays a 3-4 in Pittsburgh (for now) because that is what he inherited and what the players on the roster dictate. We need a coach who can get the most out of the players we have currently, and use the draft over time to change the scheme.