Steely Dan

They had absolutely no idea how to defend it because they'd never seen it before. You're right that after that it lost it's novelty. Now that teams have had an entire offseason to digest the film and they can use some of it themselves and now know how to defend it a lot better.

Also, a draft can be judged on how much value a team gets. A guy who's projected to be a second rounder drafted in the fourth round is a good value for that team and gives them one reason for a good grade. If a team drafts a safety that a lot of teams have listed as a UDFA in the second round then that's one reason to downgrade their draft. The day after grades have nothing to do with a players performance. The grades are for projected performance.

LT:WALKER LG: WOOD C:HANGARTNER RG: LEVITIRE RT: BUTLER. That's going to be the lineup per the Buffalo News. I forgot about Butler being an OT originally and so I think this could be a very solid line and the sooner they gel the quicker.

Happy B-day uckschmay!

House Ballard is a cop now. Can you imagine a criminal running away from House's partner and right into that human skyscraper? I'm guessing they have a lot of fresh underwear for the jail. If a criminal tried to shoot him he'd better have more than ten bullets in his gun.

Are the Poorpisses going to do as well with the wildcat this year or do you think teams will be better prepared for it this year? Has the opposition figured out how to neutralize it? I think they aren't going 11-5 again this year. They'll have to have something more than the wildcat to work as effectively as it did last year. JMO

Who peed in your Wheaties this morning? Every teams, except the Raiders, fans are having a warm glow this morning from their teams drafts. The toys I used to get at Christmas may not have worked after I got the package open but just seeing the gift was very exciting.

Ummm, you do know the dinner happened a couple of days ago, right?

I'm assuming you didn't watch games in the early nineties with Wolford, Ritcher, Hull and I forget the other two. They were probably one of the best lines ever. JMO

From one of the articles linked on the main page here the Bills are planning to move Butler to RT.

So do we like Mel now?

I believe they are going to try this guy at FB. JMO 7 receptions for 52 yards and no TD's. Travis McCall (TE) Height: 6'2" Weight: 276 College: Alabama Conference: SEC Hometown: Prattville, AL High School: Prattville Overview Considering McCall typically lined up as Alabama's second tight end and a blocking specialist, some were caught off guard when he received an invitation to the Senior Bowl. With few traditional fullbacks and blocking specialists at tight end slated for the 2009 draft, however, the invitation made sense. A recipient of only 24 receptions despite playing in 51 career games, McCall's value lies in his ability to put defenders on their backs - a talent that could earn a late-round draft selection. High School Signed with the Tide in 2004, but fell thousandths of a point shy of qualifying. As a prep senior he played tight end and defense. He was a 6A All-State pick while helping Prattville to the quarterfinals of the state playoffs. He was also selected to the Birmingham News Super Senior list. He was rated the nation's ninth-best tight end by Rivals.com and the 19th-best overall in-state prospect by Superprep Magazine.

I disagree about Hardy. A lot of receivers, especially big ones, don't hit their stride until year 3. I don't know how you arrive at the opinion on Bowen. IIRC he didn't even play one pre-season game. He had a torn ligament and may be able to come back 100% from that and may be a very good LB but I don't see how anyone can make an educated guess on him right now. JMO

Linkage The Bills added eight new players to their roster over the weekend but in doing a recount, I come up with 12. That's because Buffalo selected four players that played one position in college but project to play another one in the NFL given what scouts think about their size and skill sets when playing a child's game against bigger, faster, stronger men. Advertisement It means centers and tackles will be guards, cornerbacks will be safeties and safeties will be linebackers. And what if Eric Wood, Jairus Byrd, Andy Levitre and Nic Harris can't successfully make these transitions? Can they play their old positions at the NFL level? Well ... The versatility in these drafted players is nice for depth, like having four more players on the roster. But it's a big risk. The Bills haven't had this many projects since they renovated Ralph Wilson Stadium.

On ESPN Mel Kiper has said the Bills had the best draft.

I don't know specifically about those two guys but I agree that it seems other positions are needed more than CB right now. I would have rather had those two guys also. Even better two OT's. JMO.

Beerball's treating us all to whine.

You obviously didn't read the title of the thread; Grade the Bills Draft And UFA Signings!, Grade is for the value of picks now and not their future abilities.

That's the million dollar question. I hated this pick last year and I'm hoping he makes me look like an idiot this year. He's got a lot to prove.

I can't believe the grades for the OT's and DT's left were significantly that much worse than the CB's. They should have gone after DB's in the UDFA pool. JMO.

The Bills seemed to have their secondary penciled out heading into the draft: Terrence McGee and Leodis McKelvin or Drayton Florence at cornerback and Donte Whitner, Bryan Scott and George Wilson at safety. McKelvin was the 11th player chosen overall last year. He is expected to step in for Jabari Greer, a free agent who went to the New Orleans Saints. The Bills brought in Florence for help. Ashton Youboty and Reggie Corner also are on the roster. Whitner was the eighth overall pick in 2006. I wondered the exact same thing during the draft I understand all of the picks up til Cary Harris and Ellis Lankster. Those two picks should have been a DT and OT not necessarily in that order. At the end of the draft a team should definitely be drafting for need. Those two guys will have a very hard time making the roster. An OT and DT would have a much better chance of making the roster. Even if the Bills are happy with the OT's they have they could use some depth and/or guys to develop on the PS. When the UDFA frenzy starts there is no guarantee that the Bills will be able to get the guys they really want at those positions. I find it hard to believe that when the sixth and seventh round start that there are guys who are significantly rated higher than other players on the board and so the drafting the best player on the board idea is pretty insignificant. In actuality the Bills only selected three DB's because Nic Harris will be converted to LB. The pick of Byrd is a great pick IMO because he'll be a safety and that's a position that's a bit thin for the Bills. I can't defend the last two picks. As for Wood starting at LG instead of center that hasn't been chiseled in stone yet. It's just until TC when they can get a good look at the kid and see if he's ready to be a center at this level yet. He's played guard before so it's not a huge leap for him. I don't think Levitre is built to be a tackle and so I'm guessing they'll use him at guard but then that displaces Butler. So I don't know what the plan with him is. I guess they feel he can outperform Butler. The OT's are something the fans are in the dark about. Bell has one year and was playing behind a pro bowl LT. He didn't get into any games. When Peters missed the last two games of the year he wasn't used so it's a head scratcher because Jauron isn't one to start rookies so he could be a second year starter. Oy vey it gets complicated. I guess we'll have to wait till the pre-season games start to see the starting OL lineup.

(In my best Oscar LeRoy) Jackass!

You both are Jack-Asses!! 'Nuff said.

Thanks for the update and the bolded part is something I've been saying since the deal went through, but the Chicken Littles here don't want to believe that.

No sense of humor. BTW, here's USA Today's Grades.