MDH

1/3 of the salary for the amount of house you get in other areas of the country is still better. A 2 bedroom apartment in a decent section of NYC (say Battery Park City or Upper West Side) runs in the $900k-$1.2M range (and then you have the property taxes AND the $600 a month building fees). That 100k salary that sounds nice in most other parts of the country suddenly doesn't seem so great.

I can't believe someone beat me to the punch with that line. Nicely done.

Qu'est-ce que c'est?

Because Portis is a top tier back and Willis isn't?

Thanks for clearing that up, I thought he was totally judging how good these players were by looking at some pictures.

I was going to post something similar to this as well. I'm not even sure it's important if he correctly guesses which round they go in. The important thing is is how accurate are his assessments? In the end, are the players as good in the Pros as he predicts they will be. Kiper (or any draftnick) can't control what teams take which players in which rounds but he should be accountable to how well he assesses the players.

Why exactly should the LBs be better this year?

The Bills thought enough of McCargo to move up and grab him in the 1st round last year. They thought enough of Williams to move him into the starting spot early last season and praise him endlessly. They thought enough of Walker to trade for him and move Spikes out (creating a hole in the process) this offseason. While I agree with the basic premise that your D goes as your DL goes you still need playmakers behind them. The Bills addressed the DT spot in the last two offseasons, I'm willing to see what they are capable of doing before diving head in with another DT with the #12 pick, particularly when the Bills are desperate for LB help. Ellison did a pretty good job when he got the opportunity last year but I don't feel secure with him penciled in as one of the starters just yet which means, imo, we need two LBs, not just one. I wouldn't be upset with Branch or Okoye but they're not my first choices.

For the most part that isn't a bad first day. I do take issue with Marten though (as did you). The Bills have no need for a first round tackle and from what I've read about Marten he's not quick enough to pull and trap as a guard so moving him inside isn't really an option. I don't think the Bills take a OT in the entire draft, much less on the first day. I do like Wade a lot and if he's there in the 3rd he'd be a great pick for the Bills.

I wasn't talking about what you have said, I'm talking about what King has said.

I love that Chester Taylor is somehow "pedestrian" while McGahee is considered a major loss to the Bills. Taylor had a better year last year than McGahee ever has. Taylor is better at blitz pickup and a much better receiving threat than McGahee in addition to being just as good , if not better, at running the football. Perhaps the Vikes elect to draft Peterson because he's a major talent but it would be a mistake for a team that has so many other holes.

You find it troubling that they change their offense because Turner isn't the same type of back as LT? Not being the all around back LT is doesn't mean he can't block or catch, it means that he's not the all around back that LT is (newsflash: nobody is). You're jumping to conclusions that he simply can't do these things when you have no actual evidence to back it up. Also, if he simply can not catch or block that must mean that defenses simply stack the LoS when he's in the game because there is absolutely no threat of the pass, right? How do you explain his 6 YPC average if defenses are stacking the line knowing that the Chargers are going to run the ball every single time? Catching the ball 3 times does not mean they do not throw the ball when Turner is in the game, it means they don't throw the ball to Turner as much as they do to LT. That is all you can conclude from that specific stat.

Before his injury Poz had football ability in spades. Everybody calls him a "throwback player" and I'm not sure what that means other than he's white. The guy was fast and moved laterally very well. He could go sideline to sideline with the best of them. People have some insane idea that because a guy is white he can't be a great athlete (just look at how people describe Schobel still). If Poz has recovered fully from his injury I have no doubt the guy is going to be a very good player (and that injury wasn't that bad and he appeared to make major strides in the second half of last year). If not for that injury I'd take him over Patrick Willis. With the injury it's a tricky business trying to decide how high he should go. Then again, Willis had several small injuries during his college career and I've heard rumblings that some thing he might be injury prone.

Yeah, this is what I was going to get to as well. He's never seen him miss the assignments and is just making a wild assumption he can't block because he didn't have as many receptions. Of course, I'm not sure how reception total is indicative of whether or not he can block or not but I guess in some people's mind it's a clear indication.

You keep saying this but how did you come to this conclusion? I've watched SD play quite a few times over the past few years and never saw Turner getting the QB killed by missing assignments.

I'm not going to disagree about starting Huard, I think they should have started him the rest of the year instead of putting Green back in. That has more to do with Green's injury than anything else. As for Green's career, he's been very consistent since being given the opportunity to start. Before last year he had four years in a row of QB ratings above 90 and the chiefs have been good to very good on offense. It was the D that has been holding that team back. Green was never spectacular, but I'd take his steady hand and consistent quality play over Daunte's feast or famine QBing. Had Green never gotten hurt in St Louis I think you'd have seen Green get an MVP or two in that offense and the Rams would have been just as explosive as they were with Warner.

QB 4 RB 9 WR 6 TE 7 C 4 G 7 T 3 DE 3 DT 5 OLB 7 ILB 10 CB 8 SS 5 FS 5 K 1 P 1

Trent Green has been a fine QB over the years. He's at the end of the line now but I would have taken him over Culpepper for most of his career.

Willis is not a "work out warrior". The guy produced on the field during his time at Ol' Miss. He was the Butkus award winner and consensus 1st team all American last year and was on quite a few 1st team all American lists in 2005 as well. As we all know college awards don't necessarily translate into NFL production but to say he's a "work out warrior" and insinuate that he has shot up draft boards only because he has good combine numbers is ridiculous. Personally, I'm all for trading down into the bottom portion of the 1st round (if there is a trading partner available) and grabbing Poz. I think he'd be just as effective as Willis and get us an extra pick to boot. I also wouldn't object to the Bills grabbing Willis at 12 and then trading back up into the 1st round (like the Bills did last year) and grabbing Poz too.

Turner is a good back with lots of potential but I'm not sure how a back up RB with lots of potential warrants a 4th round comp pick when I've seen teams receive much less when solid starters exit via FA.

Who exactly would pay $50 for Pittman's autograph (or the other two for that matter)?

Actually the CB depth is fine, it's the second starter we're worried about. The Bills 3rd and 4th CBs are fine The depth issue is at S and LB.

Suggestion: Don't watch. I don't get all the people who do nothing but B word and moan about ESPN but then you all rush home and turn it on.

And when you get one of these TV personalities who ends up as a GM what do you get? Matt Millon, who seems to think building a NFL franchise is like playing fantasy football (and Millon was one of the best analysists)

You forgot the most overused word, "upside". Hell, it's not even a word.