BrooklynBills

We have to draft a DE who will be able to start by the beginning of the 2010 season. We are in a position to do that right now. We do not have a any young DE talent. Which means next year or two years from now we will be in the same problem that we are in now. Only then it will be the DE position that we will feel forced to draft with our first round pick not a WR. We cannot keep drafting like this. It is what will keep us a mediocre team with mediocre talent. You use the draft to build the foundation of your team, not fill needs. No one is gameplanning to stop Kelly, Sweed, Hardy, or Thomas. They are not that good. Listen, I won't hate Devin Thomas at 11. But its just a bad philosophy to keep going "Oh, what position do I have a hole at? I'll just plug in this rookie." I mean especially with wide receiver. I don't care what anyone says. We do not have a good foundation for the defensive line. Two players under 25, and one of those guys should never be a starter. One guy in his prime. One guy a career backup. One guy on the downside of his career. And one guy coming off a serious leg injury. Every good defense has good young talented defensive lineman. We have one good young talented guy - McCargo. I just don't think that the Bills have spent the past two years rebuilding the defense to stop drafting young defensive players in this draft.

2007: 10th pick Amobi Okoye, 11th pick Patrick Willis 2006: 12th pick Haloti Ngata, 13th pick Kameiron Wimbley 2005: 11th pick DeMarcus Ware, 12th pick Shawne Merriman 2004: 12th pick Jonathan Vilma, 14th pick Tommie Harris 2003: 9th pick Kevin Williams, 10th pick Terrell Suggs, 12th pick Jimmy Kennedy (BUST), 13th pick Ty Warren, 14th pick Micheal Haynes (BUST) 2002: 11th pick Dwight Freeney, 12th pick Wendell Bryant (BUST) History would suggest that we would an immediate impact defensive player. Save the three busts, what do all those players have in common? Oh, yeah. We don't have a single defensive player like them. You need those types of players to win in this league and previous draft history suggests that they are drafted between picks 9 and 14. It just so happens that we have a pick right in the middle of that area. Pure pass rushing defensive end vs. number 2 wideout. I don't think there is even a debate about this. You take the DE every time.

The facts would disagree with you. How did the Giants stop the patriots? Pass Rush. how is a tall receiver going to put pressure on Tom brady. The Dolphins, the patriots, and the jets are building dominant O-Lines, as are the Bills it would seem. We added a backup DT who had a career high of 3 sacks last year and a starting DT whose career high of 6.5 sacks came in 2002. We have not upgraded our pass rush ability significantly, and all our current DEs will be over 30 by the beginning of next season. You want 50 catches 700 yards and 5 TDs. James Jones had those numbers last year - he was taken in the 3rd round. You do not draft secondary offensive threats - which is what Thomas, Hardy, Sweed, and Kelly will be - with the 11th pick in the draft. Its a waste of a valuable pick. Don't get me wrong. I would love to get one of those wideouts on our team, but not at 11. trade back into the first round and get one at the end of the first round or wait for one to be there at 41.

6'1 is plenty tall compared to our other guys. I see the Bills trying to improve between the hashes with some interior offensive players in this draft. C, TE are bigger offensive priorities IMO than WR.

Mike Pollack is a big nasty center and the best center in the draft. He'd be a great addition to the O-Line and would challenge for starting job if we took him. Carlson would probably start by the end of the year. Picking up an extra third somehow and grabbing both of them would be great. I'd love to toughen up the offense though. TE fred davis(fingers crossed) in the second. Add Pollack in the 3rd, Peyton Hillis in the 4th. Its crazy but I like Mark Bradford from Stanford as the wideout we take later on in the draft rather than getting one in the first or second.

In the last two drafts run by Levy and Co., the Bills have used there first pick to take who they thought was the most talented player and then trading into the late first/early second to take a player at a position of need. While Levy has moved on, he is serving as a consultant on this draft. Is there any reason to think that we won't be doing this again this year, with the most likely scenario being to trade up to get a WR with a late first round pick?

None of these WRs will be good starting options this year.

I don't think we have done anything to upgrade the DE position, the center position, or the WR position. I think we maximize our value if we take a DE at 11 and WR in round 2. If we are counting on this player to come in and start from day one we are looking at another 6-10, 7-9, 8-8 season so the future is not now. 2nd year starting QB, 2nd year starting RB, MLB has played 3 career games. I would say they are definitely building for the future, while trying to be competitive now. If our scouts have a WR rated as around the 11th - 20th best player then fine. Take the WR. But we have a good chance of being the team that passes up drafting Warren Sapp or Jevon Kearse to draft J.J. Stokes or David Terrell

Correct about an injury changing next year's WR class, but the point is that the talent is better. Our overall talent is lower than most teams defensively. We cannot draft thinking short term, that is what bad FOs do. We need to maximize the value of that 11th pick. I don't want a WR at 11, but if we are trading back picking up more picks in later rounds or in next year's draft and then take WR at 19 or 24. I will be fine with that. I think devin thomas is good prospect, but he is not worth taking with the 11th pick if Rodgers-Cromartie, Rivers, Albert, Williams or Clady are still there. In regards to Harvey, I just think he is really good and makes our D-Line pretty dominant. But there are other "can't miss" prospects that will be available and I think it will be a mistake to pass them up because we need a wideout. Are we really doing that much worse if take Jordy Nelson in round 2? Or getting a stopgap player after July 1st cuts and then addressing WR in next year's draft? I don't know.

In 2006, Denney had 6 sacks and Kelsay had 5.5 (career years for both of them), good for 44th and 56th among defensive players individually. Over his career (6 seasons), Denney averages .22 sacks per game and a little under 3 sacks per season. Over his career (5 seasons), Kelsay averages .19 sacks per game and exactly 3 per season. Good DEs. Definitely not pass-rushers. We have one pass rushing threat. Aaron Schobel. He'll be 31 at the start of training camp. Again, 11 sacks from the DE position last year and 26 total. Pathetic.

There are 4 or 5 WRs coming out next year that would be rated higher than the players coming out in this year's draft. Micheal Crabtree (6'3 222), Percy Harvin (5'11 185), Jeremy Maclin (6'1 185), Darius Heyward (6'3 200), and Branden LaFell (6'3 205) would all most likely be rated higher than every reciever coming out this year. Plus there are players like USC's Patrick Turner (6'5 220) and OSU's Brian Robiskie (6'3 200) who are just as talented as devin thomas or limas sweed. The draft is for the future, not the present. I'm not advocating ignoring the WR position in this draft, but WRs like Sweed and Thomas are available every year. The Bills will not be in a position to get as talented a DE as Darick Harvey in some time. This is the year to get a D-Line stud. Who are our impact front seven defensive players? No one. With Miami drafting Jake Long, I think it becomes even more imperative to take an impact DE. Jake Long, Matt Light, D'Brickshaw Ferguson are not going anywhere anytime soon. Schobel, on the other hand, has about 2 seasons left as a Bill. Plus, I think the Bills are going to try to emulate some of the Giants defensive tactics in order to beat the Patriots offense. And why is it a given that WR is our biggest need position? Our DEs had 11 sacks last year. That is pathetic. Stroud will help, but he won't turn Kelsay and Denney into pass rushers, and he won't make schobel any younger. Harvey is a no-brainer if you ask me. This team still lacks elite young defensive talent. WR at 11 is a Donahoe move.

They want two firsts for him. Nothing less than that will get him IMO. They will let him sit out if they don't get it.

Our O-Line would be pretty well set for the next 10 years if we drafted Clady in the first and Pollack in the 3rd.

We should try to acquire a 1st in next year's draft. Does the 11th pick for the 19th pick and a Philly's 2009 1st rounder = fair value?

Yeah, he was dominant in the Championship Game two years ago. I've wanted him on the Bills ever since. The Bills have to be thinking that they need to get an impact front seven player with that 11th pick. We do not have one right now. DE prospects like Harvey and Merling are difficult to get and I would have to think that they will be difficult pass up. If we stay at 11, we are taking either Merling, Harvey, or Keith Rivers. They will all be star defensive players in this league.