Been giving this a lot of thought....and I am a OL guy and

[Pete]

I don't agree. In this draft, would you draft a WR, DB or RB if a player at that position is best available ? Your philosophy would make sense for a team that has been consistently drafting well and is indifferent to positional needs. We have so many critical needs on the lines and at the QB position that we cannot afford to blindly go best-available.

Absolutely. Dez White, Eric Berry, and CJ Spiller would all be great additions to this team. And all would help this team more then Clausen or Bradford IMO. We spent a #1 pick for Bledsoe, for JP, for Rob Johnson. That is trying to put square pieces into round holes. Instead go by your board/ Give me dominant football players. Something this team has been lacking. And if you think that this team is so deep at any position that we can ignore drafting it (besides punter)- you are naive. This is a mediocre/poor football team.

[bills in va]

as opposed to your draft strategy. Um lets see. We had the #4 pick overall in the 2002 draft and needed offensive tackles. Using your strategy- that justified drafting Mike Williams or Bryant McKinnie. Use my strategy you have your choice of Ed Reed, Albert Haynseworth, John Henderson, Dwight Freeney- whomever is highest rated on our board. I think your draft strategy sucks. Checkmate

My strategy for this draft would be to focus on both lines, then QB and LB, then WR and best available at the end.

:You say my strategy sucks w/o knowing it...your ignorance on full display. You can't use hindsight and say we could have drafted him, instead we took this guy who didn't work out, that's spilled milk. I am saying that we have many serious holes to fill and we better get offensive tackles, nose tackles, linebackers before the start of the season or we are screwed. I do not care who is the best player on your board when you pick. You pick the best player available to fill major holes like OT and NT. You go ahead and pick Eric Berry if he is there at # 9, that would be foolish. If we don't do something about our lines we are done.

[Fan in Chicago]

Absolutely. Dez White, Eric Berry, and CJ Spiller would all be great additions to this team. And all would help this team more then Clausen or Bradford IMO. We spent a #1 pick for Bledsoe, for JP, for Rob Johnson. That is trying to put square pieces into round holes. Instead go by your board/ Give me dominant football players. Something this team has been lacking. And if you think that this team is so deep at any position that we can ignore drafting it (besides punter)- you are naive. This is a mediocre/poor football team.

Not necessarily but DBs may be more than adequate. However, we need to shore up the positions we are miserable at rather than improve an already decent squad. The offense & run defense need to be brought up to some measure of respectability first before we start bolstering other areas.

[Pete]

My strategy for this draft would be to focus on both lines, then QB and LB, then WR and best available at the end.

:You say my strategy sucks w/o knowing it...your ignorance on full display. You can't use hindsight and say we could have drafted him, instead we took this guy who didn't work out, that's spilled milk. I am saying that we have many serious holes to fill and we better get offensive tackles, nose tackles, linebackers before the start of the season or we are screwed. I do not care who is the best player on your board when you pick. You pick the best player available to fill major holes like OT and NT. You go ahead and pick Eric Berry if he is there at # 9, that would be foolish. If we don't do something about our lines we are done.

so I am ignorant?

Eric Berry would be a gift at #9. Do you mean to tell me if we got a playmaker at S that would hurt this team? Berry and Byrd would be tremendous!

We need playmakers! I agree with the lines. But don't reach for need if our scouts are not sold on them. I would rather have the #3 rated DT in a draft class very deep at DT then the #1 rated LT in a very weak LT draft class. I want players that will be quality players for the Bills the next 5-10 years. Not some #1 rated LT who will be a turnstile then out of the league in 3 years. Seems obvious to me

[Fan in Chicago]

so I am ignorant?

Eric Berry would be a gift at #9. Do you mean to tell me if we got a playmaker at S that would hurt this team? Berry and Byrd would be tremendous!

We need playmakers! I agree with the lines. But don't reach for need if our scouts are not sold on them. I would rather have the #3 rated DT in a draft class very deep at DT then the #1 rated LT in a very weak LT draft class. I want players that will be quality players for the Bills the next 5-10 years. Not some #1 rated LT who will be a turnstile then out of the league in 3 years. Seems obvious to me

Frankly, I am stunned that anyone would be making a case for the Bills to draft yet another DB in the top 10. And that is all I have to say on this topic. Carry on ...

[JPS]

I would actually take a young John Fina on this team right now.....

Eeeeeeek!!!

[PDaDdy]

so I am ignorant?

... then the #1 rated LT in a very weak LT draft class. I want players that will be quality players for the Bills the next 5-10 years. Not some #1 rated LT who will be a turnstile then out of the league in 3 years. Seems obvious to me

 

 

Do your home work. Just because you don't consider o-line important don't say this is a weak class. IT IS NOT! As a side note some project that potentially 4 LTs will go in the first 10 picks and that up to half of the first round picks in general will be on the offensive or defensive lines.

[bills in va]

so I am ignorant?

Eric Berry would be a gift at #9. Do you mean to tell me if we got a playmaker at S that would hurt this team? Berry and Byrd would be tremendous!

We need playmakers! I agree with the lines. But don't reach for need if our scouts are not sold on them. I would rather have the #3 rated DT in a draft class very deep at DT then the #1 rated LT in a very weak LT draft class. I want players that will be quality players for the Bills the next 5-10 years. Not some #1 rated LT who will be a turnstile then out of the league in 3 years. Seems obvious to me

Thanks for making my point so well for me. You would draft a safety with our number 9 pick. Enough said, you don't need me to tell you that your ignorant, just keep posting.

I don't typically bash a fellow BILLS fan, I will make an exception for you because I can't help myself.

[PromoTheRobot]

We need a new QB to kill behind our O-line made up of rejects. Let's draft 3 QB's and send them all in. It will be just like feeding quarters into a slot machine hoping one will pay off.

 

PTR

[PDaDdy]

We need a new QB to kill behind our O-line made up of rejects. Let's draft 3 QB's and send them all in. It will be just like feeding quarters into a slot machine hoping one will pay off.

 

PTR

 

 

LOL....nice. The other pipe dream is to get a QB and "let him sit for a year or 2"....ROFLOL. Everyone cleverly ignores the fact that that doesn't happen in today's NFL with top 10 QB picks anymore.

[Pete]

Do your home work. Just because you don't consider o-line important don't say this is a weak class. IT IS NOT! As a side note some project that potentially 4 LTs will go in the first 10 picks and that up to half of the first round picks in general will be on the offensive or defensive lines.

I never said it was a weak class. Reading comprehension- give it a shot

[GrudginglyPessimistic]

THis is a bit disingenuous. It's not like winning a super bowl is the ONLY measure of a good QB. The first round is the MOST LIKELY place to find a franchise QB.

I agree that, if they don't feel that one of this years crop is a "franchise QB" it would be foolish to spend the pick on him. BUT to say that we need to "fix the O-line BEFORE we draft a QB" is silly. The guy can sit for a year, and it will....AHHHHHHH! I've already posted this. If it isn't CLEAR by now, it's all just j3rking off.

 

Think what you like.....

Do you really think this area's media and a small but loud group of fans who seem addicted to finding one football savior would be willing to let a 1st round drafted QB sit for a year (as he likely would have to no matter who you drafted) and learn the game. Perhaps more accurately do think that Mr. Ralph and what passes as a Bills braintrust would be able to withstand the whinings of these fans and local media that this first rounder needs to produce and produce now.

 

If so, then you simply have a lot more faith in the local media, the whiny fans and ultimately the Bills braintrust with head unknowledgable fan Mr. Ralph actually pulling the strings.

 

This crew in the a seemingly unending dedication to finding a savior have:

 

1. Mr. Ralph personally made a bad football judgment in concluding Jimbo would last to have another contract when he made a handshake deal to violate the cap an reward Jimbo in the future (which never occurred and Mr. Ralph gave him a million dollars walking away money.

 

2, The braintrust screwed up even before this deal and failed to either draft in '94 or pickup a vet to replace Jimbo. Instead the team over-reached to nab Collings with a 2nd in 95 and then rushed him into a starters role when he still had happy feet when Jimbo exited on the golf cart

 

3. The team welched on a deal with Flutie when they promised him at least an in field shot and then though they did "only" pay market value for RJ, they foolishly gave him a contract which welched on their deal with Flutie. Further, though the pcik-up was a forgivable error, they made a stupid contractual error in guarantteeing RJ starter pay when he obviously was injury prone and then when Flutie did what we wanted an hit his incentives it simply put us into an untenable cap position which forced us to overpay the going rate for a QB starter.

 

4. Picking up Bledsoe actually was not a bad idea, but giving him an extension was simply dumb and a predictable disaster seemingly prompted by our single QB savior addiction.

 

5. Again rushing JP to start (even he admitted he was not ready) was another case of the same impatience which I think simply means this team must not get a QB with the first.

 

Getting Bradford or Claussen and having them sit like almost all first rounders actually do (the conventional wisdom that a 1st round pick must start by the end of his rookie year is simply not correct for roughly 40% or more of 1st round picks from what I have seen) is the smart football thing to do but I have no confidence (as you seem to) that the WGRs, Sullys and Mr. Ralphs of the world would allow this to happen.

 

I hope if we end up with a QB that your faith is justified.

[Chalkie Gerzowski]

Nope.

 

Fragile Bradford behind this current OLine? No thanks. Build at the line and then deal with the QB.

[PDaDdy]

I never said it was a weak class. Reading comprehension- give it a shot

 

so I am ignorant?

Eric Berry would be a gift at #9. Do you mean to tell me if we got a playmaker at S that would hurt this team? Berry and Byrd would be tremendous!

We need playmakers! I agree with the lines. But don't reach for need if our scouts are not sold on them. I would rather have the #3 rated DT in a draft class very deep at DT then the #1 rated LT in a very weak LT draft class. I want players that will be quality players for the Bills the next 5-10 years. Not some #1 rated LT who will be a turnstile then out of the league in 3 years. Seems obvious to me

 

 

Try giving writing comprehension a shot. If you don't remember what you typed an hour ago you need to grow something more than a brain stem or cut back on your meds!!!!!

 

If you were just speaking about hypothetically taking the #3 DT in a ficticious strong Dline class vs the #1 LT in a fictitious weak oline class ....WHO CARES!!!!!! Thanks for your brilliant insight Sherlock. Perhaps instead of copping attitude you should get a clue how to express yourself in the written word so that people get your point. Or, how about make a point that is worth making?

[PDaDdy]

Do you really think this area's media and a small but loud group of fans who seem addicted to finding one football savior would be willing to let a 1st round drafted QB sit for a year (as he likely would have to no matter who you drafted) and learn the game. Perhaps more accurately do think that Mr. Ralph and what passes as a Bills braintrust would be able to withstand the whinings of these fans and local media that this first rounder needs to produce and produce now.

 

OR

Getting Bradford or Claussen and having them sit like almost all first rounders actually do (the conventional wisdom that a 1st round pick must start by the end of his rookie year is simply not correct for roughly 40% or more of 1st round picks from what I have seen) is the smart football thing to do but I have no confidence (as you seem to) that the WGRs, Sullys and Mr. Ralphs of the world would allow this to happen.

 

I hope if we end up with a QB that your faith is justified.

 

 

I was a bit confused by this. Which philosophy do you support? If you really think that 40% or more of first round pick QBs sit their first year I need to see the stats. Even if you are within 20%, what is REALLY of relevance is how many QBs drafted in the top 10 picks sit. I have kept asking this question over and over and over and noone can provide an answer. In the last number of years what top 10 QB other than Phillip Rivers has not started by sometime in his rookie year?

 

You can't use the example of late first round QBs to predict what will happen with early first round pick QBs. Those slots are night and freaking day. We are probably talking several million a year between say #9 and #32. Money, on the high pick, dictates that they play. End of story.

 

If you don't feel that way please disregard and anyone who DOES feel that way should take heed! LOL

[thewildrabbit]

Yeah, but he built the line AFTER he had Jim Kelly, RIGHT?

As a matter of fact, the same time.... look!

 

 

1986:

On draft day, Polian again wheeled and dealed with excellent results. Trading a 2nd and a 4th, he picked up a 1st round selection. With his 2 1st round picks, he surprised many in Buffalo selecting RB Ronnie Harmon and grabbed OT Will Wolford with the pick obtained from San Francisco. The Bills already had a full stable at RB with the return of always disgruntled Joe Cribbs , Greg Bell, and solid backup Rob Riddick. Polian selected C Leonard Burton with his 3rd, and FB Carl Byrum with the 5th. Polian displayed his knack of getting quality talent in later rounds. LB Mark Pike and TE Butch Rolle were selected in the 7th.

 

Other USFL free agents signed were Center Kent Hull of the Generals, and DB Dwight Drane. Lost in the Kelly mania that struck the city of Buffalo was Polian's trade of Joe Cribbs to San Francisco for future draft picks.

 

http://www.billszone.com/mtlog/archives/20...the_messiah.php

 

So in 86 the same year that Jim Kelly arrived the Bills managed to acquire LT Will Wolford AND C Kent Hull, two of the very best O linemen in Bills history.

[Pygskin36]

IF he falls to us at 9

 

There is just something about him I really like.......Sam Bradford is my guy.

 

Then we look at a guy like the OT from USC in the 2nd round.

 

 

I am hoping for Clausen.

[PDaDdy]

As a matter of fact, the same time.... look!

 

 

1986:

On draft day, Polian again wheeled and dealed with excellent results. Trading a 2nd and a 4th, he picked up a 1st round selection. With his 2 1st round picks, he surprised many in Buffalo selecting RB Ronnie Harmon and grabbed OT Will Wolford with the pick obtained from San Francisco. The Bills already had a full stable at RB with the return of always disgruntled Joe Cribbs , Greg Bell, and solid backup Rob Riddick. Polian selected C Leonard Burton with his 3rd, and FB Carl Byrum with the 5th. Polian displayed his knack of getting quality talent in later rounds. LB Mark Pike and TE Butch Rolle were selected in the 7th.

 

Other USFL free agents signed were Center Kent Hull of the Generals, and DB Dwight Drane. Lost in the Kelly mania that struck the city of Buffalo was Polian's trade of Joe Cribbs to San Francisco for future draft picks.

 

http://www.billszone.com/mtlog/archives/20...the_messiah.php

 

So in 86 the same year that Jim Kelly arrived the Bills managed to acquire LT Will Wolford AND C Kent Hull, two of the very best O linemen in Bills history.

 

 

Thanks for doing the research and getting the details. I knew that was the answer but didn't have the specifics. O-line pieces in place at the same time or before the QB????....hrm...sounds like a recipe for success.

[thewildrabbit]

My strategy is actually the best player at a position of need not just the best player.......

 

Mike Williams was one of the all time flops.......I am not scared to take another OT high just because of him.

 

I just really like Bradford....to me he looks like a leader.....he was ultra productive in college....he has a quick release...he is extremely accurate.......

 

Its a gut feel

Annnnd the first time he gets blind-sided by a safety blitzer coming untouched and then severely concussed like Edwards was in Arizona...he might start to think, wtf am I doing here and begin running for his life.

 

Its a gut feel

[PDaDdy]

Annnnd the first time he gets blind-sided by a safety blitzer coming untouched and then severely concussed like Edwards was in Arizona...he might start to think, wtf am I doing here and begin running for his life.

 

Its a gut feel

 

 

He'll probably get planted on his shoulder...not that shoulder injuries are a recurring theme with this guy. LOL. I hate to even put it like that but it is what it is. I don't mean to knock Bradford. He could be damn good. Problem is we can't protect him, or anyone for that matter, right now. I'm not talking the luxury of a great protection and 3+ seconds to make up your mind. I am talking about basic safety for his well being. That kid could end up a vegetable with the line we currently have.