Two Bills Drive

‘If you were looking for a common thread to the struggles Donahoe’s last six teams have endured (39-57 combined record), the draft would be a good place to start. He hasn’t hit as many home runs as he did in the early and mid-’90s.’

‘”To many of us, and I include myself in this, it may appear that the majority of NFL players have a distorted sense of reality,” Tucker said. “Not so. The life they live every day is their reality. Imagine what it’s like when you’ve got to catch a plane in 10 minutes and there’s 40 people lined up for an autograph.”‘

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‘They are in a position to go in many directions. Rivers and Roethlisberger will likely go before the Bills pick. In the past three drafts the Bills have selected defensive ends with their second-round pick with mixed results. The Bills brass may have faith in their development, but if Smith or Udeze were available, they would be very tough to pass up. The same goes for Josh Reed, who failed to fill Price’s receiver role. If Mike Williams slides to 13, the Bills would have to consider him. In the end, look for the Bills to grab Smith and look for a receiver in the second round and a quarterback next year.’

‘The Bills do like Rivers but if they don’t have him among their 13 best players, they will stay the course and address three other areas of need: wide receiver, defensive end and defensive tackle.’

‘The Bills have no experienced depth behind starter Mark Campbell, but the draft could add a very good prospect or two. Buffalo will start its hunt in the second round at the earliest and should have a shot at Georgia’s Ben Watson.’

‘GM Tom Donahoe’s three drafts with Buffalo have produced eight starters and 21 of 30 picks that are still on the roster (.700). “Nobody bats 1.000 doing this but you better bat more than .400, and if you do that, it’s a pretty good average,” he said.’

‘The team is interested in adding a veteran linebacker who will provide needed depth. The challenge will be finding a quality player willing to accept a limited role. Buffalo is one of the few teams in the NFL with three every-down linebackers–Takeo Spikes, London Fletcher and Jeff Posey.’

“Most quarterbacks with skills that he has make it big in the pros,” said Buffalo Bills quarterbacks coach Sam Wyche. “There are occasionally some that don’t make the transition, but when you break his game down and add his size and intellect, I think he’s going to be a very good player.”

‘There only are two other quarterbacks available who will be taken on the first day – meaning in the first three rounds. They are Virginia’s Matt Schaub and Tulane’s J.P. Losman. The conservative scouts around the NFL like Schaub. The risk-takers like Losman.’

‘Look for the Big Three quarterbacks – Eli Manning, Ben Roethlisberger and Rivers – to be selected before Buffalo picks or moves up in the draft.’

‘Kicking off with our annual early-bird look at the Buffalo Bills schedule and projected record for the 2004 season.’

‘The Bills don’t need a No. 1 pass target – nine-year pro Eric Moulds is still among the league’s elite and is recovered from a nagging groin injury. But they do desperately need to jazz up a receiving corps that was a big part of the team’s slump to 30th-place rankings in both yards and points during last season’s 6-10 finish.’

‘”We have said publicly we want to take a young quarterback,” Donahoe admitted. ” And I don’t think our stance has changed. But when do you take him? How does the guy develop? What does he turn into? Who knows?”‘

‘And Donahoe doesn’t buy the argument that young players could be stashed on a roster as they learn and mature. “I don’t totally agree with it, if that’s what somebody’s thinking,” he said. “When you have a 53-man roster, you’d like to think all those guys can play. You may need them at some time during the year. To have two to four guys who are redshirts … you’d be scared to death to put them in a game. I don’t think too many coaches want to be in that situation.”‘

Mike Williams, with his very average speed and a good, but far-from-great workout, might linger on the board even longer. Most personnel men now have him going somewhere in the teens, with No. 13 Buffalo said to be zeroing in him.