Two Bills Drive

‘What do you see in J.P. Losman that made him worth moving up for?

Mobile, strong arm, competitive, leader.’

But that wasn’t the most dramatic of the 10 trades made in the first round. That distinction belonged to the deal the Buffalo Bills made to get the Dallas Cowboys’ 22nd overall pick, which the Bills then used for QB J.P. Losman. The Bills gave the Cowboys their second-round choice this year (RB Julius Jones ) and first- and fifth-rounders in ’05.

‘On Day Two, the Bills used their 4th round selection on tight end Tim Euhus out of Oregon State. Euhus, 6’5″, 260 pounds, was three-year starter at Oregon State who has good hands, but lacks pure speed, as he ran a 4.89 in the 40-yard dash. He is known for being an intelligent player, but will need to improve his blocking techniques to succeed at the next level. Euhus also earned letter status playing basketball at Oregon State.’

‘Some folks have panned the top of the Bills’ draft for taking Wisconsin receiver Lee Evans too high at No. 13, and for giving up next year’s No. 1 to Dallas in order to get back into the opening round and select Tulane quarterback J.P. Losman at No. 22. But not me.’

‘J.P. is a guy that we ranked right there in the bulk of guys including the top three people. I wouldn’t say we said he was the best in the draft but he was right there with them. Some times when you put them in lists like that, they are not equidistant from each other. They are very tight in terms of our feelings towards him and the other picks. He was a guy that we said going into the draft, if we end up with him we have a good player. The thinking was from Mike Mularkey that if we don’t draft one this year we’re going to have to go get one next year. We can’t go on and on restocking here. Why this year rather than wait until next year and have a raw rookie that has another year to wait before he’s ready to go before he’s ready to go to play. We’ll give him that playing time, spend that next year’s draft now and get the advantage of the playing time between now and next year. He’s not coming in to take the opener. He’s got a very comfortable transition period here.’

‘Of Buffalo’s six selections during the two-day draft, five were offensive players. It was a trend the team established on Saturday in an attempt to bolster an offense that finished 30th in the NFL last year, and was blamed for Buffalo’s disappointing 6-10 finish.’

‘The last three seasons he has been one of the key ingredients to Montana’s offensive success and has helped the Griz to be ranked among the national leaders in several offensive categories.’

‘Versatile big-play performer who was Tech’s main offensive weapon in his senior year…In addition to regular duties as a wide receiver and punt returner, Jonathan also lined up at halfback and quarterback during his career.’

‘He’s a good athlete. In his freshman year at Oregon State he was on the basketball team. He’s a tall athletic tight end. He’s a good receiver. Big, strong hands. He has good speed for his size. He’s a tenacious blocker. He’s a tough scrapper and a hard nose player.’

‘It was good news for me. I figured that with all the other tight ends that had been taken, my number would come up pretty quick, and it was a little quicker than I thought. Quick news is good news.’

‘Can slide and elude the pass rush and has the ability to throw on the move…Does a very good job with his timing on the mid-range throws, as the receiver rarely has to work back to the ball…Has the field vision and awareness to look off his primary target to find his second and third options…Competitive player who can handle hard coaching.’

‘"When we first did our board we had four quarterbacks that we thought had first round talents," Bills President and GM Tom Donahoe said. "As soon as we made our (first) pick we began to explore the possibility of trying to get back into the first round to pick J. P. We called just about every team from our pick on and proposed a trade to them. Finally, we were able to get it done with Dallas."’

‘”This guy’s a leader,” Donahoe said. “We think he’s got a heck of an arm and he’s a good athlete. He’s a quarterback who can move around and throw the ball on the move.”‘

‘”He’s highly competitive, which probably rubs some people the wrong way,” said Bills President and General Manager Tom Donahoe. “But that’s the business we’re in. We’re in a competitive business, and we want people that want to lay it on the line every time they go out on the field, and when they’re not successful we want them to be upset.”‘

‘”From when I was little he would always tell me about how hard it is getting up and working in a factory every day,” Evans said Saturday on a conference call. “It’s hard (work), to say the least. But my dad is a very hard worker, and he does what he has to do. He gets up every morning and goes to work to provide for his family. He instilled that work ethic in me. He’s always inspired me to do some of the things he didn’t do.”‘