the uncapped year had something to do with this? Why would guys turn down guaranteed top 20 projections? Guys like Spikes, Mays, Gresham who would be ranked the top 2-3 at their respective position?

Either way this does piss me off this morning, especially if the scouting dept really like Gresham, cuz of course I have huge man-love for Gresh (I got a good vibe with him so I call him Gresh).

Being Jauron is in a make or break season (well at least to us it seems that way but maybe to Ralph it isn’t) I don’t see them trading down. But trading down is something you always consider….and depending on how FA shakes out, OBD may not believe they HAVE to draft a guy at #11. If DE is filled with a VET, and with Schobel and possibly Crowell or other said FA LB coming in, possibly OBD trades down, nabs a Center, acquires picks for 2010? I need to research more about the repercussions if any that the uncapped year has on the draft class in 2010….maybe someone can help me out here

Only 2-3 sure things in this draft in top half. Curry, 2-3 OTs, and 1-2 DE’s will be instant starters and impact guys. Unless Curry or one of the DE’s we like is there, we should look to trade out.

So it might make most sense to trade down and get extra picks – but in this draft as we need talent upgrade at several positions immediately.

Like the idea of getting to back of round 1 and getting an extra 2nd. Detroit will likely go Qb or OT and might want to jump up to our spot to get a top guy at either position. At 20 we could take C Mack or Unger before Pitt or Philly do or grab Pettigrew TE. Whichever position we don’t do at 20, take at 43.

We could likely get pick 65 and 82 from Detroit giving us 3 picks in the 3rd round – or 5 in the top 100. I know Detroit needs bodies too but without a Franchise QB and Franchise LT they are not going anywhere.

How can you be mad at 21-year-old kids for finishing out their degrees and making themselves better football players?

you can’t – i’ve always said that NFL players should not be able to say they went to whatever college unless they graduated from that college. Degrees are FAR more important to 90% of the players in college.

Education is the key to unemployment and crime. These kids should be commended for staying in school and thank you Brian for point that out

I just wanted to offer a different opinion to Brian. Tucker says that these kids have a finite number of hits and years in them and they should make bank when they can. Reggie Bush is an example he uses. If he had these injuries at USC, his contract would have been incredibly low in the pros. He has set himself up financially for the rest of his life by simply coming out when he did.

He uses other examples and talks about guys getting to their big pay second contracts before their body starts breaking down as well. Good read and as a former player he usually has good insights.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/writers/ross_tucker/01/14/tucks-takes/index.html

So what exactly do we think the Bills strategy will be in the first and second rounds?
1. OBD wants the best DE available in the first and the best C available in the second. This is the strategy we have assumed will happen. If that is the case we should not be hurt by the players who have opted to stay. At #11 we will get one of the top 3 DE’s in the class. And who’s to say which one will be a star in the NFL? Orakpo is projected top 10 and that is good as far as I can see. That means we’ll get either Brown or Johnson. I’m fine with that. Then there’s the Maybin factor. I’m guessing that he has a superb combine and he rises up the boards. If you are a team that can wait for him to develop he is a great pick in the top 15. Mabye top 10 if the team projects into the future. With our second pick we will definitely get one of the top 3 centers (Oh please, oh please let it be Mack). How can we not be fine with that scenario with the best available TE in the third?

2. We trade down in the first to around 20 or so and get another 3rd round pick. If we do that we probably will not get a top 4 DE (I’m including Maybin). At least that is what I’m seeing relative to team needs. That means DE is not at the top of OBD’s needs list. If Gresh or Mack was a high priority for OBD then this strategy would make the most sense. With Gresh (like it) off the boards, if we do this it looks more likely that we take Mack at #20 or so. Then we would presumably go DE in the second. The DE pool is deep this year. Even with Gresh gone there will be a pretty good TE prospect available in the 3rd. So we get Mack, the best avaliable DE and the best available TE and still have another 3rd round pick. That would be fine too. If that happened I’d guess DT or S with the extra pick. I wish our “deep throat” would weigh in on this.

Whichever way they go it looks like a winner for us.This is still a deep draft for OUR positions of need. I’m thinking some of these underclassmen who opted to stay want to improve their draft position for 2010 in addition to wanting to “stay in school” and win one for the gipper. Any “general studies” majors out there?

I see no way OBD releases Robert Royal. It’s unfortunate, but I bet they ride the storm out and hope to land him next season. Why should I even think this is the way the organization will go about things? Because they give the air of an organization content with where they’re at right now – yuck.

The great news is that given the extreme difficulty with next season’s schedule, they should have an even higher pick next season!

Milquetoast

Well played, sir. You have also given me a new name for Jauron. Since King of CAC quickly fell out of favor, Milquetoast Jauron has a golden opportunity to assume an important role at Rumblings….

I see where you are going with this article, but in a way, I don’t fully agree. Other than Bradford and maybe Gresham and Spikes, I’m not sure how any of the others really would have any impact on the Bills. Bradford could be top 10, so a player would get pushed down. Gresham and Spikes were potential picks for the Bills, but I’m not sure any teams higher, maybe Spikes. The others really have no impact on the Bills #11 pick.

They could impact the 2nd rounder though, pushing a bit more talent down to the Bills. Too bad there aren’t more top 2-3 round Center prospects that had the ability to come out early….

This is a franchise that values draft picks, so a move down to stockpile selections seems like a strong possibility as well.

That I do disagree with. Values draft picks? Is that why they’ve traded away top 75 picks to go after questionable talents in McCargo and Poz? Is that why they didn’t take an offer from Denver to move down in 2006 in order to stay put for Whitner?? They haven’t traded down in a draft to get more picks since….2001? That worked out quite well if I do recall. I think if anything, this franchise has devalued draft picks in a sense. As a team that should have been rebuilding in 2006, they seemed to go the opposite way….

in stating he feels Sanchez should be returning for a 5th year. Come on now. I don’t know much about the kid, but did he not get his undergrad finished in the 4 years?

HE had a terrible season and didn’t even play on all downs. His stock has dropped significantly and I don’t understand why so many people are high on him.
Doubt Bills would draft a tight end in first round, since they have more serious needs at other positions. I love Mack, who has been All-American for last two years, and Curry from Wake Forest is ranked in the top-5 now!
Brandon Spikes would have been a nice fit for the Bills.
Brandon Pettigrew is still ranked as the #1 tight end out of Oklahoma State.