Bills News and Notes, with SB Nation Flavor

by Brian Galliford on Mar 24, 2008 5:28 PM EDT in Buffalo Bills News

We've officially hit the lull between the end of free agency and the beginning of serious draft preparations, so Buffalo Bills news is a bit hard to come by these days. However, there are a few topics floating around that we can discuss this evening; I've also got a couple of exciting tidbits to share with y'all about our glorious network, SB Nation.

Chris Brown, at the official site, further explores Buffalo's safety position from the perspective of second-year man John Wendling. In the article, Brown once again brings up the potential move of Donte Whitner to free safety - a move I've been publicly backing for nearly a year now. Is Wendling a potential answer at strong safety if Whitner's position is switched? Where do Bryan Scott and, more importantly, Ko Simpson figure in at that point? What of George Wilson, last year's pleasant surprise? Safety is quickly becoming Buffalo's most log-jammed position, and it's sure to bring up some debate heading into the regular season.

Pete Prisco, perhaps my favorite NFL columnist, gives the Bills some love in his latest piece:

The Bills are a team getting better each year. They have a lot of good, young talent and might be one draft away from pushing for a Wild-card spot. They've drafted well in recent years and they have to hope that continues.

He then names receiver and cornerback Buffalo's most likely first-round draft routes. Not exactly going out on a limb, but hey... he didn't say left tackle, did he?

Connor Byrne, in one of his more interesting articles of late, takes a look at Dwayne Wright's rookie season. Many Bills fans are quickly forgetting about Wright - a point Byrne emphasizes - which may be a mistake. This kid still has talent, and any runner that's tough to bring down between the tackles and can catch the football belongs in this league. I still like this kid, and think he can be a contributor in 2008.

It had been a week since I'd done it (I was on vacation last week), but our first round mock draft tracker is once again up to date. I'd like to urge anyone who hasn't seen this before to take a gander; I'd also like to urge everyone who has a mock draft source they like, but is not represented on this page, to let me know so I can add it.

Starting next week, the football bloggers of SB Nation will be kicking off the second annual SB Nation NFL Mock Draft. The mock will be hosted at our NFL Draft blog, Mocking the Draft, and will feature two full rounds of draft-style mocking. Each team blogger will be making the selections. I urge every one of you to take a gander at the rest of SB Nation's football blogs as we head toward this network-wide mock - the rest of the bloggers do a super job of keeping their communities up to date, and the fan commentary is first-rate. We'll be discussing the SBN Mock much more leading up to draft day.

We've finally gotten the OK to discuss this publicly, so I'll do so - SB Nation has launched a brand new blog platform, called SBN 2.0. It's still unclear (to the bloggers, anyways) when the NFL blogs will be updated, but SB Nation's baseball blogs are making the jump in time for the start of the MLB regular season. Personally, I cannot wait to get this site updated so y'all can enjoy the shiny new features, but if you're looking for a sneak peak, take a look at some of the MLB blogs that are updated. Over the Monster is one example (no, I'm not a Red Sox fan - I'm an Indians fan, meaning I can't wait for Let's Go Tribe to make the switch this week).

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Le Draft

The mocks highlighted by our fearsome foursome total 23. 8 pick a CB and 8 pick a WR. Only one picks Sweed. If the Bills trade down, DRC will not be available. Kyper has him going 10th at worst. I think McKelvin will be gone. If DRC goes 10th to NO, I will be torqued! We missed Willis by one last year. Please Buddha, let him be there at 11.

If they trade down, it means a WR. We will do fine with a WR further down. I kinda hope they can do that and stockpile picks. But I still say they are after DRC at 11. A good WR can be had in round 2. Not sold on Devin Thomas. Too many drops. Clifton McNeil revisited. "And there's a pass to McNeil, right in his bread basket! And, OH MY GOD, he drops it!" As the Giants proved, who wants it more?

More thoughts. Trent cannot be fairly evaluated based on last year. What were his numbers before the Cleveland game? Right now, he is a fair weather QB in a snow town. Not as strong an arm as JP, but I saw him throw 40yds before the snow and he was fine. Last year's offensive game plan simply SUCKED. I had the feeling that all year Fairchild was scared. Do not judge him by his performance in bad weather. He has a lot to learn there. But his ability to see the field is way above average. His release is quick and he (other than bad weather) can throw a 20yd ball just fine. How many times did we throw on third down last year when the receiver was not across the first down line? Whose fault is that? Fairchild or the receivers? Mostly Fairchild.

We have been told by OBD that Stroud checks out OK physically. I believe them. The question is mentally. Does he wish to play like he did? He can only answer that on the field. Have confidence, Marcus. It's all in the head.

If we get some decent blocking schemes and run the ball more this year, Fowler's weaknesses will be amplified. He is definitely the weak link in the OL.

If DRC is avaliable at 11 and we still have that pick, take him. If not, trade down and take a WR in the first. So, no trade, I pick DB, WR, TE, C. If trade down, WR, DB, TE, C. Two WR's would be good. I also do not think the Bills will go after a DT unless a stud falls in the first. DE high probability. After the Whitner pick, it ain't easy to predict the front office. It is interesting that only one of the 23 mocks have us picking Sweed. I'd like to see Mel K's hair cut like George Gobel's! A buzz cut on Mel!

by keuka121 on Mar 24, 2008 7:22 PM EDT reply actions

Missed Willis?

Are you really suggesting we missed out by not taking Willis? Marshawn is the man and the only offensive weapon we had last year. I couldn't be happier we didnt get Willis

It's not delivery, It's DiGiorgio!

by poz on Mar 24, 2008 10:43 PM EDT up reply actions

willis

dont know why it didnt reply down here, or why it posted twice up above, but my bad:

marshawn is a good back, and has a great future, but i would definitely rather have willis. he was unreal last year (pro bowl, ROY, NFL leader in tackles by an amazing 33 tackles), and is already considered one of the best linebackers in the NFL. he is going to be a ray lewis type stud for the next decade. backs are much easier to come by later in the draft (even last year selvin young averaged 5.2 per carry and had 35 catches as an undrafted rookie).

by jmorris0823 on Mar 24, 2008 11:39 PM EDT up reply actions

Check out lonestarball.com

it just switched. And while I liked the simplicity of version 1 I am beginning to come around on the idea. I really like the avatar feature as well as being able to have one name on other blogs that have 2.0.

CB or WR, I dont care what we do as long as we dont reach. With word that Kelly's status is falling Im really hoping we dont reach to get him with the 11th pick.

Do you BILLieve?

by NYTXFAN on Mar 24, 2008 8:09 PM EDT reply actions

The platform on lonestarball.com

is exactly the same as what BR will become, obviously. It's pretty easy to use and the features are much, much, much better. Pictures, videos, charts, fonts, you name it and it's available to be used.

The only thing I don't like is not being able to see the list of Diaries (which will be called Fanposts) down the side of the page.

by Kurupt on Mar 24, 2008 8:21 PM EDT up reply actions

I knew

we had a Rangers fan here, and I was 95% sure it was you, B3J. Glad to hear you're coming around on the new platform.

K - you can see Fanpost listings on the home page still...

Create a free account to join in the discussion, Bills fans!

by Brian Galliford on Mar 24, 2008 8:27 PM EDT up reply actions

Rangers fans

There's one in every bunch. Kinda like Indians fans.

Man do I miss #78

by sireric on Mar 24, 2008 8:32 PM EDT up reply actions

Im a rare fan but I love me some rangers

baseball. Kinda wierd that I ended up one though.

Do you BILLieve?

by NYTXFAN on Mar 25, 2008 1:33 PM EDT up reply actions

Wow

I'm blind

I was looking for a similar look as to what we have now. Disregard my ineptitude.

by Kurupt on Mar 24, 2008 8:33 PM EDT up reply actions

prisco

brian, are you serious about prisco being one of your favorites? for me, prisco not only seems to come to ludicrous conclusions, he also often seems under informed about individual teams and lacking in substantive research.

clark judge is another sportsline guy that is really hard to read.

by jmorris0823 on Mar 24, 2008 11:21 PM EDT reply actions