Russ Lande, of Sporting News and GM Jr. fame, has released his latest 2011 NFL Mock Draft - and in it, he has the Buffalo Bills selecting Missouri quarterback Blaine Gabbert with the third overall pick. (Kind of like I did this week for SBNation.com.)
It is Lande's always-assured analysis of that projection, however, that piqued our interest.
"Everybody is saying that the Bills are high on (Cam) Newton, but we think this is a smoke screen and that Buffalo reallys wants Gabbert," writes Lande.
It's an interesting theory, but rarely are the best-laid smokescreens done so in February. This hype isn't coming from the team, either; it's mostly coming from Chan Gailey comments made prior to his becoming Bills head coach.
For the record, Lande wrote this in March of 2010: "I've spoken with scouts and other personnel inside the Bills organization and they told me their top priority is front 7 and more specifically, pass rushers. They need pass rushers and don't be surprised when they draft a dominant pass rusher in the first round."