Buffalo Bills GM Buddy Nix will be speaking publicly this Wednesday, April 18, in the team's annual Pre-Draft Media Luncheon. Assistant GM Doug Whaley and Director of College Scouting Chuck Cook will be on hand to answer questions, as well, but rest assured that all eyes will be on Nix.
It is rare in today's NFL - where smokescreens and gamesmanship rule the month of April, if not the entire calendar year - that a front office executive is trusted with his spoken word as universally as Nix is by Bills fans. It's true, however, that throughout his two-plus years in his position, he's been a remarkably straight shooter at the podium. His most recent example: backing up claims of impending aggression in free agency by handing Mario Williams the richest contract ever given to an NFL defender. This is a man that has engendered so much trust that, by now, his every word is picked apart.
Hence this post. Buddy will have a lot more to say on Wednesday, if we're lucky, but we wanted to compile everything relevant that Nix has said about the 2012 NFL Draft and his team's needs to this point in the off-season. Use this however you will: bookmark it to analyze just how trustworthy his words are, or analyze it to try to ascertain the team's likely direction with the No. 10 overall pick. We'll have much more to sift through in a little over 48 hours; for now, head on in after the jump for more than 1,000 of Nix's words from over the last three months.
Note: These quotes were compiled from various interviews conducted by BuffaloBills.com, The Buffalo News and WGR 550, as well as from several press conferences. Dates have been provided for the quotes, and they appear chronologically under each category. If you're looking for attribution for a specific quote, ask; I'll happily answer.
GENERAL 2012 NFL DRAFT/PHILOSOPHICAL OBSERVATIONS
"The one thing we've been missing is playmakers. A guy that can make the difference in the game. We've got good players. We don't have many of those guys." (February 24)
"We cannot make it happen if it's not there, and that's the thing you've got to keep in mind. If we go in and say 'we've got to have a pass rusher,' and we reach down and get one at the tenth pick that we've got graded in the third round, then we're setting ourselves back three or four years... you've got to be disciplined enough that you stay with the integrity of all the work that 15 or 20 people have done for a year, and you don't get excited by having to trying to fill a need with a player that can't play." (March 1)
"I never have liked to, and I never have traded picks. I hate giving them up. I like to get them. We've got nine, and I'd like to wind up with ten, and we'll see how that goes." (March 1)
"I hate to give up a draft pick. If it's a sixth-round pick, I don't like giving them up. I think you build on those things." (March 13)
"Chan's philosophy, and ours, is put as many good players as we can at each position, and let the best ones start and play." (March 21)
ON QUARTERBACK
"Maybe so, yeah. If there's one there at the right time. I don't mean it to be that vague of an answer, but yes, we'd take one." (January 9)
ON WIDE RECEIVER
"There's only one Calvin Johnson, but there's some more similar to that, that you throw it up there. They're not covered when they're covered. We could use another big time receiver." (January 9)
"We need somebody like (Roscoe Parrish) in that position." (January 9)
"It's deep. The wide receiver group is deep, and that's the reason you can't - you've got to be careful at that position, because there's guys out there." (February 24)
"If you look at the most productive receivers in the NFL, they're guys that run somewhere between 4.48 and 4.55. In that range. They're not guys that are 4.32, and 4.2 - I mean, all that's nice. Every now and then, (you get) a Mike Wallace. But again, you've got to have guys that know how to run (routes) - look at (Stevie Johnson). He's just got a knack for separating from a defender." (February 24)
"I think we've got good guys to go with him, and I think Steve would tell you the same thing. We've got some talent. Everybody talks about speed on the other side away from him, deep speed - I mean we've got guys out there that can run. Now, it's a matter of keeping them healthy and keeping them on the field. It doesn't mean we won't sign another receiver, it doesn't mean we won't draft one. But I do think we've got a good group." (March 5)
"Wide receiver… the numbers are there, whether it's in the draft or whether it's in free agency. There's just a lot of them, and more teams are using more, so you've got more guys that are subject to being cut and let go." (March 13)
"We've got good receivers, and there's a lot of them out there." (March 15)
ON OFFENSIVE TACKLE
"(Erik Pears) is a right tackle. He's a good right tackle and I'm glad we got him." (January 9)
"Chris Hairston I think can be a really good left tackle. He's a rookie. It's going to take him a little bit. He got some good experience this year… again, I think with his length and all that, that Chris Hairston, he's a smart guy, can play over there and be serviceable for us." (January 9)
"We're going to draft a tackle if we can. If there's one there is what I mean. If there's one we think can play we're going to draft a tackle. You can never have too many tackles." (January 9)
"... it's easier to move a guy from tackle to guard than it is from guard to tackle, obviously. We draft tackles and we are at pretty good shape at guard and center." (January 9)
"I think tackles - offensive tackles - (are deep)." (February 24)
"It'd be nice to throw deep every now and then." (February 24)
ON THE PASS RUSH
"... to fix it, I think our secondary - everything - would look better if we had some pressure on the passer. If you can't disrupt passers in the NFL and make them get out of rhythm and make them move, any of them will wear you out. We had some rookies that looked like Dan Marino, and we let them look like that because we let them stand there. You've got to disrupt the quarterback." (January 9)
"Defensively I would say the priority would have to be pass rushers, defensive ends, pass rushers - one maybe two." (January 9)
"You mess around and you find flaws in everybody, but I think from the second round to the fifth, there's probably a lot of potentially good players. You've got to get the right one." (February 24)
"Pass rusher - or defensive end for us - you get a little nervous with the tenth pick, but in the mid rounds, it's probably as deep as I've seen it. From the second round on, there will be some guys that can come in and help you quick." (March 1)
"The bottom line, really: you've got to make yourself come back to production. If he's always done it, there's a good chance he'll do it again." (March 1)
ON DEFENSIVE TACKLE
"Surprisingly, defensive linemen - the interior guys are really deep, I think." (February 24)
ON LINEBACKER
"We also at some point need another linebacker. We got, we think, Chris White. Kirk Morrison's up, and I don't know what will happen with him, but we need another linebacker. We've got some guys that are 'tweeners, kind of." (January 9)
ON CORNERBACK
"... you could never have enough corners. We would like to add two corners, whether it's through free agency or whether it's through the draft." (January 9)
"Alabama's secondary and LSU's secondary. I mean, those guys are as good as it gets." (January 9)
"I think corner's deep... there'll be some corners out there that you can get in the middle rounds." (February 24)
"I think corners are really deep in this draft, and I think you can get one - you know, there'll probably be some worthy of the tenth pick, and there'll be some in the mid rounds." (March 1)