L1: Bills Mock Draft 1.0

          This year the Bills will be yet again drafting in the top ten of the NFL draft and you’d think after a couple of years of drafting this high they’d be a little bit better, but times haven’t changed in Buffalo. The Buffalo Bills have the 8^th overall pick in this year’s NFL draft. At this point the Bills have a pretty well rounded team and really only need a massive improvement in 2 areas, quarterback and linebacker, but that doesn’t mean they can’t surprise us right. They took CJ Spiller while having Fred Jackson and Marshawn Lynch both on the roster. A questionable pick at first, but Spiller is one of the most explosive backs in the game. If the Bills sign/trade for Alex Smith that could impact whether or not they draft a QB on Day 1 of the NFL Draft, but maybe they do sign/trade for Alex Smith and they still want to go quarterback in the first round the Bills should/could draft Geno Smith (whether or not he’s still on the board at that point), Tyler Wilson, or Matt Barkley. Geno Smith is probably the best quarterback in the draft, but he’s no Andrew Luck or RG3 so there is no use in trading up for him. Smith as a big Arm and has decent mobility. G.Smith is combination of both Donovan McNabb (arm, mobility), and Alex Smith (mobility). If he is there and they do sign/trade for Alex Smith, then by all means draft him because he is the best quarterback in this draft in my opinion. Matt Barkley was poised at the end of last season to be a top ten NFL quarterback, but he decided to stay for one last year at school, he was also poised to be the top QB in this crop this year, but the rise of Geno Smith and the uneven play of him and his team around of him caused him to possibly drop out of the first round. Barkley to me is still a top QB and he could still be drafted by Buffalo at eight or maybe even Buffalo could trade back into the first round to grab him. Barkley has a good work ethic, first in, last out. Barkley was a true freshman at USC after Sanchez left, but I don’t know whether teams, like Buffalo will look at his full body of work or just this last season. The second best QB in the draft is Tyler Wilson. He has a rocket arm and while not being the most mobile he is pretty accurate too. He has a stronger arm than the previous QB, Ryan Mallet. At the end of last year he was seen by some as the best QB in the draft. The Bobby Petrino incident and the fact that he lost a lot of his weapons in the previous draft and that he had a spotty o-line derailed his senior season. He is probably the toughest quarterback in this draft because of what he had to go through. Ryan Mallet has the arm strength that “Fitz” could only get if he was bit by a radioactive Dan Marino. Many Bills executives have said that he has “Jim Kelly” toughness. Here’s how I feel the quarterbacks should be ranked in this draft:

1.   Geno Smith

2.   Tyler Wilson

3.   Matt Barkley

4.   EJ Manuel

5.   Ryan Nassib

 The Bills could use more help other than just the QB position, so let’s just say that they don’t want to go QB in first round. A couple players come to mind on the other side of the ball, Jarvis Jones and Manti Te`o. Jarvis Jones is one of the best players in this draft and can really get after the quarterback. He can set the edge good and he is just what the Bills need as they switch to 3-4 defense, a pass rushing outside linebacker. There are some medical concerns; Jones was diagnosed when he was at USC with spinal stenosis; a condition that has caused some notable NFL players to end their career abruptly, such as Marcus McNeill, a Pro Bowl left tackle who was only 28. The other player is the controversial Manti Te`o who was subject to a “scandal” about his online, fake girlfriend, but make no mistake Te`o is one hell of a talent and in my mind is one of the top 10 players in  this draft. He has great Intuitiveness and can move around well, he should be a top 10 pick in this draft, but you never know. Here is my sleeper pick for the Bills; Cordarrelle Patterson of the Tennessee Volunteers. Patterson has the all the physical attributes you could ask for in a wide receiver, great height and great speed he can get around and is one of the top wide receivers in the NFL draft. Now who do I think the Bills will pick? My gut feeling tells me they’ll go with a QB because Buddy Nix has talked about drafting a QB, but who knows who they will draft because the Bills have done to us before. My feeling is that they’ll draft Tyler Wilson of Arkansas. Buddy Nix has been high on this young man and has a lot of good things to say about him.  Tyler Wilson would be perfect for Buffalo because he has the arm strength that is needed in the weather up here. Well there you have my Bills Mock Draft. There’s a chance that I will update my Blog with new ones.

K1: Which Quarterback the Bills Should Draft if Anyone?

This year the Bills are “looking” for that franchise quarterback. Ever since Jim Kelly has retired the Bills have had a long line of pitiful quarterbacks come here. The only quarterback that had any sense of relief was Doug Flutie because he helped lead the Bills to the playoffs.  The Bills have been looking for that quarterback ever since. Last year there were two guys that were considered heads and shoulders above the rest, Andrew Luck and Robert Griffin III (RGIII). Ryan Tannehill while not making the playoffs like the other two did show he could be the franchise QB. The one that Bills fans and Bills personnel have to be kicking themselves about is Russell Wilson. The 5’10” product of Wisconsin was sitting there on the Board when the Bills were up to pick and they drafted T.J. Graham. Wilson helped lead the Seahawks to an 11-5 record. This year the quarterbacks are much different. There are no “true” franchise quarterbacks and they could all use a year of sitting on the bench, but teams will reach high for the guy that they want. Many project that the best of the bunch; Geno Smith is projected to go anywhere from 1-7 and many project that he will be off the board before the Bills draft. Many speculate teams like the Chiefs, Eagles, and Cardinals will have their eyes on him. If Geno Smith gets past those teams to the Bills, then that is the number quarterback that they need to draft because he is the best there is in the draft, but that is all theoretical and I don’t want to get into that. Here is a list of the top QBs other than Geno Smith:

·         Matt Barkley, USC

·         Ryan Nassib, Syracuse

·         Tyler Wilson, Arkansas

·         Mike Glennon, UNCS

·         Landry Jones, Oklahoma

·         Tyler Bray, Tennessee

·         EJ Manuel, Florida State

Those are the top QBs other than Geno Smith and three of them and have been really the subject of the draft in Buffalo; Mike Glennon, Ryan Nassib, and Tyler Wilson. I’ll tell you right now one QB that is catching my attention is EJ Manuel out of Florida State. He was the MVP of the Senior Bowl and proved he has all the tools to be a great NFL quarterback. Now let’s be theoretical here (yes I will contradict myself here), the Bills want to draft a QB in the first round and truly the only “first round” grade that a qb should receive is Geno Smith. Geno is a big strong quarterback, with a big arm and decent mobility. Geno passed for 42 tds and only 6 int. and was an early Heisman candidate before West Virginia fell apart. The truth is that the Bills probably shouldn’t trade up to draft him even though he is the best QB in this draft, because you saw the ransom the Redskins had to pay St. Louis to draft RG3 (3 1^st round draft picks and two 2^nd round draft picks), and Geno Smith is nowhere near that good of a quarterback. The best thing for the Bills to do is to wait until the 2^nd or 3^rd round to draft a QB because they have some other needs to fill ahead of a QB.

K2: Is There Anything Left in Vick's Tank?

Today in the NFL the new hit thing are quarterbacks who are mobile and move around like, Colin Kaepernick, Robert Griffin III, and Russell Wilson. These guys are supposed to be the next big thing. What if I told you about 11 years ago there was QB that was supposed to be that. Michael Vick was supposed to be that QB, Vick had speed that transcended the game and was “lightning in a bottle” for the Atlanta Falcons. Vick used his athleticism to make the Falcons a team to be reckoned with. He is currently the only quarterback in NFL history to rush for 1000 yards in a single NFL season. In 2007 Michael Vick was convicted on dog fighting charges and sentenced to 21 months in jail and got in 19 for good behavior. Vick was later reinstated back into the NFL in 2009 and was signed by the Philadelphia Eagles, Vick spent 1 season as the Eagle’s backup, until Donovan McNabb was traded to the Washington Redskins. Kevin Kolb was presumed to be the starter until he received a concussion in week one of the 2010 NFL season. Vick took over and he made the Eagles a very Dangerous NFL team. He took them to the playoffs, but was bounced in the wild card round by the Super Bowl champion Green Bay Packers. Vick won the Comeback Player of the Year award. That offseason Michael Vick became the 1^st NFL QB to receive two100 million dollar contracts.  He received his first one with the Falcons in 2005. Vick in the next season and the following received multiple concussions that forced him to miss a lot of games. This offseason the Eagles fired their longtime head coach, Andy Reid. When that happened it was presumed that Vick’s tenure in Philadelphia was over. Chip Kelly was hired and some thought that maybe Vick would fit into Chip Kelly’s read option offense because of his athletic ability. Some people around the league believe that even with this offense that Vick still wouldn’t be part of the new plan and that Chip Kelly would want to start fresh. Vick says that he believes that he can still start in the NFL. When Michael Vick is released some will wonder where he might land, well the only teams that were interested in Vick other than the Eagles were the Bengals and the Bills. The Bengals now have their franchise QB in Andy Dalton, and that leaves the Bills as the only other possible team, but who knows if the Bills are still interested in him. Michael Vick’s career is like a candle, he shined brightly early and then as the injuries occured his career (candle) began to flicker and die. Now in the twilight of his NFL career one must wonder how much Vick has left.

J2: Jam Jam on His Way Back?

                The year is 2007 and the Oakland Raiders have the first overall draft pick in the first round and they draft “The Big One”, Jamarcus Russell, who was thought to have a great upside and possibly be a great quarterback, but to their dismay, Russell got paid his 52 million dollars in guaranteed money and just stopped trying.  In an NFL draft that had, Adrian Peterson, Joe Thomas, Patrick Willis, Calvin Johnson, and Marshawn Lynch, the Raiders drafted Jamarcus Russell, arguably the biggest draft bust in NFL history.  Six years later the year of the Rookie Quarterback has come with three rookies leading their respective teams to the playoffs, Peyton Manning has a new team, Eli has won two Super Bowls, Brett Favre has finally retired, the 49ers and the Ravens are in the Super Bowl, and the Raiders are still the Raiders. In a year filled with so many story lines, one is starting to catch headway; Jamarcus Russell is trying to make an NFL comeback after being out of the NFL for 4 years, after Al Davis cut him. My question is, Why Now? You had 4 years to make a comeback and you finally get the itch to play again. Do you need some cash, because the last time I heard anything about you was that you were broke. Does he still deserve a chance to play again? I would probably say yes. In a sports league were comebacks are regular and because I personally believe that everyone deserves a second chance. Resently a report surfaced that Jamarcus Russell started his comback by dropping from 320 to 308 pounds. Well I guess that's a start. A trainer can work with Jamarcus Russell on getting in shape again and improving his mechanics, but the one thing that he can't improve or change is his "want" or his desire to play because Jamarcus has to change that on his.
              
            "My first year out, I couldn't watch football but after a while, I couldn't keep the TV off. I got that itchy feeling but now I gotta watch it, gotta watch,” Russell told Yahoo! Sports.

                   Jamarcus Russel in 2010 was attempting a comeback, when the Dolphins reportedly were inviting him for a "tryout" after they lost Chad Pennington and Chad Henne on the same day, (talk about bad luck), but nothing really materialized, just like Jamarcus' career. If Jamarcus is serious about this comeback it looks like he is getting involved with the right people, he reportedly reached out to Jeff Garcia and Marshall Faulk. I would like to see Jamarcus Russell make the comeback because I am all about giving people a second chance and I think it'd be a great story; to think that maybe his career could rise from the ashes.

J1: What Defines The Clutch Quarterback?

Throughout NFL history, the most important position has evolved over time. For most of NFL history the most important position on the field was the running back because of the belief that you had to establish the run. That started to change in the 80’s when Joe Montana and the 49er’s emerged as an NFL superpower. Today the most important position on the field is the quarterback. Brad Johnson may have been the last NFL quarterback to take a back seat to the rest of the team. Today you cannot win without a quarterback. This is many reasons why teams like the Browns, Cardinals* (*excepting them from the years Kurt Warner was there), Chiefs, Jaguars, and Bills have all been real bottom feeders in the NFL for the past ten years. On the contrary teams like the Colts, Patriots Steelers, Ravens, Falcons, Packers, Texans, and Giants have all excelled due to upper echelon quarterbacks. The term clutch in the NFL refers to a player usually a quarterback who has excelled in crunch time. Throughout history QBS like Joe Montana, John Elway, Johnny Unitas, Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, Bart Starr, Dan Marino, Terry Bradshaw, Roger Staubach, and Troy Aikman have all defined themselves as being clutch in some way. To many those QBS are the greatest of all time, well that’s the point, the greatest QBs of all time are usually clutch. Joe “Cool” (Montana), never lost a Super Bowl and never through an INT in one either. Johnny Unitas invented the “two minute drill” in the “Greatest Game Ever Played”. John Elway for the longest time held the most 4^th quarter comebacks in NFL history, and had his signature game “The Drive”, where he led his team 98 yards for the tying score. Terry Bradshaw won four Super Bowls. Troy Aikman and Roger Staubach won a combined 5 Super Bowls, and their teams were never out of it. Tom Brady and Peyton Manning have been widely regarded as the two most clutch QBs in the game today. Tom Brady always keeps his team in the game and Peyton Manning can read a defense faster than he can a sentence.. One example of this is the Dallas Cowboys and Tony Romo, and how they have yet to really make a deep playoff run because of Romo. Recently one player has really stood out and it has been Joe Flacco. Flacco has helped take his team all the way to the Super Bowl and has beaten the likes of Peyton Manning and Tom Brady. I believe that quarterbacks must be at a certain level of  being clutch because how can you depend on the most important position in football if they haven’t ever been really clutch before.

January 8, 2000- 16 seconds are left and the Bills kick only needing to recover the kick to preserve an upset. What happened next will live in NFL history, Lorenzo Neal laterals the ball to tight end Frank Wycheck and the Titans would end up scoring on one of the most miraculous and controversial plays in NFL history.

Now let’s fast forward 13 years. The Bills have not played the playoffs since that day and have gone through 5 head coaches since that day, Gregg Williams, Mike Mularkey, Dick Jauron, Perry Fewell (interim), and Chan Gailey. To get back to the playoffs the Bills hired Syracuse Alum and Head Coach, Doug Marrone. Doug was the head coach for 4 years; racking up two Pinstripe Bowl victories. He helped fix a program that was in shambles and helped it return to respectability. Marone spent 7 years in the NFL, 4 as the offensive line coach for the New York Jets and 3 as the Offensive Coordinator for the New Orleans Saints. Marrone is from the Bronx and he knows the area pretty well. Marrone has already made an impact with the Buffalo Bills, hiring his Offensive Coordinator, Nathanial Hackett, who worked with him at Syracuse as their OC and Mike Pettine the Defensive Coordinator for the New York Jets.

            I have been listening to news recently, and also have been watching NFL Network and ESPN, and nothing, but good things have come up about Doug Marrone, from Jon Gruden to Brian Billick. Many fans have showed their support in this decision as well. Recently I caught up with some people in Alden,

            Leyton Miner- “I would have preferred if they would have chosen someone from the NFL, but anyone who can help is okay.”
            Alex Darrow- “I was skeptical at first, but now I am just waiting to see what he does, whether or not he will draft Nassib.”

Phil Zobrest- “I don’t know, I really don’t really pay attention to Syracuse football.”

Austin Zelasko- “I was skeptical of it at first, he didn’t have a winning record at Syracuse, and I think the Bills went with the cheapest option.”

Brian Stoldt- “I’m a huge fan.”

Raeanne Over- “I don’t know, but I guess it’s good.”

Jordan Meyer- “He’s a good head coach, and was successful with Syracuse.”

Mr. Foss- “I don’t know about it.”

Sam Mietlowski- “I think it’s a great hire. He knows how important this is to us.”

            My opinion, I was skeptical at first, but now I actually think it’s a pretty good hire. Hopefully he drafts Ryan Nassib, because Doug Marrone knows his strengths and weakness well. My anticipation is that he can help bring a certain discipline and toughness to this team that we have been missing for some years.

H3:Top Ten Quaterbacks of All Time (10-6)

10. Roger Staubach- Roger was the head piece to America’s team. He led them to 2 Super Bowl championships. He captivated the nation like no other quarterback could. He led a team to the Super Bowl 4 times in his NFL career. Roger Staubach came out of Army as a Heisman Trophy. He was drafted by the Dallas Cowboys and he joined the war effort, and didn’t return until he was 29.  When Staubach retired he was the highest rated quarterback. At a time when defense dominated the NFL landscape, Roger could take chuck the rock up and down field like no one else could. Technically when he retired he would have been considered the greatest quarterback of all time.+

9. Dan Marino- Dan Marino was one of the most pure passers of all time. He was not the most agile, but he had the fancy feet to side step in the pocket from defenders. Out of Pittsburgh, Dan Marino was projected to go in the top ten, but he quickly slid down the board. Miami snatched him up and he transformed Miami for the next 16 seasons. In only his second year he had one of the greatest passing seasons of all time; passing for 5081 yards and 48 touchdowns. The record for touchdowns fell in 2003 and it wasn’t until 2011 that his record for 5081 yards was broken by Tom Brady and Drew Brees. Even after all of his accomplishments many view his career as incomplete because he didn’t win a Super Bowl.

8. John Elway- John Elway was viewed as the finest NFL draft prospect in NFL history, until Andrew Luck in 2012. Elway came out of Stanford in ’83 in the same class. During the 1980s John Elway was remembered for the “The Drive”, a 98 yard drive against the Cleveland Browns, but he was remembered also for losing 3 Super Bowls, all in blowouts to NFC super powers; the Redskins, Giants and the 49ers. Some thought that Elway would never win a Super Bowl, but in 1997 and 1998, he defied his critics, and won two Super Bowls. One was against favored Packers, where Elway led a game winning drive that was defined by his helicopter spin to the end zone. The next year he won it again, against the Atlanta Falcons, where he won NFL MVP. Elway was also remembered being a clutch quarterback and having the most NFL comebacks of all time, until that was broke by Peyton Manning.  

7. Bart Starr- No player in NFL history has been more overlooked than Bart Starr. He was selected in the 17^th round by the Green Bay Packers; it turned out to be the right choice. Bart Starr was overlooked merely because he played on a very dominant team and because of their scheme. The Packer of the 60’s weren’t going to spread you out and pass it up and down the field; they were a ground and pound team, only passing out of necessity. The Packers had a legendary team, ranging from; John Taylor to Paul Horning to Ray Nitchske to Forest Gregg, Herb Adderley, Willie Wood, Jim Ringo, and maybe the greatest head coach of all time, Vince Lombardi. While Starr was at quarterback the Packers only lost one Playoff game in his 15 year career. Starr won six divisional, five NFL, and the first two Super Bowl championships. The most famous was the “Ice Bowl” in ’66 the coldest game in NFL history. Starr on the one yard line QB snuck it to win the game. Even after all of the accolades and achievements, Starr still remains synonymous with the terms, underrated and overlooked. For whatever reason we don’t know, but he deserves more recognition.

6. Otto Graham- Not enough can be said about Otto Graham. This man was considered by many as not only one of the greatest NFL players of all time, but also one of the greatest players of all time. In ten years he won ten league titles, a feat to this day that has not been surpassed. Graham was a dual threat, running and passing his way to all league 9 of the 10 years. Many thought that Otto Graham and the Browns would get shown up in the NFL when they joined, but both Graham and the Browns proved more than equal to the occasion. In the Browns' 30-28 victory over the Los Angeles Rams in the 1950 NFL Championship Game, Graham threw four touchdown passes. His finest title-game performance came four years later when he scored three touchdowns and threw for a trio of scores in a 56-10 beating of Detroit. Graham retired after that game but responded to Paul Brown's request to return in early in 1955. In the final game of his career, the NFL championship against the Los Angeles Rams, he ran for two touchdowns and passed for two more in a 38-14 victory.

            Tune in next time for quarterbacks 5-1 and see who tops my list as “Greatest Quarterback of all time.