N1: That's A Big Wasp!

One of my favorite interests is football, but an interest that is equally my favorite is the study of animals (zoology). From a very young age I have found animals interesting.  Hopefully one day I can become a zoologist.  When many people think of wasps they think of yellow and black, hive makers, annoying, and the fear that they could get stung.  About year ago an expedition to Indonesia led by Lynn Kimsey, discovered a new wasp in little habited and known island, Sulawesi. The wasp is known as Megalara garuda the "king of wasps".  It looks like something out of your worst nightmares and it will make you think twice about being afraid of yellow jackets and other wasps because it is 5 times the size! The wasp is jet black and is the largest known wasp still in existence today at whopping 2.5 inches. That’s about the size of human ring finger.  It has mandibles or jaws that are longer than its legs the jaws are so massive that they drag when it walks.  The problem is that they shrouded in mystery because every specimen that has been found has been found dead.  The wasp could leave a nasty bite because of the huge jaws too, but I bet would be very painful to get stung by one. It just brings shivers to me. By the way even being massive it can still fly.  The image of them is actually quite disturbing because of its appearance and size. This species and other species on the island are in jeopardy because, since 1960 parts of the island have been leveled to plant crops. Hopefully we preserve this mysterious animal to learn more from it. Many people would probably be afraid of this animal, but to me it is very intriguing because it is something that we have never seen the likes of.

M2: Who should the Bills Target in Free Agency?

With the date of March 12^th looming in the next couple of days, the Bills have some money to spend in Free Agency. This year the Free Agency that we all know and love will be entering its 20^th year of existence. It always seems that the Bills have money to spend and this year is no different. After cuts of veteran players like Nick Barnett, George Wilson, Terrance McGee, and the fact that they didn’t resign both Donald Jones and David Nelson leaves the Bills with a lot of money to spend. The Bills could go in any direction, but here some of the players they could be interested in or should think about:

          Greg Jennings- Jennings is a veteran wide receiver who has been a stud for some time now, but injuries have hindered his career in the last couple of years. Jennings is a consistent wide receiver and could help prove his worth with a team like Buffalo who has a need at wide receiver

          Wes Welker/Danny Amendola- The reason I grouped these two guys together is because they are the same type of receiver. They are both smaller guys who are seen as slot receivers and are highly consistent.  The knock on Danny Amendola is the cumulated injuries that have hurt his production thus far. The other Wes Welker is arguably one of the most consistent guys in the NFL. Welker mainly a slot has played the past 5 years in New England and has more receptions than players like Andre Johnson, Calvin Johnson Jr., Larry Fitzgerald, etc. Some doubt whether not he can produce the same because of the fact that he played with one of the best of all time.

          Dashon Goldson- The Bills should be very interested in this guy because of the fact that he is one of the best young safeties in the game. Goldson is hard hitting and could help upgrade a defense that is lacking some hit power. He is a free safety, but because of new defensive coordinator’s (Mike Pettine) system there is no designation between safeties.

          Mike Devito- Devito is a 3 technique in a 3-4 defense and is a very solid player and could really help Buffalo. Devito is just a pure runner stopper and could add some power to a defense that is changing schemes again for the 2^nd time in two years. One reason Devito has been ranked is because of new defensive coordinator, Mike Pettine who was his defensive coach in New York.

 Others include:

·         Bart Scott

·         Eric Smith

·         Brandon Gibson

·         Cliff Avril

·         Victor Cruz (RFA) (1^st round tender)

·         Andy Levitre

         

M1: Flacco's Big Pay Day

                At the beginning of the season Joe Flacco was putting himself into the category as Brady and P. Manning, and now after a miraculous postseason where he threw 11 touchdowns and no interceptions, and a Super Bowl MVP he has the largest contract in NFL history. Yes, the inconsistent passer from Delaware has a contract worth 120.6 million dollars. To me that is insane for a QB of his caliber. The specifics were finally released and here they are as follows:

» $29 million signing bonus

» $29 million cap number in Year 4

» $30 million in Year 1

» $51 million through Year 2

» $62 million through Year 3

» $80 million through Year 4

» $100.6 million through Year 5

                Let’s start off with the signing bonus that is GUARANTEEED. When Joe Flacco signed on the dotted line he was immediately given $29 million dollars. Through the first two years he will earn $51 million. The interesting part about year one of the contract is that he gets paid $30 million dollars through year one, but his cap number contradicts this, at $6.8 million dollars which is very cap friendly. This contract should allow the Ravens to keep one or two players that they really want. Maybe Anquan Boldin, Dannelle Ellerbe, or Bryant Mckinne. Paul Kruger will most likely leave the Ravens and make out with a good pay day on the market. Recently Tom Brady got an extension that should keep him as a Patriot for the rest of his career. Their two contracts are polar opposites, Brady on the cheaper end where he got a 3 year $27 million dollar contract extension. Many thought that maybe Brady’s contract would ruin it for Flacco, but I guess not considering now that Flacco is the highest paid player in NFL history. If you look at Flacco’s postseason you would say, “WOW why isn’t he getting paid like an elite”. When you look a little closer at his season as a whole he had the 25^th lowest QBR at 46.8. To put that in perspective Ryan Fitzpatrick the incumbent Bill’s starting QB was ranked 27^th at 45.8. In a game this year Flacco posted one of the lowest QBRs in the past 5 years with a 1.0. The only two QBs to have a lower one in the past 5 years are Kyle Orton (0.8) in 2011 and (0.9) in 2010 and Mark Sanchez in 2009 (0.7). Flacco has been one of the most inconsistent QBs over the past 5 years playing really well at times and then making some very stupid decisions. The Ravens better hope they get the “good” Joe Flacco because they gave him “a lot” of money.

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.