FA's and Early Draft Projections

[RedEyE]

........FREE-AGENT UPDATE:

DE Chidi Ahanotu (Colorful, useful veteran who had 5 sacks. He and team want a return engagement).

RB Shawn Bryson (future in doubt after second major knee surgery).

C Bill Conaty (former starter and key depth player, but he'll want to test the market).

LB Gregg Favors (Bills take a flier on former Titan).

PK Mike Hollis (Former Jaguar did fine in the cold. He was 25 of 33 with 115 points. A priority re-sign for what should be multiple years).

WR Charles Johnson (Classy veteran had just 3 catches for 39 yards but is worth bringing back as valuable No. 5 man and special teamer).

LB Keith Newman (young talent who died on vine with Bills new coaching staff, he's anxious to reunite with Ted Cottrell in New York or Wade Phillips in Atlanta).

WR Peerless Price (After 94-catch, 1,252-yard, 9-TD season, he'll be among NFL's most sought after players. Bills want him back for not for any price. Atlanta and Washington are early destinations).

KR/PR Charlie Rogers (set team records for kick returns and yards but wasn't the breakaway threat he had been. Bills will look to upgrade).


FEELING A DRAFT:

The Bills won't select until mid-second round (around 48th overall) thanks to sending New England their No. 1 pick in 2003 in exchange for QB Drew Bledsoe last April. That pick will be in the No. 15 neighborhood.

The Bills will go heavy on defense in the college draft-they need two playmaking outside linebackers and a pass-rushing end.

Linebacker is projected to be a weak position this year, so Buffalo is likely to address that need in free agency. Defensive end, however, is deep and there should be a quality player available in the second round when they select. Names being tossed around early are Wake Forest's 6-4, 265-pound Calvin Pace, whose 29 career sacks are one shy of Michael McCrary's team record, and Texas' 6-4, 280-pound Cory Redding.

Were the Bills to lose WR Peerless Price, and it's very likely, then taking a wideout to play the third receiver behind Josh Reed from a very deep pool of prospects is also likely. An intriguing name for the later rounds is Nebraska's Wilson Thomas, who is 6-5, 210.......


article provided by USAtoday.com http://www.usatoday.com/sports/footb...bills/home.htm

[shelby]

Thank you, BAMF

Interesting factoid: my brother {Scott, who posts here....be nice when he defends RJ y'all} bought his house from a second string TE for the Bucs {no i can't remember his name}.....and there was a hole in the wall of their living room from Ahanatou's head. Apparently, he and Sapp were arguing at a party.

[RedEyE]

That explains a bit

[BillsMan80]

There should be a good group of WRs to choose from in the event that Price leaves. From what I know of at WR...

Keenan Howry, Oregon
Mike Bush, Washington State
Terrance Edwards, Georgia
Justin Gage, Missouri
Talman Gardner, FSU
Taylor Jacobs, Florida
Bryant Johnson, PSU
Kareem Kelly, USC
Brandon Lloyd, Illinois
Billy McMullen, Virginia
Andre Johnson, Miami
Charles Rogers, MSU
Kelley Washington, Tennessee

Obviously some of them will be gone at our picks, but it goes to show you how deep this class is. There are many others I forgot to include, but this is a VERY deep class at WR.

[RedEyE]

Kareem Kelly, USC

I'm watching him closely right now. Game tied 7-7 in the begining of the 1st.

[TigerJ]

I think Buffalo will wait until day 2 to pick a WR. I'll continue to promote my sleeper favorite, Ryan Hoag, a division 3 WR who is 6'3" runs the 40 in 4.33, dominated at that level and is said to be smart and well developed as a WR for that level of competition. He may be around when Buffalo drafts in round 6.

[NC-BILLS44]

I would like to see them pick Justin Gage - Missouri.
6-4 210 also plays basketball - Sounds familiar!!!

We should be able to get him after the 2nd round.

[venis2k1]

Mark my words with their round 2 pick the bills will pick up DT Colin Cole. Look him up, he is nasty.

[DraftBoy]

he wont be there

[LABillsFan]

As of today (considering the draft, FA pick ups and cuts are months away and anything can happen) The Bills will look to draft

RB
Don't be suprised if they take a RB. Bryson will be gone, Morris is average at best, Joe Burns? Not sure of yet, Someone will be needed to relieve Henry.

Rec
Price, Rogers, Johnson are all FA that leaves Moulds, Reed, Rone, Wright, Jones and Allen, If Price isn't kept and Reed moves to the #2 spot are these guys ready to step in and take over Reeds#3 spot?

LB
The Bills are going to have to decide on spending money on a DT LB or WR. I think a DT is where they'll go to get an immediate impact just as they did when they signed Marcus Jones. Spoon will be back helping the depth but there will be some cuts at that position making it a need position in the draft.

Safety
I don't think Jenkins will be back, that leaves Wire, Prioleau and Driver one of those guys won't be back as well.

[HenryRules]

LABF, I agree with most positions, except receiver ... if Price doesn't return, we're going to pick up a decent receiver in FA I think making WR less of a need ... if I was TD, I'd look for the following in the draft:

OLB - Either this or DT probably makes the most sense for our 2nd rounder ... there's a decent chance there'll be a playmaker available at least in one of these positions when we draft and it'll solve a major problem on our team - weak front seven and few playmakers on D. I still see us signing an OLB in FA, but we need 2 anyway.

TE - I think its safe to say that Riemersma is gone. Moore is around, so I think the 2nd round is too early to grab a TE, but grabbing one in the 3rd or 4th round could be an effective choice.

RB - similar need as TE. Henry is amazing so using a 2nd or probably even a 3rd rounder is a bit of a waste, but getting into the second day, this could be a good pick, especially if we can find one that is good on special teams.

QB - definitely a second-day pick, but I still think its something we need to look at. This draft is insanely deep at QB and there's a high probability that somebody good is going to end up dropping to the 5th round or so (too early to say who, but someone will mess up at the combine or something). In all likelihood, Drew is going to be around for at least 4 more years, but a second-day pick makes the minimum salary with a miniscule bonus and as most playoff teams have shown this year (Jets, Pittsburgh, Eagles, to name a few), a backup QB is very effective.

Special Teams - after the above few areas have been selected, I see the rest of the picks being used with a focus on special teams ability or else a player who has dropped unexpectedly.

[SoCalBillsFan]

Originally posted by RedEyE
Kareem Kelly, USC

I'm watching him closely right now. Game tied 7-7 in the begining of the 1st.

A burner who who had a great start at USC and kinda fizzled. Was really the third option there this year behind MIke Williams and Keary Colbert. He's quick, can return kicks, and actually is a lot like Josh Reed, but not as good IMO. I don't think he'll fit with buffalo because he is undersized, and to be honest, so is reed, and we'd have pretty small receivers.

I think he could be a better kick returner than rogers however

[BambinoSux]

Forget a tight end til next year when Winslow comes out.

[TigerJ]

Reed is short but stout (over 200 lbs.) I see no evidence that being only 5'10" is a huge liability for him. I have no desire to see Buffalo get a big receiver with only average speed (Gage?). I want some who can make CBs sweat blood. That's why a guy like Hoag interests me. Kareem Kelly is short like JR but he's a different kind of receiver. JR is an over the middle, underneath the zone, RAC kind of guy. I like him and he's going to continue to play an important role for the Bills. Kelly, like Hoag, runs in that 4.3-4.35 range. Their role is to go deep and put the fear of God into CBs.

[SoCalBillsFan]

good point in that kelly is a big deep threat, and that does make him different than reed. But I'm just sayin we would have a small receiving core. Maybe it wouldn't hurt us too much.