They called out Chris Mortenson for draft comments against the Bills!

[Mitchy moo]

Here are Chris Mortenson comments on the Bills draft:

Mark Ellis (Oakland): Mort, explain why you keep saying the Bills had a horrible draft, when they got two guys they wanted in the first round who were gonna be picked by other clubs (Whitner by Baltimore, McCargo by the Giants).

Chris Mortensen: (11:51 AM ET ) First of all, Whitner was not going to be picked by Baltimore. Absolutely not. I never said they had a horrible draft. I said they had a "head scratching" draft. They did over-reach with their first round picks but I said they might end up being good football players. I know there was confusion in the Bills' draft room, too. I did think they did well with their picks on the third, fourth and fifth rounds.

Nick Swisher (East Bay): Mort, explain your statement that the Ravens were "absolutely not" gonna take Whitner at 13, when Billick admitted on Monday that they were? Also, the Dolphins wanted him at 16.

Chris Mortensen: (12:12 PM ET ) The Ravens might have taken Whitner if Ngata was not there. He was one of their considerations if Ngata was gone. Ngata was there and that's who they took.

Mat (Scottsdale, AZ): Can you expound on the "there was confusion in the Bills draft room"...

Chris Mortensen: (12:16 PM ET ) They were set to take Bunkley and switched. They also could have traded back and still ended up with Whitner.

Dan: So the Ravens had strong interest in taking Whitner at 13 acording to Billick? Why dont you admit your error regarding the Bills taking him at 8...I think NFL fans might have more respect for you and think even your buddy Tom Donahoe might have more respect for you!

Chris Mortensen: (12:20 PM ET ) Strong interest does not mean they were taking him, especially with Ngata there. The Ravens never deviate from their board. Ngata was ahead of Whitner. What I told you is the truth. You can accept it or not.

http://proxy.espn.go.com/chat/chatESPN?event_id=11604

[Iehoshua]

:roflmao: That's hillarious!

[Mr. Miyagi]

I think NFL fans might have more respect for you and think even your buddy Tom Donahoe might have more respect for you!
I bet they edited the "butt-buddy" part out of the question. :snicker:

[doug45]

[QUOTE=Skooby]Here are Chris Mortenson comments on the Bills draft:

Mark Ellis (Oakland): Mort, explain why you keep saying the Bills had a horrible draft, when they got two guys they wanted in the first round who were gonna be picked by other clubs (Whitner by Baltimore, McCargo by the Giants).

QUOTE]


I think he said it because like most people he thought they were the wrong TWO guys to want.

[Michael82]

Oh man, that's great! I can't believe that he actually answered those. He must have been getting pissed too. :snicker:

:lmao:

[Tatonka]

they tore his ass up.

[JJamezz]

Mr.Murder(One Raider Nation): The Lions would have taken Whitner. Matt Millen let it be known he wanted Huff and WHitner was considered a round one pick. The Bills had no room to trade back, it was the same situation Houston faced with the Saints wanting Williams unless Bush fell to them. They were going to pick from where they were and take what was there, Houston's hand was forced.

Chris Mortensen: The Lions wanted Huff or Sims and would have traded back to take Whitner. Traded back, ok?

A little testy there Chris?? LMAO...

BTW, are his chats always 'Insider' stories?? I thought they were free - seems strange that he gets ripped apart and now the story is for subscribers only?

[hydro]

[quote=Skooby]Here are Chris Mortenson comments on the Bills draft:

Mark Ellis (Oakland): Mort, explain why you keep saying the Bills had a horrible draft, when they got two guys they wanted in the first round who were gonna be picked by other clubs (Whitner by Baltimore, McCargo by the Giants).

QUOTE]


I think he said because like most people they were the wrong TWO guys to want.


:confused::confused:

[Gunzlingr]

:rofl: at Dan's Comment.

:lolpoint: Mort.

[Gunzlingr]

Man they did light him up. What tool. So much for the bills being a laughingstock to the leagues other fans.

[Mitchy moo]

:rofl: at Dan's Comment.

:lolpoint: Mort.

It was classic!

[TigerJ]

How do like the hot seat, Mort.

[Jan Reimers]

Our best drafts are usually the ones that the "pundits" don't like. They really love the sexy, glamor picks, and not the kind of hard working, tough football players that we took.

[Romes]

I give him credit for taking those questions...

[AndreReed83]

Mort, Clayton, and the other ESPN tools only look at Kiper's rankings and then evaluate the draft by value. It matters very little if a severe need is filled or if another team was going to take the guy. If you don't get a guy RIGHT AT what he is ranked, it was a bad pick. They could care less that the Bills might have solidified a top 5 defense for the next 3-4 years.

[jmb1099]

Our best drafts are usually the ones that the "pundits" don't like. They really love the sexy, glamor picks, and not the kind of hard working, tough football players that we took.

Agreed. We drafted football players, guys who love the game and aren't making headlines being the boy toy for some spoiled diva.

[Mr. Cynical]

My question is where has Boomer Berman been? He is usually so supportive of the Bills....I think he may have gotten tired backing the wrong horse for so long?

[justasportsfan]

Mort, Clayton, and the other ESPN tools only look at Kiper's rankings and then evaluate the draft by value. It matters very little if a severe need is filled or if another team was going to take the guy. If you don't get a guy RIGHT AT what he is ranked, it was a bad pick. They could care less that the Bills might have solidified a top 5 defense for the next 3-4 years.they learned that from TD's School of drafting.

[justasportsfan]

My question is where has Boomer Berman been? He is usually so supportive of the Bills....I think he may have gotten tired backing the wrong horse for so long?
they'll jump back on the wagon when things go right.

[hydro]

My question is where has Boomer Berman been? He is usually so supportive of the Bills....I think he may have gotten tired backing the wrong horse for so long?

Would you want to say anything positive about the bills around these guys. He would get eaten up by Mort in a sec. He will show his support when everyone is proven wrong.

[Bling]

Bills fans can't even see that their draft looks horrible, now... :chuckle:

[justasportsfan]

Bills fans can't even see that their draft looks horrible, now... :chuckle: who do you think is gonna see the field first Culp or Allen? Who do you think is gonna drop the ball more , Culp or Hagan?

[Bling]

who do you think is gonna see the field first Culp or Allen? Who do you think is gonna drop the ball more , Culp or Hagan?

1) They'll see the field BOTH on week 1... just like everyone else. I guess they'll see the field at the same time as McGahee.

2) Tough one... Catcher of 94% of his balls, or Culpepper? I'll go with Culpepper.





But thank God we have those luxuries.... We didn't draft Losman, Whitner and McCargo in the 1st... Hardly wasting draft picks...

[justasportsfan]

1) They'll see the field BOTH on week 1... just like everyone else. I guess they'll see the field at the same time as McGahee.

2) Tough one... Catcher of 94% of his balls, or Culpepper? I'll go with Culpepper.





But thank God we have those luxuries.... We didn't draft Losman, Whitner and McCargo in the 1st... Hardly wasting draft picks...


Hehe. Wasting draft picks. Can't wait for Willis to bulldoze Allen . If Ronnie Brown can do it. So can Willis.

Hagan will be catching 5-10 yds out if Culp doesn't fumble the ball first. That's all Moolarkey knows. :D


No sense really in talking about , our draft w3as better than yours. We shall find out soon enough.

[Bling]

Hehe. Wasting draft picks. Can't wait for Willis to bulldoze Allen . If Ronnie Brown can do it. So can Willis.

Hagan will be catching 5-10 yds out if Culp doesn't fumble the ball first. That's all Moolarkey knows. :D


No sense really in talking about , our draft w3as better than yours. We shall find out soon enough.




Marv's the sad part... you're already ****ed for the draft. While all the coaches and Gm's around the league are up until 4 AM studying game tape of Jim Suthersnad from University of North Dakota-Alabama connection, Marv has to be asleep by 11 and only sees Brodrick Bunkley PWN UM in the 1st game of the season. Marv reminds me so much of the Marino signing, it's hilarious how bad it is.

[patmoran2006]

Bling.
I wouldnt be dissing the bills draft too much as a Miami fan.

Almost every draft pick you took is a MAJOR question mark.
Jason Allen has skill, but has to be healthy, and he has a lot to learn (though he's talented)

I think taking Hagan in round three with his ROCK hands is a complete joke. Mike Hass went THREE rounds later and is a lot better a WR than he is.. So are many others drafted AFTER him.

Rod Wright? I was wrong too on him looking back, but there's a reason he lasted until round SEVEN.

And Toldeo is a major project.

I wouldnt be too happy with this draft if Im a Fins fan, and I'm always objective.

[Bert102176]

Mort is a Dork, not to mention a dumb ass

[Bert102176]

Pat not to mention they signed Vick as a undrafted FA but hey let them have the trouble makers

[LifetimeBillsFan]

So much for the theory that the Bills could have traded down to # 14 without risking losing Whitner. And, that's not saying what St.Louis (who has announced that they will be converting rookie LB Jon Alston to SS to replace Archuleta) might have done...

As I've said all along, it came down to whether the Bills liked the Whitner/McCargo combination better than Bunkley/Bullocks at DT and safety--and, once they decided it was going to be Whitner/McCargo, they didn't really "reach" when they took them because there were teams that very well might have if the Bills didn't get them when they did.

I said that this was why the Bills did what they did because it was the only explanation of what they did that made sense. And, because, while Marv may be 80, I don't believe he is senile or that he and the people around him are utterly stupid.

Still there are a lot of people here and in the media who would rather believe that Marv is senile or stupid or that he froze or panicked, etc. than entertain the possibility that there might be a reason for him to do something that does not appear to make sense. Marv is a man who is intelligent enough to get a masters degree from Harvard, who knows enough about psychology and football to coach a team to four consecutive Super Bowls, including three after they lost the previous year, and has coached with some of the greatest names in NFL history (Allen, Vermiel, Walsh, Polian) and taken part in more NFL drafts than most coaches ever get a chance to observe--it would be foolish to underestimate him or think that he does things without thinking them through. He may or may not be right about the moves that he makes or whether the plan that he has put together to turn the Bills around will succeed (only time will tell on that), but don't ever for a minute believe that this man is stupid or the type to panick or freeze under pressure.

Mortenson is being a mouth-piece for his buddy Donahoe and can be expected to say anything to bad-mouth the Bills, even if the evidence doesn't support him and he will never admit either. The only time he has ever known anything about the Bills was when Donahoe was the GM--he never had an inside connection to the team before then and definitely doesn't now that Levy is back and in charge--and he has an axe to grind against the team, so why believe that he is right in his assessment of things instead of giving Marv some credit for not being stupid and perhaps knowing what he is doing?

I think that a lot of Bills fans have been so embittered by Donahoe's 5 years as the Bills GM that they have lost perspective and just aren't willing to give Levy any credit whatsoever for what he has done in the past, let alone a chance to show them what he can do to turn the team around. I say, give the man a chance and don't underestimate his intelligence because of his age. He may not be right, but he isn't stupid.

[LifetimeBillsFan]

So much for the theory that the Bills could have traded down to # 14 without risking losing Whitner. And, that's not saying what St.Louis (who has announced that they will be converting rookie LB Jon Alston to SS to replace Archuleta) might have done...

As I've said all along, it came down to whether the Bills liked the Whitner/McCargo combination better than Bunkley/Bullocks at DT and safety--and, once they decided it was going to be Whitner/McCargo, they didn't really "reach" when they took them because there were teams that very well might have if the Bills didn't get them when they did.

I said that this was why the Bills did what they did because it was the only explanation of what they did that made sense. And, because, while Marv may be 80, I don't believe he is senile or that he and the people around him are utterly stupid.

Still there are a lot of people here and in the media who would rather believe that Marv is senile or stupid or that he froze or panicked, etc. than entertain the possibility that there might be a reason for him to do something that does not appear to make sense. Marv is a man who is intelligent enough to get a masters degree from Harvard, who knows enough about psychology and football to coach a team to four consecutive Super Bowls, including three after they lost the previous year, and has coached with some of the greatest names in NFL history (Allen, Vermiel, Walsh, Polian) and taken part in more NFL drafts than most coaches ever get a chance to observe--it would be foolish to underestimate him or think that he does things without thinking them through. He may or may not be right about the moves that he makes or whether the plan that he has put together to turn the Bills around will succeed (only time will tell on that), but don't ever for a minute believe that this man is stupid or the type to panick or freeze under pressure.

Mortenson is being a mouth-piece for his buddy Donahoe and can be expected to say anything to bad-mouth the Bills, even if the evidence doesn't support him and he will never admit either. The only time he has ever known anything about the Bills was when Donahoe was the GM--he never had an inside connection to the team before then and definitely doesn't now that Levy is back and in charge--and he has an axe to grind against the team, so why believe that he is right in his assessment of things instead of giving Marv some credit for not being stupid and perhaps knowing what he is doing?

I think that a lot of Bills fans have been so embittered by Donahoe's 5 years as the Bills GM that they have lost perspective and just aren't willing to give Levy any credit whatsoever for what he has done in the past, let alone a chance to show them what he can do to turn the team around. I say, give the man a chance and don't underestimate his intelligence because of his age. He may not be right, but he isn't stupid.

[SABURZFAN]

But thank God we have those luxuries.... We didn't draft Losman, Whitner and McCargo in the 1st... Hardly wasting draft picks...



you don't want to go there.the FISH have a long history of blown draft picks starting with r.norton back in 60's.he was supposed to be the next namath.

[mysticsoto]

1) They'll see the field BOTH on week 1... just like everyone else. I guess they'll see the field at the same time as McGahee.

2) Tough one... Catcher of 94% of his balls, or Culpepper? I'll go with Culpepper.

But thank God we have those luxuries.... We didn't draft Losman, Whitner and McCargo in the 1st... Hardly wasting draft picks...


??? Excuse me? You guys would have taken Whitner in an instant if he would have been available!!! Too bad we stole him from you...I guess you do have a right to be upset... :laughing:

[dplus47]

If Ronnie Brown can do it. So can Willis.



that's an interesting angle.

[justasportsfan]

Pat not to mention they signed Vick as a undrafted FA but hey let them have the trouble makers

Vick wearing Miami's new orange uni's.

[dplus47]

Pat not to mention they signed Vick as a undrafted FA but hey let them have the trouble makers

they haven't actually signed him, but the point about the trouble makers is taken. vick has a slight chance of beating berlin to become the last quarterback cut before the season. a very slight chance.

[John Doe]

Still there are a lot of people here and in the media who would rather believe that Marv is senile or stupid or that he froze or panicked, etc. than entertain the possibility that there might be a reason for him to do something that does not appear to make sense.

Exactly. People are implying that Marv was taken completely by surprise when Huff, the number 1 rated defensive back was drafted before the Bills picked.

I think that he would have been more surprised if Huff were still there.

[!Papacrunk!]

I think taking Hagan in round three with his ROCK hands is a complete joke. Mike Hass went THREE rounds later and is a lot better a WR than he is.. So are many others drafted AFTER him.


ASU: Finished his career as perhaps the greatest receiver in ASU and Pac-10 Conference history...is the Pac-10's all-time leader in career receptions with 258, and finished second in conference history with 3,939 career receiving yards...is seventh on the Pac-10 career receiving touchdowns list with 27...only the 10th player in Pac-10 history to record 3,000 or more yards and 200 or more catches in his career...concluded his career as ASU's all-time leader in receptions, receiving yards, receiving touchdowns, 100-yard games (18) and career receiving yards per game (78.8)...caught a pass in 41 consecutive games to end his career, and had at least one reception in 48 of 50 career games...surpassed 1,000 yards receiving in each of his final three years as a Sun Devil, and owns three of the top seven highest single-season receiving yardage totals as well as three of the top four highest single-season receptions totals in ASU history... was a semi-finalist for the Biletnikoff Award following both his junior and senior seasons and averaged over 100 receiving yards per game as both a junior and a senior...played in 50 career games, starting 36...earned All-American honors three times and All-Pac-10 honors twice...grew into a leader on the field and was named a captain for his senior season... was twice recognized as a Hard Hat Player for his work in ASU's winter strength and conditioning program.
So one bad Senior Bowl game and he has rock hands? Before that game, he was projected to go low 1st high 2nd. C'mon guy, you're a hard worker, so please read more than a quick little description before you condemn a guy.

[YardRat]

I give the Bills war room a ton of credit for not locking onto a pick and taking him, but rather being flexible and keeping up to date, right up to the wire, on what may be going on with the other teams in the league.

We were woefully suspect at both safety and DT last Saturday at 12 noon, with one pick in the first round. A lot of people would have been 'happy' if we just ended up with Huff (if he dropped) or Bunkley (if we took him at eight) and got an instant starter for the defense in the first round.

Marv did better. Instead of getting one impact player with one pick at a shallow position, he picked up TWO starters with TWO picks in the first round at TWO positions we badly needed help at.

The more I think about it, the more I like it...it was brilliant management of the draft IMO.