Hi all, I’m not from around these parts, but please don’t run me off just yet…  I’m representing your Bills in a live mock of round one this Friday, so I’ve been trying to immerse myself in your team to the best of my ability.  That said, they’re your team and your passion, so I want to make sure that I’m doing them justice with the thoughts I’ve collected both from here and other draft sources.  Please correct me if I say anything untrue below, I’m certainly not arrogant enough to pretend I understand this team better than you guys do.

First things first, I can’t trade up or down, so I have to pick at 11 & 28. 

Assumptions:

1) Buffalo wants to position themselves to win in 2010; players who can contribute right away are a priority over ‘project’ guys.  I’m basing that on a few things; signing TO, Edwards entering what should be his prime, and the perception that Jauron may be on the hot seat if the team doesn’t take a big step forward.

2) This is about what they should do, not what we necessarily think they will do.  If the Bills are anything like the Seahawks, that makes a huge difference in the mock.

3) Positional needs are DE, OL, LB, and TE – OL is pretty self-explanatory after trading Peters, and it’s no secret that the Bills struggled to pressure QBs last season.  Adding a weapon at TE would help Edwards and take pressure off of him to force balls into TO when he’s double-teamed in the red zone. 

4) I’m also planning for the assumption that I’m not drafting with complete idiots, so I can’t plan on grabbing Curry or J. Smith at 11 or Monroe at 28 – nothing too silly like that.

5) I want to put together a 4 player wishlist (in order of priority) from players that at least have a decent chance to be on the board, as well as a 2-3 player emergency plan if those 4 all get sucked up ahead of my picks.  These lists are where I really want you to check my assumptions, both with who’s on them and in what order.

6) Thank you!

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I sent a message to Joe Reedy, one of the Bengals beat guys for the Cincinnati Enquirer, and this was his quick take on the Housh deal:

It's a good deal and they get a No. 1 receiver now. Hasselbeck has to be doing cartwheels

I'm skeptical about Hass doing cartwheels with the condition of his back, but it's interesting that he thinks TJ is a #1.  I'm not sure I agree, but he's seen more Bengals games than I have.  He also interviewed Housh right after the deal was announced. 

Maybe the seaplane mattered more than we thought...

OT (but on my own post):  Does anyone here use Twitter?  I found myself using it to follow PFT updates (as well as Joe here) and just generally keep track of the latest stuff.  John, have you thought about creating a Field Gulls twitter account?  I follow a handful of blogs that have it set up as a kind of RSS feed, pushing out links each time a post goes up.  It might even help drive a little traffic since lots of people can see them in the public timeline even if they aren't subscribed.  There's also a degree of interactivity possible if you're interested...

my account page

that's JO not TO - I don't know anything about him, so I'll let Scouts, Inc. do the heavy lifting here:

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Since the Seahawks are picking #4 overall in the 2009 draft (barring a trade, of course) I thought it would be interesting to go back and see who has been drafted in that 4th slot since 1992. I know this is a fairly futile exercise, since the picks say more about the teams and their respective scouting/needs than they say about the quality of player they could have taken. That said, it was fun to go down draft memory lane. Oh, and the ‘Hawks have only made the 4th selection one time - Kenny Easley in 1981.

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Since whatever shreds of hope I was hanging onto were ruthlessly evicerated this weekend, I've discovered what gets Lions fans through November:  Thinking about the draft.

Don’t get me wrong, I don’t think we’re the Lions – I think we’re closer to the San Antonio Spurs season when they were decimated by injury and won the chance to draft Tim Duncan.  So my question is simple; who is our Tim Duncan? 

Obviously, we can’t know where we’ll draft (I’m guessing top ten) or what Ruskell sees as our main needs.  I know everyone here would like to see B Russ replaced, but is Taylor Mays that guy?  Is he really a top ten talent, or is that a reach?  What about WR?  Can we count on Branch for a full season?  Even so, Engram will be another year older (and may still have some hard feelings over his contract), so I don’t think we can count on production there…

After looking at some mock drafts and consolidating their findings, here are a few guys I think might be good fits for blue & green next year:

• Michael Crabtree, WR, Texas Tech (I’ve only seen him in one game, but he was AWESOME)

• Andre Smith, OT, Alabama

• William Moore, FS, Missouri (6'1" 225, and around 4.4/4.5 speed)

• Vontae Davis, CB, Illinois (I only include him because a few mocks think the Seahawks will go CB; personally, I can’t see it – I think if the best player on the board is a CB they trade down)

• Rey Maualuga, ILB, USC (if Leroy Hill walks, we’ve had pretty ok luck with USC linebackers lately)

I’m sure I’m missing somebody’s favorite in here – Maybe another OL bruiser?  Walt won’t be here forever…

For anybody who would want to go to this game, I just heard that the Rams returned 400 tickets from their allotment and they've been released to ticketmaster and seahawks.com - I just checked, and there are still some available.  I guess it's a commentary about how bad the Rams are, since nobody wanted to come...

Not sure how great the weather will be, but I thought I'd put it out there for fans who wanted to get into the game without risking the secondary market. 

Go Hawks!

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Really? Why Us?

I refuse to panic, and I refuse to believe in curses - That being said, this is starting to get a little out of hand, right? 

We're going to have to have a strong defensive effort tomorrow, and I'm worried about a pro bowl cog not being at 100% - We'll need the 12th man to help disrupt the 49ers a little and pick up some false starts.  See you there!

According to Mike Sando.

The loss of Seahawks guard Rob Sims to season-ending pectoral surgery clears a roster spot for free-agent receiver Samie Parker, who has signed with the team.

Wait, who?

Didn't he get cut by the Panthers?

Ugh.

It's not over, but the BYE can't come fast enough for me - Maybe once Branch and Engram are back, we'll convince ourselves this was a bad dream...

Update by John Morgan: Parker is a burner who probably doesn't fit this offense and really doens't fit Matt Hasselbeck's skill set. One more thing to watch for on Sunday, but right now I can't see this as anything but a grotesque, in-season tryout.