Inside The Bills

Nix on trade talk

Bills GM Buddy Nix commented on the level of trade talk they encountered during draft weekend and by the sound of it there was a lot of chatter on the phone lines.

In an interview on the Shredd and Ragan show on 103.3 The Edge, Nix said there were more than a dozen inquiries by teams per round.

“We probably got 15 calls every round people wanting to move up or move back and offering picks,” Nix said. ”I don’t say this is always the case because I don’t want to ever say never. Normally you won’t see us move back or swap picks just to be churning stuff. We kind of sit there and let what falls to us and take them and normally it’s worked out best. I’m not saying we wouldn’t ever do it. We might, but we’re not going to be big in that.”

Nix has said several times that he doesn’t like moving up and down the draft board. He likes to sit in their spots and pick, and it proved to be a sound approach this time around as the Bills from top to bottom appear to have one of their better draft classes in the past 10 years.

The Bills were one of only nine teams that did not make a single trade draft weekend.

Jasper was highly recruited

Though Bills seventh-round pick Mike Jasper was a virtual unknown to most when he was drafted he was highly recruited coming out of high school.

According to Bills scout Matt Hand a couple of SEC schools were after him.

“He was recruited by Ole Miss, but then coach David Cutcliffe was let go so Ole Miss fell off on him,” said Hand. ”Then he was going to go to Florida and Ron Zook got released so they fell off on him. Mike then decided to stay close to home and go to Tennessee-Martin. He looked at Vanderbilt, but didn’t have the grades to get into Vanderbilt. So he went to Tennessee-Martin.”

So the recruitment by the big time SEC schools speak to Jasper’s athletic ability, he was just a victim of falling through the cracks when two coaching staffs were released.

A+ grade for Bills

One of the more on the spot mock drafters, Rick Gosselin of the Dallas Morning News also put out his draft grades for the 32 NFL clubs, and had high marks for Buffalo. Here was his synopsis.

BUFFALO BILLS: A+

The Bills had nine selections and five of them were above value for the round they were drafted: Williams, Hairston, the two Whites and Rogers. A good draft becomes great in the third day. The Bills hit for the cycle on Saturday.

Gosselin had only one other NFL club with an ‘A’ grade besides Buffalo and that was the Baltimore Ravens.

Bills Daily Charge – May 2

DAILY REPORT

Of the 2,600 fans who responded to a Buffalo Bills Facebook poll, 67% gave the team an ‘A’ for its 2011 Draft selections and 21% gave a ‘B’.

TODAY’S APPEARANCES

• 97Rock –  GM Buddy Nix on Norton in the Morning recapping the 2011 Draft Audio
• WHTK – BuffaloBills.com’s Chris Brown will join the John DiTullio show this afternoon WHTK
• 6:05 PM ***NOTE NEW TIME*** – Buddy Nix will join SIRIUS NFL Radio w/ Pat Kirwan & Tim Ryan
• 6:15 PM – Buddy Nix on Shredd & Ragan on 103.3 The Edge

DAILY LINKS

BuffaloBills.com – Chris Brown tells the drive behind Marcell Dareus

BuffaloBills.com – Chris Brown’s overview of the Bills’ 2011 draft focus on defense

Buffalo News – Allen Wilson looks at the Bills’ selection of players from the South region

Buffalo News – Allen Wilson provides a Bills draft recap

Rochester D&C – Leo Roth’s 2011 draft recap

AP – AP focuses on Buffalo filling defensive needs through Draft

ESPN.com – Tim Graham on 7th Round pick Michael Jasper

ESPN.com – Tim Graham on Buffalo joining those selecting players from North Carolina   

 Audio/Video/Photo Clips

Buffalobills.com – Bills Roundup: Defensive Picks Dominated ’11 Draft  

BuffaloBills.com – GM Buddy Nix & HC Chan Gailey Draft Recap Press Conference  

BuffaloBills.com – 4th Round Pick Da’Norris Searcy Conference Call 

BuffaloBills.com – National Scout Darrell Moody on Da’Norris Searcy

BuffaloBills.com – 4th Round Pick Chris Hairston Conference Call

BuffaloBills.com – 5th Round Pick Johnny White Conference Call

BuffaloBills.com – College Scout Tom Roth on 5th Round Pick Johnny White

BuffaloBills.com – 6th Round Pick Chris White Conference Call

BuffaloBills.com – College Scout Shawn Heinlen on Chris White

BuffaloBills.com – 7th Round Pick Justin Rogers Conference Call

BuffaloBills.com – 7th Round Pick Michael Jasper Conference Call

97 Rock – Buddy Nix joins Norton in the Morning to recap the 2011 Draft

NOTES AND NUMBERS

6 – Six of Buffalo’s nine 2011 Draft selections have a Twitter account.

Marcell Dareus – @marcelldareu,  Aaron Williams – @ajwilliams04,  Kelvin Sheppard – @Shepp_LB11, Da’Norris Searcy – @DSearcy21, Chris Hairston – @C_Hairston61, Michael Jasper – @BIGshadowMIKE

THIS DAY IN BILLS HISTORY

May 2, 1978 — RB TERRY MILLER IS BILLS’ NO. 1 PICK IN 1978 NFL DRAFT

RB Terry Miller from Oklahoma State was the Bills’ No. 1 pick (5th Overall) in the 1978 NFL Draft.

PHOTO OF THE DAY

Bills first-round draft choice Marcell Dareus poses on stage at the 2011 Buffalo Bills Draft Day Party in the Fieldhouse on Friday, April 29^th.

Kiper: Hairston key to class

ESPN draft analyst Mel Kiper, who gave the Bills an overall grade of ‘B’ in this year’s draft, called fourth-round pick OT Chris Hairston the most critical piece of Buffalo’s draft class.

“With the offensive line you can only do so much,” said Kiper. ”With the offensive line there was a big drop off after the top group. That’s why I think the key guy is going to be Chris Hairston. Chris Hairston has a lot of ability and potential. I think he’s not yet where he needs to be. Any time you get a kid that’s 6’6 ¼” and 326 pounds and is very, very strong in the upper body, he’s got incredibly long arms. The kid is a talent.

“(The question is) outside pass rushers, how much trouble will they give him? He’s got to get quicker out of his stance and do a better job of maintaining his frame between the defense and the quarterback, but that will come with coaching. Offensive line coaching will be critical for Hairston because he needs some coaching and the offensive line coach has to develop this kid. If they do it could be a very good pick there.”

With Bills offensive line coach Joe D’Alessandris, Hairston will be in good hands. Head coach Chan Gailey said over the weekend he envisions Hairston as a right tackle, even though he played left at Clemson. And Kiper apparently doesn’t put a whole lot of stock in Erik Pears, who is the Bills odds on favorite to be the starting right tackle in 2011, after a couple of strong starts last season as a late year pickup.

Chris White a throwback

Bills sixth-round pick Chris White is a throwback football player, something Bills scout Shawn Heinlen quickly realized after sitting down with him at the Senior Bowl.

Heinlen asked him if he put all of the linebackers at the Senior Bowl in one room, who would be the one guy coming out?

White’s answer?

“It would be me… definitely.”

Batten could be on move

Bills LB Danny Batten, who missed the 2010 season due to shoulder surgery was shifted from outside linebacker to inside linebacker while he learned the scheme in the meeting rooms last year. After Buffalo’s most recent additions in this year’s draft it’s possible that he’ll be on the move again.

Head coach Chan Gailey said nothing is set in stone, but did admit it’s possible that with the additions of third round pick Kelvin Sheppard and sixth round pick Chris White, both inside linebackers, that Batten could be shifting back outside again.

“That’s something to be determined as time goes on,” said Gailey. ”There’s going to have to be some movement yes, but don’t know which way it’s going to go right now. But that’s one of the things that we are considering at this point.”

In all likelihood Batten would have no problem with such a move as he spent the majority of his college career rushing off the edge anyway.

Michael Jasper footage

For those of you Bills fans that are intrigued by Buffalo’s seventh-round draft pick, who played his senior season at 430 pounds, you’re going to be surprised by his athleticism.

Bills GM Buddy Nix said that NT Michael Jasper has a vertical leap of 33 inches, a 9’5″ broad jump and can dunk a basketball. He’s also now down to 378 pounds. Here’s a video of his training to get an idea of how athletic he is, basketball dunk included. Enjoy, it’s impressive.