I talked to several NFL Scouts today about the Quarterback group and guess who is #1?

[person1]

I'm more worried about Jacksonville or Philly taking our QB, than KC or Arizona.

[BallHawk20]

I can picture the guy in your avatar saying this.

Lmao....... Yelling it...

[dolphinflavoredtuna]

Today I talked with four NFL Scouts and i thought I would share with you what they said about the current quarterback situation. I posted an article, I thought I would share it since the Bills are definitely looking for a quarterback. I thought it was very interesting that Matt Barkley's stock is still there. Not moving down.

http://nfldraftzone.com/draft-news/m...-draft-boards/

Here you go, I hope you enjoy.

#GO BILLS

I believe you 100% that this is in fact what you would hear from the scouting community. If Gabbert is the biggest joke ESPN played on the NFL, Matt Barkley is the biggest joke the NFL played on every major analyst in TV. He is absolutely the most complete QB in the draft and won't make it out of the top 10.

[Otishawk]

I thought it was very interesting that Matt Barkley's stock is still there. Not moving down.

Why would this surprise you????

[Rochesterfan]

of course it hasnt the guy was given a 1st round draft grade last year and has been the 2013 top pick in the draft for 4 years nothing has changed to suggest he wont be a top 10 pick my only hope is he falls to the bills and KC passes him over for an OT

Sorry - I disagree - several things have changed in the last year to suggest he might drop:

1.) Shoulder Injury - this is big for a QB that people questioned his arm strength to begin with
2.) Horrible season for USC - USC was expected to be the top team last year - Barkley was part of those expectations and the team flopped and where was this coveted leadership to keep this team together and winning.
3.) Rumors/truth behind the under-inflated footballs - are his hands big enough to handle an NFL football without issue
4.) Rumors/truth of underclassmen questioning the senior team "leaders" as not caring once they lost games and the team in-fighting at the end of the year - again where is that leadership to hold a team together when the tough times roll.
5.) The mounting losses in big games over the years - games against Stanford and Oregon the team couldn't win - those are the few teams that had equal talent to USC - how is he going to translate to the NFL on a team with less talent than his opponents.
6.) Lastly for me - what is his upside - has he peaked - I didn't see improvement year over year - he is good, but is what you see now- the top of what you are going to get - he is a four year starter on a team with some of the top players in the country - I wanted to see his game develop and move forward.

Look overall - I think Barkely is the best "QB" of the bunch currently, but I also feel he has many things he needs to show before I think he will go in the top 10 of the draft. In the end - he could go anywhere from #1 overall to I could see him dropping out of the first round. He is the most NFL ready QB, but I do not think he will have the best NFL career and I do not think he will be a top flight "elite" QB in the NFL. I also do not think he has the most upside of the QBs in the draft - I worry like some other USC QBs that he is coming out near the peak of their upside - what you see is what you get. That does not mean he can't be good and be a 5-15 range QB, but he is just hasn't shown me enough desire and passion to expect that football means so much to him that he will do everything to win.

In the end - I think the combine for his measurements (hands and height) and interviews and his pro day for his arm strength are going to be very important for Barkley. He has things he needs to prove and explain and unlike some QBs - he does not have a coach that can help by taking some heat and explaining the season - Kiffin is in deny and assign blame and may add to the issues.

[Buddo]

I'd rather spend a 3rd on Smith and be able to cut bait after a year than spend a top ten pick on Smith/Barkley/Glennon and be forced into a situation where I have to give him 3 years to "prove himself"

Its the Gabbert thing.....even with the smaller contracts, there is still a drive to give a sunk cost every opportunity to prove himself. That leads to missed opportunities in terms of other draft picks.

As a hypothetical question, I'd tend to agree, but I think you also have to draft a genuine development prospect also. Trouble is, you've just paid the pick you would use, over for Smith.
Back in the real world, I think Smith gets to go somewhere where he's been given some assurances about his status, either by the 49ers trading him somewhere that is going to do that, or by Smith being able to make that decision for himself, after getting released.
I don't think I'd have a problem if the #8 pick got used on Barkley, but after him, I'm fairly underwhelmed by what I've read about this year's crop. Eventually I'll get round to looking at a few highlights, but generally speaking, the only guy who appears to have the pedigree is Barkley.
This year's group seems much more like the year that Bradford came out, with only a couple of genuinely decent 'NFL ready' prospects, but with a bigger group behind them, that could be picked from the 2nd round on down. Actually, you could include the 2009 class in that discussion as well, probably.
I think it's highly unlikely that the top QB this year, whoever that is, will not go in the top 10 picks. We heard the same sort of stuff about both Bradford and Stafford, yet what happens?
History will very likely repeat itself. For all the talk about Barkley being injured etc., it will come as no surprise to me, if KC hasn't pretty much already got him inked in as their #1 pick - assuming they will still want a QB, when the draft comes around.

[indybillsfan]

I got blasted earlier this week for expressing the reservation that few if any USC QBs have ever done well in the NFL. Is Barkely the guy to change that? I don't know, but the shoulder thing clearly has to be an issue. If the Bills think he's the guy, then I say go get him even if you have to move up a bit. Or on the other hand, if teams get scared off by the shoulder, maybe he'll drop and we can get him by moving into the late first or even with our second round pick. I seem to recall a guy the Bills drafted years ago where injury concerns pre-draft caused him to drop into the second. Think his name was Thurman something. As I recall he was a pretty good player.

[dolphinflavoredtuna]

I got blasted earlier this week for expressing the reservation that few if any USC QBs have ever done well in the NFL. Is Barkely the guy to change that? I don't know, but the shoulder thing clearly has to be an issue. If the Bills think he's the guy, then I say go get him even if you have to move up a bit. Or on the other hand, if teams get scared off by the shoulder, maybe he'll drop and we can get him by moving into the late first or even with our second round pick. I seem to recall a guy the Bills drafted years ago where injury concerns pre-draft caused him to drop into the second. Think his name was Thurman something. As I recall he was a pretty good player.

Change in any sport, is inevitable. If there is any one thing today's NFL and collegiate program teaches us is that it's those that think outside of the history books, find tremendous success

[Buddo]

I got blasted earlier this week for expressing the reservation that few if any USC QBs have ever done well in the NFL. Is Barkely the guy to change that? I don't know, but the shoulder thing clearly has to be an issue. If the Bills think he's the guy, then I say go get him even if you have to move up a bit. Or on the other hand, if teams get scared off by the shoulder, maybe he'll drop and we can get him by moving into the late first or even with our second round pick. I seem to recall a guy the Bills drafted years ago where injury concerns pre-draft caused him to drop into the second. Think his name was Thurman something. As I recall he was a pretty good player.

I talked about the classes of 2009/10 earlier. Both Bradford and Stafford, iirc, had shoulder issues, and where did they go?

Providing there's nothing that is truly serious, I believe that the same will apply with Barkley, and if his shoulder checks out, he will be as likely to go #1 as Bradford and Stafford were.

The one thing that does throw a spanner into those works, is that Pioli has got canned. That means that Reid will be more than likely to make the call, and it then becomes more his personal preference, than anything else. Unfortunately, I think that Reid has a number of pieces in place, that will fit quite well with what he wants to do offensively, including Charles at RB. If the Chiefs decide to keep Bowe, or manage to, then the addition of Barkley, could give Reid the basis for the type of offence that he likes to run.

[dddaryl]

hopefully he is an option for us at #8.. I would be happy with either him or Geno at #8

[dtsportscards]

When you are dealing with a quarterback, production means a lot, but not everything. Barkley never looked bad when it came down to intangibles. He has them, he never changed the only thing that changed is 3 touchdowns and a few more interceptions. I like Barkley, I just would have thought his stock would have slipped a little, but it sounds as if I am wrong

[LINDA_D]

Would you prefer a QB like Alex Smith over a draft pick like Barkley? Geno? Wilson? Glennon?

I would like to know what you all feel about it?

If the Bills are going to invest in a QB, either a pick or $$$ or both, then I want them to draft one, NOT take somebody else's failed starter.

I'd rather spend a 3rd on Smith and be able to cut bait after a year than spend a top ten pick on Smith/Barkley/Glennon and be forced into a situation where I have to give him 3 years to "prove himself"

Its the Gabbert thing.....even with the smaller contracts, there is still a drive to give a sunk cost every opportunity to prove himself. That leads to missed opportunities in terms of other draft picks.

The problem with this line of thought is two-fold. First, Smith isn't that good. He was a borderline starter for his entire career until 2011 when he put up fancy stats on a team loaded with offensive talent. Then he lost his job to a green sophomore QB after the kid only made two or three starts. He's basically Fitzpatrick with a better arm and a more conservative mindset -- or Trent Edwards on a very talented team.

The second part of this problem is even bigger. Developing a QB and deciding whether he's "good enough" is always going to take multiple seasons, even if your QB spends some of those seasons are spent sitting and watching. Even QBs like Tom Brady, Ben Roethlisberger, and Aaron Rodgers presented big question marks after their first seasons as starters. The Jests thought they had their QB spot sewed up for the next decade after Mark Sanchez's sophomore season, and now, they're back in the QB hunt without the means to compete. Unless you are willing to settle for backup QBs masquerading as starters, other teams' failed starters or old QBs looking for their last hurrah, every team has to bite the bullet and invest in a young QB. And yeah, sometimes you'll draft a bust like JP Losman or only a "decent" Jay Cutler type, but if you never draft even one, you'll never hit on an Aaron Rodgers or a Joe Flacco.

Save the pick and save the cap space, pass on Smith and draft a young QB early in the draft.

[DaBillsFanSince1973]

I see them taking the bpa at 8 and it being a defensive guy, passing on barkley and rightfully so.

[mdemay4444]

I really try to focus on my own posts and not others, but that is completely wrong. You WR screen when you have good WRs and a bad line.(AKA USC with Woods and Co.) You want to get the ball to the edges quickly. Please trust that the Bills coaches (yes even the quality control guys) have forgotten more football than the majority of people on this board know.

Originally Posted by Lobster
Barkley throws too many screens from what I have seen and he doesn't seem to be pressured very often. I think Nassib is best of class. The guy makes his reads every time and puts the balls in his guys hands, you have to believe with good receivers he would have been much better than he already was
He was pressured a good deal and he deals with it pretty well, at least in terms of moving around in the pocket. I dont think hes particularly accurate while rolling but he doesnt freak out in the face of pressure and has the poise youre looking for in an NFL QB.

I completely agree on the screens. I've been told thats based on the scheme but that seems strange to me for the following reasons:

1) People claim he wasnt surrounded by great talent....then why would any coach go heavy on WR screens? You run WR screens specifically because you feel your WRs have talent advantages that will be most beneficial in space
2) If he's so great, why so much reliance on these allegedly not-so-talented WRs?
3) If a lot of what people like about him is based on his production and a lot of his production is derived from WR screens, it doesnt really seem that he is the one providing the value to the production.

[dtsportscards]

Barkley is by far the most polished qb in this draft

[GreeneBlitz]

Barkley is the best QB in this draft but he's not one of the ten best players in this draft, no sale. This QB class is much deeper in value in the second and third round, a guy like Nassib might turn out to be just as good and you can get him much later.

Without a QB, the Bills will be dead in the water, no matter how great the guy we draft is, he will ultimately, waste away on our roster until his next team that does have a franchise QB "revitalizes" his career. If we were smart, we would spend the 1st, 2nd and 3rd round picks on a QB if it guarantees that 3 years from now we have a young franchise QB figured out, THEN, our draft picks can matter, until then they all mysteriously will be "bad" picks or underperformers.

Teams often draft, 2 tackles, 2 guards or 2 LBs with the 1st 3 picks, why not the most important position in the game.

[jayryp80]

Barkley is by far the most polished qb in this draft

Yep. I don't see how that's debatable. And I've debated it a lot.

[dtsportscards]

jay I agree, that shouldn't be debatable

[Baad 1]

Without a QB, the Bills will be dead in the water, no matter how great the guy we draft is, he will ultimately, waste away on our roster until his next team that does have a franchise QB "revitalizes" his career. If we were smart, we would spend the 1st, 2nd and 3rd round picks on a QB if it guarantees that 3 years from now we have a young franchise QB figured out, THEN, our draft picks can matter, until then they all mysteriously will be "bad" picks or underperformers.

Teams often draft, 2 tackles, 2 guards or 2 LBs with the 1st 3 picks, why not the most important position in the game.

Why not wait until there is someone WORTHY of the #8 spot.......If Barkley is that good he won't be there so why are we even discussing this ???

[dtsportscards]

I would take Barkley at 8, I like him