Posted by Will Brinson

The NFL just announced the specific 25 rookies that will appear at Radio City Music Hall on Thursday when the NFL Draft takes place.

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The number of players for 2011 is an all-time, record high for invitees -- 17 players attended in 2010 and that was the previous record for rookies who showed up at the NFL Draft.

That's fascinating since there's currently a bit of a situation going on with the lockout, but it's understandable, because there's really no clear-cut way in which the draft will shake out come Thursday night, especially because the Panthers hold a top pick that will set of a chain reaction of dominos when they select, and they have yet to tip their hand.

Player	Position	School
Prince Amukamara	CB	Nebraska
Akeem Ayers	LB	UCLA
Adrian Clayborn	DE	Iowa
Randall Cobb	WR	Kentucky
Marcell Dareus	DT	Alabama
Nick Fairley	DT	Auburn
Blaine Gabbert	QB	Missouri
A.J. Green	WR	Georgia
Mark Herzlich	LB	Boston College
Mark Ingram	RB	Alabama
Cameron Jordan	DE	California
Julio Jones	WR	Alabama
Ryan Kerrigan	DE	Purdue
Corey Liuget	DT	Illnois
Von Miller	LB	Texas A&M
Rahim Moore	S	UCLA
Cam Newton	QB	Auburn
Patrick Peterson	CB	LSU
Mike Pouncey	OL	Florida
Aldon Smith	DE	Missouri
Tyron Smith	OT	USC
Phil Taylor	DT	Baylor
Danny Watkins	OG	Baylor
JJ Watt	DE	Wisconsin
Ryan Williams	RB	Virginia Tech

Posted by Josh Katzowitz



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Although the Bills went 4-12 last season and were never in contention for any kind of postseason berth, there was reason for optimism at the end of last year. Against all previous indications, QB Ryan Fitzpatrick wasn’t half-bad, young faces like RB C.J. Spiller and WR Steve Johnson showed potential, and the team took the Steelers, Chiefs and Ravens into overtime before eventually losing.

The head coaching abilities of Chan Gailey – in college or in the NFL – have never been that impressive to me, but I’d be an idiot if I didn’t say that he is making progress in Buffalo. Progress enough to compete with the rest of the AFC East? Not yet. But any kind of progress is good.




Very little elite talent

This obviously is a problem, because, aside from NT Kyle Williams – who’s a top-five interior defensive lineman – the Bills don’t feature any elite players (maybe S Jairus Byrd can get there at some point). With the No. 3 pick in this year’s draft, that should change (you’d like to think so at least, if you’re a Bills fan). But remember, Buffalo went with Aaron Maybin with the No. 11 pick in 2009 and Leodis McKelvin with the No. 11 pick in 2008. Apparently, this franchise doesn’t always know how to pick the elite guys.



1. QUARTERBACK
While Fitzpatrick did a decent enough job at the starting spot last year, after Trent Edwards thoroughly failed at it and Brian Brohm didn’t do enough to win it, Fitzpatrick doesn’t scream, “FUTURE FRANCHISE QB.” Since the Bills have the No. 3 pick in the NFL draft, it makes sense for them to take somebody who could make that claim. Considering GM Buddy Nix said that now is the perfect time to draft a QB, Buffalo might just do it.

2. LINEBACKERS
Buffalo needs to shore up its 3-4 defense in a big way and procure players who can figure out how to get to the opposing quarterback. The Bills – who were tied for 27th in sacks last year – already have Shawne Merriman and Aaron Maybin at OLB, but it’s unclear if the former can stay healthy and the latter has been a big draft bust thus far in his career. Von Miller’s elite speed certainly would help in the linebacker corps.

3. DEFENSIVE LINE
The Bills were the worst team in football at stopping the run, so this spot obviously is in need of an upgrade. The line itself seems to be OK with Kyle Williams and Dwan Edwards, but a Da’Quan Bowers pick wouldn’t be shocking (though many experts are predicting Miller).




The Bills are still nowhere near making a bid for the playoffs, but there’s no reason they can’t improve on last year’s record. I think 8-8 would be a stretch – especially if Fitzpatrick is back at the QB spot – but 6-10 or 7-9 wouldn’t be out of the question. And it would be a sign of more progress.

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Posted by Will Brinson



Got a link for the Hot Routes? Hit us up on Twitter (@CBSSportsNFL).

• Tom Brady, as you will see about 5,000* times over the next few hours, is going to cry on television soon. A certain four-letter sports network got him to weep on camera about his sixth-round selection back in 2000 and, well, it's a heart-wrenching story about how tough his life's been. Or maybe he just likes to cry a lot? After all, the gents over at Tauntr.com did happen to catch a montage of him sobbing over the recent booting of Pia from "American Idol."

• Matt Leinart just spent a year as the third-string quarterback with the Houston Texans. And while that might seem like something that would make a man depressed, the former Heisman-Trophy winner claims he's rejuvenated.

• Joel Thorman of Arrowhead Pride talked to Scott Pioli recently, and the Chiefs draft board is basically, um, done.

• Chan Gailey of the Bills appears to be quite high on the talents of linebacker -- and plaintiff! -- Von Miller out of Texas A&M. Seeing him go at No. 3 to Buffalo wouldn't be a shock at this point.

• The Falcons are going to work out linebacker Akeem Ayers -- back-to-back first-round linebackers seems like a stretch, but, hey, you never know.

• According to Tim Leiweke, the CEO of AEG and therefore a primary investor in the downtown L.A. stadium effort, the NFL will "double" its rights fees in the next television contract negotiations. Yowza.

• John Clayton, former Seahawks beat guy and generally plugged-in Seattle fella, doesn't think Matt Hasselbeck will be coming back to play for Pete Carroll and Co in 2011.

• Adam Caplan of FOX Sports has a nice list of the most-hyped draft picks of all-time.

• We'll obviously have (much) more on this when the full preseason schedule is announced, but the Cleveland Plain-Dealer is reporting that the Browns' preseason opponents will be Green Bay, Detroit, Philadelphia and Chicago.

• Philly.com breaks down the Eagles' first-round picks under head coach Andy Reid.

• The always-excellent Greg Cosell broke down some film of Colorado CB Jimmy Smith and thinks that the might have "similarities to Jets star CB Darrell Revis coming out of Pittsburgh." So spicy.

Posted by Will Brinson

The Buffalo Bills, because of Chan Gailey's innovative offensive mind, are widely considered a potential landing spot for former Auburn quarterback Cam Newton.

But Blaine Gabbert could land there as well -- depending on what the Panthers and Broncos do, of course; worth noting is that our own Clark Judge has him there ahead of Newton. And, if you need proof, how about the strong praise the former Mizzou signal caller drew from Bills' GM Buddy Nix for his athleticism recently?

"People don't realize, they talk about what a good athlete Cam is, which he is, but [Gabbert] is a very similar athlete." Nix said to WEDG Radio, per Mark Gaughan of the Buffalo News.

Well, now, that's nice and everything, but -- and no offense to Gabbert -- that might be a stretch, Buddy.

"He's 6-4, and he's 234 pounds and he ran 4.61 (40-yard dash)," Nix told WEDG Radio. "He can jump. He's 10 feet, 3 inches long jump. Athletically he's really a big, fast athlete. He's a smart guy. He's a little like Cam in that he hasn't played a lot. — He played three games his senior year in high school. He didn't play any as a freshman except in a mop-up role and then started two years."

Look, Gabbert's a good athlete. No question about it. But no amount of height or weight or speed is going to make him a "similar" athlete to Newton. That's because Newton is the freaky-deakiest of the freaks when it comes to raw athletes that we've seen in sports, in a pretty long time. If he was more polished as a quarterback and/or there weren't some concerns about his off-field behavior/personal life, there wouldn't be a discussion about who was getting drafted at No. 1 overall.

It would be a slam dunk for Newton and no one would think twice. But there are questions and that's how Gabbert's getting involved in the discussion. So, yeah, it's great for him, but let's not carried away when we start discussing the phrase "athleticism."

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Posted by Andy Benoit

• Roddy White is hoping Aqib Talib will be on the field in 2011 because Talib “brings the animal” out of White.
  
  
• ESPN’s Tim Graham wrote an excellent piece on how having more former players on the coaching staff will impact the Miami Dolphins in 2011.
  
  
• The Arizona Cardinals players do not have any informal team workouts planned.
  
  
• The Bills are having Alabama defensive lineman Marcel Dareus and Purdue defensive end/outside linebacker Ryan Kerrigan in for a visit.
  
  
• Matt Mosley of Fox Sports Southwest thinks Ray Sherman’s close relationship with Dez Bryant may have led to the receiver coach’s dismissal from the Cowboys organization.
  
  
• Dhani Jones has applied to be the voice of the Aflac duck. (Longtime voice Gilbert Godfrey was fired for incentive tweets about the Japan earthquake.)
  
  
• Jon Morris was selected to the Patriots Hall of Fame.
  
  
• Nick Barnett finds himself in limbo during this lockout. (Isn’t that what everybody’s in?)
  
  
• Albert Haynesworth’s court date for road rage was delayed until May 26. Hopefully that won’t upset the big guy.
  
  
• Titans quarterback Rusty Smith said it: “Coaching staff knows what I can do.” (That’s the problem.)
  
  
• Devin McCourty is moonlighting as an East Bay model. (Think Jason McCourty might be jealous?)
  
  
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Posted by Andy Benoit

Hopefully the day will soon come when the lockout is over soon and we won’t have to keep doing these “what this player and that player say they’re going to do during the lockout” posts.

Alas, that day is not today. So we pass along Drayton Florence’s recent tweet. The Bills cornerback offered to coach the defensive backs for the Virginia Destroyers during the lockout. The Destroyers recently hired Florence’s old Chargers coach, Marty Schottenheimer, to run their show.

It’s hard to say just how serious Florence’s offer really is. Seems like if he really wanted to offer up his services, he’d call Schottenheimer rather than tweet to him for all to see and force the coach to contact him, no?

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Posted by Andy Benoit

If it’s authentic, honest analysis you want, don’t listen to an NFL head coach’s press conference. When talking about their own players, coaches tend to be as transparent as a stained glass window.

Unless the coach is Chan Gailey. While understandably not utterly forthright, the Bills second-year head coach is better than most. Case in point: Gailey’s sentiments about disappointing defensive end/outside linebacker Aaron Maybin.

The former first-round pick has recorded exactly zero sacks in his first two seasons as a pro. Last year, Maybin was a healthy game day scratch from the active roster on more than one occasion. Speaking to reporters at the NFL owners’ meetings earlier this week, Gailey said this is a make or break year for Maybin, that he knows what’s expected of him but just “hasn’t shown it in practice or in games.”

Gailey made it clear that Maybin’s desire is not the issue. But he also made it clear that an issue is there.

"I don't think I've lit very many fires," Gailey said. "We might provide a spark, but he's got to get his own fire going.

"He's got to understand where he is. I always talk to guys about 'This is where we are. This is where we want to be, and this is how we get there.' Individually, guys have got to do that. 'This is where I am. This is where I want to be. Now, how do I get there?'

"We tell him all the time how to get there. He's got to do it. Talking's over. You've got to go get it done."

It’s easy to say this now, but the Bills could be getting what they deserve here. Maybin redshirted at Penn State in 2006, recorded four sacks off the bench in ’07 and didn’t start until the third game in ‘-08. He had a breakout season but entered the draft as a one-hit wonder.

Stunting Maybin’s development was a prolonged rookie holdout in ’09 and a position change in ’10 (from 4-3 defensive end to 3-4 outside linebacker). He also doesn’t turn 23 until April.

But there were plenty of people inside the NFL who said Maybin lacked the strength to compete at the NFL level. The Bills, obviously, did not agree with those people.

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Posted by Will Brinson



Got a link for the Hot Routes? Hit us up on Twitter (@CBSSportsNFL).

• Even though Jerry Richardson probably isn't the most favorite owner when it comes to fan discussions about the current labor situation, he's informed the team that Panthers employees won't have to take a paycut in the event of a lockout. So he's got that going for him.

• According to GQ, the Philadelphia Eagles have the second-worst fans in the country. First? The Phillies!

• Aaron Rodgers' year is going okay. He just hit a hole-in-one (his first one) on a recent golf outing.

• The Rams, according to Jim Thomas of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, are "really, really high" on Julio Jones.

• Wofford (a tiny No. 14 seed in the NCAA tournament) has more combined NFLers than 20 different teams in the NCAA tournament.

• We'll probably touch on it more later, but we want to go ahead and point out that Mike Silver of Yahoo! Sports calls the NFL owners "communists."

• Darin Gantt of the Rock Hill Herald does a mock draft that's predicated on the lockout continuing. A valid, if sad and/or terrifying point.

• The Bills took Blaine Gabbert out to dinner before his Missouri pro day. I hope they bought him wings.

• It's important to remember that Noel Devine out of West Virginia is still really fast. He ripped off a 4.43 at their pro day.