spartacus

Since the timing is a bit suspect, hard to ignore the possible connection that this may have been the cost to Ralph of generating enough interest to put him in the Hall

maybe not an entry level scout but one who was to become GM in a few months obviously carried a lot of weight with Ralph

yeah - and he as head National scout had no input into the Bills top pick. He had the juice to stop the pick if he felt strongly that Maybin was a turd

it's a good thing that the Bills have quality backups at OT when Bell suffers his annual injury

The Bills have not drafted a playmaker since Teflon Tom left NONE Buddy's attempts with Spiller and Maybin have been complete washouts

on most teams they do in Buffalo, they put em on IR gotta increase the odds in the Andrew Luck derby

good thing Buddy talked some sense into the decision makers before the Bills picked

"we could have the most dominant D in the conference" how could anyone not agree that the D will improve from one of the worst 3 Ds in the league to a better unit than the Jets and Steelers

Your list supports my observation. The first 7 on your list were acquired by Polian or before. Ruben Brown was acquired by Butler who still had juice with the front office. Notice that for the next 15 years after Polian left, the team has spent exactly 1 premium pick on an OT - which they screwed up but I'm sure such a dismal track recored is standard for any solid playoff team The team has clearly valued RBs and DBs with their premium picks which has resulted in their decade long playoff drought

Someone higher than Buddy in the Bills organization refuses to assign any value at all to the OL. Pure speculation, but this could be the after affects of a long standing grudge arising out of Polian's desire to spend a top pick on the OL over the recommendation of a certain Ralph relative. Having accepted the reality of never being able to build an OL, Chan and Buddy have opted for an alternative strategy which rquires all QB's to fend for themselves on the field.-- thus the acquisiton of Thigpen and Brad Smith. Run for your life

99% is league wide no minimum for individual teams until 2013 I hope someone clues in the Bills before they extend Kelsay

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2011/07/30/ty-warren-bill-belichick-moving-away-from-the-3-4/ Ty Warren: Bill Belichick moving away from the 3-4 Posted by Michael David Smith on July 30, 2011, 6:28 AM EDT Getty Images On his way out the door after getting cut by the Patriots, defensive lineman Ty Warren offered some thoughts about the future of Bill Belichick’s defense, saying the coach who long favored a 3-4 front seems to be moving toward a 4-3. “I think it looks like they’re trying to get away from the 3-4,” Warren said, via Mike Reiss of ESPNBoston.com. Warren got that feeling from the time he spent in team meetings before he was released, and the Patriots’ personnel at the moment appears to line up well in a 4-3 front, with Albert Haynesworth and Vince Wilfork as the starting tackles and Jermaine Cunningham and Eric Moore as the starting ends. “That’s my whole outlook on the deal,” Warren said. “You have to play to your personnel too.” Belichick has always been brilliant about identifying the right talent and putting that talent in the right position to succeed. Right now, shifting toward more four-man fronts and fewer three-man fronts may be the best way for the talent on the Patriots to succeed.

Thompson can play that game because his draft picks produce on the field, so there is no need to find a lot of talent elsewhere. When your top draft picks like Maybin, Spiller, Troup and Carrington can't even get on the field, then building solely thru the draft may not be such a good idea. With the Bills draft picks stuck to the bench and their replacements generated from the practice squads and team rejects, it's inconceivable that the Bills will ignore FA as a source to improve the talent level of this team. But then again, the team has no urgency to produce a winner - so that message has clearly filtered down to Buddy and Cahn. This is true Every team in the league participates in the draft Well run teams also add talent thru free agency The Bills, by ignoring FA, are falling farther behind the talent levels of other teams - as evidenced by their deterioration over the last decade. Free Agency is even more important when you continually strike out in the draft - with ZERO impact players acquired thru the draft under Buddy and for the 10 prior years

You are absolutely correct. Buddy will be very active signing all of the cast-offs and team rejects that nobody else wants just to fill out the 90 man roster They made their big FA signing last year with Merriman don't expect any improvement in the overall talent level from this FA class the only hope is all of those underwhelming draft picks can finally find their way off of the bench and onto the field, let alone be productive

yeah- Cornell Green is still available with the need to reach the cap minimum, he will probably get more than $3 mil this year from the Bills

I'm still holding out hope that Chan and Buddy tanked last season on purpose to get Luck or Newton. because if they didn't, their plan and execution put them in the totally inept category. In additioin to the items noted above, is the inexcusable use of the draft picks they took on defense who didn't sniff the field of a team with one of the worsts run defenses of all time.

could be that knee injury wiped out whatever skill and speed he had when he won those awards

We must keep POZ at all costs You can't let go a white LB from that great LB school, Penn State Especially when Marv gave up extra picks and passed on David Harris to get him Doesn't really matter that he is slow, can't cover and makes no impact plays

"It isn't conceivable at all Wanny wanted a stress free coaching position . . " Wanny should fit right in with the rest of the underachieving slackers that Chan found for his staff why get a talented, hungry coach on the rise, when a burned slacker is available for cheap

how is backup QB a show stopper? with the mighty Fitz at QB, they won a whopping 4 games if he gets hurt, how many fewer games will they win? maybe enough to get back into the Andrew Luck sweepstakes

looks like Kelsay will be getting another extension Being highest paid TE for Miller or Boss won't will last just until teams with really good TEs (Witten, Gates) extend them to use up some of that cap space

if the Bills were so serious about switching to a 3-4, why did they not bring a defensive coach with some clue how to install and implement the 3-4? after proving conclusively that Edwards was inept and had no clue, they kept him as the DC and brought in the Stash with an exclusive 4-3 background

doesn't happen in well run organizations only screwed up teams bring in a guy to "run" the defense, but call him a LB coach and keep the inept incumbant as the DC good teams fire the inept boob and hire a coach elite in the scheme the team wants to run. not hire a 4-3 guy and hope he learns on the fly how to impement a 3-4 scheme.

that would be the typical dysunctional way to run an organization don;t have the guts to fire Edwards -but bring in his replacement with a wink-wind understanding that he's in charge the players I'm sure will figure it out that's why Chan should be the OC and not the head coach- maybe the Stash is really the HC, but noody told Chan yet

good thing the Bills fired that inept turd of a DC that was responsible for last year's horrible defense