LGB

There are a few examples that don't make sense in terms of players drafted high that do not perform as expected (or don't even see the playing field like Maybin and McCargo), but other players are just plain overpaid for how they produce (e.g. Lee Evans). Add to that injuries that occur and it makes being competitive with a chance for the playoffs pretty difficult.

I just hope that the Bills improve on their 4-12 record from last year since the Bills have been turning their coaching staff over every three years, Chan Gailey could already be a third of his way to another coaching carousel exit if there isn’t great improvement this year. Who knows, maybe this will be the year for John McCargo, Aaron Maybin and Kris Kelsey to all go to the Pro Bowl. We can only hope.

Buddy Nix says he does not think the Bills’ have as many needs as most think. What?!? A perennial sub-500 team under Dick Jauron that regressed the last couple of years does not have many needs? Is Buddy Nix looking at the same Bills record or body of work that “most” everyone else is? Year - W - L 2005 - 5 - 11 2006 - 7 - 9 2007 - 7 - 9 2008 - 7 - 9 2009 - 6 - 10 2010 - 4 - 12 C’mon Buddy, we all know that hope springs eternal, but this is a team that competes in the AFC East, not the NFC West. In this division, you need about 7 more wins a year to just compete for a wild card and until you can put a team on the field that has a clue about stopping Tom Brady and the Patriots, you had better take the blinders off and see what “most” of us are seeing: New England owns Buffalo and with New England's six draft picks in the first three rounds this year, I doubt that they are going to get any weaker. Optimism is fine, but the proof is in the win/lost column and it would seem that the Bills have a lot to prove.

Fitz was very good considering the OL that he played behind. Is he the next Peyton Manning, probably not, but he is a good starting QB. The question I have is what is it going to take to win this year and it seems that help on defense cannot be overlooked. Run and stop the run - right? The Bills cannot stop the run. This team needs help...having two first round picks riding the bench every year in Maybust and McCargo-bust does not help.

When you are near last in defense against the run every year, I agree that defense is the way to go. We have a very good QB in Fitz, but RBs on opposing teams can't wait to play the Bills to increase their stats. When playing the Bills going over a 100 yards is an easy goal for a RB every time.

So we enter another year where the question remains if former first round picks Aaron Maybust and John McCargo-bust will ever be seen on game-days and maybe even a bigger question will be - will the Bills have to take another DT or DE in the first round? Perennially the Bills, being one of the worst teams against the run, one would think that a DT or a run-stuffing DE (with a quick first step) would have been the position of need before RB last year. The fact is that the Bills have been terrible at addressing their needs in the first round. Last year, some have argued that Spiller was a marketing pick designed only to sell seats and not address glaring needs like the OL or DL. Since 2000 the Bill’s only top pick to make the Pro Bowl was Marshawn Lynch as an Injury Replacement in 2008. Added to that fact is that very few first round players currently on the roster have been “impact” players (game-changing players or players that really make a difference) that you would like to see when drafted so high. Year Player 2000 Erik Flowers* 2001 Nate Clements 2002 Mike Williams* 2003 Willis McGahee 2004 Lee Evans 2004 J.P. Losman* 2005 No 1st Round Pick, Roscoe Parrish (2nd Round) 2006 Donte Whitner* 2006 John McCargo* 2007 Marshawn Lynch* 2008 Leodis McKelvin 2009 Aaron Maybin* 2009 Eric Wood 2010 C.J. Spiller So what has changed at OBD that will make this draft different from years past? Probably not much (Tom Modrak?) and we will see if an impact player can be found or marketing player is selected this year. Of course the real hope is that somehow the Bills will find a real contributor on game days who's impact will make marketing easy and not another disappointing addition (*) to the list above. Updated: added Whitner as a "House of Blues" disappointment (taken 8th overall in 06) who's really been unspectacular.

The only thing funnier than that happening might be this:

This is the best thread I have seen in a long time...so many people ringing their hands over the fact that that Stroud has been cut, but Maybust and McCargo-bust are still on the team. Sing the House of Blues and taser Whitner for me - okay? Yeah right, the money is good to keep the busts on the team...the same with Lee Evans, lil Donte and Kelsey - right? This is why the Bills are going backwards instead of keeping pace with the rest of the AFC East. It doesn't matter that these players (Maybust, McCarbust, Lee Evans, lil Donte and Kelsey) can't compete, their math is right and they are look good in the locker room. Maybe because they are good interview guys that the Bills keep them on the team..."Yeah, we need to play better.", "Yeah, it is time to step up." year after year after year... Same ole same ole...nothing has changed at OBD. The positive additions have been negated from the subtractions that are due to the mindless use of roster spots and that the math is right.

Ralph confirms that Modrak is the one person that puts the draft board up. Okay, thanks Ralph…fire the coaching staff every three years, but let's not change the guy who puts the draft board together. Let's face it, whoever has made up the draft board and draft decisions, has not been getting the job done. Ralph said it best: "In the draft, there's no question it's a big disappointment that we haven't had more impact players, players that make a big difference, go to the Pro Bowl.” The problem for the Bills is that they have not done much of anything well for over 10 years except for marketing their team to playoff-starved fans. And Nix is not concerned with what happened before?!? Wow, thanks for that…thanks for not learning from the past and what has not worked. Okay, I know...this year is different...this is the year Modrak's draft board will be exactly what the Bills need and from this 2011 draft board it won't matter who is picked because whoever is on that board will be a fit on this team and be successful players for this set of coaches. Let’s really hope that this is the year and Modrak has done his job - because there might only be only two years left - with Chan onboard the Bills coaching carousel. But rest assured Modrak fans...his job (EDIT: lifetime appointment) is safe.

I understand there are divisions and that is the way it is...don't hate me...but it does not seem fair that the Bucs with their record did not get in.

That must be why you are the:'1billsfan' The Tampa Bay Buccaneers at 10-6 should have been in the playoffs instead of the 8-9 seahawks...

who make up the 10%? ...has had bursts of success seems like the definition of a Bills QB these past 10 years.

Adam Schefter reports that the the Bills get a second pick in the Lynch trade and is a sixth rounder in 2012 that can go to a 5th based on Lynch’s productivity. Greg William's defense looked pathetic last night...

yeah but that 4th round pick will be the pick that puts the Bills into the SB! Adam Schefter reports that the the Bills get a second pick in the Lynch trade and is a sixth rounder in 2012 that can go to a 5th based on Lynch’s productivity.

...conditional on the 8-9 seahawks making the playoffs and lynch scoring a TD in a wild-card game? (do we get something more than a forth now?...like a pat on the back or something?)

If only this was true?...you must mean Clements. IMO, Clements wanted too much money and in hindsight the Niners haven't won on the cost/benefit from signing Clements. The Bills have not been able to replace Pat Williams either. The whole let good someone walk and sign someone else has not been a successful strategy, but the reason there have been no playoffs here for ten years is Bills have not been able to get much value with their high draft picks.

People make mistakes evaluating talent...or will next year be McCargo's breakout year?

Tom Brady owns a 16-1 record against Buffalo. What does that mean? The Bills do not have a clue to how to beat NE. Simple as that. Every three years there is a new Bills staff who can't figure it out either.

IR - once you are determined to be IR you are irrelevant for the current season. Ever since Evans signed his retirement fund extension, he has become irrelevant. Saying, "it really doesn't look good right now," Gailey wouldn't rule out the possibility of placing Evans on the season-ending injured reserve. Are you serious? It hasn't looked good for a while and other than being a face in the locker room, is there any reason to have Evans on the team? For the kind of money he makes, is it unreasonable to think he should be more than just another guy in the locker room? Ever since the Bills signed Evans to a four-year, $37.25 million extension that included $18.25 million worth of guarantees, Evans has disappeared. Evans caught a career-low 44 passes for a career-low 612 yards last year with TO on the other side and now with Stevie, Lee hasn't exactly been tearing it up if you look at the amount of cash he's been paid out (34 receptions for 506 yards so far this year before his sprained ankle).

Must be with the weather and the Bills record - that Ralph "buying" the remaining tickets to give to under-privileged persons could be construed as punishment.

Is it unreasonable to hope that your first round picks will be impact players that can contribute right away - especially when they are high picks? I get that the posters here are die-hard fans of a 2-10 team, but did we really need Spiller in 2010? Most fans gave the new staff the benefit of the doubt (as Bill's fans do every three years), but here we are at 2-10 and instead of improving on 2009, we are going backwards. Nobody is calling Spiller a bust - like McCargo-bust and Maybust, but at some point in the next couple of years it might be nice to land a real contributor in the first round - or we will likely be giving an entirely new staff the benefit of the doubt again.

so far this year, Clay Matthews or Troy Polamalu should considered for defensive player of the year before KW. It's not that the Bills haven't tried to improve the DL - but have they seen any return on the money spent with Maybin-bust and McCargo-bust so far? Should KW and Stevie be considered for the Pro Bowl? Maybe - if Stevie made that catch vs. stealers or either one shows more in the remaining games before the voting starts. The thing about Williams is he lasted to the 5th rd - because he is not that big of a player, but he plays really big.

Evans and Kelsay are locker room guys and ever since the Bills signed Evans to a four-year, $37.25 million extension that included $18.25 million worth of guarantees, Evans has disappeared. Evans caught a career-low 44 passes for a career-low 612 yards last year with TO on the other side and now with Stevie, Lee hasn't exactly been tearing it up if you look at the amount of cash he's been paid out (34 receptions for 506 yards so far this year).

Are the Bills are only a couple of players away from being a .500 team or will it take much more than that? What the current staff has done to the defense has not helped. Jauron was better than this with his perennial 7-9 teams because the Bills had a defense. The team as a whole has not improved much, if at all - given what has been lost on defense. No pass rushers, playing Kelsey as a LB, still hanging on to McCargo and Maybin. This is probably just as bad as not drafting a start-able OT. Maybe drafting Spiller was a marketing decision or maybe they already knew they were going to try and trade Lynch for a draft, but at 0-8, fans continue to be let down.

The Bills have some dead weight that there need to get rid of (McCarbust and Maybust come to mind) and at 0-8, it would be helpful to try and find some contributors that can fill those spots now - on the road to re-building. There should be players available that are better than McCarbust and Maybust out there on someone's practice squad.