Sisyphean Bills

Another "blast" from the past... http://forums.twobillsdrive.com/topic/87818-how-good-is-maybin/

Maybe you should send him flowers?

They've been whiffing for at least a decade, Cat. Position is largely irrelevant. (Besides it was meant as a joke. Get it?)

Not sure how you can say that Jay. Urbik was rated one of the best guards in the 09 draft by the exact same Bills front office and scouting department that selected Aaron Maybin (soon to be Aaron Wasnot).

They've tried him on kick coverage teams. He couldn't stay onsides or stay in his lane. James Harrison is built like a brick outhouse. "Wait til next year" is never going to get Maybin in that category. (Update) Given that he was cut, I guess the Bills decided they had wasted enough money, time and energy on him as well. He could still be a great placekicker, I guess; that position doesn't require functional power.

Once cut, will his name change to Aaron Wasnot?

Cam Newton is bigger.

Simply falling over is a skill reserved for 1st rounders apparently...

Yep. They kicked him to the curb, and he said the team was run "by idiots" afterwards. Sort of like the notion that the Bills couldn't have used Haloti Ngata because he wasn't versatile enough to play in their system du jour.

That's why you casually flip it out the window of your speeding Taurus...

So much for turning the corner? (Wham! Brick wall.)

Lee Evans scares them.

Not so fast. I meant Andrew Luck. That's why I capitalized Luck, as it is a proper noun in the sentence.

- _______ was cut by _______. Let's sign him! (Reality: It's all about Luck.)

Not to mention that every team drafts players. And every teams' fans get jacked up about the new names. The act of drafting is not the cause to the effect of actually building a playoff team.

That is a pretty objective take, my friend. I understand what you mean. Quite frankly, I've thought for years now that Ralph has pulled in the horns and the fans clamoring for "one last go" were barking up the wrong tree. Send me a PM... Not trying to confuse the issue, sorry. No, I don't think Buddy made that call. I do take him at face value (is there any other?) that he didn't think much of the pick. On the other hand, he was there. Bringing in a consultant should have been a management tool to evaluate both the existing team as well as the consultant himself if he was being considered as someone to be brought in to an authority role (at least with a competent manager with a plan it would have been). The results were underwhelming from either perspective: the existing team screwed the pooch on Maybin and Nix, who may have been correct, was apparently not effective enough with the team to bail out the process. (The same management team, minus Jauron and his staff, was kept in place recall.) But that's how Ralph has always run his business... Nothing new to see here. Pain. Lots of Pain. Patience. Be very patient.

Your question was about the team: Last winning season was 7 years ago. Last time in the playoffs was 11. If your question had been about Nix: He has been the GM for 20 months, but "rebuilding" would be the wrong verb. Unless his function is to rebuild a really bad team into a newer brand of really bad team. Hmm... on second thought...

You realize that you are preaching to the preacher, right? If the Bills want to be taken seriously by the rest of the football world, then they ought to have one goal: excellence and winning a Super Bowl. Mere existence isn't aiming high. It's very, very telling to me, by the way, that you answered my question in this way. It tells me everything about your poker hand. Shouldn't that be "meat and potatoes"? Or in Buddy's case, more like fried chicken and green beans & bacon. Anyway, as far as the football, I don't share your confidence. Buddy will draft the best player available and has filled the gaps with other teams' practice squad players. The bar was set pretty low for his 1st draft class last year and they made essentially no contribution to one of the worst teams in the NFL. Indeed, some of the street UDFAs made more plays last year than the draft picks. The "wait til next year" comments are a given, of course, but the initial vector wasn't pointing up. Furthermore, Buddy was brought in as a consultant before the previous draft. It's unclear if he vocalized his misgivings about Maybin or why he was ignored if he did. The rest of that draft is looking a little more pedestrian after a 2 year view: a pair of guards taken high and a slow CB converted to S for a Tampa-2 that struggled adapting to a down-hill double read system ... and nothing much else. So, while I hope you are right and Buddy can start hitting across the entire draft on the Bills picks, I'll wait for the baby before breaking out the cigars and declaring another hollow "Hurrah! Today's business as usual is different."

Got enough rags and polish?

Well, he did keep Belichick up nights trying to decide how to call a defense to stop the Bills steamrolling attack. A normally grouchy guy getting no sleep is difficult to deal with.

This is nothing but a reaction to a reaction. How about listing some of the more eye-opening accomplishments that this front office has made in the last couple of years? Specifically, moves that have been made that were shrewd and really showed this front office is the cream of the NFL.

I take it that you're not buying into the fanciful notions that they will package this pick and make all kinds of draft moves after they've made a big splash in free agency.

It's all part of the Andrew Luck plan.

What the hell does he know about OL play?

Or equivalently, since it is a passing league it follows that getting a stable full of option QBs is your best run at turning this thing around.