Gabe Northern

We do know what his responsibilities are. Why do you think he's the one fielding questions about draft plans at the annual luncheon? Look at the way he answers questions about moving up, who they're targeting, etc. Look at his answers with respect to why they took players in press conferences after the draft. Do you not know his responsibilities within the organization? Is that the source of confusion here? This "we don't know for sure what he does" line of reasoning is beyond absurd.

This is what's stupid: In what other world would stakeholders of an organization make excuses for an employee so closely tied to the failure of his operation? People make excuses in every direction: it was Donahoe micromanaging, it was Ralph meddling, it was deference to Levy (who never made a single pick). Now it's not Modrak's fault because his scouting team below him did most of the player research!?!? What the HELL is going on!? A person was hired 8 years ago to run a certain facet of an organization. Bosses have come and gone during this time, but that person has stayed in charge of that division throughout. Throughout that time, the performance of the division has been consistently bad. At what point do you pull the plug?

4 guys in the top 200? Wow, what a great roster. Thanks Tom Modrak. Oh, wait. I forgot. It can't be Tom Modrak's fault because he has a boss. Great logic.

We know that he was the employee chiefly responsible for player evaluations and recommending players to be drafted. We know that the team has a surfeit of talent and has not produced a legitimate pro bowler since he arrived (Schobel was 2001; McGee was special teams). His drafts neither uncover reliable starters at the top of the draft, or surprises in later rounds. With all of this information, why do you think he should be retained? You don't want to blame the team's failure all on him? Neither do I. All I want is some accountability for failure.

Believe me -- I'm not blaming one person. At no time have I suggested that eliminating Modrak would solve all of our problems. But it would be a start. That's for certain. You simply cannot fail at your job so regularly and be retained without having negative implications for the health of the organization.

Modrak has been in charge of the entire college scouting operation since 2002 in his role as Assistant GM. He was promoted to VP, College Scouting where he retained the same responsibilities. This debate is so incredibly stupid. The roster sucks. He has repeatedly misgraded players. Do you believe he was overruled on every selection?

In organizations, different people are assigned different tasks. Is every mistake made by a company the fault of the CEO?

He had his hands full ruining our roster at the time.

Right. His grades are what lead the decision-makers to pick the wrong players.

Either you are lying or hallucinating. I just searched TSW archives and here is the only thread on Whitehurst: http://forums.twobillsdrive.com/index.php?showtopic=109316 One poster throws him out as and option and gets ridiculed.

Does Tom Modrak have a bunch of family members posting on TSW today? How could people be coming out to defend his body of work? Modrak has been RUNNING THE DRAFT since 2002 and the roster SUCKS. Was Jauron a horrible coach? Have the free agent acquisitions Modrak had nothing to do with been terrible? Yes and Yes. But that doesn't excuse his body of work. I will say that I completely excuse him for the Mike Williams and Aaron Maybin picks. But Kelsay over Osi Umenyiora? Roscoe Parrish over Vincent Jackson? Trading up for Poz instead of staying back and taking David Harris? Trading up for McCargo? Trading up for Losman? THESE MOVES WERE ALL MADE BECAUSE OF THE PLAYER EVALUATION GRADES OF TOM MODRAK

A scapegoat? He's been running our drafts since 2002 and has been promoted for his efforts. How does this qualify as a scapegoat? How in the world are fans content that this guy is still in charge of our college scouting operation? The number of misses has been mind-boggling.

This is false. He has been running the Bills draft since 2002. Also want to point out that he didn't want Maybin last year.

From PFT: Funny stuff for those of us who've been seduced by the very same thing in the past.

He's got an 85% chance of getting cut. Depends on whether Lonnie Harvey can play and how many lineman they want to keep. We're all set at DE, so can he be the third NT?

screw you

This is exactly right. Whether you think the problem is Trent or last year's idiotic offensive system, you have to realize that that timed passing routes not only play to Trent's strength, but also make a hell of a lot of sense when you field the worst pass-blocking line in the NFL.

Agreed. The Buffalo News is the house organ. They've made it obvious since the draft that Edwards is the guy, but that he's going to have to "win the job" for appearance's sake. Maybe he'll perform as poorly as in 2009, but this is the right move. I'd attribute 40% of last year's failure to the front office's decision to blow up the line (and fail to address the holes that decision created), 40% to the offensive coaching staff for sticking to slow developing pass patterns behind the worst pass-blocking line in football, and 20% to Edwards for being thin-skinned and unable to adapt.

Thought this was a great point made by someone who actually watched some Bills' games last year. Protection issues as bad as we had do not lend themselves to down field passing attacks. "At least they were above average in run blocking and the addition of offensive-minded head coach Chan Gailey will keep the Bills from doing stupid things that accentuate their lack of talent up front."

This is a recipe for another 10 years out of the playoffs. Brining guys in with pro bowls and experience winning helps teach young players what it takes to succeed. People always ignore this aspect and that's why we are always rebuilding with the latest group of young players.

the ease with which the front office can sell being cheap as "building for the long term" is scary as hell. The Skins gave up the right to take a flyer on a Marcus Easley, Kevin Everett type to get a former pro bowler with 4-5 years left. Some 4th rounders pan out. The only way you don't make that move is if you refuse to pay the $10 M guaranteed it will take to sign him. You can argue that one either way, but when your needs at the position are as acute as the Bills', you make the freakin move. Period.

It's amazing isn't it? People who wanted to run Jason Peters out of town should have demanded a Plan B in advance. As it was, they gave Russ all the cover he needed to basically say "screw you" to the fans by entering 2009 with the worst tackle situation in the league even before Langston Walker was released.

Ted Ginn is with the 49ers. The Fish #2 is Devon Bess with Greg Camarillo and Brian Hartlin vying for slot. Unless Hardy plays like his draft slot or Stevie Johnson steps up, their WRs are WAAAAY better than ours.

I continue to believe Mitchell will get cut in a salary dump. Who is starting opposite Maybin? You see Kelsay performing well in space? Who is backing him up? What about Maybin's back-up? How much do you like Danny Batten and Antonio Coleman? Agree that NT is the biggest question mark, but you seem to disregard some other pressing areas of concern.

This is the cold, hard truth. Sucks to hear, especially when this front office NEEDS a fanbase to tune out in protest to get its "stuff' together. But the only way the team sticks around after Ralph's demise is with strong attendance numbers. Goodell has suggested on several occasions that the NFL league office will offer no support for communities seeking to prevent re-location if their stadium is not sold out regularly. Given the economic disadvantages when it comes to overall seat prices, PSLs, premium seats, and suites, attendance is the only thing we can hold onto.