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JOE IN HAMPTON ROADS

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Posts posted by JOE IN HAMPTON ROADS

  1. In 1986 I got into the NFL and had to pick a team to follow. In Eastern North Western PA it was Steelers or Browns, maybe Eagles. But I picked Buffalo, because they were 2-14 with no where to go but up. I hardly knew it at the time, but the Bills had a few things going for them:

     

    They just picked up a smart QB from the extinct USFL named Jim Kelly. He looked like he might be good.

    They fired their HC midway through the season and hired Marv Levy.

    They just picked up a monster defensive lineman in the draft named Bruce Smith.

    They put together a solid offensive line anchored by Center Kent Hull.

    They were soon to draft a terrific RB in Thurman Thomas.

     

    After 2-14 in 86, Bills went 7-8 then 12-4. The rest is history.

     

    An optimist could see a lot of parallels in the 85/86 Bills and the 2010/2011 Bills. Fitz is no Jim kelly, but he's smart and capable. Chan is no Marv Levy - or is he? Dareus has potential to be HOF. Wood is a great Center and the O-line is getting better. Fred Jackson is a franchise RB. Could we be a draft or two away from the Super Bowl?

     

    BUT . . . is ownership committed to winning? We seem to see an endless cycle of poor drafts, FA wiffs, and letting our best players go when they get too expensive to keep. Bill Polian ran the late 80s Buffalo Bills . . . does Nix have the authority to build a champion, and if so can he make it work?

     

    Looking for your thoughts, TBD . . .

  2. To all the boneheads who think a guy who hadn't carried the ball more than 10 times a game was a bust, or not tough enough to play every down, or couldn't hit a hole, blah, blah, blah...

     

    Why aren't you posting all that garbage now? It's still early in his career, and he's clearly shown he's got some real talent, so how about questioning the pick now?

     

    Spiller is clearly the most talented guy on offense right now with Freddie out, and people around here STILL can't admit it was way off base to say we didn't need him. I'll even admit it's still a bit early to seek out all the Spiller bashers on this board, but you have to be short a few beans in your burrito to think the guy was a wasted pick.

     

    The luxury pick comment still kills me, like this team was EVER deep enough to even warrant that notion, and don't try to rationalize it with the actual fact that marshawn(Least Mode, I want out of buffalo, I have stepped sideways more than I have forwards in my career) Lynch on the team at the time, we all know the guy wasn't going to be around long, and even if he was, he really wasn't that good anyway.

     

    How about giving a guy the chance to play a few games before crucifying him around here, if you look back at even my posts, I wanted the team to give Aaron Maybin the chance to at least play a full game(I'm still not sayig what he is doing in NJ is all that amazing), I am just Sayin' to coin a phrase.

    I have to admit I underestimated Spiller. Not as good as Freddo but better than I thought. Surely we'll trade him for a low pick.

     

    We already had two stud running back on our team in Lynch and Freddy. We took a third one at 9 overall despite critical position needs elsewhere.

     

    That's exactly the definition of a luxury pick.

     

    I don't care if he runs for 200 yards a game, we still can't stop anybody on defense and we should've used his pick for someone like Pierre-Paul or even a stud center like Pouncey. Those guys were sitting there and we take another RB.

     

    If CJ could only rush the passer.....

    Agreed. Pick your lineman, O or D, that could have made a bigger impact starting last year.

  3. In Buddy/Whaley I trust. I dont think Ralph has the input that he had even a couple years ago. We'll see. I've been wrong before. :thumbsup:

    I hope you're right Doc, but time is running out . . . next year is Buddy's third year, if things go badly next year Ralph will fire him and Chan to appease the fans and we will start this whole cycle again.

  4. What team has built their franchise into a perennial winner with "major FA acquisitions"?

     

    I agree that Id like to see the Bills do more in FA than they have in the past. But then you always run the risk of over-paying for mid-level talent. Especially to get guys to come to Buffalo.

     

    Build your team over a few drafts (yes, they have to be good drafts, like 2011's), and then go get your big names to complete the puzzle.

    I think we mostly agree: blowing it up is counterproductive, we need to have some strong drafts, we need to do more in FA. I'm just not that confident we can pull off the last two under current ownership.

  5. Buddy's draft record isn't good enough to overcome a team thrifty in free agency and which doesn't sign all their UFA's. It's the reason they've been on a treadmill for more than a decade. Different GM's all get the same result in Buffalo.

    Yup, and don't forget to add, anytime a player starts getting very good, we trade him away for a draft pick rather than write a new contract that will eat into the salary cap.

     

    Not meaning to be a doomsayer, we are better off now than under TD and DJ, but blowing up the team isn't going to solve our problems.

  6. Disagree, depth is built through the draft. Your late round picks. FA is used best once you have built a good foundation via the draft, you then go out and sign quality FAs to complete the puzzle and make a run.

    I'll grant you a GOOD draft can add depth, but we have so many misses I don't see how we can do it without major FA acquisisitions. This year's draft was better than most, but we need to do better if we are going to continue to go way under the cap in FA.

  7. Green Bay has had a stable FO and were NOT in Year 2 of a rebuild. They are deep in talent. We are not.

     

    We lost our All-pro NT, our OL leader Center, our League Leading RB, and our LT... just to name a few. You want to just continue the cycle of crap instead of taking your lumps and continuing on a path.

    All true Doc, but the lack of depth can only be addressed in FA, and we have avowed a strategy of "rebuilding through the draft" (see my post above about keeping the team minimally competetive at the lowest cost). Without depth, we're going to see the cycle occur every year, fast start by young talent and then hit a wall when the first string starts getting hurt.

  8. I like chan, I really do. But, I'm not seeing good enough results. If he retains Edwards after this season, I will be very disappointed. Since the drought has been so long, I'm all for blowing it up again. No need to be in a hurry now after all of this time has passed by. Once the pieces finally fit it will be obvious we have a winner. I don't see that happening right now.

     

    And hey, after a blow up, optimism abounds!

    The only way for this team to win, is for Ralph to sell the team to someone committed to winning. Everything the FO does is calculated to keep the team minimally competetive at the lowest possible cost.

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