Cheddar's Dad

Give it a rest, Weo.

It might be forsight or it might be stupid. In the case of those GMs that selected Gabbert, Locker, Stanzi, Ponder and Weeden, It looks just plain stupid. Sure Buddy selected Gailey. He also dismissed him. Buddy brought in Whaley, trained him to be GM, and Whaley had a pretty nice draft last April (with Buddy's help) seems to me. Shouldn't Buddy get some credit for that. Buddy also selected our current Head Coach and the jury will be out on that for a few more years. But you want to label his time as GM as a disaster. A little quick on the trigger arn't you?? It's not faint praise if, after having a few more years to evaluate GMs during Buddy's era, you discover that Buddy outperformed 75% of them. But you'ld prefer not to wait for those results. OK. What can I say? Loved Barnie Fife.

New England having a QB at the time of the Brady draft is not relevant to the idea that hind-sight is 20/20. Proteus used hind- sight In evaluating Buddy's performance and he did so in a most disrespectful way. Fact is every GM in the league, including Belichick, (but possibly excluding Indi where Manning worked), would have pulled a Ditka to get that first pick if they knew before hand that Brady would be Brady. The fact that there is such a divergence of opinion about O-line vs. TE vs. big WR this year and the question of when and if such players should be drafted shows that drafting is not a simple thing when a team has many holes to fill as was the case when Buddy drafted. Additionally, there was a time, although brief, when Fitz looked like he might be ok at QB. I think several all pro players including Darius and Glen will come out of Buddy's drafts and I'm certain there are several GMs that will be shown to be much less successful over that same period of time. And, beyond that, he was entertaining.

Everone in the world selected before Tom Brady. All of those other GMs sucked. Such an easy and cheap analysis made years after the fact. Where was your chrystal Ball before those drafts??? There's a decrepid old Snauzer in your neighborhood, searching garbage cans for scraps, that wouldn't go near your balls.

No 1. You asked, Sir, about Offensive Tackles being taken top 10 and appearing in post season play as if you thought there were'nt any. Have you forgotton your statement so soon? No. 2. You never asked about Guards. If you had, I would have included Iupati. And I only went back one year although your statement included the past ten years. You need to go back and re-read what you wrote. No 3. You're right. Davis was not a top 10 pick. He went 11th overall. You want to quibble about 1 pick??? I don't think you researched your questions at all. If you had, you would not have begun your comment in such a seemingly uninformed manner.

I like your defense of Buddy. I'm a Buddy guy myself. However, I question some of your observations. 1. I'm not ready to label T.J. Graham as a mistake. He's a developing player going into his third year which is a time when many players suddenly emerge. 2, Buddy is a wonderfully entertaining speaker. I miss his southern accent and sense of humor. If only Dougie was as good as Buddy as a speaker. 3. I'm not sure I'd give Buddy credit for Branch and Lawson. Those deals, I think, were made by Whaley last year after Buddy departed.

I need to do some shoping but it's cold outside. Regarding top 10 tackles that have played in SBs, playoffs etc, last year Baltimore defeated the 49ers. Bryant McKinnie played LT for Baltimore. He was selected 7th overall by Minnesota. The 49ers selected Anthony Davis 11th overall in 2010 and Joe Staley 28th overall in 2007.

This is one of the least informative posts I've seen. Instead of Humms, how about some answers. Did you even research those questions? So, you're ready to settle for mediocrity? Is 11th in pass blocking, 25th in run blocking good enough for you? Regarding being better than the Patriots; the Patriots had a lot of difficulty at the center position this year (Ryan Wendell). Witness the beating he took facing Terrance Knighton. Want to bet Belichick has drafting a center high on his priority list. Yet you don't think replacing our poor performing RT and LG with players that will give us one of the top O-lines is important? You think drafting a TE when Buffalo already has a good one is the way to go?

I agree with your concern regarding Mosley. I love his instincts. He's certainly able to stop the run and defend against the pass but he is listed at 232 lbs which is smallish for an inside LB. He hits hard but has suffered a dislocated elbow and dislocated hip while at Bama and lost playing time. I think his smallish size could have factored into those injuries. Can he gain weight and retain his athletic ability? How will he hold up playing against bigger and better players. These questions make him a questionable top 10 pick in my mind.

The outrage this fan had with the drafting of Whitner was that Marv could have drafted Heloti Gnata. Buffalo could have won a few SBs if they could have acquired Ted Washington four years earlier than they did. One might think that Levy should have known that it was the lack of bulk and brute strength at Nose that enabled the Cowboys and Redskins to dominate our O-line and cost the team those trophys. Yet, as GM, he drafted Whitner over Gnata. I'm still not over it! Any player that is a "matchup nightmayer" is a difference maker even if that player is an O-lineman. Regarding TE's in this draft; is there a difference maker among them, one that can help the team as much as Greg Robinson at RT?? Remember, the Bills have Chandler. They are not hurting at that position. They are hurting at RT and LG. I think it is a mistake to ever pronounce absolutes when talking about anything, i.e. you don't draft (insert player position here) that high. Absolutes limit thinking. The secret to successful drafting is selecting players in the first and second rounds that can contribute the most at positions of greatest need. Bust selections in those rounds, or selections that marginally upgrade your team, set you back at least one year and possibly more than that.

The idea is to find a LT quality player and use him at RT. He could be shifted to LT should Glenn go down thereby providing some backup insurance at LT , but more importantly, you draft such a player to provide superior performance at RT. I believe that was the intent of the comment. Spiller received a lot of blame for his running this past year. Truth is on many of his attempts the holes were simply not there.

D.J. Fluker, selected 11th overall by San Diego, made a big difference in the performance of the Chargers' O-line this year. If you want to quibble about the difference between 9 and 11 go ahead.

How is the role of the TE different now than in the past? If you think it is, go back and watch film of the Baltimore Colts Hall Of Fame TE John Mackey. The criticism I've heard of Ebron involves his reliance on his athleticism too much. He doesn't attend to details of the game. Also, if you watched him in the bowl game, he used a lot of energy trying to leap over tacklers to show his stuff to the world. As a result, he was injured. This guys looks immature.

Disagree. One of the main reasons the team is not good enough is because we don't have a quality RT. Fix the O-line and all of those "secondary players" like TEs and WRs that we have will look a lot better. Trying to fix the O-line with late round picks and free agents will result in the delayed development of E.J. and the same 6-10 record that we had this year. Get Greg Robinson in the first and a second rd. LG. Establish a compelling run game. This draft is loaded with WRs. Ebron is not the only one like him in this draft. Good receivers will be there in the third and beyond. One of the main reasons why QBs develop is that they have time to throw and receivers have time to run their routes. Reduce that safe time in the pocket and QBs will run and receivers will be frustrated. It's that simple.

They're a big issue with me. Sherman showed himself to be thugish and lacking in class. It was a me first tyraid of an immature kid playing a team sport. Contrast his before camera behavior with Manning and Brady and you'll notice a huge difference. It matters nothing how good a player he is if he cannot behave in a respectable manner after play is over. It is, after all, just a game.

If Buffalo does not fix the O-line, E.J. will be decked or running for his life before Evans can run 20 yards.

There is a lot of BS here. PFF must be using statistics which can be and usually are misleading. Seattle 26th.? They're likely to play New England for the SB. New England at 16?? Buffalo at 15?? PFF says Buffalo was much better with Legursky than with Brown at LG. Something is wrong here. Our LG position went from dreadful to awful. But PFF give us some praise there. This is an info source for the junk heap.

Why do you say RT is least important? Back in the day of Bruce Smith, a team's best pass rusher generally always played RDE against a team's LT. That no longer is the case. Look at how Mario Williams is used by the Bills. Look at how the Patriots use Chandler Jones. On one play he's on the left side, next play he's on the right. RT's today require the same skill set as do LTs. Drafting a gifted collegiate LT to play RT is a sound move in my opinion. A solid O-line makes difference makers out of average WRs, TEs, QBs and RBs. Highly drafted WRs and TEs don't have a corresponding effect on average O-linemen. Drafting one of those early WRs and relying on low drafted, or free agent, O-linemen to fend off high drafted and talented D Linemen will cause those high WR picks to disappoint and have folks like you declaring them to be a busts after one year of play.

This is a little off topic. Please excuse the rememberance. That other guy was Langston Walker, a free agent pick up off of the Raider's roster. The Dockery and Walker signings were Marv Levy's work. Dockery was signed as a free agent off the Redskins' roster and Marv gave him a contract worth about 40 some million. Walker signed for about 25 million. I attended a Bills Backers meeting at the Ralph when Marv made an appearance which was after the signings. Marv answered questions and I asked him why he signed Walker after he was let go from a Raiders' O-line that had been horrible. In asked what it was about Walker that caused Marv to sign him. Levy answered that it looked to him like Walker was about to elevate his game. Levy gave 25 mil to a player that had not been consistantly good but looked to Marv that he might develope to be that. I thought, is Marv in over his head? A year later Levy resigned. A year or so after that, Dockery and Walker were released. Marshaun Lynch was on that roster. A few years later he was traded to Seattle for a couple of 4th round picks. So many mistakes. It's hard to support them but here I am, continuing with my support. Regarding Pears and Hairston; Pears was pretty good about 3 or 4 years ago and has declined since. Hairston is where? Has anyone seen him even at the Ralph working out? A year long disappearance due to an undisclosed illness does not sound good to me and I wonder why some still think he'll be back. Even if he comes back, my recollection is that he did not have quick feet and struggled with speed rushers. Buffalo better get someone else for that position.

This is quite good, Dibs. Nice to hear from a true statistician. Since Buffalo has needs at the RT and both guard positions that are, in my opinion, as important if not more so, than our needs at the WR and TE positions, we should draft an OT in the first and G in the second. This would be a strategy designed to use statistical probability to insure drafting success (a somewhat unconventional idea). It also supports my theory that providing the best possible support for your running and passing game with top notch O-linemen will help your QB, WRs and RBs look good and perform well even though they might have just average ability. If, as some here think, E.J. turns out to be average, giving him O-line support may get the best out of him, and perhaps, give Bills fans a QB we can win with.

Conjecture is all we have to talk about right now. Please go into detail. Tell me why you think my idea of building a team is obsolute. And please keep personal preferences and talk of old school vs. new school out of it. David DeCastro, having been on injured reserve his rookie year, played this past year and has appeared as second team all pro on some lists. We need to wait on the injured players but there are talented people there and I'm confident that some will be appearing on pro bowl rosters soon. Now, if you have a yen for reviewing recent draft history, lets take a look at recent 1st rd. WRs shall we??? 2011 - A.J Green was selected #4 by Cinnci and has been an excellent pick having been selected 2nd team all pro in 2012 and 2013. Julio Jones, selected #6 by Atlanta has been good. Jonathan Baldwin, selected #26 by K.C. was considered a bust and traded this year to San Francisco for A.J. Jenkins, selected in the 1st. round in 2012 by San Francisco and also considered a bust. 2012 - Justin Blackman selected #5 by Jacksonville. How do you describe him? A head case?? Michael Floyd, #13 to Arizona, didn't do anything his rookie year but has shown signs of development this year. Kendall Wright, #20 by Tennessee, has he done anything??. Of course you know about A.J. Jenkins. 2013 - Travon Auston #8 to St. Louis. Somewhat disappointing although he did have one good game of note. DeAndre Hopkins, #27 to Houston, looks good. The interesting thing to me is he was considered to be not as good at Clemson as Sammy Watkins. Would I take Watkins if he were there at #9 this year? Yes I would. But, he will he be there? And if he is, do we trade down for more picks? As you can see, there are hits and misses at every position but there seem to be more downright, uncontested misses at the 1st rd. drafted WR position than 1sr rd. drafted Guards (at least in the sample you've chosen). Regarding NFL convention about drafting 1st. rd. Guards, did not notice last year's draft at all??? And about "NFL" convention, have you noticed how mediocre to downright bad many NFL teams are?? Could it be that following NFL "conventional thinking" is a good way to get yourself fired if you're a coach??? To be generally set against anything is to limit you thinking and your possibilities and that is, generally, not a good way to be.

John Wayne would be proud of this.

One other thing. Does being an offensive line coach give Marrone some special insight into managing Buffalo's salary structure. Think about it. Offensive line coach = cap manager? Marrone's statement doesn't really make sense. He also thinks there may already be some tall receivers on Buffalo's roster he can develop. As Lombardy would say, "what the hell is going on out there"

So, you're not ok with drafting a guard at #9? Your thought process is a little hard to discern, San Jose. There are more than a few ways to build a winning team. You seem to be having trouble defining how you think a team should be built. I go back to the idea expressed years ago that in Buffalo's climate you need a team that can run the ball. I know that this year's stats indicate that Buffalo ran the ball well this year. Stats can deceive and some of you have been deceived if you look at them and fail to notice that Buffalo has had difficulties running for TDs in the red zone or when opponents know Buffalo intends to run. Our team cannot be described as being capable of imposing our offensive will on the opposition and that's the team I want for this city. I recall the Lombardy years when no one could stop the Green Bay sweep. It was Kramer and Thurston, two Hall of Fame guards, that made that offense go. Marrone worries me. There are things that I like about him but the fact that he was an O-lineman may give him the impression that you can fit free agents into guard positions and succeed. It may be that some of the coaches he worked for felt that way and he accepted their line of thinking. I wonder why he feels that, "as an offensive line coach I realize that you're not going to be able to spend top dollar for five offensive linemen". I ask why not. If there is a guard that is better than a tall WR at #9, and we really need a guard, he's going to select the WR? Players selected in the first round do not impact the salary structure under the current CBA nearly as much as they once did. And just as you might be able to hit on a quality guard with a 4th round pick, the same holds true for that tall WR, although, in both cases, the odds are against that happening. Can anyone dispute that the odds against you hitting on any player position become greater the farther down the draft list you go? I think part of the problem is that if a guard misses a block and a runner is tackled behind the LOS or a QB is sacked, It is frequently not possible to know that if the block was made, that runner may have scored or that QB might have completed a pass for a TD. It's much easier to know when a runner or receiver crosses the goal line and harder to know that it was a key block by a guard that made the play a success. As a result, many fans want that receiver, TE, or runner. Fewer want that guard. Is Marrone one of those that want's that receiver or TE. He thinks he can develop the Ungas and Aspers and McClains. I think he thought that with Brown and Legursky. Is faulty thinking a recurring problem with Marrone. I think I'm more than a little concerned.

So, you're ok with drafting a guard at #9?