Typical TBD Guy

Why does Snyder hate his draft picks so much?

Lee's stats are actually pretty solid for his first 3 years in the NFL: 178 rec, 2878 yds, 24 TD Better than Moulds' first 3 years: 116 rec, 1941 yds, 11 TD Also better than Andre Reed's first 3 years: 158 rec, 2128 yds, 16 TD And - when factoring in the differences between supporting casts - comparable to Jerry Rice's first 3 years: 200 rec, 3575 yds, 40 TD I think there's little doubt that Evans has HoF talent. The issue is whether the following occur throughout his career: 1. Team stability at the coaching level. 2. An improved Losman 3. An improved OL 4. A legitimate #2 WR to soften the coverage 5. Good health I believe Moulds had HoF talent, as well, but he had none of the above (with the exception of point #4). Now look where he is...

Interesting stuff. On a related note, anyone know whatever happened to the Buffalo Gamblers? Pro outdoor lacrosse team who disappeared on me after 1998. Won a championship in 97, I believe.

1. Same coaches, rookies, and starting QB with an extra year of experience now in the O and D systems. 2. An improved, more veteran-rich OL and DL from both free agency and also from the 2006 draft class' aforementioned new experience...or full health in McCargo's case. 3. A disgruntled, low-IQ RB with average speed (McGahee post-Fiesta Bowl) replaced with a fresh-legged RB drafted in the first day (Bush?). 4. A disgruntled, slowed, unproductive post-Achilles TKO replaced with a speedier day 1 draft pick (Alexander, Black?) who better fits our D system. 5. A small, aging MLB who couldn't attack/fill his line gap responsiblities (London) replaced with a bigger, younger, faster, and equally football-intelligent Patrick Willis (no, I don't see the 49ers picking Willis over any of the top DL players at #11). 6. Loss of Clements compensated by true implementation of the Tampa Cover-2, as well as contributions from Youboty and whatever other CB's Levy can find in the mid-to-late draft rounds (and this scouting team's track record with CB's has been pretty good over the past 10-15 years). 7. RB being among the easiest positions in football for which a college-to-pro rookie can make a significant contribution. To only a slightly lesser extent, the same is true for cover-2 OLB's and CB's who are only responsible for small pockets of the field. At these positions, speed and agility can often trump years of play recognition experience. Am I putting too much of a positive spin on the 2007 season's potential? Perhaps. And I'm not saying I buy 100% into the "we make the playoffs in 2007" argument. Maybe Levy bombs the 2007 draft, and then we're screwed. But I do know one thing: we sure didn't win much when we had TD's assembled cast of name player choke artists like Fletch, Clements, and McGahee.

Billy Joe's Playbook Gilbride's Playbook Greggo's Air Horn Mauck's Sideburns Mularkey's Overly Sensitive Family Donahoe's Gas Station Employment Henry's Gas Station Reach-Around Eddie Robinson's Jockstrap Flutie's Height Flutie's Garage Band Flutie's Son's Autism ( ) Rob Johnson's Self Kelly's Super Bowl Eve Parties Thurman's Alcoholism Bruce's Coke Mirror Mike Williams' Lethargy Bennie Anderson's Sizzler Buffet Tim Anderson's Pink Slip Everett's Pink Purse Roscoe's Snowball McCargo's Foot Takeo's Achilles Youboty's Mom ( ) McGahee's Baby Momma Garcia's Baby Papa Vick's VD Arrington's Contract And so on.... Good luck, formerly Holcomb's Arm. I have the utmost confident that you'll choose a suitable name. EDIT: If you prefer a more "current" name, I like the one Rocceo already suggested: Darwin's Award It goes well with your position on eugenics.

Technically, trading or releasing Holcomb would cost the Bills an additional half million on the cap due to the signing bonus structure in the later years of his contract. Our only hope in saving money with Holcomb is forcing him to retire. But you should have already known that. This is an egregious mistake for a self-proclaimed Bills football "expert." Furthermore, in the Cover 2 and its Tampa Cover 2 variation, the Sammy LB is arguably the least important position on defense. It's not unrealistic to expect the Bills to have little trouble replacing Spikes with a younger, healthier, and faster OLB in the draft (who also won't undermine the new management/coaching leadership by publicly questioning their personnel decisions). As for the other roster holes Marv has punctured, in my opinion Clements is the only "name" player we've let go who we will actually miss. McGahee has average speed, doesn't like to study playbooks, can't block, and thinks his former teammates on offense all sucked. Fletcher is too small to take down RB's at the point of attack, was becoming too slow to play the range that the Tampa Cover 2 demands, and - like many of Tom Donahoe's minions - was pretty much the definition of "choker" for most of his Buffalo tenure (best example off the top of my head: his performance in the 2004 seasons finale vs. Pittsburgh). So given the results from last year's draft, I have a fair amount of confidence that RB and OLB replacements in the first day of the 2007 draft will be of equal or better production than McGahee and the post-Achilles Spikes. There are several fair options for replacing Fletcher: either through the draft (Willis, Harris, Black) or by moving Crowell to MLB and having a very capable Ellison (IMO) at the Willy spot. Clements' replacement will have to be a combination of improvement from Youboty, mid-to-late-round CB steals, and a better pass rush from a healthy McCargo and/or solid draft picks. Add all this to an extra year of experience for JP, the 2006 rookies, and the entire coaching staff, and I feel like a 10-6 record and a January 2008 AFC wild-card game appearance are entirely possible. I will agree with you on one thing, though: the "trust in Marv" mantra of the rose-colored crowd (LA, LSI, Ramius, apparently JSP now, etc...) is becoming downright annoying. If you think Bills leadership is doing something wrong, go ahead and speak your mind (as long as you're not an ass about it). That's kind of what an internet message board is for: debate. Keep in mind that as late as September 2005, 90% of this board still thought TD was a genius. Anyone questioning the Gandy and Bennie Anderson signings or the 2005 draft, for instance, was ripped a new one.

Yeah, but you also forgot Fowler who is a petite 6'3", 295 lb. And we still don't know how big the RG is going to be, assuming it's not going to be Walker. That'd be interesting, though, if someone like Merz wins the RG job, who is something like 6'4", 340 lb. Hopefully these fat ba$tards block better than our previous fat ba$stards, Mike Williams and Bennie Anderson.

This has been addressed repeatedly before. By "character," Marv wasn't necessarily talking about guys who spend all of their free time feeding the homeless and curing the sick. He was referring more towards guys who work hard at improving their football abilities, never quit on a single play, and are outstanding teammates. Regarding the off-the-field stuff, there's a fine line between murder, rape, robbery, chronic drug abuse, etc... and what are commonly called "youthful indiscretions" (FWIW, the human brain's decision-making center doesn't fully mature into around age 25). Bruce Smith had a drug suspension early in his career. I believe Cornelius Bennet had a sexual offense early in his, too. And Levy kept both during his first stint in Buffalo. Last year and probably this year, Levy's free agency theme has been young and relatively inexpensive players who want a second chance to prove themselves in this league. In my opinion, Henry still fits that bill. This past season, Henry put all those past mistakes behind him (2002 sex offense, 2005 drug suspension), worked hard, stayed out of trouble, and was an extremely productive RB again...much more so than McGahee, who we're finding out didn't bother to find his playbook - much less the endzone - on weeks when the Bills weren't playing the Jets. Well...whatever. I'm done arguing in this thread. I'm all about giving guys like Henry second chances, provided they are signed to low-risk contracts and have a recent track record of seeking redemption. Some of you, apparently, are not. So be it.

No, I'm not. I would have only cared about this if: 1. Henry raped the girl. 2. Henry was MUCH older than the girl. 3. The girl told Henry that she was, indeed, underaged. Let's all keep this discussion focused back on Henry's playing skills, OK?

No, you're not. I think Henry has matured greatly during the past 2 seasons with the Titans.

1. Henry and McGahee (post college knee injury) are the same speed. 2. Henry's fumbling hasn't been an issue since 2003. Like Tiki Barber, he appears to have fixed this problem mid-career. 3. 15 year old girlfriends . You Puritans crack me up. Does anyone here besides Bill from NYC truly care about this kind of stuff? The girl was hot, she wanted Henry's piece badly, and Henry thought she was 18. No big deal. We all would have probably done the same, though maybe at a more respectable location than a gas station.

1. Chris Kelsay 2. Jason Whittle 3. Kiwaukee Thomas?? 4. Andre Davis?? That's all, folks!

G Derrick Dockery, UFA, Skins DT Ian Scott, UFA, Bears CB Nick Harper, UFA, Colts RB Sammy Morris, UFA, Fins

But does Willis have the pass coverage skills to play cover-2 MLB??? That's the big question right now. I sure hope so, because I currently see no legitimate (and realistic) replacements for Fletcher-Baker, neither through free agency nor through the draft.

Larry Tripplett? Tutan Reyes?

One minor correction: you forgot the last 6 picks in 2001 (none of whom are still on the team). So Tommy Boy had a total of 42 draft picks. This past season, 17 were on the roster. I expect McGahee, Everett, Anderson, and Clements to be gone. The rest (including Kelsay) will probably stay, so that leaves: Schobel, Reed, Denney, Wire, Kelsay, Crowell, McGee, Aiken, Haggan, Losman, Evans, Parrish, Preston As for TD's free agents, I expect Fletcher-Baker, TKO, Stamer, Neufeld, Williams, Shelton, Villarial, Holcomb, and Gandy to be gone by this August. So that would leave: Moorman, Lindell, Peters, Greer, Schneck, Cieslak, Leonhard Under these assumptions of mine, the 2007 roster would only have 20 of TD's players remaining (13 draft picks, 7 free agents). Make of that what you will...

Aside from the first day of the 2001 draft, the 2003 draft after the 1st round, and the 1st round of the 2004 draft, TD was flat out TERRIBLE in drafting talent. His eye for free agent talent was probably worse. Moorman, Peters, TKO, and F-B were the only free agents of true worth. After 5 years, you'd expect more. And we already know his Buffalo legacy for evaluating coaching talent. Oh yeah, and his teams' overall record...4th worst ahead of the Lions, Cardinals, and Texans. Yippy.

How much you wanna bet TD was the one who set up Okoye's parents on a blind date some 20 years ago? The man is such a GENIUS at scouting talent that he can scout them before they're even born.

I'll give it a try: "Blacks of West African descent, on average, have a higher percentage of fast-twitch muscles than whites...thus giving them, on average, better athletic potential for football positions that emphasize superior speed and agility."

It takes more than "heart" alone to make a pro football roster for 5 straight years under 3 different head coach regimes. Being good at special teams helps in that regard, though I get the impression that many on this message board think their judgement of special teams talent is better than Bobby April's. Being a capable backup helps as well, and I think Wire's size and pass coverage abilities are definitely more suited for a cover-2 OLB than for a SS. According to Fewell, at least, Wire is a better LB than Haggan...well, based on late-season playing time after Crowell went on IR. Prediction: Wire gets re-signed in March and makes the 2007 roster as a 6th/7th LB...ensuing a mass riot on TBD.

Nice article. Here's a relevant summary for us Bills fans: #73 - '93 Bills #66 - '92 Bills #52 - '91 Bills #43 - '90 Bills #33 - '90 Giants #17 - '93 Cowboys #10 - '91 Redskins #4 - '92 Cowboys A few quick points of mine: 1. The early 90's D suffered statistically in part because of the O's unusual no-huddle success...i.e., game fatigue. If the article's author were to have used a new statistic - like a ratio of yards given up per game vs. time of possession - I bet those early 90's teams would have been ranked more favorably among the other Super Bowl losers. 2. If the Super Bowl began a couple years earlier, the '64 Bills would have probably ranked higher than the '90 Bills...thereby earning the "greatest team in Bills franchise history" title handed out by the article's author. 3. The NFC talent from 1981-1996 was INSANE, and the article's rankings support this statement. The '90 Bills were the only Buffalo team during this era that had a reasonable shot of winning it all...and they probably would have if not for arguably the greatest coach in NFL history (Belichick). 4. Sports writers have the easiest jobs in the world.

Your reasoning seems flawed to me. For one thing, the Patriots drafted consecutive 1st round DT's before, and they seem to be doing pretty well for themselves. But also, the DT situation is bordering on catastrophic for the Bills right now - probably our #1 offseason concern. Virtual bottom of the league against the run this year, 2 rookie DT's who did very little to positively affect that ranking, and a lousy group of free agent DT's in March all adds up to another potential 1st round DT... My best guess, as of January 21, would be Louisville DT Amobi Okoye at #12 and FSU MLB Buster Davis at #44. I'm confident that both have the ability and character to be productive rookie starters in this league. Though for what it's worth, I would certainly not complain if we draft Willis at #12.

Nicely done, Pyrite . A minor detail you should fix, though: we drafted 9 players, not 8...you forgot to number Simpson in your write-up. All I'll add to your thread is that I would classify our draft into 3 tiers: 1st tier, the definite starters going into next year: Whitner, Simpson, Pennington 2nd tier, potential starters for next year, partly depending on which direction this team goes in the offseason: McCargo, Ellison, Youboty 3rd tier, very likely to just be backups next year: Williams, Merz, Butler With this classification, I'd say at this point Marv did very well with his draft. All 9 made the team, and 7 of the 9 started at some point this season. Plus next year, it's very possible that 6 of the 9 could be starters!

Yeah, that's pretty much my philosophy as well. I don't even want New Orleans to win the Super Bowl...just to prove how serious I am about this philosophy . I'm actually rooting for the Giants to win it all, simply for the humor of seeing an 8-8 team that finished the season 2-6 to end up winning it all . By the way, any self-respecting Buffalo Bills fan rooting for the Jets, Pats, Cowboys, or even Art Modell's team...or the Eagles (for cheering on opposing players' injuries) should be ashamed of themselves. Last thing: the NFL playoffs, go Sabres!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!