Bob in STL

Tasker was selected in the ninth round (226th overall) of the 1985 NFL Draft by the Houston Oilers where he played for two seasons. He was claimed off waivers by the Buffalo Bills on November 8, 1986.

Talley was also a 2nd round pick. Tasker was waiver pick up. Still your point is correct. Horrific drafting in the first round (and even rounds 2 and 3 for that matter) have kept the team down. I sure hope we don't add McKelvin to that ponderous list ...

16 games is plenty. Play 18 games and injuries will be an even bigger factor for the playoffs. There are enough meaningless games played in the last weeks of the season. Last year Indy threw two games away. This year fans are paying full price to see the Jets and Bills play their back ups. There are other meaningless games this week as well. Don't change the playoff, don't add any byes. Enough already.

Star players will come to Buffalo when the organization starts (1) winning, and (2) paying for performance. Most players want to win. Put together a team that has a shot at the Super Bowl and free agents will come. These guys make so much money that they can live anywhere they want. Merriman has a lot to prove and obviously he and Nix have a great relationship. If he can come back it will be one big step forward for the defense.

I am afraid yor are correct. Ralph would not bring back Wade. They split on bad terms and Wade won.

True. Two years ago they drafted a LT in the first round. Last year they drafted Roger Saffold with the first pick in the second round. They really needed a WR but they went with Saffold because he was, in their mind, the best player and a first round talent. Now have have the makings of pretty good bookends at tackle. Take care of the trenches.

Sure, he would have a tougher time in the AFC East but what I like about Bradford is more than stats. He has poise. He can lead and the players look to him. He can make the big throws downfield. He is accurate and is usually careful with the football. He has the things that you might not be able to teach a young QB (See Losman, Edwards, etc). The kid is still learning but if you watch him you will see that he is impressive so far.

Some good points here. Marv was not a great GM, in fact, by his own admission he is not a GM at all. Had he picked Ngata a #8 wouldn't that have been declared an obvious move? If he then traded up to grab Whitner in the first round (instead of McCargo) would Whitner stil be considered a bust by some? Whitner looks to be the best safety taken in tthe 2006 draft. Oakland took a safety in slot #7.

Excuse me for questioning the undoubted reliability and credibility of "Media Take Out - The most visited urban website in the world". I am sure the OP did not go out of way to find this material because I just learned from you how popular and useful this website really is. On further inspection it truly is a marvelous website filled with wondrous information. How could I question the reliability of this material or the manner in which it is spread? This website is just so popular that EVERYTING on it must be true. That was very wrong of me to even doubt its credibility. Since I don't like the Jets, or even Ryan for that matter, I should revel in this and pass it on to my friends at the next Puritanical Assembly of Slogan Makers. Of course the Ryan's could have posted the pictures here because I am sure Rex wants to ruin his reputation and that of his wife too. This makes great sense. You are also correct that you are not oblivious to anything. Thank you so much for the enlightenment.

Funny but really, people go to such lengths to tear down others. I just need to ignore it. My bad. Maybe I am wrong on this but I doubt Rex put it there. If he did then he has a problem. My point with you is your spreading it. But never mind, I will just refrain and you continue on your way.

So you think that Rex posted that stuff himself? If you really need an explanation then you probably will not understand so I won't bother. Please continue to be oblivious.

Stop it and grow up. Do you go out of your way to find this crap? I would like to see a website of Rex pounding the daylights out of you.

He was hired with no fanfare at all. He was not a big name. Ralph hired from within, as usual. Sometimes loyalty pays off? I just wish he could have stayed. Littman manages all of Ralph's business affairs. His roll goes beyond the Bills.

Brett Favre, Please retire and go away. One day you will really retire for good and then you will enter the Pro Football HoF on the first time ballet. You will be called all sorts of great things. You were indeed a great QB. Not the best of all time, not even the best in your era. Please deal with that. I sure hope you do not get a job on TV as an analyst. Please just go way. Thanks, Bob in STL

Start of season List of Concerns: QB, LT, RT, TE (receiving and blocking TE), WR, DE, DT/NT, OLB, ILB End of season Status: QB - Fitz is doing a good job. I would not pick a QB in round 1 unless a great prospect drops to us. I would pick a QB somewhere in the draft. LT - Bell did a good job, not great. I don't like his run blocking as much as his pass blocking. He did not get as much help against top pass rushers because our TEs have to help the RT more. I would draft the best OT I can find I would not wait past round 4 to do so. RT - We really need to improve here. Draft and free agency should be used to improve talent and depth. TE - We need to draft someone that can be another weapon. We also need to look at free agency WR - Johnson had a breakout year. Parish looks like he fits into Chan’s plans. Nelson, Jones and Roosevelt all contributed and look good. Easley is still in the mix and has top end speed. The future looks good. Lee Evans may now be tradable if we can get a decent pick. (See Patriots) C/G - Wood played ok with the injury situation and should comeback even better next year. Levitre was solid all season. Hangartner was solid too. Urbik looks like he can help our depth. Howard and Rhinehart contributed. The middle of the line looks ok. Maybe add a late round pick to push them. DE - Stroud looks finished. Dwan is ok versus the run. Spencer is a backup at best. Carrington showed some promise at the end but is still a project. This is a very high area of need and I could see spending the first pick here. Also need to bolster with free agency. DT/NT - Williams had a great season and Troup looks promising. McCargo needs to go. We brought in the prospect from Oakland’s PS. Adding another good DT is always a good thing to do. Mid round pick and free agency could. OLB - Moats showed something but I am not convinced yet that is is a consistent every down player. This is the other area, along with DE, were I could see us drafting in the first round. An OLB that plays DE in the 3-4 is a premium need. Kelsey was bad. Maybin is bad. Ellison is too small for the 3-4. Most of the players we have are not good enough. Need to find free agent help too. ILB - Poz made a lot of tackles but questions arise on his overall effectiveness. Like Poz, Andra Davis was very poor in coverage. We lack talent at ILB. We need to address with free agency and with a top 3 draft pick. DB - Started the season as an area of strength and if we had a pass rush our corners would look better. If we had better LBs our safeties would look better. Even if we lose Whitner I don't see the need to draft high here. Byrd was disappointing to me. McKelvin does not look like a natural football player. He seems to lack football sense. Youboty did not contribute and will be gone next year. I could see using mid to late round picks to push the talent we have. RB - We are set for now. Draft late round RB and FB to push the talent we have. Top needs by priority: 1. DE and OLB (pass rusher) 2. ILB and DT (run stopper) 3. QB - if a good prospect is there 4. OT and TE

It is over. Let it go.

Your context on his being average was negative in that he is clearly a very good player, well above average. But OK, he is not a guy who dominates on every play. I agree with that. Vince Wolfork did not dominate on every play either and he played against a back up center. We played Baltimore and Hangartner did a very good job on Ngata, he did not dominant on every play against us. I think Williams had a Pro Bowl season, he seems to have earned the repsect of his opponents too.

You really have no facts just a simple theory. In the past ten years or more teams like New England, Indy, and Pittsburgh seem to do just fine with less "opportunity". They consistenly draft near the end of the round (OK - New England always seem to make creative moves to improve their selection position, more on that later). I think having a good draft starts way before draft day. Over time your draft board and player rankings (i.e. your scouting and talent evaluation) become much more important than your draft position. If this were not true then there would not be perenial winners and perenial losers. The losers would sieze the extra "opportunity" and draft the best players and become winners. The winners would be forced to take lesser players and eventually weaken. The Bills two biggest draft blunders were the trades up in the draft when they gave away an extra pick for Losman and McCargo --- their "opportunity" to find a Pro Bowler was better, right? Seems to me that drafting four players, as opposed to two at slightly higher positions would be a better bet? What I think has plagued the Bills for a long time are these factors: 1 - poor front office decisions (by the GM, Owner, and Coach) on the use of the first pick. The first round has been a disaster and there is no excuse for it. 2 - We have found some late mid and late round gems but overall the scouting department has not done the job, the player rankings have to fall on someones lap (see results) 3 - Trading up and trading picks has proven to be ineffective 4 - Free agency is not effectively used prior to the draft to plug holes, causing the Bills to reach on need picks rather than making the best pick. Last year Buddy Nix said he "slept" during the start of free agency. I want a guy on the phone, working hard to fill holes. Even if we have no intention on signing a first day, big name free agent, I want someone in the game. 5 - Changes and termoil in the front office and coaching staff have led to a lack of a cohesive, long range plan. Each new coach gets rid of the prior coaches players. As such, we continue to draft DBs and RBs in the first round and replace the same positions over and over. Last week Belichek was coaching against his 5th Bills coach sinced he started in New England. Five coaches and GMs for Buffalo, all getting better draft "opportunities" and yet the talent disparity was so obvious.

You could really see how bad Byrd is playing by looking at the New England game last week. That long TD run in the first quarter would have been his last play of the game if I was DC Edwards. I cannot think of a starter on any Bills defense that made less plays and had less impact than Byrd this year.

He is big enough and skilled enough. Do you evgen watch the games? He is by far way above "average", in fact he was dominant this season while playing with a weak supporting cast. He is one of the best DT's in the league. Pro Bowl or not. Is your life that harsh that you must always take such a negative position?

Not a great example. The Parcells drafts made up the core of their first Super Bowl Team, which are the players taken prior to 2001. Some names are: Bledsow (QB), Vrabel (LB), Bruschi (LB), Milloy (S), Law (CB), McGinest (LB/DE), Johnson (LB), Faulk (RB), Andruzzi (G), Woody ©, Vinatieri (K). Oh yeah, that Brady guy too. They actually did pick lots of LBs and defensive players. They didn't take LBs in the top rounds from 01 to 06 because they were stacked at LB for many years. There is no "formula" on what positions to pick --- other than drafting good quality starters with leadership skills and a strong work ethic. Players that make a difference and make big plays will be found throughout the draft. Some of that is luck, whether we want to believe it or not.

Ok Big Cat, I agree he did not make much out of his two punts did he? It sure seems like playing a 3-4 (or a 3-4 variant) with no high quality linebackers or defensive ends on the roster is more of an issue right now though.

I say our OL coaches are doing a great job. Look at what they have to work with? I would say the off season priority is defense. Better LB and better DE's.

Bill, My comments to your comments (in order) 1. Hard to argue with you when you look at our defensive front 7 and our OL depth. 2. Agree. 3. Agree. I want him cut next year. 4. Poz got creammed but were was the help? Jarius Byrd got sucked to his left and then took a bad angle. I blame Byrd for the TD. 5. Fitz is Fitz and that game comes with the territory. I question Chan for giving up on the run way too early and for calling so many deep passes on makeable 3rd down situations. Too many home run attempts. With our defense we need "ball control". 6. Agree 7. I did not see the monsters. I saw hard running and I saw NE over pursue and get burned on cutbacks. 8. Whitner will go were the money is .. and it is not Buffalo. 9. They need to sign a veteran OT and then draft one too. And I dont mean a 7th round project either. 10. Troup has outplayed Carrington all year. That said, neither of them were ready to contribute as rookies and, in retrospct, the whole idea of changing to a 3-4 in one year with the talent we have was just silly. Add in a rookie DC and you get the defense we have. 11. agree. 12. The season is coming to a merciful end. Players hate fans? That is a new one. I always hear the opposite. Fans pay the salaries.

Yeah, maybe somebody as good as Tyler Myers.