Bill from NYC

This is exactly how I feel. I am actually quite sure that our new coach and GM are twice as competent as Whaley and Rex. I loved the trade down and then, lo and behold, here comes the first round corner and the trade-ups. The first round corner merry go-round and the drafting to fill holes are frustrating issues to be sure but again, things were SOOO bad that I just can't see it getting worse. For Bills Fans, this is good.

Good post and I grudgingly admit that there was some hope that EJ would develop into a good quarterback, but I think that there is one more consideration when deciding whether or not Sammy was a good draft pick for the Bills. Please remember that this is what I am talking about, NOT whether or not Sammy is a good player. He IS. When the Bills made that trade, it should have been obvious to Whaley and everybody else that we were not "one player away" from being a winning franchise. I brought up the possibility of Sammy getting injured and leaving a void because of the picks we traded away. I was shouted down and that's cool. Message boards are for discussion. What I was getting at back then was simply that had we not made the trade, there would have been 3 players in lieu of 1, and 2 of them would have been first round picks. Chances are there would have been a decent amount of contribution from these players. It turned out that I my point did have some merit. Now, not to confuse this proposed trade with the old days, I generally oppose trading Sammy because I really don't know what he is worth to GMs around the league, AND because he is a very talented kid. But as I said, if they were able to snag a middle to early first round pick, I would be fine with it. The thought of the Buffalo Bills entering a football season with 3 first round picks would be thrilling. Jmo.

KJ, this IS a great post. But, I am asking you to at least consider the w/l record when rating the Watson trade (when he was drafted). The Bills are not winning consistently and have not even sneaked in as a wild card. Imo, teams should be constructed primarily through draft picks. This would seem to apply even more to Buffalo, which doesn't seem to be commonly thought of as a highly desirable location by young football players. Even if Sammy IS great (his talent is obviously in abundance), was it worth the draft choices it cost the team to pick him up? Has he won us a lot of games? What I'm trying to say is that a good or even very good player can, under some circumstances, be a bad draft selection. jmo.

I see what you are saying but this, imo, is what the other poster is getting at: >>>Three players who would have been Bills but aren't. And two of them would have been #9 and #19 in their respective drafts.<<< And imo he is correct in that terms of this particular draft, THIS is how I would decide if the trade was a good one or not. At the time of this draft my gut reaction was that this was a bad trade by an undisciplined GM. My stance softened when I saw that Sammy had more talent than I had thought but again, imo, my initial reaction was correct. Seriously how much did we give up for Sammy and how much did we gain for the #10 pick in 2017? I know that the #4 is worth a lot more than 10 but it looks like Whaley did get fleeced for Watkins. And for the 4th time in this post, the above is simply imo.

:)

I am not pleased by the numbers that Watson has put up. I just don't think that Gilmore and Sammy are even almost on the same level in terms of talent. I think I know what you mean by the term "properly utilized," but imo that is WAY too wide a window. He is big enough to play zone and talented enough to play man. It's almost like the cliché that Spiller was "good in space." From what I saw, the effort just was not there. I would rather keep Watkins for another year but if we got one more 1st round pick, I wouldn't be heartbroken by a trade. Wrt Gilmore, I am glad that he is gone and while I did not and do not endorse the 1st round pick we spent to replace him, I predict that there will be little to no difference. Jmo.

Gilmore was not even close to Sammy in terms of talent. Not only that, he came up short in the clutch and gave up key first downs and other big plays. Tell me, in all the time he was here, how many games did he win for us? NE could sign him because they have about 100 billion dollars in cap space. If he busts out in Foxboro the Pats will be fine as long as they have Brady in top form. He DOES have some talent but his effort was lackluster and I am being kind. I know it really is hard for people to accept but Stephon Gilmore was just another name on the list of wasted draft picks for the Bills. And yes, I know he was "good" so I won't call him a "bust." But, he was a dumb selection and I said this the day he was drafted.

KD you need to promise us that you will post an updated version of this every season. I am talkin' bout EXCELLENT!!!

KC did handle their situation quite well. They traded for Smith, who imo is very much underrated in discussions I have read on this board. Then they move WAY up to 10 at probably not such a high cost. One good thing about the trade is that we now have a team to root against. Could Smith hit the wall this year? Btw, are you implying that Cardale Jones resembles a winning lottery ticket? I couldn't understand.

You think that Saban did things that compared to harboring a pedophile rapist? He must beat your team pretty badly for you to be this traumatized!!!

Exactly! Rico, the Bills have not had a winning culture in years. Rex came in and made it that much worse. Last year the Bills were harder for me to watch than any team since the 4-12 Van Pelt Bills. The 2016 team had triple the talent of those guys, but on defense they were either standing around waving, jumping off sides or both. Man I hope the new regime has an aggressive mentality. Remember Rex was going to make this team a "bully?" Buffalo is a blue collar, cold weather town with a tough fan base. They need to play tough football. Last year Dareus looked like he was playing hop scotch.

The above is 100% true. Additionally, there were many plays where Dareus stood there jumping around and waving his hands in lieu of penetrating. Rex absolutely destroyed a very good defense, and then brought in his brother to make it worse yet.

As you said, you didn't hear the interview but yes, Dareus was in the pros, with much more freedom. You see, Saban could have tossed him off the team and not lost his job. Darreus HAD to toe the line to an extent for this reason, along with the fact that getting drafted lower would have cost him millions of dollars. And "failed miserably?" Coach Saban wanted the team to sign Drew Brees. Instead, they signed Dante Culpepper. He would have won a superbowl with Brees at some point. But don't let that stop you from being a hater. I know you wish that your favorite team has a coach that was even almost as good as Saban.

Years ago I heard an interview with Marcel, in which he stated that Nick Saban controlled every minute of his life, and would have to "lighten up" if he was in the pros. It's purely conjecture on my part, but Marcel almost seemed a tad resentful of Coach Saban. That said, I don't remember him getting into trouble at Alabama. My point? I think that Dareus has proven to be lacking in discipline and impulse control. People like this often get into serious trouble, whether or not they are pleasant, nice people, and Dareus seems like a nice enough kid. I believe that he needs to play for a strict disciplinarian type of coach. He seems like the kind of kid who needs to be afraid of reprisals to stop him from screwing up. Let's face it, when you put 100 million or so in the pocket of a young, poverty stricken, impulsive kid, it isn't going to be easy to keep him from acting out. I truly hope that he straightens himself out because again, he seems like a nice guy and when he is focused, he is an excellent player.

CB, if EJ takes the field for any length of time, their "contender" days are over.

I was one of his biggest critics but I must say that he went out with class, and seems like a nice guy. I wish him nothing but good fortune.

I never once was on that site and didn't mean to slight every poster. Sorry, it does seem to read as if I did. Badol is a long time respected member of this community and irked me to see him referred to as ignorant. He has strong opinions but they make sense and he backs them up. Any new poster coming to this board would be well served to read and consider his takes.

Thanks for the heads up. I wonder if they will give him cue cards.

Sorry to change the subject, but would you happen to know why the BBMB was shut down? I was thinking that it might have happened due to boring, holier than thou, dull posters but I don't know for sure.

Fantastic!!! :)

If I was in a conversation about wanting to make money and lose football games, I would want Brandon in the room. :) Nobody is a funny as a Bills Fan. Excellent!!!!!

It's early to tell, but we ARE looking at a very low bar.

Did they close the one in Ithaca? It was always packed when I was up there.

My instincts tell me it can't be worse than Whaley/Rex, but so far the only thing that points to me being correct is the extra first round pick in 2018. While this is huge, I wasn't crazy about trading up yet again, let alone the first round corner.