BillsVet

If you consider Brandon, 5 seasons with no more than 6 wins. I can't believe people are comparing the Julio Jones trade to Buffalo's deal for Watkins. At the same time, the elite receivers in the NFL are great assets to have. But last year, Atlanta (Jones), Detroit (C. Johnson), Dallas (Bryant), Houston (A. Johnson), Chicago (Marshall/Jeffrey), Cincinnati (A. Green) and Cleveland (Gordon) won a combined 0 playoff games. One could make the case D. Thomas in Denver is a #1, but I think some of that is due to Peyton Manning. Only Cincinnati made the post-season, losing to SD in the wild card round. Yet, the premier teams seem to get by without a true #1: New England, Seattle, San Francisco, Green Bay, Baltimore, and New Orleans. I think that says a great deal about team building strategy and the trends around the league.

Pegula is using the exception to prove the rule. Most new owners want their guys running the team and even Pegula hired Ted Black upon taking over and Larry Quinn left. Whaley is an improvement over Nix, who wasn't developing a plan to building a team. There's no doubt about that. I simply put a lot of stock into track record and right now he doesn't have a

I don't believe Marrone was interested in keeping Stevie. Didn't like the antics or his professionalism and it probably was a thought in the draft room that taking a high WR meant Stevie became expendable. As for the offense and defensive improvements, well, I'll believe it when I see it. Not saying it can't happen, but the defense is a new scheme and it'll take time for them to acclimate. Most of the offense is on EJ's shoulders and I'm not especially high on him. A new ownership group that forks over 1B for this team isn't doing so with the mindset of retaining the previous regime's management. It will take at a minimum a playoff team, preferably one that wins a game there for Whaley and Marrone to keep their jobs considering the financial investment and urgency in the NFL to win now. It's also hard to judge Whaley when all they've got to show for 1 season is a 6-10 record and the bottom line is all that matters, on-field and profit margin.

Rice struggled a little in '85 even with Joe Montana quarterbacking San Francisco. Much different era of offensive football, but WR's don't normally produce big time. Then again, some do. But look at that '86 draft San Francisco had: Charles Haley, Steve Wallace, Tom Rathman, Tim McKyer, John Talyor, and Don Griffin. Walsh was a mastermind and one of the few in the league who could have a draft like that.

I wasn't directing this at you and if it came off that way it wasn't my intent. It just seems that anyone who has a opinion not that of a full-fledged fan becomes a target of scorn and ridicule. Frankly, it seems that debate has suffered over the years and made for a lesser board. If everyone thinks the same then no one's thinking. I just happen to like Polian and respect his opinion, even though I disagree with him from time to time.

First, there is no tarnish to Polian's career. He's out of the league because the man's 70 now and it's very much a young man's game or you happen to be hired by the Bills in 2006 or 2010. No one collected more talent both before and after the cap came into effect. No one. He's a HOF GM. Gronkowski's injury history is one thing...as we've seen players are viewed differently by each team. See Kouandjio. Henderson has gotten into trouble with the law and is thus a completely separate case. This is an apples and oranges comparison. 1987 was 27 years ago and the NFL was a completely different game. Comparing personnel decisions made before the cap and after is not appropriate for the discussion. I get that people here want to run down anyone who doesn't high five the Bills draft, but Polian's legacy is settled and he'll be in Canton one day. Back then, the Bills didn't have any other method (and I believe it was before even Plan B FA) to acquire players. Besides, as others have noted, BP knew he had a QB, a premier DE and a lot of other outstanding players in an era which wasn't as pass happy.

Trading SJ means the Bills are among the league leaders in dead cap money with the extra 10.2M this deal created. You can't fairly analyze the deal without that aspect. That will also limit them next season during free agency and they're already down their first round pick. Yeah, I'd say they have to win. If they don't, the new personnel group starts off having to climb out of a deep hole.

You've conflated the argument. Teams still have areas to improve, but Buffalo has almost nothing at one of their 40 front DE positions. Hughes and Lawson are not every-down types and I wonder if the latter even fits into the new defensive scheme. Wynn is depth, which makes one wonder who'll line up there in week 1.

As far as I can see. He's a decent cover LB and lining him up at DE because of the scheme makes me wonder if he's really in their plans with Schwartz re-designing the D.

Lawson might be the first victim in the almost yearly defensive scheme change. People said Schobel was too small to hold up at DE and he wasn't much more than Lawson is. Besides, Lawson hasn't really played DE in a 4-3 his entire career, and when he was in a 40 front it was as a LB.

Instant gratification is a defining mindset of the late 20th/early 21st century. Great player...but as this is a nuanced argument (which rarely works here) and the Bills haven't earned any credit, it's only natural to be skeptical of their motive and decision. We will see Bill. Are you saying the Bills have a Seattle caliber defense as well?

But Marcus Easley still has so much potential!

No one ever complained about Notre Dame's nickname or mascot. It's a slippery slope to begin trying to alleviate everyone's problems through forced action. Who exactly is the arbiter for these debates and how far can they go?

The 49ers gave up a 6th for a Anquan Boldin, who admittedly was older then than Stevie is now. I don't think their contracts were too much different either. Trading up when you're more than 1 player away seems in a draft with evidently a great deal of talent seems like a desperate move. It'd be great to have Watkins, but all of it depends on the guy getting him and others the ball. There's no doubt that SW is a huge talent, but I'd rather they get one of the top 3 tackles and not mortgage the future.

Seattle and San Fran, arguably the two best teams in the NFL didn't have top receivers last year, save perhaps Anquan Boldin with SF. Yet both had strong running games which complemented their passing games. Both have also invested heavily in their offensive lines, which is where I'd like to see the Bills go on Thursday night. I don't have a major issue with the Bills receivers at this point and wouldn't be anti-Watkins if they traded up, but they've got to get another OT. Pears is declining, Hairston is a complete unknown, and the rest are journeymen or poor prospects.

All of this talk about Martin is ironic, in that 4 years ago it was flat-out wrong to take Bryan Bulaga (who isn't a carbon copy of Martin admittedly) because you don't get value drafting RT's that high. That, and people were enamored of CJ Spiller. It's a deep draft for OT's, and I'd think the drop off from Martin to someone in the early 2nd wouldn't be so considerable to warrant taking a RT at 9.

In terms of having a vision for building a 21st century football team, Buddy Nix was way behind the times. His objective was to build a team and then get a QB, which is exactly opposite of what teams are doing and the slowest way of rebuilding. Buddy Nix was renowned for letting the draft come to him and yet last year Whaley (and I know Nix was there) made the trade to drop down. Buddy's first pick was a RB...the league is now throwing the ball. As a result of his tenure the Bills were forced to draft a QB high when Nix was presumably pushed to the side in 2013 when Brandon took control. I've mentioned this in other threads, but there's a completely different dynamic to this year's draft: pending ownership change. And I believe that new owner wants to win now after investing big dollars to buy the franchise. The Doug's know this and need a player to help them win in 2014, not next year or 2016. We don't know where these rumors are about Buffalo wanting to trade up. McShay reported something and it's come up elsewhere. Perhaps it's subterfuge, perhaps not. But the writing is on the wall for Buffalo to win in 2014 or else.

Teams may have equal dollars to spend and there's a draft to supposedly level the playing field with talent. Neither though work when you have inferior football minds using them to build a team. And if the GM is the most important personnel guy, it makes sense that Buffalo couldn't get it done from 2006-2012. One would hope Whaley has a better plan than his predecessors and it doesn't include drafting more DB's, RB's, and small/fast skill players. That approach hasn't worked so well in the regimes before him.

Why draft a 3 technique DT when this team has its greatest strength at the position already? Since the new CBA, there's been 8 trades within or to get into the top 10 picks. 6 of those were not made to pick a QB. Question is, do you support EJ to take a blocker or a skill player? And then, are you willing to use future resources to do so? I think on the latter they are now that the Doug's backs are against the wall to win this year.

http://www.history.buffalobills.com/Pro+Bowl+Selections+(By+Year) Pro Bowl selections for this team post-Donahoe is a pretty narrow list. If that isn't emblematic of some poor drafting then nothing is. And to an earlier point, two of their Pro Bowl selections (Byrd and Peters) were permitted to sign elsewhere, one (Lynch) was traded and another signed via UFA (Mario). That leaves Kyle Williams and C.J. Spiller as the only Pro Bowlers drafted since 2006. Not good.

There really is no 2015 for Whaley and most likely Marrone without a playoff season in 2014. New ownership spending upwards of 1B for the team means they have to produce now or face losing their jobs. I expect to see them gamble and that could mean trading a pick in 2015 as a result.

There isn't a proven starting DE opposite Mario on the roster that fits Schwartz's scheme. And while I'm not going to say Schwartz = Wannstedt, both try to get pressure from their front 4. Alan Branch isn't going to do that for you and Jerry Hughes is a liability against the run. They need a base end who can get to the QB and hold their gap against the run. But I'd agree it's not a strong DE draft, certainly not for teams running the 4-3.

Mayock's had several opportunities to work in a front office but has turned them down. His excellent draft reputation is definitely earned. I like Jeremiah for his opinion, but also because unlike Charles Davis and other clowns, he doesn't think it's a sitcom environment.

That's a huge conflation of the argument. Sure, every team could upgrade, but the Bills' baseline at some positions is woeful. I've made the point repeatedly that they lack a DE opposite Mario in Schwartz's scheme. Right now I've got to believe Jarius Wynn is the guy, and he's a journeyman. Or there's Alan Branch who is a 43DT or 34DE, not someone I'd want in on 1st or 2nd down passing plays when Jerry Hughes is off the field. At RT, it's obvious Pears is at the end and needs replacement. Is he upright and somewhat healthy? Yeah, but he's not good. Hairston is a complete unknown. A lesser need might be safety and TE, but they should be improved sooner rather than later. This is a 6-10 team that lost Byrd and picked up Graham, B. Spikes, Keith Rivers and Chris Williams. Does that make them a 10-6 playoff team? I don't think it does. They need some serious upgrades.

Dallas doesn't need a LT, they've got Tyron Smith, while the Giants may need that guy-they drafted Justin Pugh in the first last year though. Both may need another OT though. At the same time, trading up is something you do when you're a player away. The Bills aren't that right now despite what they broadcast. They need help at RT, DE, TE and we don't know if Corey Graham can play safety because he's never done so in a 7 year career.