buffalo_bills Posted January 3, 2010 Posted January 3, 2010 Lets face the reality. If we expect to build our team through the draft, and have a contender in a year or two, we're dreaming. In the 80's, thats exactly what the Bills did. They built their team through the draft. But it took a while, and with very good draft picks like Bruuuuuuuuucccceeee, Kelly, Reed etc. Now, sure we can build from the draft, and i bet it could work with some decent draft picks. But the question is HOW LONG COULD IT TAKE? and IS IT REALLY NECESSARY? Well, i think WITH SOME GOOD PICKS it can take another 2-3 years best case scenario. And let's think about our team for a minute. If we look back at our season, most of our games were lost by the offense. I'm not saying our defense is great, but it is not bad either. We just need a couple more solid additions in the front 7, and WE WILL BE A TOP 10 DEFENSE. On the other hand, our offense is a total mess. No qb, and no o-line. Our rb's are good, and wr's arent bad either. Now, I am sure that we will get our QB and O-line problems resolved this offseason. Buddy Nix knows what he's doing, and i trust him to make the right moves. With that being said, wouldn't a good QB and a decent o-line mean much better offense? Yes, it would. With a more consistent offfense, and a decent defense, we could be a playoff team by next years time. So is it necessary to start building through the draft, and live another 5 years in misery, i dont think so.
DanInUticaTampa Posted January 3, 2010 Posted January 3, 2010 Our run defense is just as bad as our offense.
Bflojohn Posted January 3, 2010 Posted January 3, 2010 There HAS TO BE a series of good to great drafts for the foreseeable future. I not talking servicable players (we've got those already), we need the future Pro Bowlers! Look at the Colts, Patriots, Chargers etal and the thread that runs through all of those organizations is the drafting of truly great players. Do the Bills have any truly great players? I'd say the jury is out because Lee Evans (as an example), is only as good as his O-line and QB and stable of running backs and his willingness to strive to be great. IS HE? No, in my opinion, and he is running out of time to prove me wrong!! The league is about its players, and Buffalo needs a vast improvement in talent, period!!
Mark80 Posted January 3, 2010 Posted January 3, 2010 There HAS TO BE a series of good to great drafts for the foreseeable future. I not talking servicable players (we've got those already), we need the future Pro Bowlers! Look at the Colts, Patriots, Chargers etal and the thread that runs through all of those organizations is the drafting of truly great players. Do the Bills have any truly great players? I'd say the jury is out because Lee Evans (as an example), is only as good as his O-line and QB and stable of running backs and his willingness to strive to be great. IS HE? No, in my opinion, and he is running out of time to prove me wrong!! The league is about its players, and Buffalo needs a vast improvement in talent, period!! Cots - Manning Patriots - Brady Chargers - Rivers Saints - Brees Packers - Rodgers Vikings - Favre Steelers - Big Ben Eagles - McNabb Cowboys - Romo Can anyone see any other team winning a Super Bowl this year? Why, it's all about the quarterback. We need to get LUCKY, yes LUCKY and get a quarterback that turns into one of these guys. No matter how great of a talent evaluater you are, you just never know until they get on the field. I think we're due for some luck.
AllDayADay Posted January 3, 2010 Posted January 3, 2010 There HAS TO BE a series of good to great drafts for the foreseeable future. I not talking servicable players (we've got those already), we need the future Pro Bowlers! Look at the Colts, Patriots, Chargers etal and the thread that runs through all of those organizations is the drafting of truly great players. Do the Bills have any truly great players? I'd say the jury is out because Lee Evans (as an example), is only as good as his O-line and QB and stable of running backs and his willingness to strive to be great. IS HE? No, in my opinion, and he is running out of time to prove me wrong!! The league is about its players, and Buffalo needs a vast improvement in talent, period!! Agreed, but you have to look at what the colts, patriots and chargers also have in common. Good offensive and defensive lines! Nobody is able to see what the bills look like without solid talent and ability on our lines. No matter the talent of your skill positions, we need stability in the trenches. I believe we could work with the talent we have if we get better in the trenches. Players like James Hardy and Steve Johnson might actually get a chance to show what they could do. Im tired of seeing no pressure on the opposing quarterback and busted run plays! Heres to Buddy getting it fixed!
H2o Posted January 3, 2010 Posted January 3, 2010 In '96, when the Ravens started their rise to prominence in the AFC, do you know who their first two selecions were? You got it, Johnathan Ogden and Ray Lewis. We need to hit on a draft like that. A perenial Pro Bowl'er at MLB and a franchise LT. If we do that this year then all we need is a solid, not great, QB and we could be on our way. Ogden was of course taken first (4th overall)and they got Lewis later on in 1st (26th overall). If we lose tomorrow, we'll likely end up picking 7th in the draft. Now I doubt Okung falls that far, but I do see something similar that we could pull off here. We take McClain at #7, or wherever we end up, if he's on the board. There is your beast in the middle. We could then slide back into the first to take our "franchise" LT. I, personally, believe that this OT class could be fairly deep through the first 2 rounds again and we could end up getting "our guy" in the mid-late 1st round if we would pull the trigger. Three people come to mind that could be there. Brian Bulaga from Iowa, Charles Brown from USC, and Anthony Davis from Rutgers. I think all three of these guys will end up being good LT's in the NFL. Of course we still have the combine to come, to separate the men from the boys so to speak, but the guy I would target right now in that portion of the first would be Brown. He's 6'6" and about 300lbs, but is very athletic and able to move well to get into position for pass protection. He also faced one of the better DE's in college day in and day out in Everson Griffin. With those 2 moves our team gets better instantly.
BillnutinHouston Posted January 3, 2010 Posted January 3, 2010 Keep in mind also, if we can cut our injuries in half next year, the roster gets better instantly.
billsfan89 Posted January 3, 2010 Posted January 3, 2010 Building thought the draft is the key component of building a team in Buffalo. BUT its not the only one, you do need to be able to add players through various means. Getting good bargains in free agency, finding diamonds in the rough in backups that are good but playing behind good players, Finding players who are in the wrong system, and getting millage out of older players. You build the stars with the draft and then the supporting cast with free agents. You also need to be able to find a few diamonds in the rough.
Ozymandius Posted January 3, 2010 Posted January 3, 2010 The draft is the lifeblood of any good football organization. The Bills have always wanted to build through the draft. This won't be some new philosophy; they've just sucked at drafting in the past. Hopefully things change with Nix.
Nanker Posted January 3, 2010 Posted January 3, 2010 Cots - ManningPatriots - Brady Chargers - Rivers Saints - Brees Packers - Rodgers Vikings - Favre Steelers - Big Ben Eagles - McNabb Cowboys - Romo Can anyone see any other team winning a Super Bowl this year? Why, it's all about the quarterback. We need to get LUCKY, yes LUCKY and get a quarterback that turns into one of these guys. No matter how great of a talent evaluater you are, you just never know until they get on the field. I think we're due for some luck. Let's take a look at all of the QBs that were taken in the first two rounds of the draft since 1998, shall we? 1998 1st Round Pick 1 Peyton Manning Pick 2 Ryan Leaf 2nd Round - Charlie Batch 1999 1st Round Pick 1 Tim Couch Pick 2 Donovan McNabb Pick 3 Akili Smith Pick 11 Daunte Culpepper Pick 11 Cade McNown Round 2 - Shaun King 2000 1st Round Pick 18 Chad Pennington Round 2 - no Body taken 2001 1st Round Pick 1 Michael Vick Round 2 - Drew Brees, Quincy Carter, Marques, Tuiasosopo Round 2 - no Body taken 2002 1st Round Pick 1 David Carr Pick 3 Joey Harrington Pick 32 Patrick Ramsey 2003 1st Round Pick 1 Carson Palmer Pick 7 Byron Leftwich Pick 19 Kyle Boller Pick 22 Rex Grossman 2004 1st Round Pick 1 Eli Manning Pick 4 Philip Rivers Pick 11 Ben Roethlisberger Pick 22 J.P. Losman Round 2 - no Body taken 2005 1st Round Pick 1 Alex Smith Pick 24 Aaron Rodgers Pick 25 Jason Campbell Round 2 - no Body taken 2006 1st Round Pick 3 Vince Young Pick 10 Matt Leinart Pick 11 Jay Cutler Round 2 - Kellen Clemens, Tavaris Jackson 2007 1st Round Pick 1 JaMarcus Rusell Pick 22 Brady Quinn Round 2 - Kevin Kolb, John Beck, Drew Stanton 2008 1st Round Pick 3 Matt Ryan Pick 18 Joe Flacco Round 2 - Brian Brohm, Chad Henne 2009 1st Round Pick 1 Matthew Stafford Pick 5 Mark Sanchez Pick 17 Josh Freeman Round 2 - Pat White The three other guys in your list weren't drafted in the first two rounds. Brady was a 6th round pick in 2000 Favre was the 6th pick in the 2nd round of 1991's draft by the ATLANTA FALCONS Romo was UNDRAFTED and signed by Dullass as a FA in 2003 I'd say picking a winning NFL QB involves a ton of luck.
ganesh Posted January 3, 2010 Posted January 3, 2010 Our run defense is just as bad as our offense. I think they have the talent to build around and need a dominating DT and a dominating OLB to prop the front seven. Kyle Williams is definitely over-achieving and has played well. our LBs have often been caught out of position and have given up big chunks of yards on run plays. The DB is pretty deep and are in general very good. If the incoming HC can solve the DT and OLB problem, the defense can definitely improve stopping the run.
ganesh Posted January 3, 2010 Posted January 3, 2010 The draft is the lifeblood of any good football organization. The Bills have always wanted to build through the draft. This won't be some new philosophy; they've just sucked at drafting in the past. Hopefully things change with Nix. They have sucked drafting at the TOP this decade. Erik Flowers Mike Williams McCargo JP Losman (+ a wasted 1st rounder) Roscoe Parrish Josh Reed McGahee Maybin In those 1st 3 rounds, you do not ant role players...You want to get stars who can takeover and dominate games. The only person I have seen dominating their opponents is Eric Wood. I pray that he come back successfully from his horrible injury.
papazoid Posted January 3, 2010 Posted January 3, 2010 Buddy Nix has stated that he believes in building through the draft and "rewarding" your own players by extending them. just one problem......we don't have very many current players worth extending. the bills will have plenty of cap room, so look for buddy to add a few key free agents, just not the superstar level. he likes the mid-level up and coming type. hang on to your hats folks, cause your gonna see a major overhaul of this roster.
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