Buddy Missed A Golden Chance to Sell Tickets...Smartly

[BillsPhan]

So New England drafted local Williamsville star tight end from Arizona, Rob Gronkowski, with the 42nd pick of the draft. I'm sure many of us missed that, because we were all on-line trying to figure out who the heck Torell Troup was, the 41st pick of the draft taken by our own Buddy Nix.

 

Let me say for any draft-gurus that knew who Troup was and think you should flame me for not knowing, I could care less. However, after looking him up on-line and reading about what other NFL personell thought of him, I liked the pick after all. This huge kid can end up being our next Ted Washington for 10 years, if he stays healthy, and that is certainly a good thing!

 

But let's go back to the Pats, with all of their success over the past decade, deciding that Gronkowski was worth drafting right after our pick in the 2nd round. Wow, congrats to young Rob - and I wish him nothing but success in every game but two every year of his NFL career!!

 

Last year Barnam and Bailey Russ Brandon went out and signed T.O. to desperately sell tickets after a boring off season and it worked pretty well. But this year Russ handed the keys over to a true football man, and I think overall Buddy did a good job in his first draft. But tight end is certainly still a "need" position for our Bills, right? Who is the starter this season, and what has he accomplished in his NFL career to date??

 

There were big nose tackles still available, and some rated higher by the draft experts then Troup, into the third and even fourth round of the draft. Nix could have drafted Gronkowski in the second round, and sure, after Spiller, many fans might have thought he was crazy. However, he did not draft an OT until round 7 anyway, and like I said, he could have easily addressed nose tackle later in the draft......and.....he certainly could have sold more tickets and brought home a great "local kid" story to boot!

 

I'm hoping Nelson steps up and takes over TE full time this season, to help our passing game. But I will be watching Rob Gronkoswski with New England, and if he becomes established as the starting TE before someone in Buffalo establishes himself, that would have been a very cool opportunity missed by the Bills.

[lets_go_bills]

Troup was one of the better NT prospects. There were better DTs, but Troup was the best true 3-4 NT, which is what we needed. It was smart to grab him there and not wait until later. Troup is a big, thick and strong kid who is a run stuffer. That was what we needed. we needed to fill out our new 3-4 D line with the right players. Not every team is a 3-4 so they rate players differently. A team with a need at NT would have Troup rated high.

 

TE isn't a big need. This team is high on Nelson's potential and talent. Gronkowski would've been a nice pick because of the WNY connection, but he didn't fill a need and we didn't have the luxury of taking a chance on a talented, but injured player. Gronkowski is a big boy and is very talented, but he's coming off of a back injury and hasn't played a game in a while. Still, he's a great pick for the Pats, but they could afford to take that chance.

[apuszczalowski]

So you would prefer that they spend their second round pick on another player at a position thats not a serious need, just so they can have another local boy on the team?

 

Just because the "Draft Experts" rate a guy somewhere, that doesn't mean he is actually rated that way by the team. The guys being paid the Big Bucks by Ralph to assemble and coach this team have guys rated where they feel they should be by how they would fit in the Bills system. They got the guy they wanted with the pick, and the guy they feel can help them the most from Day one, which is what Buddy wants in his early picks.

[Malazan]

Wait, now we're peeved they're not signing players just to sell tickets?

[BillsPhan]

So you would prefer that they spend their second round pick on another player at a position thats not a serious need, just so they can have another local boy on the team?

 

Just because the "Draft Experts" rate a guy somewhere, that doesn't mean he is actually rated that way by the team. The guys being paid the Big Bucks by Ralph to assemble and coach this team have guys rated where they feel they should be by how they would fit in the Bills system. They got the guy they wanted with the pick, and the guy they feel can help them the most from Day one, which is what Buddy wants in his early picks.

 

First of all, I love the way everyone out here thinks that Chan Gailey and his "genious offensive mind" will be able to mold all these holdovers from last year's number 30 ranked offense into a good offense. Tight end is not a serious need? I'll believe that when whoever ends up starting, can play three straight games as a good blocker, a good pass catcher, and figures out how not to get injured.

 

Secondly, I would wager that Bill Belicheck and staff in New England gets paid "Bigger Bucks" by their owner to assemble and coach their team. I hope by the time the Pats play the Bills next year, Brady doesn't end up torching the Bills for 3 TD's to Gronkowski from the red zone, while Chan is rotating his smallish tight ends the whole game while they end up catching 3 passes for 13 yards between them.

[CJPearl2]

Not many people in Buffalo know about him anyways. Plus, he has a really bad back and is very injury prone.

[PushthePile]

First of all, I love the way everyone out here thinks that Chan Gailey and his "genious offensive mind" will be able to mold all these holdovers from last year's number 30 ranked offense into a good offense. Tight end is not a serious need? I'll believe that when whoever ends up starting, can play three straight games as a good blocker, a good pass catcher, and figures out how not to get injured.

 

Secondly, I would wager that Bill Belicheck and staff in New England gets paid "Bigger Bucks" by their owner to assemble and coach their team. I hope by the time the Pats play the Bills next year, Brady doesn't end up torching the Bills for 3 TD's to Gronkowski from the red zone, while Chan is rotating his smallish tight ends the whole game while they end up catching 3 passes for 13 yards between them.

You are whining about our TEs ability to stay healthy, and your solution would have been Rob Gronkowski? The kid was one of the biggest injury concerns of the whole draft. The Patriots took Aaron Hernandez four picks later because of the gamble Gronkowski represents. Awesome logic Phan.

 

Besides the main theme of this train wreck, is that the Bills missed "a golden chance to sell tickets". Yeah, because nothing sells tickets like a TE with back problems and little chance of cracking the starting lineup in his first year.

[Lori]

Bills allowed 4.7 yards per carry and 19 rushing touchdowns last year. Once Suh and McCoy were off the board, Troup was the guy they liked at the CRITICAL DT position.

 

I was miffed when they took McGahee with Dallas Clark on the board, partly because none of us knew whether or not WM would ever make it all the way back. This? Not so much.

[C.Biscuit97]

Do you really think people would go to see a tight end because he is from Buffalo? Roosevelt from UB is a bigger name in Buffalo.

[Dr. Trooth]

Not many people in Buffalo know about him anyways. Plus, he has a really bad back and is very injury prone.

 

bingo! the bills gambled in the last 4 drafts and look where it has gotten them.... bust after bust after bust.

 

I'd rather have a TE that stays healthy and make a marginal contribution thtn one that makes a moderate impact but only shows up once and a while cuz he's always injured. It's a waste of money and roster space.

 

Bills haven't had a 16 game starting TE for a few years... unless you count Royal... for maybe two years.

[lets_go_bills]

Bills allowed 4.7 yards per carry and 19 rushing touchdowns last year. Once Suh and McCoy were off the board, Troup was the guy they liked at the CRITICAL DT position.

I was miffed when they took McGahee with Dallas Clark on the board, partly because none of us knew whether or not WM would ever make it all the way back. This? Not so much.

 

Bingo!

 

Troup's the quintessential NT.

[Lurker]

.....he certainly could have sold more tickets

The Bills have no problem selling tickets. Stopping the run is another matter, however...

[bbb]

Other than the Gronkowsky family, I don't think he was going to sell a ton of tickets. I don't really think Kaleta and Kennedy have really sold more Sabres tickets, or Shane Conlon did Bills tickets just because they were local - they do sell them by making the team better.........Something tells me his back is going to be a major concern to say the least - he didn't play a down last year and then elects to come out instead of playing another year in school to prove that he's sound physically.

[uncle flap]

I'm hoping Nelson steps up and takes over TE full time this season, to help our passing game. But I will be watching Rob Gronkoswski with New England...

 

well, I'm hoping that Nelson steps up... and I will be watching Shawn Nelson with Buffalo...

 

There are a lot of crazy posts on here but this one is up there. Of course I wish homegrown talent the best, and would be willing to give him a shot, but you've got to be nuts thinking we should have drafted him in the second round. Even if Gronkowski winds up being the best TE ever that still would've been the worst pick I cold imagine other than going for another RB after Spiller or a DB.

[Munch]

So New England drafted local Williamsville star tight end from Arizona, Rob Gronkowski, with the 42nd pick of the draft. I'm sure many of us missed that, because we were all on-line trying to figure out who the heck Torell Troup was, the 41st pick of the draft taken by our own Buddy Nix.

 

Let me say for any draft-gurus that knew who Troup was and think you should flame me for not knowing, I could care less. However, after looking him up on-line and reading about what other NFL personell thought of him, I liked the pick after all. This huge kid can end up being our next Ted Washington for 10 years, if he stays healthy, and that is certainly a good thing!

 

But let's go back to the Pats, with all of their success over the past decade, deciding that Gronkowski was worth drafting right after our pick in the 2nd round. Wow, congrats to young Rob - and I wish him nothing but success in every game but two every year of his NFL career!!

 

Last year Barnam and Bailey Russ Brandon went out and signed T.O. to desperately sell tickets after a boring off season and it worked pretty well. But this year Russ handed the keys over to a true football man, and I think overall Buddy did a good job in his first draft. But tight end is certainly still a "need" position for our Bills, right? Who is the starter this season, and what has he accomplished in his NFL career to date??

 

There were big nose tackles still available, and some rated higher by the draft experts then Troup, into the third and even fourth round of the draft. Nix could have drafted Gronkowski in the second round, and sure, after Spiller, many fans might have thought he was crazy. However, he did not draft an OT until round 7 anyway, and like I said, he could have easily addressed nose tackle later in the draft......and.....he certainly could have sold more tickets and brought home a great "local kid" story to boot!

 

I'm hoping Nelson steps up and takes over TE full time this season, to help our passing game. But I will be watching Rob Gronkoswski with New England, and if he becomes established as the starting TE before someone in Buffalo establishes himself, that would have been a very cool opportunity missed by the Bills.

 

first off I love Gronkowski. But to take him in rd 2 when we have sooo many more pressing needs, is just dumb. And I coulda swore we took an OT in rd 5, a big ol Wang.

[Lurker]

genious

Thanks for proving the point...

[Charles Romes]

We signed Maybin and Pos to sell tickets to Northern PA. No more drafting players to sell tickets.

[C.Biscuit97]

And can we stop with this crap about signing players to sell tickets? The Bills always sell out no matter what garbage is on the field. TO was brought in to help see if Edwards was a franchise QB and to jumpstart the offense. Obviously, Edwards proved he wasn't a franchise QB.

[K-No]

My! So many posts with the 20-20 hindsight about what the Bills 'coulda done' in the draft based on the final results. No team knows what good players will fall to them with the pick after the one they are about to make. Not a bad draft IMO

[stuckincincy]

Bills allowed 4.7 yards per carry and 19 rushing touchdowns last year. Once Suh and McCoy were off the board, Troup was the guy they liked at the CRITICAL DT position.

 

I was miffed when they took McGahee with Dallas Clark on the board, partly because none of us knew whether or not WM would ever make it all the way back. This? Not so much.

 

I remember reading (csbsportsline IIRC), that they yielded 5.6 ypc on 3rd down. Ouch.