Some Facts About Tom Modrak

[Sisyphean Bills]

This was a really good post on here I have two points-

 

1) Nobody is going to tell Donahoe who to pick not coaches not personell people he will make those selections by himself and he did.

 

 

2) The coaching staff has to know how to fit players into their scheme, we haven't had that

Sort of why Doanhoe and Modrak were a good working couple. You had a guy that wanted to make all the decisions and a guy that just wanted to sit on his patio, watch a little film, and fire off a few notes in an email to the boss man and otherwise not be bothered.

[Lurker]

In Bills' case, either the talent evaluators were overruled by other above, or the team's management has not gathered the proper analysis to evaluate the evaluators.

IMO, TD made the splashy picks that backfired. Modrak's assessments may have been flawed, but Donahoe's fingerprints are all over the Williams, Losman, McGahee, Kelsay and Parrish picks (not to mention the Bedsoe trade).

[PromoTheRobot]

The lengths that you go to in order to vigorously defend ANY perceived slight against this franchise is truly astounding. Why are you such a reflexive cheerleader for such a sorry, unworthy organization, PTR?

What is astounding is how folks like you conjure these imagined scenarios and debate them as if they are reality. If you bothered to read my post and understand it, I was not defending Modrak. I was pointing out how silly this exercise is. You don't know what is going on inside OBD so what is the point of arguing over decisions when we don't know who actually made them.

 

PTR

[cale]

Personally I think the ascension of Doug Whaley will coincide with the passing of Ralph. I hope the Bills stay in WNY or if worse comes to worst, in Toronto. But Whaley I think will bring back a Golden Age for the Bills. He'll hire younger, hungrier FO and maybe even coaches for us to get to where we need to be.

 

Just as long as no one interferes, we'll be alright.

 

C

[thewildrabbit]

What is astounding is how folks like you conjure these imagined scenarios and debate them as if they are reality. If you bothered to read my post and understand it, I was not defending Modrak. I was pointing out how silly this exercise is. You don't know what is going on inside OBD so what is the point of arguing over decisions when we don't know who actually made them.

 

PTR

Yea well, someone is to blame for the failure to find top talent for the lines the last 8 years. I gotta say it looks like the Bills have gone outta they're way to avoid drafting another Mike Williams as they haven't even tried to draft any tackles in the first three rounds.

 

Dunno, maybe they are hoping to find another JP to fill the LT spot... they won't because they guy who developed him is long gone (Jim McNally).

[EC-Bills]

Pasquarelli wasn't the only one who had a high grade on McCargo and Losman. Don't remember who it was, but it came out after the draft that one team about two or three picks back from where we got McCargo had been going to pick him.

 

And all right, I get that you seem honest about this, but I hope you get that I don't trust stuff like this. We get so much of it here and on all other boards.

 

The Giants were the team and I believe Ernie Acrosi (sp) was still the GM.

[Alaska Darin]

That's right, there's a single factor that's led to the last decade of horseshit at OBD. If we just got rid of Tom Modrak, everything would turn around immediately.

 

We need to run everyone out of town.

[dave mcbride]

IMO, TD made the splashy picks that backfired. Modrak's assessments may have been flawed, but Donahoe's fingerprints are all over the Williams, Losman, McGahee, Kelsay and Parrish picks (not to mention the Bedsoe trade).

How was Mike Williams a "splashy" pick? It was about as meat and potatoes as you can get - a starting offensive tackle who was highly productive for an elite program (Texas) against top competition. In any event, Modrak was a big booster of Williams and later publicly acknowledged that maybe "dancing bears" - giant RTs lacking in quickness - couldn't excel in the NFL any more. He said that the Williams episode taught him a lesson. The thing is, if the Bills hadn't drafted him, he still would have been a top 8 pick. He was considered a sure thing.

[spartacus]

How was Mike Williams a "splashy" pick? It was about as meat and potatoes as you can get - a starting offensive tackle who was highly productive for an elite program (Texas) against top competition. In any event, Modrak was a big booster of Williams and later publicly acknowledged that maybe "dancing bears" - giant RTs lacking in quickness - couldn't excel in the NFL any more. He said that the Williams episode taught him a lesson. The thing is, if the Bills hadn't drafted him, he still would have been a top 8 pick. He was considered a sure thing.

 

not a sure thing by anyone who bothered to check out his background and find out what a weight problem and motivation problem he had

 

with serious questions about his ability to handle elite pass rushers, the pick was downright arrogant since McKinne (a real LT) still on the board and the Bills with a gaping hole at LT

[MrNix]

I am amused by all of the posts talking about the "new" front office and how different things are now that Buddy Nix is running the show. It's total nonsense. All they did was elevate a semi-retired scout to the GM position at the same time they promoted Brandon to CEO -- meaning Buddy's position in the pecking order barely changed. They traded Doug Whaley for John Guy and that's a big improvement, no doubt about it, but all of the commentators have focused thus far on the draft.

 

The college scouting operation is all the same, headed by Tom Modrak, the guy who's run our drafts since 2002. I've had numerous conversations with people in the organization about the draft process. While Dick Jauron and Brandon had final say, Dick never overruled a Modrak recommendation when it came to a specific position. So, yes, Dick did decide to take a safety over a quarterback, for instance, but he took the safety on the board rated highest by Modrak.

 

This is an important distinction. In 2009, Modrak wanted Cushing. Fine. But he also had Maybin rated as his #1 DE-pass rusher. Thought Orakpo took too many plays off. So when Jauron-Brandon decided they needed a pass rusher, they went with the guy Modrak recommended. And the guy they passed on went to the Pro Bowl.

 

This was hardly the first time that happpened.

 

In 2008, our needs were identified in post-season review as CB and a WR. We went with Modrak's recommendations of McKelvin and Hardy and passed on a Pro Bowler in both cases (Rodgers-Cromartie in the 1st and DeSean Jackson in the 2nd). In 2007, Modrak had a mid-1st round grade on Poz so we traded up to get him instead of standing pat and getting a better player in David Harris. In 2006, we went up to get John McCargo, another guy Modrak had a 1st round grade on (Modrak was the source for his friend Len Pasquarelli's article about the guy).

 

In the Donahoe era, Modrak selected Roscoe Parrish over Vincent Jackson (taken 6 picks later). He was instrumental in the Losman selection (also source for this Pasquarelli article suggesting JP could go 1st round). In 2003, he recommended Kelsay over Osi Umenyiora (taken 8 picks later). This isn't hindsight bias a la Tom Brady in the 6th round...we're talking about the pick coming down to 2 guys, Modrak recommending one and the VERY NEXT GUY off the board at the position goes to the pro bowl.

 

You all want to pretend this was a good draft, that the "new regime" is taking a fresh approach and getting the right guys in place, fine. You can believe that...glad Russ Brandon didn't have to work hard with the spin this year. But just know that the same guy who made all of bum recommendations in the past is the same guy who recommended Troup over Linval Joseph and Carrington over Earl Mitchell (perfect 3-4 DE who played DT at Arizona).

 

If the past is any guide, watch for Troup and Carrington to struggle while Joseph and Mitchell head to Honolulu.

Mitchell sounds like the second coming of Maybin, which of course means your suggestion is not much different from Modrak's--looking for a job?