Nix article in Buffalo News

[Red]

I was perusing the Buffalo Rumblings site prior to signing off for the evening, when I came upon an article in today's Buffalo News. It was an interview with Bills GM Buddy Nix, and is a hearty write-up of our man in charge.

 

What I found most interesting, and what has been my biggest complaint about the horrible job Tom Modrak has done as Director of Scouting, can be summarized in the following excerpt. When speaking about hitting on draft picks Nix said:

 

"I think if you do better than 50 percent you're probably gonna be right around the middle of the pack," Nix said. "You have your good years. You have your lucky years. Nobody's gonna hit 'em all. But you've got to hit enough to build your team each year. You've got to do that."

 

"Every now and then you're going to miss on a first rounder," Nix said. "You shouldn't but you do. If that's the case, then you've got to hit on the middle guys. Most of the time you should get the top guys right. The ones on each end are easy to do."

 

Nix thinks the second- through sixth-rounders make the difference for the winning organizations. "It's the middle ones that make up the bulk of your team that decide whether you're good at what you're doing or not," he said.

 

- Now, the areas that I highlighted are what I am speaking about.

 

If we are going to fail so miserably on 1st rounders as the Modrak scouting regime has this past decade, then as Nix says then "you've got to hit on the middle guys."

 

Modrak has neither hit on the 1st rounders, nor the middle guys during his tenure.

 

Some may argue that he has been respectable with undrafted college free agents; and I think rightfully so.

 

But undrafted free agents are just that...UNdrafted.

 

With Modrak at the helm of the scouting department this past decade, we have wasted more draft picks than we have "hit" on.

 

Modrak should go.

[lets_go_bills]

I read it too. Thought it was excellent. A very good insider piece. It fully explains his draft process/logic and I think it's a smart one.

[FluffHead]

linkage por favor?

[Malazan]

It certainly highlights the strategy employed and thinking beyond, 'wow, look at that guys first step' or 'holy wow, we're thin at *****, let's grab every piece of crap at that position we can find instead of stacking good football players'

 

If Nix is comfortable with Modrak and the hits come with Nix at the helm then that's the way it is..settling 'personal vendetta's is just silly.

Edited September 10, 2010 by jeremy2020

[McBeane]

At least as a common courtesy to the writer, you should put a link in here.

[SDS]

We have the article listed right on the front page...

[flopagamo]

It was indeed a great article... good background on Nix, and a confidence builder in his track record & overall judgment.

 

http://www.buffalorumblings.com/2010/9/9/1678761/bills-gm-nix-o-line-was-main

http://www.buffalonews.com/sports/bills-nfl/article185104.ece

 

Funny picture there too.

[billsintaiwan]

linkage por favor?

 

lazy?

[Benjamin Barker]

Well it's no secret that over the last decade the Bills have not drafted very well on the whole.

[eball]

I hear you, Red, but the piece of information you are lacking (we all are) is just how much Modrak's opinion was overruled by the coach/GM/owner during the previous regimes. Hasn't it been widely speculated that 1st round picks such as McGahee, Whitner, Maybin (those are the three that come immediately to mind) were all selections pushed by someone other than Modrak?

[Ed_Formerly_of_Roch]

One question. Exactly how do you know that the people who TM was recommending were the ones we selected. Scouts typically grade out players. It doesn't mean the Bills selected those he gave the highest grades too. From everything that's been written it seems DJ had a much larger part of whom the Bill's picked than TM did. TM was never the general manager, he was the scout. The choice of whom to select rarly goes to the scout. The Bills were in a rather unique situation as they didn't have a true typical type of GM, but that's where it seemed they gave DJ a much larger role in who to select.. I have no proof of this as obviously there's no proof that I'm wrong either other than the little bits written to suggest DJ had a larger than normal role in the selection process. The fact hat Nix kept him on but dumped John Guy does suggest he didn't hold TM at fault too much. Yuo could argue that he kept him becasue they are friends, but it could be they're friends becasue they share many common opinions on how to select players and Nix agrees with TM.

 

 

I was perusing the Buffalo Rumblings site prior to signing off for the evening, when I came upon an article in today's Buffalo News. It was an interview with Bills GM Buddy Nix, and is a hearty write-up of our man in charge.

 

What I found most interesting, and what has been my biggest complaint about the horrible job Tom Modrak has done as Director of Scouting, can be summarized in the following excerpt. When speaking about hitting on draft picks Nix said:

 

"I think if you do better than 50 percent you're probably gonna be right around the middle of the pack," Nix said. "You have your good years. You have your lucky years. Nobody's gonna hit 'em all. But you've got to hit enough to build your team each year. You've got to do that."

 

"Every now and then you're going to miss on a first rounder," Nix said. "You shouldn't but you do. If that's the case, then you've got to hit on the middle guys. Most of the time you should get the top guys right. The ones on each end are easy to do."

 

Nix thinks the second- through sixth-rounders make the difference for the winning organizations. "It's the middle ones that make up the bulk of your team that decide whether you're good at what you're doing or not," he said.

 

- Now, the areas that I highlighted are what I am speaking about.

 

If we are going to fail so miserably on 1st rounders as the Modrak scouting regime has this past decade, then as Nix says then "you've got to hit on the middle guys."

 

Modrak has neither hit on the 1st rounders, nor the middle guys during his tenure.

 

Some may argue that he has been respectable with undrafted college free agents; and I think rightfully so.

 

But undrafted free agents are just that...UNdrafted.

 

With Modrak at the helm of the scouting department this past decade, we have wasted more draft picks than we have "hit" on.

 

Modrak should go.

[eball]

One question. Exactly how do you know that the people who TM was recommending were the ones we selected. Scouts typically grade out players. It doesn't mean the Bills selected those he gave the highest grades too. From everything that's been written it seems DJ had a much larger part of whom the Bill's picked than TM did. TM was never the general manager, he was the scout. The choice of whom to select rarly goes to the scout. The Bills were in a rather unique situation as they didn't have a true typical type of GM, but that's where it seemed they gave DJ a much larger role in who to select.. I have no proof of this as obviously there's no proof that I'm wrong either other than the little bits written to suggest DJ had a larger than normal role in the selection process. The fact hat Nix kept him on but dumped John Guy does suggest he didn't hold TM at fault too much. Yuo could argue that he kept him becasue they are friends, but it could be they're friends becasue they share many common opinions on how to select players and Nix agrees with TM.

Umm, Ed, couldn't you have just read the post above yours and said, "I agree?"

[BreezeMafia]

I am a big fan of Buddy Nix. I feel he has strung back to back solid drafts for the Bills. He seta foundation, and we are building on that.

 

Regarding Modrak, I have said this numerous times. Modrak has been over ruled on many occasion's by Tom Donahoe and Marv Levy. Modrak is a fine talent evaluator. Maybe if the Bills listened more, we would have hit on more first rounders than we have this last decade.

[Mickey]

It was indeed a great article... good background on Nix, and a confidence builder in his track record & overall judgment.

 

http://www.buffaloru...o-line-was-main

http://www.buffalone...ticle185104.ece

 

Funny picture there too.

 

 

I agree, its hard not to think we got a rock solid guy at GM, finally. It was an absolute disaster having a business guy trying to make the calls on football players. Nix will make mistakes, I'm sure. It is

a really, really hard freaking job. Predicting which players will become stars is basically predicting the future and no one can do that perfectly. But I think we can be sure we have a guy who knows what

he is doing.

[Coach Tuesday]

It was a very good article and it's clear that Nix understands what is required to build a team, especially if you're going to focus on building through the draft.

 

But as I've said elsewhere, and gotten absolutely blasted for it, I already have concerns about the middle and late-round picks from this year's draft. Wang looked overmatched before he got hurt, hopefully he'll bulk up and at least become a solid backup. Batten also looked like he didn't belong. Calloway and Brown didn't even warrant practice squad considerations.

 

I will give Nix & Co. the benefit of the doubt here, they certainly know more than I do about scouting and player development. I do feel that there were players in the later rounds, especially tight ends, who could potentially have helped this team this year. And I agree with the OP that even if you hit on some UDFAs, you still need to make your draft picks count. Sounds like Nix agrees. We'll see how it goes.

[Mike in Syracuse]

I'm curious how much of the last few drafts are the result of Levy vs. the recommendations of Modrak. Modrak is the director of scouting but he doesn't actually make the picks. A couple of the recent debacles are the result of Levy's incompetence as GM.

[Chandler#81]

I agree, its hard not to think we got a rock solid guy at GM, finally. It was an absolute disaster having a business guy trying to make the calls on football players. Nix will make mistakes, I'm sure. It is

a really, really hard freaking job. Predicting which players will become stars is basically predicting the future and no one can do that perfectly. But I think we can be sure we have a guy who knows what

he is doing.

 

 

Yep. Not to mention the picks you do hit on right that turn into complete azz:censored: 's, doing more damage than good with on & off field antics..

[hammie65]

I believe a lot of the success in the draft depends on where you pick throughout and the quality of the class of players available. The past few years IMO have not had a high level of quality players to choose from (yes, there have been some exceptional players, but overall the 2nd on down rounds have been mediocre) and there have been a lot more draft busts overall for everybody. I believe Spiller was a fantastic pick and will pay huge dividends for the Bills, but he is one of those exceptions. That being said, I truly believe that DJ (and those responsible for him) did more damage to this team than any in a long while and though many believe Nix and Gailey are no Polian and Shanahan, I am for the first time in a long time excited about the next few seasons. It is all a crap shoot in some ways and hopefully the dice (injuries, draft picks, on-field calls etc) will also start falling in our favor.

 

Go Bills!

[BillsVet]

It's amazing that there's been so little turnover in the front office since the TD hiring. Modrak was hired by TD, then retained by Levy, Brandon and now Nix. Guy made it through one less GM until being fired over a night in January.

 

I think all firings, front office or HC, must go through RW. How else can anyone explain why Levy, Brandon, and Nix have not restructured the front office upon assuming the GM title. I maintain Guy was a bone thrown to the fans who placed him in their collective crosshairs.

 

Still, at the end of the day they've not drafted well in the middle rounds. From the 3rd to the 5th in 2006 to 2008, they've gained few long term decent starters. Aside from Trent, who's not a certainty in 2011, only Kyle Williams is a long term starter taken in those rounds. Yeah, the draft must improve if the team is to take a leap forward. Otherwise, it's same old same old.

[Alaska Darin]

One question. Exactly how do you know that the people who TM was recommending were the ones we selected.

The don't know but that's not going to stop them from trying to run every person in this organization out of town. These are the same people who thought Reich should start over Kelly, that Bruce should be traded for someone who would attend camp, etc.

 

We don't know if the guys we drafted would have developed because most of them were screwed just by being drafted here. They were doomed with Jauron and company and then saddled with the "they got cut or didn't perform in Buffalo, so they must be crap" reputation that this organization has propagated since Wade left.