MY NFL 2011 draft

[DIE HARD 1967]

You guys are pretty good at rating players but one factor is almost always overlooked.

 

Here is my draft..........

 

The toughest, meanest, semi dirty, players I can find....

 

I know what is wrong with the Bills but I try to avoid bashing my team.

 

This clip will give you a few clues on what the Bills lack and what kind of player we need to draft.

 

Jim Kelly, Daryl Talley, Tom Sestak, George Saimes. Ron McDole, Takeo Spikes,Bruce Smith,Kent Hull, Conrad Dobler all had the same quality.....

 

When the Bills pick their Captains, the problem is obvious

 

You can disagree if you like but every roster needs the right leaders that set the tone for the team and season.

 

This is 5 minutes well spent and I looked every where to find this clip!

 

Pay close attention to comments made by the players and coaches, and you have to ask yourself, how many players do we have like this?

*

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sQeg530ZgwU

Edited October 15, 2010 by DIE HARD 1967

[JPS]

I don't even have to look at it. You're right. We have too many gentlemen on this team and the game is NOT cricket.

[Wilson from Gamehendge]

You guys are pretty good at rating players but one factor is almost always overlooked.

 

Here is my draft..........

 

The toughest, meanest, semi dirty, players I can find....

 

I know what is wrong with the Bills but I try to avoid bashing my team.

 

This clip will give you a few clues on what the Bills lack and what kind of player we need to draft.

 

Jim Kelly, Daryl Talley, Tom Sestak, George Saimes. Ron McDole, Takeo Spikes,Bruce Smith,Kent Hull, Conrad Dobler all had the same quality.....

 

When the Bills pick their Captains, the problem is obvious

 

You can disagree if you like but every roster needs the right leaders that set the tone for the team and season.

 

This is 5 minutes well spent and I looked every where to find this clip!

 

Pay close attention to comments made by the players and coaches, and you have to ask yourself, how many players do we have like this?

*

youtube.com/watch?v=sQeg530ZgwU

I always say the same thing...I want guys who LOVE this game so much, they would be happy to die on a football field. I want guys who want to win more than anything, and do not sit around joking on the sideline when they are losing. I want guys who will fight for the man next to them, if somebody cheap shots your QB, take out one of their guys...eye for an eye. I want guys who will not run/step out of bounds when they are about to get hit. I want guys who do not, WILL NOT help up an opposing player when he is on the ground.

 

I want somebody who will step on another player's chest to get up, spit in his face...and call him a kitty! (Meow? )

 

 

Only problem is...there are not many guys like that nowadays...NONE like the faces we saw in that video...and just like you said, who was the last we had like that? Takeo Spikes! Look how long ago all the others were. Those guys are a dying breed in today's NFL. (It's mostly about the money!)

 

 

Great post and video though!

Edited October 15, 2010 by Wilson from Gamehendge

[DIE HARD 1967]

I don't believe in players picking their leaders, it should be up to the coaches.

 

Kickers and Punters are not want you want on Special teams either. Your head hunter is the leader.

 

Somehow the Bills got away from toughness and if it continues the Bills will fail.

 

Football is a dogfight and the toughest dogs win almost every week.

 

The good news is, you can get these players in every round!

 

To many times the Bills drafted for skill and we became a a lopsided team that lacks tough, physical players.

No team enjoys playing this type of team.This is the main reason some teams laugh at the Bills because we are basically defenseless.

Edited October 16, 2010 by DIE HARD 1967

[Sisyphean Bills]

Only problem is...there are not many guys like that nowadays...NONE like the faces we saw in that video...and just like you said, who was the last we had like that? Takeo Spikes! Look how long ago all the others were. Those guys are a dying breed in today's NFL. (It's mostly about the money!)

Ray Lewis. http://thepurplechaos.com/2010/09/24/the-greatness-of-ray-lewis-and-his-coaching-tree-legacy/

 

Edit: digression into leadership vs. toughness...

 

But, it often has to come from the QB position. Peyton Manning. Drew Brees. Tom Brady. Actually, the Patriots had some true leaders on defense as well.

 

The Steelers are an organization that tends to collect leaders. Great players lead and elevate everyone around them.

 

It was always curious to me that Dick Levy started by getting rid of all the Bills veteran leadership.

Edited October 16, 2010 by Sisyphean Bills

[Another Point of View]

I couldn't agree more. Passing on Orakpo has to rank as Buffalo Biggest blunder in 10 years. He was right there ready to play and he has the toughness. Who do we pick Maybin??

 

We selected speed over toughness and now we have a wasted #1 pick

 

The Bills gave Incognito a shot and we let him go.....another tough guy gone

Edited October 16, 2010 by Another Point of View

[Quester74]

"That guy broke a city ordinance, and I enforced it."

 

Priceless.

[The Senator]

I couldn't agree more. Passing on Orakpo has to rank as Buffalo Biggest blunder in 10 years. He was right there ready to play and he has the toughness. Who do we pick Maybin??

 

We selected speed over toughness and now we have a wasted #1 pick

 

The Bills gave Incognito a shot and we let him go.....another tough guy gone

Only further exacerbated by also passing on Michael Oher...

 

He started the 2009 season as right tackle, but was moved to left tackle after an injury to lineman Jared Gaither. In week eight, he returned to right tackle. Oher started every game in 2009, 11 at right tackle and 5 at left tackle. He played right tackle in his first post-season game, January 10, 2010, against the New England Patriots, and did not allow a single sack as the Ravens won 33–14. Michael Oher was second in the voting for Associated Press' NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year Award, with 6 votes. Prior to the 2010 NFL season, Oher was moved to left tackle permanently.

 

 

Anyway, since a bye-week is almost like a mini-offseason on TSW, I'll play the 2011 draft game too...

 

Round 1a - Ryan Mallet – QB - Arkansas

 

Then, use our high 2nd round pick & our 5th or 6th & 7th (I'm willing to sacrifice the next Danny Batten and Kyle Calloway) to trade back into round one for...

 

Round 1b – Gabe Carimi – OT - Wisconsin

 

Now go back to your hotel, Buddy, and rest up for Days 2 & 3 - which should go something like this...

 

Round 3 – Dontay Moch – OLB/DE - Nevada

Round 4a - Greg Romeus – DE - Pitt (probably a late 1st/early 2nd round pick, if not for the back injury)

Round 4b – Owen Marecic – FB/LB - Stanford

 

Rounds 5,6, & 7 - Forget about those, Buddy, you just drafted FIVE great players! Now head to the bar, enjoy a nice bourbon & branch water, and congratulate yourself on a job well-done.

 

 

(It's fun to dream.)

Edited October 16, 2010 by The Senator

[The Senator]

You guys are pretty good at rating players but one factor is almost always overlooked.

 

Here is my draft..........

 

The toughest, meanest, semi dirty, players I can find....

 

I know what is wrong with the Bills but I try to avoid bashing my team.

 

This clip will give you a few clues on what the Bills lack and what kind of player we need to draft.

 

Jim Kelly, Daryl Talley, Tom Sestak, George Saimes. Ron McDole, Takeo Spikes,Bruce Smith,Kent Hull, Conrad Dobler all had the same quality.....

 

When the Bills pick their Captains, the problem is obvious

 

You can disagree if you like but every roster needs the right leaders that set the tone for the team and season.

 

This is 5 minutes well spent and I looked every where to find this clip!

 

Pay close attention to comments made by the players and coaches, and you have to ask yourself, how many players do we have like this?

GREAT video - really good stuff, some of it funny (Art Donovan always makes me laugh) but all of it reflecting how different the game - and the players - were before the NFL became more big-time entertainment than sport.

 

I had the great pleasure of meeting and chatting (and throwing back an occasional beer or five) with the late Monty Stickles many times when I lived in SF - someone introduced him to me as 'the dirtiest player in the NFL' - when I countered that Conrad Dobler would disagree, Stickles actually took umbrage saying, 'Dobler was NOTHIN' - I was WAY dirtier than Conrad Dobler!'

 

Monty Stickles

 

Hard to imagine - in this day of limos, agents, manicurists, lucrative endorsements, and instant wealth and fame - that we'll ever see the likes of that kind of player again.

Edited October 17, 2010 by The Senator

[Hapless Bills Fan]

I don't even have to look at it. You're right. We have too many gentlemen on this team and the game is NOT cricket.

 

There's a Smith "In his own words" clip I found when "refreshing my memory" on what sacks were.

He talks about having a game face, something "coming over him" when the whistle blows, drawing a bead on where he intended to hit and hitting as hard as he could:

"my favorite sound is the one they make when they're lying on the ground holding their back or whatever: 'uhhhhhhhhhh, uhhhhhhhhh' " Smith talks about how he was determined to be the best conditioned player out there, that he was not going to let his physical conditioning get in the way of being the player he wanted to be.

 

I was shocked when I heard a current Bills player talking about, hey, we talked about practice and meetings end at 4 pm, let's not go home, let's maybe stay until 5 and watch some film or something. No one becomes great as a 9 to 4 job or even a 9 to 5 job. It's more like a 5 to 9 job to put yourself in great shape then bring your brain to the show too.

 

"An amateur practices until he can do it right, a professional practices until he can't do it wrong"

 

Let's have some professionalism, guys.

[Buffalonian-at-Heart]

Here's the whole problem. The Bills are void of talent. And when you're not as talented as the other team it's hard to act like your a tough guy. Take Whitner for instance. He wants so badly to be a trash talking, hard hitting safety, that opponents fear. The problem is that he has just average skills. It's hard to enact toughness, when you don't have the skill set to back it up.

 

Every player evolves, at every point in their career. Like Stevie Johnson. If you watch film on him he was a vocal leader, a half time speech kind of guy. Well how the heck is he going to be that for the Bills? His play isn't good enough for anyone to listen. He would look ridiculous.

 

High end talent is our issue.

[BillsVet]

"That guy broke a city ordinance, and I enforced it."

 

Priceless.

 

Mike Curtis' hit on that drunk fan always get me. Maybe security should yield to a designated player when idiot fans run onto the field. Watching videos like that with those throwback players makes me realize the origin of the game wasn't Armani suit wearing owners and players driving Bentley's. And most of us want that back, but a 9B industry won't return there.

 

In all seriousness, the toughness aspect is sorely missing in Buffalo. Not a player missing a game versus not, but someone who intimidates opponents. I remember when Whitner hit Johnnie Lee Higgins in the EZ after a long scoring play in 2008, thereby drawing a roughing penalty. This board went ape that someone did something like that, mainly IMO because no one had seen that in a long time. If Chan and Buddy truly believe in toughness and discipline, they'll start beefing up the OL and find LB's who beat RB's into the ground. Not taking skill players, aside from QB, come April.

[Bob in STL]

You guys are pretty good at rating players but one factor is almost always overlooked.

 

Here is my draft..........

 

The toughest, meanest, semi dirty, players I can find....

 

I know what is wrong with the Bills but I try to avoid bashing my team.

 

This clip will give you a few clues on what the Bills lack and what kind of player we need to draft.

 

Jim Kelly, Daryl Talley, Tom Sestak, George Saimes. Ron McDole, Takeo Spikes,Bruce Smith,Kent Hull, Conrad Dobler all had the same quality.....

 

When the Bills pick their Captains, the problem is obvious

 

You can disagree if you like but every roster needs the right leaders that set the tone for the team and season.

 

This is 5 minutes well spent and I looked every where to find this clip!

 

Pay close attention to comments made by the players and coaches, and you have to ask yourself, how many players do we have like this?

*

youtube.com/watch?v=sQeg530ZgwU

 

Great post Die Hard, I agree that we need tougher players and we have to draft them.

 

Something to think about is todays players in general. Other than Lewis in Baltimore, how many real throw backs are there? It seesm harder to find characters like you see in the film. The league used to be loaded with them.

 

Look at today's players and consider their upbringing, the way they are courted by the colleges, the culture of today, tweeting, rapping, etc. Most of these guys communicate with each other off of the field and become friends. After every game they have a lovefest on the field. Due to free agency, many of them will play for 3 or 4 teams in their career.

 

I am just saying it will be harder to find the mentality you are looking for that is combined with top notch talent. It is there, and Nix needs to bring it to Buffalo.

 

In recent draft players like Orakpo and Mangold have been available and Buffalo has passed on them for the likes of Maybin (said to fill a need) and McCargo (said to fit the scheme). At some point we have to stop missing on picks.

[ColdBlueNorth]

We need some attitude on defense, but this is the kind of attitude I would want protecting my blindside if I was QB of the Bills.

 

It is also the attitude we just don't have on this team - yet.

 

[Hapless Bills Fan]

Here's the whole problem. The Bills are void of talent. And when you're not as talented as the other team it's hard to act like your a tough guy. Take Whitner for instance. He wants so badly to be a trash talking, hard hitting safety, that opponents fear. The problem is that he has just average skills. It's hard to enact toughness, when you don't have the skill set to back it up.

 

I agree with you that Whitner is not the hard hitting safety-to-fear that he'd like to be.

This may sound like a quibble: I'm not so sure talent - in the sense of God-given physical skills, or understanding of the game -- is all the issue.

 

The difference between the average, and the champion, in any sport I've seen, is drive and dedication. I think Whitner could be better -- if he wanted it badly enough.

Don Henley said it: "How bad do you want it? Not bad enough"

 

I think Donte wants it bad enough to be a good teammate and follow the team's program and play as hard as he can on game day.

Then he wants to walk out the door at the end of the day and go to the day spa and live the life he feels the highly-paid are entitled to.

 

I don't think he wants it bad enough to drive himself beyond his own limits -- to be the best-conditioned, strongest athlete on the field,

to hit hard enough that WR muff the catch when they hear his footsteps, to work on improving his vertical leap or his burst speed so he can

get his hand in there and break up a catch. To be able to play harder and smarter than he can right now.

 

I never done it, but tackling someone really hard must hurt the tackler, too.

My husband used to work with an ex-NT who was drafted by the Raiders back in late '70s when they were a baaaad ass team.

He left football after a couple years and put his college degree to work.

I asked him why one time, he said: "I didn't like pain enough to make the step" (from backup to starter).

He went on to explain what the week of a football player in season is like and then what the guys on the top put in over and above that.

I was convinced: to be there, you have to want it. To be good, you have to really want it. To be great, you have to really want it bad enough.

 

How bad do you want it? I think for too many Bills players, the answer is "not bad enough".

[Punch]

We need some attitude on defense, but this is the kind of attitude I would want protecting my blindside if I was QB of the Bills.

 

It is also the attitude we just don't have on this team - yet.

 

youtube.com/watch?v=YXEjXVmnAv4

 

We definitely need some bad ass mother!@#$ers, no doubt--- but didn't Turley threaten to kill Mike Martz? Not that I have any love for Martz, but Turley was a little bit more of a loose cannon than necessary. Conrad Dobler, Jim Haslett, Smerlas, et al---- we definitely need some nasty dudes but not basket cases.

 

How bad do you want it? I think for too many Bills players, the answer is "not bad enough".

 

Your entire post is terrific and spot on--- it appears to be the problem not only with the Bills but also with the Sabres.

[Huuuge Bills]

I couldn't agree more. Passing on Orakpo has to rank as Buffalo Biggest blunder in 10 years. He was right there ready to play and he has the toughness. Who do we pick Maybin??

 

We selected speed over toughness and now we have a wasted #1 pick

 

The Bills gave Incognito a shot and we let him go.....another tough guy gone

 

Hey! pretty nice avatar you got there, can't remember where I've seen it for the past two years...

[Hapless Bills Fan]

We definitely need some bad ass mother!@#$ers, no doubt--- but didn't Turley threaten to kill Mike Martz? Not that I have any love for Martz, but Turley was a little bit more of a loose cannon than necessary. Conrad Dobler, Jim Haslett, Smerlas, et al---- we definitely need some nasty dudes but not basket cases.

 

For what it's worth, Turley has always denied that. He says the Rams pushed him to come back before he was recovered from a serious back injury, then

didn't support him when he re-injured and dissed his effort in the media, and he went into Martz office and told him what he thought of him. Now if I had

Turley in there screaming at me, I might be *afraid* he was gonna kill me even if he didn't actually yell threats.

 

No question he's one colorful dude though:

http://nfl.fanhouse.com/2010/05/20/helmet-tossing-kyle-turley-goes-country-to-settle-scores/

 

Your entire post is terrific and spot on--- it appears to be the problem not only with the Bills but also with the Sabres.

 

Wow, thanks!

[tennesseeboy]

NO NO NO NO....Look at Incognito for instance...he was not fit to be a bill because he actgually got upset when we lost. Marshawn Lynch was a beast. This is not Buffalo bill thinking..Michael Vick can't replace TE because he might upset the tree hugging dog loving vegans...

 

fuhgeddaboudit....the Conrad Dobler days are over...this is a New Age team with a New Age mindset...

[Phlegm Alley]

Only further exacerbated by also passing on Michael Oher...

 

He started the 2009 season as right tackle, but was moved to left tackle after an injury to lineman Jared Gaither. In week eight, he returned to right tackle. Oher started every game in 2009, 11 at right tackle and 5 at left tackle. He played right tackle in his first post-season game, January 10, 2010, against the New England Patriots, and did not allow a single sack as the Ravens won 33–14. Michael Oher was second in the voting for Associated Press' NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year Award, with 6 votes. Prior to the 2010 NFL season, Oher was moved to left tackle permanently.

 

 

Anyway, since a bye-week is almost like a mini-offseason on TSW, I'll play the 2011 draft game too...

 

Round 1a - Ryan Mallet – QB - Arkansas

 

Then, use our high 2nd round pick & our 5th or 6th & 7th (I'm willing to sacrifice the next Danny Batten and Kyle Calloway) to trade back into round one for...

 

Round 1b – Gabe Carimi – OT - Wisconsin

 

Now go back to your hotel, Buddy, and rest up for Days 2 & 3 - which should go something like this...

 

Round 3 – Dontay Moch – OLB/DE - Nevada

Round 4a - Greg Romeus – DE - Pitt (probably a late 1st/early 2nd round pick, if not for the back injury)

Round 4b – Owen Marecic – FB/LB - Stanford

 

Rounds 5,6, & 7 - Forget about those, Buddy, you just drafted FIVE great players! Now head to the bar, enjoy a nice bourbon & branch water, and congratulate yourself on a job well-done.

 

 

(It's fun to dream.)

 

 

I would love this draft Senator and I share your affinity with Mallet being a franchise QB for this team. I hope he declares so the Bills will be in position to draft him.

 

Same thing with Carimi. I have watched a couple of Wisconsin games this year and he is solid in every phase of the game.

 

We need some attitude on defense, but this is the kind of attitude I would want protecting my blindside if I was QB of the Bills.

 

It is also the attitude we just don't have on this team - yet.

 

youtube.com/watch?v=YXEjXVmnAv4

 

 

Thanks for this. One of the greatest displays of pure aggresion and protecting of a QB I have ever seen. Something like this goes real far in the locker room.