Steelers approach vs. Tom Modrak

[Sisyphean Bills]

My God, are you really criticizing the Bills for taking Eric wood with a first round pic? #28 no less.

Reading is fundamental. You blew right past the first sentence in your zealousness to miss the point. I said I like Eric Wood. I do not like spending 1st round picks and the associated cap money on the lowest impact position in the entire starting lineup.

 

I'll type slowly. I'm not criticizing the player, I'm criticizing the plan.

 

This is no different than the people that criticize the Spiller pick. You should take every one of those posters to task as well. Get your money's worth.

[Ghost of Rob Johnson]

Funny you should use the Steelers as the team to compare Modrak to, from his Bio:

(Modrak) began his career in the league in 1973 as a part-time scout for the Pittsburgh Steelers and then worked with the BLESTO scouting service before joining the Steelers on a full-time basis in 1978...from 1979-86, served as the Steelers’ pro scout before being elevated to the position of director of pro scouting for two seasons...ran the Steelers college personnel evaluation department for nine seasons before taking the job with the Eagles in the spring of 1998...during Modrak’s nine years as college scouting director, the Steelers’ draft produced no fewer than eight Pro Bowl players; in his 20 years there, the Steelers reached the playoffs 11 times and played in Super Bowl XXX against Dallas…was also with the Steelers when they defeated the Rams in Super Bowl XIV

 

http://www.buffalobills.com/team/roster/Tom-Modrak/1f0d5277-1320-4d0a-8630-22b7eea5d89c

 

 

and then there's this guy:

Whaley joined the Bills after spending the previous 11 years with the Pittsburgh Steelers. From 1999 – 2009, Whaley served as Pittsburgh’s Pro Scouting Coordinator where he was responsible for advance scouting of the team’s opponents and focused on breaking down opposing players for the team’s upcoming games, evaluating unrestricted and restricted free agents throughout the season and into the free agent offseason period and making campus visits and scouting college players throughout the year.

 

http://www.buffalobills.com/team/roster/Doug-Whaley/d353528b-6856-4202-9bbf-79cbad4a9a5f

Edited January 29, 2011 by Ghost of Rob Johnson

[EastRochBillsfan]

Reading is fundamental. You blew right past the first sentence in your zealousness to miss the point. I said I like Eric Wood. I do not like spending 1st round picks and the associated cap money on the lowest impact position in the entire starting lineup.

 

I'll type slowly. I'm not criticizing the player, I'm criticizing the plan.

 

This is no different than the people that criticize the Spiller pick. You should take every one of those posters to task as well. Get your money's worth.

 

I didn't blow by anything you wrote. i know you like wood and never once in my post said otherwise. but you just don't like him at a first round pic. it's not rocket science and contrary to what you think I have a pretty good comprehension of the English language. I am simply saying the 28th pic of a draft to get the one of the top 2 rated centers(i know they moved him to guard) in the league is just fine with me and I could possibly argue a good many other posters. Every position on the line is important as far as I am concerned and you get your impact players whenever you can. In fact, I think getting Wood at #28 is almost a steal. just my opinion. and apparently somewhat different than yours. All I know is I am glad we got a good guard who is about to become a kick ass center in the nfl and I don't give a rats ass where we picked him in the draft.

[Green Lightning]

What if what you want is to cheer for a good football team?

 

Having a scapegoat and a human shield for systemic dysfunction isn't all its cracked up to be for football fans that want to watch good football.

 

Then we agree. I just don't see the value in burning stomach lining stewing about things that are over and done or things that you have little control over. Modrak is there and presumably, Buddy is okay with it. Buddy's the guy I'm going to hold accountable, not Modrak.

[JohnC]

Reading is fundamental. You blew right past the first sentence in your zealousness to miss the point. I said I like Eric Wood. I do not like spending 1st round picks and the associated cap money on the lowest impact position in the entire starting lineup.

 

I'll type slowly. I'm not criticizing the player, I'm criticizing the plan.

 

This is no different than the people that criticize the Spiller pick. You should take every one of those posters to task as well. Get your money's worth.

 

The Peter's saga was a situation that could have been avoided, at least in my opinion. The free agent signing of Walker and Dockery for oversized contracts created an aggravating and resentful situation for the best player on the line. The situation deteriorated to the point that he and his agent had a strategy to get himself traded. It worked. The Bills got what they could for him. The result is they ending up drafting a quality guard/center who should be a mainstay player. If you factor in the drafting of Levitre the same year with a second round pick, then we got two presumed quality linemen in that one draft. That isn't too shabby considering the team's draft history.

 

The drafting of Wood exemplifies what this franchise should be doing. That is drafting players in the vicinity of where they are ranked. Almost everything I read prior to that draft had Woods ranked as a lower first round and high second round value. He was considered one of the two best centers in the draft with the ability to also project as a guard. Needless to say, the Steelers are a very much more complete team than the Bills. Last year, they drafted Pouncey, a center, in the same vicinity . He also is going to be a mainstay player for them.

 

The Bills selection of Wood is an example of what the Bills should be doing. That is they need to make their picks count, especially their higher picks. Unfortunately, that has not always happened. What makes the Steelers such a good team is not that they are brilliant drafters, they are not. What distinguishes them is that they are consistently good, ending up with a team primarily composed of their own draftees. That is what we should be doing, and hopefully will be doing.

 

With respect to Spiller a lot of people will be quieted when he becomes a scintillating big play player. Just my humble opinion. Just to reinforce a prior point---he was drafted in the vicinity of where he was ranked i.e. a top ten talent.

[spartacus]

Mistakes do happen when assessing talent, but many of the teams problem stem from instability at the head coaching position. It's hard to build consistency when there is constant turn over. Each scheme usually employs specific talents. Change the scheme and the players you had for the old scheme are now not a good fit. Some people just can't play at this level, even though expectations were high on draft day. Also GM's/head scouts sometimes get overruled by HC's(see Maybin). Not defending Modrak, but we can't hang Flowers on him, as he was a Butler pick before he left for SD. Also I believe Losman was a Donahoe decision. Take a look at the Steelers. Even when their HC leaves there is consistancy because he chose his successor so as not to cause monumental changes due to having the same philosophy both offensively and defencively.

 

so what scheme would Maybin be a stud and justify his top 12 selection?

 

he already has proven useless in the 4-3 and 3-4

 

maybe a flag football scheme would be more appropriate

 

 

 

[spartacus]

Great points about the organization's general instability. But the head coaching carousel is a symptom, not a cause.

 

The Bills have had 14 head coaches in the last 40 years. That is the most turnover in the NFL.

 

In that time they've had numerous general managers as well.

 

But again, the organizational instability are all symptoms of bad ownership. The Buffalo Bills have no "organizational memory," they have no "organizational competency." And has been pointed out, they have no "organizational philosophy."

 

Over Ralph's ownership of the team, they've made the same mistakes over and over, seemingly never using 50 years of existence as a basis for accumulating expertise, knowledge, and wisdom. Every day is like Groundhog Day except the part where they actually learn something.

 

The Steelers (and Packers, and Chiefs) are great smaller market organizations that minimize their mistakes and pour their resources into areas they know will allow them to compete. The Bills?

 

BTW, your point about the Steelers and their head coaching succession is not correct. Cowher did not choose Mike Tomlin. Cowher recommended that Chan Gailey succeed him in Pittsburgh. Many pundits thought that Steeler assistants Ken Whisenhunt or Russ Grimm would get the Pittsburgh job after Cowher.

 

The Rooneys selected MIke Tomlin from outside the organization. Tomlin is from the Tony Dungy coaching tree and never worked for the Rooneys or Cowher.

 

The Rooney's actually went so far as to tell Grimm he had the job- but were essentially forced by the league to hire a minority since after all, they had named the minority interview requirement after Rooney.

 

 

Also explains why the Steelers seem to get so many favorable calls and rulings, but it could be that the league is ensuring that your showcase minority coach is a success.

 

 

[bills1960]

There are bad picks, and there are ridiculous picks. Bad picks make the team and play mediocre. Ridiculous picks, like Maybin, hold out, shave crap into their hair, and flat out suck. Dude can't even do special teams. McCargo....wow. Losman. Flowers. Williams.

 

Bad picks: McKelvin seems to be a mistake at #11, Spiller? Jury's out....I think it was a bad pick at number 9. Number 9 is supposed to come in and start and be a difference maker.

 

We are a bad drafting team.

While you're at it, why not Evans? 13th overall? Never been to a pro bowl, two 1,000 yard seasons and nothing else? Average player with a high pick.

[DFITZ1]

From an ESPN insider article....

 

"They do this with a personnel blueprint nearly every franchise has tried to duplicate: by getting as many as 10 pairs of eyes on every draft prospect, they are able to pick exceptionally well, with few big mistakes, and restock their roster each fall with young, talented and cost-efficient players who perfectly fit their schemes."

 

 

Obviously we have a scout department, not one person stands up and says, hey this maybin kid has a 30" waist or can we afford a reggie bush type player (spiller)on this roster,etc. Or, we do have guys objecting and RW and TM just over ride everyone?

 

How much is scouting and how nuch is (lack of) front office strategy. The Bills have been notoriously lean when it comes to stocking the OL, DL and LB corp, despite past history supporting their value (Billy Shaw, Joe D, and Bruce Smith in the HOF). The quality of play in the trenches, will improve the quality of play behind them. The non-trench players can't make the linemen look better (cover up their faults, at best). Unfortunately, the Bills have wasted picks on RB when the trenches needed immediate help. Also, we whiffed twice in lineman with Mike Williams and Maybin (to name 2). There draft day strategy seems more impulse than a development plan. I would love to see how Modrak and all assessed Maybin and his contemporaries. How could Maybin be considered the best available pass rusher boggles even the amateur mind.

[Sisyphean Bills]

The Peter's saga was a situation that could have been avoided, at least in my opinion. The free agent signing of Walker and Dockery for oversized contracts created an aggravating and resentful situation for the best player on the line. The situation deteriorated to the point that he and his agent had a strategy to get himself traded. It worked. The Bills got what they could for him. The result is they ending up drafting a quality guard/center who should be a mainstay player. If you factor in the drafting of Levitre the same year with a second round pick, then we got two presumed quality linemen in that one draft. That isn't too shabby considering the team's draft history.

 

The drafting of Wood exemplifies what this franchise should be doing. That is drafting players in the vicinity of where they are ranked. Almost everything I read prior to that draft had Woods ranked as a lower first round and high second round value. He was considered one of the two best centers in the draft with the ability to also project as a guard. Needless to say, the Steelers are a very much more complete team than the Bills. Last year, they drafted Pouncey, a center, in the same vicinity . He also is going to be a mainstay player for them.

 

The Bills selection of Wood is an example of what the Bills should be doing. That is they need to make their picks count, especially their higher picks. Unfortunately, that has not always happened. What makes the Steelers such a good team is not that they are brilliant drafters, they are not. What distinguishes them is that they are consistently good, ending up with a team primarily composed of their own draftees. That is what we should be doing, and hopefully will be doing.

 

With respect to Spiller a lot of people will be quieted when he becomes a scintillating big play player. Just my humble opinion. Just to reinforce a prior point---he was drafted in the vicinity of where he was ranked i.e. a top ten talent.

Yeah. Just drafting guys that can actually play the game will be a step forward.

[Buffalo Barbarian]

From an ESPN insider article....

 

"They do this with a personnel blueprint nearly every franchise has tried to duplicate: by getting as many as 10 pairs of eyes on every draft prospect, they are able to pick exceptionally well, with few big mistakes, and restock their roster each fall with young, talented and cost-efficient players who perfectly fit their schemes."

 

 

Obviously we have a scout department, not one person stands up and says, hey this maybin kid has a 30" waist or can we afford a reggie bush type player (spiller)on this roster,etc. Or, we do have guys objecting and RW and TM just over ride everyone?

Who knows? but they have had too many misses and if they don't get it together we will never be good again.

[JohnC]

The Rooney's actually went so far as to tell Grimm he had the job- but were essentially forced by the league to hire a minority since after all, they had named the minority interview requirement after Rooney.

 

 

Also explains why the Steelers seem to get so many favorable calls and rulings, but it could be that the league is ensuring that your showcase minority coach is a success.

 

Your claim that the league forced the Steelers to take Tomlin is not only absurd, it is also laughable. There is no doubt that Russ Grimm and Ken Whisenhut were favored candidates for the HC job vacated by Cowhrer. After the impressive interview by Tomlin the owner recognized that he was the best candidate. So he was hired him. They not only made the right decision, they also made a marvelous decision.

 

Yeah. Just drafting guys that can actually play the game will be a step forward.

 

It sure beats drafting guys who can't actually play the game and set the franchise further back.

[spartacus]

Your claim that the league forced the Steelers to take Tomlin is not only absurd, it is also laughable. There is no doubt that Russ Grimm and Ken Whisenhut were favored candidates for the HC job vacated by Cowhrer. After the impressive interview by Tomlin the owner recognized that he was the best candidate. So he was hired him. They not only made the right decision, they also made a marvelous decision.

 

sure it was a marvelous -

 

 

the league has a vested interest in making sure it was a marvelous choice

 

not such a marvelous thing for Russ Grimm - who had already been awarded the job

 

 

[Green Lightning]

sure it was a marvelous -

 

 

the league has a vested interest in making sure it was a marvelous choice

 

not such a marvelous thing for Russ Grimm - who had already been awarded the job

 

I wish the league would have forced Tomlin on the Bills before we hired DJ.

Edited January 30, 2011 by Green Lightning

[JohnC]

sure it was a marvelous -

 

 

the league has a vested interest in making sure it was a marvelous choice

 

not such a marvelous thing for Russ Grimm - who had already been awarded the job

 

I don't know where you come up with that Grimm already had been awarded the job? He and Ken Whishenhut were favored in-house candidates. From what I have read Tomlin's interview was so impressive that he won the organization over. His record as a HC has demonstrated that the organization made the right decision. I'm sure you are aware that despite some crippling injuries his team will again be in the SB again.

Edited January 31, 2011 by JohnC