Scraps Posted February 1, 2011 Posted February 1, 2011 +1 I find your ideas intriguing and wish to subscribe to your newsletter. I don't think this will be looked at as a bad draft three or more seasons down the road, which is when you can realistically grade drafts. How great it is will be determined by what these players contribute over the next few years, and I see reason for optimism. Kiper graded the perceived value right after the draft based on his projections, and then amended it to the first year impact in this article. Both are fun, and the second is somewhat important, but what really matters is what these players contribute over a number of years. 2005: We didn't have a 1st, and we end up with Roscoe on our 2011 roster, and nothing much else useful in between. WEAK 2006: Whitner, Youboty, Kyle, Ellison. Obviously we would like Ngata, but four contributors, one of them a pro bowler is a pretty GOOD draft 2007: Lynch, Poz, and Trent. Trent fizzled after the concussion, but not a bust for a 3rd round QB, Lynch performed and gave us a 4th rounder, Poz is a contributor when healthy, but not the impact we hoped. OKAY draft. 2008: McKelvin, Ellis, Corner, Bell, Stevie. McKelvin wasn't worth #11, but definitely a GOOD draft, especially in the seventh round with starting LT and #1 receiver 2009: Too soon, but Maybin bust partially offset by Wood, Byrd, Levitre 2010: Too soon, but I like our chances as explained by Kelly below So all the drafts are okay or good and this team is still talent poor? Sorry but 2006 was a bust. Passing on a DT for a safety when we really needed a DT sucked. Don't forget that we traded up to get McCargo. 2007 - I won't get to down on Lynch but letting a team leader who did not get injured in London Fletcher go and picking up the oft injured Poz was a loser. Trent is gone, what more needs to be said. 2008 - McKelvin - bad pick. Ellis meh. Corner meh. What about Hardy? 2009 - Passing up Orakpo, Cushing and Mathews for Maybin blows. 2010 - Sorry but a RB picked number 9 over all should do better.
Koufax Posted February 2, 2011 Posted February 2, 2011 So all the drafts are okay or good and this team is still talent poor? Sorry but 2006 was a bust. Passing on a DT for a safety when we really needed a DT sucked. Don't forget that we traded up to get McCargo. 2007 - I won't get to down on Lynch but letting a team leader who did not get injured in London Fletcher go and picking up the oft injured Poz was a loser. Trent is gone, what more needs to be said. 2008 - McKelvin - bad pick. Ellis meh. Corner meh. What about Hardy? 2009 - Passing up Orakpo, Cushing and Mathews for Maybin blows. 2010 - Sorry but a RB picked number 9 over all should do better. I didn't say they were all okay or good. I rated four, giving two a Good, one an okay, and one a weak (or maybe a stronger word, but I wasn't going with a Spinal Tap/Homeland Security eleven step rating system). Your individual points on players are right, and I was not ranking individual picks. I was ranking what we got out of the draft over several years. So no rating on 2010 or 2009 makes sense (agree with Maybin blowing, agree with wanting more from a #9 rookie RB). my appraisal of 2007 is not about Fletcher, or Trent having a fork stuck in him, or Lynch making his beast mode a national event in Seattle. It is about getting a 1000 yard back who gets in the end zone, a starting LB, and a starting QB (who forever changed when his head hit the ground in Arizona in October 2008. That strikes me as a pretty good draft when you aren't picking in the top 10. It was not a great draft like the Revis/David Harris one the Jets got in players we passed on. But we got three good starters (traded one, one has missed time to injury, and one has been released after having his brain scrambled). I think the expectations of drafts are often a little too high, and looking back at draft history helps to better understand it. If you look even at the Steelers, they tend to hit their top pick full of super stars (something we should really expect our front office to do), but their overall drafts aren't night and day different beyond that. So I hope CJ is a playmaker, but am not pining away for Bulaga.
Scraps Posted February 3, 2011 Posted February 3, 2011 (edited) I didn't say they were all okay or good. I rated four, giving two a Good, one an okay, and one a weak (or maybe a stronger word, but I wasn't going with a Spinal Tap/Homeland Security eleven step rating system). Your individual points on players are right, and I was not ranking individual picks. I was ranking what we got out of the draft over several years. So no rating on 2010 or 2009 makes sense (agree with Maybin blowing, agree with wanting more from a #9 rookie RB). my appraisal of 2007 is not about Fletcher, or Trent having a fork stuck in him, or Lynch making his beast mode a national event in Seattle. It is about getting a 1000 yard back who gets in the end zone, a starting LB, and a starting QB (who forever changed when his head hit the ground in Arizona in October 2008. That strikes me as a pretty good draft when you aren't picking in the top 10. It was not a great draft like the Revis/David Harris one the Jets got in players we passed on. But we got three good starters (traded one, one has missed time to injury, and one has been released after having his brain scrambled). I think the expectations of drafts are often a little too high, and looking back at draft history helps to better understand it. If you look even at the Steelers, they tend to hit their top pick full of super stars (something we should really expect our front office to do), but their overall drafts aren't night and day different beyond that. So I hope CJ is a playmaker, but am not pining away for Bulaga. Sorry but I'm not buying it. Your rational for labeling a draft 'okay'' is to get a contributor and labeling a draft 'good' is to get 2-3 contributors. For a team that professes the need to build from the draft, this team has do better than that, especially given its propensity to not retain players who have proven they can play thus creating holes where none need exist. 3 First round picks and 1 second spent on running backs in the past decade? Pathetic. And I'm sorry but I am totally unimpressed with Poz. So what if he is a starting LB? How many Pro Bowls has he made? He is only starting because the brain farts in charge of this team did not keep Fletcher and the rest of the LBs on this team are weak. As for the Steelers picks being similar to the Bills, not buying it. The Steelers have had 79 draft picks in the last decade, the Bills 85. The Steelers have picked 5 spots behind the Bills on average yet 35 of those picks are on their roster compared to just 26 for the Bills. The Steelers also have 2 picks from the 90s on their team, the Bills, none. This team is talent poor because it does not retain players who can play and can not draft competently. Edited February 3, 2011 by Scraps
Kelly the Dog Posted February 3, 2011 Posted February 3, 2011 (edited) Sorry but I'm not buying it. Your rational for labeling a draft 'okay'' is to get a contributor and labeling a draft 'good' is to get 2-3 contributors. For a team that professes the need to build from the draft, this team has do better than that, especially given its propensity to not retain players who have proven they can play thus creating holes where none need exist. 3 First round picks and 1 second spent on running backs in the past decade? Pathetic. And I'm sorry but I am totally unimpressed with Poz. So what if he is a starting LB? How many Pro Bowls has he made? He is only starting because the brain farts in charge of this team did not keep Fletcher and the rest of the LBs on this team are weak. As for the Steelers picks being similar to the Bills, not buying it. The Steelers have had 79 draft picks in the last decade, the Bills 85. The Steelers have picked 5 spots behind the Bills on average yet 35 of those picks are on their roster compared to just 26 for the Bills. The Steelers also have 2 picks from the 90s on their team, the Bills, none. This team is talent poor because it does not retain players who can play and can not draft competently. It doesn't matter where you get players from, or what round they were drafted in, a team needs 2-3 studs/stars, several very good players, surrounded by an army of solid role players, all of whom must be coached well. The Bills are talent poor because they haven't drafted well, they haven't signed the right players in free agency, they havent made good trades, they let a few guys go they should have kept, they have made bad coaching decisions so the players they did have did not develop, and as much as anything, they have a guy making financial decisions on what to pay or not pay these players who is not a football man or talent evaluator who routinely overpays or underpays and rarely gets it right (although he is not solely to blame for it, he's a huge problem). Edited February 3, 2011 by Kelly the Fair and Balanced Dog
Bill from NYC Posted February 3, 2011 Posted February 3, 2011 2006: Of Whitner, Youboty, Kyle, and Ellison, I discount Youboty and Ellison completely. You can obtain players like that by signing bargain basement, third-rate free agents. Draft picks are supposed to be upgrades over players like that! Kyle Williams was obviously a great pick, and covers up a lot of other sins. But other than him (and Whitner, though to a much lesser extent) the Bills came away with nothing from that draft. Respectable. In all of our years of dialogue, I have never disagreed with you more. Respectable? How can you possibly think or even suggest respectability about a draft that virtually destroyed this team? On day 1 they had the #8, a second, and 2 early 3rds. They came away with Whitner, McCargo and Youboty. A mediocre player and 2 busts with 4 prime selections. Respectable? Seriously? If that wasn't bad enough, they took Simpson with an early 4th. OK, they scored with Williams in round 5. That was good, but not by any means good enough to render this draft as anything better than dismal. This doesn't even take into account the fact that this particular draft was stacked in talent at positions of great need to the Bills. My friend, I have no idea where you came up with "respectable." You know how much I appreciate your posts, but that's just nuts.
JohnC Posted February 3, 2011 Posted February 3, 2011 (edited) [/size] In all of our years of dialogue, I have never disagreed with you more. Respectable? How can you possibly think or even suggest respectability about a draft that virtually destroyed this team? On day 1 they had the #8, a second, and 2 early 3rds. They came away with Whitner, McCargo and Youboty. A mediocre player and 2 busts with 4 prime selections. Respectable? Seriously? If that wasn't bad enough, they took Simpson with an early 4th. OK, they scored with Williams in round 5. That was good, but not by any means good enough to render this draft as anything better than dismal. This doesn't even take into account the fact that this particular draft was stacked in talent at positions of great need to the Bills. My friend, I have no idea where you came up with "respectable." You know how much I appreciate your posts, but that's just nuts. As I stated on another post the owner has expressed his support for Tom Modrak, the organization's head scout. He is the person most responsible for assembling the scouting staff. In addition, he also reviews their work and assigns others to cross check a scout's evaluation. Although he may not be involved in the selection process (another sign of dysfunction) he is the person most responsible for putting together the team's draft board. The owner has come out publicly and defended Tom Modrak. Claiming that Modrak was not the person making the picks. Doesn't the sleepy owner realize that Modrak is the one formalizing the scouting reports and ranking the players? How do you change a failed system when it is the owner who is reinforcing the failed system. Edited February 3, 2011 by JohnC
Bill from NYC Posted February 3, 2011 Posted February 3, 2011 (edited) As I stated on another post the owner has expressed his support for Tom Modrak, the organization's head scout. He is the person most responsible for assembling the scouting staff. In addition, he also reviews their work and assigns others to cross check a scout's evaluation. Although he may not be involved in the selection process (another sign of dysfunction) he is the person most responsible for putting together the team's draft board. The owner has come out publicly and defended Tom Modrak. Claiming that Modrak was not the person making the picks. Doesn't the sleepy owner realize that Modrak is the one formalizing the scouting reports and ranking the players? How do you change a failed system when it is the owner who is reinforcing the failed system. John, of all the drafts that I have despised, this one was just the worst imo. But it's hard for me to pin this one on Modrak (who I am not defending btw). The combination of Levy/Jauron was as bad as it can get in the NFL, with the possible exception of Rich Kotite running the entire show for the jets. At least Kotite did ok with Keyshawn, even though he followed up that selection with another wideout who sucked in round 2. Levy/Jauron were so horrible that it is hard to comprehend, and I am dead serious. They believed that teams are built through the secondary and special teams. Total idiots. It will probably take another 2 years to undo the damage, and this is assuming that Mr. Wilson doesn't exert control, AND that Nix is capable of building a strong team, a possibility that I cling to. Either way, April is a great chance for us to build a strong football team that is suited for the elements and our tough, blue collar fan base. I sure hope it works; we deserve it. Edited February 3, 2011 by Bill from NYC
Scraps Posted February 3, 2011 Posted February 3, 2011 John, of all the drafts that I have despised, this one was just the worst imo. But it's hard for me to pin this one on Modrak (who I am not defending btw). The combination of Levy/Jauron was as bad as it can get in the NFL, with the possible exception of Rich Kotite running the entire show for the jets. Matt Millen, enuf said.
JohnC Posted February 3, 2011 Posted February 3, 2011 (edited) John, of all the drafts that I have despised, this one was just the worst imo. But it's hard for me to pin this one on Modrak (who I am not defending btw). The combination of Levy/Jauron was as bad as it can get in the NFL, with the possible exception of Rich Kotite running the entire show for the jets. At least Kotite did ok with Keyshawn, even though he followed up that selection with another wideout who sucked in round 2. Levy/Jauron were so horrible that it is hard to comprehend, and I am dead serious. They believed that teams are built through the secondary and special teams. Total idiots. It will probably take another 2 years to undo the damage, and this is assuming that Mr. Wilson doesn't exert control, AND that Nix is capable of building a strong team, a possibility that I cling to. Either way, April is a great chance for us to build a strong football team that is suited for the elements and our tough, blue collar fan base. I sure hope it works; we deserve it. Levy was most responsible for the hiring of Dick Jauron. ML was also at the helm when DJ was "prematurely" given an extension and more authority in personnel decisions. How crazy is that? Shortly after Jauron was fired Marv Levy was on WGR radio promoting a book. The radio host, Howard Simon, asked Marv what he thought of the Jauron firing. The congenial Marv was obviously irritated. After a pause he firmly stated that he felt that Jauron should not have been fired, that instead he should have been given more time to right the ship. When our confused owner brought in Levy he didn't realize the damage that he was going to do to his business. Either way, April is a great chance for us to build a strong football team that is suited for the elements and our tough, blue collar fan base. I sure hope it works; we deserve it. The period leading up to the draft and the draft are the fun time of the season. Then the regular season starts and reality hits you. What most fans want is some rationality and direction brought to this stumbling franchise. Most realistic people know that the Bills are years away from being a serious team. That's okay. If you can see a group of core young players developing and offering a glimmer of hope, then I'll take it. Only time will tell but I think you are being too pessimisistic about last year's draft. I think there is more there than you presently see. The Spiller pick might not fit witin your building blueprint, but if he turns out to be a playmaker (which I do believe) then I'm confident that you will soften in your assessment. Sometimes people can have a similar blueprint but the order of implementation varies. Edited February 3, 2011 by JohnC
Orton's Arm Posted February 3, 2011 Posted February 3, 2011 [/size] In all of our years of dialogue, I have never disagreed with you more. Respectable? How can you possibly think or even suggest respectability about a draft that virtually destroyed this team? On day 1 they had the #8, a second, and 2 early 3rds. They came away with Whitner, McCargo and Youboty. A mediocre player and 2 busts with 4 prime selections. Respectable? Seriously? If that wasn't bad enough, they took Simpson with an early 4th. OK, they scored with Williams in round 5. That was good, but not by any means good enough to render this draft as anything better than dismal. This doesn't even take into account the fact that this particular draft was stacked in talent at positions of great need to the Bills. My friend, I have no idea where you came up with "respectable." You know how much I appreciate your posts, but that's just nuts. I completely agree that the Bills squandered their early picks in that draft. There's no way the Bills should have taken Whitner eighth overall. The eighth overall pick is normally worth 1400 points. Conversely, the 8th pick of the second round is worth 500 points, and the 8th pick of the third round is worth 230 points. Vic Carruci didn't have Whitner rated as a first-round talent, let alone the 8th overall best player in the draft. If for whatever reason Marv and Jauron wanted to add Whitner-like players to the roster, they should have stayed put in the second round and gone after him there. Falling in love with one particular player and letting yourself squander really good draft value was a very serious mistake! As you point out, the Bills followed up the Whitner reach with the McCargo and Youboty busts. The first day of that draft was an absolute embarrassment to the franchise, and clearly demonstrated why Marv had no business being GM. But a Pro Bowl DT like Kyle Williams is a lot more than you'd expect from the second day of the draft. That guy provides a high level of play at a very valuable position! If we had used the 8th overall pick on a DT, and if the DT had played as well as Williams has, we'd label that pick a fairly decent success. Maybe not as big a success as Ngata would have been, but a success nonetheless. And then if Whitner had been taken in the second round (instead of trading up for McCargo), I think that a lot of people here would be okay with the selection. Using 500 points of draft day value on him is a lot easier to justify than using 1400 points! The 2006 draft was extremely frustrating for me personally because I'd wanted them to either stay put and take Cutler or trade down and draft Mangold. It turns out they could have come away with both players: Cutler at eighth overall instead of Whitner, Mangold later in the first instead of McCargo. Cutler was traded away for a pair of first rounders and other things, so the Broncos got a lot more value out of him than the Bills have out of Whitner! Mangold is the best center in the league. But even though I'm really, really annoyed at Marv and Jauron for having done a much worse job in the first round than I would have done, I have to give them credit for taking Kyle Williams in the fifth. I don't think that I would have come away with a Pro Bowl DT on the second day of the draft had I been GM.
Fan in Chicago Posted February 3, 2011 Posted February 3, 2011 But even though I'm really, really annoyed at Marv and Jauron for having done a much worse job in the first round than I would have done, I have to give them credit for taking Kyle Williams in the fifth. I don't think that I would have come away with a Pro Bowl DT on the second day of the draft had I been GM. When the overall success rate of drafting is so poor, you have to wonder if selecting Williams was strategy or just the law of averages catching up.
robertpaul49 Posted February 3, 2011 Posted February 3, 2011 One thing that annoys me about Kiper's comments is that he states that the Bills need players to step in right away and contribute. It seems that a lot of people on this board believe the same thing; however, this is no way accurate. The Bills are in the process of rebuilding. They have a new management team in place, i.e. a new general manager. The team has not had a real general manager since Donahue. The Bills predominately drafted small school, development projects, but Kiper is expecting them to make an immediate impact. As far as Spiller, people forget that he could have much better numbers if he took more snaps and was named the starter from the beginning. I know rookies are going to make mistakes, but isn't it also possible that they are gradually easing him into the position. First, it will reduce the wear and tear and the chance of injury, which is one of the biggest reason high draft pick running backs go bust. Second, it creates discipline on the team. I really think Chan was not trying to win this year. It's not that he was intentionally tanking the season, but that he was trying to build for the future. Last year was a good draft. Granted Maybin is a bust, but the next three picks were solid. Oh, as far as they needed to fill other holes, well they had so many holes they couldn't have filled them all even if the player they got was the best player ever drafted in that round. As far as New England, they had veterans around the rookies, and they stockpilled a ton of picks, which definitely help the teams odds.
Orton's Arm Posted February 3, 2011 Posted February 3, 2011 (edited) When the overall success rate of drafting is so poor, you have to wonder if selecting Williams was strategy or just the law of averages catching up. An excellent point. Let's say you were to find an intelligent, knowledgeable football fan and were to hand him a pile of draft day guides. Then you give him a week or so to go through those guides and determine which draft experts had been the most accurate in the past. If you were to place that fan in charge of your team's picks from rounds 3 - 7, and if you were to give that guy enough picks, he'd probably find a few success stories. Let's say you were to define a round 3 - 7 success story as a guy who's a) still in the league, and b) who's starting caliber. If that's your definition, then Kyle Williams is the only success story Marv found in rounds 3 - 7 of his two drafts. That's about the success rate I'd expect from the above-described knowledgeable fan. Marv's contributions were about equal to what a knowledgeable fan would have provided in rounds 3 - 7. Where that knowledgeable fan would have had a commanding, almost crushing advantage over Marv would have been in rounds 1 - 2. Edited February 3, 2011 by Edwards' Arm
JohnC Posted February 3, 2011 Posted February 3, 2011 But a Pro Bowl DT like Kyle Williams is a lot more than you'd expect from the second day of the draft. That guy provides a high level of play at a very valuable position! If we had used the 8th overall pick on a DT, and if the DT had played as well as Williams has, we'd label that pick a fairly decent success. Maybe not as big a success as Ngata would have been, but a success nonetheless. And then if Whitner had been taken in the second round (instead of trading up for McCargo), I think that a lot of people here would be okay with the selection. Using 500 points of draft day value on him is a lot easier to justify than using 1400 points! But even though I'm really, really annoyed at Marv and Jauron for having done a much worse job in the first round than I would have done, I have to give them credit for taking Kyle Williams in the fifth. I don't think that I would have come away with a Pro Bowl DT on the second day of the draft had I been GM. I hope I don't come off as a perpetually sour person but drafting the very productive Kyle Williams in the fifth round is not a major accomplishment when considering the whole draft context. The body of work of drafting for the Bills for this past decade has been atrociously bad. Every team, good and bad, periodically, has hits in the lower rounds. So that isn't such a unique occurrence. The bottom line is that by missing on early picks for a string of years, the draft position in which you should be selecting impact players, has damaged this already very bruised franchise. Although NY Bill doesn't agree with my assessment, I thought that last year's draft was solid. Depending on how Troup and Carrington and maybe Easley play this year the evaluation can change in either direction. In general, the players taken were taken in the vicinity of where they were ranked. They also got some contributing players at lower draft positions, such as Moats, Jones and David Nelson.
Orton's Arm Posted February 3, 2011 Posted February 3, 2011 I hope I don't come off as a perpetually sour person but drafting the very productive Kyle Williams in the fifth round is not a major accomplishment when considering the whole draft context. The body of work of drafting for the Bills for this past decade has been atrociously bad. Every team, good and bad, periodically, has hits in the lower rounds. So that isn't such a unique occurrence. The bottom line is that by missing on early picks for a string of years, the draft position in which you should be selecting impact players, has damaged this already very bruised franchise. Although NY Bill doesn't agree with my assessment, I thought that last year's draft was solid. Depending on how Troup and Carrington and maybe Easley play this year the evaluation can change in either direction. In general, the players taken were taken in the vicinity of where they were ranked. They also got some contributing players at lower draft positions, such as Moats, Jones and David Nelson. I think it's worth noting that in his two years of GM, Marv Levy had one bona fide success story: Kyle Williams. Literally everything else he did was either a disappointment (Whitner, Poz) or an outright failure (just about everything else). That includes draft picks, free agent signings, coaching hires, the composition of the front office. Even the parking lot still had potholes when Marv left! You don't have to be a pessimist or a whiner to feel a sense of deep disappointment with Marv's term as GM. There wasn't a whole lot of difference between the results Marv produced during his two years and what Matt Millen would have provided had he been GM.
JohnC Posted February 4, 2011 Posted February 4, 2011 (edited) I think it's worth noting that in his two years of GM, Marv Levy had one bona fide success story: Kyle Williams. Literally everything else he did was either a disappointment (Whitner, Poz) or an outright failure (just about everything else). That includes draft picks, free agent signings, coaching hires, the composition of the front office. Even the parking lot still had potholes when Marv left! You don't have to be a pessimist or a whiner to feel a sense of deep disappointment with Marv's term as GM. There wasn't a whole lot of difference between the results Marv produced during his two years and what Matt Millen would have provided had he been GM. There were more than a few commentators on this board that lambasted me for being critical of Saint Marv. I was called a hater and everything up to the point of being unpatriotic. I think that Matt Millen actually knows how to analyze football games and communicate that analysis in a very understandable form. What he certainly didn't know how to do was evaluate personnel and how to construct a team. With respect to Marv all I have to say about him is that he is a very likeable person. Our inscrutable owner put this very honorable person in a position he should never have been in. Right from the start it never made sense. Edited February 4, 2011 by JohnC
Bill from NYC Posted February 4, 2011 Posted February 4, 2011 Although NY Bill doesn't agree with my assessment, I thought that last year's draft was solid. I liked it after round 1. From the first day I hated the Spiller pick and was fairly satisfied with the rest, although I would have liked more blockers.
JohnC Posted February 4, 2011 Posted February 4, 2011 I liked it after round 1. From the first day I hated the Spiller pick and was fairly satisfied with the rest, although I would have liked more blockers. I'm confident that eventually you will come around on the Spiller pick, but grudgingly so. LOL I think that this Nix regime is aware that the Jauron/Levy roster he inherited needed to get bigger and stronger. The light and quick defensive line approach is outdated, as exhibited by the SB participants. The change to the 3-4 embodies the new approach. It is going to take a little more time to get the right players to fit the scheme.
shoretalk Posted February 4, 2011 Posted February 4, 2011 The whole article is worth a read. Although I actually do see Moats as more of a legit contributor, I can't really argue with the summary. The funniest thing about the defenders of Tom Modrak and the rest of the front office is that the year after the draft they say it's "too early to tell" whether the guys are any good or not. Then, after one or two more years when that line of argument doesn't work because its obvious to all that the players are not cutting it, they switch over to blaming those bad picks on whatever coach or front office guy departed. Since its 2011, it's too early to tell if Spiller, Troup, and Carrington are going to work out. In 2013, those lousy picks will be blamed on Tom Modrak, Buddy Nix, or Chan Gailey, depending on which of them has been sent packing and made the scapegoat for this. Buffalo Bills Summary: Considering the holes on the roster, Buffalo had to get players that could step in immediately and help. I like C.J. Spiller, but emphasized that I considered him a bit of a luxury pick, considering there are other options in that backfield. His season can only be considered a disappointment. Torell Troup and Arthur Moats saw some time, but is there one guy from this class who looks like an anchor? I questioned Buffalo's plan, and I'm not sure this draft shows it really had one. If it did, that plan went off course early. Draft grade: C-plus | Current Grade: D-plus If you believe in Mel Kiper then you might as well put some money down on that bridge in NY City ... I always laugh when he's given such credibility but truly usually washes out with the exception of his picks that are in agreement with everyone else. Can anyone name a sleeper Mel Kiper pick that some team 'stole' late in the draft? Did he ever play or coach any sport in his entire life other than the school of messed up hair? Sorry ... don't look at his stuff pre-draft or post-draft. I give every draft class at least 3 years to prove themselves (that being said, we obviously have had some bad drafts). So ... send Mel your money .... not me.
thewildrabbit Posted February 4, 2011 Posted February 4, 2011 (edited) What gets me is that teams like the Steelers-Patriots-Colts-Ravens are always drafting later in the rounds and yet find quality starters every year, Buffalo drafts in the top 10-15 every year and really struggles to even find starters in rounds one and two. When teams like the Steelers draft a center in the first round the guy makes the pro-bowl his first year, and is worthy of that first round pick. You guys can continue to blame Marv Levy for his 2 years, Jauron for his 4 years, and even blame Modrak for his 8+ years....Like I stated earlier, the man I hold accountable is the president of the team who has had his hands in everything since he fired Tom Donahoe. Just knowing that the status quo remains the same ruins my draft thoughts about the Bills, and even tho Nix is now supposedly calling the shots (something I highly doubt considering the Spiller pick) I just don't see this team drafting itself outta the AFC East basement. Another thought is the Cornell Green selection as a RT free agent for 3 million dollars, and how the franchise pinned their RT hopes to that horrible player is beyond me. So that now can the Bills even be trusted to grade an experienced player at any position? The entire Bills fan base knew Trent Edwards stunk and was shell shocked, and yet this coaching staff and Buddy Nix wasted an entire off season, pre season and 2 games just to cut the guy and get no return for him. Marshawn Lynch was another blunder, they could have traded him on draft day for another pick in last years draft. They could have gotten a higher return for him from the Saints. All I can do as a Bills fan is hope that the proverbial law of averages really swings Buffalo's way and they get really lucky in the draft and free agency this year, even then I still don't give them any chance to make the playoffs with this staff....or even have a winning season. The only real glimmer of hope for me anymore is that TG is able to buy the Bills at some point, and he hires some people that are actually good at their jobs Edited February 4, 2011 by Harvey lives
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