A Few Scattered Thoughts About The Draft

[b stein 22]

There will be a UFA period, and I realize there's a drop off at CB in this draft. But I'm not concerned about pass defense when teams eat up the clock and stuff it down the heart of the defense. Furthermore, there's a reason the CB's get beat up in Buffalo, and it's because they're playing run support more often than not and getting nicked up doing so.

 

Yeah, McGee's regularly hurt, McKelvin isn't living up to his draft selection, Corner is a nickel/dime guy, and Florence is probably gone. Still, it's a matter of what killed me, and it wasn't other teams passing on that defense.

 

I'm not killing the player, but the point is he doesn't help the run defense.

I guess you have not seen him play. He is very good at getting off blocks and stoping the runner.

[BillsVet]

I guess you have not seen him play. He is very good at getting off blocks and stoping the runner.

 

Do you really want your DB's making a lot of tackles? Strong tackler or not, you don't take CB's in the 2nd round to play in run defense.

[Kelly the Dog]

There will be a UFA period, and I realize there's a drop off at CB in this draft. But I'm not concerned about pass defense when teams eat up the clock and stuff it down the heart of the defense. Furthermore, there's a reason the CB's get beat up in Buffalo, and it's because they're playing run support more often than not and getting nicked up doing so.

 

Yeah, McGee's regularly hurt, McKelvin isn't living up to his draft selection, Corner is a nickel/dime guy, and Florence is probably gone. Still, it's a matter of what killed me, and it wasn't other teams passing on that defense.

 

I'm not killing the player, but the point is he doesn't help the run defense.

Again I would have been very happy with a run stopper. I would have gambled on Bowers. But who would you have picked to stop the run with the players that were available. I don't see any stud ILB on the board. Most of the best talent remaining are pass rushing LBs. That's not what we need. I also expect Troup and Carrington to be significantly stronger. Not to mention that we addressed the run defense with the best run defender in the entire draft (not that he will completely solve the problem).

[BillsVet]

Again I would have been very happy with a run stopper. I would have gambled on Bowers. But who would you have picked to stop the run with the players that were available. I don't see any stud ILB on the board. Most of the best talent remaining are pass rushing LBs. That's not what we need. I also expect Troup and Carrington to be significantly stronger. Not to mention that we addressed the run defense with the best run defender in the entire draft (not that he will completely solve the problem).

 

Bowers will probably need microfracture surgery, so I'm not crying because he wasn't the pick. The major issue I have with Nix, et al is their team-building philosophy remains off. They don't draft OT's high. They see the TE position as a blocker, despite most franchises looking for receivers who can block, and finally they use too many resources on skill guys.

 

We'll agree to disagree.

[Kelly the Dog]

Bowers will probably need microfracture surgery, so I'm not crying because he wasn't the pick. The major issue I have with Nix, et al is their team-building philosophy remains off. They don't draft OT's high. They see the TE position as a blocker, despite most franchises looking for receivers who can block, and finally they use too many resources on skill guys.

 

We'll agree to disagree.

Fair enough. My point is that we had a ton of needs, and they cannot be fixed in two rounds of this years drafts. We need serious help stopping the run at DL, ILB and OLB, help rushing the passer, help at DB especially corner and maybe if Whitner leaves. Huge need at RT and TE.

[Bob in STL]

Bowers will probably need microfracture surgery, so I'm not crying because he wasn't the pick. The major issue I have with Nix, et al is their team-building philosophy remains off. They don't draft OT's high. They see the TE position as a blocker, despite most franchises looking for receivers who can block, and finally they use too many resources on skill guys.

 

We'll agree to disagree.

 

 

I would have liked to see a road grader RT but Williams at DB looks like a solid pick and I would not be surprised to see him playing a lot this year.

 

Tackles Franklin Orlando or Ben Ijalana were on the board, both project as RT or could end up playing guard. I think they went BPA.

 

As for Nix, he has not completed two drafts yet so it seems premature to define his tendencies. We will know about what to think of Nix after we see what lasts years rookies contribute in their second year.

[Bill from NYC]

Give it time FiC, give it time!

 

Good call Beerball. One could hit the mega-ball and have a 3 day session with Charleze Theron, and the Bills would find a way to bring you right back to earth.

[MRW]

Good call Beerball. One could hit the mega-ball and have a 3 day session with Charleze Theron, and the Bills would find a way to bring you right back to earth.

Bill, out of 6 picks the Bills have made in rounds 1-3 of the draft the last 2 years, they have selected 3 DL, 1 RB, 1 DB, and 1 LB. Honestly I'm beginning to wonder if you think the Bills should make any investment into the secondary at all.

[Coach Tuesday]

Bill, out of 6 picks the Bills have made in rounds 1-3 of the draft the last 2 years, they have selected 3 DL, 1 RB, 1 DB, and 1 LB. Honestly I'm beginning to wonder if you think the Bills should make any investment into the secondary at all.

 

Would an offensive lineman be too much to ask? These are the same folks who promised to upgrade the tackle position last year, then drafted Ed Wang, then moved that scrub to guard, then made the same promise this year, then....

[MRW]

Would an offensive lineman be too much to ask? These are the same folks who promised to upgrade the tackle position last year, then drafted Ed Wang, then moved that scrub to guard, then made the same promise this year, then....

Tackle remains a glaring need, I'll give you that. If I wanted to extend my argument I could bring in the 2009 draft with 2 OL picked in the first 3 rounds. But then I'd have to include Maybin and Byrd as well, so would that strengthen or hurt my case?

[BillsVet]

Would an offensive lineman be too much to ask? These are the same folks who promised to upgrade the tackle position last year, then drafted Ed Wang, then moved that scrub to guard, then made the same promise this year, then....

 

Especially with a marginal former 7th rounder starting at LT and the leading RT (Pears) on his 4th team in 3 years protecting their lone viable starting QB. Sure there'll be UFA, but not drafting an OT in the first three rounds for 9 years defies logic.

[Bill from NYC]

Tackle remains a glaring need, I'll give you that. If I wanted to extend my argument I could bring in the 2009 draft with 2 OL picked in the first 3 rounds. But then I'd have to include Maybin and Byrd as well, so would that strengthen or hurt my case?

 

What would hurt your case is the fact that they traded away a pro bowl LT and replaced him with a 7th round pick who we are still waiting to see results from.

 

Start from 2006, and count the high secondary draft picks. Then factor in the udfas and ufas. Then it will be clear to you that we have devoted more resources to the secondary than any other area of the team.

 

If this makes sense to you, that's great. But to me, this is a real reason as to why we consistently lose football games.

[Orton's Arm]

Bill, out of 6 picks the Bills have made in rounds 1-3 of the draft the last 2 years, they have selected 3 DL, 1 RB, 1 DB, and 1 LB. Honestly I'm beginning to wonder if you think the Bills should make any investment into the secondary at all.

As others have pointed out, what really jumps out from that list is the lack of offensive linemen. If the Spiller pick had been on an offensive lineman instead, I think the rest of Buddy's draft approach would be considerably easier to justify. I understand the reasons why they made the Spiller pick, but those reasons clearly haven't (yet?) panned out.

 

There will be a UFA period, and I realize there's a drop off at CB in this draft. But I'm not concerned about pass defense when teams eat up the clock and stuff it down the heart of the defense. Furthermore, there's a reason the CB's get beat up in Buffalo, and it's because they're playing run support more often than not and getting nicked up doing so.

 

Yeah, McGee's regularly hurt, McKelvin isn't living up to his draft selection, Corner is a nickel/dime guy, and Florence is probably gone. Still, it's a matter of what killed me, and it wasn't other teams passing on that defense.

 

I'm not killing the player, but the point is he doesn't help the run defense.

I disagree with the above post.

 

Teams generally run more pass plays than running plays. Let's suppose that, for the sake of argument, teams are disproportionately likely to call running plays against the Bills to take advantage of their league-worst rushing defense. Maybe that gives you a 50/50 mix of run/pass. Or even a 60/40 mix of run/pass plays called against you. The point here is that there were a significant number of passing plays called against the Bills last season, just as there will be this season. A guy who can help upgrade that pass defense makes your team better.

 

The Bills' run defense became considerably better in rounds 1 and 3 of the draft. Also, players like Troupe, Carrington, and Moats may contribute more in 2011 than they had in 2010. As it becomes harder to run the ball against the Bills, teams will tend to pass the ball more often. A highly suspect secondary--such as the one the Bills fielded last season--would make it that much easier for teams to complete passes against the Bills.

[BEAST MODE BABY!]

I hate to say this Bill, but I can see them drafting a CB at 34...

 

Prophetic.

[MRW]

What would hurt your case is the fact that they traded away a pro bowl LT and replaced him with a 7th round pick who we are still waiting to see results from.

 

Start from 2006, and count the high secondary draft picks. Then factor in the udfas and ufas. Then it will be clear to you that we have devoted more resources to the secondary than any other area of the team.

 

If this makes sense to you, that's great. But to me, this is a real reason as to why we consistently lose football games.

Why would that hurt my case? I didn't say word one about Peters, and for the record I've never disagreed with you about the stupid way Brandon & co. handled that. But I'm not going to hang it around Nix's neck, either.

 

There was a reason I started my count of picks in 2009. I think that, in fact, we have a picture emerging of the kind of player Nix wants, and if you'd let go of what happened before he was in charge, I think you'd see it's markedly different than the Levy/Brandon/Jauron strategy.

 

As others have pointed out, what really jumps out from that list is the lack of offensive linemen. If the Spiller pick had been on an offensive lineman instead, I think the rest of Buddy's draft approach would be considerably easier to justify. I understand the reasons why they made the Spiller pick, but those reasons clearly haven't (yet?) panned out.

I hope the Spiller pick pans out. I would've been very happy to see them trade down from that spot and look at picking up a tackle (Bulaga?). But who knows what kind of offers were out there. If they weren't getting fair value for the pick, I can live with a BPA approach - and everything I've read indicates that Spiller was regarded by most analysts as BPA by far at that point. Not gonna defend it too much though, because I'm not sold that it was the best choice in that spot.

[bowery4]

I have hope for Spiller, not thrilled w/ our #2 pick but can see the logic. I am happy with the ILB #3 and #1 for that matter. I won' judge all this until we see what happens in FA (and Saturday of course). I do hope we find some sort of back up for Fitz before the season. Mallet wasn't on my list, maybe NE can do something with him IDK but the Bills definitely need a better line before having that type of QB. I like this and last year having a focus on D in the draft, I see that as a positive (so far).

[Orton's Arm]

I hope the Spiller pick pans out. I would've been very happy to see them trade down from that spot and look at picking up a tackle (Bulaga?). But who knows what kind of offers were out there. If they weren't getting fair value for the pick, I can live with a BPA approach - and everything I've read indicates that Spiller was regarded by most analysts as BPA by far at that point. Not gonna defend it too much though, because I'm not sold that it was the best choice in that spot.

There have been times when I've said similar things about Spiller. I've written that most analysts had him pegged as one of the two or three best players in the entire draft. I've pointed out that a good running back can help your team not just by running the ball, but by becoming a receiver or a blocker on passing downs. A Thurman Thomas, if you will.

 

The problem with all this is that I want a general manager who's able to identify actual player talent, not a general manager who goes along with a consensus view even when that view is incorrect. If Spiller starts looking like the second coming of Thurman Thomas, then Buddy's high opinion of him will have been confirmed. Thus far that hasn't happened. At least after the first year, Spiller seems like a significant step down from the best player available when the Bills were picking. That makes the Spiller pick significantly harder to justify, especially considering that, given the team's needs, running back was the absolute last position the Bills should have been seeking to address. Assuming equal player talent/production, a draft pick at literally any other starting position, on offense or defense, would have made more sense than a pick at running back.

 

But no GM has a perfect drafting record. Not even Bill Polian, not even in the first round. If Spiller turns out to be no better than what you'd expect from a second or third round pick, he'd fit right in with the last several RBs the Bills chose in the first round!! But hopefully that instance of a first round pick becoming less than you'd expect (based on draft position) will be balanced out by many other Nix picks who play above their draft position.

[Coach Tuesday]

Tackle remains a glaring need, I'll give you that. If I wanted to extend my argument I could bring in the 2009 draft with 2 OL picked in the first 3 rounds. But then I'd have to include Maybin and Byrd as well, so would that strengthen or hurt my case?

 

I could be wrong but I believe Byrd was selected ahead of Sebastian Vollmer... if I'm right, then yes, it hurts your case...

[Sisyphean Bills]

There have been times when I've said similar things about Spiller. I've written that most analysts had him pegged as one of the two or three best players in the entire draft. I've pointed out that a good running back can help your team not just by running the ball, but by becoming a receiver or a blocker on passing downs. A Thurman Thomas, if you will.

 

The problem with all this is that I want a general manager who's able to identify actual player talent, not a general manager who goes along with a consensus view even when that view is incorrect. If Spiller starts looking like the second coming of Thurman Thomas, then Buddy's high opinion of him will have been confirmed. Thus far that hasn't happened. At least after the first year, Spiller seems like a significant step down from the best player available when the Bills were picking. That makes the Spiller pick significantly harder to justify, especially considering that, given the team's needs, running back was the absolute last position the Bills should have been seeking to address. Assuming equal player talent/production, a draft pick at literally any other starting position, on offense or defense, would have made more sense than a pick at running back.

 

But no GM has a perfect drafting record. Not even Bill Polian, not even in the first round. If Spiller turns out to be no better than what you'd expect from a second or third round pick, he'd fit right in with the last several RBs the Bills chose in the first round!! But hopefully that instance of a first round pick becoming less than you'd expect (based on draft position) will be balanced out by many other Nix picks who play above their draft position.

The approach Buddy is using isn't that difficult to figure out. He's going with the slow, steady, conservative approach. "It's going to take 3 or 4 years." They are trying to draft the best football player on his board each time they go on the clock. "I don't care what anyone thinks." The plan so far has counted on Chan Gailey to coach the offense he has, while they scuttle the Tampa-2 defense and build a new 3-4 defense from the ground up. "No. We're a 3-4 team and we ain't switchin'."

[Erik]

What would hurt your case is the fact that they traded away a pro bowl LT and replaced him with a 7th round pick who we are still waiting to see results from.

 

Start from 2006, and count the high secondary draft picks. Then factor in the udfas and ufas. Then it will be clear to you that we have devoted more resources to the secondary than any other area of the team.

 

If this makes sense to you, that's great. But to me, this is a real reason as to why we consistently lose football games.

 

Bill, I know this is your crusade but why are we counting back to 2006? This regime started making picks last year and it took them to their 11th pick before they took a DB. How long were they supposed to wait? 20 picks? 30? Bottom line is they don't care who the previous regime picked, they are going to fill the team with their guys.