GG Posted September 8, 2011 Posted September 8, 2011 I don't think that ESPN does transcripts of their podcasts, so this is by memory. In yesterday's podcast, Tucker was responding to a listener question about Pats* striking out with some of their recent high draft picks. Tucker didn't think it was a fatal error because he knows that many draft picks will bust and it's better for your team to recognize a mistake quickly and move on. He said that while it may take up to three years for a pick to develop, you know very early on whether a guy can play in the league. He then launched into a comparison of other teams that hold on to their picks, specifically citing his time with the Bills when the team kept some of their OL picks too long. His reference point was 2004 - 2005, and he was very critical of roster moves that kept front office favorites on the team while cutting better guys who could play. He specifically said, we had guys there who could not play in the league. (My guess is that he was referring to Duke Preston. May have been Big Mike, but his reference was to later round picks). He then followed up by saying that when a team keeps a worse player on the roster, the entire team knows it and it really screws up the team dynamic because then you start questioning the team's priorities. On one hand, coaches expect you to go out and compete, but then they cut good players to either save face or whatever, so it totally screws up the players' mindset. Then he said the reason he admires Belichick is that the coach wants to field the best roster and that's why he always accumulates a lot of draft picks knowing that many will not make it and he'll just have more players to choose from and cutting a busted draft pick is not such a big deal in the grand scheme.
Metal Man Posted September 8, 2011 Posted September 8, 2011 I listened to this yesterday too. Ross Tucker is usually very pro Bills so I think this criticism holds water. It is pretty obvious the Bills have had a lot of disfunction in the running of their team for some time now and it doesn't surprise me that TD would push to keep picks that weren't NFL caliber to save face because the guy had a huge ego. Comments like this help to show how the Bills got themselves into this current terrible mess in the first place. Nix and company really have their work cut out for them. My hope is that the Bills finally have something healthy in place and that the team is making progress digging out of the hole the front office has dug themselves into the last 10 years.
Recommended Posts