The Big Cat Posted December 5, 2011 Posted December 5, 2011 (edited) Having Dareus, Shepphard, Searcy and Williams start and play well (for rookies) is extremely promising and it leads me to believe that the 2011 draft will be viewed favorably for years to come. I know that Sheppard and Searcy both made some serious pursuit errors against CJ2K in the first half, but when you have a defense built on the backs of 22-year-olds and you're up against (arguably) the league's most explosive runner--who's re-discovered his stride in the latter part of the season after being marred by contract disputes and the lockout nonsense--chances are you're going to see a big run or two (approx 90 of CJ's rushing yards came on 3 carries). But as far as our rookies are concerned: when you add in Hairston's contributions and his potential, then add the fact that Rodgers (for a 7th rounder out of a lower-tier D-1) shows promise simply because he looks less lost in coverage than veterans McKelvin and Corner, and I think one would be hard pressed to be overly critical of our selections from last April. If only we had picked up the same caliber talent in 2010, we might have strung a few wins together during this abysmal five game skid. About that 2010 class and the current state of the Bills: What makes the last two classes unique--OBD is relying on them to be foundation of a roster that has been blown to smithereens. The 2011 class seems much more up to the task, but as it has been analyzed in other threads, they were chosen primarily from competitive schools and from the elite college football conferences, exclusively. Thank God we signed Nick Barnett. He has been invaluable to this defense from a veteran presence. Because without him, we'd have almost an entire roster of players who, thanks to the lockout, have never spent an entire offseason at OBD, or in a professional organization at all. They haven't benefited from our team's strength and conditioning program (for better or worse, who knows?) and they haven't had the chance to go through all team-related activities, walk through, etc. that happen from the end of one season and last through the end of another. Of the players who have contributed this season or who were expected to contribute, this includes: The entire 2011 draft class: Dareus Williams Shepphard Searcy White White Rogers Last year's draft class and UDFA's: Spiller Troupe Carrington Easley Batten Heard Moats Nelson Roosevelt Jones And Contributing FA's Ubrik Pears Chandler Rinehart Brad Smith Nick Barnett That's more than 20 players who have started, or have seen significant time, or have filled in because of injuries, or have already had a major impact on this team but have NEVER spent an entire off season at OBD. All 32 teams are under a similar strain since the lockout had the same impact on their respective 2011 off seasons, but since we're in "rebuild" mode, I think the lockout is taking a particularly hard toll on this group, and especially on our 2010 draft class based on what is expected from all the fresh faces on our roster. May also explain why the latter part of the season has caught up with us. With teams reeling to get it together in the early weeks, one could have made the case that each and every game was a toss up. Now that everyone's had the same amount of time to settle, the teams that have been together longer, have settled in at a much higher level than our Bills, who--at this point--could more aptly pass for a pick-up squad than a professional organization, thanks to the 2011 lockout. Edited December 5, 2011 by The Big Cat
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