Polian's Top 10 Player Moves

[Best Player Available]

Yeah, I would put him ahead of Ballard. Lofton immediately transformed that offense. It took Ballard two years to play a game.

 

I loved Ballard though. I can still see him walking the sidelines next to Jim Ringo in '88. He dressed for every game but never got in. The sight of this huge man in pads walking next to Ringo all the time and just soaking up all that coaching from a Hall of Fame OLman.

 

GO BILLS!!!

Lofton was one signing that showed some older players have plenty left in the tank. He was a great signing and a great Bill.

[dpberr]

I'd say drafting Bruce had more impact on the Bills but the Biscuit trade required more GM savvy. Drafting Bruce was a no-brainer (not that the Bills hadn't screwed up no brainers before Bruce).

 

The Bennett trade was quite significant and I think it's place is appropriate on the list. It was the 1987 version of the 2012 Mario Williams signing. While the move provided great returns on the field, it was a trade that put the NFL and the media on notice that the Bills were coming in from the wilderness and were serious about winning and introduced the Bills to a lot of future fans.

[San Jose Bills Fan]

I remember watching Bennets first game, he owned Randall Cunningham. I think he had like four sacks in that game. It really was funny because the bills almost drafted bennet in the first round but traded back and took conlan instead. They ended up with both.

 

Bennett's first game was against the Broncos.

 

The Bills never had a chance to draft Bennett. He was picked #2 overall by the Colts. The Bills, who had the third pick surely would have taken him but traded down with the Oilers instead.

LOL.

 

Any other recollections you'd like to share, Rev?

 

 

[Rico]

Bennett trade was huge.. Polian gave up a lot and it paid off, Bills got the best of a blockbuster move. I have no problem putting it right at the top of the list, certainly a lot more risk than signing Jimbo.

[Dragonborn10]

Bennett's first game was against the Broncos.

I was going to post that...I was there...Remember when Elway had to call time out?

 

I would add the classic case of " addition by subtraction"' which was getting rid of Ronnie Harmon. While he did have talent he was one of the main reasons they were called The Bickering Bills. They came together after he left.

Wrong...the main reason was Reed, Thomas, and Talley hated Jim Kelly...Thurman said in an interview when asked what needed to change or somehting like that and he answered "Quarterback"

Edited May 16, 2012 by Dadonkadonk

[billsfan89]

#1: Drafting Peyton Manning, and NOT drafting Ryan Leaf.

 

Outside of a few outlying opinions pretty much everyone was pointing to Manning being the number one pick. I think that the list was all of Polian's Bills moves. Although I would love to see a similar list for his Indy moves. I would also like to see how he shaped the early Panthers organization.