The Helmet of Posted February 22, 2013 Posted February 22, 2013 (edited) I was looking over our draft history during our huge drought, and was struck by the 2009 draft. Most of us were calling for Dick Jauron's and Tom Modrak's heads for good reason. But the 2009 draft turns out to be really interesting. For as bad as the Maybin pick was, the next three selections were awesome, Wood, Byrd, and Levitre. Byrd is a two-time pro bowler, who most national writers agree is one of the top free agents on the market; Levitre is also a highly coveted free agent, and many thought he was at least worthy of consideration for a pro bowl; and Wood, well, we can all agree is a really solid center when healthy, truth is, he seems to have had a run of bad luck. Should we give Modrak more praise? Who knows, but at the very least, he hit a home run on a few selections... even if you look at the McGahee & Lynch selections, they didn't work out too well for the franchise, but McGahee has been in the league a long time now, and Lynch is one of the top backs in the league. Modrak, well, maybe he deserves a lot less blame. That aside the Bills have been consistently horrible in mid & late late round selections over the last 12 years, with very few exceptions (stevie johnson & kyle williams). I'm not sure how that compares to the rest of the league, but there are way too many duke prestons, keith ellisons, ko simpsons, shawn nelsons, and, dear god, dwayne wrights... cj ah you anyone? Edited February 22, 2013 by MarkKelso'sHelmet
swnybillsfan Posted February 22, 2013 Posted February 22, 2013 now imagine where that draft would rank if the bills would have used the pick they used on maybin to go a different direction, almost any direction.
Pete Posted February 22, 2013 Posted February 22, 2013 Man if we selected Clay Mathews instead of Mayofbeen we would consider 2009 one of the all time best Bills drafts
ALLEN1QB Posted February 22, 2013 Posted February 22, 2013 Please I was just getting Maybins name out of my head!
dpberr Posted February 22, 2013 Posted February 22, 2013 General managers (and franchises) generally live and die on those first round picks, especially in the NFL. That's the one decision you have to get right to be successful, later round success not withstanding. There isn't a GM in the NFL today that busts the first rounders and succeeds later and is labeled as a "good GM".
BillsVet Posted February 22, 2013 Posted February 22, 2013 Which teams are winning with outstanding guard and safety play? Not many. The Bills went into the 2009 draft needing two guards, and they drafted for straight need with 2 of their first 4 picks. It's a trend the Bills follow seemingly every year, taking a player to fill a position they have no one or little depth at. It's resulted, as others have noted here, in the team never being rebuilt, just cycling through players and the roster remaining thin. It's good to get solid players like Wood, Levitre, and Wood. But this is a more nuanced topic.
Cap'nCrunch Posted February 22, 2013 Posted February 22, 2013 All the more reason to accept the possibility that drafting a QB at #8 could result in a record better than 6 and 10 in 2013.
Prickly Pete Posted February 22, 2013 Posted February 22, 2013 All the more reason to accept the possibility that drafting a QB at #8 could result in a record better than 6 and 10 in 2013. All these years have been a waste of time, waste of careers, waste of money. Get a QB.
BADOLBILZ Posted February 22, 2013 Posted February 22, 2013 Which teams are winning with outstanding guard and safety play? Not many. The Bills went into the 2009 draft needing two guards, and they drafted for straight need with 2 of their first 4 picks. It's a trend the Bills follow seemingly every year, taking a player to fill a position they have no one or little depth at. It's resulted, as others have noted here, in the team never being rebuilt, just cycling through players and the roster remaining thin. It's good to get solid players like Wood, Levitre, and Wood. But this is a more nuanced topic. It's true, they aren't key positions. Generally speaking RB's and DB's are the low hanging fruit of the draft. They are easy evaluations. Interior offensive lineman are a branch above, but still easy evaluations. The Bills have great success drafting RB's, DB's and interior OL early. That type of success just doesn't translate to wins and losses. The top notch talent evaluators show their stuff by finding players at more impactful positions with their premium picks.
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