JESSEFEFFER Posted January 9, 2015 Posted January 9, 2015 Some of the best players on the current roster did not make much of an impact as rookies. As a matter of fact, the Bills have traded for and signed free agent players that have made more of an immediate impact than many of their first round picks of the last decade. The draft is over rated as a means to improve a team's roster. It's just, by far, the one that is the most fun about which to talk. The Texans improved 7 games without Clowney's help. The Bills' potential for improvement in 2015 does not rely much on the draft.
Formerly Allan in MD Posted January 9, 2015 Posted January 9, 2015 Sammy will prove it was a good trade. Just get him a quarterback who can get him the ball. Since that's a very tall order, Sammy may unfortunately never appear to have given us enough value.
T master Posted January 9, 2015 Posted January 9, 2015 When news came from colleague Adam Schefter that former Buffalo Bills head coach Doug Marrone did not approve of the team's decision to trade up in the 2014 NFL draft to select Clemson wide receiver Sammy Watkins, giving away their 2015 first-round pick in the process, it provided a natural opportunity to assess the merits of the trade. In many cases -- regardless of whether the transaction is a trade, free-agent signing or draft selection -- there's a tendency to forge a knee-jerk reaction that can prove to be inaccurate in the long term. But while Watkins' career is far from over, based on a multitude of factors involved, it's hard to disagree with the sentiment suggested by Marrone: The decision to trade up for him was not the right move. http://m.espn.go.com/nfl/story?storyId=12127113&src=desktop I like the guts Whaley put forth in seeing what he wanted & going for it & i think Watkins is all that & a bag of chips BUT that being said the kid from FSU Kevin Benjamin had a great rookie year & i think he would have been there when the Bills picked at their original spot which would have been a great pick also & more along the lines of what they had said they wanted a BIG WR that was open when their not . To add to that EJ had a ton a familiarity with him , ow he ran routes , his work ethic all because they were team mates i was kind of thinking that should be the way the Bills would go given all that but didn't & am OK with it . We haven't had that kind of balls in the draft room since Pollian was here & that is one of the reasons why i hope they see fit to laeve Whaley & his scout crew at their posts because the guy has a nose for talent , even if to this point it's not for a QB unless he see's what we are all missing ...
Green Lightning Posted January 9, 2015 Posted January 9, 2015 I've officially lost count of how many Watkins trade threads there are currently active. What's one more I guess.
BillsBackersChicago Posted January 9, 2015 Posted January 9, 2015 The draft is like the carnival game where you throw the rings at the beer bottles. We traded a handful of rings for the opportunity to hop over the counter and cram a ring over the neck of the bottle. We got our giant stuffed dog. Time to go wolf down a funnel cake. Best post about Sammy I've seen all year. Mostly because it involves funnel cake. I have weight issues.
HailMary Posted January 9, 2015 Posted January 9, 2015 20%. That was the cost of the Watkins trade. Look back at every 1st round in the last 10 years and calculate the percentage of players that actually go on to have a decent career....maybe 20%. So the bottom line is that objectively speaking that player we would have picked at 19 would have had a 20% chance of being an impact player. The best part of the trade as what unfolded last week with Marrone and his tribute to Steve Miller's "Take The Money and Run" act.
sodbuster Posted January 9, 2015 Posted January 9, 2015 Best post about Sammy I've seen all year. Mostly because it involves funnel cake. I have weight issues. I don't. But funnel cake is too good to not bring up when I mention a carnival.
Billsfan1972 Posted January 9, 2015 Posted January 9, 2015 (edited) Obsessing over the draft when we traded and got a gifted productive receiver???? Get a life..... Really makes no sense. Now if we traded up to get Eric Ebron (or someone else who did not perform) then maybe there is a debate. I really don't get it. Lets take it a step further amongst those who deride the Bills and really like 6-10 season. Detroit & Minnesota games were definitely won thanks to Watkins. The catch he made leading to the 58 yard fg by Carpenter was one of the greatest under-appreciated catches of the season. Damn 9-7, when we could have been 7-9 or 6-10 without SW and had the 9th pick, that sucks!!!!! While no one has actually posted the insider article I am am curious how they could come to that conclusion and whether they actually watched KO do very little to help SW during the season. Sorry a bird in the hand is worth more then two in the bush..... Edited January 9, 2015 by Billsfan1972
peterpan Posted January 9, 2015 Posted January 9, 2015 Anyone that agrees with what Doug Marrone thinks regarding NFL football decisions is an idiot. Marrone had no clue what to do with Sammy Watkins. Whoever wrote this did not watch the Buffalo Bills play this season. They do not know that Doug Marrone refused to feature Sammy Watkins. They do not know that if Doug Marrone was the head coach of the Giants that Odell Beckham Jr. would have had a rather ordinary rookie season for a WR than become the superstar he became under Ben McAdoo. I think two things Marrone knows, and is right about, is that A) EJ Manual has no business starting in this league and B) trading up for Watkins was stupid when you dont have the required skill at QB to use his talents. Marrone was right about those things and it seems Whaley still hasn't come around. I do believe EJ was the main disagreement point between the Dougs (what else could they really argue about?) and that is why Marrone left. I also would bet that EJ is a huge wrench in our finding a new coach. Not having a 1st round pick is also a huge negative I'm sure, because new coaches know we need a new QB, but that would be moot if EJ was any good. The biggest defenders of Sammy say "Put him on the GIants, with Eli Manning, and Sammy would have 12 catches and 150 yards and 2 tds a game too!!!!" We are in agreement! We dont have a QB and look what kind a production you get from a stud like Sammy!!!!
Over 29 years of fanhood Posted January 9, 2015 Posted January 9, 2015 Remember when the Browns traded Julio Jones for Brandon Weeden, Greg Little, Phil Taylor, Owen Marecic and a pick they used to move up from 4th to 3rd to make sure no one could get Trent Richardson? And every Browns fan said "Awesome deal, we really ripped them off". Why do I have a feeling the Sammy trade is going to end up looking very similar? Also to apply my own cynicism to this example, the Bills needed the surest of sure things to even get an average perfomance from this franchise. Beckham would have had 400 yards if any for the bills and the rest even worse. May as well overpay/reach for a few sure things then leave it to them to hit on multiple "value" picks!
st pete gogolak Posted January 9, 2015 Posted January 9, 2015 The revisionist thinking on this board is astounding. If Cleveland had made the trade and then used the 9th pick on OBJ (besides blowing the minds of everyone who posts on this board from now to doomsday) then you'd have to give Cleveland credit for making the trade and being able to spot an enormous talent. But they didn't. They picked a CB who looks to be as big a bust as anyone picked in the first round. Why didn't Minnesota, Detroit or Tennessee pick OBJ? The reason is NO ONE projected OBJ as a top ten pick and it's foolish to project backward that he was. Give the Giants credit. They spotted a unique talent and made a hell of a pick. I wasn't a fan of the trade when it was made (because of nightmares that Cleveland would wind up with #1 overall pick) but I can certainly live with it now. We got a true #1 receiver. We have specific needs that can be addressed in free agency and the draft. Yes, it will come down to QB play but I defy anyone from making an argument that the Watkins trade prevented us from obtaining a franchise QB. Be happy with the trade and move on!
Homey D. Clown Posted January 9, 2015 Posted January 9, 2015 I'm perfectly fine with the trade. in the end, I'd take him over odell peckham any day. So what if he had a super awesome catch, did they even win that game? no. did they make the playoffs? No. Will that one play get him into the hall of fame? No. Does he look like a better player than Sammy? No. Only time will tell, but I think we have the higher character player, and the player with much better work ethic, and those 2 things are the traits that create players like Jerry Rice, instead of idiots like Chad Johnson. I am not saying it's going to happen, but I wouldn't be surprised in the least of peckham fades away like Johnson Ocho-douche-O did.
RealityCheck Posted January 9, 2015 Posted January 9, 2015 With the right QB, Watkins could be the next Jerry Rice. With the wrong QB, he could be the next Eric Moulds. See where I'm going with this.
K-9 Posted January 9, 2015 Posted January 9, 2015 The revisionist thinking on this board is astounding. If Cleveland had made the trade and then used the 9th pick on OBJ (besides blowing the minds of everyone who posts on this board from now to doomsday) then you'd have to give Cleveland credit for making the trade and being able to spot an enormous talent. But they didn't. They picked a CB who looks to be as big a bust as anyone picked in the first round. Why didn't Minnesota, Detroit or Tennessee pick OBJ? The reason is NO ONE projected OBJ as a top ten pick and it's foolish to project backward that he was. Give the Giants credit. They spotted a unique talent and made a hell of a pick. I wasn't a fan of the trade when it was made (because of nightmares that Cleveland would wind up with #1 overall pick) but I can certainly live with it now. We got a true #1 receiver. We have specific needs that can be addressed in free agency and the draft. Yes, it will come down to QB play but I defy anyone from making an argument that the Watkins trade prevented us from obtaining a franchise QB. Be happy with the trade and move on! This gibes with the majority of scouts that had OBJ going somewhere in the mid-first round, around the 14th-18th pick; there was some surprise he went as high as he did at 12, but nobody I know was shocked, either. I had heard that Whaley, if Cleveland didn't make the deal and Ebron was gone at 9, would have traded down with the hopes of getting either OBJ or Z Martin in the middle of the round. Agree 100%, be happy with the trade and move on. We got a certifiable stud that's gonna wreak havoc on opponents for years to come. GO BILLS!!!
TDRupp Posted January 9, 2015 Posted January 9, 2015 The Giants offense was designed to push the ball downfield to the wide receivers while Marrone's Bills offense this season was designed to create 4th and 1 situations in order to play a field position strategy, play good defense, and put special teams into a position to kick as many FG's as possible. Do not forget the other key. Kickoff the deep or out of the end zone after reach FG!
peterpan Posted January 9, 2015 Posted January 9, 2015 (edited) The revisionist thinking on this board is astounding. If Cleveland had made the trade and then used the 9th pick on OBJ (besides blowing the minds of everyone who posts on this board from now to doomsday) then you'd have to give Cleveland credit for making the trade and being able to spot an enormous talent. But they didn't. They picked a CB who looks to be as big a bust as anyone picked in the first round. Why didn't Minnesota, Detroit or Tennessee pick OBJ? The reason is NO ONE projected OBJ as a top ten pick and it's foolish to project backward that he was. Give the Giants credit. They spotted a unique talent and made a hell of a pick. I wasn't a fan of the trade when it was made (because of nightmares that Cleveland would wind up with #1 overall pick) but I can certainly live with it now. We got a true #1 receiver. We have specific needs that can be addressed in free agency and the draft. Yes, it will come down to QB play but I defy anyone from making an argument that the Watkins trade prevented us from obtaining a franchise QB. Be happy with the trade and move on! Multiple executives where quoted, albeit anonymously, that OBJ was their teams top rated WR. Heck even Buffalo was targeting him with their 9th pick if they couldnt trade up for Sammy. It was between Beckum and Ebron Edited January 9, 2015 by peterpan
metzelaars_lives Posted January 9, 2015 Posted January 9, 2015 Jesus why is this still a thread. The title itself is an unanswerable question. We may as well have a "what is the meaning of life?" thread.
K-9 Posted January 9, 2015 Posted January 9, 2015 Multiple executives where quoted, albeit anonymously, that OBJ was their teams top rated WR. Heck even Buffalo was targeting him with their 9th pick if they couldnt trade up for Sammy. It was between Beckum and Ebron Isn't that convenient. Please show me where all these insightful soles were prior to the draft. Or even prior to Beckham's starting his first game. Nobody in their right mind had anybody but Sammy Watkins at the top of the receiver board. Period. End of story. Anything else is pure, revisionist, 20/20 hindsight crap. GO BILLS!!!
thebandit27 Posted January 9, 2015 Posted January 9, 2015 Multiple executives where quoted, albeit anonymously, that OBJ was their teams top rated WR. Heck even Buffalo was targeting him with their 9th pick if they couldnt trade up for Sammy. It was between Beckum and Ebron This reminds me of how every team supposedly liked Russell Wilson back in 2012...and yet nobody picked him in the first 2 rounds. Also, the pick would've been Ebron...Whaley himself told this to KellytheDog in person.
st pete gogolak Posted January 9, 2015 Posted January 9, 2015 If the Bills had honest to God targeted Beckham for the 9th pick, then it's a dumb - even bizarre - trade. I simply don't believe that's true.
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