This is what I think will happen on draft day

[envirojeff]

Somehow (don't ask me how) TD will get us another 2nd round pick, at least. We should get a DB and a DT with those two picks and with the rest OL, LB, PK, WR and another DB.

 

Jeff

[BuckeyeBill]

How do you think he will pull that off? Give up a pick in next year's draft??

[BuckeyeBill]

Somehow (don't ask me how)

296378[/snapback]

 

I guess I ignored the "don't ask me how" part. I apologize.

 

I still don't see that happening any more than us ending up with Braylon Edwards.

[envirojeff]

I guess I ignored the "don't ask me how" part.  I apologize.

 

I still don't see that happening any more than us ending up with Braylon Edwards.

296531[/snapback]

He just seems to be able to come up with the right deal. I think it was a good idea to trade up for Losman. There are only a couple QB's in the draft worth anything this year and they would be gone way before the 20th pick and none of them are as good as JP.

 

Jeff

[Fake-Fat Sunny]

How do you think he will pull that off?  Give up a pick in next year's draft??

296527[/snapback]

 

 

That would be fine with me. Some folks seem to view trading next year's pick as robbing Peter to pay Paul, but I think our experience has been that trading a non-existent (right now) resource for a current benefit is an extremely good deal for us.

 

TD seems to look at the draft with time as a key but ironically malleable factor which has paid some great benefits for us:

 

To date:

 

1. 2002- TD trades the 2003 first which provided zero benefit for the 2002 Bills for Bledsoe. Bledsoe ended up stinking up the joint and TD made a big mistake (in my view) by extending his contract to cover 2004 instead of cutting him after a horris 2003 season.

 

However, this deal provided substantial tangible benefits to the team which to deny them is to simply deny reality as:

 

A. The 2002 on-field Bledsoe performance as part of a 8-8 team was a huge upgrade over the 2001 RJ/AVP performance and the 2001 team.

B. The welcome party for Bledsoe at the Ralph was an indicator of far more excitment among the fanbase that a 3-13 team would produce (and ironically than a 6-10 team under Bledsoe the next year deserved.

C. Again looking on-field Bledsoe's 2002 performance merited his being named a Pro Bowl reserve (if you disagree who do you say played well enough in 2002 to merit it more).

D. It was NE that for the 2002 season got raped in this deal as their first 2 SB wins were bookends for a 2002 which saw them entirely miss the playoffs and the acceleration of the Bledsoe cap hit was almost certainly a major factor in this failure. Keeping brady over Bledsoe was by far the correct move for NE to make, but they paid the price of a 2002 season of failure for making the right move in the long term.

 

Certaunly an examination of the 2002 impacts of trading the 2003 1st round resource was a huge benefit to the Bills that year for a cost that meant nothing to the 2002 team.

 

2. 2003- This is the point where Paul was supposed to come back to haunt the Bills for getting the benefit for Peter of a replacement vet QB for RJ. However, TD was able to turn the nothing of having no first round pick into something by tagging Price who we had no right under the normal rules to compensation for.

 

By tagging and trading PP after Arthur Blank virtually guaranteed us compensation by promising his fans (and more importantly Michael Vick) that he would bet Peerless, TD was bold enough to tag this player and had enough of working relationship with PP that he got him to say the right things ad mostly to strategically shut up when he made the deal for him.

 

TD demonstrated that he truly mastered the time element of the draft and player development by turning this pick into WM, whom he was able to get not only at a far lower draft slot than the talent he showed and seems to have recovered before his injury, but signed him to an incredibly affordable and managed bi-seacted bonus contract he never would have gotten for this talented a player in a straight draft.

 

Add to this that TD did an excellent job reading the market and still got the player we needed in Kelsay whom few would have blanched if he had chosen instead of WM with the #1 and his demonstrated mastery of this draft was virtually complete.

 

2004- TD not only made a great pick in the standard draft choosing Evans, but once again he traded next year's pick for Losman right then.

 

This has turned out so far to have been the right thing to do because:

 

A. This appears to be a weak QB class and Losman's final season at Tulane places him above the other QBs who decided to graduate this year in the minds of many pundits.

B. Add to that JP was an unfinished product who benefitted from his year in training such that the Bills now feel comfortable giving him a chance to start.

C. TD got JP for a #21 contract when he probably would have gotten a better slot if he had waited or a better slot that the Bills would have had to give up significant talent to trade up to the1st or 2nd choice to draft a QB of the future this year.

 

So I for one would love to see TD trade our 2006 1st round choice for a resource that brings benefit to the 2005 Bills.

[Gavin in Va Beach]

That would only happen with a player-for-pick trade at this point, IMO. Who else would we be looking to trade?

[/dev/null]

here's what i think is gonna happen on draft day

 

i'm gonna get up around 11am. i like to sleep in on weekends, and there's a chance i'll be hungover anyway

 

i'll turn on espn about 1130, listen to thiesman and kiper talk out their arse abit.

i'll check TSW, listen to some of you talk out your arse abit

 

draft starts around noon

 

i'll order a pizza about 1230, first pick should be coming in about that time.

 

i'll spend the next couple hours listening to kiper/theisman talk out their arse, reading TSW, and enjoying my pizza. i usually get a pepperoni and onion or a meatlovers.

 

maybe i'll get some breadsticks too, hard to know exactly what's gonna go down on draft day.

[obie_wan]

That would be fine with me. Some folks seem to view trading next year's pick as robbing Peter to pay Paul, but I think our experience has been that trading a non-existent (right now) resource for a current benefit is an extremely good deal for us.

 

TD seems to look at the draft with time as a key but ironically malleable factor which has paid some great benefits for us:

 

To date:

 

1. 2002- TD trades the 2003 first which provided zero benefit for the 2002 Bills for Bledsoe. Bledsoe ended up stinking up the joint and TD made a big mistake (in my view) by extending his contract to cover 2004 instead of cutting him after a horris 2003 season.

 

However, this deal provided substantial tangible benefits to the team which to deny them is to simply deny reality as:

 

A. The 2002 on-field Bledsoe performance as part of a 8-8 team was a huge upgrade over the 2001 RJ/AVP performance and the 2001 team.

B. The welcome party for Bledsoe at the Ralph was an indicator of far more excitment among the fanbase that a 3-13 team would produce (and ironically than a 6-10 team under Bledsoe the next year deserved.

C. Again looking on-field Bledsoe's 2002 performance merited his being named a Pro Bowl reserve (if you disagree who do you say played well enough in 2002 to merit it more).

D. It was NE that for the 2002 season got raped in this deal as their first 2 SB wins were bookends for a 2002 which saw them entirely miss the playoffs and the acceleration of the Bledsoe cap hit was almost certainly a major factor in this failure.  Keeping brady over Bledsoe was by far the correct move for NE to make, but they paid the price of a 2002 season of failure for making the right move in the long term.

 

Certaunly an examination of the 2002 impacts of trading the 2003 1st round resource was a huge benefit to the Bills that year for a cost that meant nothing to the 2002 team.

 

2. 2003- This is the point where Paul was supposed to come back to haunt the Bills for getting the benefit for Peter of a replacement vet QB for RJ. However, TD was able to turn the nothing of having no first round pick into something by tagging Price who we had no right under the normal rules to compensation for.

 

By tagging and trading PP after Arthur Blank virtually guaranteed us compensation by promising his fans (and more importantly Michael Vick) that he would bet Peerless, TD was bold enough to tag this player and had enough of working relationship with PP that he got him to say the right things ad mostly to strategically shut up when he made the deal for him.

 

TD demonstrated that he truly mastered the time element of the draft and player development by turning this pick into WM, whom he was able to get not only at a far lower draft slot than the talent he showed and seems to have recovered before his injury, but signed him to an incredibly affordable and managed bi-seacted bonus contract he never would have gotten for this talented a player in a straight draft.

 

Add to this that TD did an excellent job reading the market and still got the player we needed in Kelsay whom few would have blanched if he had chosen instead of WM with the #1 and his demonstrated mastery of this draft was virtually complete.

 

2004- TD not only made a great pick in the standard draft choosing Evans, but once again he traded next year's pick for Losman right then.

 

This has turned out so far to have been the right thing to do because:

 

A. This appears to be a weak QB class and Losman's final season at Tulane places him above the other QBs who decided to graduate this year in the minds of many pundits.

B. Add to that JP was an unfinished product who benefitted from his year in training such that the Bills now feel comfortable giving him a chance to start.

C. TD got JP for a #21 contract when he probably would have gotten a better slot if he had waited or a better slot that the Bills would have had to give up significant talent to trade up to the1st or 2nd choice to draft a QB of the future this year.

 

So I for one would love to see TD trade our 2006 1st round choice for a resource that brings benefit to the 2005 Bills.

296655[/snapback]

 

 

makes sense to trade a future #1 pick which could become a differnce maker for a 2nd round player in a bad draft.

[John from Riverside]

Actually....I dont see TD doing a lot of wheeling and dealing in this draft EXCEPT for the Shelton for Henry trade......

 

Because by all accounts I have heard this draft really isn't that strong....

 

I know I am in the minority here....but I hear a lot of talk about TD drafting Nate Clements replacement....I say:

 

- TD drafts Trey Teague's replacement in this draft with our 2nd round pick....which is actually quality as far as centers go......

 

Next year Bledsoe's cap number goes off the books....and we cut TT....and TD makes a very nice offer to Nate Clements to keep him....

[Navy Chief Navy Pride]

Actually....I dont see TD doing a lot of wheeling and dealing in this draft EXCEPT for the Shelton for Henry trade......

 

Because by all accounts I have heard this draft really isn't that strong....

 

I know I am in the minority here....but I hear a lot of talk about TD drafting Nate Clements replacement....I say:

 

- TD drafts Trey Teague's replacement in this draft with our 2nd round pick....which is actually quality as far as centers go......

 

Next year Bledsoe's cap number goes off the books....and we cut TT....and TD makes a very nice offer to Nate Clements to keep him....

297105[/snapback]

 

 

I sure hope it goes down like that.

[Bill from NYC]

He just seems to be able to come up with the right deal. I think it was a good idea to trade up for Losman. There are only a couple QB's in the draft worth anything this year and they would be gone way before the 20th pick and none of them are as good as JP.

 

Jeff

296549[/snapback]

 

Wishful thinking indeed, but I hope you are right.

[Mark VI]

Center, DT or CB in Round 2. After that, who knows ?

 

Also need a backup RB somewhere in the 3rd or 4th round.

[Mickey]

That would be fine with me. Some folks seem to view trading next year's pick as robbing Peter to pay Paul, but I think our experience has been that trading a non-existent (right now) resource for a current benefit is an extremely good deal for us.

 

TD seems to look at the draft with time as a key but ironically malleable factor which has paid some great benefits for us:

 

To date:

 

1. 2002- TD trades the 2003 first which provided zero benefit for the 2002 Bills for Bledsoe. Bledsoe ended up stinking up the joint and TD made a big mistake (in my view) by extending his contract to cover 2004 instead of cutting him after a horris 2003 season.

 

However, this deal provided substantial tangible benefits to the team which to deny them is to simply deny reality as:

 

A. The 2002 on-field Bledsoe performance as part of a 8-8 team was a huge upgrade over the 2001 RJ/AVP performance and the 2001 team.

B. The welcome party for Bledsoe at the Ralph was an indicator of far more excitment among the fanbase that a 3-13 team would produce (and ironically than a 6-10 team under Bledsoe the next year deserved.

C. Again looking on-field Bledsoe's 2002 performance merited his being named a Pro Bowl reserve (if you disagree who do you say played well enough in 2002 to merit it more).

D. It was NE that for the 2002 season got raped in this deal as their first 2 SB wins were bookends for a 2002 which saw them entirely miss the playoffs and the acceleration of the Bledsoe cap hit was almost certainly a major factor in this failure.  Keeping brady over Bledsoe was by far the correct move for NE to make, but they paid the price of a 2002 season of failure for making the right move in the long term.

 

Certaunly an examination of the 2002 impacts of trading the 2003 1st round resource was a huge benefit to the Bills that year for a cost that meant nothing to the 2002 team.

 

2. 2003- This is the point where Paul was supposed to come back to haunt the Bills for getting the benefit for Peter of a replacement vet QB for RJ. However, TD was able to turn the nothing of having no first round pick into something by tagging Price who we had no right under the normal rules to compensation for.

 

By tagging and trading PP after Arthur Blank virtually guaranteed us compensation by promising his fans (and more importantly Michael Vick) that he would bet Peerless, TD was bold enough to tag this player and had enough of working relationship with PP that he got him to say the right things ad mostly to strategically shut up when he made the deal for him.

 

TD demonstrated that he truly mastered the time element of the draft and player development by turning this pick into WM, whom he was able to get not only at a far lower draft slot than the talent he showed and seems to have recovered before his injury, but signed him to an incredibly affordable and managed bi-seacted bonus contract he never would have gotten for this talented a player in a straight draft.

 

Add to this that TD did an excellent job reading the market and still got the player we needed in Kelsay whom few would have blanched if he had chosen instead of WM with the #1 and his demonstrated mastery of this draft was virtually complete.

 

2004- TD not only made a great pick in the standard draft choosing Evans, but once again he traded next year's pick for Losman right then.

 

This has turned out so far to have been the right thing to do because:

 

A. This appears to be a weak QB class and Losman's final season at Tulane places him above the other QBs who decided to graduate this year in the minds of many pundits.

B. Add to that JP was an unfinished product who benefitted from his year in training such that the Bills now feel comfortable giving him a chance to start.

C. TD got JP for a #21 contract when he probably would have gotten a better slot if he had waited or a better slot that the Bills would have had to give up significant talent to trade up to the1st or 2nd choice to draft a QB of the future this year.

 

So I for one would love to see TD trade our 2006 1st round choice for a resource that brings benefit to the 2005 Bills.

296655[/snapback]

Gee, all those brilliant moves and yet his record is 26-38. Any more of that kind of brilliance and we will be a cold weather version of the Cardinals. I think TD has made some good calls over the years but on the whole, he has been a good deal less than brilliant and if wins and losses count for anything, he is closer to being considered a failure than a success.

[R. Rich]

Center, DT or CB in Round 2. After that, who knows ?

 

Also need a backup RB somewhere in the 3rd or 4th round.

297135[/snapback]

 

 

That sounds pretty reasonable. You sure you're in the right place?

[plenzmd1]

here's what i think is gonna happen on draft day

 

i'm gonna get up around 11am.  i like to sleep in on weekends, and there's a chance i'll be hungover anyway

 

i'll turn on espn about 1130, listen to thiesman and kiper talk out their arse abit.

i'll check TSW, listen to some of you talk out your arse abit

 

draft starts around noon

 

i'll order a pizza about 1230, first pick should be coming in about that time. 

 

i'll spend the next couple hours listening to kiper/theisman talk out their arse, reading TSW, and enjoying my pizza. i usually get a pepperoni and onion or a meatlovers. 

 

maybe i'll get some breadsticks too, hard to know exactly what's gonna go down on draft day.

296684[/snapback]

 

My day will be playing 36 in Myrtle. Golf trip is always scheduled for draft day for some reason. Remember the WM draft, almost had a heart attack when I found out they chose him. My trip is loaded with Stiller fans, and man they could not stop talking about what a smart move they made by letting TD go instaed of Cowher.

 

I for one think watching the draft is like watching paint dry.

[jad1]

Gee, all those brilliant moves and yet his record is 26-38.  Any more of that kind of brilliance and we will be a cold weather version of the Cardinals.  I think TD has made some good calls over the years but on the whole, he has been a good deal less than brilliant and if wins and losses count for anything, he is closer to being considered a failure than a success.

297194[/snapback]

 

Actually the way in which he has cleaned out the roster, ridding it of overpaid, agining talent, we should be grateful that the Bills HAVEN'T turned into the Cardinals or Bengals.

 

TD has overseen the most massive rebuilding effort in the history of the franchise. In hindsight, being able to pull out a couple of decent seasons during this time is impressive.

 

And I agree with John, I think Donahoe will make the Shelton deal and grab the best C or DT available.

[Mickey]

Actually the way in which he has cleaned out the roster, ridding it of overpaid, agining talent, we should be grateful that the Bills HAVEN'T turned into the Cardinals or Bengals.

 

TD has overseen the most massive rebuilding effort in the history of the franchise.  In hindsight, being able to pull out a couple of decent seasons during this time is impressive.

 

And I agree with John, I think Donahoe will make the Shelton deal and grab the best C or DT available.

297248[/snapback]

I disagree, Buffalo has had far more extensive rebuilds before in the late 60's, 70's and mid 80's and had to accomplish such rebuilds without the luxury of free agency and parity which permit far more rapid turn arounds now than in the past. TD has had just as many draft picks and just as much money to work with as other teams that have made the play offs. If by "couple of decent seasons" you mean not making the post season at 8-8 and 9-7, again, we disagree, I don't find those results "impressive" at all.

 

If wins and losses matter in grading out a GM, "mediocre" would be a generous grade for TD right now. He has already had a year longer than most GM's get to show results. At some point, he simply has to produce a play off team.

 

As for this draft, I have no idea what he will do. He usually thumbs his nose at conventional thinking like drafting a good player to fill a hole on the roster and instead goes for something clever. If the expected thing is to trade Henry for Shelton and then take the best C or DT in the second round, odds are he will do something else entirely. Besides, when it comes to the offensive line his clear pattern is to try and get by on the cheap with has-beens and never-wases rather than to committ sufficient personnel resources to secure the best available talent. Drafting Mike Williams is the only deviation from that habit he has ever shown. Maybe he is due again to put some jack into the OL but I wouldn't hold my breath.

[eball]

makes sense to trade a future #1 pick which could become a differnce maker for a 2nd round player in a bad draft.

296970[/snapback]

 

that's not what he said. i quote: "So I for one would love to see TD trade our 2006 1st round choice for a resource that brings benefit to the 2005 Bills."

 

he said resource, not "2nd round draft pick."

 

read a little more carefully before you criticize.

[ROCCEO]

I guess I ignored the "don't ask me how" part.  I apologize.

 

I still don't see that happening any more than us ending up with Braylon Edwards.

296531[/snapback]

"Braylon Edwards was arrested for smoking crack out of a prostitutes ass this week"-CNN

"Edwards could drop as far as the 3rd round"-Kiper

 

"with the 55th overall selection in the 2005 NFL draft, the Buffalo Bills select Braylon Edwards"-Tags

 

 

Oh how i wish!

[jad1]

I disagree, Buffalo has had far more extensive rebuilds before in the late 60's, 70's and mid 80's and had to accomplish such rebuilds without the luxury of free agency and parity which permit far more rapid turn arounds now than in the past.  TD has had just as many draft picks and just as much money to work with as other teams that have made the play offs.  If by "couple of decent seasons" you mean not making the post season at 8-8 and 9-7, again, we disagree, I don't find those results "impressive" at all. 

 

If wins and losses matter in grading out a GM, "mediocre" would be a generous grade for TD right now.  He has already had a year longer than most GM's get to show results.  At some point, he simply has to produce a play off team.

 

As for this draft, I have no idea what he will do.  He usually thumbs his nose at conventional thinking like drafting a good player to fill a hole on the roster and instead goes for something clever.  If the expected thing is to trade Henry for Shelton and then take the best C or DT in the second round, odds are he will do something else entirely.  Besides, when it comes to the offensive line his clear pattern is to try and get by on the cheap with has-beens and never-wases rather than to committ sufficient personnel resources to secure the best available talent.  Drafting Mike Williams is the only deviation from that habit he has ever shown.  Maybe he is due again to put some jack into the OL but I wouldn't hold my breath.

297392[/snapback]

 

No other Bills GM has replaced as many players as Donahoe has in a 4 year period of time. Donahoe didn't have young players like Kelly, Reed, and Smith sitting on his roster, like Polian did when he became GM.

 

And Polian also had the USFL, which is comparable to free agency today. Plus he didn't have to worry about losing young guys like Peerless Price to FA, letting him store talent on the roster.

 

So FA can, and has been a double-edged sword.

 

The salary cap also prevented Donahoe from keeping veterens on the team, like Polian was able to do with Fred Smerlas, Robb Riddick, and Jerry Butler. Polian never had to consider cutting those guys to meet a cap.

 

In terms of player turnaround, Donahoe has rebuilt the entire OL, RB, QB, TE, LB, CB, and S positions. Going into last year, he completely rebuilt the DL save for one player, Pat Williams.

 

When you consider that the Bills have only two defensive starters from 2001 still on the field, it's amazing how quickly Donahoe has built one of the best units in the league. In 2003 they were a top five unit, and last season they improved on that finish.

 

Like any fan, I also want wins and losses to matter when judging a GM, but I also have a grip on reality and understood that task Donahoe was trying to accomplish. If a Browns fans said that Cleveland was going to the SB this year, you would think he is insane. The Browns have some massive rebuilding to do. That's where the Bills were 4 years ago.

 

I also disagree with your opinion of Donahoe's drafting. Over the last few years, every position has been a position of need. CB, DE, RB, OL, LB and WR have all been "position of need" at one time or another, and he's done a good job of filling them.

 

And it's debatable that he's built the Oline on the cheap. He's used two 1st day picks (Williams and Jennings) and two medium-priced FAs (Villariel and Teague) to build the line. That's more than NE has spent on their Oline.

 

Donahoe has made mistakes, but overall he has done an impressive job in repositioning the Bills to make a run at the SB.