Where Would CJ Spiller Go In 2020?

[Miyagi-Do Karate]

10 hours ago, SWATeam said:

Space

You beat me to it!

[Ethan in Cleveland]

Spiller was a top 15 talent and is a very good example of how not drafting for need can hurt you.  There was not much controversy that he got picked at #9. The controversy was that the Bills picked him at #9 with two good backs on the roster already.  

 

In 2020, Spiller is probably  picked between 25 and 45.  I say this due to the general devaluing of the position, the fact this draft class is heavy with front 7 defenders, and other than New England I can't name a team in the league that needs a first round RB.  Seattle maybe but they need o-line and d-line even more. 

[Kaenon]

Spiller was a college beast.

 

He'd still be a first round pick, though not top 10

[Kirby Jackson]

Anyone that thinks he wouldn’t have gone in the 1st is wrong. He was sub-4.4, and elite receiver and the top skill player in his class. You need to stop looking at how his pro career went and look at the skill set. That’s how guys are drafted. If you were to go back and look at big boards leading up to that draft he was almost always the top skill player and you’d be reaching to find someone that had him outside of the top 15 players.
 

He was a home run threat in the backfield, out of the backfield and in the return game. Spiller was like Reggie Bush coming out. A guy that can score every time he touches the ball doesn’t get drafted after 40 other guys. Those guys go early!!
 

 

[2003Contenders]

13 hours ago, Ethan in Portland said:

Spiller was a top 15 talent and is a very good example of how not drafting for need can hurt you.  There was not much controversy that he got picked at #9. The controversy was that the Bills picked him at #9 with two good backs on the roster already. 

 

Bingo! To make matters worse, the Bills also had glaring needs elsewhere and were not in the position to make this pick. I do think that the selection tipped their hand that Lynch was on the outs, which is why all they were able to net for Marshawn was a 4th round pick.

 

Chan had also made the dubious decision to impose a switch to the 3-4 defense with a roster that was not suited to play it. Buddy badly wanted to acquire a NT in the draft and tried to trade up for Dan Williams late in the 1st round. (There were misinformed reports at the time that he was trying to trade up for Tebow.) When he was unable to make the deal, Buddy apparently panicked and reached (badly) for Troup to hopefully fill that NT spot early in the 2nd round. The very next pick in the draft was Gronk to the Pats. Ouch!

[Nextmanup]

On 2/19/2020 at 10:21 AM, GunnerBill said:

He shouldn't have gone at #9 when he did. I think he'd be in the conversation anywhere from late round 1 to mid round 3.

Yes this right.  Was a huge mistake at the time and not solely a product of the times or a different valuing of the position.

 

 

[DrDawkinstein]

On 2/19/2020 at 10:35 AM, whatdrought said:

Without hindsight, as a prospect alone? Probably still top 15. 

 

Coming out of today's powerhouse Clemson too. Yeah. Definitely a 1st rounder at least.

13 hours ago, Ethan in Portland said:

Spiller was a top 15 talent and is a very good example of how not drafting for need can hurt you.  There was not much controversy that he got picked at #9. The controversy was that the Bills picked him at #9 with two good backs on the roster already.  

 

In 2020, Spiller is probably  picked between 25 and 45.  I say this due to the general devaluing of the position, the fact this draft class is heavy with front 7 defenders, and other than New England I can't name a team in the league that needs a first round RB.  Seattle maybe but they need o-line and d-line even more. 

 

Except both of those backs were power-runners, and Spiller was a different type of player and exactly what Chan wanted in his spread offense. If anything, they made him a top-10 pick based solely on the idea of need.

[Cripple Creek]

On 2/19/2020 at 10:04 AM, Flip Johnson said:

Most people knew in the moment and everyone can see in hindsight that CJ Spiller was a luxury pick at #9 in 2010.

 

The way the RB position has been re-valued in today's NFL, where would a Spiller-type player get picked now, ten years later? Third round? And speaking specifically of the Bills I would love to see them draft a guy like Spiller - just not at #9. If the Bills could find an explosive RB to play behind Singletary that could also give you something out of the backfield and in the return game, that would be a huge addition.

 

The 2010-12 Bills had a thousand issues, but the Jackson/Spiller backfield was fantastic - it was Spiller's draft position (esp. compared to Fred as a UDFA) and relatively low usage that caused so much discontent among fans. The complement was excellent and I'd like to see a similar thing again.

A luxury pick? How about an asinine pick? Complete teams have the luxury of making a luxury pick.  Those Bills were far from a complete team.  Spiller, Maybin...yeah, that's gonna work.

[Mr. WEO]

1 hour ago, Kirby Jackson said:

Anyone that thinks he wouldn’t have gone in the 1st is wrong. He was sub-4.4, and elite receiver and the top skill player in his class. You need to stop looking at how his pro career went and look at the skill set. That’s how guys are drafted. If you were to go back and look at big boards leading up to that draft he was almost always the top skill player and you’d be reaching to find someone that had him outside of the top 15 players.
 

He was a home run threat in the backfield, out of the backfield and in the return game. Spiller was like Reggie Bush coming out. A guy that can score every time he touches the ball doesn’t get drafted after 40 other guys. Those guys go early!!
 

 

 

That certainly was the sentiment of many here at the time--that on the Bills, Spiller was a "home run threat every time he touched the ball".  Turns out he had 12 TDs rushing in 5 years.  6 receiving.  2 on returns.  911 total touches. 

 

Even at Clemson, he had only one of 4 seasons with over 1150 yards from scrimmage.

 

57 minutes ago, DrDawkinstein said:

 

Coming out of today's powerhouse Clemson too. Yeah. Definitely a 1st rounder at least.

 

 

 

What's higher than the 1st round?

[Buffalo Junction]

Anyone saying that Spiller wouldn’t be a 1st round pick does not remember how good he was in college or any of the hype. It’s that or knowing how he turned out as a pro is tainting perspective. He was a dominant RB good contact balance that could catch and outrun defenders even when they had a good angle. 
 

 

[Kirby Jackson]

2 hours ago, Mr. WEO said:

 

That certainly was the sentiment of many here at the time--that on the Bills, Spiller was a "home run threat every time he touched the ball".  Turns out he had 12 TDs rushing in 5 years.  6 receiving.  2 on returns.  911 total touches. 

 

Even at Clemson, he had only one of 4 seasons with over 1150 yards from scrimmage.

 

 

What's higher than the 1st round?

He scored 52 TDs at Clemson (8 return, 11 receiving, 32 rushing). Again, AT THE TIME OF THE DRAFT he was considered, without question, the top skill player. He would have gone top 15 in any draft. 

[Chicken Boo]

Gailey had Spiller humming in 2012!  

 

I remember that fateful carry where he broke his collar bone on a 40 yard scamper.  He was never the same after that, for whatever reason.

[Albany,n.y.]

On 2/19/2020 at 11:44 AM, Over 29 years of fanhood said:

In 2010 the new offensive genius Chan I often read about here, ran an offense where he could not figure out how to use this nearly HoF caliber RB And since he convinced nix to get his “waterbug” in spiller at pick 9, There weren’t enough touches to go around.

this was after 2 1K+ seasons and a pro bowl mind you, granted there were the legal issues and who knew at that time if he was going to straighten up.
 

I also can’t remember why his 09 season blew, but the team in general was a dumpster fire. 

 

Anyway chanix shopped him and Seattle obliged. 

Chan Gailey-screwing up teams wherever he goes.  I heard on WGR this week when Armando Salguero was on from Miami that Chan Gailey was OC in Miami and told them not to draft Drew Brees because Brees was too short to succeed as a NFL QB.  

[Hardhatharry]

CJ Spiller thread is lasting longer then his career. Such a bust of a pick.

[billsfan89]

I think that a Spiller type player would go towards the back end of the first. I think he would be seen as a "Playmaker" type that some team would want to use in a good 2 down role. McCaffery although a bit of a different prospect was drafted in the top half of the first round so there is always a chance that he could have gotten drafted a lot higher. 

[Bill from NYC]

On ‎2‎/‎19‎/‎2020 at 12:13 PM, thenorthremembers said:

It wasnt Ralph.  Chan made the comment. 

I don't think so. I really think that Buddy Nix said this, but I can't say that I am 100% sure.

[Bill from NYC]

The RB position as we all know has decreased in value by dramatic proportion. Spiller WAS fast but he wasn't instinctive. He couldn't block and some say he wasn't overly intelligent if you will.

Based on the above, I would think he would go in the 3rd or 4th round, and still would have had a far less than stellar career.

And btw, I do not think that his attributes will ever excuse the absolute idiocy of our Bills drafting him this early.

[thenorthremembers]

1 hour ago, Bill from NYC said:

I don't think so. I really think that Buddy Nix said this, but I can't say that I am 100% sure.

The quote is below.   They both spoke in Southern Boy dialect so I can see the confusion.

 

Chan Gailey Wants to Draft a Water Bug