Peter King weighs in about our draft

[Mickey]

I am one of those that you asked who to select and I am sorry for my delayed response.

 

I cannot speak for anyone else, but what bothers me is what I consider to be a continuation of a bleak picture, even with a "new" GM.

Mick, I am asking you to look back at and focus upon our most recent asinine drafts. Thanks to this idiocy (yes, idiocy) we have a boatload of small wideouts. Collectively, our tight ends have suffered every injury ever known in the history of mankind. We waited 20 games for our running back to develop. Then, we selected a shaky qb, and handed him the job for either no reason or one of stupidity (the loss to the prior team of the GM and HC). Oh, and we gave away precious picks to do so.

 

How can you as a true Bills Fan look back upon the signing of Roscoe Parrish and not quiver with horror? The friggin guy is said to have ran back into his residence when he saw a few snowflakes! Sure, Whitner, as an OSU will certainly be tougher, but he is yet another little person in terms of the NFL. He is even a tad small for his position.

 

To get back to your question, what about Joseph (after a trade down) ? Check this out if you will.   Look at the 1st round OGs. Cheat just a little and look at Steinbach, who TD gleefully passed up. These guys are the foundation of good football teams. I am certain that you know this.

Otoh, we continue to give away picks and draft small persons to play in the NFL on both sides of the ball. When will it end? Can you tell me this? We are losing Mick. This absurdity isn't working. Even Whitner was said to be shocked when he was selected.

I guess the "good news" is that Ralph will save a bundle. He can dump a very talented Clements, and replace him with a 3rd round pick. How does this sound to you?

689139[/snapback]

I am with you on your criticisms of drafts past. I don't really see the resemblance between those drafts and the one Marv just completed that you see however.

 

Whitner was the best SS on the board when we took him and SS was a position of need. McCargo was the second best penetrating DT on the board and the best one still on the board when we took him at 26. DT was a position we really needed to fill. I think that is different then taking Parrish when we already have Moulds and Evans at WR. We didn't need a WR anywhere near as bad as we needed a G and the second round would have been just the place to get a good value at G. Same with taking Willis when we had Henry and Steinbach was on the board. I have posted many times that we might have been better off with Steinbach so you are preaching to the choir here.

 

This draft was a different situation. Back then we took Willis when we had Henry and arguably, did not need to get another RB. Willis was a luxury, an upgrade to an already satisfactorily manned position. Steinbach was there and we were in dire need of a decent guard but passed him up for the Willis upgrade. This year, we really, really needed a DT who can penetrate and a SS. We lost Milloy at SS leaving Wire and a mediocre FA. At DT, we have lost the top 4 DT's on the roster over the last two years and on top of that, we are switching to a defense for which a solid, penetrating DT is vital. SS and DT were definitely needs that had to be filled unlike the drafting of Willis over Steinbach when we already had Travis Henry.

 

We agree on the past drafts, we just disagree over whether this draft is a departure from those awful drafts.

 

As for Clements, I am not his biggest fan. I know that Bill Belichek loved to run the naked WR screens to his side because he, unlike Winfield at the time, often missed the tackle turning a 2 yard play into a 62 yard play. He had a poor year last year and given the contract situation, he might be gone next year.

[Mickey]

.

 

To get back to your question, what about Joseph (after a trade down) ? Check this out if you will.   Look at the 1st round OGs. Cheat just a little and look at Steinbach, who TD gleefully passed up. These guys are the foundation of good football teams. I am certain that you know this.

689139[/snapback]

 

 

I didn't address the Joseph thing. I personally would have had no problem with a trade down to get Joseph assuming we would still have been able to trade up and get McCargo. That is because, for me, I think G was a need about as big as DT or SS. However, I don't think the Bills' staff are idiots for rating DT and SS as higher needs than OG, especially after signing Reyes. If we traded down and got Joseph and McCargo, I would have been satisfied though we would have had real problems at SS since I don't think much at all of the guys that were taken after Whitner such as Bullock, Manning and Pollard. Too slow. In any event, given their rating of DT and SS as the overriding needs, I think they did a credible job in getting the top guys available at those positions when they were taken.

[Dawgg]

... and therein lies my point. Had they traded down and picked up an extra 2nd rounder, they are now in a position to significnatly upgrade a position other than SS (assuming Whitner is gone). They could take Joseph, Greenway, or Hali, all of whom are starting caliber players and would provide a boost to their respective units.

 

Then, with the 2nd round pick they obtained in the trade, they could use that pick to trade up and grab McCargo. I fully understand the merits of their thinking -- that safety and DT were pressing needs that had to be filled -- but organizations who build championship teams treat draft picks like gold -- and acquire more of them, not surrender them. For a team with this many holes, staying at #8 to pick Whitner was a luxury. Is Whitner a good player? Hell yes he is. But the Bills are far more than one player away from building a winning team. A draft as deep as this is an ideal opportunity to build that foundation of core young players. Those core young players, more often than not, are found in the middle rounds.

 

The question everyone asks is "God forbid if we lose out on Whitner we are screwed at safety. What do we do?"

 

Well, honestly speaking, this team has questions everywhere... staying focused on one and only one area is not a luxury this team has.

 

- Who starts opposite Lee Evans? Price and Reed are not the answers.

- Will Spikes be effective? Contrary to what his PR campaign says, the odds are against him.

- Who rushes the passer aside from Schobel? Note: Kelsay and Denney are not the answer

- Do we really have a legitimate tackle? Aren't there depth concerns?

 

Safety may very well have been the biggest hole but this team has plenty of needs and I feel that in a draft as deep as this, that pick could have been parlayed into multiple good players. The fact that we could get Youbody and Ko Simpson in the 3rd and 4th is a reflection on just how deep this draft was.

 

I didn't address the Joseph thing.  I personally would have had no problem with a trade down to get Joseph assuming we would still have been able to trade up and get McCargo.  That is because, for me, I think G was a need about as big as DT or SS.  However,  I don't think the Bills' staff are idiots for rating DT and SS as higher needs than OG, especially after signing Reyes.  If we traded down and got Joseph and McCargo, I would have been satisfied though we would have had real problems at SS since I don't think much at all of the guys that were taken after Whitner such as Bullock, Manning and Pollard.  Too slow.  In any event, given their rating of DT and SS as the overriding needs, I think they did a credible job in getting the top guys available at those positions when they were taken.

689461[/snapback]

[Rico]

I still say the bigger question is not taking a SS at #8...

it's trading away a Day-1 pick to add depth at 3-tech DT after you've already signed Tripplett. Great idea, I love reinforcing the position since it's very important to have fresh players there, but I would've addressed 2 other holes instead and just given Tripplett more snaps if necessary. Again, if McCargo proves to be significantly better than Tripplett (and sooner rather than later) OR if McCargo can somehow push Tim Anderson to the bench even though it's not his priimary position (and sooner rather than later), then I'm cool with the move. Otherwise, I think trading up & drafting for depth in the 1st round for a team with so many other problems doesn't make sense ...nice luxury that they really can't afford yet.