"Trusting" Marv

[Bill from NYC]

Apart from the whole...."I wanted us not to draft a DB".....thing, I don't understand how you can be so displeased with day 1.

 

Looked at in perspective......that means comparing this 1st day to the 'average' first day after 1 year & you'll see that it is probably one of the better ones.

 

Comparing quickly to the East(AFC&NFC)....1/4 of league.

 

BUF

1/DB Whitner(15 starts)....rookie of month, one of best 1st rounders

1/DT McCargo(0 starts)....looked to be 'getting' it, then injured

3/DB Youboty(0 starts)....no play time due to totally non football situation...no reason to expect his potential to be reduced in any way.

 

NE

1/RB Maroney(no starts)....Good but Whitner was better

2/WR Jackson(1 start, 12 games played)....Not showing much on team with no WRs

3/TE Thomas(3 starts)....(3 starts, 1 decent game)....added not much more to team than Youboty did for us.

 

MIA

1/DB Allen(no starts)....20 tackles total for year

2/WR Hagan(no starts)....21 catches looks OK....comparable production to McCargo

 

NYJ

1/OT Ferguson(16 starts)....Very good but not quite as good as Whitner(?)(comparable)

1/C Mangold(16 starts)....One of the better 1st round picks

2/QB Clemens....virtually did not play

3/LB Schlegel....virtually did not play

3/DB Smith(no starts)....played 15, decent helper with 27 tackles & 2 ints

 

PHIL

1/DT Bunkley(no starts)....virtually a non-factor...McCargo did better in his 5 games

2/OT Justice....did not play

3/DE Gocong....did not play

 

DAL

1/LB Carpenter(1 start, week 17)....virtual non factor

2/TE Fasano(5 starts)....14 catches....helped, but not much

3/DE Hatcher(0 starts)....played 15 & helped with 2.5 sacks

 

NYG

1/DE Kiwanuka(9 starts)....Did pretty well with 4 sacks & 2 ints

2/WR Moss....virtual non factor

3/LB Wilkinson(2 starts)....played 16 games & did OK with 27 tackles

WASH

2/LB McIntosh(1 start)....played 16 games & did OK with 28 tackles

As you can clearly see.....

Only the Jets could really be considered to have had a definitively better day 1 than us.

We had(IMO) a definitively better day 1 than MIA, PHIL, DAL & WASH.

Comparable day 1 to NE & NYG

 

I think it crazy to assess after 1 year but.....basically.....the comments that our day 1 was "disastrous" or terrible are not only premature but....as I hopefully have shown.....out of context & incorrect.

 

As usual you raise good points, As is NOT usual, you are reaching.

 

Of the teams that you mentioned, how many picked before the Bills? As for Whitner out-performing Ferguson, hold on for just a minute, OK? Ferguson protected the blind side of a noodle armed qb on a team that was painfully thin at the RB position, this as a rookie.

As I stated before the draft, a friend of mine has done business with his father for years, and knows the entire family, including D'Brick since he was a little kid, and says that they are simply wonderful people. Ferguson is a smart, talented, high character Left Tackle. They don't grow on trees, ya know?

 

The GREAT news is that we didn't need him, but did Marv know this before the draft? Mayve so, but Gandy was on the left side stinking up the field at the beginning of 06.

The Bills owe the bulk of their success (imo) to Peters, JP, and Evans developing into very good players. The coaching staff (hired by Marv) did a splendid job, and he deserves much credit foir this. He was also able to draft 2nd day players who stepped in and played well. This is not easy for a GM to accomplish.

 

Now is the time to make this a stronger team. With a few smart moves and some luck, we could be talking about our next playoff opponent a year from now imo. I think that this could happen if we toughen up in the middle. We shall see.