The Bills 06 Draft Class

[BuffaloBilliever]

These guys were phenomenal.

 

I like their determination, their motor, their heart and skill.

 

Terrance Pennington, Keith Ellison, Donte Whitner, Ko Simpson, Kyle Williams, all were called on, all stepped up and gave it their all. The only 3 unheard from are Aaron Merz, Brad Butler, and Ashton Youboty, and Youboty will be there next year to prove his worth.

 

I tip my hat to these guys, and I think we owe them big.

 

Here's to the Bills of the Future.

[marauderswr80]

These guys were phenomenal.

 

I like their determination, their motor, their heart and skill.

 

Terrance Pennington, Keith Ellison, Donte Whitner, Ko Simpson, Kyle Williams, all were called on, all stepped up and gave it their all. The only 3 unheard from are Aaron Merz, Brad Butler, and Ashton Youboty, and Youboty will be there next year to prove his worth.

 

I tip my hat to these guys, and I think we owe them big.

 

Here's to the Bills of the Future.

 

Im wondering what the so called experts are saying now. I remember last April Buffalo was the laughing stock of the NFL. I think Buffalo has proven big names dont always have to be picked first.

 

Another draft like we had last year, this Bills team can get better in a hurry.

 

Granted the question mark is still out on Youboty, Merz & Butler, i still feel as if Youboty will be a decent corner, not sure if he will be able to play at the level Nate Clements does. But then again we dont know yet......

 

I think my favorite rookie from this year was either Ellison or Kyle Williams. Ellison is one of the more smaller LB's in the game but yet is always making big tackles on the field. Kyle Willams reminds me of a Phil Hansen type player. Just plays balls to the wall every down and makes plays when we need him too. I think with another year under the NFL conditioning program Williams will get better. Finally I think we can say so long to Tim Anderson!

 

I cant wait to see this years draft.......I do see Buffalo being laughed at again for the picks they make! Granted im sure i will be left scratching my head, but....I have the faith the staff will make the right moves....and spend a few bucks to upgrade a few spots!

[The Big Cat]

Im wondering what the so called experts are saying now. I remember last April Buffalo was the laughing stock of the NFL. I think Buffalo has proven big names dont always have to be picked first.

 

Another draft like we had last year, this Bills team can get better in a hurry.

 

Granted the question mark is still out on Youboty, Merz & Butler, i still feel as if Youboty will be a decent corner, not sure if he will be able to play at the level Nate Clements does. But then again we dont know yet......

 

I think my favorite rookie from this year was either Ellison or Kyle Williams. Ellison is one of the more smaller LB's in the game but yet is always making big tackles on the field. Kyle Willams reminds me of a Phil Hansen type player. Just plays balls to the wall every down and makes plays when we need him too. I think with another year under the NFL conditioning program Williams will get better. Finally I think we can say so long to Tim Anderson!

 

I cant wait to see this years draft.......I do see Buffalo being laughed at again for the picks they make! Granted im sure i will be left scratching my head, but....I have the faith the staff will make the right moves....and spend a few bucks to upgrade a few spots!

 

I have faith as well. For all you Buckeye loyalists-how did Nate's career compare with Ashton's?

[Tortured Soul]

As good depth as Ellison and Williams proved to be, and the value that Pennington looks like, these aren't the players that win championships. We had an opportunity to get stars, and while Whitner, Simpson, et al, might prove to be stars, don't expect any mea culpas. Look at the seasons of some of the top rookies, and our draft just doesn't look that impressive.

[billybob]

The Bills were laughed at over their first two picks- Whitner over Ngata and trading a 2nd and 3rd to move up to take McCargo- most draft experts praised the picks of Youboty, Simpson, and Williams- if Whitner or McCargo become stars then it will be a great draft otherwise I'm unimpressed- the Bills were 7-9, the fact the Bills had as much contribution from this draft class is more a testament to how little talent Tommy D left this team with more than the greatness of the picks.

[marauderswr80]

I think this might be the year Buffalo gets some stars via FA, they have plenty of money under the cap to do so, no excuses anymore when it comes to free agents. Pony up!

[billybob]

The Problem is that this is a very thin class of Free agents and some of the best of them are former Bills- I Know no one wants to hear this but there is a very good chance we will lose more talent than we will gain from free-agency.

[Pyrite Gal]

Actually, my summary on the three you mentioned is"

 

Youbouty- His 06 production should not make anyone comfortable at all that he is ready to fill for NC. However, given that his problems were not self-induced like a disciplinary suspension or even an injury which would raise question marks about his ability, there are many reasons to be somewhat optimistic about Youbouty's second year.

 

No one ever complained about his talent, the problem for Youbouty was always one of him needing more learning time and questions about his temperament and some risk taking in coverage that if he made a mistake and got burned it may well be for a TD.

 

The best sign for the Bills regarding his development however, is that once he finally did get some playing time in 06, he actually go a start in the NYJ game where he not only was trusted by Jauron/Fewell with this responsibilty based on performances in practice which obviously impressed the coaches, but he played fairly well in first start as the Bills D effectively controlled Pennington and NYJ.

 

His play though adequate did not demand additional starts, but overall it really makes him a partial rather than total question mark in what was looking like it might be a lost season for him.

 

It remains to be seen whether he can if fact press for a nickel role or eventually make us forget about NC if we lose him, but there would seem to be good reasons to hope that this season of unfortunately missing pre-season because his Mom died and he was the oldest remaining male in a significantly sized family may actually have still given him the year of studying the teams playbook and watching and analyzing DB play as an inactive player that actually provided him with play study many pundits felt he needed before being ready to become an NFL player.

 

In addition, folks who might have worried about his maturity should know that he has gotten drenched in taking responsibility as the remaining head of the family. Youbouty has every incentive to make sure he repeats the success of a variety if great Ohio State CBs in the NFL.

 

Butler- He saw surprisingly little playing time in 06 in a Bills OL which was looking for help. However, the good news may well be that the issue was his play was surpassed by eventual surprise starter Pennington who the jury is stil out on whether he will be the permanent RT, but who certainly was a clear member of a much improved Bills OL from the intial failed version.

 

Butler did see some time in a couple of games including some work as an OL player against the Ravens which probably was assessment play as much as anything, and I have not heard how the braintrust graded his performance, In 07 he will be competing to at least establish himself as a consistent back-up and no one has said anything I have heard to say this is not possible (though I also have not heard any good words to say this is likely),

 

Merz- He was a quiet great surprise for the Bills in 06 as he not only quietly was on the active roster for 7 games, but even got credited with a tackle from his play. The Bills final pick not only saw action but actually impressed folks enough in practice that he even got a game start against NE in place of an injured Reyes and his OK but not great play cemented his role as being active in 6 other games.

 

All in all, I think that almost all would judge a draft to have been successful if the 7 rounds produced a couple of players capable of starting, a couple of players who contributed though they did not start and only produced one player who ended up cut or practice squaded.

 

The 7 rounds of the 06 Bills draft actually produced:

 

4 players seen as starters next year pending off-season and camp results (Whitner, Simpson, Pennington, Williams)

 

2 potential starters (Youbouty if NC goes or potentially a nickle role which sees half the plays, McCargo as a second rounder is expected to demand a starting role though if he gets it it would likely be Williams slot)

 

In addition to these 6, Ellison saw significant game action and started due to two LB injuries so clearly is a contributing Bill. Merz saw a start due to injury but ended up on the active roster for 7 games. Finally, Butler though drafted higher than Merz and Pennington was surpassed by these two.

 

All in all, while there are those who may poo-poo the achievements of this class as 2 of the 3 first day choices did not achieve there hoped for starting positions by the end of the year most hope for 1st day choices, this assessment strikes me as folks being more focused on a Kiperesque view of the draft rather than looking at the reality from a Bills standpoint.

 

Though a 1st round pick is expected to start in the NFL his first year, and McCargo disappointed initially with his play by most judgments and at best MAY have turned the corner with his play as mid-season approached and ultimately going on IR simply failed to produce for the Bills (even if one judges it was not his fault as a player which I do not since like it or not injuries are a reality and thus a part of real assessment).

 

However, in judging the Bills draft, McCargo's failure means that the Bills could have made a better choice in reality on the first day, but in reality McCargo's failure to produce is actually balanced and canceled out by this Marv led crew picking a player on the second day who proved capable of starting at DT.

 

While those over-focused on draft value may belittle this by pointing to the reality that the run defense with Williams was suspect at best, again the broader reality is that this team produced a 7-9 record against opponents who produced even better than the opponents which gave a 5-11 record to the 05 team.

 

The facts are it seems to me that the Bills ended the season with almost half the players selected (and depending upon how things happen perhaps more than half) ending up with starting roles next season on a team which has a credible shot at making the playoffs.

 

It simply strikes me as pushing beyong what one can reasonably expect a team to achieve from a draft to have roughly half of the selections end up as

starters their second year. For those who get stopped by 2 of the 3 first day choices being choices who if we did something else the draft could have been even better, I suggest they focus their assessment on the reality of what happened rather than focusing on the woulds/coulda/shoulda of what might have been,

 

Overall, the draft in toto is a crapshoot and the reality is the Bills did incredibly well as they chose a bunch of players who got a lot of PT on a team which improved a lot.

[BuffaloBilliever]

A tip of the hat to Pyrite Gal.

[ganesh]

Im wondering what the so called experts are saying now. I remember last April Buffalo was the laughing stock of the NFL. I think Buffalo has proven big names dont always have to be picked first.

Another draft like we had last year, this Bills team can get better in a hurry.

 

I think the class of 2006 has to be one of the most phenomenal drafts in the history of NFL.....So many players came to play as a rookie.....I think there are quite a few teams for whom their entire draft class made a big splash this year....Along with the BIlls, the Jets, and Ravens had many of their draft picks come good...

[ganesh]

The Problem is that this is a very thin class of Free agents and some of the best of them are former Bills- I Know no one wants to hear this but there is a very good chance we will lose more talent than we will gain from free-agency.

 

or soon-to-be-former-bills

[Kelly the Dog]

Unfortunately, the fact is that all six of them played RELATIVELY very good if not great, for the positions that they were put in. None of them actually played very good or great football. It's still far too early.

[Max997]

think of how much better it would have been if they drafted Ngata and Mangold instead of Whitner and McCargo

[Astrobot]

A lot of Wallers were high on the Eagles' draft class at the time:

Brodrick Bunkley--Patterson and Bunkley will be outstanding together in the middle there for years.

Winston Justice--Runyan and Thomas weren't getting any younger.

Chris Gocong--A Tweener LB-DE guy.

Max Jean-Gilles--Many had him as our 2nd Rounder at OG.

Jeremy Bloom (KR) and LB Omar Gaither

 

I would still take our draft class as a whole.

[BuffaloBilliever]

Justice and Bunkley are complete flops.

 

Bunkley won't even be on the team soon, he'll get cut faster than a 15 year old emo girl who broke a nail.

 

And for a team that had 4 rookies on defense as starters that finished 7-9 and lost most of their games by less than 3 or 7 points, I think it's pretty phenomenal.

[MadBuffaloDisease]

As good depth as Ellison and Williams proved to be, and the value that Pennington looks like, these aren't the players that win championships. We had an opportunity to get stars, and while Whitner, Simpson, et al, might prove to be stars, don't expect any mea culpas. Look at the seasons of some of the top rookies, and our draft just doesn't look that impressive.

Compared to whom? I'd put the Bills' draft up against any other teams' draft anyday. And what the Bills may have lacked in immediate quality, they gained in quantity that WILL improve in quality.

[billybob]

I give the first two picks a D - Considering we could have had Ngata, Danieal Manning or Marcus McNeill, and our 3rd rounder- I give the rest of the Draft an A.

[porgyman]

I liked the Bills '06 draft and don't agree with what most of the so called draft experts had to say. What I do agree with is teh miscalculation in the value of the picks that the Bills made in the first round. While I like the Whitner pick, I think they could have traded down and waited on McCargo. I know there was talk that Baltimore was interested in picking Whitner and the Giants had their sights on McCargo. What we don't know is how serious they were or if it was a smoke screen to distract us from other players they really wanted. The Bills certainly got good value where they picked Simpson and Youbouty, but I think they could have picked up an extra pick by trading down and still gotten Whitner.

[Bill from NYC]

Compared to whom? I'd put the Bills' draft up against any other teams' draft anyday. And what the Bills may have lacked in immediate quality, they gained in quantity that WILL improve in quality.

 

Yeah, too bad about Day 1, ya know?

[MadBuffaloDisease]

Yeah, too bad about Day 1, ya know?

Way too early to tell. Just because they didn't play great as rookies doesn't mean they won't in the future.