Phlegm Alley Posted March 9, 2007 Share Posted March 9, 2007 Think about this: when did Marv and Jauron start "shopping" Willis McGahee? At the combine. When did they aptly place Spikes "on the trading block"? At the combine. What does this have to do with anything? They obviously saw something in a few players at the combine to target at this years upcoming draft that could be suitable replacements for these players' production. Do you really think that Marv would think that an aging vet with little left in the tank (Dillon), an overpriced, almost SB MVP, who never lived up to his potential after his rookie year (Rhodes), or an oft injured upright style runner that played second fiddle to OUR one time #1 RB (Brown), would be able to replace WM's production? Absolutely not. Marv brought those guys in there to try and corner the market as quickly as possible in order to get rid of McGahee so that they could plan accordingly for the remainder of FA as well as the draft. I don't think either one of them will get signed and I think that you're going to see A-Train get a contract before one of those guys. So, that brings me to the draft and the reason why I think that Marv traded WM and has openly placed Spikes on the trading block. I think Marv is going to keep Crowell on the strong side and Ellison is going to supplant SPikes as the weakside LB. With the 12th pick, we are going to select either Patrick Willis, or trade down, accumulate another pick, and draft Paul Poz out of Line Backer U to replace LFB. Remember: Marv indicated in his now infamous "cash to cap" presser that we "needed to have more attacking LBs". This, along with bettering the OLine, were his two primary focuses to offseason improvement. With our 2nd round pick, I think this is where Marv and Jauron will get their player that replaces not only Willis' production, but also his heart and drive. I think they will select Brian Leonard with this pick. He is a PERFECT blue collar player with tons of character and I think he would bring a unique form of youthful leadership to this football town. He has trimmed down to 226lbs, he ran a 4.49/4.52 40yd. dash, he did 28 reps of 225lbs, and he is a SMART football player. Here are his career stats: Brian Leonard stats Notice the amount of balls he caught out of the backfield. People say "Marv wants his Thurman Thomas". What did Thurman do? He was a threat running, recieving, and in pass protection. Leonard accomplished this while he was a FB at 240lbs. He has slimmed down, ran a faster 40 yd dash than Marshawn Lynch, and (for those who think Marshawn catches the ball a lot out of the backfield) he caught nearly as many balls out of the backfield in 1 YEAR than Marshawn caught in all of his 3 YEAR CAREER. To show you what Brian Leonard is capable of doing, watch this little video: One thing you'll notice is his leaping capability. He hurdles would-be-tacklers like nothing. Think about it folks. We were quick to trade away WMs mediocre production/heart because Marv and Jauron saw something in a few players at the combine this past month. Otherwise, they wouldn't have been so quick to get rid of what some people think to be, a better player on our roster. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Big Cat Posted March 9, 2007 Share Posted March 9, 2007 Think about this: when did Marv and Jauron start "shopping" Willis McGahee? At the combine. When did they aptly place Spikes "on the trading block"? At the combine. What does this have to do with anything? They obviously saw something in a few players at the combine to target at this years upcoming draft that could be suitable replacements for these players' production. Do you really think that Marv would think that an aging vet with little left in the tank (Dillon), an overpriced, almost SB MVP, who never lived up to his potential after his rookie year (Rhodes), or an oft injured upright style runner that played second fiddle to OUR one time #1 RB (Brown), would be able to replace WM's production? Absolutely not. Marv brought those guys in there to try and corner the market as quickly as possible in order to get rid of McGahee so that they could plan accordingly for the remainder of FA as well as the draft. I don't think either one of them will get signed and I think that you're going to see A-Train get a contract before one of those guys. So, that brings me to the draft and the reason why I think that Marv traded WM and has openly placed Spikes on the trading block. I think Marv is going to keep Crowell on the strong side and Ellison is going to supplant SPikes as the weakside LB. With the 12th pick, we are going to select either Patrick Willis, or trade down, accumulate another pick, and draft Paul Poz out of Line Backer U to replace LFB. Remember: Marv indicated in his now infamous "cash to cap" presser that we "needed to have more attacking LBs". This, along with bettering the OLine, were his two primary focuses to offseason improvement. With our 2nd round pick, I think this is where Marv and Jauron will get their player that replaces not only Willis' production, but also his heart and drive. I think they will select Brian Leonard with this pick. He is a PERFECT blue collar player with tons of character and I think he would bring a unique form of youthful leadership to this football town. He has trimmed down to 226lbs, he ran a 4.49/4.52 40yd. dash, he did 28 reps of 225lbs, and he is a SMART football player. Here are his career stats: Brian Leonard stats Notice the amount of balls he caught out of the backfield. People say "Marv wants his Thurman Thomas". What did Thurman do? He was a threat running, recieving, and in pass protection. Leonard accomplished this while he was a FB at 240lbs. He has slimmed down, ran a faster 40 yd dash than Marshawn Lynch, and (for those who think Marshawn catches the ball a lot out of the backfield) he caught nearly as many balls out of the backfield in 1 YEAR than Marshawn caught in all of his 3 YEAR CAREER. To show you what Brian Leonard is capable of doing, watch this little video: One thing you'll notice is his leaping capability. He hurdles would-be-tacklers like nothing. Think about it folks. We were quick to trade away WMs mediocre production/heart because Marv and Jauron saw something in a few players at the combine this past month. Otherwise, they wouldn't have been so quick to get rid of what some people think to be, a better player on our roster. Sensible. And I agree about them not just letting WM flutter away without a backup plan. To the cynic in me, Brian Leonard seems like a stretch simply becaue I've heard of him. Seems to me Spikes and one of the picks we just acquired from Baltimore might smell nice to the Bears and Briggs? In a perfect world... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JAMIEBUF12 Posted March 9, 2007 Share Posted March 9, 2007 i say the a-train is more than adequate to be our runningback. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MartyBall4Buffalo Posted March 9, 2007 Share Posted March 9, 2007 I like Brian Leonard a lot and the dude plays hard, and Id rather not make this a racial thing, cause I wish leonard the best on his quest to be a fulltime tailback, but I'd rather that quest be with another team, unless he's willing to be a change of pace guy or a fullback. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phlegm Alley Posted March 9, 2007 Author Share Posted March 9, 2007 Sensible. And I agree about them not just letting WM flutter away without a backup plan. To the cynic in me, Brian Leonard seems like a stretch simply becaue I've heard of him. Seems to me Spikes and one of the picks we just acquired from Baltimore might smell nice to the Bears and Briggs? In a perfect world... No doubt. I would love to acquire Briggs, esp with his experience in the cover 2, but how much $$$ is he going to command? Look at Porter. IMO Briggs will command more money than that AND we would have to give up valuable draft picks. Lets draft some leaders for this defense and pair up some talent with our already young offense. I was kind of skeptical about Leonard as well, but after seeing some highlights, I think that he would be a perfect fit for the Bills. He could end up being a more agile/versatile Mike Alstott and you would never expect Alstott to leave TB now would you? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrueBlue Posted March 9, 2007 Share Posted March 9, 2007 He is very impressive, but players who leave their feet in the NFL usually suffer injuries. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Posted March 9, 2007 Share Posted March 9, 2007 ... Id rather not make this a racial thing... I don't understand? What race is he? Further explanation is required, please. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JAMIEBUF12 Posted March 9, 2007 Share Posted March 9, 2007 I don't understand? What race is he? Further explanation is required, please. human lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MartyBall4Buffalo Posted March 9, 2007 Share Posted March 9, 2007 I don't understand? What race is he? Further explanation is required, please. I'd just rather not see a white guy at tailback. When was the last time that worked out? I like watching leonard play he was undoubtedly a great player for the scarlet knights, but I think he's in over his head at playing tailback in the pros, at least a fulltime tailback. I'd just rather go in another direction. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Big Cat Posted March 9, 2007 Share Posted March 9, 2007 a racial thing are you referring to Leonard or our OLine Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MartyBall4Buffalo Posted March 9, 2007 Share Posted March 9, 2007 are you referring to Leonard or our OLine leonard Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phlegm Alley Posted March 9, 2007 Author Share Posted March 9, 2007 I like Brian Leonard a lot and the dude plays hard, and Id rather not make this a racial thing, cause I wish leonard the best on his quest to be a fulltime tailback, but I'd rather that quest be with another team, unless he's willing to be a change of pace guy or a fullback. TO me, Brian Leonard WAS the change of pace guy after the emmergence of Ray Rice as the home run threat in the Scarlet Night offense. He had the opportunity to come out after his Jr year but he decided to come back even though he knew that his production was going to slip with him sharing carries with Rice in the backfield. And why the fock does race have anything to do with the price of rice in China? That is a pretty ignorant statement and it has nothing to do with the conversation. If you don't like him as a player, that is one thing, but to say that you'd hate for it to be a race thing, that is opening a whole new can of worms Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phlegm Alley Posted March 9, 2007 Author Share Posted March 9, 2007 I'd just rather not see a white guy at tailback. When was the last time that worked out? I like watching leonard play he was undoubtedly a great player for the scarlet knights, but I think he's in over his head at playing tailback in the pros, at least a fulltime tailback. I'd just rather go in another direction. Mike Alstott wasn't a traditional HB, but he played it in certain circumstances and he was pretty good at it. Alstott also played at 245-250...Leonard is 25 lbs lighter than him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MartyBall4Buffalo Posted March 9, 2007 Share Posted March 9, 2007 TO me, Brian Leonard WAS the change of pace guy after the emmergence of Ray Rice as the home run threat in the Scarlet Night offense. He had the opportunity to come out after his Jr year but he decided to come back even though he knew that his production was going to slip with him sharing carries with Rice in the backfield. And why the fock does race have anything to do with the price of rice in China? That is a pretty ignorant statement and it has nothing to do with the conversation. If you don't like him as a player, that is one thing, but to say that you'd hate for it to be a race thing, that is opening a whole new can of worms Yeah it was a bad choice of words on my part, but yeah I just dont see the guy as an everydown viable option at tailback I'm just gonna leave it at that. I apologize for previous comments Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OCinBuffalo Posted March 9, 2007 Share Posted March 9, 2007 Think about this: when did Marv and Jauron start "shopping" Willis McGahee? At the combine. When did they aptly place Spikes "on the trading block"? At the combine. What does this have to do with anything? They obviously saw something in a few players at the combine to target at this years upcoming draft that could be suitable replacements for these players' production. Do you really think that Marv would think that an aging vet with little left in the tank (Dillon), an overpriced, almost SB MVP, who never lived up to his potential after his rookie year (Rhodes), or an oft injured upright style runner that played second fiddle to OUR one time #1 RB (Brown), would be able to replace WM's production? Absolutely not. Marv brought those guys in there to try and corner the market as quickly as possible in order to get rid of McGahee so that they could plan accordingly for the remainder of FA as well as the draft. I don't think either one of them will get signed and I think that you're going to see A-Train get a contract before one of those guys. So, that brings me to the draft and the reason why I think that Marv traded WM and has openly placed Spikes on the trading block. I think Marv is going to keep Crowell on the strong side and Ellison is going to supplant SPikes as the weakside LB. With the 12th pick, we are going to select either Patrick Willis, or trade down, accumulate another pick, and draft Paul Poz out of Line Backer U to replace LFB. Remember: Marv indicated in his now infamous "cash to cap" presser that we "needed to have more attacking LBs". This, along with bettering the OLine, were his two primary focuses to offseason improvement. With our 2nd round pick, I think this is where Marv and Jauron will get their player that replaces not only Willis' production, but also his heart and drive. I think they will select Brian Leonard with this pick. He is a PERFECT blue collar player with tons of character and I think he would bring a unique form of youthful leadership to this football town. He has trimmed down to 226lbs, he ran a 4.49/4.52 40yd. dash, he did 28 reps of 225lbs, and he is a SMART football player. Here are his career stats: Brian Leonard stats Notice the amount of balls he caught out of the backfield. People say "Marv wants his Thurman Thomas". What did Thurman do? He was a threat running, recieving, and in pass protection. Leonard accomplished this while he was a FB at 240lbs. He has slimmed down, ran a faster 40 yd dash than Marshawn Lynch, and (for those who think Marshawn catches the ball a lot out of the backfield) he caught nearly as many balls out of the backfield in 1 YEAR than Marshawn caught in all of his 3 YEAR CAREER. To show you what Brian Leonard is capable of doing, watch this little video: One thing you'll notice is his leaping capability. He hurdles would-be-tacklers like nothing. Think about it folks. We were quick to trade away WMs mediocre production/heart because Marv and Jauron saw something in a few players at the combine this past month. Otherwise, they wouldn't have been so quick to get rid of what some people think to be, a better player on our roster. Ok I've thought about it. And I watched the video. If Marv used bringing these RB guys in to smoke Rosenhaus out/make them accept the trade based on "we don't care what you say, we are moving willis and we're interviewing "old" running backs to prove it" - and proving to the Ravens that they were serious at the same time, wow - that is flat out Machiavellian. Very strong moves by Marv - if they are his moves and not coincidence. Hmm. That makes me wonder if the sudden "cancellation" of Dillon's visit was part of this-> the trade is now complete so why continue the smoke screen-> why do we still need to see Dillon? I like this Leonard guy and I am a "Paul Poz" fan -> I think he is better for us than Patrick Willis. Can't underestimate our need for a leader in the middle with better size/ability and = smarts to L F-B. So overall I like this plan. No matter what - as much as I hate to say it - the McGahee trade looks good right now because of the options it opens up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phlegm Alley Posted March 9, 2007 Author Share Posted March 9, 2007 Yeah it was a bad choice of words on my part, but yeah I just dont see the guy as an everydown viable option at tailback I'm just gonna leave it at that. I apologize for previous comments Understandable. What direction would you like to see the Bills go? Leonard could be the perfect compliment to Shaud Williams. Thunder and Lightning. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MartyBall4Buffalo Posted March 9, 2007 Share Posted March 9, 2007 Short of trading up for adrian peterson, I'd like to see someone like lorenzo booker. Pretty comparable player to Brian Westbrook while re-signing anthony thomas would offer great diversity, and a short term solution as a nice 1/2 punch and draft a better work horse back next year. You can split booker out wide and use him to create mismatches. Wouldn't cost you the 1st rd pick of Marshawn Lynch either. Basicaly would allow the bills to concentrate primarily on defense in the draft. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chriswatsonsucks Posted March 9, 2007 Share Posted March 9, 2007 Leonard might be in over his head at tailback but there is no reason to think he can't touch the ball 10 - 15 times a game and make a difference. Leonard has the same potential to be effective as anyone not named lynch or peterson. Regardless, i think it is safe to assume that whomever we get at runningback will not be asked to carry the load themselves. I agree, leonard would be an interesting dynamic to add to the offense. I'm thinking chris cooley with the ability to run the ball. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phlegm Alley Posted March 9, 2007 Author Share Posted March 9, 2007 I think that rb by committee is the vogue thing to do now. The last 2 SB winners have operated in that kind of style, and I think that Marv and co. are going to be moving into a more of a ball control style offense and try to stay away from that "feature" back that attracts egos. WM got what he wanted, not before creating a lot of drama before his departure. I do like the idea of Booker though. Do you think he would be there with one of 3rds? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MRW Posted March 9, 2007 Share Posted March 9, 2007 I really hope you're wrong. It would be absolute foolishness to trade away McGahee if your plan is "we can get player X in the draft". What happens when player X is selected two picks before you? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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