A Sense of Urgency

[stuckincincy]

With free agency 3 weeks old and the draft still a long month away, I get the feeling Buffalo is looking further down the road than 2007. Although the season is still almost half a year away, it appears the Bills will not acquire any starting caliber free agents the rest of the way. There may be some players available later in the off-season, but I rarely hear Buffalo is interested like we heard when Dockery visited OBD on opening day of free agency.

 

The question is this: do Bills fans think Buffalo looks toward 2008 or will they go out of their way to win in 2007?

 

And what qualifies for success in 2007? Is it merely being .500, making the playoffs, or winning a post-season game?

 

Do they have a sense of urgency for 2007 with the franchise missing the playoffs each season since 2000?

 

Good questions.

 

Regarding play-offs, here are some words from Rick McKay, co-chairman of the NFL Competition Committee:

 

"In opening his teleconference Wednesday to discuss proposed rules changes, committee co-chair Rich McKay pointed out some key statistics that speak to the league's competitive balance.

 

In referencing re-alignment into eight, four-team divisions for the 2002 season, McKay, the Atlanta Falcons president and general manager, pointed out that 27 of 32 teams have qualified for the playoffs in those five seasons.

 

"We've also had 22 different divisional title winners," McKay said. "So we feel very good about where the game is from the standpoint of competitiveness top to bottom.' ."

 

Sobering...

 

http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/art.../703250420/1066

[The Dean]

If that PC was any indication, Marv is not your classic Polian, Newsome, Pioli, insert GM here, type of General Manager. I got that. I'm just not comfortable with a triumvirate of people making decisisons. I have no definitive smoking gun truth, but I think it's safe to say they make decisions by committee up there at OBD. But I'll say one thing, micromanaging a team or an organization is doomed to fail. Individuals don't care for someone looking over their shoulder. At the same time, you must exercise some level of control. Hopefully Marv is in the middle of those two areas. If anything, he's closer to the latter.

 

The season itself will point out mistakes and good decisions. Hindsight is 20/20. But it's my take that they're stripping away too much of the team at once, and while some people like to rationalize every move and question nothing, I don't see it that way. You can talk about Spikes being a negative influence, his cap hit, whatever. But you don't have a better option. If he departs for draft picks, you're leaving the team extremely thin at LB. And CB doesn't look much better. We're hoping and praying that the guys who've been career backups and our 1st and 2nd year guys can perform at a certain level. To believe that is nonsense. You can get picks for experienced veterans, but doing that too often is such a long-term and risky investment. Let's see what Spikes goes for first, because it seems like a foregone conclusion. We all agree draft picks are not a sure thing, no matter who is doing the selecting. In Buffalo, having 2-3 starters come from each draft will be required, not optional. Marv and DJ need immediate impact players each season.

 

 

i don't think we really disagree too much. We NEED 2-3 starters out of the draft (just like last year). My take is, so far so good. I understand t seems, on the surface, we have lost many core players, and that can be disturbing. But, when you are trying to transition a losing organization into a winning one, there HAVE to be big changes.

 

Until his judgment proves to be poor and his changes prove detrimental to the team, I will cotinue to "trust in Marv". That doesn't mean that I won't occasionally question some of the decisions.

 

BTW, Since when has Spikes EVER been a negative influence on this team? That's news to me,

[BillsVet]

Good questions.

 

Regarding play-offs, here are some words from Rick McKay, co-chairman of the NFL Competition Committee:

 

"In opening his teleconference Wednesday to discuss proposed rules changes, committee co-chair Rich McKay pointed out some key statistics that speak to the league's competitive balance.

 

In referencing re-alignment into eight, four-team divisions for the 2002 season, McKay, the Atlanta Falcons president and general manager, pointed out that 27 of 32 teams have qualified for the playoffs in those five seasons.

 

"We've also had 22 different divisional title winners," McKay said. "So we feel very good about where the game is from the standpoint of competitiveness top to bottom.' ."

 

Sobering...

 

http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/art.../703250420/1066

 

An excellent point. Surely 5 years of TD greatly contributed to Buffalo not being post-season bound. But Buffalo is part of some infamous company with regard to playoffs. Detroit and Arizona are the only other teams (excluding Houston) who have failed to make the post-season for 7 or more seasons.

 

You can't blame the current regime for this because they've been on-board for a short time. But I'm still not convinced this team can be a playoff team. Granted, it's March, but the chances of adding players after draft day who can make your team instantly better are few and far between. I'm not talking about spending crazy cash in free agency, but adding the guys who can fill a position and be reliable without needing to be spectacular. Cato June wasn't had for all that much in TB. But if the cash to the cap method is studied, Buffalo is at about 105M of their 112M maximum. Getting rid of Spikes saves some money, but basically eliminates the Bills from almost all the decent free agents. That money will go toward their draft picks.

[BillsVet]

i don't think we really disagree too much. We NEED 2-3 starters out of the draft (just like last year). My take is, so far so good. I understand t seems, on the surface, we have lost many core players, and that can be disturbing. But, when you are trying to transition a losing organization into a winning one, there HAVE to be big changes.

 

Until his judgment proves to be poor and his changes prove detrimental to the team, I will cotinue to "trust in Marv". That doesn't mean that I won't occasionally question some of the decisions.

 

BTW, Since when has Spikes EVER been a negative influence on this team? That's news to me,

 

I don't think the front office was happy with Spikes when he publicly complained about Vincent's release. I didn't think that was a good move by Spikes and never should have been in the public realm. That's stuff that needs to be kept in the locker room. But I've read that Spikes wasn't too enthusiastic about Losman starting either. Forgive me for not providing direct links to the latter, but here's an example of his displeasure with the front office:

 

Spikes-Vincent 9-14-06

 

I can understand wanting to shed him from the team for multiple reasons. I'm merely concerned with the replacement. I personally like Okoye and Posulszny. Both would seem to be excellent on this team. Same for Willis, they are all character people. Plain and simple, I think the front office would deal Spikes to prevent the younger players from buying into a guy with great playing credentials who is bad-mouthing the transactions the team makes. Not a good thing.

 

I'd like to see Buffalo grab another DT, a starting LB, and a RB. Those are my three distinct areas of need.

[Dan]

Borderline comical banter here, but I think the major point you're missing, BillsVet, is that its been 1 year for Marv and company - not 7. I agree, if Marv were on a 7 year rebuilding plan, I'd be upset. You are right its been 7 years since the Bills franchise has been to the playoffs. But in that time, we've had several GMs, Head Coaches, Assistant Coaches, QBs, etc.

 

Like it or not, TD and company were not getting the job done. So Ralph washed the slate clean; brought in new management and a new time scale. So, we're 1 full year into this new time frame - not 7. I agree that sucks, but that's reality. And that's why its so important to hire a good GM, coach, get good players, etc. Because every mistake prolongs that period. You hire Greggo - you have to give gim a few years to work something out. He fails; you hire Malarky and give him a few years. That's the problem. Now we we have a new GM and HC. You have to give them a few years.

 

I guess the primary point I can gather from all your arguing is that you don't like Marv or Jauron and you don't like the moves they're making. Because you can't argue that they're not moving fast enough - they've had 1 year. Now it'll take another 2 years to see if you're right or if I'm right (I like Marv's moves). At that point we can have this discussion, but not really before.

 

Will their FAs or draft picks pan out... only another season of football will determine that. But to not like Youbouty (for ex.) because he hasn't played enough is akin to sayin I don't want to build through the draft; I want to build through FA. Because no draft pick is a sure thing. No second year player is a sure thing. FAs aren't either, but you can look at what they've done and think they're a sure thing. So, FA's tend to make people feel better about the future than unproven draft picks.

 

Bottomline, you have to hope for the best, because that's what being a fan is about. If you always expect the worst, what's the point?

[BillsVet]

Borderline comical banter here, but I think the major point you're missing, BillsVet, is that its been 1 year for Marv and company - not 7. I agree, if Marv were on a 7 year rebuilding plan, I'd be upset. You are right its been 7 years since the Bills franchise has been to the playoffs. But in that time, we've had several GMs, Head Coaches, Assistant Coaches, QBs, etc.

 

Like it or not, TD and company were not getting the job done. So Ralph washed the slate clean; brought in new management and a new time scale. So, we're 1 full year into this new time frame - not 7. I agree that sucks, but that's reality. And that's why its so important to hire a good GM, coach, get good players, etc. Because every mistake prolongs that period. You hire Greggo - you have to give gim a few years to work something out. He fails; you hire Malarky and give him a few years. That's the problem. Now we we have a new GM and HC. You have to give them a few years.

 

I guess the primary point I can gather from all your arguing is that you don't like Marv or Jauron and you don't like the moves they're making. Because you can't argue that they're not moving fast enough - they've had 1 year. Now it'll take another 2 years to see if you're right or if I'm right (I like Marv's moves). At that point we can have this discussion, but not really before.

 

Will their FAs or draft picks pan out... only another season of football will determine that. But to not like Youbouty (for ex.) because he hasn't played enough is akin to sayin I don't want to build through the draft; I want to build through FA. Because no draft pick is a sure thing. No second year player is a sure thing. FAs aren't either, but you can look at what they've done and think they're a sure thing. So, FA's tend to make people feel better about the future than unproven draft picks.

 

Bottomline, you have to hope for the best, because that's what being a fan is about. If you always expect the worst, what's the point?

 

I'll agree you can't get an educated opinion until we play the games. For all we know Youboty and Ellison will be big time players at a future point. With Youboty, I realized he missed significant time due to a death in the family over the summer. But I didn't understand that as a projected first round talent who went in the third why he didn't get more PT at CB? The coaches must have known something that we didn't. I think an excellent college player should have had the time and intelligence to learn the system by November.

 

But we're quibbling over stupid points. I do hope for the best, but there's no point in having unsubstantiated optimism. More rookies and 2nd year players are generally not going to get you to the promised land. And we're making a habit of doing that far too often. Getting younger might be good 2 years from now, but this coming season is an entirely different matter. And that's why I started this topic.

 

Rome was not built in a day. But NFL franchises aren't built over 3-5 years either anymore. The playing field has been leveled and parity is the way of pro football.

[Dan]

Rome was not built in a day. But NFL franchises aren't built over 3-5 years either anymore. The playing field has been leveled and parity is the way of pro football.

Exactly. I think we're on more of a 2-3 year plan. We, albiet surprisingly, were close to the playoffs last year. I expect and hope we'll be in the thick of the playoff race again this December. And with continued improvement of young players 2008 the playoffs should be expected - not hoped for.

 

I think Marv is doing what you've suggested, he's gotten FAs in some places, i.e. the Oline. He's mixing in rookies elsewhere. I think its difficult to say we're letting all our FAs go, because we've kept some (Kelsay, Thomas, Thomas). We let go of super high-priced guys and older guys that don't seem to fit what Marv wants. So, I'm not convinced the "letting our good players go" argument is completely valid with Marv. If we do, in fact, let JP or Evvans, Peters or some supposed "Marv" guys go because they want big money; then I'll completely agree - we're doomed. But, until that happens, I'm living in my dream world where Marv is building a team of his players that will compete for several years, not just one.

[Flbillsfan#1]

I don't think the front office was happy with Spikes when he publicly complained about Vincent's release. I didn't think that was a good move by Spikes and never should have been in the public realm. That's stuff that needs to be kept in the locker room. But I've read that Spikes wasn't too enthusiastic about Losman starting either. Forgive me for not providing direct links to the latter, but here's an example of his displeasure with the front office:

 

Spikes-Vincent 9-14-06

 

I can understand wanting to shed him from the team for multiple reasons. I'm merely concerned with the replacement. I personally like Okoye and Posulszny. Both would seem to be excellent on this team. Same for Willis, they are all character people. Plain and simple, I think the front office would deal Spikes to prevent the younger players from buying into a guy with great playing credentials who is bad-mouthing the transactions the team makes. Not a good thing.

 

I'd like to see Buffalo grab another DT, a starting LB, and a RB. Those are my three distinct areas of need.

I am in total agreement with everthing in this post.

[X. Benedict]

I don't think the front office was happy with Spikes when he publicly complained about Vincent's release. I didn't think that was a good move by Spikes and never should have been in the public realm. That's stuff that needs to be kept in the locker room. But I've read that Spikes wasn't too enthusiastic about Losman starting either. Forgive me for not providing direct links to the latter, but here's an example of his displeasure with the front office:

 

Do you really think the organization is shaping a roster with a sense of vindication?

I don't think that much of what is said is taken to heart - or that memories are that long.

A Willis not bothering to learn plays or blocking assignments would be a different matter than

speaking out in competitive frustration.

 

The "Bickering Bills" as they were named said miles of stupid stuff in their day.

[BillsVet]

Do you really think the organization is shaping a roster with a sense of vindication?

I don't think that much of what is said is taken to heart - or that memories are that long.

A Willis not bothering to learn plays or blocking assignments would be a different matter than

speaking out in competitive frustration.

 

The "Bickering Bills" as they were named said miles of stupid stuff in their day.

 

If you were managing a department and one of your employees who used to be excellent (and isn't performing well of late) at his job started bad mouthing you to fellow employees, would you want him to stay there? I don't think so. You'd get rid of him if you could.

 

They're going with a youth movement and character people. I'm not crazy about some of the moves that have been made, but a lot of what I've heard about Spikes isn't high character. If he's saying things publicly about team transactions, I can't imagine what's being said behind closed doors.

 

This has nothing to do with vindication. It has everything to do with getting good locker room guys. We, as fans see what happens on the field. The locker room is an entirely different realm. And Spikes isn't good there and that's what counts to Marv and DJ.

[X. Benedict]

My bad, but I meant vindictiveness, not vindication. Just a slip.

 

Maybe there are things we don't see, but I still have a hard time believing they would be

looking to move Spikes for any reasons outside of ability and contract.

[The Dean]

My bad, but I meant vindictiveness, not vindication. Just a slip.

 

Maybe there are things we don't see, but I still have a hard time believing they would be

looking to move Spikes for any reasons outside of ability and contract.

 

 

I totally agree