late round draft value

[C.Biscuit97]

Was that 5-11 record in 2005 a product of being devoid of talent or poor coaching.? Meathead was completely stupid, and yet the season before was 9-7. How then can you describe that it was talent which was the reason for their 2005 losses?

 

The 2006 draft, in time, will prove to be about two players, neither of whom have established themselves into above-average players, but may very will. I'm speaking of Whitner and McCargo. The others, Youboty, Simpson, K. Williams, Ellison, Merz, and Pennington are or will not be starting quality. Butler could very well be a good starter, but it's hard judging guard play.

 

All in all, there was no massive rebuild that needed to happen. The improvement from 5-11 to 7-9 should have occurred, with the talent on the roster. I'd say 2005 was underperforming due to bad coaching.

 

 

What the heck are you talking about? Simpson started his entire rookie season and was part of a secondary that ranked 7th in the league against the pass. He was gonna be a starter this season until he got injuried in the first game of the season. Williams, a 5th rounder, has been a starter and will still be a key member of the DT rotation. Ellison, a 6th rounder, has been a starter. Now he isn't an every game starter but he is good depth and should been a solid STer. Seriously, what else more do you from a 6th round pick?

 

See, I can't stand posts like this. You think being a Bills fan, you'd be happy with a draft that produced 3 starters, 1 sometime starter, and a quality rotation guy. What more do you want?

[Kelly the Dog]

What's made up?

 

Fat Mike never played LT in college - yet Teflon Tom knew better that he could convert him to LT.

 

 

 

the best OL plays LT because the best pass rushers come from the left side.

 

Hence you put your best OL on the left side to take on the more agile and better pass rushers.

 

RDEs don't much care which arm the QB throws with.

 

Fat Mike did not play LT because he did not beat out Davis when Applewhite was there and the couches did not move him to LT after Davis left.

No, he did not play LT because an upperclassman who would become the #2 overall was already there. When Davis left AND Texas coaches knew they had a left-handed quarterback, they decided to keep Fat Mike at RT to protect the QB's blind-side. It wasn't at all because they thought he couldn't play it, which is what you implied. There were numerous articles on it.

[Lurker]

the best OL plays LT because the best pass rushers come from the blind side side.

Fixed.

 

LT's are the top of the food chain because the vast majority of QBs are right handed. Do you honestly think Bruce Smith would've been a ho hum player if he'd been a LDE playing against a league with more left-handed QBs?

[ax4782]

Here's a novel concept: rather than draft projects, how about spend mid-round draft picks on offensive linemen who have started and been successful at major college programs and whose skills translate directly to the NFL? That way, we can avoid having to plug gaping holes with overpriced free agents... can't expect Jason Peters every single time!

 

Here's a novel idea. Do some research on the player before you suggest that he cannot have any success at the pro level. A number of players from smaller schools have done well on this team and others. Also, if you watched the film on the guy, he has good size and very good feet for a lineman that large. Jason Peters was a UDFA and he is now a top ten left tackle in the NFL. Just because a guy comes from a smaller program doesn't mean he won't be a success. Perhaps we should see how he plays first? Just a thought.

[ax4782]

What the heck are you talking about? Simpson started his entire rookie season and was part of a secondary that ranked 7th in the league against the pass. He was gonna be a starter this season until he got injuried in the first game of the season. Williams, a 5th rounder, has been a starter and will still be a key member of the DT rotation. Ellison, a 6th rounder, has been a starter. Now he isn't an every game starter but he is good depth and should been a solid STer. Seriously, what else more do you from a 6th round pick?

 

See, I can't stand posts like this. You think being a Bills fan, you'd be happy with a draft that produced 3 starters, 1 sometime starter, and a quality rotation guy. What more do you want?

 

Preach it. Some posters here think we should be getting a front line starter with every pick in the draft. Sorry, but that isn't how the NFL works. The fact is, our last two drafts, we have done a masterful job getting good solid talent in the later rounds. Particularly with Simpson, who will be starting at FS again this year, and will be part of what looks like a hell of a secondary. Good post.

[obie_wan]

Preach it. Some posters here think we should be getting a front line starter with every pick in the draft. Sorry, but that isn't how the NFL works. The fact is, our last two drafts, we have done a masterful job getting good solid talent in the later rounds. Particularly with Simpson, who will be starting at FS again this year, and will be part of what looks like a hell of a secondary. Good post.

 

You must be talking about players such as Merz, Pennington, Youboty, Dwayne Wright etc that looked good initially.

 

Less than 2 years later, players that made the front office look good are either gone and the Bills wasted more picks on their replacements.

 

The Bills would get better faster if they didn;t spend so much time spinning their wheels on trying to fill the same slots.

 

At least with the OL, they have just given up trying to draft players.

[Sisyphean Bills]

The thing I like most about the Hardy pick is that when he teams up with Evans, an opponent is pretty much forced to put their fastest DB on Evans (or more likely double him because he is so extremely fast and has a proven ability to make the difficult long ball catch that necessitates putting a good coverage guy on him). However, Hardy is so extremely tall with a record of production in college, if a teams best cover DB is also their fastest guy, it means that Hardy will be able to utilize his extreme height against an opponents second best cover guy and likely a shorter player.

 

Most teams are going to have to make a difficult choice about where they are going to present a weakness which the Bills might exploit.

 

Add into this, that if we go 3WRs, that Parrish now presents a threat which also is freaky fast and explosive as a runner.

 

I think most teams are gonna find it very difficult to match up well against the Bills in 3 WR sets. They are going to have to make difficult choices in any case about the implications of needing to match up against a very fast Evans and a very fast Parrish. If the outcome of allocations designed to combat this threat now leaves them with a remnant choice of putting a shorter player to jump ball with Hardy it will be rough for the opponent and present a potential exploitable weakness for the Bills.

 

If the player tall enough to match up well with Hardy also happens to force the opponent to put a not their fastest or better cover guy on Evans or Parrish this could be fun.

 

Likely, compared to the lost a step and can be single covered Price, opponents will be forced into zones rather than the tighter man-to-man coverage. Even better, I suspect we will see more one RB sets or even empty backfields from the Bills this year as if they can get Reed into the mix he already has demonstrated in his rookie year that he has the talent to savage zone coverage with precise route running. This could be a lot of fun.

No doubt about it, the Bills need someone to balance the field.

 

Even if Hardy becomes a starter opposite Evans, I don't expect teams to really respect the Bills passing game until such time as Edwards, Evans, and Hardy show they can push the ball down the field against different looks. It's a tall order, but then Hardy is one tall dude.

[Kelly the Dog]

You must be talking about players such as Merz, Pennington, Youboty, Dwayne Wright etc that looked good initially.

 

Less than 2 years later, players that made the front office look good are either gone and the Bills wasted more picks on their replacements.

 

The Bills would get better faster if they didn;t spend so much time spinning their wheels on trying to fill the same slots.

 

At least with the OL, they have just given up trying to draft players.

True that. I think Bills fans have an inflated perception of a lot of the picks over the last few years. Ellison and DiGiorgio, for instance, compared to the rest of the league, wouldn't be able to play the position on 80% of the teams, and are decent back-up players, at best.

[Dawgg]

Here's a novel idea. Do some research on the player before you suggest that he cannot have any success at the pro level. A number of players from smaller schools have done well on this team and others. Also, if you watched the film on the guy, he has good size and very good feet for a lineman that large. Jason Peters was a UDFA and he is now a top ten left tackle in the NFL. Just because a guy comes from a smaller program doesn't mean he won't be a success. Perhaps we should see how he plays first? Just a thought.

 

Another novel idea for you: re-read my post, but this time understand what I said. Demetrius Bell may very well be a great player some day -- but he's a project who is at least 2 years away from making any meaningful contribution. If Dockery or Peters get injured this season, Bell won't be much of a help.

 

My point is that year after year, the Bills fail to invest in building any sort of depth in the offensive line. Projects are great and all, but the league is littered 3rd, 4th, and 5th round linemen who start early in their career and make meaningful contributions to their teams -- the Bills notwithstanding. And you wonder why we have to pay $65M for a decent guard!

[Dawgg]

I think Bills fans have an inflated perception of a lot of the picks over the last few years

 

Not on this board... no way!

[BillsVet]

What the heck are you talking about? Simpson started his entire rookie season and was part of a secondary that ranked 7th in the league against the pass. He was gonna be a starter this season until he got injuried in the first game of the season. Williams, a 5th rounder, has been a starter and will still be a key member of the DT rotation. Ellison, a 6th rounder, has been a starter. Now he isn't an every game starter but he is good depth and should been a solid STer. Seriously, what else more do you from a 6th round pick?

 

See, I can't stand posts like this. You think being a Bills fan, you'd be happy with a draft that produced 3 starters, 1 sometime starter, and a quality rotation guy. What more do you want?

 

Check the boxscores from the preseason games against NO and TEN. The Bills secondary was beaten pretty good, with Whitner and Simpson making plenty of tackles. Drew Brees and Vince Young did this against the starting secondary.

 

Buffalo loved Kyle Williams so much they went out and got Stroud and Spencer Johnson. That tells me they weren't enamored with an undersized, wave-type DT. In the same way, Buffalo loved Keith Ellison so much that they signed a larger WLB in Kawika Mitchell.