Dwight Drane Posted December 24, 2008 Share Posted December 24, 2008 They're mirror images of Evans, so I see why they were passed up. Frankly I don't feel half bad, considering Stevie Johnson worked out. After all, there's nary a peep that Polian was dumb enough to draft Chris Burkett two rounds ahead of Andre Reed. At this point, Hardy should pray he turns into Chris Burkett. If Roscoe Parrish and James Hardy had a baby, then I would think about drafting it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BuffaloBill Posted December 24, 2008 Share Posted December 24, 2008 McKelvin being left off the "head of the class" list, and especially the "honorable mention" list is a joke. He only has 1463 return yards with a TD, 2 INT's and a TD, and has played extremely well. Morons. I suspect he is not on the list for two reasons: 1) Special teams are hardly recognized outside of Buffalo 2) He has come on late in the season Perhaps hinorable mention goes to the fact that he plays on a team that went bust this year relative to expectations. Hard to believe Jake long was not mentioned either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dean Posted December 24, 2008 Share Posted December 24, 2008 At this point, Hardy should pray he turns into Chris Burkett. If Roscoe Parrish and James Hardy had a baby, then I would think about drafting it. Even though he saw limited action, and has been a disappointment so far, for a 2nd round pick, Hardy has two more TD catches in his NFL career than Sam Aiken had in five years. Sure. Aiken delivered on ST, but as a WR he was worthless. Hasn't done anything for NE this year, either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GG Posted December 24, 2008 Share Posted December 24, 2008 Even though he saw limited action, and has been a disappointment so far, for a 2nd round pick, Hardy has two more TD catches in his NFL career than Sam Aiken had in five years. Sure. Aiken delivered on ST, but as a WR he was worthless. Hasn't done anything for NE this year, either. His production is also better than other famed 2nd round Bills WRs - Byron Franklin, Eric Richardson, & Gene Bradley. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Poeticlaw Posted December 24, 2008 Share Posted December 24, 2008 http://www.profootballweekly.com/PFW/Featu...08/rookie16.htm I'm not saying I agree or disagree, just thought you'd be interested. So lets get this right we got the big disappointment in James Hardy when we could have drafted Eddie Royal and had a true #2 receiver man this scouting department is great Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dean Posted December 24, 2008 Share Posted December 24, 2008 So lets get this right we got the big disappointment in James Hardy when we could have drafted Eddie Royal and had a true #2 receiver man this scouting department is great Are you serious? Eddie Royal is 5' 10". There is NO WAY the Bills were going to pick a small WR this last draft. They specifically were looking for a tall WR, if you recall. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VOR Posted December 24, 2008 Share Posted December 24, 2008 Are you serious? Eddie Royal is 5' 10". There is NO WAY the Bills were going to pick a small WR this last draft. They specifically were looking for a tall WR, if you recall. Exactly. Look at the size of the guys who start opposite Royal and Jackson. If you want to compare Hardy to anyone, compare him to Devin Thomas, Limas Sweed (who many called the best WR in the draft), and Malcolm Kelly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dibs Posted December 24, 2008 Share Posted December 24, 2008 Funny how our pick #41 is a bust but the Redskins #34 Devin Thomas(15-120-0) isn't. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VOR Posted December 24, 2008 Share Posted December 24, 2008 Funny how our pick #41 is a bust but the Redskins #34 Devin Thomas(15-120-0) isn't. He wasn't being counted-on to win the #2 job, because the Redskins have the awesome James Thrash there. Poorly done article. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thurman#1 Posted December 24, 2008 Share Posted December 24, 2008 The bigger news is the list of DLs that everyone was salivating over. What does that do to the draft equity methodology? DLs usually don't do well their first year. They are up against bigger stronger guys and have only had college weight-lifting programs and also usually lack NFL technique. One example is Bruce Smith. As the first overall pick he didn't do badly, but not especially well either. He had 6.5 sacks and 48 tackles. The next year after a year of an NFL style strength program and some techniqu work, 15 sacks and 63 tackles. Look at Mario Williams, 4.5 sacks and 11 his second year. These two guys are absolute monsters after a bit of time, only OK at first. And lower level guys also tend to take a while, but the effect is even more severe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thurman#1 Posted December 24, 2008 Share Posted December 24, 2008 The whole thing is ridiculous, to be honest. I never expect that a DL, OL, or WR will make a big splash in their first year, although some do. Those positions generally seem to take players longer to adapt to and ranking disappointments after one year is foolish. I think it's legit ranking them disappointments. The word doesn't imply anything about the future. Disappointments yes. Busts no. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thurman#1 Posted December 24, 2008 Share Posted December 24, 2008 Are you serious? Eddie Royal is 5' 10". There is NO WAY the Bills were going to pick a small WR this last draft. They specifically were looking for a tall WR, if you recall. I do recall, and I personally thought that was a huge mistake, as I railed on and on about at the time. You don't need a tall receiver. You need a good receiver. Get a TE if you want someone tall. Indy doesn't have a single regular reciever above 6'0", and they're a pretty good passing team, IMHO. There are many other examples of this phenomenon. And yes, I know Manning has a hand in that, but so do the recievers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DazedandConfused Posted December 24, 2008 Share Posted December 24, 2008 He wasn't being counted-on to win the #2 job, because the Redskins have the awesome James Thrash there. Poorly done article. I think your point is correct in that disappointment is intrinsically linked to expectations. I think the case that some folks are disappointed with Hardy's play says a lot more about how stupid folks expectations were than it speaks to Hardy not playing adequately. Fans simply over-value the draft as it can certainly happen that a second round pick can break in as an adequate #2 WR, but the simple fact is that though the conventional wisdom is that a 1st round draft pick is expected to start his first year, this is not a sure thing at all. We will see what the depth chart says at the end of the season, but a couple years back was the last time I look at the specifics and even though it was generally agreed that that years draft was pretty strong it was a 50/50 thing for a 1st rounder to even be his team's starter at the end of the year. You think Bills fans would remember that even after two full seasons Eric Moulds showed little or nothing on the field and he became a legitimate Pro Bowler and the Bills go to guy. Expecting a second round WR to command the WR position as a rookie could certainly happen it is just silly for anyone to expect this will happen though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
commish95 Posted December 24, 2008 Share Posted December 24, 2008 I agree Hardy didnt have the year I expected, However the Bills didnt either. Trent had a bad year, Coaching had a bad year, and the LINE PLay was awful. I wouldnt worry about Hardy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VOR Posted December 24, 2008 Share Posted December 24, 2008 I do recall, and I personally thought that was a huge mistake, as I railed on and on about at the time. You don't need a tall receiver. You need a good receiver. Get a TE if you want someone tall. Indy doesn't have a single regular reciever above 6'0", and they're a pretty good passing team, IMHO. There are many other examples of this phenomenon. And yes, I know Manning has a hand in that, but so do the recievers. Reggie Wayne is 6' and close to 200#. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillsVet Posted December 24, 2008 Share Posted December 24, 2008 The greatest disappointment was depending on a rookie to help an offense ranked near the bottom of the league. That might have been acceptable, but no decent TE was added to the roster either. Not adding a pass-catching TE was another shortcoming last off-season, because they had too many holes like DT, OLB, WR, and TE. This coming off-season the Bills still have huge holes, namely at C, TE, DE, DT, OLB, S, and perhaps RT. Every year there are so many areas to address, and 2009 looks no different. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fewell733 Posted December 24, 2008 Share Posted December 24, 2008 well, first, the list only one random writer's opinion. I think totally overlooking McKelvin (who was NFL defensive rookie of the month in November and who might be the league's best KR already) kind of undermines any supposedly authority he has. However, Hardy has been a disappointment so far. What's strange is he chose Hardy as the disappointment but not people like Malcolm Kelly, Limas Sweed, or Devin Thomas - who all have done next to nothing and all went in the 2nd round. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheLynchTrain Posted December 24, 2008 Share Posted December 24, 2008 No McKelvin for God sakes!!!!!!!!! what a joke. Devon Bess? He had a decent game againt Buffalo but other then that, ive honestly heard nothing about him..... As for Hardy...Ive been harsh on him, but I still think he needs some time to develop. To be fair, this list might also be taking "bang for your buck" picks into account. Bess was an undrafted and 35 receivers were picked in the draft. He's caught at least a pass in every game this season, and in the past six games he's got at least 50 yards in every game except the San Fran Game...he still managed 3 catches for 25 yards in that game. He's only been given a legitimate chance to catch the ball since Camarillo went down, and he's stepped up. Its also good to note that he is 3rd in the NFL in rookie receiving (4th if you count Carlson). Thats pretty good for a guy that had 35 receivers taken in front of him. He was a beast at Hawaii and I was pretty pissed when the Dolphins picked him up. Of course, we had already drafted two guys and didnt have much room. So I think its fair to put him "on the verge" list if only for the fact that he was undrafted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheLynchTrain Posted December 24, 2008 Share Posted December 24, 2008 Reggie Wayne is 6' and close to 200#. Just like he said, no receiver over 6 foot. But I do know if Buffalo had chosen a short wide receiver, especially if they had taken the tiny DeSean Jackson (no way he's even 5'9"), this board and Bills Nation would have gone nuts about the Bills incompetence. Maybe the Bills evaluators read the News too much... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VOR Posted December 24, 2008 Share Posted December 24, 2008 Just like he said, no receiver over 6 foot. But I do know if Buffalo had chosen a short wide receiver, especially if they had taken the tiny DeSean Jackson (no way he's even 5'9"), this board and Bills Nation would have gone nuts about the Bills incompetence. Maybe the Bills evaluators read the News too much... It's not a matter of having a WR 6' or over (Moulds was 6'0" tall). It's a matter of having a bigger, more physical WR. And again, Royal and Jackson benefit from the guys across from them. And they're the same type of player as Evans. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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