nucci Posted April 30, 2009 Posted April 30, 2009 3 years later is a good time to check it out. I think the Bills grade is a bit high. http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/story/11696266
Tcali Posted May 1, 2009 Posted May 1, 2009 3 years later is a good time to check it out. I think the Bills grade is a bit high.http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/story/11696266 I agree..I'd say B- is more like it. McCargo bad. Whitner-solid player but a reach at 8??.Butler---good pick. Youboty--fair. Williams--mmm...fair.
San Jose Bills Fan Posted May 1, 2009 Posted May 1, 2009 First of all thanks for posting this Nucci. Good stuff. I agree that the grade given the Bills '06 draft is a bit high. Ko Simpson and John McCargo are hanging onto their roster spots by their fingernails. I'm a Whitner backer but it's an uphill argument to say that he's outperformed his draft slot. The biggest thing that I got from this article is that this draft redeems Charlie Casserly. He had taken some heavy abuse on this board during the runup to the draft and the excellence of his picks in 2006 (his final draft) really restored the authority and credibility of his expertise.
mike6683 Posted May 1, 2009 Posted May 1, 2009 it seems like not a lot of great players came out if that draft. I just remember really wanting haloti gnota
Steely Dan Posted May 1, 2009 Posted May 1, 2009 Youboty > Simpson by far. When healthy and that brings up one of the problems I have with this type of grading system. Buffalo Bills They surprised some by taking Donte Whitner eighth in the first round, but he's been better than expected. John McCargo, the defensive tackle they took later that round, wasn't so good. They did hit on safety Ko Simpson (fourth), defensive tackle Kyle Williams (fifth) and guard Brad Butler (fifth). They are all starters. Third-round pick Ashton Youboty hasn't panned out. Grade: B+ Youboty hasn't panned out due to injuries. When he's been healthy he's been a stud. So is he a hit for the Bills or a miss? IMO, the only time injuries should be factored into the grade is if a player had a long history of injuries in college and IIRC, Youboty never did. The other thing is that on deeper teams guys that could be starters are sitting behind more established vets and then leave to be starters during FA. I know Turner isn't from the 2006 draft but because he was second string behind LT was that a good pick or a bad pick? Grading by the number of starters who come out of a draft sometimes isn't a good way to evaluate a draft. OT of grades from that draft but, I think Ko Simpson has gotten a raw deal. He had an injury twp years ago that takes a couple of years for a player to regain everything they had prior to the injury. I think they should keep him to at least fight for a job. At the very least he would be a strong backup. JMO
scribo Posted May 1, 2009 Posted May 1, 2009 I really wanted Ngata that year. But Donte is my favorite Bill now. And to be fair, I really wanted Robert Gallery two years earlier, and now I am very glad the Bills didn't take that tub.
nucci Posted May 1, 2009 Author Posted May 1, 2009 First of all thanks for posting this Nucci. Good stuff. I agree that the grade given the Bills '06 draft is a bit high. Ko Simpson and John McCargo are hanging onto their roster spots by their fingernails. I'm a Whitner backer but it's an uphill argument to say that he's outperformed his draft slot. The biggest thing that I got from this article is that this draft redeems Charlie Casserly. He had taken some heavy abuse on this board during the runup to the draft and the excellence of his picks in 2006 (his final draft) really restored the authority and credibility of his expertise. Really proves you can not properly grade a draft until a few years later. Agree on Casserly. He did take a lot of crap for this draft. He should be a GM somewhere.
bourbonboy Posted May 1, 2009 Posted May 1, 2009 Baltimore got an A grade - The Ravens landed starting defensive tackle Haloti Ngata in the first round and he is one of the dominant players at his position. What could have, and should have, been!
Bill from NYC Posted May 1, 2009 Posted May 1, 2009 I think that he nailed it in 06 when you hit his link in that article to his original grades. I give it a C, and Butler is what pushes it to that level. Otherwise I would give it a solid D.
Coach55 Posted May 1, 2009 Posted May 1, 2009 Note that Keith Ellison came out of that draft in the 6th. So whether or not you like it, you have/had 4 starters and 7 players who are still on the team (9 if you include DiGiorgio and Neill who went undrafted that year). Reckon that most of them are role players, but scoring 7/9 (9/17 including undrafteds) is a decent draft, not stellar, but decent. Comparatively speaking in 2005 - they picked up Parish, Kevin Everett and Duke Preston (3/6) - not that great 2004 - Evans, Losman, Tim Anderson (3/6) - again not that great. 2003 - McGahee, Kelsay, Crowell, McGee, Aiken, Haggan (6/8) - better but I still ask why you draft McGahee when you have Travis Henry 2002 - Reed, Denney, Wire, Bannan (4/10) - Mike Williams biggest bust ever... And so on... I think 06 was better than each of those years.
The Dean Posted May 1, 2009 Posted May 1, 2009 :thumbsup: :lol: Thank you Mr. Casserly. This is going to drive Bill, Dawgg, Bills Vet and the rest of the Levy-bashing bunch crazy. And imagine, this grade from a REAL football guy like Casserly. My, my, my. Truth be told, I'd probably only give it a B or a B+, at this stage. It could have been an A (or A+) had McCargo worked out (I guess there is still a shred of hope, there). Also, while Ko looks to be falling out of favor (although it's really speculation at this point) Youboty turned out to be a terrific player (if he can stay on the field). Anyway, one can certainly quibble about the draft grade, and whether the Bills made the right selections at certain picks, but this should put the talk of the 2006 draft being a disaster, an F, a draft that set the team back years, etc., to an end once and for all. Of course, since the harshest critics arguments were never really based in football fact, I doubt it will.
The Dean Posted May 1, 2009 Posted May 1, 2009 I think that he nailed it in 06 when you hit his link in that article to his original grades. I give it a C, and Butler is what pushes it to that level. Otherwise I would give it a solid D. A "C"? Feeling generous today, Bill?
Coach55 Posted May 1, 2009 Posted May 1, 2009 Interesting historical analysis of the 2006 draft... http://www.lowdownskinny.com/Teams/Buffalo.htm He had Whitner coming to Buffalo at pick 42.
Bill from NYC Posted May 1, 2009 Posted May 1, 2009 A "C"? Feeling generous today, Bill? Actually yes.
The Dean Posted May 1, 2009 Posted May 1, 2009 Actually yes. OK, then. From now on, when you suggest the 2006 draft was a disaster, and that Levy was an incompetent GM who set the team back, I want you to cc Casserly. Maybe we can get him involved here.
MDH Posted May 1, 2009 Posted May 1, 2009 A "C"? Feeling generous today, Bill? I don't see how anybody could give it anything better than a "C". The Bills got an above average safety at the 8 spot which isn't good value and they got a bust with their second 1st. Ko is average at best, Youboty can't stay on the field (no fault of the drafting there though), Kyle Williams is a very solid pick in the 5th but part of the Bills problems with the DL has to do with Williams. Butler is the stand out pick of the draft as grabbing him with a 5th rounder is a bargain. Going strictly by how many starters a team gets out of a draft is a slanted way of looking at it. Who cares how many starters a team who can't make the playoffs gets? How many of those guys would be starters on solid squads? Not many.
BuffaloBill Posted May 1, 2009 Posted May 1, 2009 Baltimore got an A grade - The Ravens landed starting defensive tackle Haloti Ngata in the first round and he is one of the dominant players at his position. What could have, and should have, been! This situation will always be a rub for those that remember the selection of Whitner.
Bill from NYC Posted May 1, 2009 Posted May 1, 2009 OK, then. From now on, when you suggest the 2006 draft was a disaster, and that Levy was an incompetent GM who set the team back, I want you to cc Casserly. Maybe we can get him involved here. I would like to see what Tim and others think. We got minimal production from a 1st (McCargo), 3rd, and 4th round pick. Our #8 is OK, but a host of players selected after him are doing far more. You are a huge Levy Fan, and always have been. Nothing wrong with this mind you. I think he is a nice man who wasn't competent to be a GM. I also think that he was a pretty good coach.
The Dean Posted May 1, 2009 Posted May 1, 2009 I don't see how anybody could give it anything better than a "C". The Bills got an above average safety at the 8 spot which isn't good value Most NFL people don't think Whitner is merely average, from what I can tell. That seems to be the valuation of some "special" Bills fans.
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