NoSaint
-
Posts
42,267 -
Joined
-
Last visited
Content Type
Gallery
Profiles
Forums
Events
Posts posted by NoSaint
-
-
Interesting comment from Gregg - was rumoured he wanted merriman and this reference leads mento believe he does like him as a player
-
That's a great deal - I pay 1000 a seat in new orleans- one of the cheapest venues.
-
What crap. The Bills drafted for need for the 10 years before Nix became GM. That is exactly why the Bills have done so poorly. Looking at the best teams talent wise they routinely take the Best Player Available in the first round. In later rounds where the talent is more of a mixed bag you draft for need as the Packers and Steelers and all successful teams so often do. But in the first you should grab the best player possible.
I love that so many people slam the Bills for taking Spiller, but if they would have reached and taken an OT who flamed out everyone would be whining about how they didn't take the BPA. BPA is a strategy, and if Spiller develops into all he can be, he will be a cornerstone for the Bills offense and part of the reason they finally dig their way out of futility.
Dolts like DiCesare would have the Bills reach for Gabbert, Newton etc then they would spend the whole next year saying it was stupid to reach. If the Bills had been drafting BPA for the past 11 years they'd be an annual playoff team.
The BPA for the last 5 first round Bills picks (based upon the consensus rankings at the time):
2010: CJ Spiller, RB
2009: Brian Orakpo, DE / OLB
2008: Chris Williams, OT
2007: Darrelle Revis, CB
2006: Haloti Ngata, NT
If they simply followed the ESPN rankings of BPA and took them in the first round for the past 5 years this is what they’d have right now. So for those who are against BPA I dare you to find me a better track record than this.
Shhhhh maybin and whitner were bpa - not a reach based on scheme....
-
I wouldn't rule out VY totally. He's still on the roster - no?
I think he will let the new coach decide, and may give preference to a coach who is supportive of VY
-
Gotta agree. If you're hired to do a job and your work is continually ignored by management, then you either tune out or get out. You don't stick it out for 10 years busting your ass to do an A1 job because there's no point. So I don't buy the de-linkage between poor scouting and poor drafting.
The lack of identify is a compelling point. When you think about what kind of team the Buffalo Bills are what comes to mind first? I've seen mock drafts that have the Bills taking Green or Peterson. Both look like solid players. But you've also got to look at your weaknesses. IMO, the Bills #1 problem is stopping the run. How does picking either player help you stop the run? The Pats and Jets have run all over the Bills the past two seasons (Jets have rushed for over 1,000 yards in 4 games). How does a WR or CB help fix that problem? Sure you can address it later, just like they've addressed the offensive line problem in the later rounds for years. How's that approach worked out?
Part of what keeps him here may be the unique agreement that he can work from home (Florida) - allowing him to spend time with his family in a way other franchises may not allow. If I recall he did a pretty good job the rest of his career, another reason I put SOME faith into these endorsements.
If his end goal is to evaluate talent and enjoy his family, not career advancement.... He might not have incentive to leave, even if he doesn't love draft day under jauron/marv. Maybe he liked Donahue and has faith in nix.
-
While I'd prefer that the Titans hire George Edwards........I think this is Greggo's job to lose.
The Titans already play Williams' preferred defense and have 4-3 personnel. Easiest possible transition for the Titans, who really aren't bereft of talent by any means.
Only thing is why can him for someone from his coaching tree? Not saying I disagree... Probably just hoping to keep Gregg in nola.
-
Highly unlikely. Ralph likes to play with his toy franchise. Meddling with the first pick is probable. Getting involved with the later picks simply takes too much energy for the tired owner.
The problem with the franchise has little to do with the team, and everything to do with the organization that the zany owner constructed. With Ralph, the franchise is first and foremost a business venture and profit center. Until he leaves the scene the architecture and caliber of staffing of this organization will not meaningfully change.
With respect to Spiller I have little problem with his selection. He was rated as a top ten talent and he demonstrated in college that he was a playmaker. That is something the team sorely lacked. If you expect me to be critical of this organization for drafting on the basis of taking the best player available (especially considering their drafting history) then you are mistaken. It is still too early to conclusively judge that pick. In my mind, there was sound reasoning for taking him, with his talent level being the most persuasive reason. There are not many players on this roster to be excited about. He is one of them.
The mistake made with Maybin and other picks such as Flowers, Hardy etc is that the focus was on particular physical attributes instead of asking the most basic question: Is the player a good football player? Issues regarding football intelligence and instincts should have been considered more when making selections.
The organizational structure is a creation of the owner. It works for him. Maybe not on the field but certainly on his ledger books. The owner had people such as Polian and Butler/A.J.Smith working for him who knew how to build a successful franchise. He drove them out. The owner had other priorities. So they were dispatched.
Sounds like we are much on the same page. I don't think Ralph is quite as stingy as you portray but all in all I don't see how you can put it all on modrak. Seems like even great scouts could face the same challenges, how do we know we don't have them here now. I hope with the last two drafts we are seeing the changes we need. It seems we are getting more value at our picks of late.
-
The problem isn't his fast fist step. It is his second and third step when the OT or OG consistently knocks him down on his skinny rear end.
Have you ever considered that it is the owner who wants to keep him on the payroll? It doesn't matter what others think, if you please the owner and the boss you have solidified your hold on the job, regardless of your record for the past decade.
its very possible its all ralph. but on that token, couldnt the picks just as easily be all ralph?
i think no matter what, its obvious there was and still may be an organizational issue. whether or not that has changed, we can only hope yes.
whether we went bpa with spiller, or were strong armed into him is a question we may never know. on every ranking he was a top ten player though, which is something we cant say about the spot we took donte, or mccargo, or maybin, or marshawn, or.... even into the second round trading up for poz instead of waiting for either him or harris, taking hardy cause he was tall.... when we very much draft for scheme and need we have failed miserably. i do not think those players were a failure of rankings, but a failure of how we have tried to build this team - create a hole and fill it with whoever happens to be there in round 1 or 2. if huff fell, i have to believe we wouldve taken him over donte. we just had to have to best safety on the board there for some reason.
if you told modrak i want the fastest first step, and he said, well heres maybin, hes fast, but hes only had one, albeit good year, and he will get knocked around if he doesnt put on weight.... that wouldnt be a failure on modrak. we really just dont know whats going on, and consensus can do weird things to a room. likewise a poorly educated dictator can be a dangerous drafter.
just as those picks are a very good reason to doubt him, there are reasons that you can put that doubt on the system just as easily.
all we can do is hope to identify the real issue.
Actually, I think the consensus choice was a terrible way to run a war room. It eliminates players based on passion and leaves you picking the kid that nobody has a strong opinion on. This may come as a shock to some, but even Bruce Smith was not perfect coming out of college. If the war room was run by consensus, the Bills would've passed on him because one of the numb nuts would've been chirping about how Smith was too small and overweight.
I don't give Modrak or the scouting a pass because some late rounders have gotten playing time. I've said it numerous times before, somebody must play. It only underscores just how bad they are that they have to use 5th and 7th round stop gaps to plug holes in the dike because none of their top picks can play.
i agree that straight consensus is awful.. if that was whats going on, i cant put it on modrak though, he built the draft board, not the organizational structure.
other then the example of ellison, im not sure which late rounder that was playing just because we had no one else you are talking about. i listed greer, jackson, peters, steve johnson, and kyle williams. i included with ellison a disclaimer that i didnt think he was all that good but when you look at 6th round picks, hes generally better then his 6th round peers (cue the brady references). I dont think he belonged as a starter but as a sixth arent you looking for reliable depth? based on the system we had, i would have been fine with ellison being a guy coming off the bench.
-
Whatever. I hope the Panthers and Broncos pass on him because of his post-whistle activities. I'd love a guy who plays with that kind of emotion (and I think most GMs would as well).
im by no means saying bowers or anyone deserve to be ahead of him, but i think theres more then just that. what did he do his other two years at auburn? are there question marks around the auburn program that make you investigate his background a little closer? were the late hits a product of a coach telling him to play through the whistle, or were they trying to stop him and he doesnt take to the coaching well?
with a #1 pick you are investing 70 mill on a contract potentially, and those are all things id want my gm to look at. you get one shot at that pick and it can hurt you bad when you miss or save your franchise when you hit. unlike a FA you really dont know how he will perform against nfl talent. the SEC has good lineman, but on the inside, there werent studs that he faced this year. he also had a ton of talent around him.
all that said i think we would be crazy to pass at our pick, but i wouldnt be shocked if he came down from his absolute number one status as things move forward.
-
I'd still fault Modrak heavily for putting him in the top 20 group. In hindsight, it is crystal clear Maybin shouldn't have been in the top 200, let alone the top 20.
Modrak works for the team and collects a paycheck, no? He supposed to be an expert talent evaluator, no? So, why load the board up with dicey or flat-out bad picks, wash your hands of it, and let a room with the proven evaluation skills of Ralph, Dick Jauron, and Russ Brandon sort the wheat from the chaff in a pressurized decision making environment?
There were plenty of reasons NOT to choose Maybin. Just watch the tape of him in the Rose Bowl.
i would say there were a lot of reasons, especially in hindsight, but before the draft putting maybin at 20 when you are looking for the fastest first step as one of your main criteria for rating the position of DE is not absurd. we truly have no idea what values he was pressed to use in his ratings. when drafting for a scheme, and not for raw talent, all kinds of issues pop up.
my point wasnt that maybin was a good pick, but that we dont know what was behind the scenes.
its funny how as the later rounds roll around we seemed to get great value out of picks that likely didnt have a lot of interest from ralph and what id assume to be nearly as much film study etc... done by dick. logic says in the 7th you are at most a hc is saying get me the best corner or get me the best wr -- more likely just asking who is your BPA here unless they have ties to the player ala cj ah you or that rb ralph really wanted in the fourth that one year - dont remember his name off hand. wright?
suddenly we start hitting on guys like KW while his first round counterpart that likely had many more voices involved flopped. hitting on steve johnson when likewise his early second round counterpart flopped. even guys like peters, fred jackson, greer, and i know ill get killed but for a 6th, ellison was more then you would expect from his draft slot. dont just take a tackle at 4 because you need one -- id like to see who his bpa would have been at the mike williams pick. do you think that it was his call to trade up for losman? or did someone panic about getting a qb in the first round or else. do you think he made the choice of whitner over ngata? because it sounded like dick was DETERMINED to get his bob sanders to run that defense.
im not excusing modrak, but saying there might be a reason when all is said and done, there might be a reason that someone like nix would keep him around.
i suppose i am playing devils advocate to those hanging it all on him, and saying its likely somewhere in the middle. if you assume some of our flops were overdrafted by others, and dropped them down a handful of slots, i dont think anyone would complain with his rankings based on what we knew about these guys before the draft.
-
its easy to spike after the game he played in the championship, but i expect expectations to settle a little lower then that high water mark. i think his offseason, much like the rest of his career to be good, but not as good as that game. as discussions progress, he does have some red flags.
that said i still think hes a gimme for top 3 but i dont think hes 100% assured of 1st overall yet.
-
This x100.
It's sort of like a speech from the President. If you vote for the other party you invent a reason to say it sucked.
i think youre short changing me -- ive defended cutler plenty of times over the years, but there are clear issues with what happened.
i guess ill leave you with this question -- same situation happens in greenbay, pittsburgh, indy, new england, or new orleans - do you think they (both team and player) handle it differently?
I do think that they would handle it differently.
im not saying jay cutler is a pansy and needs to quit football, but its a rep that hes had trouble with for years, and the bears have had a rep for not knowing what to do with the qb position. both of those seemed to be on display that afternoon. will it ruin his career? no. in fact i imagine he comes back trying extra hard to prove everyone wrong.
heaven forbid someone applies rational thought to a situation, and comes to a different conclusion then you. it must be that i have some preconceived hatred of cutler -- im not sure where i picked it up, but.... thats clearly the best explanation for why we lean separate ways on this one incident. is this the part where we agree to disagree and start pointing out grammar, spelling, and typos?
Well, here's what Caleb Hanie had to say about Cutler's input. It doesn't show heavy involvement in breaking down defenses, but it does indicate engagement in the game. Specifically these quotes from Hanie mirror what my overall point would be:
None of us were there on the sidelines, at best we saw tiny snippets of what was going on. I don't think it's possible for us to know how involved and enthusiastic Cutler really was.
On the other hand, to engage in some speculation based on my own preconceived notions, it would not surprise me one bit if Mike Martz didn't care about the players' thoughts when they weren't on the field, and basically told Cutler to butt out of his coaching. That's admittedly unfair based on the argument I've just been making on behalf on Cutler, but hey, I just don't like Martz.
ill be frank here about that quote-- short of a picture of cutler putting in his ipod earbuds, i cant think of anything worse for the perception that he wasnt engaged in the game. his third string, no experience backups biggest compliment was that when he went in the game, and when he scored the touchdown he gave a 10 second "keep at it and dont get flustered" speech. if that counts as engaged in the game, and supportive of his team, i dont know what you would call disengaging.... napping? actively feeding them misinformation?
i dont dislike the guy but its sad that we somehow take that as the best he could do for his team in that situation.
-
True. With all the hype he is still a 3-4 DE. Good Point.
On the other hand are Pass Rush and Rush D is so horrible we need the most impact-ful defensive player on the board when we pick.
It just may end up being Cam Jordan.
I think that he may end up around that bubble at 10 come draft day and should we pick him, i wont lose sleep, but i would be disappointed, because you dont get that many shots at a top 3 player. if we have him ranked in the top 3 on our draft board, then i fully support, but if we reached because we must get a DE-- no good. i dont think we are dominating at any position, and at 3 i want that impact. just a matter of if he is believed to be an impact player like that. i dont want to just fill the biggest hole, because frankly pretty much every unit on the field has big holes.
with my post i was just laughing that a guy with 4 years of video was suddenly jumping into the talks at 3 because of a good practice. i think this offseason work has to be looked at like a collection of work, not just good or bad days. im sure hes had outstanding, and poor games, and im sure he will have good and bad practices. if the good days continue to outweigh the bad then awesome, he can keep coming up the board, but i think it takes 3 months for him to earn his way into top 5 talks.
-
Every year you're splitting hairs in the Top50 talent.
This year in particular the difference between the #10 ranked player and #50 ranked player is even thiner.
The next 3 months are going to shuffle these players then shuffle them again.
Every year late 1st/early2nd shoots up the ranks out of the senior bowl. This year it looks like it's going to be Cam Jordan.
I totally understand- just pointing out that it's been what? 3 Practice sessions? As a process I buy that come April he could push that far but to laugh at a site for not vaulting a 3-4 de so quickly is funny.
-
Someone pointed out on here, or in an article that if we followed the Kiper's of the world we could have Ngata, Revis and Orakpo. Three of the younger and premier players at their position. Instead we have Whitner, McKelvin, and Maybin. Ouch.
In some way I hope Maybin has an amazing camp/offseason and the switch goes on, but I more likely see a cut.
Atleast our drafts the last 2 years other than Maybin have had quality players. I do think/hope Spiller will breakout some this year and I liked what I saw from Troup, Carrington, and Moats, especially Carrington and Moats. Add in some of the undrafteds and quality was added to the team.
Let's be honest - if we had ngata (by proxy someone other then mccargo- I won't even argue mangold), and revis.... Odds are we wouldn't have had a shot at orakpo. Odds are we'd be drafting late enough that maybin might have seemed like a reasonable pick!
Jauron had the final vote, but the war room was run by consensus at the time. There can really be little doubt that Modrak, who it is confirmed sets the draft board, must have placed Aaron Maybin in the group of top 1st round talent on that board.
Suggesting that in such a consensus-driven process, Jauron simply went off and used his own draft board that nobody else in the room knew anything about is a laughably weak cover-up attempt.
So let's say that he had Cushing 10 but someone was worried about steroids, and maturity, and how much at USC was him vs clay vs Rey - someone calls veto, orakpo in a similar spot but Ralph or someone didn't like the UT work ethic - veto, and maybin was around 20 but Dicky and perry loved him for there scheme.
I know these are a string of what ifs but both orakpo and Cushing had those questions and they were raised right here. I'm not saying it did happen that way, but it well could have. If modrak had him 20ish I would not run him out of town. It's easy to say some people had him 3rd round but....
-
Spin and rip moves...
"DE Cameron Jordan, Cal: Jordan proved to have the strength to bull-rush tackles in Mobile, plus the burst to come off the edge. He also dazzled scouts with the spin and a rip move to get to the quarterback in one-on-one drills. Jordan was a lock as a second-round pick before the Senior Bowl. Now he’s rising up draft boards and he looks more like a first-round pick."
I love how they talk up how great he looks, then coyly mention that he's merely pushed himself from the second to the first round.
I know - how silly of them to trust 4 years of tape that put him mid-late first (or in there case early second) and not vault him into the top 5 for having excellent practice drills this week
-
That was a depressing link I just clicked on!
The first eight picks in last year's draft were mostly A's, with a few B's or B+'s mixed in. Then there was the Spiller pick (C+), after which it went right back to A's and B's. Every player taken within the first 28 picks of the 2010 draft was rated B or higher, except for Spiller. 
I'm more concerned with Spiller's average yards per carry (3.8) than with his lack of pass blocking. Normally pass protection is the thing rookie RBs struggle with the most. But Fred Jackson averaged 4.2 yards per carry with the same OL Spiller had. The whole point of taking a RB 9th overall was supposed to be to get an upgrade at the RB position. A reduction of 0.4 yards per carry versus the current starter doesn't seem to provide that.
I couldn't care less what Spiller does or doesn't do on special teams. You don't take a RB 9th overall just to be a return man. Especially not when punt returner and kick returner are the only positions your team may actually have even more depth than it did at running back!!
One thing to remember - when you don't trust him to pass block it closes up the playbook a lot when he comes in. It let's the defense cheat, which makes it hard for him to produce. Could be a difference we see next year. Could mean nothing.
-
no one said the rules were changed to open up the passing game, but rule changes have indirectly opened it
protecting the qb
protecting WR
enforcing PI more strictly
more mini camps
they all add up to a guy like TO having an extra half step. a guy like TO turns that half step into a TD.
-
Why speak? What's the purpose? I happen to want Greg Jones in the second round. Now that the Bills have said that they're looking at getting bigger in the 3-4 defense, who's to say that someone doesn't jump ahead of them to get him? It's moronic to even go there and say something like that just to sooth the fan base. Good teams don't tell their enemies what their battle plan is before the battle. They need to shut up.
so billy b and rex ryan dont realize our linebackers were an issue?
-
I've read several posts recently stating that due to rules changes in the last 10 years, the NFL has become a passing league. Can someone please point out what specific rules were implemented to that make that so in the last 10 years?
Sure they've enacted rules to prevent injury to QBs and defenseless receivers but that's not specific to opening up the passing game.
Other than moving the hash marks in to open the field in the early 70s, outlawing bump and run coverage and implementing the 5-yard chuck rule while also calling pass interference more often, I don't see anything that was specifically engineered by new rules to make it a "passing league."
Innovative offensive schemes and good quarterbacking have made it a passing league. Not rules changes. If anyone can show me otherwise, I'd be happy to know.
http://www.steelersfever.com/nfl_history_of_rules.html
GO BILLS!!!
i think you pretty much nailed them. the pass interference rules have been tweaked in their enforcement, the defenseless receiver rules etc... when you give athletic receivers, especially ones as explosive as theyve become today an inch, the are going to run a mile. even things like more offseason camps will help the passing game. theres a lot more coordination on the offensive side, so more time, more impact.
one thing thatll help balance the other way is switching the ref to behind the qb, leading to more holding
-
He's said numorus time he's going to keep his mouth shut. Damn.
I'VE GOTTA BE HEARD!!!!!!!!!!!!!
jeeeze -- didnt mean to offend. was just adding my 2 cents... nothing big.
and from my experience when the head and heart battle, even when you say the head has won, a few affirmations as to why help you stick to that decision. i promise at some point since the post saying "yea i wont do it" he has thought twice. its only natural.
-
I had to laugh at DeeOn on that one. I lived in Dallas when he played for Cowboys. He missed several games including a playoff game one season with turf toe. But, did play in the Pro Bowl that year.
I think Cuttler's getting a raw deal.
yea some of the comments were very off base, but i do think theres still an issue there. When you give up picks, and big money like that, i think there are certain expectations. this was supposed to be their manning, brady, brees.... that he was not, on or off the field. and because of that some people are being very hard on him. im trying to seperate it from the press conferences, the interceptions and just isolate it as "franchise qb is hurt, what should he do?" and the answer was not what he did. i could come up with a solid 6-8 things off hand that would have been better. the fact that he and the organization didnt see that is bad news for the bears.
-
Really though, since when do you care about the PR effect of the Bears trainers? That's all such obvious backpedalling after being wrong for calling out the guy's toughness/heart.
And to think MJD "I sat out the last two games which my team needed to win" was leading the cheapshot parade
are you implying even if the injury warranted him being on the sideline, how he handled that showed either heart, or toughness? you are applying what is valid broad range criticisms, and applying them to solely the fact that he got pulled.
if he were on the sideline engaged in the game, or getting real treatment, i would not imply he quit or that he was mentally not as tough as he should be. that said, he quit on his team regardless of the extent of the injury, and the team handled it all like they had no idea what to do.
-
Pooj, you're in a lose-lose situation.
Choose to lose the least.
As tempting as it appears to be to interject yourself more directly into the situation, the potential for losing big is great if you do so.
Not only can your boss screw you, but your Grand boss can too.
He might be a ****, but it's not your job to make him a better person.
Peace.
yea its no good -- even if you do what you feel is the moral thing, she might not welcome the feedback. just something to keep in mind. if the husband found out, you might lose both the job and a friend. when put in a situation where she might feel she has to choose between her husband, childrens father, house and life they have together.... its very hard to walk away even if you know something is going on. odds are she already knows, and truly you arent bringing anything new to the table from what was shared. nothing to gain but your own peace of mind, everything to lose.
Ranking Bills Weakest Positions
in The Stadium Wall Archives
Posted
First I put OT - bell is still unproven, who is our RT and what in the world do we do should bell get dinged. I can't imagine bell starting on more then a small handful of teams and he is our best bet. Beyond him it's a ton of question marks.
Next I debated LB, DL and qb.
I think fitz is the most solid of the 3, but no depth and I don't believe we can win it with fitz so truly no real starter either.
DL I say KW is an all pro, dwan is better then average - could start on more teams then bell would at LT. Stroud worries me but if troup or carrington hit, it looks like we have 3 starters for 3 positions, depth is hazy at best.
LB - I hope poz is back, he's a quality starter. Merriman even diminished is a good roster spot as long as he is healthy. Even at 80% I think he is a serviceable starter and he may be great. We will see. That leaves ayodele and Davis competing next to poz. With them both healthy, I think we have a starter and a back up. Could improve but not deadspace ala our tackles. That leaves Kelsey, moats and batten for one spot, and more depth. I don't buy Kelsey, moats I hope for, batten could be depth and special teams. Add one good starter and we have a solid play, with depth.
I went fitz because I don't think we have our guy. It's the number 1 position, and we have a good backup but nothing else. No longterm prospect, no depth. It's not good.