mary owen

I think Philly is going to regain the top spot in that division. Don't let last season fool you.

try again. sorry

http://news.yahoo.com/photo/060517/481/xjk10405170426

"I want to make it very clear that we will not condone any behavior issues in the future relative to Byron Keith Traylor," Dolphins coach Nick Saban said. "Byron Keith acknowledges that he has made some mistakes, all of which has resulted in severe consequences for him. They have helped him learn that he will need to make much better choices and decisions in the future or risk similar consequences that could jeopardize his career as a professional player. "Byron Keith has made a commitment to this organization and our fans to represent the Miami Dolphins in a first-class manor."

Saban used the standard "Miami Dolphins Player Statement" sheet and just filled in Vick's name on the blanks. http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news;_ylt=AqI7...ov=st&type=lgns try this, it's fun! I took Saban's statement and did a Find/Replace on Marcus with Ricky, and Marcus Vick with Ricky Williams. "I want to make it very clear that we will not condone any behavior issues in the future relative to Ricky Williams," Dolphins coach Nick Saban said. "Ricky acknowledges that he has made some mistakes, all of which has resulted in severe consequences for him. They have helped him learn that he will need to make much better choices and decisions in the future or risk similar consequences that could jeopardize his career as a professional player. "As an organization, we did an enormous amount of research, including consulting with professionals in detailed, in-depth analysis to feel comfortable that giving Ricky an opportunity as a free agent is a risk worth taking. Ricky has made a commitment to this organization and our fans to represent the Miami Dolphins in a first-class manor." Go ahead, try it with David Boston! Fun Fun Fun!

you obviously don't know why I thought it was an excellent article. i guess I should explain why: 1st off, it is pretty lenghty and well thought out, as opposed to: Draft Grades: Bills F- They reached twice in round 1. Horrible value. Flunked the Value Test with flying colors. They just don't understand the draft. Value is God. Kiper is Jesus. Secondly, they give a few reasons why the draft day moves (or lack thereof) MAY HAVE been made. Not just that "They blew an opportunity to trade down for more". It gave credit the Marv and Co as they deserve....and that is based on the fact that they've been in the business of football for a long time, not like a journalist has been around football. So the scenarios in the linked article make more sense than just "they reached and don't understand the value board." No one said everything was right on the money. I said it is more in tune as to what I think happened. So, yeah, it's excellent because it points out a more realistic draft day scenario.

I don't know about post-96, but Tom Olividotti deserves some consideration!!!!

ha-ha!!!! that's what I was fishing for.

WOO-HOO!!!!! I SAY, WOOOOOOOOOOOO-HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! AWESOME GAME!

the way I read it, they settled instead after making their move, or in making that move, had no choice but to settle for plan B. If they took McCargo, you would be looking at a DT that could START (given the depth at DT). Now what they are looking at is Coughlin saying scheme-wise he could "get him on the field". Sounds like McCargo was more valuable to them than a DE. McCargo's agent even was quoted as saying they were all but sure that the Giants were moving into the position so they could take McCargo. Also, notice there were no DT's taken after McCargo until the third round. that tells me there was a huge drop-off according to teams "value chart" for DT's.

It's a very long read, but boy did he steal the thoughts out of my head as to what may have occured on draft day. I think (but who am I anyway?) that this guy has a pretty good grasp on Marv and Co's strategy. Here are a couple snips from it. Enjoy. (linky below) It never occurred to them that there might have been a reason why Levy and the Bills decided not to trade down, but to use the # 8 pick to secure Whitner. It never occurred to them that there was a reason why many of the very same “draft gurus” who were criticizing the Bills' pick of Whitner had projected that Michael Huff would be drafted by Detroit with the # 9 pick—the team that would select Bullocks with its pick in the second round. It never occurred to them that Cleveland, a team that had traded safety Chris Crocker, might be interested in selecting the top pure safety in the draft or that Miami might be willing to swap a low round pick to move a couple of spots ahead of Buffalo to take the guy that they reportedly wanted, Whitner, over Jason Allen, a less experienced cornerback/safety. No, the guys at ESPN had told them that the Bills had been offered a nice draft pick to trade down and there were no teams that were going to take Whitner before the Bills did at that lower spot, so it had to be the Gospel Truth! Well, maybe it was and maybe it wasn't. According to Mike Holbrook of Pro Football Weekly, it wasn't. Holbrook reported that, contrary to Clayton's reports, the Bills were trying to make a trade that would have allowed them to draft Whitner and acquire additional picks, but that they received word that there were other teams interested in Whitner that might take him before they could if they traded down." Now that may not matter much to the “draft gurus” and “draftniks” who see the NFL draft primarily in terms of “value”—so long as a team gets “value” out of a deal or a pick, it doesn't matter if they don't get the right players for their team at that point or later in the draft, it's all about the value of the picks and the value that the “draft gurus” have assigned to them! If a team takes a player a few spots before he has been projected to be selected, the team that has drafted him is a “loser”. But an NFL GM can't be concerned with whether he is a “loser” in the eyes of the fans, let alone the draft “experts". Mel Kiper couldn't possibly be wrong about the value of a player to a particular team or where some of the teams in the NFL might be prepared to draft a player because he rates players based on what he sees as their overall value at the position and not what system they are best suited to play or the value of that position and player in relation to a particular team's need. But, that's not how the GMs of NFL teams necessarily rate the value of a player to their own team or their team's draft. As it turns out, Kiper was wrong about when McCargo was likely to be selected in this draft. When Bobby Carpenter was drafted by the Cowboys with the # 18 pick in the first round, the N.Y. Giants, who reportedly had still been interested in drafting Carpenter, almost immediately traded down out of the # 25 spot in the draft. That had to signal that, with Carpenter gone, the Giants were now possibly looking to address other positions of need in the draft than linebacker. And, at the top of that list was finding a replacement for the departed Kenderick Clancy at defensive tackle. There had been word in the media in New York that McCargo was a player that they were definitely interested in and there are reports coming out of New York that, indeed, the Giants were going to take McCargo with the pick that they traded to Pittsburgh, but had concluded that they could still get him with the pick that they acquired from the Steelers. What they didn't count on was what was happening at the same time in Buffalo. the rest: http://bills.scout.com/2/526808.html

pan down to find post by RRich. also, read the whole thing as it has some interesting arguments about "value" http://ourlads.invisionzone.com/index.php?showtopic=757&st=0

i remember the same kind of posts prior to last season....

I don't think, and i think most fans that post here don't think, that everything is hunky-dory with this team. Be prepared for a season that most likely will result in the same record as last year. I like some of the moves we made this offseason. have we done enough? Hardly, but how many new regimes do in their first year? not many. Do I think they did well as a stepping stone to improving the team? Sure I do. I'm ecstatic about our draft this year, but I won't expect it to pay complete dividends this year. I do have high hopes for the 2007 season. Can we be pleased with 5-11 or even 8-8? Hell yes. We can have an exciting team and still go below .500 It's what is being laid down as the new foundation of this team that we can get excited about. I don't know about the majority of you, but as I followed the Bills under Donohoe, I kind of didn't feel like I was rooting for a likeable team like I did when I was rooting for our SB team of the 90's or even the Doug Flutie era. That was one hell of an exciting team. I liked the personalities on that team, as they still held key players from our Kelly-lead team(s). The players still came from the drafting criteria that placed high emphasis on character, and personality. Likeable guys. Laugh if you will, but I felt better rooting for guys like Derek Holmes and Antoine Smith than I did rooting for guys like Willis McGahee and Travis Henry. I don't like how Willis comes accross. Will I and have I rooted for him? Sure, he is on my favorite team. But I don't get the same good feeling about him that I did with the guys I mentioned above. He seems very temporary to me. With that being said, this is why I am getting excited about this team: Marv's stamp. call me kookoo, but I like what Marv stands for and I have a good feeling about the moves he's making to build our team again.

you don't hear much about this guy's mock, but man he was almost dead on in the 1st half of the draft. I guess he had inside info that was better than Kings. effing crapshoot man, that's all it is!!!! hell, my mock was better than King's, maybe that's why I am not critical of any of the team's decisions. http://www.profootballweekly.com/PFW/NFLDr.../mock042806.htm

Q: what did Peerless Price say when he showed up for mini-camp only to find out Eric Moulds and Drew Bledsoe are now in Dallas? A: "Damn, don't tell me Antoine Smith is there too....Please! And where the hell is Travis? What? He's with the Houston Oilers? Aye Caramba! I'm doomed!!!!"

a little off-topic, but is it me or is that kid on the bus (in the other UA commercial) the scariest 12 year old you've ever seen? everytime I see that commercial, I feel bad for the skinny kids going along with his Ray Lewis-like ranting.

so, I guess you guys scouted these players? ok....

for those of you frightened by what guys like Peter King, Dr. Z, Chris MortenHoe, and Mel kiper say about the Bills draft, Carucci offers some calming words: Worried Fan: I need someone to make sense of the Bills' draft. I was told they took a player that wasn't even the best at that position and then traded up to get a guy that could have been there for a while. Please try to explain what the plan of attack for the Bills could be. I am scared. --Corey M. Vic: Don't be frightened, Corey. Like Jeff, the Raider fan, you need to chill out and look at the situation from a different perspective. I know you didn't mention this, but based on what I've heard and read, I think many Bills fans, like Raider fans, are bothered that their team didn't select one of the two remaining top two quarterbacks -- Leinart or Cutler. No, the safety the Bills selected with the eighth overall pick, Donte Whitner, wasn't universally rated the best at his position. That would have been Huff, whom the Raiders grabbed at No. 7. The Bills wanted Huff and, until Oakland's selection, thought they could land him. And, yes, the Bills did trade for a second first-round pick, which they used on defensive tackle John McCargo, widely viewed as a player who might have been available at a later spot. But all of the ratings you hear about in the media, including those referenced on this very site, are highly subjective and not always accurate based on how players actually perform in the league. Even people who formally made a living drafting players for NFL teams are offering an opinion. Teams can only trust how they rate players, and often their ratings disagree with those that so many of us like to cite when second-guessing (or flat-out ripping) the actual picks. The bottom line with the Bills' decision-makers is that they concluded they had a better chance of using this draft to more quickly improve the NFL's 29th-ranked defense last year than upgrading their quarterback situation, which is anything but settled. If Whitner and McCargo are able to make such a contribution, what difference does their draft status make? If the Bills end up with five defensive starters from this draft who all make decent-to-substantial contributions, are their pre-draft ratings really going to matter? Lighten up, Francises

I love the way the critics add value to players (and multiple picks) over the value a GM, team scouts, HC, and Assistant GM place on individual prospects. That's what this all comes down to. It's absurd to think that other outside sources/contacts/casual aquaintances of journalists (even the almighty King) know what's best for a team.

he answered the question and put it out there for more. I'm not obsessing over it, it's just funny the statement about "intelligence around the league" that's all. tell Mr. King to move on... anywho, what's there to move on to? who did what in shorts last weekend? that's over with too.

I have a problem with this statement: "my information from two teams drafting in that area was that the only team extremely interested in Whitner before the middle of the round was the Ravens. And the intelligence around the league said Baltimore would certainly take nose tackle Haloti Ngata if he were there" If his "information" is so credible, why didn't he or any other hack out there know that the Bills were taking Whitner???? DISCLAIMER: I am not blindly defending Marv and co., but it humors me that these guys think they are so g-damn smart about the draft. A succesful draft projection should also take into account a teams "reaches" as well as a "sure thing". No? http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2006/writ...levy/index.html

so where's the pic?

WOOO HOOOO!!!!!! up 2-0 Miller was outstanding tonight

ok,.....i was just asked to leave. HAHA!!! i'm going home to watch.