Bob in STL

There is some old footage of Cookie against the Jets. I love the one were he breaks a few tackles, bursts by everyone and is heading for the endzone. Instead of taking an angle to the goal line to go in untouched he notices a safety and runs straight at him. He blows him up, steps on his head, and then jogs the last few yards for the TD. Classic stuff.

It doesn't support greatness. It's just part of the story.

I don't think that he had the best career as a Bill either, not by a long shot. But, if your looking for the "best player" I would put him up against anybody when it comes to evualuating his ability to run, block, catch, tackle, hit, and kick. I think his impact on our offense was a major one and he helped to make it go. He was a great athelete to any standard, not just Canadian Football. He had the natural gift of size and speed in combination that would enable him to play in todays NFL standards. Interesting ... I never heard anything about him being the last cut from Cleveland. There are conflicting stories, his is that he quit because he wanted more money, theirs is that he was too young being straight out of high school. Paul Brown may have been trying to sneak him in before the high school rule was in effect.

Cookie was great? How great? Well he was signed out of high school by Paul Brown but argued about money and his contract. He always wanted more money, no matter what. The NFL then made a rule about recruiting high school players so he went to the CFL instead of college. Cookie was a great all around player. He was a 240 lb running back, bigger than many guards, tackles, and LB's in his time. He was fast and strong and mean. He loved to block and blow people up. He love to hurt people and he did it often. Sometimes on purpose. He could catch and run. He was the first ever 1000 yard running back in th AFL and he did it in 12 games. He was a huge character and a major loud mouth in an era when that was frowned upon. Cookie claimd he could throw better than Kemp, and maybe he could have. He played LB and FB in the CFL and was a great tackler. On top of all of that, he could and did place kick. He has not the pure runner that OJ and Thurman were. He was simply a great football player who could, and would, kick the crap out of just about anyone on the field. By many measues of a "football player" he was the best and if you asked him he would tell you so.

Why should they cut Bennie now? Let Reyes an Preston compete with Andersopn and beat him out for a the job. The TD way was to cut a player and give the job to another. Under the Marv regime all starters will earn their stripes.

I have heard some stories from people "close to the organization" as well and it is identical to yours. The Raiders picking Huff, and Leinart still on the board changed the dynamic. The Bills had a plan and the plan covered the many options that could have occurred, even the one that did occur. Some here suggest our GM is "too old" and "not fast enough". This is utter nonsense. Just because they used all of the alloted time prioir to the does not mean they were confused. Bottom line is Whitner was very, very, highly rated by the staff (not just Marv -- BY THE STAFF). SS was considered a higher need than other positions of need, especially given the talent in this draft. Our staff knowingly left some draft picks on the table because their risk analysis showed that it was worth taking Whitner, they see him as a future star in this league and they see defenses changing and requiring a dominant safety. Case closed, no use talking about the guys we might have drafted with the extra picks. We don't who they would have been anyway.

I actually think that Butler was the best from a pure natural talent perspective. He was a game breaker. Looking at the numbers, of course Reed is the great Bills WR of all time. Reed had Kelly and Co. but he made himself great. He had an amazing work ethic! Moulds is close but I take Reed in his prime over Moulds. After these three I go with Lofton, although his best years were with Green Bay. Dubenion was awesome too, way back in the 60's. These 5 are the top tier. Second tier is Rashad and Chandler. Trading Rashad was one of the all time great Bills blunders. He wanted a $20,000 raise! Next tier has Moses, Briscoe, and lots of others. I would NOT consider them borderline great. Moses best years were in Denver.

Good anlaysis. Free agency has a lot to do with keeping players and it would be ineteresting to know how many players a team like New england has kept from those same three years. I would say that 2001 was a good draft. Clements and Schoebel are very good players. Clements made a pro-bowl. Henry was very good but lacked character. Jennings was a good tackle. Edwards would be OK in a rotation if he could ever stay healthy. I would say that 2002 was extremely poor. Williams is a huge bust, Reed a disappointment. Denney is the best of the class. Unacceptable draft. 2003 needs another year to tell but so far it could be TD's best draft. McGahee is solid back who could be a great back with a line and some players around him. McGee is a better than average at CB and is an impact player on ST. Kelsey and Crowell are contributing. Haggen and Aiken are excellent on ST.

Exactly, TD's drafts were not steller by any means. I just hope the problem was TD and not Modrak.

Just joking around, I have nothing against Leinart. I have lived in California several times myself.

I'm 47.

It is not a question of whether I agree with it or not. I don't blame him at all. I'm just glad we didn't draft a weak armed California QB. If he turns out to be Tom Brady then I'll admit I was wrong.

Rather than Grady, what about Brenston Buckner? He is available and was always known as a character guy. Maybe adding an vet like him would help out the young players. McCargo is slated to play the same position as Triplett, at least on running downs. That leaves Tim Anderson and the rookie Williams. I would like to see the Bills add a veteran DT as a stop gap for this season. Not sure if they will carry 5 DTs on the 53 man roster.

Another California pretty boy QB thinking about everything but football. Our rookies will be in camp learning about how to be a Buffalo Bill, they way they used to be when Marv was last here.

Fowler is a solid player, not a star, but solid. He has held his own whenever he has played. Some players get better with age, especially offensive linemen. He is rellay starting t enter his priem so maybe maybe McNally get get him to his peak. Teague was not a center. Doesn't have the build for it, or the strength.

1 - No doubt we needed a SS and Whitner is the man. Expect growing pains this year but he should be an excellent SS for years to come. 2 - Vincent is done. R. Baker looked promissing at times. Ko Simpson has ALOT to learn but could be an excellent player ... next year. 3 - The primary weakness was indeed the interior but lets face it the tackles are not strong either. Maybe Peters will continue to develop into a solid player. I would have loved to see Justice drafted at 26 and gamble that McCargo is there at 42. I admit, I know less than Marv and Modrak. They made sure thay got there man (McCargo). 4 - Fowler and Reyes should be an upgrade. If anything, at least we know that under Marv's management style, McNally had some input on them. 5 - All picks indeed address need. Our problem is we have more needs than quality picks. My only issue is that we did not get a top OL prospect, instead we have a few developmental projects. 6 - We are so weak it almost impossible to waste a pick. For our current roster, using a day one pick on WR, LB and QB would have been questionable, but taking good players is smarter than drafting by postion. Overall I think the draft went well. I understand the logic behind the picks and the draft complemented the moves made in free agency. It looks to me like Marv has a plan.

Agreed. Smerlas somehow considers himself to be a Patriot. He is an idiot.

Agreed, Berman will be all over Clutch McCargo and Ashton "Shake your" Booty. He might even had tried Ko "Jay" Simpson but that is taboo today. To the national media, OJ never existed.

Can you confirm this somehow? What is the source of this information?

HELLO, Hello, hello .... is there anybody in there? Just nod if you can hear me. Is there anyone home?

Concur. I am so tired of the "we could have traded down and still picked these guys" comments. Amazing how much scouting and GM talent there is in the WNY area. Whitner should start, McCargo will be heavily involved in the DT rotation (both are juniors by the way), and Youbotny could be nickel or dime back. I can see all 3 starting in the future.

good one!

Yes, it would have been soooo easy to trade our 1st down 5 or 7 slots and get another second .... right. And McCargo would have been there in the second because you say so. Get a life.

... that is mostly because I am conditioned by all of the mock drafts and projections. I expected either Huff, or Ngata, or a trade down and then either Ngata, Bunkley or Justice. DTs and OTs tend to be highly coveted positions and we need both. We also need a safety. They must really like Whitner. It all comes down to who the Bills think thay can get in rounds 2 and 3. There must be a DT and an OT targeted later in the draft that they like as much as Ngata/Bunkley or Justice? Could be that this is not true at safety. All I know is that I really wanted to see the trenches adressed with the top picks. I think that give us the best odds to add talent to those positions. I am a bit surprised by the pick of Whitner but lets give the kid a chance.

That is dumb!! get a grip.