dave mcbride
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Posts posted by dave mcbride
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let him go.
It sucks to see the Vikings playing well with all the players we let go.
Newman
Cowart
Winfield
Williams.
Probably a few more as well.
Could this be Donahoe's biggest failure, letting productive players leave and bringing in his free agents that never really produced? Sure Spikes and Fletcher have. But Milloy, Vincent, Campbell, Villarial, Anderson, Posey.
And they all seemed to play really hard, which is more than I can say about this group. Also, letting Ted Washington walk was a mistake. So was Brown.
whoops -- not out for the season:
"Minnesota will be without SLB Keith Newman for two games because of a sprained right knee. The loss is big because Newman took charge of making certain defensive calls and alerting teammates to what might be coming."
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let him go.
It sucks to see the Vikings playing well with all the players we let go.
Newman
Cowart
Winfield
Williams.
Probably a few more as well.
Could this be Donahoe's biggest failure, letting productive players leave and bringing in his free agents that never really produced? Sure Spikes and Fletcher have. But Milloy, Vincent, Campbell, Villarial, Anderson, Posey.
And they all seemed to play really hard, which is more than I can say about this group. Also, letting Ted Washington walk was a mistake. So was Brown.
newman is a good player in a certain type of system, but he did actually play poorly in gregg williams'/jerry gray's system. whether the bills had the wrong system is another issue, but i would argue that newman needed to leave here, which he did. he has played pretty well this year, but he just got hurt last week and may be out for the year.
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he's getting great reviews in chicago this year.
the point is, he was a great, longtime buffalo mainstay. why is he gone?
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"What we have here is a failure to communicate"
Say what we may about Marv's game day coaching abilities, no one can ever deny his key role in keeping a locker room full of HOFers locked in on a goal and more often than not, supplanting personal ideals for that goal on game day. Marv's teams were always prepared (save one helmetless day) and never gave up.
Can anyone imagine the Moulds/Mularkey fiasco happening during Marv's tenure? What makes that laughable is that Moulds rocking the boat is a ripple compared to the wakes created by larger than life figures who polulated that locker room 10 years ago.
What appears to be broken at OBD is the dictatorship of the general manager has balkanized the front office, coaches and players into warring fiefdoms, with the local press laying siege on each of them. Who knows why Tom Donahoe has a thin skinned demeanor? But it's obvious that his style has alienated many former friends of OBD to the point where it will be more difficult to retain and attract free agents and coaches.
A great backhanded compliment to Marv's coaching abilities was that he was a good administrator and is commended for keeping his teams together. Sure sounds like a great description of a successfull general manager. During the Polian/Butler/Levy heyday, the front office and the coaches were on the same page, and it reverberated to the players. For a GM not to heed concern from position coaches is a recipe for trouble, which usually manifests in losing seasons.
A good GM is a good administrator who can delegate the operating functions to people in charge of the departments. A good GM doesn't need to dominate the draft, when the team has solid personnel directors. A good GM doesn't need to personally handle contract negotiations, when there's a crack legal team in how. A good GM doesn't need to dictate all player decisions, when the coaches are the ones dealing with the lugs on the field. You all get the picture.
I do not care that Marv is 100 years old. If he returns to OBD, he will be charged with the main responsibility of restoring cohesion among the front office, coaches and players. It is the way he has operated in every place of authority in his professional football career. A HOF coach doesn't need to worry about the press sniping at his back, nor ignoring the feedback from underlings, because at 100 years old, he knows that he can still learn a thing or two from people under him.
excellent post, and i wouldn't be shocked at all if it happens notwithstanding marv's recent denial (which i suspect was at least partly related to his knowledge that there's another guy, who's still, you know, under contract as the bills gm).
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1) You say "you can only blame Gilbride for so much." Where were YOU in 2003?
Gilbride singlehandedly tanked this team!! 2) Do you really think MM has lot this team? I don't know--but from what some of the other players (including Moulds post-suspension) have said in recent weeks, I think the players play hard for him. The problem is that our players are really really bad.
play hard? they lost 35-7 at home, giving up close to 500 yards and putting up less than 200 (and 75 of those yards came in garbage time). NE set a team record for first downs in one game.
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The Bills defense was one man short of taking the Super Bowl back in the early 90's and that man was Reggie White. Could you imagine both Bruce AND Reggie on the field at the same time? Whoi do you double? The Bills should've thrown a boat load of cash to #92 to lure him to Buffalo in '93. He only cost Green Bay two first round picks. The Bills still made the SB the first year White played for GB. Ralph was being cheap. There was no salary cap that season so the Bills could've signed him, although the cap was on the horizan a year or two later, but that doesn't matter. The Bills were built to win that year and time was running out. We should've at least attempted to sign the guy. But wait, there's more.
straight from the horse's (i.e., the agent's) mouth:
http://www.cindrich.com/contracts.htm
scroll down to 1993:
1993
$$$ FREE AGENCY BEGINS $$$
WILL WOLFORD
Buffalo Bills
Negotiated contract with the Indianapolis Colts that created the "Wolford Rule"
Made Will the highest paid offensive lineman by more than $800,000 per year
Contract assured that he would be the highest paid offensive player for the Indianapolis Colts during the term of the contract
All this was done despite Will needing a shoulder surgery
Will wanted out of Buffalo and although the Colts had a right to match because he was a Transition Player, constructed the contract to assure that he would be out
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You're half right. I looked up the salary cap stuff & deleted my post before I saw your reply so I could straighten things out. However-get this straight-GB LOST NO PICKS. The league gave extra picks to the Eagles at no cost to the Packers.
So if I appologize for the cap stuff, you have an applogy due for the GB lost 2 picks stuff.
???? the bills lost wolford after the 92 season because of the imposition of the salary cap in early 93. that's why fina started at LT that year.
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don't be so sure of that. he's not making that much, and the nfl is a hugely profitable business. 3 mill amortized over 3 years is nothing -- just think of the money the bills will be eating next year for mike williams.
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I loved the Wade Phillips teams too, but Wade basically fired himself by standing by Ronnie Jones - which might have been forgiveable, but then also by the infamous "we're basically out of it" quote.
The #1 job duty of a HC is leadership, and saying "we're basically out of it" with a playoff birth on the line was an unforgiveable failure of leadership.
JDG
it's a little more complicated than that. he wanted to shift jones to lb coach. jones, as many here may not recall, was a former lb coach and the defensive coordinator for buddy ryan's arizona cardinals in a year they ended up ranked #3 overall on defense.
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There will be a remarkable number of offensive and defensive linemen this year. I think if we don't get a lineman who is one of the top 10 players in the draft, then we should trade down and go for some of the others, but I think that we can get a real blue chip offensive tackle with our first pick which should be about fourth or fifth. I hate to say this, but our team is not very good to start with. Couple that nothing in particular to play for against teams still in the hunt, and a internal dissention that would cripple even a talented team. The upside is that we will probably be the team with the first choice of a quality offensive or defensive lineman. Houston may beat us to it...but that's show business. In the best of all worlds we walk away with a stud Offensive or Defensive Tackle in Round 1, another Defensive Tackle, A tight end, and a gaurd. Let's put it this way...We shouldn't draft anyone under 250 pounds in the first five rounds.
houston will take bush. take it to the bank. the names bush and houston go together, you know ...
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What will excite the fans is the removal of TD and MM. I think most fans would be pretty unhappy with the new Bills braintrust moving UP in the draft when most know there are far too many holes that can be filled by moving DOWN in the draft and getting extra picks. Winning sells tickets, too, and if the fans feel that the new braintrust knows what it's doing, they will fill the seats. Trying to hit a homerun by drafting Bush would seem like a desperation PR move.
The Pats trade down all the time, stockpile draft picks for the current draft, and future drafts, and never draft for PR. Every freaking year I see the Pats have what seems like 4 or 5 extra picks that they picked up by trading during the previous draft. They draft to fill holes, and needs, and depth, and they are always picking late in the rounds.
I liked your well-thought-out post, but I would prefer to see the new GM and coach make well-though-out picks, not "merchandise" picks.
the pats also ply the free agent market pretty well -- rodney harrison, corey dillon, roosevelt colvin, ted washington, keith traylor. i'm sorry if i sound like a broken record, but free agents are equally as important as draft picks. the best player on the current bills team is a free agent -- spikes. fletcher is probably the best player on the defense this year, and he's a free agent. finally -- and i realize i may be refuting my argument in saying this -- but not one starting offensive lineman right now was drafted by the bills. this is despite the fact that the bills have drafted jennings, pucillo, mike williams, geisinger, the guard from iowa, duke preston, and at least one other stiff in the past five years.
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Even if the difference ends up being the little bit extra that it costs to pick up a Marcus Price / Ross Tucker-type guy who can help capably when the starter is inevitably injured, instead of a Greg Jerman, we will have lost on this kind of deal. We've seen that this year.
JP Losman is not the Bills' biggest problem, and he could be a big asset. No need to mess things up further with more indecision about the leadership of this team, especially at the expense of much greater needs. We need to spend every spare penny on line upgrades and thinking about the future of other older positions on this team. Replacing the QB is so knee-jerk it's not even funny. Imagine if the Giants had done the same this year...
but the giants never would have done it because accorsi and coughlin are still running the show. donohoe won't be next year. there were a lot of teams that didn't like losman, and while they may prove yet to be totally wrong, it's not inconceivable that our next gm comes from one of those clubs.
remember, this is all hypothetical.
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While I thnk you did a good job filling needs in your proposed scenairo of drafting reggie bush, although I believe we need interior linemen more then we need a lt. With that said I don't think this years line is nearly as good as last years unit.
Mike Gandy imo has been a little better then advertised, but he's not better then a healthy jonas jennings. Who imo is/was a better run blocker then gandy. Remember Willis got a good chunk of his yardage last season and bounced runs outside with jennings at lt. Ross Tucker looks like an all pro compared to bennie anderson. Tucker was able to pull on traps and sweeps and had a nice nasty streak all around better then bennie anderson. Chris Villiarrial didn't suffer the nagging injuries he has this year last season in turn making center trey teague able to concentrate on just doing his job instead of worrying about inadequate guards making him better as well. Mike Williams was healthy......
I also don't buy this Willis Mcgahee has no heart stuff. It might sound over simplistic but I believe our line is this bad and this is why we're seeing no offensive production. Willis was ripping off the yards earlier in the year with a healthy Mike Williams and Villarrial, but due to the removal of williams and the nagging injures of Chris V. and an anemic passing game our run game has been attrocious.
What I'd do is pick up lecharles bentley in free agency, draft max jean giles out of georgia in the 2nd rd, Franchise and trade nate for a late 1st. You wont get a late 1st for a rb. No one did it for edge or alexander, they wont do it for willis. and draft Gabe Watson and Marcus Mcneil with our pick and the pick we get for Mcgahee. I'd also hold onto sam adams and pick up raheem brock in free agency. This way we're looking at a dline and oline of
Schobel/Adams/Watson/Brock
and an oline of
Marcus McNeil/Max Jean Giles/Lecharles Bentley/Chris Villarial/Jason Peters
with backups of Mike Gandy/Bennie Anderson/Duke Preston etc etc.
I also think Reggie Bush is a can't miss prospect but that's a luxury pick we just can't afford.
agreed that you can't get a 1st for mcgahee, but a second maybe. re bush, you can't possibly be serious in suggesting that he's a "luxury pick." the guy is amazing, and will make any team he plays on a lot better regardless of the quality of their o-line. he does it all -- runs and catches well, and is fantastic on the blitz pick up. to get him under the scenario posed above, the bills would have to trade 2 firsts at least. he's worth it, of course, but all the same the bills will have no chance of getting him. too many teams want him. the texans will take him, by the way. of that you can be assured. barring injury, he is going to be a superstar.
everyone needs to remember that there will be a large number of good interior offensive linemen free agents this year. you can also trust that guys like hutchison and bentley will perform better than rookies. as well, the OT pickings are deep this year, and good ones will be there in round. you can easily get a good interior lineman in rd 3 too.
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There are no can't-misses in the NFL. None. If I had to, had to pick one I'd say Ladainian Tomlinson but even he has really emerged with a healthy line, a great TE and a capable QB.
If you bring in a new QB and pay him big, that's 3 QBs on the roster making over a mil a year. And any one of the three would get killed behind this line, because there's no way you can afford to pay all three and STILL address all the concerns on this team.
losman doesn't make that much, and a mill a year is almost nothing (the vet minimum is $750,000).
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Wasn't Ryan Leaf deemed a once in a lifetime pick???
At this point I would say no, we have a young QB with potential(ugh, the dreaded P word) I dont think anyone coming out in this draft at QB is going to make the bills a better team.
Lines and Depth should seriously be the focus of this draft, but that is just the way I see it.
With that said, I think the steal of the draft at QB is going to be Jay Cutler and/or Bruce Gradkowski
so was mike williams. also, remember that you can sign free agent offensive linemen. there will be some good ones this year.
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and i mean truly believes. let's say a new gm comes in (and a new gm will be coming in), looks at the tape, and decides that losman clearly isn't going to be the next big thing. moreover, the bills, who are drafting high, have a chance to take a prospect that the staff truly and wholeheartedly believes is a can't miss, blue chip qb who will lead the team for years. what do you do? i'm of a mind that the qb is the most important player on the team, and finding a good one is really, really hard. also, think about the pack -- until this year they've always been good despite the so-so talent around favre. brady is becoming like that as well. also bear in mind that the bills will have the chance to nab decent linemen in free agency (steve hutchison from seattle comes to mind).
i'm of course not saying this is going to happen, and i'm also not suggesting that losman isn't capable of becoming good. it's a hypothetical question, and is dependent on the staff truly believing that a qb draftee is going to be that guy and that losman isn't the answer.
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chris chambers has improved every year. he's on a pace to get 84 catches this year for about 1200 yards and 10 tds.
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let's remember how moulds did his first 2 years. also, chris chambers is looking pretty good right about now ...
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totally true. i don't like manny, but he's a great player. mcgahee has that potential too. manny mcgahee!!
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Saban coached the Patriots before the Bills
Lou Saban
Coaching Record
Season Team Regular Season Post Season
Record Finish Record Finish
1960 Boston Patriots 5-9 4th -- AFL East --
1961 Boston Patriots 2-3 2nd -- AFL East --
1962 Buffalo Bills 7-6-1 3rd -- AFL East --
1963 Buffalo Bills 7-6-1 2nd -- AFL East 0-1 Lost Divisional Playoffs
1964 Buffalo Bills 12-2 1st -- AFL East 1-0 Won League Championship
1965 Buffalo Bills 10-3-1 1st -- AFL East 1-0 Won League Championship
1967 Denver Broncos 3-11 4th -- AFL West --
1968 Denver Broncos 5-9 4th -- AFL West --
1969 Denver Broncos 5-8-1 4th -- AFL West --
1970 Denver Broncos 5-8-1 4th -- AFC West --
1971 Denver Broncos 2-6-1 4th -- AFC West --
1972 Buffalo Bills 4-9-1 4th -- AFC East --
1973 Buffalo Bills 9-5 2nd -- AFC East --
1974 Buffalo Bills 9-5 2nd -- AFC East 0-1 Lost Divisional Playoffs
1975 Buffalo Bills 8-6 3rd -- AFC East --
1976 Buffalo Bills 2-3 5th -- AFC East --
Career 95-99-7 2-2
thank you for that excellent info! that just proves the point further!!
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actually, i do. i guess what i'm trying to get at is that the guy strikes me as either painfully stupid, painfully ignorant, or painfully inarticulate. it's pretty apparent in pretty much every quote from him that i've read. now i certainly don't expect football players to be rocket scientists. obviously, none are. it's just that i haven't seen anyone in some time in a bills uniform who has come across as so unintelligent. he makes travis -- who can actually sound coherent and lucid in interviews -- seem like a valedictorian. it may be that he's bright but inarticulate, but if so, he still gives off a la di da impression that's not particularly endearing.
and peter, it has nothing to do with the U, a school i respect and which has produced many a bright nfl player!
Smerlas on Losman...
in The Stadium Wall Archives
Posted
they've relied on the passing game except for those years when smerlas actually faced them. you know, the eric dickerson plus gary hogeboom/jack trudeau years ...