timstep Posted January 3, 2010 Share Posted January 3, 2010 Please explain to me how Marshawn Lynch was a squandered pick. Did he or did he not go to the pro bowl last year? In the immortal words of Jody Watley, I would say to Lynch: "What have you done for me lately?" Fact is, Lynch has proven not be worth the pick. This year he was thoroughly outplayed by an undrafted free agent. His time in Buffalo has been marred with immaturity and inconsistent play. Citing the Pro Bowl is weak. Cleveland & Buffalo both have players going to the Pro Bowl, and Cincinnati has none. It's rewards popularity and name recognition. Right now, I'd rather be Cincinnati, playing for something that matter. Best scenario: Nix pulls a trade and sends Lynch to San Diego for a day one draft pick. LT will be gone/retire, and Darren Sproles isn't durable enough to play every down. Bills will be fine next year with Freddie as the #1 and can easily pick-up a mid-range (re: less costly) back-up in free agency or 2nd day of the draft. Hell, bring back XO for all I care. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Orton's Arm Posted January 3, 2010 Share Posted January 3, 2010 Please explain to me how Marshawn Lynch was a squandered pick. Did he or did he not go to the pro bowl last year? First, one expects a top-15 pick to be a game-changer or close to a game-changer. Lynch has clearly not played up to that level over the course of his career. Second, RBs typically have shorter useful careers than most other positions. A rebuilding team--as the Bills were going into the 2007 draft--should not use its first round pick on a RB. That pick should be used on a guy who's expected to have a longer-lasting career than a RB would have. If that guy also happens to play a more critical position than RB, so much the better! Third, Lynch isn't even the best RB on this team. He's good at muscling his way forward for extra yards after contact, but isn't the complete player Fred Jackson is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. WEO Posted January 3, 2010 Share Posted January 3, 2010 Come on man, you know he's referring to Shawn Nelson, the rookie Give your ranting a break Easy now! I know who he meant---was just checking. I know the doc was as high on Fine not too long ago.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Talley56 Posted January 3, 2010 Share Posted January 3, 2010 Interesting fact, the last time the Bills beat the Colts: Date - 1/2/2000, Final score - 31-6. Exactly 10 years and 1 day ago and the same total number of points (we had one less, they had one more). Just thought I'd throw that out there for anyone who was interested. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThreeBillsDrive Posted January 3, 2010 Share Posted January 3, 2010 Interesting fact, the last time the Bills beat the Colts: Date - 1/2/2000, Final score - 31-6. Exactly 10 years and 1 day ago and the same total number of points (we had one less, they had one more). Just thought I'd throw that out there for anyone who was interested. Great trivia Nice work Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LABills08 Posted January 3, 2010 Share Posted January 3, 2010 First, one expects a top-15 pick to be a game-changer or close to a game-changer. Lynch has clearly not played up to that level over the course of his career. Second, RBs typically have shorter useful careers than most other positions. A rebuilding team--as the Bills were going into the 2007 draft--should not use its first round pick on a RB. That pick should be used on a guy who's expected to have a longer-lasting career than a RB would have. If that guy also happens to play a more critical position than RB, so much the better! Third, Lynch isn't even the best RB on this team. He's good at muscling his way forward for extra yards after contact, but isn't the complete player Fred Jackson is. I think your logic is flawed. 1) What makes someone a game changer? I mean, Lynch ran for over 2,000 yards his first two seasons in the league, behind a very shaky O-Line (in terms of run blocking). A 1,000 yard season is a strong accomplishment for any RB in this league. It is a benchmark for success. And regardless of that, how many running backs does the NFL have that are game changers based on your criteria? I hope not many. BTW, roughly 13 players rushed for over 1,000 yards this season. They are all good players. There is no reason to think Lynch will not be in their company next year. Link 2) The Bills were not going into a rebuilding year in 2007. So I'm not sure what you are talking about. They finished 7-9 for godsake. And look at the list of future pro bowlers from the 2007 draft class (from the 1st round). Not a huge list. But Lynch is on it. link 3) Just because Lynch isn't the best RB on this team (which I dispute, I think each RB's are talented and one is having a good season and one is having a bad season....a fact that has nothing to do w/ their respective talents) does not mean he was a failure as a draft pick. Is Evans a failure bc he isn't the best WR on our team? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Orton's Arm Posted January 3, 2010 Share Posted January 3, 2010 I think your logic is flawed. Then your thinking is wrong! 1) What makes someone a game changer? I mean, Lynch ran for over 2,000 yards his first two seasons in the league, behind a very shaky O-Line (in terms of run blocking). A 1,000 yard season is a strong accomplishment for any RB in this league. Travis Henry has also rushed for over 1000 yards. Was Henry worth the 11th overall pick? Hint: the answer is no, as we only got a third round pick out of having traded Henry away. He didn't have very many miles on him either. The 11th overall pick is worth fully 6.5 times as much as the 15th pick of the third round! If a RB is fed all or almost all the carries, and if the offense he's on has even some semblance of decency, chances are he'll get 1000 rushing yards. Conversely, if a team adopts a RB by committee approach, a 1000 yard season for an individual RB becomes a much more difficult goal. During the seasons you mentioned, Lynch was generally in the first category; which means that the 1000 yard seasons, in themselves, were not necessarily very impressive accomplishments. And regardless of that, how many running backs does the NFL have that are game changers based on your criteria? I hope not many. Correct: not many. But it's less than obvious that the Bills should have drafted--or even considered drafting--a RB with their first round pick of the 2007 draft anyway. BTW, roughly 13 players rushed for over 1,000 yards this season. They are all good players. Yards per carry is a far more meaningful stat than total rushing yards. Give a standard-issue RB enough carries, and he will break 1000 yards. Start using RB by committee, and it's very unlikely any one RB will break 1000 yards. 2) The Bills were not going into a rebuilding year in 2007. So I'm not sure what you are talking about. They finished 7-9 for godsake. That 7-9 record was due to overachievement, stopgap measures, a little luck, and (possibly) an easy schedule (I don't specifically remember). What it was not due to was the existence of a core of good, young players who would form the nucleus of future strong teams. Of the starting players we have today, which ones were on the team in 2005? On offense it's Lee Evans and no one else. On defense it's Kelsay, Schobel, and McGee. Those four guys--plus Jabari Greer, Jason Peters, and Willis McGahee--represent the core of the team that Marv inherited from TD. (I'm excluding Nate Clements, as his contract had already expired under TD's watch.) In 2006, Marv added very little to that core. Not one of his first-day draft selections from 2006 has lived up to his draft position. He partially made up for that on the second day of the draft with guys like Kyle Williams, Keith Ellison, and Brad Butler--who have outplayed their draft position expectations. But most of those second day picks--even including Butler--represent decent players you'd like to someday replace, and not long-term answers to their respective positions. Going into the 2007 draft, there just weren't very many core players on the Bills team. The absence of that core means the team was a long way away from being a serious threat to do something in the postseason, regardless of whatever record it had achieved in 2006. And look at the list of future pro bowlers from the 2007 draft class (from the 1st round). Not a huge list. But Lynch is on it. link Thanks for the link. But as I'm sure you already know, just because a player hasn't yet made the Pro Bowl, doesn't mean he's necessarily worse than Lynch. For example, Dwayne Bowe, a WR chosen in the first round of 2007's draft by KC, had 995 receiving yards his rookie year and over 1000 his second year. This year he's not doing as well as he has in the past--much like Lynch. But 1000 receiving yards is generally considered more impressive for a WR than 1000 rushing yards is for a RB. The best single season by a WR (I think) was in 1995 by Jerry Rice: 1848 receiving yards over 16 games. In contrast, there have been a few RBs who have rushed for 2000 yards in a season, including one who did so in only 14 games. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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