Gabe Northern Posted September 20, 2010 Share Posted September 20, 2010 One way the front office could appease ANGRY and FRUSTRATED fans like myself would be to fire Tom Modrak. I would feel much better about the season if I knew he wouldn't be around to screw up our top 5 pick next year (and the important top-37 pick in the second round, etc.) I understand a lot of people on this Board like to defend Modrak*, but the guy has been in charge of our drafts since 2002**. As Mark Gaughan explained, he was the one pulling the names off of the board from 2006-2009. He only has a job because Ralph likes him personally. Why not show you "GET" that our problems stem from drafting futility by eliminating the guy most responsible for it? * the arguments generally put forward by defenders of Modrak are some variant on 3 themes: (1) he was not the head man in the personnel department so it's not right to blame him; (2) he is a respected NFL personnel man who had great success with the Eagles and we're lucky to have a man of his stature; and (3) I personally was not in the "war room" when the decisions were made so even though Tom Modrak is in charge of all college scouting, ranks players at each position, and provides detailed analysis of all potential draft picks, the fact that drafts have sucked for 10 years is not his fault because someone else may have overruled him on several occasions. For responses to these rather inane arguments, see my posts on the following threads: http://forums.twobillsdrive.com/topic/114991-tom-modrak-must-go-%26/ http://forums.twobillsdrive.com/topic/113534-some-facts-about-tom-modrak/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billsfan714 Posted September 20, 2010 Share Posted September 20, 2010 Im with you. Theres fantasy owners that are closer to their teams than Modrak. If hes in charge of ranking players and in the year of the LB and had Maybust over Orakpo, Cushing and Matthews, well that says a lot. If he had Whitner over Ngata, he shouldnt be in football. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benjamin Barker Posted September 20, 2010 Share Posted September 20, 2010 There is zero accountability in the front office, and Ralph doesn't mind that Modrak is a joke. He ain't going anywhere, and neither is Russ. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
San-O Posted September 20, 2010 Share Posted September 20, 2010 Im with you. Theres fantasy owners that are closer to their teams than Modrak. If hes in charge of ranking players and in the year of the LB and had Maybust over Orakpo, Cushing and Matthews, well that says a lot. If he had Whitner over Ngata, he shouldnt be in football. + 1 Freaking a right. Seriously. Imagine this defense with Ngata and Orakpo instead of Maybin and Whitner? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DPR4444 Posted September 20, 2010 Share Posted September 20, 2010 +1 how this guy remains employed given our drafting history is a mystery. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob in STL Posted September 20, 2010 Share Posted September 20, 2010 Im with you. Theres fantasy owners that are closer to their teams than Modrak. If hes in charge of ranking players and in the year of the LB and had Maybust over Orakpo, Cushing and Matthews, well that says a lot. If he had Whitner over Ngata, he shouldnt be in football. 1. Modrak does not need to be close to the team, he needs to be close to the colleges. 2. Legend has it that Whitner was Levy's pick and that Maybin was Jauron's pick. Nix was there and he made comments about picking a player with very little experience, kind of washed he hands of Maybin. 3. We don't actually know if Modrak picks any of the players. On most teams the Scout provides information and the GM picks the players. 4. What set us back was not bringing in a real GM after Tom Donahoe was fired. Blame Ralph for that. Ralph will not hire someone that he does not know. Ralph hired Levy and Brandon to fill the GM position and then he hired Nix. They collectively deserve more blame than Modrak in my opinion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bkc Posted September 20, 2010 Share Posted September 20, 2010 not his fault. Dickie j picked the guy he wanted to fit his schemes . Buddy comes in and you see a completely different type of player. All modrak does is gather info and pass it along. If dick wants a quick pass rusher and maybin is the best one of the board that who he takes. If chan wants the best play maker he takes cj . All tom can do is tell them what he thinks a player can and can not do . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EC-Bills Posted September 20, 2010 Share Posted September 20, 2010 (edited) blah blah blah Right, it's all on Modrak Furthermore the Bills need to can him to keep you interested?!? Grow up. If you made your points in these other threads then why are you starting yet *another* thread on this subject?!? Try something novel and look at the TOS you agreed to when you singed up this board (hint: search for the word 'crusade'). Edited September 20, 2010 by EC-Bills Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gabe Northern Posted September 20, 2010 Author Share Posted September 20, 2010 Why people brainstorm reasons to defend Modrak is beyond me. And I want this to happen now so I can accept a 3-13 season with the silver lining of drafting high. With this man in charge of scouting, I can't feel that way. As head scout, he is the information filter. So even if he doesn't make the pick, he is the one informing those who make the pick of the players' ability. Why don't people see how critically important that function is? Do you really think Jauron was the only one in the room who thought Maybin was a top talent? Even if Modrak wanted Cushing who did he think was the best pass rusher available? Maybin. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jester43 Posted September 20, 2010 Share Posted September 20, 2010 There is zero accountability in the front office, and Ralph doesn't mind that Modrak is a joke. He ain't going anywhere, and neither is Russ. the tickets are selling so why should he care? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Superb Owl Posted September 20, 2010 Share Posted September 20, 2010 Great thread, I agree this should be done. I think the whole scouting department should be overhauled. The scouts are also responsible for the horrendous draft record. They are probably Modrak guys. Keep the good ones Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mob16151 Posted September 20, 2010 Share Posted September 20, 2010 Bloody hell, they've already given us Edwards head this week.(Deservedly IMO) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jack_spikes Posted September 20, 2010 Share Posted September 20, 2010 1. Modrak does not need to be close to the team, he needs to be close to the colleges. 2. Legend has it that Whitner was Levy's pick and that Maybin was Jauron's pick. Nix was there and he made comments about picking a player with very little experience, kind of washed he hands of Maybin. 3. We don't actually know if Modrak picks any of the players. On most teams the Scout provides information and the GM picks the players. 4. What set us back was not bringing in a real GM after Tom Donahoe was fired. Blame Ralph for that. Ralph will not hire someone that he does not know. Ralph hired Levy and Brandon to fill the GM position and then he hired Nix. They collectively deserve more blame than Modrak in my opinion. You may be right, however, I have to ask if Modrak has any self respect, working in such a system? Wouldn't it bother you to be blamed for picking all these stiffs, knowing you weren't responsible? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sisyphean Bills Posted September 20, 2010 Share Posted September 20, 2010 Why people brainstorm reasons to defend Modrak is beyond me. Because he hasn't been fired (yet). You're right about everything else. There is no question whatsoever that the guy put Maybin's name at/near the top of the Bills list, whether he made the final decision to pull the trigger or not. Just cause McShay or Kiper thinks it is a genius move doesn't mean a scout should. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lv-Bills Posted September 20, 2010 Share Posted September 20, 2010 AMEN - Bump Right, it's all on Modrak Furthermore the Bills need to can him to keep you interested?!? Grow up. If you made your points in these other threads then why are you starting yet *another* thread on this subject?!? Try something novel and look at the TOS you agreed to when you singed up this board (hint: search for the word 'crusade'). Are you Modrak's son or something? Really, how can you defend the guy? The common denonimator this latest period of suck, has been Ralph Wilson, Russ Brandon and Tom Modrak. Undefendable. Period. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sisyphean Bills Posted September 20, 2010 Share Posted September 20, 2010 I wonder if a monkey throwing darts could find more than 1.3 average players a draft. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattyT Posted September 20, 2010 Share Posted September 20, 2010 I'd be shocked if 25% of the paying fan base would recognize Modrak's name, let alone understand what it is he oversees. Seems like you'd be taking a huge risk to satisfy a small percentage of your customers. And even if you do make this move, so what? You still suck and that's not gonna sell you tickets. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AllDayADay Posted September 20, 2010 Share Posted September 20, 2010 Im not really defending him because I heard he was in charge of the 08 draft, which wasnt great. But, to say that we could have this player or that player is totally ridiculous. Every team could say the same thing. And have more valid points (lacks of talent) than us. 2-0 is bad, but Nix just got here, how much overhauling do you want this guy to do? He knows the SEC and so does the new scout Moody, that is where most of the talent comes from. Especially Ryan Mallett, who im sure there is a BIlls scout at every one of his games this season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lv-Bills Posted September 20, 2010 Share Posted September 20, 2010 I'd be shocked if 25% of the paying fan base would recognize Modrak's name, let alone understand what it is he oversees. Seems like you'd be taking a huge risk to satisfy a small percentage of your customers. And even if you do make this move, so what? You still suck and that's not gonna sell you tickets. What exactly would the huge risk be??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
San-O Posted September 20, 2010 Share Posted September 20, 2010 (edited) I wonder if a monkey throwing darts could find more than 1.3 average players a draft. How about the Magic "College Draft" 8 Ball? http://web.ics.purdue.edu/~ssanty/cgi-bin/eightball.cgi Less issues with P.E.T.A. Edited September 20, 2010 by SoCal-Surf Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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