Draft pick may be a battle between Nix and Gailey

[Mr. WEO]

- Change over in up top people

- Change over in defense knowing we didn't have the parts to make it work

- New offensive scheme

- Change over in all of the coaching positions

- Lack of participation in free agency

 

 

I know that people like to think that our higher ups are not as smart as we are......but the fact is this is these guys know a heck of a lot more then we do about what their plans are.

 

It is my belief that these guys had grown tired of middle of the road first round picks always picking just outside of the blue chippers.....there are some players in this draft that have a very good chance of not being busts.....and also a good chance those players will go in the top 5 of this draft.

 

Everyone wants to believe that teams have no agendas going into a season that involve something else but winning.....but I dont think that is true.

 

Since everyone's new, why not put your #1 back in there to learn the new system?

 

To me, it's just not plausible that Spiller was drafted for any other reason than to come in right away and be a big impact player.

 

 

“You obviously look at the big-play potential,” new Bills head coach Chan Gailey said. “That’s what you hope you get out of the guy whether it’s running or catching the ball or whatever it might be. Going down the field with a 12-play drive and sticking it in the end zone, that gets harder and harder every year.”

 

"He's a playmaker," first-time general manager Buddy Nix said. "He's exciting. We need some excitement."

 

"I know guys, we need a lot of things," Nix said. "But to be honest with you, there was only one Spiller. ... He's a dynamic player that can hurt you in a lot of ways."

 

"We are void of big playmakers," Nix said. "We have good players, but a guy that has this kind of world class speed can help us in so many ways."

 

No mention of 2011.

[Nanker]

It'll be a battle between Ralph and Modrak - who'll have to consult with Donahoe and Mortensen first.

[Malazan]

Since everyone's new, why not put your #1 back in there to learn the new system?

 

He is learning the new system. What specifically leads you to believe that he is not becoming more familiar with the NFL and the offensive system employed here?

[Cal Bill's Fan]

to me it ispretty simple: offense needs outstanding players at LT, C, QB, RB and WR. Once you have top notch players in those spots you have good team. Add good players to the other spots and you can win games. Add an outstanding player to another position on offense (when the first 5 are already filled with top notch players) and you create mismatches that can dominate a game.

 

On defense a team needs outstanding players at RDE, NT, ILB, OLB and CB. These will counter the other teams top 5 offensive players. Add more outstanding players and you can control the game from defense.

 

Now look at the Bills. I would say QB & RB are good enough. Are we happy with any f our defensive players? Kyle Williams in a 4-3 but we need a monster next to him. Other spots have shown flashes, but that leaves a lot of spots to fill, unless you buy that the talent is on the team and just needs maturing. So yes best player available works within reason.

 

until those 10 spots are full of top notch talent - Bills will continue to be also-rans. And picking a TE or Safety because they are best available will continue the misery. Now once these 10 spots are filled with top performers, best available would work.

 

my 2 cents anyways.

[The Dean]

Why anoint CJ the "starter", #1 on the chart, except as a marketing ploy?

 

Dunno, but one response might be "to light a fire under Lynch's ass".

 

But mostly, I don't think coaches really put as much stock as fans in who is a "starter", when they plan to give several players plenty of playing time. Who starts the game isn't as important as who is there in clutch time. Could Spiiler's starter status have been PR related? Sure, it might have been. But I have to think Chan planned on getting CJ some carries in the game, anyway. Is it that big a deal who plays the first down or who is announced as a starter?

[San-O]

Yea, good thing they got rid of Parrish...because it was obvious that he was a bum from what he did last season.

 

 

huh?

 

Roscoe Parrish was drafted in the 2005 draft. The last one for Ol' Whitey. Ur really going to play the

"Roscoe Parrish" card re: drafting for need and waiting for a player to develop?

[BillsVet]

You'd prefer them to be adequate and not great? Okay.

 

I'm glad you're not running our team.

 

WR's and CB's, as is obvious, require a support to be good. The former needs an OL and QB, while the latter needs a pass rush. These things have been on display for the Bills for a long time now and I don't understand why it's so hard to figure out. Better to get strong at OT and DL to help the team win sooner.

 

From 06-09, Buffalo used 6 1st or 2nd round picks on non-lineman. And of the 4 lineman taken, 2 are McCargo and Maybin with the others being guards. And people wonder why the team doesn't run block or rush the passer real well. That's where I'd like to see them get better, not WR or CB necessarily right away.

[KD in CA]

Nix, Gailey, and everyone else will use the team's first round draft pick on the best player available, regardless of position.

 

 

Well that would be something new and different! Usually we pass on multiple future pro bowlers for some 'tweener or project player.

[NyQuil]

Unless is magical fun world the Luck happens to fall to the Bills start with the defense. Spend next season learning how to stop the other team.

[BravinSeattle]

This franchise will know what it feels like to be the Portland Trailblazers if we pass on QB Cam Newton out of Auburn. The guy is the Michael Jordan of the upcoming NFL draft and taking anyone else would be tantamount to picking C Sam Bowie from Kentucky if he's still on the board.

 

6-6 250 runs a legit 4.5/40 and has the moves of a RB to go with an accurate and cannon of an arm.

 

He's more than a franchise QB. He's a franchise transforming QB and a once in a generation athlete.

 

Whatever we need on defense can be found toward the end of the first round where we should trade our 2nd and another pick for a pick around the 25- 28 range.

[KD in CA]

This franchise will know what it feels like to be the Portland Trailblazers if we pass on QB Cam Newton out of Auburn. The guy is the Michael Jordan of the upcoming NFL draft and taking anyone else would be tantamount to picking C Sam Bowie from Kentucky if he's still on the board.

 

6-6 250 runs a legit 4.5/40 and has the moves of a RB to go with an accurate and cannon of an arm.

 

He's more than a franchise QB. He's a franchise transforming QB and a once in a generation athlete.

 

Whatever we need on defense can be found toward the end of the first round where we should trade our 2nd and another pick for a pick around the 25- 28 range.

 

So, this year's "once in a generation athlete" is going to change the game, huh? Never heard that one before.

[Hapless Bills Fan]

FINALLY, someone gets it!!! Haven't seen to many here wanting him...He'd be my #1 pick!!!

 

I salivate over the thought of Bowers in a Bills uniform myself, isn't he a junior though?

Is it 4sure he's declaring?

[swede316]

He's the #2 ranked college player in the draft behind Luck. I'm sure he'll be declaring, he'd be crazy not to. Just need the Bills to lose and Cinci to win and we'll have the #2 pick (I think)!!!!

If he's there it's a no brainer, the Bills have ZERO pass rush and need playmakers on D.

[Hplarrm]

Particularly if our base D is a 3-4 then actually dud McCargo is replaced by Kyle Williams, Granted the Marv led braintrust blew it big time buy reaching up to get McCargo by picking him after trading back into the 1st.

 

However, it is pretty silly to declare Marv brainless for picking McCargo without also giving him kudos for the late pick of immediate starter Williams.

 

Certainly with 20/20 hindsight it is true that McCargo was a bust. However, the football reality deems it necessary to:

 

1. If one wants to fault Marv the problem was not picking Ngati with our #8 pick.

2. However, the gap left by poor slot filling by TD which Marv inherited due to Mr. Ralph messing up management of the team demanded that the Bills fill both a starting S slot and the starting DT slot.

3. The complaints that the Bills took a safety too early with a top 10 pick really represents old football thinking as:

 

A. SS is a critical position in the real game of pro football as shown by Sanders leading Indy's SB winning D and Polamaulu leading Pitts successful franchise. Those who claimed Safties are not worth a 15 or higher pick do not seem to understand the modern NFL.

 

B. Further, 3 safties went 15 or higher again showing pros disagree with the armchair analysis of do not pick a safety early,

 

C. Clearly Whitner failed to have the impact one hopes for from a top 10 pick, but still Whitner was the most productive safty in the draft that year.

 

I think we should focus on defense and our O line solidifying that will go along way. We need a mix of veteran talent and rookies.

 

A Stud DT Like the kid from Auburn to replace Dud John McCargo and Marcus Stroud becomes a rotational backup. I still don't think we will be playing a 3-4 that much.

 

2 LBS - 1 inside 1 outside

 

A DE -

 

A RT - 2nd or 3rd Round

 

A CB -

[RuntheDamnBall]

So, this year's "once in a generation athlete" is going to change the game, huh? Never heard that one before.

Right!

 

And the Jordan comparison is ridiculous, since Jordan wasn't even Jordan until after his college career. He was a superb college player but nothing hinted that he'd become the greatest ever. The Blazers blew it, but they were unlucky in that Bowie had an injury-plagued career. Maybe they should have seen that coming given that he missed a lot of time in college with injuries, but it's not a general rule that a guy who had college injuries will without exception have lots of pro injuries. If you think about it, injuries are why the Bills ended up finding Thurman Thomas in the second round.

 

Buyer beware on Cam Newton. No team has enough evidence on the guy right now, with one sterling year in D1 under his belt. Even his staunchest supporters have to admit he is a roll of the dice. I'm not saying he won't be good, but can the Bills really afford to miss on this one? (Hint: they can't).

[Terry Tate]

Besides the wild card Ralph factor, I think a good way to predict who the Bills will pick in Rd 1 (and subsequent rounds) is to take a look at the kind of player they picked last year. Troup is a great example - I believe he was relatively injury-free, and a team captain going back to high school. That is the type of player they're looking for. Not necessarily someone with no off-field blemishes, but someone who has been a team captain and has stayed healthy. No idea where Fairley/Bowers/Mallet fit into that category but it's worth investigating.

 

EDIT: this is a successful model, btw. I saw a chart of Dimitroff's last few drafts for the Falcons, and they're the same - guys who have stayed healthy and been team captains for a decade.

I noticed that Buddy took a lot of team captains last year. Not sure if that's one of the things he looks for, or if the talent level of many NFL draft picks is such that they would naturally be leaders at lower levels. Either way, seemed like a good idea to me.

[stony]

Right!

 

And the Jordan comparison is ridiculous, since Jordan wasn't even Jordan until after his college career. He was a superb college player but nothing hinted that he'd become the greatest ever. The Blazers blew it, but they were unlucky in that Bowie had an injury-plagued career. Maybe they should have seen that coming given that he missed a lot of time in college with injuries, but it's not a general rule that a guy who had college injuries will without exception have lots of pro injuries. If you think about it, injuries are why the Bills ended up finding Thurman Thomas in the second round.

 

Buyer beware on Cam Newton. No team has enough evidence on the guy right now, with one sterling year in D1 under his belt. Even his staunchest supporters have to admit he is a roll of the dice. I'm not saying he won't be good, but can the Bills really afford to miss on this one? (Hint: they can't).

 

There's a great section in Bill Simmons new book about this. Apparently Jordan was Jordan in college but Dean Smith never let him be. There's also a great little story about Jordan going to the '84 Olympics practices and absolutely destroying everyone to the point Bobby Knight called a friend in the Trailblazers FO office and begged him to pick him. This has nothing to do w/ the Bills, just interesting because I too thought it took a year or two for him to blossom into the superstar he is synonymous with.

[BuffaloBillsMagic1]

WR's and CB's, as is obvious, require a support to be good. The former needs an OL and QB, while the latter needs a pass rush. These things have been on display for the Bills for a long time now and I don't understand why it's so hard to figure out. Better to get strong at OT and DL to help the team win sooner.

 

From 06-09, Buffalo used 6 1st or 2nd round picks on non-lineman. And of the 4 lineman taken, 2 are McCargo and Maybin with the others being guards. And people wonder why the team doesn't run block or rush the passer real well. That's where I'd like to see them get better, not WR or CB necessarily right away.

Well said.

[Mr. WEO]

He is learning the new system. What specifically leads you to believe that he is not becoming more familiar with the NFL and the offensive system employed here?

The fact that his own HC/OC can barely find any use for him.

[The Dean]

There's a great section in Bill Simmons new book about this. Apparently Jordan was Jordan in college but Dean Smith never let him be. .

 

 

I think Smith should get major credit for making Jordon what he eventually became. Had he played for the typical coach, he would have been allowed to play street-style ball. Smith helped him learn defense, discipline and the value of team play. I love the old joke, "Who's the only man who could hold Michael Jordon to under 20 points in a game?" The answer of course is, "Dean Smith"