Draft pick may be a battle between Nix and Gailey

[stony]

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"

 

So true. I think with the exception of maybe his first two years in the league, he was on the 1st team all-defensive squad every year he played (Wizards Jordan aside).

[Bob in STL]

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.

 

 

Some good points here.

 

Marv was not a great GM, in fact, by his own admission he is not a GM at all.

 

Had he picked Ngata a #8 wouldn't that have been declared an obvious move? If he then traded up to grab Whitner in the first round (instead of McCargo) would Whitner stil be considered a bust by some?

 

Whitner looks to be the best safety taken in tthe 2006 draft. Oakland took a safety in slot #7.

[RuntheDamnBall]

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.

That's interesting (as is the Dean's note). I am sure he was out there destroying fools. I'm also sure three years of college and discipline in Smith's system was instrumental in making him who he is.

 

I guess it's a bit of an easy target, but I see next to no comparison between Newton and Jordan. Newton is so far showing a lot of natural ability and talent. We don't know much about his ability to break down and assess an NFL defense, and there's no doubt in my mind that one year of D1 ball means a very steep learning curve for him and whatever team drafts him.

[Sisyphean Bills]

Some good points here.

 

Marv was not a great GM, in fact, by his own admission he is not a GM at all.

 

Had he picked Ngata a #8 wouldn't that have been declared an obvious move? If he then traded up to grab Whitner in the first round (instead of McCargo) would Whitner stil be considered a bust by some?

 

Whitner looks to be the best safety taken in tthe 2006 draft. Oakland took a safety in slot #7.

 

Michael Huff is actually having a good season. Whitner has more tackles and plays SS, but Donte has fewer of everything else.

 

http://www.nfl.com/players/michaelhuff/profile?id=HUF222475

 

http://www.nfl.com/players/DonteWhitner/profile?id=WHI720119

[BravinSeattle]

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

Didn't say he'd change the game.

 

I said he would transform the perception of our franchise and be a very exciting team to watch - win or lose - until we get defense addressed.

[Sisyphean Bills]

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

Well, drafting one year wonders has worked out well for the Bills in the recent past, why not go back to that well?

[KD in CA]

Didn't say he'd change the game.

 

I said he would transform the perception of our franchise and be a very exciting team to watch - win or lose - until we get defense addressed.

 

And called him a 'once in a generation athlete' and drew comparisons to one of the 5 most accomplished athletes of the 20th Century. Your hyperbole is simply ridiculous.

 

 

 

Well, drafting one year wonders has worked out well for the Bills in the recent past, why not go back to that well?

 

-- this one would fit right in! I never heard of Cam Newton until about 2 months ago and now suddenly he's Michael Jordan?

Just incredible.

Edited December 31, 2010 by KD in CT

[RuntheDamnBall]

And called him a 'once in a generation athlete' and drew comparisons to one of the 5 most accomplished athletes of the 20th Century. Your hyperbole is simply ridiculous.

 

-- this one would fit right in! I never heard of Cam Newton until about 2 months ago and now suddenly he's Michael Jordan?

Just incredible.

,

What he meant to say is that Newton's the Michael Jordan of laptop theft, and his dad is the Archie Manning of extortion.

[RevWarRifleman]

I don't agree. It appears Nix and Gailey are on the same page wrt the draft, at least this past year. And while Gailey may be an offensive coach, he knows his defense is losing a lot of games for him, so taking the big name WR won't cure that problem. Offensively the Bills are mediocre, but on defense it's a complete cluster. They don't know if they're a 43 or 34, can't stop the run, and have surrendered 30+ 8 times this season.

 

The real battle will be between Nix/Gailey and the suits. The latter know the team has no drawing card in 2011 and it'll be a challenge to sell 40k season tickets. Needless to say, that's where the real battle will be waged.

 

BillsVet, good points, and a great post. Thanks for posting.

[Mr_Blizzard]

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

 

I hope it's not another freakin' DB!