The Senator Posted January 27, 2011 Share Posted January 27, 2011 (edited) Mark Gaughn's excellent piece from tomorrow's Buffalo News made it onto TBD's main board tonite, and goes a long way to exonerate Tom Modrak from being the main cause of all that is wrong with the Bills... How has Modrak survived as the Bills' playoff drought has reached 11 years? Bills owner Ralph C. Wilson Jr. says it's hard to lay a big share of the blame on Modrak when he has not had the final say on draft choices... Modrak served under former team president Tom Donahoe his first four years with the Bills. Marv Levy served as general manager the next two years. Chief Executive Officer Russ Brandon was general manager in 2009. The lack of a definitive voice in the draft room after Donahoe left was a distinct weakness in the Bills' operation. Former coach Dick Jauron had more say in the draft decisions than he probably deserved, and the Bills' "team approach" on making final draft decisions overall proved unsuccessful. (Nicely understated! ) Link - Bills keep their faith in Modrak-Wilson says scout chief shoulders unfair blame Opine away... . Edited January 27, 2011 by The Senator Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buffalo Barbarian Posted January 27, 2011 Share Posted January 27, 2011 After reading that it is hard to blame Modrak for draft failures since he never had final say. Who knows maybe he wanted the guys that us fans wanted but was short circuited by GMs, Brandon (What was Ralph thinking) and Dickie J who supposedly wanted Maybin. Nix has made great picks in the past so he must feel Modrak is scouting well. Hopefully Nix realizes that you take the best available person at the position you need and will leave the WRs alone, which we have more than enough of. That first pick had better be front 7, OT or QB ,any other pick will show that he is out of touch in todays NFL were you don't have 5+ years to get the job done. Spiller picks are for superbowl contenders not teams that were/are desperate for Tackle help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T master Posted January 27, 2011 Share Posted January 27, 2011 Considering who he had to work under one more chance may be warranted !! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sllib olaffub Posted January 27, 2011 Share Posted January 27, 2011 I was talking to a long time Bills fan/season ticket holder tonight, and he was utterly disgusted with the Bills, and said he might not renew his tickets next year. He also said he thought Nix was a disaster and totally unfit for G.M., and that the Bills entire organization had turned into a laughingstock - citing the loss of talent - Peters, Pat Williams, Winfield - and coaches - April and Lebeau - all of which left and were replaced by inferior talent. Coaches don't want to come here - turn down one of only 32 like jobs in the world. And finally, the Lynch fiasco - not making calls and getting proper value for him, and also not making upgrades in F.A. when teams like the Jets, who are already way better than us, go off and make real upgrades while we sit still... and then there's the money to Kelsay. And all the first round busts. I listened to this loyal fan who'd spent probably 25,000 dollars over the last 20 years on the Bills, going to games and merchandise say all this. I said, "well, I'm going to give Nix another year and see what he does. I think he knew last year we weren't close, so he gave Gailey one year to see what he really had to work with, to find out if there was any hidden talent, and to see where he needed to chop. I also think that explained their approach to F.A., and to the draft. I think Spiller, Troupe, and Carrington were all picked with their sights on 2011 and 2012. So, now they know what they have, now Nix is calling the shots, now Gailey can pick his QB from the draft to mentor, and Wanny can help with the defense. We have a bunch of Free Agents coming up that will be available. Between the draft and F.A. we will see, regardless of what is said, by their actions, whether or not this team has been righted." He looked at me and shook his head. They stink. I'm done with them. They aren't good, and they aren't even close to being near as good as the good teams. In fact, I'll bet there'll be a further gap between them and the Jets and Patriots after this year, when those teams actually do get even better. I'm an optimist - but, reading that article, I can see both sides. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PromoTheRobot Posted January 27, 2011 Share Posted January 27, 2011 I was talking to a long time Bills fan/season ticket holder tonight, and he was utterly disgusted with the Bills, and said he might not renew his tickets next year. He also said he thought Nix was a disaster and totally unfit for G.M., and that the Bills entire organization had turned into a laughingstock - citing the loss of talent - Peters, Pat Williams, Winfield - and coaches - April and Lebeau - all of which left and were replaced by inferior talent. Coaches don't want to come here - turn down one of only 32 like jobs in the world. And finally, the Lynch fiasco - not making calls and getting proper value for him, and also not making upgrades in F.A. when teams like the Jets, who are already way better than us, go off and make real upgrades while we sit still... and then there's the money to Kelsay. And all the first round busts. I listened to this loyal fan who'd spent probably 25,000 dollars over the last 20 years on the Bills, going to games and merchandise say all this. I said, "well, I'm going to give Nix another year and see what he does. I think he knew last year we weren't close, so he gave Gailey one year to see what he really had to work with, to find out if there was any hidden talent, and to see where he needed to chop. I also think that explained their approach to F.A., and to the draft. I think Spiller, Troupe, and Carrington were all picked with their sights on 2011 and 2012. So, now they know what they have, now Nix is calling the shots, now Gailey can pick his QB from the draft to mentor, and Wanny can help with the defense. We have a bunch of Free Agents coming up that will be available. Between the draft and F.A. we will see, regardless of what is said, by their actions, whether or not this team has been righted." He looked at me and shook his head. They stink. I'm done with them. They aren't good, and they aren't even close to being near as good as the good teams. In fact, I'll bet there'll be a further gap between them and the Jets and Patriots after this year, when those teams actually do get even better. I'm an optimist - but, reading that article, I can see both sides. Then your buddy will miss the turnaround. He can always climb back on. PTR Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillnutinHouston Posted January 27, 2011 Share Posted January 27, 2011 To me, another piece of BIG news from the article is that Ralph definitively, and for the first time I'm aware of, removed the cloak of secrecy around who makes the final call - at least for the 2011 draft. Ralph was quoted as saying, "I feel good about the fact that Buddy Nix is making the final call." We know from this that Buddy's officially and unequivocally been put out on the limb. This franchise is on Buddy's back right now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BuffaloBillsMagic1 Posted January 27, 2011 Share Posted January 27, 2011 That Modrak is still employed by the Bills in any scouting capacity worries me. Should have been first guy Buddy had replaced. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
papazoid Posted January 27, 2011 Share Posted January 27, 2011 i'm sure there is a paper trail of evidence where Modrak can show that his recommended choice was not taken. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shoveldog Posted January 27, 2011 Share Posted January 27, 2011 That Modrak is still employed by the Bills in any scouting capacity worries me. Should have been first guy Buddy had replaced. Why? Do you know who he has recommended that the Bills pick in each draft? Do you know who was on his "board" when every pick was made? Do you know how he manages his scouts and how the scouting reports read? Nah, I didn't think so. I guess the point of the article completely bounced off your closed mind. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BuffaloBillsMagic1 Posted January 27, 2011 Share Posted January 27, 2011 Why? Do you know who he has recommended that the Bills pick in each draft? Do you know who was on his "board" when every pick was made? Do you know how he manages his scouts and how the scouting reports read? Nah, I didn't think so. I guess the point of the article completely bounced off your closed mind. figures don't lie, liers figure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spartacus Posted January 27, 2011 Share Posted January 27, 2011 Why? Do you know who he has recommended that the Bills pick in each draft? Do you know who was on his "board" when every pick was made? Do you know how he manages his scouts and how the scouting reports read? Nah, I didn't think so. I guess the point of the article completely bounced off your closed mind. you are correct how can anyone doubt the veracity of a self-serving fluff piece put out by the team being accused of being moronic in keeping an incompetant talent evaluation staff? of course, the article does not question the stones of Modrak for staying employed in an organaiztion which has ignored his recommendations for 10 years I suppose the fact that he lives in Florida in semi-retirement helps him get over the slight and stay employed. It would seem the factual history of 10 years of bad drafts would have a little more weight than some self serving propaganda good to know that Ralph may have figured out the problem --- 92 must be the age of enlightenment Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chas56 Posted January 27, 2011 Share Posted January 27, 2011 Senator - Thank you. This is very interesting news. Also, BillnutinHouston had an excellent point - that this is clearly on Nix now. That means that the Spiller pick was Nix's. Gailey may have wanted Spiller, who knows, but the final say was Nix's. I also agree with the reply that said Nix knew we were not any good and was drafting for the future. Troupe, Moats, and Spiller, among others, may very well be good players down the road. Let's see what this next draft looks like, see what the last draft winds up doing, and then we can really evaluate Nix. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
altleg Posted January 27, 2011 Share Posted January 27, 2011 Even if Modrak is right and recommended the best pick to his boss every year, and his boss usually (always) ignores the recommendation, then you are still failing at your job as you are not assertive enough. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillsPhan Posted January 27, 2011 Share Posted January 27, 2011 Mark Gaughn's excellent piece from tomorrow's Buffalo News made it onto TBD's main board tonite, and goes a long way to exonerate Tom Modrak from being the main cause of all that is wrong with the Bills... How has Modrak survived as the Bills' playoff drought has reached 11 years? Bills owner Ralph C. Wilson Jr. says it's hard to lay a big share of the blame on Modrak when he has not had the final say on draft choices... Modrak served under former team president Tom Donahoe his first four years with the Bills. Marv Levy served as general manager the next two years. Chief Executive Officer Russ Brandon was general manager in 2009. The lack of a definitive voice in the draft room after Donahoe left was a distinct weakness in the Bills' operation. Former coach Dick Jauron had more say in the draft decisions than he probably deserved, and the Bills' "team approach" on making final draft decisions overall proved unsuccessful. (Nicely understated! ) Link - Bills keep their faith in Modrak-Wilson says scout chief shoulders unfair blame Opine away... . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FightClub Posted January 27, 2011 Share Posted January 27, 2011 Why? Do you know who he has recommended that the Bills pick in each draft? Do you know who was on his "board" when every pick was made? Do you know how he manages his scouts and how the scouting reports read? Nah, I didn't think so. I guess the point of the article completely bounced off your closed mind. Wait a minute, wait a minute. Are you really thinking that Modrak had Maybin pegged for the 7th round (where he obviously belonged) and the "powers that be" said, no, let's pick him in the first?? No...I'm confident that's not what happened. Now, I am with you here. Maybe Modrak DID have Orakpo ahead of Maybin on his board and got "overruled" but Maybin must have been close enough behind on the board to even enter into the conversation (e.g. still rated as a first rounder, just maybe later in the round or early second). Sorry, this is STILL a big error in scouting. Okay, Todd McShay couldn't see that Maybin was going to suck, but our professional "scout" is supposed to be able to see this clearly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coach Tuesday Posted January 27, 2011 Share Posted January 27, 2011 you are correct how can anyone doubt the veracity of a self-serving fluff piece put out by the team being accused of being moronic in keeping an incompetant talent evaluation staff? of course, the article does not question the stones of Modrak for staying employed in an organaiztion which has ignored his recommendations for 10 years I suppose the fact that he lives in Florida in semi-retirement helps him get over the slight and stay employed. It would seem the factual history of 10 years of bad drafts would have a little more weight than some self serving propaganda good to know that Ralph may have figured out the problem --- 92 must be the age of enlightenment Exactly. And if you accept the article on its face, Ralph should fire himself (or step aside). That's the real issue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shoveldog Posted January 27, 2011 Share Posted January 27, 2011 you are correct how can anyone doubt the veracity of a self-serving fluff piece put out by the team being accused of being moronic in keeping an incompetant talent evaluation staff? of course, the article does not question the stones of Modrak for staying employed in an organaiztion which has ignored his recommendations for 10 years I suppose the fact that he lives in Florida in semi-retirement helps him get over the slight and stay employed. It would seem the factual history of 10 years of bad drafts would have a little more weight than some self serving propaganda good to know that Ralph may have figured out the problem --- 92 must be the age of enlightenment Huh? Self Serving fluf piece? When did Gaughan start working for Bills? The bottom line is... none of us, not you, not me, none of us, knows if Modrak is a good evaluator of talent because we don't know who he has picked. This article seems to suggest that the disfunction in the last 10 years has not been with incorrectly assessing talent, but instead incorrectly selecting talent. BIG difference here. Now, IF, and it's a big IF... Modrak has recommended the guys we've picked in the last 10 years when it's our turn to pick, then he and anyone associated with that are fair game. Again, we don't know that and this article would seem to point to the fact that he has not had significant influence over the decision making process. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
todd Posted January 27, 2011 Share Posted January 27, 2011 It is hard for me to call him exonerated, because he's been involved in some of the worst drafting in NFL history. However, I do know DJ was the one who picked Maybin. I know Brandon & Levy made the final calls when they were there, and it is clear who pulled names in the Donahoe era. Look, if the guy is that good at evaluating players, I would expect him to lobby harder if he feels a bad choice is being made. Not only that, if I thought my opinion wasn't being taken seriously at a job, I'd quit. I still say he needs to take some of the blame. Mark Gaughn's excellent piece from tomorrow's Buffalo News made it onto TBD's main board tonite, and goes a long way to exonerate Tom Modrak from being the main cause of all that is wrong with the Bills... How has Modrak survived as the Bills' playoff drought has reached 11 years? Bills owner Ralph C. Wilson Jr. says it's hard to lay a big share of the blame on Modrak when he has not had the final say on draft choices... Modrak served under former team president Tom Donahoe his first four years with the Bills. Marv Levy served as general manager the next two years. Chief Executive Officer Russ Brandon was general manager in 2009. The lack of a definitive voice in the draft room after Donahoe left was a distinct weakness in the Bills' operation. Former coach Dick Jauron had more say in the draft decisions than he probably deserved, and the Bills' "team approach" on making final draft decisions overall proved unsuccessful. (Nicely understated! ) Link - Bills keep their faith in Modrak-Wilson says scout chief shoulders unfair blame Opine away... . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave mcbride Posted January 27, 2011 Share Posted January 27, 2011 Wait a minute, wait a minute. Are you really thinking that Modrak had Maybin pegged for the 7th round (where he obviously belonged) and the "powers that be" said, no, let's pick him in the first?? No...I'm confident that's not what happened. Now, I am with you here. Maybe Modrak DID have Orakpo ahead of Maybin on his board and got "overruled" but Maybin must have been close enough behind on the board to even enter into the conversation (e.g. still rated as a first rounder, just maybe later in the round or early second). Sorry, this is STILL a big error in scouting. Okay, Todd McShay couldn't see that Maybin was going to suck, but our professional "scout" is supposed to be able to see this clearly. Modrak wanted to draft Brian Cushing, not Orakpo. That's been pretty well established. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shoveldog Posted January 27, 2011 Share Posted January 27, 2011 Wait a minute, wait a minute. Are you really thinking that Modrak had Maybin pegged for the 7th round (where he obviously belonged) and the "powers that be" said, no, let's pick him in the first?? No...I'm confident that's not what happened. Now, I am with you here. Maybe Modrak DID have Orakpo ahead of Maybin on his board and got "overruled" but Maybin must have been close enough behind on the board to even enter into the conversation (e.g. still rated as a first rounder, just maybe later in the round or early second). Sorry, this is STILL a big error in scouting. Okay, Todd McShay couldn't see that Maybin was going to suck, but our professional "scout" is supposed to be able to see this clearly. This is crazy talk... every expert in the country had Maybin going in the first round at the time. Did you ever see him play at Penn State? Sure, he may have been a 1 year wonder, but he was DOMINANT against college kids that year. He obviously hasn't and probably won't make the transition to the NFL, but to say that he should have been a 7th round pick is hindsight prognosticating at it's best. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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