the Bills gameplan for the franchise?

[dogbyte]

I am confused, weren't Williams, Losman, McCargo, Maybin all taken because of position needs? And Whittner was not the best available. The only best available pick has been Spiller and the jury is still out on him. Isn't reaching for positional needs, what got us to where we are? It can't be one or the other, which is exactly what Nix said.

 

I agree with DiCesare on Modrak, either he has been wrong or he was being ignored, either way he should be gone.

 

Without knowing what the Bills draft board was, at that time, we do not know how these players were evaluated.

It is always great, to have 20/20 hindsight on players that were drafted and became stars.

Whitner was considered by the Bills to be the BPA, so was Maybin. The Bills considered Williams, the BPA, but they wanted him to play LT, when he was a RT. He failed because he was not a LT and his cost was too much for a RT.

Losaman and McCargo, where the BPA on the Bills board, that is why they traded up for them. The problem is not need verses BPA, it is that the Bills can not evaluate who the BPA is.

Edited January 28, 2011 by dogbyte

[sllib olaffub]

That article echoes things I've said here before. We simply don't have an identity - and, combined with the turnover in staffs, there's no way we could have successful drafts. Point: 4-3 defensive players that are good draft picks turn into busts on a 3-4 team.

 

Now, I believe it does start with Wilson - and has been there forever with this franchise. He doesn't approach - in all appearances - the Bills organization with the passion of a football man. He doesn't come to town and demand excellence from the team, Championships. Instead, he is content with monetary viability. He oversaw this franchise through decades of irrelevance, ineptitude, and then got lucky with Levy and Butler/Polian. Then after that brief period of success, which stamped Buffalo and the Bills with a has been moment in Sports history, he's ridden that brief fortune through another decade and a half of inept football.

I believe he sees football as a game that doesn't deserve serious attention. I just don't think he appreciates what it takes to be successful - as is evidenced in his decisions over the lifetime of the team, and especially now, as he's fallen prey to outdated notions of what is possible. If the Bills have success it is only because he's lucked out with Nix. It is only because of luck, akin to playing losing poker - long enough, with a big enough stack of chips, you'll get a winning hand eventually - but, the great players win with bad hands, too.

And, to make it worse, I don't think he's ever cared enough to demand excellence, and what it takes to achieve it. I think it has been secondary for him for most of his ownership. Maybe approaching the end of the road he'll throw it all down/in - let's hope he does, and let's hope Nix is good enough to develop a Philosophy.

[NoSaint]

What crap. The Bills drafted for need for the 10 years before Nix became GM. That is exactly why the Bills have done so poorly. Looking at the best teams talent wise they routinely take the Best Player Available in the first round. In later rounds where the talent is more of a mixed bag you draft for need as the Packers and Steelers and all successful teams so often do. But in the first you should grab the best player possible.

 

I love that so many people slam the Bills for taking Spiller, but if they would have reached and taken an OT who flamed out everyone would be whining about how they didn't take the BPA. BPA is a strategy, and if Spiller develops into all he can be, he will be a cornerstone for the Bills offense and part of the reason they finally dig their way out of futility.

 

Dolts like DiCesare would have the Bills reach for Gabbert, Newton etc then they would spend the whole next year saying it was stupid to reach. If the Bills had been drafting BPA for the past 11 years they'd be an annual playoff team.

 

The BPA for the last 5 first round Bills picks (based upon the consensus rankings at the time):

 

2010: CJ Spiller, RB

2009: Brian Orakpo, DE / OLB

2008: Chris Williams, OT

2007: Darrelle Revis, CB

2006: Haloti Ngata, NT

 

If they simply followed the ESPN rankings of BPA and took them in the first round for the past 5 years this is what they’d have right now. So for those who are against BPA I dare you to find me a better track record than this.

 

 

Shhhhh maybin and whitner were bpa - not a reach based on scheme....

[NaPolian8693]

News Flash: The Front Office is broken.

 

Another News Flash: Ralph is too old and senile to understand or care, and nothing will change until he passes away.

[BillsPhan]

Bob DiCesare states that the Bills have no identity like steelers or colts and therfore they will fail. Unfortunately this sad but true, if we drafted guys that fit our philosophy instead of the best player available we would have been successful for decades instead of sparingly.

 

http://www.buffalonews.com/sports/columns/bob-dicesare/article325996.ece

 

Great point, and equally great article from Bob Dicesare.

 

But here's the thing about this "franchise philosophy" and/or grand "plan". About 95% of the time, a great QB is needed for that franchise, no matter how grand their plan is, to actually win a championship.

 

After Bradshaw and the guys retired in the early 80's, the Steelers were average to lousy throughout the entire decade of the 80's. In fact, Bill Cowher finally got them a Division Championship in 1992, 13 years after their last SB win. And even then, it took Cowher 3 more seasons to get his team into the SB, of which they lost to the Cowboys in 1995. Finally, a full 11 years after that, Cowher got his long awaited SB victory in 2005, just before he retired. And oh by the way, he did it with his 1st round draft pick of 2004, Ben Roethlesberger. So yeah the Steelers have a Championship "plan" and mystique. However, they went 26 long years between SB wins and not surprisingly, they did not win their 5th SB in that 26th season after their 4th until they had another number 1 pick behind center.

 

The Colts are even more obvious. Bill Polian, the grand architect GM, walked in and had Peyton Manning fall into his lap as his very first draft choice in 1998 when the Colts hired him. The Colts then built their team around Manning, and they won their first SB in 2006. The last time that franchise had won a SB was way back in 1971. So the Colts, who had some nice success with 1st round draft pick Bert Jones in the mid to late 70's, also went into quite a long funk before drafting Manning in 1998. (Not to mention abandoning Baltimore between SB's too!), going a whopping 35 years between SB wins.

 

We can go on and on. The Pats were so pathetically bad for so many years before they made the luckiest draft pick in NFL history taking Brady in the 6th round of the 2000 draft, I still shake my head at how arrogant that franchise and fans have become. However, they walk the cocky talk - and behavior having won 3 SB's this decade, and of course Brady has been at the forefront of that accomplishment.

 

So in my mind, Buddy doesn't have to create some "franchise philosophy" or grand scheme. At least not until he drafts or trades for his own franchise QB.

[Over 29 years of fanhood]

Perhaps Buddy Nix can share his,"vision" with the fans? I heard Gil Brandt say once that there are only a half a dozen teams that have a plan when it comes to the draft. He went on to say that they are looking for a type of player who fits their system. That player might or might not be the most talented player on the board. Those teams wind up on top more often than not.

 

 

Chan and Nix are aware you have to have a plan. They keep saying they have one, which means they know it's important. Now they could be lying, or they could have a bad plan, but at the very least they must recognize the need for one, because they keep saying it.

 

 

 

That said, the BPA is never really the BPA anyway. The potential impact of a player at that position is surely factored in as well.

 

 

[qwksilver]

Philosophy?

Step 1: throw dart at draft board

Step 2: ??????

Step 3: profit

You are close but its more like this:

1) Profit

2) Afternoon naps

3) I like bottles over drafts, oh that draft. I like to pick backs, running and defensive

Edited January 28, 2011 by qwksilver

[Never NEVER Give-up]

Why are most of DiCesare's question rhetorical? Is he in Florida for the winter? Why not ask someone at OBD or at the Senior Bowl those questions - they ARE valid, but to ask rhetorically and answer them yourself based on how you feel about the team is a joke. His answers were negative based on guesses and supposition - the article was a joke!!

 

He should have kept those questions in a notebook somewhere and when he was able to ask a person-in-the-know, do it and THEN write the story.!!

 

The bflo News is a rag - but the only one we have. (I wish the Courier Express was the one that succeeded.)

[MikeSpeed]

What crap. The Bills drafted for need for the 10 years before Nix became GM. That is exactly why the Bills have done so poorly. Looking at the best teams talent wise they routinely take the Best Player Available in the first round. In later rounds where the talent is more of a mixed bag you draft for need as the Packers and Steelers and all successful teams so often do. But in the first you should grab the best player possible.

 

I love that so many people slam the Bills for taking Spiller, but if they would have reached and taken an OT who flamed out everyone would be whining about how they didn't take the BPA. BPA is a strategy, and if Spiller develops into all he can be, he will be a cornerstone for the Bills offense and part of the reason they finally dig their way out of futility.

 

Dolts like DiCesare would have the Bills reach for Gabbert, Newton etc then they would spend the whole next year saying it was stupid to reach. If the Bills had been drafting BPA for the past 11 years they'd be an annual playoff team.

 

The BPA for the last 5 first round Bills picks (based upon the consensus rankings at the time):

 

2010: CJ Spiller, RB

2009: Brian Orakpo, DE / OLB

2008: Chris Williams, OT

2007: Darrelle Revis, CB

2006: Haloti Ngata, NT

 

If they simply followed the ESPN rankings of BPA and took them in the first round for the past 5 years this is what they’d have right now. So for those who are against BPA I dare you to find me a better track record than this.

 

Tony Dungy was asked about drafting best player availiable by NFL Network during the combine one year. He said "You draft for the best player availiable in a position of need." Otherwise if your team needs a DT most, TE 2nd, and a CB 3rd, and the BPA of those positions at the time is a CB, you draft him.

That being said... This past year I think we drafted Spiller because Chan wanted him not because of need or BPA.

[JohnC]

 

I am not real super happy he stayed but in reality I don't know his role and either does Bob. One JS is enough, the team had more identity this year. I am hoping for the best.

 

The reporter certainly knows what Modrak's role is, the same as it has been for the past number of years. He is the head of college scouting. That hasn't changed.

[tennesseeboy]

Bills philosophy:

 

Draft the best player available whether he can help the bills win or not.

 

Let anyone with talent enough to be attractive to other teams leave in free agency

 

Hire coaches who have proven they can't win.

[DC Grid]

Shhhhh maybin and whitner were bpa - not a reach based on scheme....

 

I stand corrected on Maybin. But for Donte...according to ESPN Scouts:

 

Donte Whitner = 94

 

Haloti Ngata = 96

Ernie Sims = 96

Jay Cutler = 96

 

But I should note that according to Mel and Sporting News Maybin had a 2nd round grade that year.

[Green Lightning]

Perhaps Buddy Nix can share his,"vision" with the fans? I heard Gil Brandt say once that there are only a half a dozen teams that have a plan when it comes to the draft. He went on to say that they are looking for a type of player who fits their system. That player might or might not be the most talented player on the board. Those teams wind up on top more often than not.

 

Great idea, and let all the other GMs know what his thinking on the draft is all about ahead of time. Brilliant!

 

As for the article, same old, same old. Maybe Modrak stayed because they let him make the calls on the later picks, of which he apparently excels. The author knows squat about how that FO worked and is just frustrated like we all have been the past decade. He, like many at TSW, won't be happy unless they have Modrak's head on a pike.

 

Frankly I don't give a sh*t as long as we have accountability and we do now with Buddy. If Nix thinks the guys worth keeping, I'm fine with it. Just pick good guys in the draft. All this carping just fills news column inches and keeps the guy getting a paycheck. From what I can tell the authoer has had zero impact on the Buffalo sports scene so why does he want to stay in a job where he has no impact?

 

Why are most of DiCesare's question rhetorical? Is he in Florida for the winter? Why not ask someone at OBD or at the Senior Bowl those questions - they ARE valid, but to ask rhetorically and answer them yourself based on how you feel about the team is a joke. His answers were negative based on guesses and supposition - the article was a joke!!

 

He should have kept those questions in a notebook somewhere and when he was able to ask a person-in-the-know, do it and THEN write the story.!!

 

The bflo News is a rag - but the only one we have. (I wish the Courier Express was the one that succeeded.)

 

+1

[BillsVet]

So yeah the Steelers have a Championship "plan" and mystique. However, they went 26 long years between SB wins and not surprisingly, they did not win their 5th SB in that 26th season after their 4th until they had another number 1 pick behind center.

 

The Colts are even more obvious. Bill Polian, the grand architect GM, walked in and had Peyton Manning fall into his lap as his very first draft choice in 1998 when the Colts hired him. The Colts then built their team around Manning, and they won their first SB in 2006. The last time that franchise had won a SB was way back in 1971. So the Colts, who had some nice success with 1st round draft pick Bert Jones in the mid to late 70's, also went into quite a long funk before drafting Manning in 1998. (Not to mention abandoning Baltimore between SB's too!), going a whopping 35 years between SB wins.

 

We can go on and on. The Pats were so pathetically bad for so many years before they made the luckiest draft pick in NFL history taking Brady in the 6th round of the 2000 draft, I still shake my head at how arrogant that franchise and fans have become. However, they walk the cocky talk - and behavior having won 3 SB's this decade, and of course Brady has been at the forefront of that accomplishment.

 

So in my mind, Buddy doesn't have to create some "franchise philosophy" or grand scheme. At least not until he drafts or trades for his own franchise QB.

 

Believe it or not, teams change front office personnel and sometimes the new people are better than the old people. This is why the Steelers weren't as good in the 80s and 90s as they are in the 00's. I'd say right now that Mike Tomlin is at least as good, if not better than Cowher. And, Kevin Colbert is an outstanding talent evaluator. So, they end up with good players who are well coached and it's no coincidence they win.

 

Chalking up success to the luck of finding a player underscores how much planning and overall team talent is required to win long term in 2010. NE, IND, PIT, and PHI have been winning regularly for a decade. Think that's coincidence or because they have a plan, remain committed to it, and have great people to design and implement it? Right. No one lucks into a decade of success.

Edited January 28, 2011 by BillsVet

[Buffalo Barbarian]

Draft to fit our philosophy?

 

What is our Philosophy? What philosophy did Ralph Wilson develop and pass on to his troops. What attributes do his top leaders have in common and pass on to others? I would like to know that. At my company we have a clear mission statement and leadership attributes that are taught and passed down to all employees. We have a spirit and a culture and everyone (including our suppliers and customers and competitors) knows what we do and what we stand for. It is in our culture.

 

This is a hard thing to do. It takes years and dedication and hard work and requires continuous improvement at the top. It has to start at the top and flow down to all. The leaders have to live the philosophy otherwise all you are doing is making up slogans. Employees will see that and ignore it.

 

So starting with the owner - If you decide to hire someone (Donahoe) to run your team and your business then you may be deferring to his philosophy. That might be fine, however, if you decide that it isn’t working and make a change after 4-5 years then you personally need to step in and lead and fill that void until things are back on track. Instead Ralph turned the ball over to an old friend from the past (Levy) and expected him to turn back the clock. When the old friend had enough, Ralph turned to "people that he knows". That would be Brandon, Jauron, and now Nix.

 

It is high time for someone in the Font Office to do the heavy lifting (hard work). What is the Buffalo Bills philosophy? I don't know. I think that Nix is a great scout who brought in some other top scouts. Not sure if he has it to be a GM. I think that added some good coaches (Chan and Wannstedt). I think they added a future GM (Whaley).

 

I do know that when you change GM’s and Head Coaches 3 or 4 times in a decade then you probably do not have philosophy at all.

 

Bob it's time to come back and take over the franchise!

[JPicc2114]

A couple years ago the Bills were known for their fast swarming defense. Now... eh

[Bob in STL]

I stand corrected on Maybin. But for Donte...according to ESPN Scouts:

 

Donte Whitner = 94

 

Haloti Ngata = 96

Ernie Sims = 96

Jay Cutler = 96

 

But I should note that according to Mel and Sporting News Maybin had a 2nd round grade that year.

 

Whitner, Ngata, Sims and Cutler we all pretty much even according to the scores you provided. Why the Bills thought Whitner filled a bigger need than Ngata and Cutler is the issue?

 

 

Our 2005 roster on DL featured DTs Sam Adams, Tim Anderson, Jason Jefferson, Ron Edwards, and Justin Bannan. Our DE's were Denney, Kelsey and Schobel.

 

Our QB was JP Losman with 1 year experience. I can see why we did not take another QB at that time (Losman was a first rounder), even though Cutler was a better prospect.

 

Our Safeties were - Milloy, Wire, Rashad Baker, and Jim Leonard.

 

Milloy and Adams were on their way out when we drafted in 2006, this was their final year. If you have Whitner and Ngata rated as even in your scouting report, and for some reason Ngata does not fit your system, and you think Whitner is the best safety in the draft you could rationalize why they took Whitner. Also recalled that they addressed DL in free agency when they signed Larry Tripplett from Indy as their big free agent DT to play Jauron's new scheme.

 

They also drafted Ko "the millionaire" Simpson and Kyle Williams in that same year.

 

Sure is easy to look back five years and "get it right".

Edited January 28, 2011 by Bob in STL

[BobbyC81]

We've been clueless for years. How in the hell else do we draft a damn RB at #9 when we had multiple GLARING needs elsewhere? Why keep on taking chances with "reaches" in the first few rounds?? Sometimes I wonder how the hell some of these personnel guys got jobs. I would think that this board could come up with a better draft scenario than our own FO.

 

One guy could've just taken the consensus from the Mock drafts on the major sports websites and done a better job. There would not have been the reaches for Erik Flowers, McCargo, Maybin, etc.

 

Nix has made the comments about liking to draft guys with a good body of work and not one-year wonders. Based on that, I would think Bowens and maybe Fairley would not be top on his list.

[spartacus]

What crap. The Bills drafted for need for the 10 years before Nix became GM. That is exactly why the Bills have done so poorly. Looking at the best teams talent wise they routinely take the Best Player Available in the first round. In later rounds where the talent is more of a mixed bag you draft for need as the Packers and Steelers and all successful teams so often do. But in the first you should grab the best player possible.

 

I love that so many people slam the Bills for taking Spiller, but if they would have reached and taken an OT who flamed out everyone would be whining about how they didn't take the BPA. BPA is a strategy, and if Spiller develops into all he can be, he will be a cornerstone for the Bills offense and part of the reason they finally dig their way out of futility.

 

Dolts like DiCesare would have the Bills reach for Gabbert, Newton etc then they would spend the whole next year saying it was stupid to reach. If the Bills had been drafting BPA for the past 11 years they'd be an annual playoff team.

 

The BPA for the last 5 first round Bills picks (based upon the consensus rankings at the time):

 

2010: CJ Spiller, RB

2009: Brian Orakpo, DE / OLB

2008: Chris Williams, OT

2007: Darrelle Revis, CB

2006: Haloti Ngata, NT

 

If they simply followed the ESPN rankings of BPA and took them in the first round for the past 5 years this is what they’d have right now. So for those who are against BPA I dare you to find me a better track record than this.

the problem with your theory is in the identification of the best player available

 

our talent evaluators have proven to be totally inept at knowing what attributes of college players will convert to NFL production.

 

consequently, even if they were using BPA (which they may have been), the Bills did not grade the players you listed at the top of their draft board.

 

 

all of that falls on Nix, Modrak and the scouting department.

 

 

Nix was on board for Maybin and Spiller. Actual production showed neither player was anything close to BPA

 

Expect more of the same going forward

 

 

[Bob in STL]

Bob it's time to come back and take over the franchise!

 

 

I know that I could not do the job.

 

I do want to clarify that I appreciate Ralph Wilson for bringing the Bills to Buffalo and for keeping him there. I appreciate his loyalty and his committment. I think he tries to do the right things and is a throwback to better days in business. I refrain from the sour jokes about him and his age.

 

However, he is the owner and he once again has the title of President. He is responsible for the disfunction of the past decade and he admits that. The organization has been meandering without clear direction for a very long time. Ralph did not have the energy to do a thorough job search for a new GM. During the GM search he not have top notch football people advising him on today's talent, He has Brandon and Overdorf. That opened the door for Buddy Nix, someone he knows and trusts. Buddy brought in Whaley, a young gun that may be the answer for us down the road.

 

We shall see.

Edited January 29, 2011 by Bob in STL