BuffaloWest Posted May 11, 2011 Share Posted May 11, 2011 AJ Smith received a ton of accolades in San Diego when he joined Jon Butler after they both left Buffalo and took over in San Diego in January 2001. Nix was part of that crew they stole from Buffalo too. He was a relatively unknown name. The Chargers turned their fortunes around quickly between 2001 and 2005 with some very good drafts. The picked up: LaDanian Tomlinson, Drew Brees, Michael Turner, Shawn Merrimen, Shaun Phillips, Darren Sproles, Vincent Jackson and Philip Rivers-All very good picks over 5 seasons. Since 2005 they have picked: Anonio Cromartie (Gone) Buster Davis (Bust), Antoine Cason (Average), and Larry English (Bust), Ryan Mathews (?) with first picks....That is a very poor track record...Worse than Buffalos? Quite possibly. The question I have is: Was it Nix who was responsible for those succesful early drafts in San Diego? AJ got all of the credit. Nix left in 2008 and rumor is he and AJ didnt get along at the time he left. It will be interesting to see who does better in the next few years, but it looks like the Bills (with the exception of Maybin) have had better drafts since 2009 than Aj's Chargers. Nix drafts will bear real fruit this season...I like the guy and I think he gets it.I also like his new hires. Go Bills...See you in SD in December! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scraps Posted May 11, 2011 Share Posted May 11, 2011 So far Ryan Mathews is looking better than CJ Spiller. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bangarang Posted May 11, 2011 Share Posted May 11, 2011 (edited) So far Ryan Mathews is looking better than CJ Spiller. Except Mathews has a better offensive line in front of him and was getting almost 3 times as many carries per game compared to Spiller. Edited May 11, 2011 by Bangarang Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
White Linen Posted May 12, 2011 Share Posted May 12, 2011 So far Ryan Mathews is looking better than CJ Spiller. Matthews didn't exaclty have to compete with guys like Lynch and Jackson, two excellent runners in their own right. He had to compete against Tolbert and Sproles, not all that difficult to get playing time. Spiller is a superior athlete and talent than Matthews and we'll see the seperation this year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillsVet Posted May 12, 2011 Share Posted May 12, 2011 I think we should chalk up all the southern picks to Nix. Clearly, that's his favorite area to scout, and as Pro Personnel Director he lived in Tennessee. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghost of Rob Johnson Posted May 12, 2011 Share Posted May 12, 2011 (edited) So far Ryan Mathews is looking better than CJ Spiller. He had more opportunity than Spiller to start, and by the end of the season lost his starting job to Mike Tolbert. Edited May 12, 2011 by Ghost of Rob Johnson Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
purple haze Posted May 12, 2011 Share Posted May 12, 2011 So far Ryan Mathews is looking better than CJ Spiller. No he's not. If you watched a lot of San Diego games you would not say that. Besides that he missed a great deal of time with injuries. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DreReed83 Posted May 12, 2011 Share Posted May 12, 2011 Mathews was by far the more superior RB. Not even a contest. I don't even wanna hear that San Diego had a far superior offensive line, because they weren't all that much better in the run department. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UpperDeck Posted May 12, 2011 Share Posted May 12, 2011 It's a lot easier to do well when you have early round picks (5, 5, 30, 4, 12) most of the time as SD did from 2001-2005, versus picking 19, 30, 27, 16, 12 from 2006 - 2010. That said, I really like the way Buddy drafts. The only worry I had when he was hired was his age. But he's putting a very competent (and young) scouting staff in place that can carry on after he decides to retire. Our future looks pretty bright for the first time in a long time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DreReed83 Posted May 12, 2011 Share Posted May 12, 2011 It's a lot easier to do well when you have early round picks (5, 5, 30, 4, 12) most of the time as SD did from 2001-2005, versus picking 19, 30, 27, 16, 12 from 2006 - 2010. That said, I really like the way Buddy drafts. The only worry I had when he was hired was his age. But he's putting a very competent (and young) scouting staff in place that can carry on after he decides to retire. Our future looks pretty bright for the first time in a long time. Is it really? I actually think it's added pressure when picking early which makes it more difficult. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UpperDeck Posted May 12, 2011 Share Posted May 12, 2011 Are you trying to say its easier to get good players later in the round? Maybe there's more pressure but if you know what you're doing you have a lot better chance of getting an impact player. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ganesh Posted May 12, 2011 Share Posted May 12, 2011 It is really Apples to Oranges....Those seasons between 2001 to 2005, the Chargers were consistently picking in the top 5 and also got the bonanza of picks from the Giants for the Eli Manning trade. When you are consistently drafting blue chip players like Rivers, Tomlinson, Merrimen at the top of the draft, you are going to be successful. The coaching staff is also completely different. Norv Turner is a fantastic OC and the master mind of the running game and Wade Philips is the best 3-4 DC. Unfortunately, I don't think we have the same level of coaching staff. The Bills under Nix have had two season and they have picked players who could be equally dominant like LT and Merrimen. They also AJ Smith received a ton of accolades in San Diego when he joined Jon Butler after they both left Buffalo and took over in San Diego in January 2001. Nix was part of that crew they stole from Buffalo too. He was a relatively unknown name. The Chargers turned their fortunes around quickly between 2001 and 2005 with some very good drafts. The picked up: LaDanian Tomlinson, Drew Brees, Michael Turner, Shawn Merrimen, Shaun Phillips, Darren Sproles, Vincent Jackson and Philip Rivers-All very good picks over 5 seasons. Since 2005 they have picked: Anonio Cromartie (Gone) Buster Davis (Bust), Antoine Cason (Average), and Larry English (Bust), Ryan Mathews (?) with first picks....That is a very poor track record...Worse than Buffalos? Quite possibly. The question I have is: Was it Nix who was responsible for those succesful early drafts in San Diego? AJ got all of the credit. Nix left in 2008 and rumor is he and AJ didnt get along at the time he left. It will be interesting to see who does better in the next few years, but it looks like the Bills (with the exception of Maybin) have had better drafts since 2009 than Aj's Chargers. Nix drafts will bear real fruit this season...I like the guy and I think he gets it.I also like his new hires. Go Bills...See you in SD in December! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bangarang Posted May 12, 2011 Share Posted May 12, 2011 Mathews was by far the more superior RB. Not even a contest. I don't even wanna hear that San Diego had a far superior offensive line, because they weren't all that much better in the run department. If you go strictly by just rushing yards and TDs, then yes. But the advantage for Mathews really starts to crumble when you look at how many more touches he was getting a game and for the season and who was blocking for him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
San Jose Bills Fan Posted May 12, 2011 Share Posted May 12, 2011 (edited) No he's not. If you watched a lot of San Diego games you would not say that. Besides that he missed a great deal of time with injuries. Mathews was by far the more superior RB. Not even a contest. I don't even wanna hear that San Diego had a far superior offensive line, because they weren't all that much better in the run department. You're both right. From what I saw, Mathews was the better runner for sure… But he did miss a lot of the season with injuries. And he's no good to the Chargers if he's not healthy. And it's only one season. Edited May 12, 2011 by San Jose Bills Fan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thewildrabbit Posted May 12, 2011 Share Posted May 12, 2011 That Charger team was loaded with good players AND good coaches a few years ago, Marty S as HC- Cam Cameron as OC-Wade Phillips as DC. Still difficult to fathom that Marty S got canned after taking that team to a 14-2 record. Anyway, this stint as GM for NIx will only be as good as the HC he chose in Chan Gailey, if only Gailey had the kind of staff that Marty S had in SD. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2020 Our Year For Sure Posted May 12, 2011 Share Posted May 12, 2011 Anyway, this stint as GM for NIx will only be as good as the HC he chose in Chan Gailey, if only Gailey had the kind of staff that Marty S had in SD. All you need is Curtis Modkins Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scraps Posted May 12, 2011 Share Posted May 12, 2011 (edited) If you go strictly by just rushing yards and TDs, then yes. But the advantage for Mathews really starts to crumble when you look at how many more touches he was getting a game and for the season and who was blocking for him. Actually I was going by rushing yards, number of carries, yards per carry, longest play from scrimmage, TDs, and games started. I don't see how that crumbles. Edited May 12, 2011 by Scraps Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sisyphean Bills Posted May 12, 2011 Share Posted May 12, 2011 Mathews was by far the more superior RB. Not even a contest. I don't even wanna hear that San Diego had a far superior offensive line, because they weren't all that much better in the run department. The Chargers OL isn't all that period. Rivers is well above the norm as far as operating out of a dirty backfield. Their best OL missed time with a contract holdout, too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yungmack Posted May 12, 2011 Share Posted May 12, 2011 As much of a disappointment as I feel Spiller was last season, he did have over 1600 all-purpose yards, the 4th most for a rookie in Bills history. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DreReed83 Posted May 12, 2011 Share Posted May 12, 2011 If you go strictly by just rushing yards and TDs, then yes. But the advantage for Mathews really starts to crumble when you look at how many more touches he was getting a game and for the season and who was blocking for him. What else am I supposed to go by? His yds per carry was better. He ran the ball hurt with an average offensive line. The fact that he even saw the field more than Spiller tells me he's better. Are we really comparing Spiller to Mathews? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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