BillsFanForever19 Posted September 6, 2011 Share Posted September 6, 2011 I know this isn't a huge deal considering both would be our #3 TE going into this season. But I find this Lee Smith signing a little odd. Going into the draft, a good portion of draft "pundits" listed Zack Pianalto as ranked higher than Lee Smith. In fact, he was one of the top rated undrafted free agents available as many expected him to be drafted. When we signed him, I thought he may be our next starting TE in the near future. But it appears Scott Chandler was always "the guy". Pianalto had a decent camp/preseason for a rookie with a shortened camp due to the labor issues with free agents. Enough to make the 53-man roster. Or so we thought. Enter Lee Smith. A 5th Rounder from the Patriots. A guy who apparently looked pretty decent, but couldn't beat out another UDFA TE that the Patriots signed. Maybe they wanted him for the PS and we snatched him; but in the end, he didn't make the final roster. So to make room for him, we cut Pianalto. A guy we liked enough to make our final roster. Maybe we wanted him for our PS, but the Bucs snatched him up. I just find it interesting that we gave up a guy who has been working with our offense for a couple months for a guy who couldn't make the Pats roster. Not only that, but he was snatched up to be the Bucs #3 TE almost immediately. Both guys may end up being just bit players. But if Pianalto blows up for the Bucs, we're going to look pretty silly. So good move? Or are you worried that we may have made the wrong choice? Or perhaps, do you even care? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PromoTheRobot Posted September 6, 2011 Share Posted September 6, 2011 I'm totally missing your point...unless you are just trying to find more things for us to feel bad about. PTR Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JStranger76 Posted September 6, 2011 Share Posted September 6, 2011 Eh, tough to tell. Both are probably career #2 at best case scenario's, and Smith probably provides the better blocking upside though, which will come in handy come Dec/Jan..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. WEO Posted September 6, 2011 Share Posted September 6, 2011 I'm totally missing your point...unless you are just trying to find more things for us to feel bad about. PTR Pretty straight forward question, actually. The answer is it is hard to split this hair--two 2nd or 3rd tier guys. Obviously, if Panialto "blows up" we will all look back and rue that decision, but....meh. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillsFanForever19 Posted September 6, 2011 Author Share Posted September 6, 2011 I'm totally missing your point...unless you are just trying to find more things for us to feel bad about. PTR No, i'm not saying we should be angry about it. It's too soon for that. Just that we gave up a guy who has been working with our team for all of the preseason and most of training camp for a guy from New England who has no experience with our offense. Two guys from the same draft class at the same position with comparable skills. The bird in the hand was dropped and flew to Tampa Bay. Do you think we'll regret moving Pianalto for Smith? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PromoTheRobot Posted September 6, 2011 Share Posted September 6, 2011 (edited) Pretty straight forward question, actually. The answer is it is hard to split this hair--two 2nd or 3rd tier guys. Obviously, if Panialto "blows up" we will all look back and rue that decision, but....meh. Yeah but the opposite is true as well...we keep Pianalto and Smith blows up. Neither guy has done anything yet so this is like "Door #1 or Door #2" on Let's Make a Deal. Unless you scouted each player closely who knows who will be better? No, i'm not saying we should be angry about it. It's too soon for that. Just that we gave up a guy who has been working with our team for all of the preseason and most of training camp for a guy from New England who has no experience with our offense. Two guys from the same draft class at the same position with comparable skills. The bird in the hand was dropped and flew to Tampa Bay. Do you think we'll regret moving Pianalto for Smith? How do we know we aren't trying to get info on the Pats? And to answer your question, no I don't think anyone will even remember Zach Pianalto much less regret we let him go. PTR Edited September 6, 2011 by PromoTheRobot Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Punch Posted September 6, 2011 Share Posted September 6, 2011 If David Martin wasn't injured then I think there's a good chance Pianalto would have been kept as the no. 3. With Martin out we aren't left with enough depth at blocking TE, which is Smith's forte. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
qwksilver Posted September 6, 2011 Share Posted September 6, 2011 I know this isn't a huge deal considering both would be our #3 TE going into this season. But I find this Lee Smith signing a little odd. Going into the draft, a good portion of draft "pundits" listed Zack Pianalto as ranked higher than Lee Smith. In fact, he was one of the top rated undrafted free agents available as many expected him to be drafted. When we signed him, I thought he may be our next starting TE in the near future. But it appears Scott Chandler was always "the guy". Pianalto had a decent camp/preseason for a rookie with a shortened camp due to the labor issues with free agents. Enough to make the 53-man roster. Or so we thought. Enter Lee Smith. A 5th Rounder from the Patriots. A guy who apparently looked pretty decent, but couldn't beat out another UDFA TE that the Patriots signed. Maybe they wanted him for the PS and we snatched him; but in the end, he didn't make the final roster. So to make room for him, we cut Pianalto. A guy we liked enough to make our final roster. Maybe we wanted him for our PS, but the Bucs snatched him up. I just find it interesting that we gave up a guy who has been working with our offense for a couple months for a guy who couldn't make the Pats roster. Not only that, but he was snatched up to be the Bucs #3 TE almost immediately. Both guys may end up being just bit players. But if Pianalto blows up for the Bucs, we're going to look pretty silly. So good move? Or are you worried that we may have made the wrong choice? Or perhaps, do you even care? Is there any chance that they liked Smith better and this is the 1st chance they had to aquire him, aside from spending a 5th round pick or higher on him? Maybe he would have been our 6th round pick or 7th round pick or they didn;t see enough from Pianalto and knew they could find better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JPS Posted September 6, 2011 Share Posted September 6, 2011 (edited) Pianalto has to go thru 2 very good TEs down in Tampa before he blows up. Lee Smith was brought in because Gailey wants help blocking. Period. A Greg Olsen or Dallas Clark type is not what the Bills need right now. They need a very good blocker who catches 25 balls a year and plays special team. Smith must fit that mould better. Edited September 6, 2011 by JPS Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fan in San Diego Posted September 6, 2011 Share Posted September 6, 2011 Zach who? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nodnarb Posted September 6, 2011 Share Posted September 6, 2011 (edited) Is this seriously a thread concerned about letting Zach Pianalto go? Some of the fan base here seems to be infected with Everything We Do Is Dumb And Everything They Do Is Smart Syndrome (EW-DID-AET-DISS). Another recent case in point: We shouldn't have let Jauron talk the team into drafting Maybin, on that we all agree. And when we cut him there was universal snickering here, amplified when he cleared waivers. As soon as he was picked up by the jets and touted by Rex Ryan, suddenly Bills coaches are fools. Then he's cut again, essentially ratifying the decision by the Bills coaches, and there's a round of snickering again. There is no icon that captures this. Edited September 6, 2011 by nodnarb Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jauronimo Posted September 6, 2011 Share Posted September 6, 2011 The Pats have two solid TEs with Hernandez and Gronkowski. Tough lineup to crack. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CBD Posted September 6, 2011 Share Posted September 6, 2011 Enter Lee Smith. A 5th Rounder from the Patriots. A guy who apparently looked pretty decent, but couldn't beat out another UDFA TE that the Patriots signed. Maybe they wanted him for the PS and we snatched him; but in the end, he didn't make the final roster. Both got cut, Yeatman was waived and claimed by the Dolphins. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillsFanForever19 Posted September 6, 2011 Author Share Posted September 6, 2011 Is there any chance that they liked Smith better and this is the 1st chance they had to aquire him, aside from spending a 5th round pick or higher on him? Maybe he would have been our 6th round pick or 7th round pick or they didn;t see enough from Pianalto and knew they could find better. This is a good point that I hadn't thought of. Perhaps Smith was someone the Bills wanted to draft all along and the Pats just beat us to the punch. Now we have a chance to get him and Pianalto wasn't a very big deal to them. And let me say this is NOT a "stupid Bills making stupid decisions" post. This is a "do you think we make the right call?" post. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Malazan Posted September 6, 2011 Share Posted September 6, 2011 I wish there was a 15th round so we could have posts about, do you think we made the right call on this 15th rounder over the guys in the 15th round? These type of roster moves are made all the time. Not sure what made you notice this one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shrader Posted September 6, 2011 Share Posted September 6, 2011 I just wonder how much it has to suck to be that guy that makes the roster but then gets cut immediately. I wonder how much they say to these guys, like if they might give them a head up that "hey, we might be looking at someone else". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillsFanForever19 Posted September 6, 2011 Author Share Posted September 6, 2011 I wish there was a 15th round so we could have posts about, do you think we made the right call on this 15th rounder over the guys in the 15th round? These type of roster moves are made all the time. Not sure what made you notice this one. Probably how quickly Pianalto got swooped up and given an active roster spot on another club. It just intrigues me. Two guys who play the same position, are the same age, from the same draft class, and are fairly equal in skill. Yet we let the bird in the hand go for the devil we don't know. But i'm not an expert on either guy. This is why I asked. If Smith is a much better blocker, than I can see the reasoning. Not to mention, Smith played in the Senior Bowl. Chix probably had a look and liked him in Mobile. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NewEra Posted September 6, 2011 Share Posted September 6, 2011 <br />Probably how quickly Pianalto got swooped up and given an active roster spot on another club. It just intrigues me. Two guys who play the same position, are the same age, from the same draft class, and are fairly equal in skill. Yet we let the bird in the hand go for the devil we don't know.<br /><br />But i'm not an expert on either guy. This is why I asked. If Smith is a much better blocker, than I can see the reasoning. Not to mention, Smith played in the Senior Bowl. Chix probably had a look and liked him in Mobile.<br /><br /><br /><br />We let the USFA go and signed the guy that was drafted in rd 5 by the pats. A guy that knows the pats playbook and is the better blocker. Possibly a guy we wanted to draft, but was unavailable after rd 5. Makes a lot of sense to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swnybillsfan Posted September 6, 2011 Share Posted September 6, 2011 i like this move. lee smith is a big guy and reportedly a very good blocker. if he can catch a couple balls and hold onto them while rumbling for a couple yards, that's all just gravy. what i imagine this guy is here to do is add another legitimate blocker to give fitz a bit more time and widen holes for freddy and cj. and if he can do that, i like it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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