Jerry Sullivan says: This Roster is a crumbling

[papazoid]

This roster is a crumbling monument to neglect and bad personnel moves. A decade of weak drafts and frugal ownership has left the Bills with a roster that’s sorely lacking in established players in their professional primes. The Bills have very little to show for their drafts in the mid-2000s.

 

Lee Evans was the last of the ’04 class to go (George Wilson was undrafted). Roscoe Parrish is the only player left from ’05, Kyle Williams the last man standing from ’06. The entire ’07 draft class has departed. It’s close to a lost generation of young talent.

 

Four position players on this roster have started 30 games in a Buffalo uniform. Kelsay has stared 104, McGee 84, Williams 73. Then it drops down to that grizzled old vet, Andy Levitre, with 32. People talk about the Bills rebuilding. You can’t rebuild something that wasn’t constructed in the first place.

 

http://www.buffalonews.com/sports/bills-nfl/article548934.ece

[JÂy RÛßeÒ]

Well DUH. He's only a little late on this. It's not crumbling, it's already crumbled and is on its way to being built.

[billsfreak]

This roster is a crumbling monument to neglect and bad personnel moves. A decade of weak drafts and frugal ownership has left the Bills with a roster that’s sorely lacking in established players in their professional primes. The Bills have very little to show for their drafts in the mid-2000s.

 

Lee Evans was the last of the ’04 class to go (George Wilson was undrafted). Roscoe Parrish is the only player left from ’05, Kyle Williams the last man standing from ’06. The entire ’07 draft class has departed. It’s close to a lost generation of young talent.

 

Four position players on this roster have started 30 games in a Buffalo uniform. Kelsay has stared 104, McGee 84, Williams 73. Then it drops down to that grizzled old vet, Andy Levitre, with 32. People talk about the Bills rebuilding. You can’t rebuild something that wasn’t constructed in the first place.

 

http://www.buffalonews.com/sports/bills-nfl/article548934.ece

Now I am waiting for the people to come on this post and say he doesn't know what he is talking about. Trading Lee Evans was just the lastest in the completely idiotic moves this franchise continues to make, over and over.

[Matt in KC]

You can’t rebuild something that wasn’t constructed in the first place.

wasn’t constructed well in the first place?

 

Whatever that means. So, the Bills can't be rebuilt because the original players weren't good enough, and you can tell they weren't good enough because they're not with the team any more. And many are not with the team any more because they were let go, but it can't be that they were let go because we're rebuilding. I'm getting dizzy with this logic.

 

I've been on TSW long enough to know that most of you can bring more analysis to our situation than this gem from Jerry.

[Fan in Chicago]

 

http://www.buffalonews.com/sports/bills-nfl/article548934.ece

 

I think we should ignore his article and keep this thread very short. He gets off on the attention he garners by writing provocative statements and articles. Needless to say, there is no depth, insight or research in this article

[Mike in Syracuse]

People still read articles in newspapers? How 1990's.

 

Speaking of crumbling, Sully should look at his paper and his pitiful career! LOL

[8-8 Forever?]

Now I am waiting for the people to come on this post and say he doesn't know what he is talking about. Trading Lee Evans was just the lastest in the completely idiotic moves this franchise continues to make, over and over.

Bills are essentially a 2 year old expansion franchise going into their third year, IMO. The roster two years ago looked just like an expansion franchise's opening day roster. Some fairly good drafting and middle tier FA moves have helped since then. But the big pieces are still missing (franchise Pass rusher, franchise QB, top 15 left tackle, top 15 coach, quality depth at key positions, et al. ). This will take a long time to fix. With a few key injuries this year (which every team has) , I see another 4 win season. Just is what it is. Competitive against Cinci, maybe win that. Raiders have a top 2 or 3 defense adn could possibly shut out the Bills at home , which would kill the fan base right off the bat. KC, Philly, Pats, no shot. So, maybe 1-5 out of the chute with brittle Merriman and Bell going down, and the whole thing unravels again. Jerry Sullivan simply is not drinking the coolaid, and he is right not to, until they beat someone they are not supposed to be competitive against.

[billsfreak]

Bills are essentially a 211 year old expansion franchise going into their third twelth year, IMO. The roster two years ago looked just like an expansion franchise's opening day roster. Some fairly good drafting and middle tier FA moves have helped since then. But the big pieces are still missing (franchise Pass rusher, franchise QB, top 15 left tackle, top 15 coach, quality depth at key positions, et al. ). This will take a long time to fix. With a few key injuries this year (which every team has) , I see another 4 win season. Just is what it is. Competitive against Cinci, maybe win that. Raiders have a top 2 or 3 defense adn could possibly shut out the Bills at home , which would kill the fan base right off the bat. KC, Philly, Pats, no shot. So, maybe 1-5 out of the chute with brittle Merriman and Bell going down, and the whole thing unravels again. Jerry Sullivan simply is not drinking the coolaid, and he is right not to, until they beat someone they are not supposed to be competitive against.

Fixed

[shrader]

Well DUH. He's only a little late on this. It's not crumbling, it's already crumbled and is on its way to being built.

 

The thread title here is misleading. The whole thing needs to be read as one line, including the subscript "This roster is a crumbling monument to neglect and bad personnel moves". Yeah, it's not exactly a new idea, but that line sounds pretty accurate to me.

[thebandit27]

Thankfully I can recognize a Sullivan article by the title, and did not click the link from the TBD homepage.

 

What a shocker, Jerry cut and pasted the same article that he's been writing for 5 years and used it on the morning of the NFL Season Opener! Amazing!

 

Does Jerry even write anymore, or does he just cue up his same rant over and over?

 

Not that I care all that much, I stopped reading his uninteresting drivel years ago.

 

Fixed

 

Except that you completely ignore the point of his post, which was that the guys in charge now (Nix/Gailey/Whaley) have only been in place for 2 years, which completely undermines your "fix".

 

But once again I'm shocked that you'd take any chance to bash the organization.

 

Shocked I tell you.

[Dorkington]

http://www.buffalorumblings.com/2011/9/7/2410056/buffalo-bills-buddy-nix-draft-philosophy-free-agency

 

Nix has brought in 33 players so far. I'd consider that a rebuild.

[LabattBlue]

Thankfully I can recognize a Sullivan article by the title, and did not click the link from the TBD homepage.

 

What a shocker, Jerry cut and pasted the same article that he's been writing for 5 years and used it on the morning of the NFL Season Opener! Amazing!

 

Does Jerry even write anymore, or does he just cue up his same rant over and over?

 

Not that I care all that much, I stopped reading his uninteresting drivel years ago.

 

The team has SUCKED for the better part of a decade. Why is it a surprise that Sully has been writing similar columns over that same time period? What exactly do you want him to write?

[Matt in KC]

http://www.buffalorumblings.com/2011/9/7/2410056/buffalo-bills-buddy-nix-draft-philosophy-free-agency

 

Nix has brought in 33 players so far. I'd consider that a rebuild.

You can’t rebuild something that wasn’t constructed in the first place.

 

If there were more players from our past drafts, now that would really be a rebuild. Like, Duh!

[Van_phelaN1]

Now I am waiting for the people to come on this post and say he doesn't know what he is talking about. Trading Lee Evans was just the lastest in the completely idiotic moves this franchise continues to make, over and over.

 

This guy doesn't know what he is talking about. okay, now you can stop waiting and go to work or something

[Dorkington]

You can’t rebuild something that wasn’t constructed in the first place.

 

If there were more players from our past drafts, now that would really be a rebuild. Like, Duh!

Call it whatever you want. Associating the last 20 months with the previous years mistakes is illogical, imo.

[mrags]

Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!!!!!!

 

Because Jerry @ssclown Sullivan thinks the Bills are in dismay and is posting all about probably says that they are finally doing the right thing. I bet Jerry would never even think about it but maybe he should do a scouting report of every other team in the NFL and find thatvwe are not far off, especially from teams just 2 years removed from an old regime. Getting rid of players even though thy are extremely popular for better players (Barnett for Poz, whoever at OLB for Merriman, Whoever at ILB for Morrison, etc...). It's no coincidence that when though we had these players that people loved to watch we still sucked. That's because the players we had from those drafts sucked and they were let go accordingly. This is the true nature of the rebuild or if your a contractor you realized a long time ago that this team didn't have a foundation to build on. That's the reason why Jerrys buttbuddy Evans was let go. It's to help build young leaders out of what we have and to cntinue to draft more and more players that will follow the NEW leaders of this team. Fitz, CJ, Johnson, Dareus, Williams, Merriman. These are the guys that will be our new captains and bring us to the playoffs. Evans, Poz, Whitner were all small undersized but high motor guys that were drafted by Skeletor. They were not winners!!! They needed to go to help usher in a new era of Buffalo Bills football. The coaching staff believed the WRs on the roster were good enough to fill the gap with the loss of Evans to a true stud at WR or they thought they had that guy there already. Nelson, Jones, Easley, Roosevelt have all shown some flashes if anything. There have been times this offseason that i've been in awe with Roosevelt, the kid reminds me a ton of Stevie 3 years ago and only hope that a Buffalo native can really impact this team. This is the kind of sweet story we need and for him to become a leader in time. (I know he was let go and then brought back but I'm wondering if there were other reasons for all this). Jones showed last year that he coul play in this league. Nelson had more TDs last year than Evans has had since JP was throwing him the ball and Easley is just a monster, the prototypical WR. When you shown me what a NFL WR should look like it's him. The same mould as Boldin, A. Johnson, Moulds. This guy will be something if he can get over his confidence problem, giving him more responsibilities and game time is the way to do that (that's why he was in At KR and he was a gunner on alot of PR this offseason).

You can say almost the same thing about our defense. We all hate Kelsey but he has looked light years ahead of last year and looks at least playable for the forseable future until Carrington takes over. Batten will replace Merriman at some point unless Shawne plays into his mod 30s but either way I'm happy with Batten backing up. Moats and Shephard are both young and eager to learn and progress. Moats has taken a backseat at OLB at the coaches suggestion and just maybe with the help of the Stache he can become an even better ILB than the Favre killing OLB of last year.

This team is YOUNG and that's what youbwant out of a "building/rebulding" team. I want these guys to learn together. To battle together. To take the hard losses together. To come up together and become a playoff team finally for this city and it's fans.

Go Bills!!!

[The Big Cat]

People of Buffalo:

 

Round up as many copies of this article as you can.

 

Cut them out of the paper.

 

Find out where Sullivan lives.

 

Sunday, after we beat the Chiefs, visit him home in the middle of the night.

 

Then cover--and I do mean cover--every inch of his car with his own words.

 

That'll be a nice surprise for him on Monday morning.

[Colie]

Now I am waiting for the people to come on this post and say he doesn't know what he is talking about. Trading Lee Evans was just the lastest in the completely idiotic moves this franchise continues to make, over and over.

 

I am one of those people who think Jerry Sullivan doesn't know what he is talking about or at the very least is premature in his assessment of a team that is yet to play a regular season game. Maybe I am naive but I think trading Lee Evan wasn't a cost-cutting move. I think Chan expects his receivers to block and run crossing patterns. Buddy Nix has commented that Lee did not excel at either, which is why he was a bad fit for our offense. His numbers from the last two years were not elite. I think Chan Gailey has designed an offense with specific roles for each player and Lee was not a fit in his system. They knew and so did Lee, instead of forcing a squared peg in a round hole they let him go to a team that he fit schematically.

 

Maybe you are right but lets see what happens the first game before we make judgments on how poorly this team is constructed. Jerry Sullivan goes through the motions and should just retire and play stratomatic baseball. Pretty soon he will post his yearly column on how he meets his old friend at the bar who is a long-suffering Bills fan and still believes. Mike Schopp and Jerry should just morph into one negative entity.

[Matt in KC]

Call it whatever you want. Associating the last 20 months with the previous years mistakes is illogical, imo.

Sorry. Yes, I agree. the line: "You can’t rebuild something that wasn’t constructed in the first place." is from the Sullivan article. I'm just pointing out how stupid it is.

 

I agree with Sullivan that our drafting has not been good for quite awhile, but like you think that has nothing to do with the current rebuild. If anything, the lack of past draftees shows that we are rebuilding aggressively.

 

I like the direction we're headed, but think we're still thin on talent, and our promising "kids" are still inexperienced.

[DDD]

Now I am waiting for the people to come on this post and say he doesn't know what he is talking about. Trading Lee Evans was just the lastest in the completely idiotic moves this franchise continues to make, over and over.

 

For me, it all began when Donahoe/Wilson decided to let Pat Williams leave in free agency. That was simply crippling for the franchise and they have never recovered.

[thewildrabbit]

Whats sad is that everyone seems so optimistic about this season...yet last years draft class seems like another failure along the same lines as the last 10 years.Did Tom Modrak have lots of input into that draft, and is that why he was finally canned? So a year wasted to determine who is good at their jobs.

 

This years draft class already appears so much better then anything when Modrak was here.

 

 

The one thing I just don't get is...the Bills can only draft 7 players a year and if outta those they find 3 starters out of 22, and every 4-5 years players can become free agents I just don't see how a team can be built with just draft picks like Nix wants.

[Jauronimo]

Do you think he is tired of pumping out the same tired story yet, or is he laughing as he cashes the check for writing the same article week in week out for the past 15 years? You'd think he would change it up here and there, offer a new perspective if only to break the monotony and engage readers.

 

My guess is Jerry is one of those guys who still drops OJ, Lewinsky, Lady Di, and Jacko jokes every chance he gets, as if everyone hasn't heard them 8 billion times already. Some things never get old, for Jerry.

[The Big Cat]

I am one of those people who think Jerry Sullivan doesn't know what he is talking about or at the very least is premature in his assessment of a team that is yet to play a regular season game. Maybe I am naive but I think trading Lee Evan wasn't a cost-cutting move. I think Chan expects his receivers to block and run crossing patterns. Buddy Nix has commented that Lee did not excel at either, which is why he was a bad fit for our offense. His numbers from the last two years were not elite. I think Chan Gailey has designed an offense with specific roles for each player and Lee was not a fit in his system. They knew and so did Lee, instead of forcing a squared peg in a round hole they let him go to a team that he fit schematically.

 

Maybe you are right but lets see what happens the first game before we make judgments on how poorly this team is constructed. Jerry Sullivan goes through the motions and should just retire and play stratomatic baseball. Pretty soon he will post his yearly column on how he meets his old friend at the bar who is a long-suffering Bills fan and still believes. Mike Schopp and Jerry should just morph into one negative entity.

 

Unless the Evans trade was a conspiracy one FULL year in the making, to assume anything else is strictly conjecture. Gailey spent the better part of a year saying...PUBLICLY...SEVERAL times...that he wasn't satisfied with this element of Evans game (or lack there of).

 

"I want a water bug" --- we draft Spiller

"We need to get bigger" --- we draft Dareus

"Maybin needs to improve" --- he gets cut

"Evans can't come over the middle"--- he gets traded

 

WHY DO WE TREAT EVERYTHING LIKE IT'S A DAMN MYSTERY!?

[DrDawkinstein]

Well DUH. He's only a little late on this. It's not crumbling, it's already crumbled and is on its way to being built.

 

This!

 

As far as the rest of his article... yawn.

[Nanker]

Well, Sully can thank his lucky stars that he's been able to ride the back of The Bills for such a long time. His 401k would look like a third grader's piggy bank if it weren't for The Bills.

[Heitz]

Whats sad is that everyone seems so optimistic about this season...yet last years draft class seems like another failure along the same lines as the last 10 years.Did Tom Modrak have lots of input into that draft, and is that why he was finally canned? So a year wasted to determine who is good at their jobs.

 

Seriously - can't we give guys more than one year before we call them failures or label them busts?

 

I just don't get it I guess...

[PromoTheRobot]

Now I am waiting for the people to come on this post and say he doesn't know what he is talking about. Trading Lee Evans was just the lastest in the completely idiotic moves this franchise continues to make, over and over.

Oh yeah. That's the stuff. Mainline it, baby. Haters hate until it's too late.

 

Nix is in the middle of a rebuild. Like it was said earlier in this post, write this article two years ago or two years from now when the team silll hasn't made the playoffs

 

Don't crap on a team that has yet to play a game.

 

PTR

[DrDawkinstein]

Oh yeah. That's the stuff. Mainline it, baby. Haters hate until it's too late.

 

Nix is in the middle of a rebuild. Like it was said earlier in this post, write this article two years ago or two years from now when the team silll hasn't made the playoffs

 

Don't crap on a team that has yet to play a game.

 

PTR

 

Same ol BS from the same ol BS posters with their sad little lives. Im sure Harvey got his morning wood off when he saw this thread.

[eme123]

Sullivan Sucks!

[RyanC883]

People still read articles in newspapers? How 1990's.

 

Speaking of crumbling, Sully should look at his paper and his pitiful career! LOL

 

 

That's right. Sully is an idiot. Everything has been going well the past decade. They have made all the right draft picks, acquired the right FA's, and spent to the cap in an attempt to put forth a winning team that has gone to multiple Super Bowls and won two. Oh wait, sorry, I was talking about the Steelers and what a winning team does. I guess Sully might be rigth after all. How anyone with a sane mind can defend what the Bills do is laughable. Did the Steelers trade Heinz Ward because he was "holding back the development" of Sanders and Brown. No, they kept him around because he still has value, is relatively inexpensive, and can help the young guys out. The trade of Evans was a money-saving joke, just as cutting Handgardner was.

[nucci]

The team has SUCKED for the better part of a decade. Why is it a surprise that Sully has been writing similar columns over that same time period? What exactly do you want him to write?

How about the fact that they have attempted to fix the defense by bringing in better players and the D have showed in the preseason that it should be improved? If you can't be optimistic right before opening day, what the hell else do you have? Some of you here are so miserable it is really sad.

[RyanC883]

Oh yeah. That's the stuff. Mainline it, baby. Haters hate until it's too late.

 

Nix is in the middle of a rebuild. Like it was said earlier in this post, write this article two years ago or two years from now when the team silll hasn't made the playoffs

 

Don't crap on a team that has yet to play a game.

 

PTR

 

 

You don't "rebuild" by trading a top WR for a 4th round draft pick, and by cutting an average OL when you lack depth at that position, particularly when you have no viable backup. Explain to me how Nix is "building." This is more of the same old Cheap Ralph, and I bet you were saying "give it more time" when jauron was coaching.

[1billsfan]

I think this first game will give everyone, the pessimists and the optimists, a pretty good indication as to what kind of season the Bills will have.

 

You can not lose to KC and expect a good season. However, if they do win that game this team just might get on a roll.

 

I do have a good feeling about this bunch of guys we have this year. Not sure why, I just do.

[RyanC883]

How about the fact that they have attempted to fix the defense by bringing in better players and the D have showed in the preseason that it should be improved? If you can't be optimistic right before opening day, what the hell else do you have? Some of you here are so miserable it is really sad.

 

 

Some people here are realistic, not miserable. I'm ready to see some improvement on the defensive side of the ball. But to say the Bills are a competitent organization and that Sully is wrong for holding their feet to the fire is a mistake.

[LabattBlue]

How about the fact that they have attempted to fix the defense by bringing in better players and the D have showed in the preseason that it should be improved? If you can't be optimistic right before opening day, what the hell else do you have? Some of you here are so miserable it is really sad.

A decade of terrible football is supposed to be washed away by a couple of quarters of preseason football, and a guy who hasn't been the same since he got off the juice?

 

Excuse me if I wait a game or two before becoming optimistic that this team is heading in the right direction.

[Jauronimo]

Seriously - can't we give guys more than one year before we call them failures or label them busts?

 

I just don't get it I guess...

Loser mentality. We get what we accept. If we're ok with a 3-5 year rebuild, thats exactly what we will get. If instead we say, "One year. Super Bowl or you're fired, Pro Bowl or you're cut," then thats what we will get. Of course it might not happen this year, or maybe not next year, or even the year after that, or it might even take 10 years or longer, but it takes time and eventually we will win the Super Bowl! To hell with patience!

[Mr. WEO]

Unless the Evans trade was a conspiracy one FULL year in the making, to assume anything else is strictly conjecture. Gailey spent the better part of a year saying...PUBLICLY...SEVERAL times...that he wasn't satisfied with this element of Evans game (or lack there of).

 

 

Links?

[RuntheDamnBall]

You gotta realize that if the Bills turn out to be any good, Jerry isn't going to have anything to talk about. So, it's understandable that he's banking on their failure. It's certainly allowed him to maintain a career, to locate easy copy, and to attract attention to himself, whether he holds any insight or not.

 

OTOH, I thought Mark Gaughan's roster article was, as usual, very good. Here's a guy who actually gives you some football information, some things that can help the casual fan understand the game better.

 

Complain all you want about how bad the drafts were the past decade. We all have. If they had just been in full-on "admitting mistakes" mode and cutting every draft pick that didn't fit here, without any upgrades, that would be a problem. But I see them losing a high pick like Poz and bringing in a better fit in Barnett at half the price. I see them taking good risks with playmakers like Merriman. I see them being entirely dissatisfied with the dismal run D and shoring it up with four new players in the front 7 to complement a Pro Bowler in Williams and a few other steady hands. The Bills are making the kind of FA moves that a team like Pittsburgh or the Patriots made over the past decade. Can they attract the top shelf FA talent like Clabo (and like the Patriots are now able to)? Obviously not, yet. But are they getting a lot of above-average talent to buy into a team mentality? It sure seems that way. They obviously have a lot of work to do with the offensive line - even if this group turns out to exceed expectations, the lack of experience at the depth positions is very frightening. But I have faith that regardless of how tied his hands may be, Nix (and Whaley) are doing everything they can to make this team better and to fit into a future of sustained success with this team. Even the Evans move (one I didn't agree with) seems to fit into that, as they see who among the current crop of WRs has the chops to be a long-term starter.

 

Let Jerry hate. It's a whole lot easier than writing the kind of article Gaughan has shared with us. Mind you, Gaughan's article is not any sort of Pollyanna forecast. He still sees 6-10. But his evaluations are measured, and not of the knee-jerk variety.

[Heitz]

Loser mentality. We get what we accept. If we're ok with a 3-5 year rebuild, thats exactly what we will get. If instead we say, "One year. Super Bowl or you're fired, Pro Bowl or you're cut," then thats what we will get. Of course it might not happen this year, or maybe not next year, or even the year after that, or it might even take 10 years or longer, but it takes time and eventually we will win the Super Bowl! To hell with patience!

 

Are you familiar with the Buffalo Bills career of Eric Moulds? At the end of two years he would have been run out-of-town, but I guess there was no Internet back then...

[hondo in seattle]

Well DUH. He's only a little late on this. It's not crumbling, it's already crumbled and is on its way to being built.

 

+1