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Most Disappointing Buffalo Draft Picks (Any Sport)

Nukethis

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Nukethis UDFA

Nukethis

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The list is long but heres my picks in football, hockey and basketball. I did not include baseball as Buffalo is a farm team.

 

Football: Walt Patulski , DE Notre Dame, #1 overall pick 1972. Not a great draft year period.

Almost as big of a bust as the Raiders JaMarcus Russell and his purple drank

Honorable mention: Perry Tuttle, Clemson WR

 

Basketball: Elmore Smith, "The Big E", Number 3 overall pick of the Buffalo Braves in 1971.

An excellent rebounder but that was his whole game.

 

Hockey: Morris Titanic, defenseman selected number 12 overall by the Sabres in 1973.

Career stats: 17 games, 0 goals, 0 assists, 0 penalty minutes.

 

Looking forward to seeing names added to this motley crew

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KD in CA Hall of Famer

KD in CA

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For me this list starts and ends with Maybin. A practice squad level player drafted ninth overall!! How is it possible to be that wrong about a guy?

 

Comparisons with Mike Williams are silly -- Williams was a medicore player but did in fact play and start for most of five years.

And yes, Walt P was a big miss, but that was 1972 -- scouting was in the dark ages compared to the tools available today. To miss as badly as they did with Maybin in this day and age shows a level of incompetence that is hard to fathom.

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ektin Practice Squad

ektin

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just to namer a few....

 

Sabres: Jiri Dudacek, Taro Tjisimoto:-), Ric seiling (good player but Islanders took Bossy with next pick), Joel Savage. think they had quite a few 1st and 2nd rounders who never played in the NHL

Braves: John Hummer, Tom McMillian were first rounders,

Bills: Al Cowlings, Erik Flowers, James Hardy, Perry Tuttle, Gary Marangi, ( Carl Eller & Paul Warfield who never signed and went on to the Hall of Fame), The bills have had enough bad draft picks to fill a few pages

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SouthernMan RFA

SouthernMan

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There needs to be an asterisk next to the Cousineau pick. Although he jolted for the CFL for a lot more money, eventually his rights were traded to the Browns for a 1st round pick, which became the the #14 pick in the 1983 draft, which was Jim Kelly.

 

In retrospect, the Cousineau pick may have been one of the best ever, even though it took 7 years to start paying off.

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Nanker Hall of Famer

Nanker

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Unquestionably it's OJ Simpson.

He singlehandedly brought a level of shame on his fans and supporters that is without redemption - not to mention he savagely murdered two people. Instead of a sports legend, now his name is a hiss and a byword.

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boyst Hall of Famer

boyst

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Anyone who denies CJ Spiller being eligible for this nomination is full of it. At that time we did not need him at all. We had two good backs, had more glaring needs and he showed us next to nothing the first year.

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H2o Hall of Famer

H2o

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Anyone who denies CJ Spiller being eligible for this nomination is full of it. At that time we did not need him at all. We had two good backs, had more glaring needs and he showed us next to nothing the first year.

 

Lynch is one strike away from missing at least 8 games. We were not going to re-sign him after his off the field exploits in Buffalo. Of course Spiller did nothing his first year. He was used to just being able to outrun everyone in college. If he stays here his whole career he will go down as one of the greatest RB's in Bills history. Wasted pick. :rolleyes:

 

Maybin and Flowers are the two worst, imo.

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dave mcbride Hall of Famer

dave mcbride

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The list is long but heres my picks in football, hockey and basketball. I did not include baseball as Buffalo is a farm team.

 

Football: Walt Patulski , DE Notre Dame, #1 overall pick 1972. Not a great draft year period.

Almost as big of a bust as the Raiders JaMarcus Russell and his purple drank

Honorable mention: Perry Tuttle, Clemson WR

 

Basketball: Elmore Smith, "The Big E", Number 3 overall pick of the Buffalo Braves in 1971.

An excellent rebounder but that was his whole game.

 

Hockey: Morris Titanic, defenseman selected number 12 overall by the Sabres in 1973.

Career stats: 17 games, 0 goals, 0 assists, 0 penalty minutes.

 

Looking forward to seeing names added to this motley crew

Elmore Smith??? The dude averaged 17-18 pts a game and 14-15 rebounds in his two years with the Braves. In his firs season with the Lakers, he led the league in blocked shots: http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/s/smithel01.html .

 

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dave mcbride Hall of Famer

dave mcbride

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As for the NFL, There's a strong argument for choosing Patulski given that he was #1 overall. What cuts against that is that he wasn't truly horrible, getting 6-7 sacks per season his first couple of years. Plus round 1 of the 72 draft was weak overall except for franco harris. The bills did land reggie mckenzie with the first pick of round 2, and since I think he's a borderline hall of famer, the draft can be considered a success overall.

 

Mike Williams is a logical choice as well - he was a very high pick.

 

However, my vote goes for this guy: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_Eller . The Bills drafted him very high, but couldn't pony up the bucks necessary for him and he chose the Vikes. He represents a huge lost opportunity. Ralph is cheap!

 

Whitner doesn't qualify because he's actually a good player overall.

 

Interestingly, in 1964, the Bills drafted two Hall of Famers -- Eller and Paul Warfield -- plus a borderline hall of famer in Butch Byrd ( a three-time all-pro).

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Chandler#81 Hall of Famer

Chandler#81

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Bills: Darrel Harper. 1st ever pick, never played again after the 1st season.

Sabres: I'm going with Marek Zagrapan, cuz I like the sound of his name. But there's an ocean of failed picks with them..

Braves: George Bucci. Who??

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boyst Hall of Famer

boyst

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Whitner. They passed on very good players to take him at #8.

Not sure I can agree with that entire statement.

Whitner was at 8, and has been to a Pro Bowl

 

9. Ernie Sims

10. Leinart

11. Cutler

12. Ngata

13. K. Wimbley

14. Brodrick Bunkley

15. Tye Hill

16. Jason Allen

17. Chad Greenway

18. Bobby Carpenter

19. Cromartie

20. Tamba Hali

21. Laurence Maroney

22. Manny Lawson - our new guy

 

5 of those guys after Whitner went to a Pro Bowl. 2 of them were not going to be drafted by us. Hali or Ngata would be the most likely two, with Greenway being a possibility.

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Bill from NYC Hall of Famer

Bill from NYC

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Not sure I can agree with that entire statement.

Whitner was at 8, and has been to a Pro Bowl

 

9. Ernie Sims

10. Leinart

11. Cutler

12. Ngata

13. K. Wimbley

14. Brodrick Bunkley

15. Tye Hill

16. Jason Allen

17. Chad Greenway

18. Bobby Carpenter

19. Cromartie

20. Tamba Hali

21. Laurence Maroney

22. Manny Lawson - our new guy

 

5 of those guys after Whitner went to a Pro Bowl. 2 of them were not going to be drafted by us. Hali or Ngata would be the most likely two, with Greenway being a possibility.

 

Davin Joseph and Nick Mangold went later in the round. Keep in mind that Levy said he had numerous trade down offers, and that some teams ere offering more than just a second. They also had an extra early 3rd round pick, which they tossed away along with their second for McCargo.

That draft hurt this franchise for many years.

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Kirby Jackson Hall of Famer

Kirby Jackson

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Whitner is a pretty good nfl player and people on here hate him because he had a big mouth. The hate for him (as a player) should not be anywhere near Maybin, Flowers, McCargo, Mike Williams, etc...the players that went after him pretty much sucked with a few exceptions. Leading up to that draft everyone had mocked Bunkley or Ngata (maybe Winston Jutice was that year too)...obviously Ngata would have been a great pick but the certainly could have gotten a worse player. Can you say they could have done worse than Maybin that year?

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respk Rookie

respk

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But at least Johnson gave me one on the best laughs ever watching a Bills game when he got blown up by the punt returner on a fake punt the Bills executed. Absolutely hilarious.

 

I'm thinkin Lonnie Johnson should make honorable mention.

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bbb Hall of Famer

bbb

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Elmore Smith??? The dude averaged 17-18 pts a game and 14-15 rebounds in his two years with the Braves. In his firs season with the Lakers, he led the league in blocked shots: http://www.basketbal.../smithel01.html .

 

Yeah, that's a bad call.........Not just with your stats, but also in the fact he was then traded for Jim McMilian, a very vital part of those really good Braves teams.

 

For the Braves, I think it's John Hummer, because it could have been Calvin Murphy............When Michael Jordan got passed over for Sam Bouie 14 years later, I kept saying this is going to turn out the same way. Always going for height!.........Well, it turned out way more that way than I ever imagined.

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dave mcbride Hall of Famer

dave mcbride

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McCargo McSchmargo. He at least played a valuable position and wasn't even their first pick. Let's look at Booker Moore. Who had heard of Guillain-Barre Syndrome before Booker Moore?? He had a particularly undistinguished and short NFL career. More importantly for the purposes of this discussion, let's think about the fact that the Bills drafted a freaking fullback in the first round! And what about Perry Tuttle, who is actually in the Winnepeg Blue Bombers' team hall of fame?

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Orton's Arm Veteran

Orton's Arm

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Whitner. They passed on very good players to take him at #8.

 

I was surprised it took this long for someone to mention him. Whitner represented the second-highest draft pick we've had in the last 25 years. The Bills' front office successfully turned that draft pick into a safety who can't cover. That, in a draft rich with very good players.

 

He has started every year he has been in the league, and made the pro bowl. He does not belong in this discussion!!

 

Mabin is the cake taker

 

Whitner is a below-average safety who, when he hit free agency, attracted little interest among GMs. That, at a time when he was entering what should have been the prime of his career. The fact that he went to the Pro Bowl is ludicrous, because he did not play at or near a Pro Bowl level. During the season, his weaknesses were masked by the quality of San Francisco's pass rush. Then, they experienced an injury to one of their best pass rushers; which meant Whitner actually had to cover people for what most teams would consider a normal length of time. This, he could not do, as we clearly saw in the Super Bowl.

 

If guys like James Hardy (a second round pick), Erik Flowers (a late first round pick) and John McCargo (another late first round pick) belong in this discussion, then Whitner (8th overall pick) definitely belongs here too. The 8th overall pick is worth about double the value of the 23rd overall pick; which means the Whitner pick did about as much damage to the franchise as the McCargo and Flowers picks combined.

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dave mcbride Hall of Famer

dave mcbride

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I was surprised it took this long for someone to mention him. Whitner represented the second-highest draft pick we've had in the last 25 years. The Bills' front office successfully turned that draft pick into a safety who can't cover. That, in a draft rich with very good players.

 

 

 

Whitner is a below-average safety who, when he hit free agency, attracted little interest among GMs. That, at a time when he was entering what should have been the prime of his career. The fact that he went to the Pro Bowl is ludicrous, because he did not play at or near a Pro Bowl level. During the season, his weaknesses were masked by the quality of San Francisco's pass rush. Then, they experienced an injury to one of their best pass rushers; which meant Whitner actually had to cover people for what most teams would consider a normal length of time. This, he could not do, as we clearly saw in the Super Bowl.

 

If guys like James Hardy (a second round pick), Erik Flowers (a late first round pick) and John McCargo (another late first round pick) belong in this discussion, then Whitner (8th overall pick) definitely belongs here too. The 8th overall pick is worth about double the value of the 23rd overall pick; which means the Whitner pick did about as much damage to the franchise as the McCargo and Flowers picks combined.

Sorry, EA, but this is just factually wrong. https://www.profootballfocus.com/blog/2011/12/23/pffs-nfc-pro-bowl-squad/

 

SAFETIES

 

SS – Adrian Wilson (ARZ), FS – Kenny Phillips (NYG), and Kam Chancellor (SEA)

 

A lot of people think PFF are just a contrary bunch. When everyone else is waxing lyrical about Wilson’s sack stats, we are telling you how many were unblocked and how many tackles he misses. Now that he’s not flavor of the month anymore, we are saying that no safety in football played better. So no sacks, but his short area coverage is second to none and he is far more disciplined as a run defender. Which would you prefer? Phillips is a slight default selection but name a better single high “free” safety in the NFC. It’s a poor bunch and he’s the best of them. He really doesn’t make that many errors and can find the ball in the air which is a step beyond many.

 

Chancellor has had his ups and downs including a mid-season slump directly following us saying many very nice things about him. He’s recovered in the last two weeks and just done enough to keep his space on the back of some fine coverage for a big man.

 

Just missed: Donte Whitner (SF) was the unluckiest player not to make our roster. He actually outscored Phillips, but our need for a free safety (as opposed to another strong) meant he lost out. Apologies to Donte, his family and friends for the omission.

 

Also, as for the Super Bowl play everyone talks about, check this out. It was great play design by the Ravens:

 

https://www.profootballfocus.com/blog/2013/02/06/analysis-notebook-super-bowl-xlviis-prettiest-play/

 

Edited by dave mcbride
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dave mcbride Hall of Famer

dave mcbride

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Ps - at www.pro-football-reference.com , they have a great stat called "approximate value." Whitner has been a seven the last two seasons, which is pretty good although not great. He never achieved a 7 with the Bills, though. His highest was a 6. One of the other pro bowl safeties this year, Kam Chancellor, was a 6. Byrd was a 6 last year and a 10 this year. Goldson was an 11, ryan clark was a 9, eric weddle was a 12, ed reed was an 11, and so on. Non pro bowlers on good teams scored as follows - kyle arrington (5), steve gregory (6), glover quinn (7), daniel manning (9), bernard pollard (6), mike adams (6), rahim moore (6), chris conte (6), major wright (7), thomas decoud (8), william moore (7), morgan burnett (6), and charles woodson (3).

 

The point is that Whitner, by pretty much every measure from the guys who track every play, is a better than average safety in the NFL. SF, which as an exceptionally well run team, hasn't seen fit to cut him, although seemingly every Bills fan (erroneously) thinks that he sucks.

 

The crusade against him on this board is, dare I say it, stupid, and it should end. Really.

 

Of course, it goes without saying that he's hardly the worst draft pick. It tells you something when one of the better posters here says that since he was the second highest Bills player drafted in ages, he's guilty as charged. Yet the same poster conveniently ignores that Maybin, who was drafted one pick later - a statistically insignificant difference - is essentially incapable of playing in the NFL.

Edited by dave mcbride
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White Linen All Pro

White Linen

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Jim Kelly and Bruce Smith.

 

Because winning only hurts the franchise.

 

Yes and they went against Ralph's philosophy of delicately balancing doing just enough to fill the seats and never winning. Basically they were insubordinate.

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MarkyMannn Veteran

MarkyMannn

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Wow the number of Whitner apologists. Face it he was a no impact player no matter how many games he played. And in my 45 years of following the Bills, he was the only player who got the excuse of "it wasn't his fault he was drafted so high". I'm sure he took the #8 money though

 

A lot of people mention Morris Titanic. Talk about GOOD drafting though, bracketed around him: Perreault, Martin, Schoenfeld & Gare. Punch Imlach COULD DRAFT :thumbsup:

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