Peter King on the Bills

[Punch]

Later on in King's piece, an interesting nugget about Nix and the Rams GM:

 

"Factoid of the Week That May Interest Only Me II

 

Speaking of Tavon Austin:

 

Buffalo GM Buddy Nix and Rams GM Les Snead orchestrated the trade that that led Austin to the Rams Thursday night, St. Louis acquiring the eighth pick for second- and seventh-rounders and a swap of third-rounders.

 

Snead was born in Eufaula, Ala. (pop.: 13,137) in 1971.

 

The high school football coach at Eufaula High until 1967 was Buddy Nix.

 

“Buddy was a big deal in my hometown,” Snead said.

 

Snead went to Auburn. A good buddy of his, the backup quarterback on the football team, married Nix’s daughter.

 

On Thursday, Nix, the big man in Snead’s town when Snead was but a gleam in his father’s eyes, handed Snead the most dangerous weapon in this draft to compete with the power boys, San Francisco and Seattle, in the NFC West. And Snead handed Nix the pick to draft the player, E.J. Manuel, the Bills hope becomes the successor to Jim Kelly.

 

I wonder if anyone in Eufaula realized that over the weekend."

[BADOLBILZ]

I feel kind of bad for Nassib. Not because the Bills didn't pick him, so much as the fact that the lazy sports media types who did all their pre-draft analysis just made the easy (lazy?) assumption that the Bills would take Nassib, simply because they had a real need at QB, and that their new coach had a relationship with him. I only follow college football on a surface level (watch big bowl games) and probably pay more attention to it in March and early April than I do in the fall. I can honestly say that I rarely (if ever) heard of Nassib being one of the more elite QB's going into the draft, until they put two and two together and figured the Bills would do the most obvious of things.

 

Take Doug Marrone out of the NFL head coaching ranks, and I seriously doubt any of the "experts" would have ranked Nassib as highly as he was in just the last few weeks. The McShays, Grudens, etc etc really built him up to be a much more attractive prospect than he really was to people who make a living evaluating these kids. So, IMO, the notion that he was a top prospect who slipped in the draft was false. He was probably drafted, by the Giants, exactly where he should have been.

 

He was drafted where he was drafted because only a handful of teams identified QB as a pressing need, not necessarily because he is not a better prospect than players drafted in earlier rounds.

[San Jose Bills Fan]

Later on in King's piece, an interesting nugget about Nix and the Rams GM:

 

"Factoid of the Week That May Interest Only Me II

 

Speaking of Tavon Austin:

 

Buffalo GM Buddy Nix and Rams GM Les Snead orchestrated the trade that that led Austin to the Rams Thursday night, St. Louis acquiring the eighth pick for second- and seventh-rounders and a swap of third-rounders.

 

Snead was born in Eufaula, Ala. (pop.: 13,137) in 1971.

 

The high school football coach at Eufaula High until 1967 was Buddy Nix.

 

"Buddy was a big deal in my hometown," Snead said.

 

Snead went to Auburn. A good buddy of his, the backup quarterback on the football team, married Nix's daughter.

 

On Thursday, Nix, the big man in Snead's town when Snead was but a gleam in his father's eyes, handed Snead the most dangerous weapon in this draft to compete with the power boys, San Francisco and Seattle, in the NFC West. And Snead handed Nix the pick to draft the player, E.J. Manuel, the Bills hope becomes the successor to Jim Kelly.

 

I wonder if anyone in Eufaula realized that over the weekend."

 

Nice anecdote.

 

Lake Eufala has some great largemouth fishing. Looks like both guys reeled in a good catch.

 

On another subject, I totally agree with Buftex's take upthread.

 

I think part of the reason Nassib was overranked was because it was assumed the Bills would draft him at #8 and the "experts" wanted to look smart when that happened.

[KOKBILLS]

He was drafted where he was drafted because only a handful of teams identified QB as a pressing need, not necessarily because he is not a better prospect than players drafted in earlier rounds.

 

I agree with this take...And I also have a feeling...and it's just a hunch...that the teams like Oakland, J-Ville, Philly, Tampa, and Arizona who may have taken a QB in the 2nd Round, had their sights set (at least some of them did) on Manuel...I think once EJ went at #16 those teams immediately changed their strategy and decided to wait it out...

[San Jose Bills Fan]

I agree with this take...And I also have a feeling...and it's just a hunch...that the teams like Oakland, J-Ville, Philly, Tampa, and Arizona who may have taken a QB in the 2nd Round, had their sights set (at least some of them did) on Manuel...I think once EJ went at #16 those teams immediately changed their strategy and decided to wait it out...

 

I think Bado was talking about Nassib, not Manuel.

 

Or am I missing something?

[Lurker]

Take Doug Marrone out of the NFL head coaching ranks, and I seriously doubt any of the "experts" would have ranked Nassib as highly as he was in just the last few weeks. The McShays, Grudens, etc etc really built him up to be a much more attractive prospect than he really was to people who make a living evaluating these kids. So, IMO, the notion that he was a top prospect who slipped in the draft was false. He was probably drafted, by the Giants, exactly where he should have been.

 

That's my take as well. Seems pretty obvious, actually, as all the Nassib buzz began after Marrone was hired.

 

I was watching the clip of Senior Bowl practice that Kelly the Dog posted and even in that limited video, it was apparent that Nassib was having trouble on his deep balls. If he can't do it in shorts with the best wideouts in college football, how would you think he could do it on Sundays when the bullets are flying...

[NoSaint]

Later on in King's piece, an interesting nugget about Nix and the Rams GM:

 

"Factoid of the Week That May Interest Only Me II

 

Speaking of Tavon Austin:

 

Buffalo GM Buddy Nix and Rams GM Les Snead orchestrated the trade that that led Austin to the Rams Thursday night, St. Louis acquiring the eighth pick for second- and seventh-rounders and a swap of third-rounders.

 

Snead was born in Eufaula, Ala. (pop.: 13,137) in 1971.

 

The high school football coach at Eufaula High until 1967 was Buddy Nix.

 

“Buddy was a big deal in my hometown,” Snead said.

 

Snead went to Auburn. A good buddy of his, the backup quarterback on the football team, married Nix’s daughter.

 

On Thursday, Nix, the big man in Snead’s town when Snead was but a gleam in his father’s eyes, handed Snead the most dangerous weapon in this draft to compete with the power boys, San Francisco and Seattle, in the NFC West. And Snead handed Nix the pick to draft the player, E.J. Manuel, the Bills hope becomes the successor to Jim Kelly.

 

I wonder if anyone in Eufaula realized that over the weekend."

 

I love connections like that. It's always interesting to learn how/why pieces fit together. Between that, the Bruce smith god father tidbit, etc.... It's cool when things align so naturally into a storyline. Hopefully it's got a great finish.

[DrDawkinstein]

I love connections like that. It's always interesting to learn how/why pieces fit together. Between that, the Bruce smith god father tidbit, etc.... It's cool when things align so naturally into a storyline. Hopefully it's got a great finish.

 

It sure is writing itself out to be another 30 for 30 piece, isnt it?

 

Would be nice if it was about the year that started it all for the Bills!

[KOKBILLS]

I think Bado was talking about Nassib, not Manuel.

 

Or am I missing something?

 

You are...

 

I agreed with his take on Nassib...I was only adding that, in general, the Manuel pick may have led to further the QB's slide in general...My comment was more about the QB class in general than Nassib specifically...

[The Bunk]

Living in Syracuse you wouldn't believe the venom the people here have towards Marrone. And that was before he passed over his SU guys in the draft. I'm glad his priority is this organization and he didn't let his heart play tricks with his mind. The right guy for Buffalo.

[San Jose Bills Fan]

Living in Syracuse you wouldn't believe the venom the people here have towards Marrone. And that was before he passed over his SU guys in the draft. I'm glad his priority is this organization and he didn't let his heart play tricks with his mind. The right guy for Buffalo.

 

Apparently it wasn't just Kiper and McShay that are pissed off at the Bills for passing on a Syracuse player.

[BillsWatch]

Living in Syracuse you wouldn't believe the venom the people here have towards Marrone. And that was before he passed over his SU guys in the draft. I'm glad his priority is this organization and he didn't let his heart play tricks with his mind. The right guy for Buffalo.

 

Well there goes the theory that Marrone was hired to boost ticket sales from Syracuse area unless they are buying tickets just to boo him.

[San Jose Bills Fan]

Well there goes the theory that Marrone was hired to boost ticket sales from Syracuse area unless they are buying tickets just to boo him.

 

Yeah that theory never held water in the first place.

 

Everyone knows that the best way to sell tickets is to win.

[ganesh]

Really excellent stuff from Mr. King -- and I can't always say that. It makes me feel good about Marrone as a person that he cared so much about Nassib that the decision pained him, but it makes me feel even better about him as a coach that he knew Manuel was better.

 

There is also a few great lessons from Marrone to Naasib from this draft. That is never expect something to happen only to be disappointed later. Marrone also showed where your loyalty and commitment should be to the young kid. Hopefully, Ryan learns the positives out of this draft and understanding what his HC has to do (Make the best possible decision for his employee, the Buffalo Bills) the right thing.

 

I am really surprised that Smith, Naasib and Barkley have shown some level of immaturity in their way of handling the outcome of this draft. Smith pouted before going to the Jets, Barkley twittered that all the 31 teams that bypassed him will regret and then there is the Naasib being "disappointed" by Marrone's decision. Guys: You are entering the NFL and you should first prove yourself in this league before making 'threats' ! It clearly show the lack of maturity of this QB class. Hopefully, EJ is a different beast.

Edited April 30, 2013 by ganesh

[thewildrabbit]

And how many times did it say nix is making the calls? Who knows if true, but its as close as we will get to confirmation I think

Yea, no question my mind that Buddy Nix called all the shots in the draft.

 

 

Whats is intriguing to me is the offense that the Bills will run under Marrone.

 

"Marrone has been cryptic about exactly what his offense is going to be -- he said Sunday he won't know exactly what it is until he begins practicing with his team and knows better the strengths and weaknesses of the players. "We'll have tempo -- everyone knows that,'' Marrone said. Clearly, the fast-paced and spread style appealed to Marrone after Syracuse went to that style and won with it last fall."

 

That sounds somewhat like Chan Gailey's offense. So if they do run an spread up tempo / short passing game like Chan's they probably shouldn't need to upgrade that O line if the QB's can find their targets as quickly as Fitz could. Let's not forget why Fitz managed to survive so long, it was because of his ability to get the ball out to the open receiver in 1.5 - 3 seconds.

 

I'm thinking to get EJ in the game the Bills will try a read option offense like the 49ers run with Kaepernick and not the offense Cam Newton runs. Whatever offense Marrone decides on I can only hope he changes up the offense in that they will be a run first team like the 49ers.

 

Panthers... http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap1000000081558/article/cam-newton-hampered-by-carolina-panthers-offensive-approach

 

49ers... http://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/sports/NFL-Working-to-Find-a-Way-to-Stop-49ers-Offense-202540841.html

[ganesh]

Yea, no question my mind that Buddy Nix called all the shots in the draft.

 

 

Whats is intriguing to me is the offense that the Bills will run under Marrone.

 

"Marrone has been cryptic about exactly what his offense is going to be -- he said Sunday he won't know exactly what it is until he begins practicing with his team and knows better the strengths and weaknesses of the players. "We'll have tempo -- everyone knows that,'' Marrone said. Clearly, the fast-paced and spread style appealed to Marrone after Syracuse went to that style and won with it last fall."

 

That sounds somewhat like Chan Gailey's offense. So if they do run an spread up tempo / short passing game like Chan's they probably shouldn't need to upgrade that O line if the QB's can find their targets as quickly as Fitz could. Let's not forget why Fitz managed to survive so long, it was because of his ability to get the ball out to the open receiver in 1.5 - 3 seconds.

 

I'm thinking to get EJ in the game the Bills will try a read option offense like the 49ers run with Kaepernick and not the offense Cam Newton runs. Whatever offense Marrone decides on I can only hope he changes up the offense in that they will be a run first team like the 49ers.

 

 

 

All said and done, it is going to be a tough first half of the season before this offense can gel...We have so many new starters on Offense:

1. Left Guard - No one appears to have a handle to this job

2. QB - Not sure if it is going to be Kolb or EJ

3. WR - So many new WRs in the system and the system itself is new to SJ too.

4. TE - One TE is probably starting on PUP list and the 2nd one is a known blocker.

 

The only sure thing is the RB where Spiller will be the starter. I simply don't think the Bills will be able to put up a consistent offense with so many changes to that side of the team. They better pick there defense to stop the Run.

[Kelly the Dog]

He was drafted where he was drafted because only a handful of teams identified QB as a pressing need, not necessarily because he is not a better prospect than players drafted in earlier rounds.

That, and pretty much everyone's analysis of this draft was that it was loaded with good players and not that many stars. So in other years, those QBs go off the board in the 2nd or 3rd because the players at other positions are not rated so high.

[WhitewalkerInPhilly]

I feel kind of bad for Nassib. Not because the Bills didn't pick him, so much as the fact that the lazy sports media types who did all their pre-draft analysis just made the easy (lazy?) assumption that the Bills would take Nassib, simply because they had a real need at QB, and that their new coach had a relationship with him. I only follow college football on a surface level (watch big bowl games) and probably pay more attention to it in March and early April than I do in the fall. I can honestly say that I rarely (if ever) heard of Nassib being one of the more elite QB's going into the draft, until they put two and two together and figured the Bills would do the most obvious of things.

 

Take Doug Marrone out of the NFL head coaching ranks, and I seriously doubt any of the "experts" would have ranked Nassib as highly as he was in just the last few weeks. The McShays, Grudens, etc etc really built him up to be a much more attractive prospect than he really was to people who make a living evaluating these kids. So, IMO, the notion that he was a top prospect who slipped in the draft was false. He was probably drafted, by the Giants, exactly where he should have been.

 

I agree. I think I speak for everyone here in that we don't hate Ryan Nassib as a person and I can get how Marrone would feel bad passing over someone he likes as a person and has a connection with. It seemed that almost every sportswriter made the lazy pick of "The Bills take Nassib" or "the Bills take Warmack". They were calling for the Bills to take him at 41, and to take him at 8. In the end, he went where people said he would before the hype.

 

Living in Syracuse you wouldn't believe the venom the people here have towards Marrone. And that was before he passed over his SU guys in the draft. I'm glad his priority is this organization and he didn't let his heart play tricks with his mind. The right guy for Buffalo.

 

Yeah, from what I've heard (all secondhand) people are pissed. In all fairness, Marrone left the program and stripped it of a lot of its coaches, just as they started to get some consistency. Am I happy the Bills have them? Yes. Can I see why people are upset...oh hell yes.

[NoSaint]

 

 

He was drafted where he was drafted because only a handful of teams identified QB as a pressing need, not necessarily because he is not a better prospect than players drafted in earlier rounds.

 

well, lets not forget if you go back and read the posts from say December/January.... Nassib was a player that was discussed as a midround talent that you might have to get in the 3rd just to be sure you got him.

 

in the end, if you forget all the mock guys trying to play him up to buffalo in the first for a story line... it seems the nfl generally stood by that early opinion and not what the media swayed towards.

[AKA Bigdog]

neither one would/will win more than 4 games with the bills so who gives a ****