FireChan Posted March 12, 2015 Share Posted March 12, 2015 Dareus was the 3rd overall pick in maybe the greatest draft of all time. Mario had to be given the biggest contract of any defensive player ever when he was signed. Buddy shouldn't get much credit for that. Riiiight. I mean, he wasn't the best GM on the planet, but getting two top 5, if not top 2, players at their positions doesn't mean he should get credit? What would he get credit for? A seventh round HoFer? Probably not, "that was just luck," right? He took a speed back who can't be a workhorse 9th overall with Lynch and Jackson on the roster. He traded up for Terrell Troupe and everyone scratched their heads. Big surprise he busted. He ignored the QB position and let a couple good QB drafts pass him bye. Then he painted himself into a corner and over reached badly on Manuel in a terrible QB draft. He traded up for a niche WR who was more of a track athlete than a football player, with Russell Wilson and several quality WR's on the board. Sorry Russ, but he was terrible. 2013 draft was Whaley. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TC in St. Louis Posted March 12, 2015 Share Posted March 12, 2015 Spiller, Carrington, Easley, Moats all came from that draft. They're all still productive. That doesn't suck. What sucks was the Troup pick instead of Gronk. But everybody whiffed on Gronk at least once in that draft. Everybody whiffed on Brady at least 5 times, including New England. Nobody drafted Jason Peters. It's fun looking back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
artmalibu Posted March 12, 2015 Share Posted March 12, 2015 Hindsight = 20/20 some bad picks yea. Better roster after Nix than before yea Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
QB Bills Posted March 12, 2015 Share Posted March 12, 2015 Dareus was the 3rd overall pick in maybe the greatest draft of all time. Mario had to be given the biggest contract of any defensive player ever when he was signed. Buddy shouldn't get much credit for that. Fair point. But there's also Glenn, Woods, Kiko, Aaron Williams, Gilmore, Bradham. The bulk of the talent on this team is put in place by Nix, not Whaley. Having said that, he wasn't perfect. The Fitz extension (although from that tapped phone call, it seems as though he wasn't the only one behind it), and passing on Russell WIlson were terrible moves. But to be fair, every team passed on Wilson at least twice. Some more than that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillsfaninSixburgh Posted March 12, 2015 Share Posted March 12, 2015 Let's call it based on the overall results. Ultimately Buddy was a "football guy" that shouldn't have been named a GM. Obviously in hindsight can't excuse taking both Spiller and Troup over Gronk. Also as has been the problem 1996, he didn't find the long-term answer at QB. But it's a new day, and given that there are no apparent and immediate long-term solutions at QB to be had this year, I like what the new regime is doing. You might not like their moves, but they are certainly not taking "the same old thing approach". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillsVet Posted March 12, 2015 Share Posted March 12, 2015 Buddy Nix gets such a bad rap here and a lot of it is unfair. He added quite a bit of talent to this roster. In fact, the two best players on the team (Dareus, Mario) are Nix acquisitions. I see a lot of conflation within this debate, including how other teams have bad drafts. The 2010 draft was the first under Nix as GM, and therefore needed to be a good one as they were rebuilding. Buffalo made a decision in one year to transition from Jauron's Cover-2 to a 3-4 defense, necessitating the addition of pieces, both in UFA and the draft. Strategically, this wasn't a smart move. I don't think you can hammer Nix for not taking a QB in 2010, as there weren't many options. But taking Spiller was a bad move strategically for a rebuilding team. As for the Patriots, sure there have been some swing and misses at the top of the draft. But they're better at getting value out of the 2nd-4th rounds and don't miss on their 1st round guys going back to 2008. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
st pete gogolak Posted March 12, 2015 Share Posted March 12, 2015 Is this a poll on the worst draft class of all-time? I'll stick with 2000. Erik Flowers, Tavares Tillman, Corey Moore. Lief Larson instead of Brady on a quarterback needy team is just icing on the cake. Damn you John Butler! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FireChan Posted March 12, 2015 Share Posted March 12, 2015 I see a lot of conflation within this debate, including how other teams have bad drafts. The 2010 draft was the first under Nix as GM, and therefore needed to be a good one as they were rebuilding. Buffalo made a decision in one year to transition from Jauron's Cover-2 to a 3-4 defense, necessitating the addition of pieces, both in UFA and the draft. Strategically, this wasn't a smart move. I don't think you can hammer Nix for not taking a QB in 2010, as there weren't many options. But taking Spiller was a bad move strategically for a rebuilding team. As for the Patriots, sure there have been some swing and misses at the top of the draft. But they're better at getting value out of the 2nd-4th rounds and don't miss on their 1st round guys going back to 2008. Quick, name the first round pick of the Pats in 2014. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Proteus Posted March 12, 2015 Share Posted March 12, 2015 Fair point. But there's also Glenn, Woods, Kiko, Aaron Williams, Gilmore, Bradham. The bulk of the talent on this team is put in place by Nix, not Whaley. Having said that, he wasn't perfect. The Fitz extension (although from that tapped phone call, it seems as though he wasn't the only one behind it), and passing on Russell WIlson were terrible moves. But to be fair, every team passed on Wilson at least twice. Some more than that. Whaley is light years ahead of Nix. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4BillsintheBurgh Posted March 12, 2015 Share Posted March 12, 2015 Spiller, Carrington, Easley, Moats all came from that draft. They're all still productive. That doesn't suck. What sucks was the Troup pick instead of Gronk. But everybody whiffed on Gronk at least once in that draft. Everybody whiffed on Brady at least 5 times, including New England. Nobody drafted Jason Peters. It's fun looking back. +1. And it looks like most of the retention issues are going to be resolved by the Pegulas. Really Buddy did what he set out to do - take an often injured team and remake them into a bigger, stronger one. Then throw a qb on top in the hope that he will have enough of a team to develop as opposed to taking a beating. Didn't work out but at least we're near the top in starters on ir any more - and without hiring Rusty Jones. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lurker Posted March 12, 2015 Share Posted March 12, 2015 (edited) This means the team did an extremely poor job of evaluating talent, retaining talent, and/or both. Not a recipe for success. . To put this in context, the 2010 draft was pretty much a clunker for many teams.... http://www.pro-football-reference.com/years/2010/draft.htm Edited March 12, 2015 by Lurker Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
QB Bills Posted March 12, 2015 Share Posted March 12, 2015 Whaley is light years ahead of Nix. How so? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kirby Jackson Posted March 12, 2015 Share Posted March 12, 2015 Quick, name the first round pick of the Pats in 2014.I think that it was Ra'sheade Haggaman (sp). Do I win something? I'm with you on Nix though. When he came to the Bills the cupboard was completely bare. That team had such little talent and he did a pretty good job starting to replenish it. He wasn't perfect but he did a WAY better job than the Modrack/Guy combo before him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FireChan Posted March 12, 2015 Share Posted March 12, 2015 I think that it was Ra'sheade Haggaman (sp). Do I win something? I'm with you on Nix though. When he came to the Bills the cupboard was completely bare. That team had such little talent and he did a pretty good job starting to replenish it. He wasn't perfect but he did a WAY better job than the Modrack/Guy combo before him. Second best GM since 2000, clearly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillsVet Posted March 12, 2015 Share Posted March 12, 2015 (edited) Quick, name the first round pick of the Pats in 2014. I thought you could only evaluate draft picks after 3 years? BTW it's Dominique Easley, DT Florida. The Bills went 22-42 in Buddy's 3 seasons as GM and the 1 year directly after he retired. That's successful? Edited March 12, 2015 by BillsVet Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ProcessAccepted Posted March 12, 2015 Share Posted March 12, 2015 So 2000, 2005, 2010... Great. Whaley is light years ahead of Nix. I'm not sure that we can really draw that conclusion. The "Pegula Factor" needs to be factored into things. Whaley's moves require a checkbook and a working pen. +1. And it looks like most of the retention issues are going to be resolved by the Pegulas. Really Buddy did what he set out to do - take an often injured team and remake them into a bigger, stronger one. Then throw a qb on top in the hope that he will have enough of a team to develop as opposed to taking a beating. Didn't work out but at least we're near the top in starters on ir any more - and without hiring Rusty Jones. You also have playing the Patriots 2 a year has led to a lesser perception than team in other divisions. When the Pats play these other teams they typically win those games too. The AFC East is a tough division and looking at the free agency moves by the Jets Phins and us its going to be tough again next season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FireChan Posted March 12, 2015 Share Posted March 12, 2015 I thought you could only evaluate draft picks after 3 years? BTW it's Dominique Easley, DT Florida. The Bills went 22-42 in Buddy's 3 seasons as GM and the 1 year directly after he retired. That's successful? Yes, please evaluate Gilmore, Bradham, Dareus, AW, Searcy, Glenn, Mario, and every other acquisition Buddy grabbed. He may have missed on a couple. And he may have ignored the QB. But let's not act like he was Idzik. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Offside Number 76 Posted March 12, 2015 Author Share Posted March 12, 2015 Well, my original post is no longer correct now that Easley has been re-signed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bills Fan in MD Posted March 12, 2015 Share Posted March 12, 2015 (edited) Not saying that wasn't a terrible draft (Troup alone ensures that is the case), but I don't think we're the only team saying that five years out. I just took a quick look at that draft and sorted by team (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010_NFL_draft) and note that there are a bunch of teams without anyone left from 2010 -- e.g., Indy, Detroit (now that Suh is gone). Edited March 12, 2015 by Bills Fan in MD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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