Jump to content

1985 Draft


Recommended Posts

Exhibit A for why it may not be the end of the world if the Bills are unable to land one of those top QBs in the draft: 1985. Most pundits agree that was the best draft in team history -- and like this year, the Bills had 2 firsts, 2 seconds and 2 thirds.

 

The team was terrible back then; had the #1 overall pick in the draft, and the QB situation was a mess. Ferguson was gone, and the team wound up playing through the season with journeyman Vince Ferragamo at QB. But guess what? Instead of selling the farm to draft a QB, they made great use of their picks to fortify other positions.

 

Bruce and Andre -- both Hall of Famers -- came out of that draft. They waited until the 3rd round to address the QB position, and took a guy that was projected to be (and tuned out to be) a career backup. Youmay remember him, his name was Frank Reich.

 

I guess my point is that there is so much hand-wringing going on about "worst possible scenarios" if, say, 5 QBs get drafted in the top 11. The way I see it,  if 5 really do go before the Bills pick at 12, that means that a top-7 overall player at another position will be available at 12. Given the quotes I have read stating that some executives believe that there are 8 non-QB blue chip prospects in this draft, that would mean that at least 2 of them would still be available if indeed 4-5 QBs go before the Bills pick.

 

As much as I would love to land that franchise QB we have all been clamoring for in this draft (and hoping one falls to us), there are so many other needs that could also be addressed. I could live with rolling the dice with McCarron and hoping to catch lightening in a bottle with a Faulk or Lauretta later in the draft if it means enhancing the lineup at 3-4 other positions.

 

I, for one, will not be cursing Beane's name if he is somehow unable to draft one of those top 4-5 QBs, provided that he uses the picks we have wisely.

 

Going back to 1985, that draft laid much of the ground work for the future Super Bowl teams, but the QB position was not truly addressed until the FOLLOWING year when the USFL collapsed, and Jim Kelly came to town.

  • Like (+1) 6
Link to comment
Share on other sites

The Bills had their QB playing in the USFL. Anyone with half a brain knew that league was on the verge of folding.

We had drafted our QB first, then fortified the other positions with high premium picks. Something we don’t have.

 

There is literally no comparison.

  • Like (+1) 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

good job

Just now, dlonce said:

The Bills had their QB playing in the USFL. Anyone with half a brain knew that league was on the verge of folding.

We had drafted our QB first, then fortified the other positions with high premium picks. Something we don’t have.

 

There is literally no comparison.

....there's that

  • Like (+1) 1
  • Haha (+1) 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

13 minutes ago, 2003Contenders said:

 

Going back to 1985, that draft laid much of the ground work for the future Super Bowl teams, but the QB position was not truly addressed until the FOLLOWING year when the USFL collapsed, and Jim Kelly came to town.

 

I think these 2 scenarios are quite different.  In '85 the Bills knew they were probably gonna have Kelly at some point in the not too distant future.  This would be like the Bills knowing that Mahomes was gonna play in Kansas City for the next two years and then be available to them (maybe not the best example but off of the top of my head).  It makes drafting a QB way less of a priority.

Edited by Epstein's Mother
Link to comment
Share on other sites

36 minutes ago, dlonce said:

The Bills had their QB playing in the USFL. Anyone with half a brain knew that league was on the verge of folding.

We had drafted our QB first, then fortified the other positions with high premium picks. Something we don’t have.

 

There is literally no comparison.

No one considered getting Kelly in 1986 a slam dunk, sorry, that's wrong. The USFL made several bad business decisions, if not made, would have remained intact for several years.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, 2003Contenders said:

Exhibit A for why it may not be the end of the world if the Bills are unable to land one of those top QBs in the draft: 1985. Most pundits agree that was the best draft in team history -- and like this year, the Bills had 2 firsts, 2 seconds and 2 thirds.

 

The team was terrible back then; had the #1 overall pick in the draft, and the QB situation was a mess. Ferguson was gone, and the team wound up playing through the season with journeyman Vince Ferragamo at QB. But guess what? Instead of selling the farm to draft a QB, they made great use of their picks to fortify other positions.

 

Bruce and Andre -- both Hall of Famers -- came out of that draft. They waited until the 3rd round to address the QB position, and took a guy that was projected to be (and tuned out to be) a career backup. Youmay remember him, his name was Frank Reich.

 

I guess my point is that there is so much hand-wringing going on about "worst possible scenarios" if, say, 5 QBs get drafted in the top 11. The way I see it,  if 5 really do go before the Bills pick at 12, that means that a top-7 overall player at another position will be available at 12. Given the quotes I have read stating that some executives believe that there are 8 non-QB blue chip prospects in this draft, that would mean that at least 2 of them would still be available if indeed 4-5 QBs go before the Bills pick.

 

As much as I would love to land that franchise QB we have all been clamoring for in this draft (and hoping one falls to us), there are so many other needs that could also be addressed. I could live with rolling the dice with McCarron and hoping to catch lightening in a bottle with a Faulk or Lauretta later in the draft if it means enhancing the lineup at 3-4 other positions.

 

I, for one, will not be cursing Beane's name if he is somehow unable to draft one of those top 4-5 QBs, provided that he uses the picks we have wisely.

 

Going back to 1985, that draft laid much of the ground work for the future Super Bowl teams, but the QB position was not truly addressed until the FOLLOWING year when the USFL collapsed, and Jim Kelly came to town.

 

When you look at the best QBs in the league they were found all sorts of ways. In the end you need to rely on the front office to get the right guy at the right price, however it is that they do that. 

28 minutes ago, Skins Malone said:

The problem is that the Bills havent had a QB since Jim Kelly.  You cant keep putting it off till next year.  We have two completely unknowns at QB right now.  The Bills need a QB.  We can debate who and where they take one but QB is a major issue.

 

Having 2 unknowns at QB isn’t really fantastic justification for drafting additional unknowns at QB, is it?

 

Putting it off?  This is literally Beanes first draft. Impossible to belive they won’t select a QB.  

 

It’s just where and at what price 

Edited by Over 29 years of fanhood
  • Like (+1) 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, dlonce said:

The Bills had their QB playing in the USFL. Anyone with half a brain knew that league was on the verge of folding.

We had drafted our QB first, then fortified the other positions with high premium picks. Something we don’t have.

 

There is literally no comparison.

  The USFL folding was not a guarantee of Kelly coming to Buffalo.  Kelly even said at one point that he was thinking about sitting out 1986 which was the last year the Bills held the rights to him.  Al Davis was very hot to sign him and rumor was that Al contacted Jim about sitting out 1986 with the intent to make Kelly a Raider in 1987.  Kelly's competitive nature ultimately held sway so along with a record contract from the Bills he wound up with us.  Things could have easily worked out in a way to hurt us back then.

  • Like (+1) 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

25 minutes ago, vorpma said:

No one considered getting Kelly in 1986 a slam dunk, sorry, that's wrong. The USFL made several bad business decisions, if not made, would have remained intact for several years.

 

There was some concern about all the sacks he took with the Gamblers, but by and large, he was viewed as the "Chosen One."   Can't think of another player, before or since, who had fans lined up on the bridges over the Kennsington waving as he drove downtown to sign his contract (with Kent Hull following behind in an equipment van).

 

It's interesting that it took two more years for the team to jell, however, which is a cautionary note about the "process" with whomever we grab...

 

Jim Kelly Career Stats:

 

Year Age Tm Pos No. G GS QBrec Cmp Att Cmp% Yds TD TD% Int Int% Lng Y/A AY/A Y/C Y/G Rate Sk Yds NY/A ANY/A Sk% 4QC GWD AV
Career       160 160 101-59-0 2874 4779 60.1 35467 237 5.0 175 3.7 84 7.4 6.8 12.3 221.7 84.4 323 2427 6.48 5.86 6.3 21 28 132
1986 26 BUF QB 12 16 16 4-12-0 285 480 59.4 3593 22 4.6 17 3.5 84 7.5 6.8 12.6 224.6 83.3 43 330 6.24 5.62 8.2     12
1987* 27 BUF QB 12 12 12 6-6-0 250 419 59.7 2798 19 4.5 11 2.6 47 6.7 6.4 11.2 233.2 83.8 27 239 5.74 5.48 6.1 2 2 9
1988* 28 BUF QB 12 16 16 12-4-0 269 452 59.5 3380 15 3.3 17 3.8 66 7.5 6.4 12.6 211.3 78.2 30 229 6.54 5.57 6.2 3 5 13
1989 29 BUF QB 12 13 13 6-7-0 228 391 58.3 3130 25 6.4 18 4.6 78 8.0 7.2 13.7 240.8 86.2 30 216 6.92 6.19 7.1 2 2 12
1990* 30 BUF QB 12 14 14 12-2-0 219 346 63.3 2829 24 6.9 9 2.6 71 8.2 8.4 12.9 202.1 101.2 20 158 7.30 7.50 5.5 1 1 14
1991*+ 31 BUF QB 12 15 15 13-2-0 304 474 64.1 3844 33 7.0 17 3.6 77 8.1 7.9 12.6 256.3 97.6 31 227 7.16 6.95 6.1 3 4 17
1992* 32 BUF QB 12 16 16 11-5-0 269 462 58.2 3457 23 5.0 19 4.1 65 7.5 6.6 12.9 216.1 81.2 20 145 6.87 6.05 4.1 3 3 14
1993 33 BUF QB 12 16 16 12-4-0 288 470 61.3 3382 18 3.8 18 3.8 65 7.2 6.2 11.7 211.4 79.9 25 171 6.49 5.58 5.1 3 4 12
1994 34 BUF QB 12 14 14 7-7-0 285 448 63.6 3114 22 4.9 17 3.8 83 7.0 6.2 10.9 222.4 84.6 34 244 5.95 5.28 7.1 0 1 12
1995 35 BUF QB 12 15 15 10-5-0 255 458 55.7 3130 22 4.8 13 2.8 77 6.8 6.5 12.3 208.7 81.1 26 181 6.09 5.79 5.4 1 2 10
1996 36 BUF QB 12 13 13 8-5-0 222 379 58.6 2810 14 3.7 19 5.0 67 7.4 5.9 12.7 216.2 73.2 37 287 6.06 4.68 8.9 3 4 7
  • Like (+1) 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

42 minutes ago, Skins Malone said:

The problem is that the Bills havent had a QB since Jim Kelly.  You cant keep putting it off till next year.  We have two completely unknowns at QB right now.  The Bills need a QB.  We can debate who and where they take one but QB is a major issue.

You can argue Bledsoe....he was very successful with Moulds and Price as his WRs.

  • Like (+1) 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

26 minutes ago, nucci said:

You can argue Bledsoe....he was very successful with Moulds and Price as his WRs.

 

The fact that our best QB move since 1983 was sending a 1st round pick to a Division Rival Dynasty for their aging castoff QB who gave us 2 good years says everything you need to know about this franchise.

 

Time to go get our guy.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just now, DrDawkinstein said:

 

The fact that our best QB move since 1983 was sending a 1st round pick to a Division Rival Dynasty for their aging castoff QB who gave us 2 good years says everything you need to know about this franchise.

 

Time to go get our guy.

Yep!

  • Like (+1) 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, 2003Contenders said:

Going back to 1985, that draft laid much of the ground work for the future Super Bowl teams, but the QB position was not truly addressed until the FOLLOWING year when the USFL collapsed, and Jim Kelly came to town.

 

In 1985, Dan Marino led the league with 4,137 yards passing and 30 TDs. That year, no NFL QB completed more than 62% of their passes. Yet, in 2017 8 QBs threw for more than 4k yards, 3 completed 30 or more TDs, and 19 starting QB's completed 62% or more of their pass attempts.

 

The game has changed so significantly, especially how rosters have been built, how penalties are called, and much of this relates to the QB position.  NFL franchises aren't using a strategy that's 30+ years old to build a team.

  • Like (+1) 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Skins Malone said:

The problem is that the Bills havent had a QB since Jim Kelly.  You cant keep putting it off till next year.  We have two completely unknowns at QB right now.  The Bills need a QB.  We can debate who and where they take one but QB is a major issue.

 

I literally don't think there is a single Bills fan that would disagree with this.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

×
×
  • Create New...