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The Biggest Whiffs In Buffalo Bills History


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5 hours ago, Steve O said:

Actually, the bills did re-sign him. Did not renegotiate after that. We did pick up Eric Wood with the pick that we traded him for, so it wasn't as big a mistake as others on the list. 

 

 It's still a big mistake. Likely first ballot hall of fame LT vs 1-2 time Pro bowl selection C who was solid, no more no less. Yes that is a colossal mistake. 

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On 5/20/2018 at 4:49 AM, Bill from NYC said:

Sorry but allow me to politely say that I could not disagree more.

 

Coming out of college, Mike Williams was an overweight right tackle with a chronic ankle injury. Bad ankles and/or feet are bad for any player, let alone a 360 pound man. Bryant McKinney was still there at #4 and he had a long, distinguished career, his off the field problems and questionable attitude notwithstanding. McKinney was a far better player in college and the NFL than Williams and he played left tackle, a much harder position to fill.

 

McKinney, imho, was definitely the pick and I was screaming for the Bills to draft him way back when.

OK but it wasn't an insane pick- if he didn't go to the Bills at 4, he was gonna go in the next few picks.  Whereas a guy like Donte Whitner was a borderline first rounder.  TJ Graham was a borderline seventh rounder.  Darius Heyward-Bey over Michael Crabtree was a wild and crazy one.  Mike Williams was gonna go in the top 5-10 one way or another.  

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On ‎5‎/‎18‎/‎2018 at 8:47 AM, BuffaloRush said:

 

This is an underrated choice that not many people remember because of the success of Flutie for a few season.

 

But the Bills traded a #1 and #3 for a QB with very little experience.  In hindsight they gave up a lot for a very average QB

 This is an excellent point. Rob Johnson was so bad for the Bills that his trainwreck of a career obscures that he did further damage because of who they potentially could have picked in round  #1 in the 1998 draft. I looked up the 1998 draft and the Jags chose Fred Taylor at 9 (with the Bills pick). Taylor was a pretty solid RB for the Jags and obviously far superior to RJ. In addition the Bills might have drafted Randy Moss as well, like Minni did at 21. But here is one of the weirder ironies of the RJ trade. Who did the Titans pick at 16? Kevin Dyson who beat the Bills on the home run throwback. The Bills might have had him to and changed their future, and we would have never had that nightmare play. Instead of any of these picks they got RJ robo sack.  

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On 5/18/2018 at 8:32 AM, BuffaloRush said:

Interesting topic from WGR this morning.  Jeremy White was talking abou the biggest whiffs in Buffalo sports history since 2000.  He used both the Bills and Sabres but for the sake of this discussion we’ll focus on just the Bills.

 

Remember a whiff doesn’t necessarily have to be all draft busts.  It more about getting some of the really big and important decisions completely wrong.  Also it’s important to consider the negative impact on the organization.  For example, signing Shawn Merriman was a whiff, but it didn’t really impact the team that much.

 

Here are my choices and I keep everything current so this is only since 2000.  

 

Hiring Rex Ryan - this was JW’s top choice and mine as well.  Rex did some major damage in Buffalo.  Terrible hire.

 

Trading for Sammy Watkins - this was an agressive move by a bad GM that backfired.  Whaley basically pushed all his chip to the table and gambled with this move on both Sammy and EJ.  He’s now out of a job.  This move was so reckless it drives me nuts

 

Re-signing Ryan Fitzpatrick to a long-term deal 

Prospector Buddy Nix thought he found gold...except it was fool’s gold.  The quick decision to extend Fitz, committed the team to a QB that was a fringe starter and resulted in them passing on other choices like drafting Russell Wilson.  This was the start of QB purgatory.

 

Drafting CJ Spiller

This was a foolish move when the team had 2 good RB’s in Fred and Marshawn Lynch.  CJ also never turned out to be much as a starting RB.  

 

Marv Levy as GM

A terrible and selfish choice by Ralph Wilson.  This move would ramp the drought into high gear.  

 

Lets hear some of your choices!

 

 

Aaron Maybin was a ****ty pick in 09 we got Eric Wood that draft as well though

Edited by Rebel101
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One day my friends and I ran into Bruce, Jim, Thurman and Andre. We ended up playing a wiffle ball game. It was a tight game and we were up 7-6 in the ninth with 2 outs. Then Bruce got a hit, followed by Jim. Thurman displayed a good eye and ended up walking. Andre came up with the bases loaded and struck out and to me that was the biggest whiff

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11 hours ago, metzelaars_lives said:

OK but it wasn't an insane pick- if he didn't go to the Bills at 4, he was gonna go in the next few picks.  Whereas a guy like Donte Whitner was a borderline first rounder.  TJ Graham was a borderline seventh rounder.  Darius Heyward-Bey over Michael Crabtree was a wild and crazy one.  Mike Williams was gonna go in the top 5-10 one way or another.  

Yeah, I agree. For some reason, TD seemed to hate McKinney. I get it. The kid had a bad attitude; but, he really was an excellent LT.

 

PS: I am not as a rule against drafting blockers other than LTs early.  Before the draft, R.Rich told me that Branden Albert would be an all-pro, if not hall of fame player if he stayed at guard. He went on to be another excellent LT. We drafted McKelvin that year. :(

 

Edited by Bill from NYC
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On 5/18/2018 at 8:05 AM, Mopreme said:

Not resigning Jason Peters.  

 

After the Bills showing him exactly where his potential was & him showing that he in no way wanted to be here & showed that he was all about the money i think letting him go wasn't a bad thing !! 

 

A really good LT would have been nice if we would have had a really good QB to protect but seeing as we didn't it didn't hurt my feelings to see this guy walk !!

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On 5/20/2018 at 11:20 PM, Your Brown Eye said:

 

 It's still a big mistake. Likely first ballot hall of fame LT vs 1-2 time Pro bowl selection C who was solid, no more no less. Yes that is a colossal mistake. 

I guess you missed my point. At least we got something productive by letting him go. Mistake to do it certainly. On the level of Mike Williams, spending 2  firsts on Watkins when we could have stood pat and had OBJ or Aaron Donald, Maybin instead of Orakpo, etc. etc? I don't think so.

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On 5/20/2018 at 11:01 AM, Bob in STL said:

Lots of great comments, ignoring the many  draft mistakes the handling of coaches and front office has been a mess and is the driving reason for the Bills overall poor history. 

 

60’s - trading Lamonica and Hiring Rausch 

 

70’s - Harvey Johnson twice, Saban quitting again,  Jim Ringo,  Stew Barber. 

 

80’s - interfering with Knox, hiring Kay and Hank 

 

90’s - chasing out Polian, then Butler, then Wade

 

00’s -  not one good move to stabilize FO, Donahoe, Marv, Brandon, and a bunch of bad coaches

 

10’s - Unqualified Nix as GM, less qualified Whaley, hiring Rex. 

Hmm...one common denominator with all of these whiffs, except for Rex....

Edited by Ned Flanders
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Is a whiff taking a chance (swing and a miss) like on a draft pick ("the unknown")?  Then probably JPL.  Had no business being in the 1st round.

 

Rex was a horrible choice, but can't qualify as a "whiff" when the outcome was so predictable and therefore the choice a totally preventable disaster.

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3 hours ago, T master said:

 

After the Bills showing him exactly where his potential was & him showing that he in no way wanted to be here & showed that he was all about the money i think letting him go wasn't a bad thing !! 

 

A really good LT would have been nice if we would have had a really good QB to protect but seeing as we didn't it didn't hurt my feelings to see this guy walk !!

Exactly.  Jason Peters was way too cool for Buffalo, even though we were the ones that gave him his shot.  F*** that guy.  And anyone who blames anything related to Jason Peters leaving the Bills on the Bills organization, is utterly clueless.

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1. Not taking O.J. off the Wall

2. Shutting Down the Jills

3. Not Building a New Stadium

4. The Toronto Experiment

5. Not Power Slamming Whaley Through a Burning Table  

 

 

Edited by Irv
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