The Worst Bills Draft Picks of the 2010’s

[Gordio]

11 hours ago, metzelaars_lives said:

Watkins was as can't miss a prospect as you will ever see.  Especially after seeing the Juilo Jones trade up work out the way it did, it made some sense at the time.  

 

Manuel was a perfectly fine pick at the time.  That was the worst draft ever (literally, not hyperbole).  They needed a QB.  You tell me who else they should've taken there.  Plus they traded back to get him and picked up another second rounder in the process.  And I nearly got run off this website for being so adamantly anti-EJ Manuel.

 

Maybin was bad but not absurd.  They should've taken Orakpo but whatever.  He was gonna go in the next couple picks regardless.

 

There are two answers: 

 

Torell Troup over Gronkowski and TJ Graham over Russell Wilson.  Both were instances where guys at positions of need who should've been drafted way earlier, magically fell right into our lap and we instead took guys who should've gone multiple rounds later.  They were both completely INSANE draft picks at the time and, suffice it to say, look even worse now.

 

Now you may close the thread.

 

 

We got a winner.  Well said sir.  Always thought it was ironic the Bills Brass stated they stayed away from Gronk because of injuries to his back & Troupe's career was troubled with back problems.

 

Wilson was staring the Bills right in the face & they refused to pull the trigger.  Prior to the draft I stated on this board Wilson's intangibles were off the chart, that his teammates at Wisky loved him & voted him team Captain after just 1 summer of being around this guy.  The Bills blew that one big time.

[dpberr]

The Bills picks generally break the commandments of drafting:

 

Thou shalt not select players with chronic health issues with your high picks. (Watkins, Troupe)

 

Thou shalt not pick superior athletes who are superiorly lousy at actually learning the game of football with high picks. (Spiller, Manuel)

 

As long as you don't agregiously violate these commandments, the outlook for your picks is generally positive. 

Edited April 24, 2019 by dpberr

[C.Biscuit97]

11 minutes ago, Gordio said:

 

 

We got a winner.  Well said sir.  Always thought it was ironic the Bills Brass stated they stayed away from Gronk because of injuries to his back & Troupe's career was troubled with back problems.

 

Wilson was staring the Bills right in the face & they refused to pull the trigger.  Prior to the draft I stated on this board Wilson's intangibles were off the chart, that his teammates at Wisky loved him & voted him team Captain after just 1 summer of being around this guy.  The Bills blew that one big time.

I will say I wasn’t on the Wilson train (not that I wanted TJ Graham).  But I will say that was before the smaller qb trend.  But looking back at his college numbers and his personality (he seems like a weirdo now), he might have been the number 1 pick in the draft.  

 

I will say, if a qb you have a high grade on falls to later rounds, you might want to grab them. 

[buffalobillswin]

I’m not too mad at the EJ pick because the alternative was Geno Smith or Matt Barkley. 

 

The biggest problem was going into a draft and being set on drafting a qb even if none were worthy of being selected highly. 

 

I’ll go with Watkins for both what it cost to move up and get him as well as the talent at wr that was selected after him. 

[DuckyBoys]

Maybin contributed absolutely nothing so will go with him.

[CLTbills]

15 hours ago, mannc said:

I nominate Dareus, even though he was a good player for a couple seasons, he was the third overall pick in one of the most loaded drafts of all time.  Tragic.

I'm on board here.

Players drafted AFTER Dareus:

AJ Green

Patrick Peterson

Julio Jones

JJ Watt

[Doc Brown]

2 hours ago, dpberr said:

The Bills picks generally break the commandments of drafting:

 

Thou shalt not select players with chronic health issues with your high picks. (Watkins, Troupe)

 

Thou shalt not pick superior athletes who are superiorly lousy at actually learning the game of football with high picks. (Spiller, Manuel)

 

As long as you don't agregiously violate these commandments, the outlook for your picks is generally positive. 

I only remember Watkins having minor injures in college.  I think he only missed two or three games his sophomore season in the three years he played there.  Could be wrong though.

1 hour ago, DuckyBoys said:

Maybin contributed absolutely nothing so will go with him.

He was drafted in 2009.

[dpberr]

1 hour ago, Doc Brown said:

I only remember Watkins having minor injures in college.  I think he only missed two or three games his sophomore season in the three years he played there.  Could be wrong though.

He was drafted in 2009.

 

IIRC, Watkins had the foot issue appear late in his collegiate career at Clemson, which suggests to me it was a chronic condition that developed in college and the Bills likely knew about in their draft research.  It's like Lawson's shoulder.  Injured at Clemson, required surgery, a long recovery period and IMO, he's been behind in his development because of that.  If he's a 3rd round pick, nobody cares.  1st rounder though, everyone cares.  

 

I think Whaley was correct in his opinion of the talent of Watkins.  He was/is talented.    However, they totally blew it (or chose to ignore the risk) of how a chronic issue could affect his availability for games, and further, in the games he could play, play at a high level.  

[Toesy]

This isn't in your period mentioned but years ago the Bills drafted a guy just because he could bench press-Leif Larsen. Hilarious.

[BillyWhiteShows]

5 hours ago, blacklabel said:

 

And as for Watkins being viewed as one of the worst picks... I disagree. Yeah, the method in which they drafted him may have not been the best but at that time, this fanbase was constantly up in arms about Buddy Nix's draft tendencies. Nix never moved around the board. Always stayed in his spot and let the board come to him. Fans hated that he never swung any trades. They felt he wasn't making enough of an effort to improve the team by standing pat on his picks. Enter Doug Whaley who runs his first draft in a polar opposite fashion than Nix, making deals, moving around the board, which fans had been clamoring for... but of course he didn't do it in the way they would've preferred. So it's like, "They never move around the board and never take any risks, that's why they'll always be horrible!" *moves around the board, takes risks* "No, not like that!" Watkins was always a no-win situation with most fans. Seemed as if people felt like if he didn't turn in 115 receptions for 1700 yards and 12 TDs every season then he was a colossal bust. Injuries have jacked up his NFL career and he'll probably never be the guy they thought he could be but I don't think he deserves to be lumped in with "the worst Bills picks of the 2010s." That's just me, tho.

 

In terms of talent he wasn’t the worst pick by any means.  Many had him ranked in the Top 5 if not higher.  

 

The problem is the price that Whaley paid for him and the circumstances are it.   The trade for Sammy was widely panned and even laughed at by most draft observers and journalists because its widely known that you don’t give that type of return for WR.  Especially when you don’t have a QB.  

 

It was clear that this move was about making a splash for a new owner.  It wasn’t a “risky” move, it was a reckless move and a big part of the reason why Doug Whaley is now small potatoes in the XFL

Edited April 24, 2019 by BillyWhiteShows

[billybob71]

I was excited and optimistic about the draft tomorrow until I read this thread.

[MJS]

6 hours ago, BillyWhiteShows said:

 

Because there’s not enough threads like “Bills have interest in Frankie Clarke” already

 

Funny how no one likes this take ????

There's a big difference between trading up for a 2nd round receiver and trading up in the top 5 and giving up another 1st rounder in the process. I agree that trading up for Zay was probably a mistake, but it is nothing compared to trading up for Watkins. Watkins is clearly more talented, but what the Bills did to get him required him to become an elite WR, and he never will be. He's an average WR in this league.

[billspro]

Most of the picks were terrible until Beane got here. Gilmore and Woods were the only really good picks.

[OldTimeAFLGuy]

...honorable mention for 2006 draft goes to Ko "Don't You Know I'm  Millionaire" Simpson......

[ProcessYaDigg]

My initial thought was EJ.  Yes he was a reach, but we gained draft picks for him.  So I have to go with Sammy on this question.  We gave up way too much for him and he didn't do a damn thing for this team.

[blacklabel]

4 hours ago, BillyWhiteShows said:

 

In terms of talent he wasn’t the worst pick by any means.  Many had him ranked in the Top 5 if not higher.  

 

The problem is the price that Whaley paid for him and the circumstances are it.   The trade for Sammy was widely panned and even laughed at by most draft observers and journalists because its widely known that you don’t give that type of return for WR.  Especially when you don’t have a QB.  

 

It was clear that this move was about making a splash for a new owner.  It wasn’t a “risky” move, it was a reckless move and a big part of the reason why Doug Whaley is now small potatoes in the XFL

 

I can't disagree. It certainly seemed like Whaley wanted to make a big impression. And I understand his reasoning was trying to do as much as he could to help Manuel but it was a lot to give up. Even if he had worked out here I wonder if people would still be salty about what he traded away. 

[Troll Toll]

9 hours ago, Gordio said:

 

 

We got a winner.  Well said sir.  Always thought it was ironic the Bills Brass stated they stayed away from Gronk because of injuries to his back & Troupe's career was troubled with back problems.

 

Wilson was staring the Bills right in the face & they refused to pull the trigger.  Prior to the draft I stated on this board Wilson's intangibles were off the chart, that his teammates at Wisky loved him & voted him team Captain after just 1 summer of being around this guy.  The Bills blew that one big time.

Yeah, I was on the BBMB at the time getting balked at for claiming we should draft Wilson in the 1st. IIRC, they traded up in the 3rd and I thought for sure they were drafting Wilson. We would have never drafted EJ the next year too. I blame Chan’s mancrush on Fitzpatrick.

[KD in CA]

Glass Sammy is the worst.  Multiple picks for a mentally and physically fragile player in a loaded WR draft.  Ugh

 

Other inexplicable moves:

EJ -- he was never going to be a good NFL QB.  The FSU guys here called it from day 1.

TJ Graham -- trading up for him no less;  laughably bad

Cardale Jones --  Throwing away a 4th round pick.....just because?   Most puzzling pick

 

Dareus didn't work out but everyone thought he was the right pick so hard to put him higher on the list.

 

Whaley was ***** horrible.   The day he was shown the door was by far the greatest moment of the decade.