I think our downfall began in 1998

[jahnyc]

The reason I think this is because we traded a number one and a number four pick for Rob Johnson in that year. With the ninth pick in the first round we could have selected offensive tackle Tra Thomas. We needed an OT back in 1998, and I remember hearing that he would have been our pick if we had not traded with the Jags for Johnson. T. Thomas has been a very good player and would have anchored our line for years.

 

So we trade for Rob Johnson and miss out on T. Thomas. To make things worse, Johnson doesn't work out, so we trade another number one pick to the Pats for Bledsoe. There are questions about Bledsoe's long term viability as the qb for the Bills, so we trade second and fifth round picks plus our number one pick next year for Losman. All in all, three first round picks, one second round pick, a fourth round pick, and a fifth round pick for Johnson, Bledsoe and Losman over a six year period. Now we will need to wait to see if Losman develops, which may take years.

 

That is my theory as to part of the reason why we are where we are.

[Typical TBD Guy]

The reason I think this is because we traded a number one and a number four pick for Rob Johnson in that year.  With the ninth pick in the first round we could have selected offensive tackle Tra Thomas.  We needed an OT back in 1998, and I remember hearing that he would have been our pick if we had not traded with the Jags for Johnson.  T. Thomas has been a very good player and would have anchored our line for years.

 

So we trade for Rob Johnson and miss out on T. Thomas.  To make things worse, Johnson doesn't work out, so we trade another number one pick to the Pats for Bledsoe.  There are questions about Bledsoe's long term viability as the qb for the Bills, so we trade second and fifth round picks plus our number one pick next year for Losman.  All in all, three first round picks, one second round pick, a fourth round pick, and a fifth round pick for Johnson, Bledsoe and Losman over a six year period.  Now we will need to wait to see if Losman develops, which may take years.

 

That is my theory as to part of the reason why we are where we are.

56994[/snapback]

 

Good point. Buffalo's futility for most of the past 10 years is due to the pursuit of the flashy, big-name, big-arm QB at the expense of the OL. This problem transcends TD to Butler, which makes me wonder if Ralph Wilson is the real source to point the blame. Maybe Wilson has been meddling with the GM's too much by trying to market the team better with name players more so than with W's in the standings.

 

But trying to fill seats and keep the Bills in Buffalo...I can't blame Wilson too much for that.