Mort Chat

[Lori]

Tim Anderson instead of Pat Williams, thats the only move that makes you a cry baby?

 

Give credit where its due.....TD did draft Losman, Evans, McGahee. He brought Spikes here, Fletcher.....

 

I guess where there is the bad there is the good....?

No. As I said last winter -- which you wouldn't have known, since you weren't here yet -- there were far more compelling reasons to show Donahoe the door than his player-personnel work. But if you really want to know how I feel on the subject, instead of calling me a "cry baby" based on a single two-sentence reply, I'll give you this post from a thread last month:

If the 'whisperer' is who I think it is, I'm reasonably sure he's no TD fan, and he has no stake in whether or not Donahoe ends up back in the league. But does he have a valid point? Breaking it down...

 

DRAFT:

2001 (day 1) - Nate Clements, Aaron Schobel, Travis Henry, and Jonas Jennings all became quality starters; Clements and Henry have played in a Pro Bowl. Ron Edwards? Not so much. Four of five isn't bad, though.

2001 (day 2) - Nobody of consequence.

 

2002 (day 1) - BIG miss with Big Mike Williams. Second-rounders Josh Reed and Ryan Denney seem to have outgrown their status as TSW's favorite whipping boys, unlike third-round pick Coy Wire.

2002 (day 2) - Justin Bannan and Mike Pucillo are still in the league (although in Pucillo's case, I still wonder why). Kevin Thomas was making plays before ripping up his knee.

**Gotta put the Bledsoe trade in here somewhere. Like him or hate him, you hafta admit he was an upgrade over the 2001 QB corps. Was that reason enough to deal a #1 pick to get him? Open to debate.

 

2003 (day 1) - McGahee, Kelsay, Crowell. All starting.

2003 (day 2) - McGee's a pretty good fourth-round find, no? Aiken and Haggan are still on the roster, but solely for STs at this point.

 

2004 (day 1) - Evans, Losman, Anderson. Lee is a stud. Jury is still out on Jonathan Paul. Anderson's a 'depth' guy at best.

2004 (day 2) - Euhus, McFarland, Fast Freddie. Gone, all gone.

 

2005 (day 1) - No #1 because of the J.P. trade/pick. Parrish and Everett. The Jacksonville game is a loss without Roscoe, who was leading the league in punt-return average before Devin Hester's latest long touchdown dropped him to #2. (He also recently qualified for, and took over, the franchise record for career PR average.)

It's still early in his career and he's coming off an ACL injury, but Everett sure looks like a bust.

2005 (day 2) - Duke Preston is the only one left.

 

FREE AGENCY:

The good - Takeo Spikes, Sam Adams, Larry Centers, and Brian Moorman have all been to at least one Pro Bowl in a Bills uniform; London Fletcher should be on that list as well. Lawyer Milloy and Troy Vincent put up some good numbers at safety before age/injury caught up to them. Rian Lindell is 64-70 from 40 yards and in (91.4 %), 87-106 overall (82.1 %); factoring in the Buffalo weather, I've seen worse. Before him, Mike Hollis gave us a decent year before pricing himself out of the market. Marcus Price filled a need as a swing tackle. Kelly Holcomb is a solid #2 QB.

And if you like our current starting LT, remember he was an UDFA snagged by Donahoe.

 

Mediocre - Signing Trey Teague to play LT. (We'll never know how that would have worked... which, I guess, probably tells us how well that would have worked...) Jeff Posey made a couple of big plays here, but never really fit. Mark Campbell was an adequate TE; he certainly had better hands than Royal. Dave Moore, Ross Tucker, Lawrence Smith, Mike Gandy, Chris Villarial, and any other street FAs signed for the OL probably go here as well... with one rather large exception.

 

Ugly: Billy Jenkins. 'Coach' Eddie Robinson. Bennie Anderson. Whacking Steve Christie and replacing him with a a not-yet-ready-for-prime-time Shayne Graham and Jake Arians. (If there's anyone I'm missing, I'm sure someone will be along to add their names to the mix.)

And that doesn't include the head-coaching choices, or some purely financial decisions (like letting Pat Williams walk).

 

From a recent column by longtime Bills beat reporter Chuck Pollock:

"On the issues of perceived arrogance and bunker-mentality paranoia, Donahoe is unexpectedly guilty...

He's fully answerable for the misguided head-coaching hirings of Gregg Williams and Mike Mularkey. But in the area of talent evaluation, time could well prove him to be more than capable."

 

Overall, 31-49 doesn't lie... but despite the vitriol directed at him, Donahoe was far from the worst GM in Bills history, and several of the players he signed or drafted are still making a significant impact here. That, I believe, was the point said 'whisperer' was trying to make -- and I have to agree.

 

Just my opinion; yours may vary. That's cool. Just don't assume that every single statement regarding a certain player/coach/administrator is a surefire sign of a hidden agenda, okay? Thanks.

[In space no one can hear]

No. As I said last winter -- which you wouldn't have known, since you weren't here yet -- there were far more compelling reasons to show Donahoe the door than his player-personnel work. But if you really want to know how I feel on the subject, instead of calling me a "cry baby" based on a single two-sentence reply, I'll give you this post from a thread last month:

Overall, 31-49 doesn't lie... but despite the vitriol directed at him, Donahoe was far from the worst GM in Bills history, and several of the players he signed or drafted are still making a significant impact here. That, I believe, was the point said 'whisperer' was trying to make -- and I have to agree.

 

Just my opinion; yours may vary. That's cool. Just don't assume that every single statement regarding a certain player/coach/administrator is a surefire sign of a hidden agenda, okay? Thanks.

 

 

Great post Lori!! Thanks for documenting some of the happenings of the Donahoe era.

 

I think the teams record of 31-49 under Donahoe's oppressive leadership is a key point to remember.

[2003Contenders]

I wouldn't read too much into Mort's comment about Willis. We are talking about a negotiation here. Thus, the Bills could mess up in a variety of ways, including overpaying for him or allowing talks to break down to the point where Willis holds out. If either of these things were to happen, then you could say that the Bills front office "messed up". I would not categorize letting Willis play out this final season without a future contract as "messing up" -- and Mort may not be either.

 

Regarding the DT situation... I don't think many of us can argue that the team (both the last regime as well as this one) made some mistakes at that position. Although the early returns indicate that the Bills had a fine draft, given the production of the rookie class this season -- it is hard to argue that the DT situation would NOT have been better if they had drafted Ngata with that #8 overall pick. Of course, the verdict is still out on McCargo...