Article about DT, the draft and McCargo

[San-O]

http://www.realfootball365.com/nfl/article...argo080207.html

 

Not particularly interesting, however got me thinking if Marv does indeed feel the same way

about drafting another DT on first day.

 

Can the Bills defense really afford to pin their hopes on what they currently have

in-house? I don't think so. If via the draft or FA they can come up with one or even two

guys that would essentially make this defense playoff caliber, wouldn't you HAVE to

do it?

[Orton's Arm]

That's one of Connor Byrne's better articles. He may be right: based on some of Marv's quotes I've seen, the Bills may not be looking to address the DL early in the draft. I got the feeling Marv thought improvement at DT should come from within--presumably by improvements from Kyle Williams and John McCargo.

 

That's not necessarily what I'd do if I was the Bills' GM. I'd re-sign Kelsay and Clements, and then do this::

Round 1: Okoye, DT

Round 2: OG

Round 3: OG

Rounds 4 - 7: LB, FB, WR, CB, in no particular order

 

Well, you say, why draft Okoye when McCargo might well turn into a dominating presence? McCargo might not dominate, in which case you need Okoye. But if McCargo does dominate, think of the DT rotation the Bills would have! McCargo and Okoye would be at or near the Pro Bowl level, and their backups would be Larry Triplett and Kyle Williams. All four men would get their share of playing time. That would be one solid DL!

 

Assuming my first three picks worked out, the Bills could easily have one of the ten best offensive lines and defensive lines. At LB the starters would be Crowell at MLB, and Ellison and Spikes on the outside. The 2007 secondary could resemble the one from 2006, except that Youboty would compete with McGee for that starting spot opposite Clements.

 

On offense, the only weak link on the OL would be Melvin Fowler. At QB, you'd have Craig Nall waiting in the wings should Losman struggle. The Bills would be a little weak at WR once you got past Evans, but the Bills can get by at WR and TE with guys like Peerless Price, Josh Reed, Roscoe Parrish, Robert Royal, and Ceislak. RB would be decent with McGahee and Anthony Thomas.

 

Is the above scenario perfect? No. But it would considerably strengthen the Bills; and probably boost the team into the playoffs. You'd have to fill in a few more holes before you could start talking about the Super Bowl though.

[2003Contenders]

There are many compelling reasons to consider drafting a DT early again this season...

 

1. McCargo is an unproven commodity.

 

2. Even if McCargo pans out, you can never have enough big bodies to rotate on the interior of the DL. Just because we went that direction last season, doesn't mean we shouldn't go that way again. The Jags drafted Stroud and Henderson in the first round in consecutive seasons. That worked out pretty well for them.

 

3. Thankfully, Anderson is a goner, so we may as well seek an upgrade.

 

4. For as much as K Williams was a pleasant surprise last season, he is not a long term solution.

 

5. The interior was horrible at stopping the run last season -- and still needs to be addressed.

 

With Clements and London both possibly gone, we may have needs to fill at DT, CB, and MLB in addition to our always OL requirement. With the 12th pick overall, we will probably have the luxury of taking the best player available -- without having to pinpoint a specific position. Heck we could even draft a WR or RB with that pick if there is a player too good to pass up there (i.e. Peterson).

[richNjoisy]

I simply can't see marv using another high pick on a DT this year.

 

It is true that McCargo did not impress FANS (such as myself) this past season. But, there are several reasons why I predict no high DT selection in April:

 

1.) The Bills felt strongly enough about McCargo to trade up for him last season.

It seems to me to be way too early for the team to give up on this guy.

 

2.) He had moved into the starting lineup right before his injury (albiet in rotation)

This is an indication that he was progressing - his injury interrupted this process

 

3.) Kyle Williams surprisingly made it into the starting lineup.

DT is notoriously a position where a young player takes YEARS to develop. The fact that Williams actually played WELL (not great I will grant you) strongly suggests that he may be a very good player in this league someday - maybe even as early as next year if he bulks up this offseason. If so, his pick was a huge hit for the Bills.

 

4.) The Bills 2006 draft was heavily weighted on the defensive side and it showed on the field. If the Bills want to tak the step to the next level, they need to give JP more weapons to work with. IMO, that means at least 2 out of 3 of the following:

 

A.) a very good possession receiver (I like the idea of signing FA Drew Bennett but I can see the Bills drafting a WR in round 1)

B.) another stud on the offensive line (either through FA or through the draft)

C.) a dependable TE who can catch

 

The impending loss of Nate Clements and Fletcher-Baker is also a concern (especially the loss of Clements). However, the Bills drafted 3 DB's in the first 4 picks last year (Whitner, Youboty, and Simpson) which means the Bils have already put a deposit down on the replacement for Nate. Thus, Nate's replacement may already be on the team.

 

 

I'd like to see the Bills sign Bennett and Draft a good OT or OG in round 1 or a TE. And then a LB in round 2.

[tennesseeboy]

You need four strong DT's to win. At nearly 300 pounds and with susceptibility to injury you can't have a "second string" DT. Arguably we have two pretty good first stringers right now...Williams and Triplett and a question mark in McCargo (but I think he is going to be quite good). Okoye is a sure fire first stringer and maybe a lot more than that. Getting the four of them working together would make for very strong center of the defensive line and would fix the weakest part of the team. The other defensive tackles have shown nothing much to justify keeping them.

[obie_wan]

You need four strong DT's to win. At nearly 300 pounds and with susceptibility to injury you can't have a "second string" DT. Arguably we have two pretty good first stringers right now...Williams and Triplett and a question mark in McCargo (but I think he is going to be quite good). Okoye is a sure fire first stringer and maybe a lot more than that. Getting the four of them working together would make for very strong center of the defensive line and would fix the weakest part of the team. The other defensive tackles have shown nothing much to justify keeping them.

 

If Okoye is as quick as advertised, he could also move to left DE on ocassion like the Pats do with Ty Warren in order to maximize his production.

 

Based on this observation - drafting Okoye is even more likely if they lose Kelsay -

[Fan in Chicago]

I am missing something basic here. Isn't McCargo in rotation with Tripplett ? So Okoye would be competition/rotation with Kyle Williams not with McCargo/Tripplett.

[N.Y. Orangeman]

I am missing something basic here. Isn't McCargo in rotation with Tripplett ? So Okoye would be competition/rotation with Kyle Williams not with McCargo/Tripplett.

 

Actually, Okoye would play the 3 as well. He's only 285.

[tennesseeboy]

He played all year at 310 (McCargo I believe, weighs in at 295). I Lets see what Okoye weighs at the combine. He played better than anyone else in the trenches at 285 in the Senior Bowl, so I could live with him weighing 7 pounds less than McVargo,,,but I suspect he will play at 305 in the pros.

[JStranger76]

Don't think that McCargo isn't allowed to bulk up either. In his draft write-up it mentioned he had nose tackle potential. Who's to say he doesn't come in at 320 this year? I am so on the Okoye bandwagon it would take me a case of beer to fall off...........

[Pyrite Gal]

I am missing something basic here. Isn't McCargo in rotation with Tripplett ? So Okoye would be competition/rotation with Kyle Williams not with McCargo/Tripplett.

 

I think the general feeling is that th Bills are going to put their two best STs on the field for the most part within the context of their rotation which is going to see every DL player whether a starter or a back-up seeing significant game time.

 

There are differences in how the two DT positions are employed within our Cover 2 scheme, but each DT is going to have to learn how to play both positions anyway as we run various line stunts and other variations in an attempt to outwit the O. The depth chart positions and rankings are important but not something to get too caught up and certainly not something we will slavishly follow to the extent we are gonna sit down a better player in order to give a worse player the start because he is higher on the depth chart at the other DT position.

[1billsfan]

That's one of Connor Byrne's better articles. He may be right: based on some of Marv's quotes I've seen, the Bills may not be looking to address the DL early in the draft. I got the feeling Marv thought improvement at DT should come from within--presumably by improvements from Kyle Williams and John McCargo.

 

That's not necessarily what I'd do if I was the Bills' GM. I'd re-sign Kelsay and Clements, and then do this::

Round 1: Okoye, DT

Round 2: OG

Round 3: OG

Rounds 4 - 7: LB, FB, WR, CB, in no particular order

 

Well, you say, why draft Okoye when McCargo might well turn into a dominating presence? McCargo might not dominate, in which case you need Okoye. But if McCargo does dominate, think of the DT rotation the Bills would have! McCargo and Okoye would be at or near the Pro Bowl level, and their backups would be Larry Triplett and Kyle Williams. All four men would get their share of playing time. That would be one solid DL!

 

Assuming my first three picks worked out, the Bills could easily have one of the ten best offensive lines and defensive lines. At LB the starters would be Crowell at MLB, and Ellison and Spikes on the outside. The 2007 secondary could resemble the one from 2006, except that Youboty would compete with McGee for that starting spot opposite Clements.

 

On offense, the only weak link on the OL would be Melvin Fowler. At QB, you'd have Craig Nall waiting in the wings should Losman struggle. The Bills would be a little weak at WR once you got past Evans, but the Bills can get by at WR and TE with guys like Peerless Price, Josh Reed, Roscoe Parrish, Robert Royal, and Ceislak. RB would be decent with McGahee and Anthony Thomas.

 

Is the above scenario perfect? No. But it would considerably strengthen the Bills; and probably boost the team into the playoffs. You'd have to fill in a few more holes before you could start talking about the Super Bowl though.

 

I think that Okoye will be gone by pick 12.

[Pyrite Gal]

I think that Okoye will be gone by pick 12.

 

Maybe or maybe not.

 

Picking him has more than the normal risk for someone with his production as a four year starter. Having tested into school after he emigrated at a higher than normal academic level for his age, he comes to the pros at a much younger age than the normal pro player (I think he was a 19 year old senior).

 

As this unprecedented (not to mention the unusual fact he is an emigre from Africa) and the NFL loves to imitate approaches that worked before, the faint of heart may fear making him a top 10 pick.

 

Add to this that teams which did badly want help NOW and the fact he plays in the trenches cuts against him instead of picking a so-called skill position player (he is respected and put up the numbers but no one has him as being a can't miss line prospect like a Bruce or D'Brick (or even a Mike Williams for that matter).

 

He well may drop to us unless he puts up some mutant #s at the Combine or folks are singularly impressed with his interviews.

[BillsVet]

Drafting a DT in Round 1 says a lot about what they think of last season's pick-ups of Tripplett and McCargo.

 

We just don't know about McCargo. He showed flashes last season, but usually I think a guy drafted in the first (not including QB's) should be starting or getting serious PT beginning in Week 1. He didn't and then went down with the same injury that took away a whole season for him in college.

 

Tripplett, we know, cannot dominate a game by himself. He's the type of player who needs another solid guy lined up next to him on the DL to help.

 

One way or another, they need a tandem to play the NT and 3 positions. Drafting a DT in Round 1 will say a lot about last year's additions and prevent Buffalo from addressing their other positions of need.

[Pyrite Gal]

Drafting a DT in Round 1 says a lot about what they think of last season's pick-ups of Tripplett and McCargo.

 

We just don't know about McCargo. He showed flashes last season, but usually I think a guy drafted in the first (not including QB's) should be starting or getting serious PT beginning in Week 1. He didn't and then went down with the same injury that took away a whole season for him in college.

 

Tripplett, we know, cannot dominate a game by himself. He's the type of player who needs another solid guy lined up next to him on the DL to help.

 

One way or another, they need a tandem to play the NT and 3 positions. Drafting a DT in Round 1 will say a lot about last year's additions and prevent Buffalo from addressing their other positions of need.

 

The surprising and far greater than normal production of the second day picks from last year probably inoculates the braintrust from complaints about them blowing the McCargo pick last year.

 

My guess is that improving on the field will be the team's primary drive in making a choice rather than worrying about embarassment for making a DT choice that did not work out.

[Fan in Chicago]

The surprising and far greater than normal production of the second day picks from last year probably inoculates the braintrust from complaints about them blowing the McCargo pick last year.

 

My guess is that improving on the field will be the team's primary drive in making a choice rather than worrying about embarassment for making a DT choice that did not work out.

Well, and succinctly, put.

[DanInSouthBuffalo]

It depends what happens on the off-season with Kelsay and Hargrove, but I can't see a first pick being a defensive lineman if one or both of those guys are back. LB really scares me right now with Fletcher as good as gone and Spikes a big question mark.

 

 

I still think a big WR is needed early in the draft or free-agency because production-wise our WR's really pale in comparison to many other teams.

[obie_wan]

It depends what happens on the off-season with Kelsay and Hargrove, but I can't see a first pick being a defensive lineman if one or both of those guys are back. LB really scares me right now with Fletcher as good as gone and Spikes a big question mark.

I still think a big WR is needed early in the draft or free-agency because production-wise our WR's really pale in comparison to many other teams.

 

WRs are a dime a dozen in the FA market.

 

Bills don't need a #1 draft pick at WR- the bust rate for top draftred WRs is notoriously high.

[scribo]

The name Okoye in Nigerian means “blessed on Sundays.”

[BillsVet]

The surprising and far greater than normal production of the second day picks from last year probably inoculates the braintrust from complaints about them blowing the McCargo pick last year.

 

My guess is that improving on the field will be the team's primary drive in making a choice rather than worrying about embarassment for making a DT choice that did not work out.

 

IMO, it would take the second day selections featuring a Pro-Bowler to divert enough attention from McCargo becoming a bust. First round busts, especially those that come out of left field, will attract plenty of attention onto the GM and front office until they are no longer with the team. It would be a significant blow to management if he doesn't succeed because they've invested so much in him. I know Mike Williams was a #4 overall pick, but that will follow Donohoe for a long time. McCargo would be less against Marv, (who happens to be a HOF coach) but undoubtedly a blow to the front office's big rebuilding plan.

 

McCargo was arguably their most controversial pick. Make no mistake, he was brought in to shore up a poor run defense. I realize McCargo missed the majority of 2006, but if he returns next season and plays poorly, there is no question the front office will be viewed in a more negative fashion over its decision making. They received a free pass from several fans because it was Marv making the picks in 2006. Should one of those high picks fail, they'll be plenty of scorn directed at the front office over who they should have selected. If the team stands a chance of succeeding, a great majority of picks, especially the 1st and 2nd rounders, must start and play well. We won't be signing expensive free agents or holding onto our own stars. Drafting extremely well is our only option.

 

Lastly, I refuse to label the second day picks (Simpson, Ellison, K. Williams, Pennington) as long term starters. While I hope they amount to that and contribute to this team making the playoffs, they still should be regarded as little more than stop-gaps until a better player is acquired. We'll see how talented they are after opponents have seen them for a season.