Marv's Cleaning House

[Nanker]

We're about two months ahead of the posts that will ask the compelling question: If The Bills make it to the Playoffs, SuperBowl, etc. How much credit will Marv give to Tom Donahoe?

 

That, and the Draft got me thinking about how many of TD's actual draft picks are still on the team. One can't begin to think about that without thinking that a half a dozen or so of his draft picks that are still on the team now, but - in various degrees of likelihood - they will not be when the old oblong spheroid is tee'd up again come September.

 

 

They are History - and not all by Marv

Likely to be tail lights come March 1st

The Fat Lady’s singing their song, “From Jeer to Eternity”

 

Year No. Round Pick Player Name Position College

 

2006 9 Picks, all signed and not about to go anywhere

2006 1 1 8 8 Donte Whitner DB Ohio State

2006 2 1 26 26 John McCargo DT North Carolina State

2006 3 3 6 70 Ashton Youboty DB Ohio State

2006 4 4 8 105 Ko Simpson DB South Carolina

2006 5 5 1 134 Kyle Williams DT Louisiana State

2006 6 5 10 143 Brad Butler T Virginia

2006 7 6 9 178 Keith Ellison LB Oregon State

2006 8 7 8 216 Terrance Pennington T New Mexico

2006 9 7 40 248 Aaron Merz G California

 

2005 6 Picks, 3 are gone, one is signed and two are about to depart – if there is a better 98.6 to be found – anywhere

2005 1 2 23 55 Roscoe Parrish WR Miami (FL)

2005 2 3 22 86 Kevin Everett TE Miami (FL)

2005 3 4 21 122 Duke Preston C Illinois

2005 4 5 20 156 Eric King DB Wake Forest

2005 5 6 23 197 Justin Geisinger G Vanderbilt

2005 6 7 22 236 Lionel Gates RB Louisville

 

2004 6 Picks, 3 are gone, two are signed and one is about to depart – if there is a God in Heaven

2004 1 1 13 13 Lee Evans WR Wisconsin

2004 2 1 22 22 J.P. Losman QB Tulane

2004 3 3 11 74 Tim Anderson DT Ohio State

2004 4 4 13 109 Tim Euhus TE Oregon State

2004 5 7 6 207 Dylan McFarland T Montana

2004 6 7 13 214 Jonathan Smith RB Georgia Tech

 

2003 8 Picks, 2 are gone, 4 are signed and one is rumored to be departing soon for certain, one is rumored to be departing soon almost as certainly

2003 1 1 23 23 Willis McGahee RB Miami (FL)

2003 2 2 16 48 Chris Kelsay DE Nebraska

2003 3 3 30 94 Angelo Crowell LB Virginia

2003 4 4 14 111 Terrence McGee DB Northwestern State

2003 5 4 30 127 Sam Aiken WR North Carolina

2003 6 5 16 151 Ben Sobieski G Iowa

2003 7 6 14 187 Lauvale Sape DT Utah

2003 8 7 14 228 Mario Haggan LB Mississippi State

 

 

2002 10 Picks, 7 are gone, two are signed and one is about to depart

2002 1 1 4 4 Mike Williams T Texas

2002 2 2 4 36 Josh Reed WR Louisiana State

2002 3 2 29 61 Ryan Denney DE Brigham Young

2002 4 3 32 97 Coy Wire DB Stanford

2002 5 5 4 139 Justin Bannan DT Colorado

2002 6 6 4 176 Kevin Thomas DB UNLV

2002 7 7 4 215 Mike Pucillo G Auburn

2002 8 7 39 250 Rodney Wright WR Fresno State

2002 9 7 41 252 Jarrett Ferguson RB Virginia Tech

2002 10 7 49 260 Dominique Stevenson LB Tennessee

 

 

2001 6 Picks, 4 are gone, one is re-signed and one is about to depart

2001 1 1 21 21 Nate Clements DB Ohio State

2001 2 2 15 46 Aaron Schobel DE Texas Christian

2001 3 2 27 58 Travis Henry RB Tennessee

2001 4 3 14 76 Ron Edwards DT Texas A&M

2001 5 3 33 95 Jonas Jennings T Georgia

2001 6 4 15 110 Brandon Spoon LB North Carolina

 

 

Tom’s Terrific Five Years

2001 of 6 picks one is left standing

2002 of 10 picks 2 are likely to remain through training camp

2003 of 8 picks only 4 will be left with the team for certain – possibly 6 if Willis can keep it in his pants and his mind on his cleats

2004 of 6 picks, three are outta here and hopefully one more will be on his way very soon

2005 of 6 picks, three are no longer employed by The Buffalo Bills and it’s no stretch to think Kevin Everett and Duke Preston could be living in another state by June 1.

TD Totals:

36 picks and (potentially) 9 will be on this year’s squad = 25%. Possibly four more if the greenies stick around for another year. We’ll be singing the blues about two of the other three UFAs.

[DrDawkinstein]

dont you remember the whole "marv is being brought in to bring back the high character players/attitude that has been missing for so long" thing?

 

yeah...

 

he has to clean house to get rid of all the garbage "sexy" picks that Donohoe brought in to trick people into buying tickets.

[Nanker]

dont you remember the whole "marv is being brought in to bring back the high character players/attitude that has been missing for so long" thing?

 

yeah...

 

he has to clean house to get rid of all the garbage "sexy" picks that Donohoe brought in to trick people into buying tickets.

 

Well, a certain amount of turn over is expected - especially when a new HC and/or GM is hired on to run the show.

But I remember the blood bath that TD put the last Bills squad to make the Playoffs and he seemed determined to purge out all players that he didn't find and sign. The only older Bill he re-signed was Eric Moulds and he finally showed his true colors at the end of the previous season. Marv rightly showed him the door, IMO.

 

I think we're seeing a very deliberate rebuild of the team. In spite of the fact that the front office has essentially said they're not going after high profile FAs, they might be able to stock some decent talent there - but everyone's got a ton of cash this off season. So, I expect the greater pool of talent will come from the Draft. So far all of Marv's guys are on the team. Only 1 in 4 of TD's are.

[JStranger76]

Lee Evans, Kelsay, and Schobel seem to be high character guys, so TD did draft well at times. Still glad he's gone though!!!!!!!!!!

[DrDawkinstein]

Lee Evans, Kelsay, and Schobel seem to be high character guys, so TD did draft well at times. Still glad he's gone though!!!!!!!!!!

 

 

i think those FEW cases were more luck than brains on TD's part. and im confident that Marv can recognize those few lucky picks and keep them around.

[AJ1]

i think those FEW cases were more luck than brains on TD's part. and im confident that Marv can recognize those few lucky picks and keep them around.

 

If Donahoe wasn't the Prince of Darkness, he certainly was a strong contender for the title. What an immense POS he turned out to be.

[Dr. Trooth]

[Lee Evans, Kelsay, and Schobel seem to be high character guys, so TD did draft well at times./quote]

 

Blind squirrels have been known to find a nut or two.

[JStranger76]

I said I'm glad he is gone! It's gonna be OK.............

[Typical TBD Guy]

 

One minor correction: you forgot the last 6 picks in 2001 (none of whom are still on the team).

 

So Tommy Boy had a total of 42 draft picks. This past season, 17 were on the roster. I expect McGahee, Everett, Anderson, and Clements to be gone. The rest (including Kelsay) will probably stay, so that leaves:

 

Schobel, Reed, Denney, Wire, Kelsay, Crowell, McGee, Aiken, Haggan, Losman, Evans, Parrish, Preston

 

As for TD's free agents, I expect Fletcher-Baker, TKO, Stamer, Neufeld, Williams, Shelton, Villarial, Holcomb, and Gandy to be gone by this August. So that would leave:

 

Moorman, Lindell, Peters, Greer, Schneck, Cieslak, Leonhard

 

Under these assumptions of mine, the 2007 roster would only have 20 of TD's players remaining (13 draft picks, 7 free agents).

 

Make of that what you will...

[Miyagi-Do Karate]

I am very pleased with TD's drafts, especially his first one. Mike Williams was also the smart pick at the time, but busted, to everyone's surprise.

 

The problem with TD was his poor choices in head coaches. If he had hired Marvin Lewis or John Fox, he probably would still be here.

[DrDawkinstein]

I said I'm glad he is gone! It's gonna be OK.............

 

 

lol, i wasnt OPPOSING you, just agreeing and adding on a comment...

[Dr. Trooth]

but - in various degrees of likelihood - they will not be when the old oblong spheroid is tee'd up again come September.

 

Good research... and putting a good snapshot together. I don't know of any other Bills draft (2006) in which all draft picks made the team and were active for at least two or three games.

 

When 2008 kicks off, I would not be surprised to see that list of Donhoe's boys get pared down to 4... or even 3.

 

The one thing different from this regime over the last one... they don't sugarcoat it. It seemed the last regime tried to present the team each year as it was making a run at the SB. That filled the seats, and heightened expectations. No wonder that regime got sniped at so much. Right now, this regime may get sniped at, but only from people who have unreasonable expectations. This year's team may be better, but it might not be reflected in the W/L record. But, in 2008, if we don't hit 10 or 11 wins, the fans are going to be disappointed and they will turn on this regime in a big way.

[Simon]

dont you remember the whole "marv is being brought in to bring back the high character players/attitude that has been missing for so long" thing?

 

yeah...

 

he has to clean house to get rid of all the garbage "sexy" picks that Donohoe brought in to trick people into buying tickets.

So he's getting rid of Tim Anderson, a truly sexy pick.

And he's getting rid of Nate Clements, yeah, there's a real garbage pick.

If he had hired Marvin Lewis or John Fox, he probably would still be here.

So how'd those guys do this year with those stacked rosters?

Lee Evans, Kelsay, and Schobel seem to be high character guys,

You might want to add:

Losman

Crowell

Denney

McGee

Coy Wire

Clements

Aiken

Preston

etc.

[BillsVet]

Good research... and putting a good snapshot together. I don't know of any other Bills draft (2006) in which all draft picks made the team and were active for at least two or three games.

 

When 2008 kicks off, I would not be surprised to see that list of Donhoe's boys get pared down to 4... or even 3.

 

The one thing different from this regime over the last one... they don't sugarcoat it. It seemed the last regime tried to present the team each year as it was making a run at the SB. That filled the seats, and heightened expectations. No wonder that regime got sniped at so much. Right now, this regime may get sniped at, but only from people who have unreasonable expectations. This year's team may be better, but it might not be reflected in the W/L record. But, in 2008, if we don't hit 10 or 11 wins, the fans are going to be disappointed and they will turn on this regime in a big way.

 

 

There is no doubt in my mind 06 picks like Aaron Merz made the team because we were so thin on O-Lineman. I remember reading around camp time that he would be a longshot to make the roster. This is a glass half empty/half full type thing, but I say some of those picks made it into the regular season because Buffalo was so devoid of talent. Why else would Marv and Dick get 10 UFA's in here?

 

Furthermore, you've got to believe some of these 2006 picks will be depth players again. Not all of them are going to be starters or even backups. When Marv mentioned Merz in the state of the Bills PC, I was shocked. I hope we're not relying on these guys to be starters.

 

Buffalo may not sugarcoat anything, but they're not giving us much to get fans excited. TD was a pompous jerk at times. And he didn't succeed by being that way and making the high profile pick. But being nice and making the safe pick might not work either. The front office aims to get as many bodies in there and see if they can find a diamond in the rough.

 

Bottom line, it's only 7 years and counting with the playoffs. Perhaps they think waiting another season (2008) isn't too much to ask.

[Ramius]

No way preston is gone. Even tho he may not be a top flight starter, he's still important for depth. Theres no reason to get rid of a decent depth guy just to bring in someone you HOPE will be better.

 

steinbach, dielhman, etc are better than preston, but drop preston to a backup role, DO NOT release him.

[ganesh]

 

One minor correction: you forgot the last 6 picks in 2001 (none of whom are still on the team).

 

So Tommy Boy had a total of 42 draft picks. This past season, 17 were on the roster. I expect McGahee, Everett, Anderson, and Clements to be gone. The rest (including Kelsay) will probably stay, so that leaves:

 

Schobel, Reed, Denney, Wire, Kelsay, Crowell, McGee, Aiken, Haggan, Losman, Evans, Parrish, Preston

 

As for TD's free agents, I expect Fletcher-Baker, TKO, Stamer, Neufeld, Williams, Shelton, Villarial, Holcomb, and Gandy to be gone by this August. So that would leave:

 

Moorman, Lindell, Peters, Greer, Schneck, Cieslak, Leonhard

 

Under these assumptions of mine, the 2007 roster would only have 20 of TD's players remaining (13 draft picks, 7 free agents).

 

Make of that what you will...

 

What is interesting is the guys who are still with the team from the TD era are mainly ST players or backups, other than Evans, Losman and Schobel. That is just 3 starters from 5 drafts.....

[Beerball]

2002 1 1 4 4 Mike Williams T Texas

Still hard to imagine him getting any playing time in Tampa.

[generaLee83]

Nanker, love your posts, this one is very demonstrative of your point.

 

Gotta say though, your mastery of colored text is gonna get you nominated for poster of the year.

[generaLee83]

Still hard to imagine him getting any playing time in Tampa.

 

 

lol, please revive that old thread please!!!

[2003Contenders]

I am very pleased with TD's drafts, especially his first one. Mike Williams was also the smart pick at the time, but busted, to everyone's surprise.

 

The problem with TD was his poor choices in head coaches. If he had hired Marvin Lewis or John Fox, he probably would still be here.

 

 

I kinda agree with you here.

 

With that said, I also think that there was a bit of arrogance on the part of TD, where he decided to make risky picks to wow everyone, rather than doing what may have been the smart thing at the time. I've never beat him up for taking Mike Williams, because I thought he was a good/safe pick at the time. However, when he drafted Willis, I was upset, because I felt at the time that -- even if Willis played as well as hoped -- the risk simply was NOT worth the reward, given the holes we had elsewhere. With Henry on hand, there was simply no compelling reason to make that move. Of course, I also did not like the Roscoe pick in 2005; although he actually showed some promise last season.