Crowell - not a MLB

[keepthefaith]

I dont think Crowell is the choice for MLB on this team. I think we will see Spikes stay with the team and return to MLB to replace London. Thats where he started. Thats what he was good at, among other things. We moved him to OLB I think when we signed him, didn't we?

 

Regardless, I think Takeo can still play at a high enough level to take over the MLB spot for a year or two until we can groom or find a replacement. Whether we draft one this year or next,or sign a FA MLB next year, I think Takeo is the man for this year.

 

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/football/...players/15.html

 

Regardless of where Crowell plays in '07, the Bills need to add an impact player at LB. Not a position of strength on this team now.

[Sketch Soland]

Not to mention the irony that goes missing daily.

 

Not to mention the wankers that are out of their depth.

[ExWNYer]

Listen kid, i hate to burst your bubble, but it looks like Lynch in round 1.

Not without a trade down. Next.

 

 

 

I was called a "dick" by a newbie.

That's rude. He should have had the common decency to formally address you as "Richard".

[The Dean]

That's rude. He should have had the common decency to formally address you as "Richard".

 

THAT'S where I fu#ked up. My comeback should have been something like: "You don't know me! Don't talk to me like you know me, B word!"

 

What WAS I thinking. I'm ready for next time, though. Thanks.

[BuffaloBilliever]

Rank Rating Name Yr Ht/Wt/40 College Home

OLB 1 Boss Bailey SR 6-4/218/- Georgia Folkston, GA

OLB 2 Nick Barnett SR 6-2/221/4.50 Oregon State Fontana, CA

OLB 3 Chaun Thompson SR 6-2/210/- West Texas A&M Mount Pleasant, TX

OLB 4 Antwan Peek SR 6-2/245/- Cincinnati Cincinnati, OH

OLB 5 Shurron Pierson JR 6-3/240/- South Florida Wildwood, FL

OLB 6 Cie Grant SR 6-2/220/- Ohio State New Philadelphia, OH

OLB 7 Pisa Tinoisamoa SR 6-0/222/- Hawaii Vista, CA

OLB 8 Lance Briggs SR 6-1/230/- Arizona Elk Grove, CA

OLB 9 Angelo Crowell SR 6-1/235/- Virginia Winston Salem, NC

 

Total proof that these "rankings" mean absolutely nothing.

 

Who the hell is Chaen Thompson? Let alone Shurron Pierson and Cie Grant.

 

Boss Bailey is a scrub, Peek is a scrub, and Briggs/Tinoisamoa/Crowell put up huge numbers?

 

This is why I hate draft talk.

[VABills]

Rank Rating Name Yr Ht/Wt/40 College Home

OLB 1 Boss Bailey SR 6-4/218/- Georgia Folkston, GA

OLB 2 Nick Barnett SR 6-2/221/4.50 Oregon State Fontana, CA

OLB 3 Chaun Thompson SR 6-2/210/- West Texas A&M Mount Pleasant, TX

OLB 4 Antwan Peek SR 6-2/245/- Cincinnati Cincinnati, OH

OLB 5 Shurron Pierson JR 6-3/240/- South Florida Wildwood, FL

OLB 6 Cie Grant SR 6-2/220/- Ohio State New Philadelphia, OH

OLB 7 Pisa Tinoisamoa SR 6-0/222/- Hawaii Vista, CA

OLB 8 Lance Briggs SR 6-1/230/- Arizona Elk Grove, CA

OLB 9 Angelo Crowell SR 6-1/235/- Virginia Winston Salem, NC

 

Total proof that these "rankings" mean absolutely nothing.

 

Who the hell is Chaen Thompson? Let alone Shurron Pierson and Cie Grant.

 

Boss Bailey is a scrub, Peek is a scrub, and Briggs/Tinoisamoa/Crowell put up huge numbers?

 

This is why I hate draft talk.

 

Thompson plays for Cleveland and has put up okay numbers as a part time starter.

 

But stats don't tell the whole story. Crow isn't a very good backer, and I seriously don't he starts in the middle. In fact, before Fletch left I wouldn't have been surprised if he was a nickle backer by next year. He still maybe, he is too light in the seat, has issues getting off blocks, and takes bad angles. He does have good pass coverage skills, good speed however.

[Zona]

Regardless of where Crowell plays in '07, the Bills need to add an impact player at LB. Not a position of strength on this team now.

 

I think the LB position is good enough to NOT spend a 1st round pick on it. 2nd or 3rd-fine, but we dont need Willis. I would rather take a RB, DT, CB, or even OT before a LB.

[obie_wan]

From that article:

"Comes off the edge with explosion as a pass rusher and can blast his way up the middle to track down the ball … Can play any linebacker position, but his hand usage, run pursuit and zone drops are better suited for the middle …"

 

 

sorry I missed all the fun.

 

 

Also from that article- Under the negatives

 

More of a grabber than a classic wrapup tackler, allowing ball carriers to slip off his initial hit at times … Needs to step up and plug the holes at the line of scrimmage, as he seems a little slow to scrape downhill … Little undersized for the next level … Better suited for a defensive system that will allow him to cover up, read and move, rather than one that relies upon him to step up and plug holes at the line.

 

Notice that his weakness is in attacking the line of scrimmage - which is the opposite of what Jauron is lookig for in his MLB.

 

Since he has started all those games at MLB, I would be real concerned why he was being listed as a an OLB at the NFL level. Maybe because his actual college performance indicated he was not suited to be a MLB.

 

Crowell may be the stop gap in 2007, but he is not the long term answer.

 

Bills need to draft a stud MLB.

[Pyrite Gal]

sorry I missed all the fun.

Also from that article- Under the negatives

 

More of a grabber than a classic wrapup tackler, allowing ball carriers to slip off his initial hit at times … Needs to step up and plug the holes at the line of scrimmage, as he seems a little slow to scrape downhill … Little undersized for the next level … Better suited for a defensive system that will allow him to cover up, read and move, rather than one that relies upon him to step up and plug holes at the line.

 

Notice that his weakness is in attacking the line of scrimmage - which is the opposite of what Jauron is lookig for in his MLB.

 

Since he has started all those games at MLB, I would be real concerned why he was being listed as a an OLB at the NFL level. Maybe because his actual college performance indicated he was not suited to be a MLB.

 

Crowell may be the stop gap in 2007, but he is not the long term answer.

 

Bills need to draft a stud MLB.

 

I think that folks can easily accept the scouting reports of what Crowell could offer and what he needed to work on when he was drafted back in 2003 and then use these as only mere indicators which have little value compared to what they actually have seen in his performance as an NFL player.

 

The simple facts remain that his college scouting is a mere faint indicator compared to the facts that:

 

1. He began his career as a Bills on the depth charts as an MLB learning the position and the signal calling behind London Fletcher.

2. He did see some substantial time in pre-season for the Bills at the MLB position.

3. When TKO went down, the Bills went off the depth chart and moved Crowell into his slot to start because the coaches viewed him as our best LB. He did not disappoint Bills fans who generally felt though he was no TKO he filled in admirably.

4. This was demonstrated last season as when TKO came back, Crowell kept the WLB position.

5. His stats and accomplishments the last two season as a starter have demonstrated that he can be one the leading tacklers on the Bills, but also one of the team leaders in getting INTs and also he has recorded a significant number of sacks from the LB position. His 3 sacks as a fill-in starter in 05 and 2 sacks before he was IR'ed last year compare favorably with what Fletcher produced for the whole season at MLB and provide some indication that he may have the attacking style the Bills want. His 2 INTs in last year's truncated season show he may well have the pass coverage skills we need from our MLB as well.

 

If this was easy and obvious then it would not be worth talking about. However, there are far more indications that Marv was correct to talk about Crowell being able to occupy the MLB spot than the hope and dream that rookie Wills can do it.

[BillsVet]

It's simply wishful thinking that Buffalo's LB Corps will be able to make tackles and "attack" the LOS. I hope he can make the conversion, but MLB is simply the most complicated position to play in the Cover-2. Just hoping and praying he can do it isn't enough to me. I think physically he can play the position, but should he move to the middle, Ellison (at this point) becomes the WLB. And despite what some say, I believe Spikes will be served his walking papers.

 

Should Spikes remain, we're still unsure how Ellison can perform as a starter for a 16 game season. After Ellison, Spikes, and Crowell, our LB's are extremely weak. When your options after the starters are Mario Haggan, Coy Wire, Josh Stamer, Roy Manning, and John DiGiorgio, you'd better hope no one gets hurt.

 

The Bills have no margin for error at LB. Crowell must make the conversion, or Donte Whitner might make more tackles than he did last season.

[The Dean]

It's simply wishful thinking that Buffalo's LB Corps will be able to make tackles and "attack" the LOS. I hope he can make the conversion, but MLB is simply the most complicated position to play in the Cover-2. Just hoping and praying he can do it isn't enough to me. I think physically he can play the position, but should he move to the middle, Ellison (at this point) becomes the WLB. And despite what some say, I believe Spikes will be served his walking papers.

 

Should Spikes remain, we're still unsure how Ellison can perform as a starter for a 16 game season. After Ellison, Spikes, and Crowell, our LB's are extremely weak. When your options after the starters are Mario Haggan, Coy Wire, Josh Stamer, Roy Manning, and John DiGiorgio, you'd better hope no one gets hurt.

 

The Bills have no margin for error at LB. Crowell must make the conversion, or Donte Whitner might make more tackles than he did last season.

 

 

I think there is little doubt the Bills need to draft/add LBs. The question here, I think, was can Crowell plug the hole. Even if they draft Willis, a good option, IMO, it's likely that Crowell will start the season at the position while Willis learns. That is, of course, if Spikes stays. If not, all bets are off.

[BillsVet]

I think there is little doubt the Bills need to draft/add LBs. The question here, I think, was can Crowell plug the hole. Even if they draft Willis, a good option, IMO, it's likely that Crowell will start the season at the position while Willis learns. That is, of course, if Spikes stays. If not, all bets are off.

 

I would tend to agree with this assessment. Patrick Willis seems like a great pick, though 12 may be high. LB is a position of need because after Crowell, the talent drops off dramatically. We hope Spikes can return to near what he was like pre-injury and Ellison is still young. After that we have very little but UDFA's and late round picks. LB is a definite position of need.

 

IMO Buffalo is looking for their 1st Rounder to start this season. They simply have a need for new talent at certain positions, including LB. It's still so far off though.

[obie_wan]

I would tend to agree with this assessment. Patrick Willis seems like a great pick, though 12 may be high. LB is a position of need because after Crowell, the talent drops off dramatically. We hope Spikes can return to near what he was like pre-injury and Ellison is still young. After that we have very little but UDFA's and late round picks. LB is a definite position of need.

 

IMO Buffalo is looking for their 1st Rounder to start this season. They simply have a need for new talent at certain positions, including LB. It's still so far off though.

 

 

SF will probably take Willis at @11, based on their in depth evaluation of him as coaches for the Senior Bowl.

 

Okoye will go in the top 10 and Branch will probably fall to the Bills.

 

They may consider reaching for Timmons at his point or may seriously consider Lynch since they can get cover-2 CBs in round 3.

 

Hopefully someone really wants Branch and the Bills can trade down.

[THE GASH STATION]

THAT'S where I fu#ked up. My comeback should have been something like: "You don't know me! Don't talk to me like you know me, B word!"

 

What WAS I thinking. I'm ready for next time, though. Thanks.

 

Wasn't me but you are still a dick.

[John from Riverside]

Its going to be interesting to see how this all plays out.....

 

 

To me the bottom line is this draft has players in it that can help the bills and help them immediately....

 

I still think the bills are going to be much better then some think.....we need to have a couple of things happen:

 

- McCargo needs to come back strong and play well enough to be part of the main tandem......people tend to forget WHY we drafted him....he was supposed be a good run guy with a very good 1st step quickness....

 

- We need for Losman to continue to get better....he got a heck of a lot better last year but he needs to continue

 

- We need for our new O linemen to come in and solidify our run blocking so we can control the game (like we could not last year)

 

 

I am excited to see what this team looks like next year.

 

I still

[BillsFanM.D.]

I was called a "dick" by a newbie.

Link? (sorry..I couldn't resist) By the way, I spit soda on my screen when I read your post. Truly LOL.

[The Dean]

Wasn't me but you are still a dick.

 

 

Well, duh.

[MadBuffaloDisease]

This is a guy I was tipped-off to on the BB.com board:

 

http://www.nfldraftscout.com/ratings/nflco....php?pyid=61357

 

I think the Bills take him early 3rd.

[The Dean]

Link? (sorry..I couldn't resist) By the way, I spit soda on my screen when I read your post. Truly LOL.

 

 

Not just a dick, mind you. "The biggest dick on the board" (That's probably not an exact quote, as I think I spelled all of the words right and used proper punctuation.)

 

Here's the link (it's the 4th post, I think):

 

http://www.stadiumwall.com/index.php?showtopic=61574

 

I don't mind being called a huge dick, really. I just prefer if it comes packaged with SOME humor or wit.

[ExWNYer]

Not just a dick, mind you. "The biggest dick on the board" (That's probably not an exact quote, as I think I spelled all of the words right and used proper punctuation.)

 

Here's the link (it's the 4th post, I think):

 

http://www.stadiumwall.com/index.php?showtopic=61574

 

I don't mind being called a huge dick, really. I just prefer if it comes packaged with SOME humor or wit.

 

Isn't it obvious, Dean? "Yasin's BILLS" is obviously the pseudonym of Mike Schopp. I can't believe it never dawned on you. Man, sometimes you can really be a huge dick.