bbfan54 Posted December 24, 2008 Share Posted December 24, 2008 Looking at the drafts of the short Levy era it looks like the bills under Levy were no better at talent evaluation. Donte Whitner Ohio State - Bad value for this pick John McCargo NC State - complete bust Ashton Youboty Ohio State - Average Ko Simpson South Carolina - Ok value for backup player Kyle Williams LSU - Good value here but still average player at best Brad Butler Virginia - Good value Keith Ellison Oregon St. - Decent value but below average starter Terrance Pennington New Mexico - Can't fault for missing 7th rounder Aaron Merz - Can't fault for missing 7th rounder Marshawn Lynch California - Poor value below averge starting RB (the easiest position to fill) Paul Posluszny Penn St. - Average player at best Trent Edwards Stanford - Decent value but will probably be marginal starter at best would be good backup Dwayne Wright Fresno St. - bust John Wendling Wyoming - bust (reminds me of Leif Larsen pick, has great physical attributes but not a real player) TE Derek Schouman Boise St. - Ok pick for this late DE C.J. Ah You Oklahoma - Can't fault for missing 7th rounder Moreover, the free agent signings of Dockery and Walker have not produced much for the amount paid. Overall a good GM has to find at least a one or two above average players in every draft and Levy did not do that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PistolPeaTear Posted December 24, 2008 Share Posted December 24, 2008 haha marshawn a below average starting RB, i needed a good laugh today. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkyMannn Posted December 24, 2008 Share Posted December 24, 2008 Looking at the drafts of the short Levy era it looks like the bills under Levy were no better at talent evaluation. Donte Whitner Ohio State - Bad value for this pick John McCargo NC State - complete bust Ashton Youboty Ohio State - Average Ko Simpson South Carolina - Ok value for backup player Kyle Williams LSU - Good value here but still average player at best Brad Butler Virginia - Good value Keith Ellison Oregon St. - Decent value but below average starter Terrance Pennington New Mexico - Can't fault for missing 7th rounder Aaron Merz - Can't fault for missing 7th rounder Marshawn Lynch California - Poor value below averge starting RB (the easiest position to fill) Paul Posluszny Penn St. - Average player at best Trent Edwards Stanford - Decent value but will probably be marginal starter at best would be good backup Dwayne Wright Fresno St. - bust John Wendling Wyoming - bust (reminds me of Leif Larsen pick, has great physical attributes but not a real player) TE Derek Schouman Boise St. - Ok pick for this late DE C.J. Ah You Oklahoma - Can't fault for missing 7th rounder Moreover, the free agent signings of Dockery and Walker have not produced much for the amount paid. Overall a good GM has to find at least a one or two above average players in every draft and Levy did not do that. Quickly: Ashton Youboty Ohio State - incomplete bust Marshawn Lynch - They scored with this one Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bbfan54 Posted December 24, 2008 Author Share Posted December 24, 2008 Better Starting RBs (no particular order for any groups) 1. Adrian Peterson 2. Michael Turner 3. Clinton Portis 4. DeAngelo Williams 5. Steve Slaton 6. Brandon Jacobs 7. LaDainian Tomlinson 8. Frank Gore 9. Brian Westbrook 10. Steven Jackson 11. Marion Barber 12. Larry Johnson At Marshawn's Level Thomas Jones Chris Johnson Matt Forte Ryan Grant Ronnie Brown Slightly lower than Marshawn Derrick Ward Jamal Lewis Kevin Smith Justin Fargas Le'Ron McClain Jonathan Stewart Warrick Dunn LenDale White Maurice Jones-Drew Average starting RB would be the 16th best running back considering there are 32 teams. Given that at best he is slightly above average but not top 10 and definitely not top 5. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fewell733 Posted December 24, 2008 Share Posted December 24, 2008 1st - you haven't even compared Levy's drafts to any of Donahoe's. How can you see he's not any better if you don't compare and contrast the picks made. 2nd - Donahoe's worthlessness stretched far deeper than the draft - refusing to resign Pat Williams at a below market deal was the ultimate show of incompetence - trading a boatload to picks for Losman, trading a 1st for Bledsoe, never investing inoffensive linemen in FA even though it was a glaring problem year after year (Bennie Anderson anyone - he's worse than our worst lineman today by several magnitudes) plus he was basically at war with the fans and media in the final years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ray Posted December 25, 2008 Share Posted December 25, 2008 Getting rid of Pat Williams and Ted Washington. Hiring GW and MM. JP and McGahee with 1st round picks as well as Mike Williams......I really do not fault Donahoe for that as most people thought he would be a great OT for a decade. Trent, Lynch and Poz could still turn out to be a great draft. Marv was there for two yrs. He was brought in to bring more credibility and respect to the organization. He did that and brought in a group of players that can be a strong core for years to come. Donahoe did bring in some good players.....I just think he really over thought things and tried to be too cute. But you cannot fault him for bringing in Spikes, Milloy or Bledsoe. I think almost everyone agreed with those at the time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BLZFAN4LIFE Posted December 25, 2008 Share Posted December 25, 2008 Overall, I agree with your post. The Whitner pick was puzzling when it was made and trading up to get McCargo was devastating. However, Lynch a poor value, below average back? Hell no! This kid has got heart and I would love to have a roster of 53 guys with his attitude and dedication. His stats don't reflect well, IMO, because of poor run blocking, the O's inability to stretch the D, and his low carries per game. But I love the way he approaches and plays the game. I don't think I've ever seen a back that works so hard to get 3 yards the way that ML does. The one knock that I will go along with is that he doesn't have great hands. Coming out of college, I thought he was supposed to be a dual threat, but IMO, receiving is not a strong point. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dawgg Posted December 25, 2008 Share Posted December 25, 2008 Better Starting RBs (no particular order for any groups) 1. Adrian Peterson 2. Michael Turner 3. Clinton Portis 4. DeAngelo Williams 5. Steve Slaton 6. Brandon Jacobs 7. LaDainian Tomlinson 8. Frank Gore 9. Brian Westbrook 10. Steven Jackson 11. Marion Barber 12. Larry Johnson At Marshawn's Level Thomas Jones Chris Johnson Matt Forte Ryan Grant Ronnie Brown Slightly lower than Marshawn Derrick Ward Jamal Lewis Kevin Smith Justin Fargas Le'Ron McClain Jonathan Stewart Warrick Dunn LenDale White Maurice Jones-Drew Average starting RB would be the 16th best running back considering there are 32 teams. Given that at best he is slightly above average but not top 10 and definitely not top 5. I'd put Chris Johnson in the higher category. That dude is SICK. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bbb Posted December 25, 2008 Share Posted December 25, 2008 From what I've heard Marv was nothing more than a figurehead, and really was not calling the shots as GM. I kind of suspected taht all along, and I think that's why he quit Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thurman#1 Posted December 25, 2008 Share Posted December 25, 2008 Evaluating a draft after two years just doesn't work, guys are still in their "growth spurt." It's too early to judge last year's draft, but the partial evaluation would be pretty good. It is way way way too early to judge Trent and your evaluation of Marshawn casts serious doubt on your viewpoint. Marshawn is very very good. Marv's first draft was acceptable, not very good, but acceptable.We've seen them for three years now (minus one game), and it's legit to judge. The first round he paid Maserati money and got a Mercedes. Not good value, but a solid player. A Mercedes isn't a bad car to have in the garage. The second was horrible, apparently. But Youboty in the third looks to be a very nice pickup though I wouldn't have said so if you'd asked last year., bad the next two picks and excellent the next three. Overall not very good. But not horrendous. Simpson was OK, but Williams was good value and will probably be with us doing a good job for years. Butler looks to have been one of the best values that any team had in that draft. When he returned this year after his injury the o-line was immediately better, with a nastier personality. Bottom line. Too early to judge his whole legacy, but looks above average and if Trent pans out, could be excellent. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thurman#1 Posted December 25, 2008 Share Posted December 25, 2008 Given that at best he is slightly above average but not top 10 and definitely not top 5. The o-line is dragging his apparent value down. He would be top ten easily with a good o-line. Assuming we pick up a good center this year, expect big improvement next year. Haven't liked how Marshawn handled his run-in with the law, or his run-ins with the press this year. Poorly judged, and irresponsible respectively. He has hurt himself in both cases. But on the field, the guy has been terrific. He just got picked as a Pro Bowl alternate. He's not average. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billsfreak Posted December 26, 2008 Share Posted December 26, 2008 Does Levy owe you money or something or are you smoking something? What about Donahues drafts? Let's see McGahee or Lynch-no comparison, Lynch anyday. Losman or Edwards, at this point, no question-Edwards anyday-especially considering they gave up half of a years draft for the right to pick Losman. That trade to Dallas comes in second only to the Herschel Walker trade as the best in Cowboy history. Lynch below average? What is average-if going over 1,000 yards each of first two season is below average. The Whitner pick was surprising when it happened, but he is one of the better safeties in the AFC, just a notch below Pro Bowl. How about the pick of Mike Williams, maybe the biggest bust in Bills history. Look at last years draft alone, we have at least 3 starters from one draft in Lynch, Edwards and Posluzny, all will be here awhile. Anytime you can do that, the draft is a major success. The Bills haven't been able to stop the run since they left Pat Williams go, and there was probably no player in recent memory who wanted to stay in Buffalo as much as he did. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VJ91 Posted December 26, 2008 Share Posted December 26, 2008 Looking at the drafts of the short Levy era it looks like the bills under Levy were no better at talent evaluation. Marv Levy only slightly better then who?....Phil Donahue? Or could you be talking about Tom Donahoe? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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