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I am convinced Buffalo had its best draft in 25 years


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Considering that the Bills are perenially out of the playoffs, I find it amazing that so many Bills fans measure the quality of a given draft simply by the number of starters that come from it. If your drafts result in new starters that never make the playoffs, were your drafts really that good?

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.... I can't remember a draft that has as many potential starters....

Aaron Maybin

Eric Wood

Andy Levitre

Shawn Nelsen

Jarius Byrd

Nic Harris

 

I agree, those 6 rookies could actually all be starting before this season is over. However, that does not make the Bills an automatic playoff team. It makes them a team that might need 6 rookies to start.

 

In today's NFL, every season is a new "era" for all 32 teams. With free agency and the salary cap, teams like the Dolphins go from 1-15-0 to 11-5-0 over one off season! Will Detroit go from 0-16-0 to 9-7-0 over this past off season? Of course nobody thinks so, but who thought Miami would make a 10 game improvement from one season to the next last year? Not me!

 

So if you have a team that has room for 6 rookies to come in and start, what does that say about your personnel?? What does that say about your use of the salary cap and free agency? To me, it says you are not taking advantage of the system. To me, it says you have too many spots on your roster that could be filled by quality veterans re-signed to new contracts already on your team, or filled by quality veteran free agents signed from other teams, that instead need to be filled by high-quality rookies. And those rookies may be as good as you say they are. But they cannot be as good as veterans, and they all need to be super-good for the Bills to make the playoffs this season, while they are rookies.

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Any knowledgeable football fan can understand that you dont draft a guy high in the second round at a position that you plan on moving your high priced SS to when you have other holes that need to be filled

 

this team is still weak at DE and with Schobel a question mark coming back from injury and their overall weak pass rush Everette Brown would have been the better pick and a steal in the second round

 

We can all stop arguing with Max. He obviously loved Everett Brown and will stop at nothing to stroke the mans epeen.

 

Last point Max. They picked up Maybin(who you prolly didnt like because you love Brown so much) and addressed their DL need. They still have Kelsey, Schobel, Ellis and Johnson(plays both DE and DT) and are all costing them alot of money on top of the huge salary your going to have to pay Maybin this year. They obviously thought at least one of three things...

-Either they already have too much money tied up in the DL

-They feel that Byrd was obviously a much better player than Brown

-They feel that Schobel will be back to form, and are content with Kelsey, Ellis and Johnson backing up

 

Please get over the Everett Brown man crush. We didnt draft him.

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Any knowledgeable football fan can understand that you dont draft a guy high in the second round at a position that you plan on moving your high priced SS to when you have other holes that need to be filled

 

this team is still weak at DE and with Schobel a question mark coming back from injury and their overall weak pass rush Everette Brown would have been the better pick and a steal in the second round

 

They probably figured that since they play a lot of defense with three safeties on the field they could use all three at the same time. Also, witht he expectation that Ko Simpson can't play in our defense and will be cut, they needed someone besides George Wilson to play the FS spot. Whitner can basically play nickle corner, SS, or FS, so it's not like one o fthem has too sit - they can both be on the field at the same time. In addition, we have heard time and again that the two safety spots are pretty much interchangeable in this defense. Add to that Byrd's scouting report that says he can take the ball away, but is physical for a guy his size and you could see why they wanted him.

 

I thought they were going to take Brown too and was very surprised at this pick, but th emore I thought about it, the more it made sense to me. We took Maybin at 11 and still have Ellis from last year (as well as the three old guys and Copeland). When you decided not to/couldn't trade Kelsey, then it's tough to take Brown and then have to decide which ones to let walk instead of which one. Also, there is no guarantee that either Brown or Maybin will be able to do anything as rookies, so why take a chance on having two developmental projects. The safety positions seem to be easier to grasp for the more "heady" players right out of college.

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The OL guys will be fine. The draft will come down to whether Maybin and Byrd busts or become legitimate starters. Everyone else is either unproven or a big risk because of a position change - if we can get anything out of those guys besides special teams it is a bonus. Nelson is the wild card - they need to find a way to get him some reps., but it might be in a flanker/split end/WR role. I'm not sure he can be an everydown TE down the line.

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i'm excited but until I see how they play I've gotta go with the Lynch, Poz, Edwards draft. THAT is a trifecta draft. Three years from now is about the time to evaluate this draft. That being said I HOPE this turns out to be the best draft in the history of the franchise.

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Considering that the Bills are perenially out of the playoffs, I find it amazing that so many Bills fans measure the quality of a given draft simply by the number of starters that come from it. If your drafts result in new starters that never make the playoffs, were your drafts really that good?

It is a 'double edged sword'...but I'm more optimistic than you.

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I like the idea of trying two new guards in the same year and hopefully grow with them. But that usually means they will get schooled by a lot of DTs this year and might get it together in 2010.

 

I don't see where Maybin fits in this year. He is a RE, not a LE, which means they probably drafted him to replace Schobel in a year or two. I would try him in Ellison's LB spot, but doubt that works either.

 

I didn't get the pick of Byrd in the second round. Unless Whitner is as bad as I think, Byrd doesn't play much this year either.

 

I also don't see Nelson playing much in-line TE and we already have a lot of wideouts, so he'll only get spot duty in '09.

 

My conclusion is that this MIGHT be a good long-term draft, but won't contribute much of anything this year. Sorry.

 

I don't blame the FO for drafting these guys, but I am too impatient for playoffs to put up with another year of "re-building".

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Any knowledgeable football fan can understand that you dont draft a guy high in the second round at a position that you plan on moving your high priced SS to when you have other holes that need to be filled

 

this team is still weak at DE and with Schobel a question mark coming back from injury and their overall weak pass rush Everette Brown would have been the better pick and a steal in the second round

Maybe the Bills never intended to move Whitner. They only said that to throw people off. Then went out and got arguably one of the best safeties in the draft???? Just a thought.

haveing said that i think Byrd makes the most noticable impact this season. Due to position and need. The oline guys will do good, but will have ups and down. This will be masked some by playing at gaurds. Maybin will start out strong but probably fade a little towards the end of the year, due to the 16 game schedule and playing DE in the pros going against 350lb tackles that are almost as fast as you will wear him down a little. I dont expect too much out of Nelson, while he will probably provide us with some nice catches, he needs to learn how to block better, till he does that he is a liability as an every down TE. Whatever you get from Harris on back is hit or miss. Mostly STs this year and some spot duty if injuries hit.

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Yes I do realize it's too early to rate your drafted players and it might take 3 years to accurately grade the Bills 2009 draft.

 

I have a very long history of being over critical of Buffalo's draft selections, but I can't remember a draft that has as many potential starters.

 

 

Since I have always been so critical of the Bills drafts in the past, I thought I would take the time to congratulate the scouting staff and Russ Brandon for an excellent draft (in my opinion.) Some of these guys will be competing for starting jobs in a month or two.

 

 

Aaron Maybin

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QQfKvO0a_WQ

 

Eric Wood

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bUiQo3obuRU

 

Andy Levitre

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gVwc8OR0NCk

 

Shawn Nelsen

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LSZfPHWF1j8...feature=related

 

Jarius Byrd

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PeML2xdhsDM

 

Nic Harris

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MU6HfVzclbA

Iam waiting to see how these players do in the preseason games.I gota say that for the first time in a long long time that I'll be interested in those games.I think we might have some special players here that could get us to the playoffs sometime in the near future......... I hope. :pirate:

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Considering that the Bills are perenially out of the playoffs, I find it amazing that so many Bills fans measure the quality of a given draft simply by the number of starters that come from it. If your drafts result in new starters that never make the playoffs, were your drafts really that good?

 

Be quiet! You are channeling the B'gals!

 

:pirate:

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Considering that the Bills are perenially out of the playoffs, I find it amazing that so many Bills fans measure the quality of a given draft simply by the number of starters that come from it. If your drafts result in new starters that never make the playoffs, were your drafts really that good?

 

If the player has the talent he will eventually start or be key backup.

 

You certainly can not build a team in free agency or from the waiver wire.

 

I call em as I see em and I believe this draft will be the cornerstone to the playoffs

 

Wait till next year, I will be more then happy to trash the Bills draft (lol)

 

Sorry, not this year!

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If the player has the talent he will eventually start or be key backup.

 

You certainly can not build a team in free agency or from the waiver wire.

 

I call em as I see em and I believe this draft will be the cornerstone to the playoffs

 

Wait till next year, I will be more then happy to trash the Bills draft (lol)

 

Sorry, not this year!

 

I agree, however no matter how things play out this year. I feel that the very same players that you pointed out to start will all be starters by next season. IMO that makes this a pretty darn good draft. Some can say its because they are replacing crap and they are not that good themselves. I disagree. Time will tell. Unfortunately we will not know how great or busty this draft was for at least 2 or 3 years.

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Any knowledgeable football fan can understand that you dont draft a guy high in the second round at a position that you plan on moving your high priced SS to when you have other holes that need to be filled

 

this team is still weak at DE and with Schobel a question mark coming back from injury and their overall weak pass rush Everette Brown would have been the better pick and a steal in the second round

 

#1 How do you know the Bills "planned" on moving Whitner?

 

#2 One more serious off the field arrest and you may not have Whitner very long

 

#3 Why did we draft Trent Edwards, I mean, we already had J.P. Losman and he threw for over 3000 yards? Stupid Bills (lol)

 

Ah, didn't the Bills draft Aaron Maybin to improve the pass rush, Ah, did I miss something here ?

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Hope springs eternal .... I would say this is Buffalo's riskiest draft in years. With risk comes the potential of reward but also downside. If Wood and Levitre do not work out then we are in a very deep hole. Our O-line right now is in shambles it remains to be seen if they can or wil come together as a group.

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agreed

 

these guys could be almost as good as other highly touted premium picks like McCargo, Mike Williams & Hardy :pirate:

 

let's see how they play with pads on before drafting their HOF induction speeches

 

 

:devil::lol: fall out of your cahir laughing funny post. Then again it is sickening.

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