1 year ago

[patmoran2006]

Around this time last year.

Who was everyone campaigning for the Bills to take with that 8th pick in the draft? Whether the play had a good rookie or season or not, do you remember?

I do...

I was on a HUGE Vernon Davis kick last year. I thought and I still do think he'll not only be the best TE in the NFL soon, but one of if not the best player in the league, period.

I also pretty much knew SF would take him at 6.. So when it came to the 8th pick, the majority of my arguements centered on us taking either Michael Huff or Broderik Bunkley... At the time, I bought into that system crap so wasn't high on Ngata.

[Jersey1031]

I wanted Huff badly and was extremely pissed when Oakland took him at 7...

[Earthquake Enyart]

I wanted Leinhart.

[wbat27]

vernon davis, still wish it was possible. Imagine that demension added to are offense

[Jersey1031]

I wanted Leinhart.


I honestly thought we were going to draft Leinart since J.P. had not progressed yet, and J.P. is Donahoe draftee not Marv's...

[BILLSROCK1212]

i wanted Brodrick Bunkley.....i feel like a total idiot now

[THATHURMANATOR]

I was cool with Davis/Bunkley/Ngata/Huff. I was angry with the Whitner pick at the time.

[Mr. Miyagi]

I was cool with Davis/Bunkley/Ngata/Huff. I was angry with the Whitner pick at the time.
Me too. I wanted Ngata, and was completely floored when they picked Whitner. I was like "WHO THE F*** IS THAT??? THEY F***ED IT ALL UP!!!"

[Mr. Miyagi]

Since then I'm a devoted believer of Marv. :up:

[Ron Burgundy]

I wanted Leinart.

Me too.

[RockStar36]

I can't remember. I wasn't to big on Ngata though.

I remember watching the Whitner pick live at work and almost falling over backwards when they announced it. I didn't even know who Donte Witner was.

[justasportsfan]

I wanted Davis or Hawk. Didn't have any feelings towards the Whitner pick because I didn't know who he was.

[patmoran2006]

I had whitner going to Miami in my final mock draft with the 16h pick... I remember talking about him as a guy worth trading down for and picking up an extra second.

[Romes]

Me too. I wanted Ngata, and was completely floored when they picked Whitner. I was like "WHO THE F*** IS THAT??? THEY F***ED IT ALL UP!!!"

I shared those feelings. I think my quote was something like "WHAT THE F***! A SAFETY! WHAT ARE YOU DOING MARV?!"

[Mr. Miyagi]

Yeah I was really, really pissed. :mad:

I wonder if this year poor us will once again be confused by the mysterious ways in which Marv works.

We'll be like, "WHAT THE F***??? A FULLBACK???" :ill:

[W1DER1GHT]

When Lienart fell to us at 8 I thought we'd take him for sure. Then Paul said " With the 8th pick in the 2006 NFL Draft the Buffalo Bills select Donte Whitner - Safety - Ohio State." I was going crazy, WTF are they thinking, who the heck is Donte Whitner...then came McCargo........:cuss:

One year later, I have to say Whitner is a solid player, and who knows about McCargo. I have a lot more faith in Marv than I did last year, he seems to have an idea for this franchise, and he's not afraid to make the tough choices to make this team good in the future.

For the record,I wanted either Ngata, to clog up the middle, or D'brickashaw, to anchor our line.

[Tatonka]

i wanted Brodrick Bunkley.....i feel like a total idiot now

bro, almost all of us wanted him.. pat included..

just goes to show that NO ONE is a sure thing.. at this point, i wouldnt even trade kyle williams for bunkley.

the draft is a crap shoot.. you can get studs in the second day.. and garbage on the first day just as easily as the opposite happens.

[The Answer]

The Answer is thankful that Marv didn't take Broderick Bustley - so maybe he knows what he's doing after all.

~The Answer

[Tatonka]

i was actually high on mccargo.. i stated on more than a few occassions that i wanted the guy after i heard an interview with both DEs from NC State said that even though they are considered higher draft picks, mccargo was the best player on the D line.

i cant lie though.. when we picked whitner, i wanted to puke.. i was having people over for the draft, and i was cooking on the grill with the door open watching.. when they said whitner, i threw my steak fork into the woods.

i honestly just didnt see safety as a early pick because of the bowens signing.

i was SURE that when lienart was on the board, the bills were going to TRADE DOWN!.. that is the main reaason i was pissed..

[venis2k1]

trade down for Davin Joseph. man i suck.

[Mr. Miyagi]

For the record,I wanted either Ngata, to clog up the middle, or D'brickashaw, to anchor our line.
Yeah I wanted D'brick too, and was really excited when Leinhart slipped out of the top 3. I thought the Jets would have no choice but to take Leinhart, which would mean D'brick falling to us.

F***ing Jets. :mad:

[patmoran2006]

I wouldnt give up on Bunkley after one year.. He can still be real good in Philly.

I gotta pull up some draft threads from last year; some of us are nuts with our picks and where we thought they would go last year; including myself.

Pretty entertaining to go back and see though.

[Mr. Miyagi]

when they said whitner, i threw my steak fork into the woods...
:rofl:

[patmoran2006]

I watched the draft last year with a couple of my alcoholic buddies who are only causual fans.. and they didnt even know who Donte Whitner was..

[Tatonka]

hawk was my favorite of everyone.. he was my one guy i wanted more than anyone... vernon davis was a close second.

[Tatonka]

I watched the draft last year with a couple of my alcoholic buddies who are only causual fans.. and they didnt even know who Donte Whitner was..


:rofl:

that happened to me too.. i was so pissed about the pick and i had a lot of casual fans over more for the food and card game than the draft.. they were all like "who the **** is that?"

so immediately, i had to go from being so pissed about the pick to defending what a great pick it was just to save face.. :rofl:

"what? you dont know who whitner is? did you even watch college football last year, you douche!? Matt Lienart sucks anyways!"

:lol:

[patmoran2006]

Yep..
SO the first pick my friends were mad about .. and the second pick I was personally fuming about.

When I heard the trade and we moved up, I jumped out of my chair cause I thought we just moved up and drafted Nick Mangold. Not that I didnt like McCargo, but I thought we had Mangold.

[madness]

I wanted to trade down bad, so bad I didn't even consider picking Whitner. I remember flipping out on the pick also. I eventually pulled myself together, looked up Whitner's bio on the internet and felt a lot better about it. I guess I can start laughing now judging by my post after the draft.



If Mario and Brick are gone by 8 and J.P gets traded, I see us trading down for two picks. The only reason to select Davis would be to help with J.P.'s development and there is no way we take Young if he drops. In fact if he does drop to us and the other two are gone, I'll guarantee we trade down.
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Huff would be a beauty of a pick. Too bad we don't need him. We don't need Ngata either unless they plan on coverting him to a one-gapper. I just can't see us picking up a QB unless Marv sees something really special in whoever falls to us. I'm looking for Mario or Brick otherwise I'm trading down. Too many needs to draft the best player available with this pick.


I agree but you're overlooking one major fact. JP as of now, is no Kelly, Ben or Matt. I think having one great pass catching TE would be crucial to JP's development. Someone that is not just a safety valve but an actual option in the passing game. Instead the of waiting (and hoping) for Everett to develop, bring another young gun in to increase the competition at the position. Besides, having two great TE's is not a bad problem to have for a developing QB.

As long as we can still address the other 'need' positions, trading down for Davis or Lewis would be a great idea. I also agree with the author about being a drop off at tackle after Brick. Unless we go D-line with the first pick or Brick drops down, it would be a waste to use that pick on O-line.

Trade down, get Davis or Lewis and still get a quality O-lineman with the extra pick? Sounds like a no-lose situation to me.

5/1/06


Oh wow, the 'can't cut it in the league but loved the sport so much they had to get a janitor job' media are laughing at us. If they want to laugh because we picked smart, young, self-driven, fast players that fit our scheme then I say go ahead and laugh. I'll be laughing at them and the rest of our armchair gm fans later.

Excuse Marv for thinking outside the box and not bowing down to popular opinion. :moon:

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[JoeMama]

The only guy I really wanted was Haloti Ngata.

[Saratoga Slim]

:rofl:

that happened to me too.. i was so pissed about the pick and i had a lot of casual fans over more for the food and card game than the draft.. they were all like "who the **** is that?"

so immediately, i had to go from being so pissed about the pick to defending what a great pick it was just to save face.. :rofl:

"what? you dont know who whitner is? did you even watch college football last year, you douche!? Matt Lienart sucks anyways!"

:lol:

I wasn't necessarily pissed about Whitner, because I had read great things about him and knew he was a pretty solid prospect. But I wasn't overjoyed b/c I was hoping for help in the trenches with either Ngata/Bunkley.

I was not happy with the move for McCargo though. I could rationalize it as a necessary move b/c we needed a DT and there weren't many others available, but just couldn't get excited about giving up the picks. That said, for whatever reason I have a good feeling about McCargo this year. I think we're going to be pleasantly surprised.

[ShadowHawk7]

I wanted Huff badly and was extremely pissed when Oakland took him at 7...
As did I, and when we grabbed Whitner, I was like, "wow what a ****in great consolation prize."

[BADTHINGSMAN]

I was hoping for Davis or Hawk..

[Elminster]

I kinda didn't react. Because I had no clue how to react, because I was prepared to hear "Ngata" or "Bunkley." Felt good once I knew who he was and saw the rest of it....

[Devin]

Ngata

[Luisito23]

At the time I remember a lot of people wanting Huff...I wanted Leinert......:oops:





GO BILLS!!!!!

[YardRat]

I'm pretty sure I was on the Ngata or Bunkley bandwagon. I didn't want Davis or Leinart.

[HAMMER]

I just remember wanting to never hear the name Vernon Davis again, almost like the name Marshawn Lynch. Who could have been beating that name into the ground?

[Don't Panic]

I wanted Huff on draft day, but in March I was still signing Ngata's praises. When our pick came up, I thought for sure we'd go Leinart. This much I remember though, after the initial disappointment, I realized it meant Marv had just given JP a vote of confidence, which helped get him to where he is now. Although I loved Whitner, I thought it was way too high for him, and I was flaming pissed that we traded up to get a guy who I thought would still be there in the 2nd. Is till remember all the defense people put up for Marv. "There were teams right behind us ready to take him." Maybe so, maybe not. I can definitely live with it now, that much is for sure. It was Huff leading up though...

[ublinkwescore]

I too was on the Bunkley bandwagon. :couch:

I was also thinking "Ok, Ralph clearly hired Marv as a way to sell tickets - we tried that once with TD and it didn't work - my only favorite sports team is doomed."

Now, I talk about Donte Whitner with pride, and the other day, me and a few friends were having a little conversation about football, and the subject of who our teams drafted last year panned out - all of them agreed, Whitner was a great pick even though it drew tons of criticism for Marv and Co.

[SABURZFAN]

one year ago,i was reading a bunch of ******ed picks for the draft.nothing has changed this year.

[TigerJ]

I was expecting the pick would be Bunkley. I don't recall having real strong feelings about any particular player, kind of like I feel about this year's draft. I think if Peterson drops he's an obvious pick, but if he doesn't, the Bills could go in several directions and I'd be OK. I felt the same way last year. I have to admit Whitner was off my radar screen, but in the end he had a better season than the guys who were on my radar. Go Marv!

[LifetimeBillsFan]

I was hoping that D'Brickashaw Ferguson would fall to the Bills, but figured that he wouldn't.

I really liked and wanted Ngata until Levy and Jauron said that they did not feel that he fit the system. I was still hoping that they would change their minds and go with Ngata, but was resigned to the likelihood that they would take Bunkley and would have been happy with that pick.

For the record, while I did not think that the Bills would take Whitner at # 8, I did say that he was someone who was on their radar and that he was someone that Bills fans should not be surprised to see the Bills draft. No, I didn't say that they would take him at # 8, but I may have been the only one to post a message here before the draft indicating that Whitner was a guy that they might take (I thought perhaps in the second round or after trading down in the first round somehow).

So, while I was very surprised that the Bills did not take Bunkley (I never believed that they would take Leinart), I was not nearly as shocked as many people were when they took Whitner. And, was even less surprised when they traded up to get McCargo (who I knew the NY Giants were interested in from reading articles to that effect in the NYC area papers).

I think (at least I hope!) some may have read my article on the BZ front page immediately afterwards explaining why I thought the Bills draft reflected M.Levy's "Old School" approach to rebuilding the team and the picks of Whitner and McCargo made a lot of sense from that perspective. While the pick of McCargo doesn't look that good at this point because his season was cut short by injury (even though his stats at the time were better than Bunkley's and pretty close to Ngata's), the Whitner pick is looking pretty decent (yes, I know that he didn't make a lot of game-changing plays and still has to do a better job of reading where to go in run support, but you do have to expect rookies to make mistakes and, after all, he did make the "All Rookie" team!), even though it will take a couple of more years to be able to fully evaluate both of those picks.

Seeing the way the Bills aggressively went after defense in last year's draft and have moved to fill their offensive line needs in free agency this off-season, I rather anticipate that Marv will again look to add to the "kiddie corps" that he is building on the defensive side of the ball and once more aggressively try to address the Bills' defensive needs early on in this year's draft. If last year was any indication, I think that Levy and Jauron believe that it will take less time for a rookie defensive player to be ready to play and start contributing than it will most offensive players (with the possible exception of RBs). As a result, I think that they will stick with Marv's "old school", "defense wins championships" and "you can win with a mediocre offense if you have a good defense" approach going into this year's draft.

Although it would not shock me to see them take M.Lynch (or even less A.Peterson, if he is still on the board) at # 12, it is for this reason that I believe that they will take either Willis or Okoye (or Branch, if he is available) if they have a chance to get one of those players for their defense in this year's draft.