You Be the Owner: Grade Marv as GM

[Meathead]

and please no overofficiousness

[historypete]

I think he has drafted pretty well, but his trades (or failure to do so in one case) can be questioned.

I think he did a good job in FA this year, but struck out last year.

Overall he has brought in some good young pieces to build around, but he also overpaid for some players too (Kelsay, Triplett, Reed, Price, Denney, etc).

I think it is a mixed bag when you take everything into account. If some of the young guys become the core of this team and they go on a playoff steak in a year or two his drafts will look genius I think.

[djjimkelly]

i gave him a D not becuz i dont love marv

but he brought in 2 o lineman both are solid

drafted a few nice pieces

only 2 have possiblity of probowl caliber and they are POZ and lynch

whitner is solid so is simpson

4 players in 2 drafts

not really one impact FA besides dockery

[yordad]

To give him a grade, I would have to know what exactly his duties were.

What was his role in the draft?

What was his role is signing free agents?

What was his role in the roster decisions?

What was his role in coach and personnel selection?

[BillsFever21]

I grade him a C-

I fail to see where some claim his drafts to be so great. Some say our drafts our great every season only to find out later on that they were junk. Just because we have some drafted players starting/playing does not make them good or the draft good. That happens on a bad team when there isn't anything else.

His first draft didn't net us very much with Whitner(drafted way to high and lost out on an extra pick and/or Ngata) He has not came close to proving his worth. If they wanted to draft him that is one thing but failing to maximize the value out of that spot was uncalled for. He buckled under pressure and it cost us an extra draft pick not to mention the extra money it took to pay him #8 money instead of a few spots lower.

-Out of his first draft adecent SS but far from being a huge playmaker or difference maker. Far from being worth a #8.

- We netted a DT who has looked to be improving some this year but is hardly ever on the field. His role long term is still up in the air.

- Our 3rd round pick has given us nothing at all and is proving to have been overrated when he was first drafted. He has been so useless that he can barely touch the field in Dime situations and there are scrubs brought off the street getting more playing time then him.

- Ko Simpson showed some promise as a rookie but didn't make a huge impact. Due to his injury this season his status is still unknown. He should be a seviceable FS at the very least.

- Kyle Williams and Keith Ellison are useless and should not be anywhere near the field. Both of them were worthy enough as the annual overrated players of the year by Bills fans but have proved their futility to everyone this year. Especially Williams.

- Brad Butler has been a nice find so far. He is still unproven as to whether he will be a long term servicable starter. For the round the value was good though. He as struggled but better then what we have had in the past and hasn't stood out to much on an improved line which is a good thing for his position.

His 2nd draft is still way to early to determine anything. Once again though it is being talked about by some fans as a great draft and certain players are getting more attention then they should.

- Marshawn has proved to be a steady back and a fan favorite. He has not stood out from most RB's in the league yet and hasn't proved to be a game changer yet. We have failed to see the good receiving ability we heard about coming out of college. Since good RB's pop up all the time his worth will take more then just his rookie season. If he turns out to be heads and shoulders better then most it will be a great pick. If he doesn't then it won't since steady RB's are a dime a dozen anymore since there are so many steady ones. A good system and good line will make any RB good in todays NFL.

- Poz is one of the players yet to prove anything but overrated by the fans. He only played 3 games before being injured. You can't make a case for him being a great or a horrible pick yet.

- Trent is the biggest one yet before proving anything. It's understandable considering all the players who have received this award in the past. This draft class will be determined by Trent's long term value. He has yet to show many flashes to label this as a great pick.

- Dwayne Wright was a horrible pick then and is even a worst pick now that an ex Arena League and NFL Europe player is getting the playing time over him. We had so many needs and we draft 2 RB's out of our first 4 selections for somebody who doesn't even play? Very bad pick.

- John Wendling is a career ST player only. You can find them anywhere. It was a late draft pick and he was mostly drafted to play ST's.

The 2nd draft is far from proving to be great yet. Poz only played three games, Marshawn is good but hasn't proven to be a difference maker yet like some in the leauge. He has a lot of yards because of a lot of carries. Considering he missed 3 games we worked him a lot this year. The wild card will be Edwards if he will live up to the imposed hype set forth by some fans. That is if he is even the QB of the future now that we will have a new GM.

[YardRat]

Dockery, Fowler, Butler, Walker, Royals, Gaines, Edwards, Lynch.

McCargo, Tripplett, Hargrove, DiGiorgio, Poz, Whitner, Simpson, Ellison.

The only positions not addressed by Marv that really affected the starting line-ups were WR and CB, and even then he tried with Price, K.Thomas, and Butler.

Marv came in and attempted to build the team the way many fans clamored for...from the trenches-out.

We have the third most cap room in the league going into the off-season, double-digit draft picks for '08, and real optimism for making the playoffs next year.

Some of his decisions were hits...some misses, some incomplete but considering who was here and where we were when he arrived and where we could be going next year I'll give him a B.

[Historian]

C

[Night Train]

C

Talented players in Draft
Poor Coaching hire and bad coordinators/schemes
Poor Free Agent Signings

[The King]

Im wondering now if the cash to cap philosophy was to reserve cash for the new GM to do what he wants. Marv was to lay the foundation whoever steps in fills the cracks?

[Night Train]

Marv was to lay the foundation whoever steps in fills the cracks?

The crack is Ralphs' melon.

[mchurchfie]

C - decent drafting but the rotating linemen, small defense, and questionable coaching selection leave something to be desired.

[Stoneludlow]

As owner I'd sell to someone local and hope that he would at least be younger than myself if I was Ralph and bring in a GM that not only knew about football but knew something about the business of making the most of what we have in the salary cap and use it all if need be to get the players we need to not only make the playoffs, but win the Super Bowl within five years of the transformation of ownership.
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Ralph, please sell the team to someone like Jim Kelly

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Jim, if you own the team get someone like Erie County Executive, Chris Collins to be your GM

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May the 12th MAN stay rooting for the Buffalo Bills and not the Toronto Bills

[Yasgur's Farm]

I'll give Marv an A.

Sure, he added some poor FA but it's clear our coaches don't (didn't) know how to evaluate and utilize talent... Just have a look at Andre Davis for example.

[njsue]

I give him a B. He drafted pretty good players, Whitner, Youboty & Poz.

We have yet to see how Trent will develop given a better OC.

Thank you Marv Levy.

[Jan Reimers]

I'd give him a B+. He drafted very well - the results of which we'll see in upcoming seasons - rebuilt the O line in free agency, hired a quality coach in Jauron, and generally turned the program in the right direction.

He had a huge task in getting this organization back on track after 5 years under Donahoe, and he accomplished much in just 2 years. We now have one of the league's youngest teams, 10 draft picks, plenty of cap space, and far fewer holes to fill than when he arrived.

We're a stud DT, pass rushing DE, big WR and good TE away from the playoffs.

[njsue]

Thank You Marv Levy for Marshawn Lynch!!!!

[Meathead]

a

marv walked into a room full of manure and found the pony



(thanks to bbis GoBillsTom for this delightful euphemism ive never heard before)

[raphael120]

We had 2 consecutive 7-9 seasons totaling 14-18.

C means average, and we're below average.

Sorry, Marv...you got yourself a D.

You hired Jauron, who in turn hired Fairchild, etc...you got us the piles of crap through FA, we got questionable picks in the draft, and our safety that was #8 overal last year is being outperformed by Laron Landry, a rookie.

I don't understand how anyone can say anything good about our drafts. The only player who'se proven he can be a gamechanger, and he's not even really there yet...is Marshawn.

D.

[blackonyx89]

C-

[patmoran2006]

im not going to grade him, because I'm not going to give someone a grade who was little more than a mouthpeice for this franchise.

What he did that was good is brought some morale back to Buffalo Bills football. I think his influence got rid of a lot of greedy vets and new guys with much more character were brought in. I think he did a good job as being a part of the draft process THIS year.

What he did bad, actually he didn't do-- is do what he said he was going to do. When he became GM he acknowledged right away the lines were the weak point of this team. So with the 8th overall pick in his first draft, he got very Tom Donahoe'ish and drafted a safety (one that's been average) instead of a run stuffing DT like Haloti Ngata. We then trade back into the first round and instead of drafting a cornerstone center (Nick Mangold) we took a rotational Defensive lineman (McCargo). Can you IMAGINE how much better this team would be with Ngata and Mangold on it instead of Whitner/MCcargo? And neither play was a reach at the draft position taken, and both were also "needs". Ashton Youboty is a straight-up bust. 2006 wasn't nearly the good draft so many on here think it was.

He also made some poor personnel decisions (or whatever part he had in it) especially with skilled positions. Peerless Price? Robert Royal? Josh Reed? We could've and should've done much better.

Although Overdorf does the deals, Levy signs off on them, and the Kelsay contract was brutal, which set up the necessary Schobel overpay.

All in all, he was great for image, but mediocre with results. don't think any realistic expected much different.

[User Manuel]

I give him a B.

I believe he has this franchise turned around and it would eventually be an A. That being said in 12 months we will know.

[yordad]

first thing, i would like to know when cheaters were merited for thier transgessions. 16 and 0 is a complete farce. 15 and 1* is more like it. the N.F.L. should have taken the road less traveled and properly punished a dishonest organization. the amount of money fined and a draft pick that will most likely be #32 and still hold a early first round pick via trade means they suffered nothing more than the equivelent of my 3 year olds timeout, 2 minutes in the quiet chair then back outside doing whatever they liked.. Goodel has made strides in his first year as the commish but a players off field faults can hardly compare to events that completly tarnjsh the integrity of this great sport. one can't help but think this perfect season was nothing more than footballs version of MLB feel good approach to the strike and steroids issue. i know my oppinion dosn't realy matter but as a true fan of this sport and onetime fan of this league i just wanted to voice my oppion before i changed my Tv to the food network....

this is not yordad just a former fan of a bullsh.. league.

[yordad]

this is yordad's friend again i think levy has done a good job in his 2 seasons he has drafted and aquired high character talented players. as a bills fan i am happy with the way the franchise has ventured. our players may not be owens or moss but thier not fletcher or mcgahee either if you dont regall we sucked with these stars on our team also. i feel much better about 7 and 9 with this squad than equal or lesser results. i also believe that edwards is the future of this organization lossman has all the physical attributes to be an elite quarterback for the 2002 rams but he dosnt fit the direction of this team. edwards faults fall soley on the shoulders of an inept indecisive coach 33 pass attempts against cleveland and 26 against the giants can you say blizard and sleet no wonder anderson only threw 18 passes 9 to the flats and manning 15 8 to his backs. a midget coach understands that these adverse weather conditions could make an elite qb look like a third string grocery bagger. in the week of the cleveland game look at the stats of every qb who played in the northeast outside not one of them came close to the attempts edwards made not even brady in the giants game it was obvious the recievers couldnt make the grabs we had two strong backs who should have carried the ball more. the g men tore us appart with the run not every one was great but they kept at it hence 88,50 something and a few more big breaks i honestly believe if we would have kept pounding the ball we also would of have had our share of long runs. in week 17 why were we passing on first and goal second and goal third and goal fieldgoal we made defenses look better than they ever dreamed of bieng. so0 back to the original point jauron was the worst decission the bills made in levy's two seasons so tell me whos dick jer on

This is not yordad, it is his friend

[mybills]

Dockery, Fowler, Butler, Walker, Royals, Gaines, Edwards, Lynch.

McCargo, Tripplett, Hargrove, DiGiorgio, Poz, Whitner, Simpson, Ellison.

We have the third most cap room in the league going into the off-season, double-digit draft picks for '08, and real optimism for making the playoffs next year.

Some of his decisions were hits...some misses, some incomplete but considering who was here and where we were when he arrived and where we could be going next year

I agree with all of this. I gave him an A for the bold.

[The Jokeman]

I gave him a C. As think he's done an average job.

His first decision was naming Dick Jauron HC, while I would have preferred Mike Sherman I think Jauron's done a good job. Of course Sherman's also done a good job in Houston as their OC so it's tough to gauge which be better. Though had we gone with Sherman we might have an answer for GM as pretty sure he had both titles in Green Bay. I"d grade this decision as a B-.

Onto the draft, I'll say this Marv's done well at filling holes in the draft but at the same time in retrospect he might have done better if stayed the course and not traded up. As let's look at 2006. We took Whitner and traded up for McCargo. Both players are good but we could have taken Bunkley, whose stats favor McCargos, stayed pat in Round 2 taken Roman Harper, whose stats favor Whitner, and then used our 3rd on a RG like Jason Spitz. Now flash forward to 2007. We got Poz in Round 2 we could have kept our original position and acquired David Harris and used the 3rd we traded away for a quality WR like James Jones. Grade C+

Free agency. He's brought in guys to add talent to the team but not been great signings. As guys like Royal, Triplett, Dockery and Walker compare to guys like Pete Metzelaars, Oliver Barnett, John Davis etc. All solid players but not great like Bryce Paul, Ted Washington etc. Grade C-.

[Mr. Cynical]

I said he was on a 3 yr plan when he got here - I also remember saying on this board that at 82, being a GM would be too taxing. Looks like I was right. Love ya marv but you should be golfing in FL or something at this point in your life.

[Nighthawk]

Besides creating a lovefest at One Bills Drive, I don't believe this team is any closer to being championship team then before he got here.