Ingtar33's Buffalo Bills 2003 NFL Draft Review

[Ingtar33]

This was a strange draft to be a part of. To begin with there really wasn't much depth or quality to the body of players this year. I have a sneaking suspicion this will go down as a real bummer of a draft, high on hype, low on value. That is why the trades came so fast and furious on day one, as teams, placing a premium on the top players (all 15 of them), jockeyed for position to get those few solid picks. This day will definitely be remembered for the Vikings, again, screwing up their pick, as last year they were too disorganized to take advantage of the Chiefs trying to trade back. This year they were the team that blew their chance for a trade, and in the confusion forgot who they wanted, letting 5muinutes pass as team after team tried to beat them to the podium. A dash that finally ended at pick 9.

We also saw the fall of perhaps the best DT in the draft to pick 12, as rumors of his weight problems scared teams away. Personally I think the Rams just drafted the second coming of Ted Washington, and will have the last laugh, as the three DTs picked above him (Robertson, Sullivan, and Williams) will be lucky to match Kennedy's future career.

But the biggest surprise of the day, and the one you are all most familiar with, was the Bills choosing Willis McGahee with the 23rd pick in the draft. On the way home today, I heard on the radio that TD had targeted WMc as early as last Friday, which is a bit surprising to me. Clearly the Bills head man was thinking about the quality of DL who would trickle down to 23, and was just as unimpressed as I was.

This draft review will include personal thoughts on each of the players, their strength and weaknesses, and a "pick grade" which will be my personal grade of the prospect, the position he went, and the utility to the team. So without any further summation, I present to you the Buffalo Bills Draft Class of 2003.
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[Dozerdog]

I noticed individual grades for each selection, what would you give the entitre Bills draft?


on another great article!

[TypicalBill]

Thanks!!

Outstanding work as always Ingtar.

[Ingtar33]

Thanks Dozer...

I'd probably grade the whole draft a B+... as we got our depth, didn't reach on any pick, and grabbed guys with enough upside to stay on the roster come week 1.

[Captain gameboy]

Do you think Aiken's got more upside than Billy McMullen?

[Ingtar33]

in a word... yes

McMullen is a little bigger and stronger, but not nearly the rout runner, nor as good RAC, nor does he have the ability to get separation, nor are his hands as good as Aikens.

The Eagles got a guy with very good size and college production but little else. A questionable pick

[Tatonka]

i will say i was disappointed with the Sape pick too.. and wish that they would have grabbed Rien Long at #4 instead of the damn CB/FS then grabbed a true FS that is taller with that 6th rounder.. that is the only thing i would change.

nice write up.

[Earthquake Enyart]

Rien Long is a stiff. 32 teams agree with me.

TD drafted special teamers. Rien Long wouldn't help on ST's.

[Tatonka]

i will take several stiffs who get 13 sacks and 21 tackles for a loss per season.. thanks.

[Ingtar33]

Well... there were some character issues that scared my team away from him (over my objections) and I feel may have scared many other teams away, I fought to get him in the second day even though he was not a need pick for us, as he had too much talent to pass in those later rounds.
(And no, I'm not going to tell you if we did or didn't pick him... the list of teams I might work for is already getting too thin :) )

[clumping platelets]

[BillsNYC]

what would the Bills have had to done to achieve an overall A+?

[NC-BILLS44]

Great post Ingtar. Thanks for your insight!!!

[Dozerdog]

get stupid teams like the vikings to trade us their primo picks.


Vikings new Slogan-

" I traded down in the 2003 NFL Draft and all I got was this stupid T-Shirt"

[Earthquake Enyart]

"We made a deal!! Really!!"