this guy nailed it

[seanbillsfan]

Page 2 columnist Greg Easterbrook shared plenty of thoughts on the draft (http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=easterbrook/100427_tuesday_morning_quarterback_draft_review) in his "Tuesday Morning Quarterback" column.

Here are the AFC East highlights from his review:

[/URL]Buffalo Bills (http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/clubhouse?team=buf)

In April 2009, the Bills entered the draft with an emergency situation at left tackle, and chose no left tackle, but did use their first selection on a nickel linebacker who, even if all went well, would play only on passing downs. The Bills' 2009 offense proceeded to be awful as Buffalo started five different players at left tackle. This April, the Bills entered the draft with an emergency situation at left tackle, and did not choose an offensive lineman until the fifth round.
For a decade, Buffalo has failed to reach the playoffs -- the worst such streak in the AFC -- and in that period drafted horribly, making repeated luxury picks (three first-round running backs in a single decade, for instance) rather than fixing its offensive line. Offensive tackles on the Buffalo roster: Demetrius Bell (http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/players/profile?playerId=11453), eight career starts, coming off an ACL tear; Jamon Meredith (http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/players/profile?playerId=12696), four career starts; Edward Wang (http://insider.espn.go.com/nfldraft/draft/tracker/player?draftyear=2010&id=25678), fifth-round draft selection; Kirk Chambers (http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/players/profile?playerId=5701), waived four times by the Bills over the last three seasons; Cornell Green (http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/players/profile?playerId=2471), who will be 34 years old on opening day; Nick Hennessey (http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/players/profile?playerId=12986), no career starts, though he surely got a great education at Phillips Andover Academy and then Colgate; Andre Ramsey (http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/players/profile?playerId=12837) and Jason Watkins (http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/players/profile?playerId=13096), no career starts. Presumably, the quarterback-needy Bills passed on multiple chances to select Jimmy Clausen (http://insider.espn.go.com/nfldraft/draft/tracker/player?draftyear=2010&id=25716) or [URL="http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/players/profile?playerId=13199"]Colt McCoy (http://insider.espn.go.com/nfldraft/draft/tracker/player?draftyear=2010&id=25548) because they know the blocking is so bad, anyone under center for Buffalo next season will just get killed anyway. It's the year 2010. How can a professional football team totally ignore the need to be solid at offensive tackle?
http://espn.go.com/blog/afceast/post/_/id/13258/tmqing-the-afc-east-draft

[mikemac2001]

he just tells us alot about we sucked with people who sucked

[superbills]

So who should they have chosen at 9th over-all? Clearly, they weren't impressed with the over-hyped QB prospects (as, apparently none of the other teams were) and the one tackle most were projecting at this slot, Bulaga, has significant question marks and may not even be suited for left tackle in the NFL. You don't draft question marks at 9th over-all. You look for a home run and, if you see it, you take it. That's what the Bills did with Spiller. It's not that the LT and QB positions won't be addressed, they just weren't addressed like all of the "smarter" fans and writers thought those positions should be. After all, our draft boards are sacred. :rolleyes:

[T-Long]

In reality, the only knock could have been that they didn't take Anthony Davis, a pure LT, at 9. But there were major flags with him, so they would have got knocked with that pick as well. It was a lose-lose. If it was Clausen, people would have went crazy because it was too high for him.

Spiller was by far the best player available and they took him. I have no issue with that whatsover, especially with the unknown with Lynch.

[ddaryl]

rediculous

This guy fails to mention all of our desperate needs. Then he has the nerve to talk about this years lame ass QB class as if it was some sort of can't miss situation...

I think we can determine the real draft savy sports writers from the not so savy draft pundits by those who choose ot focus on Buffalo needs at QB and LT and not focusing on all the other needs which are numerous.

If a draft expert discusses the Bills needs as NT LB OL and QB then you know the person has some insight... but when they can only blog about QB and LT it kind of tells me they are just weekend hacks...


This all being said.... If Spiller is a home run hitter then he was a steal, but we could've traded down in this draft 2-3 times and stock piled major picks and filled lots of needs....

[Buffalogic]

Surface media haters. I hate how lazy writers are nowadays. They just regurgitate the same **** over and over.

Uhh Uhh no first round LT. Uhhh fail. Any damn moron could write that. It's despicable.

[NOT THE DUDE...]

u dont pass on a potential home run hitter... u just dont!

[Bill Cody]

The problem was we had emergencies all over the place, particularly switching to the 3-4. I would have preferred a trade down to Spiller and I would have preferred a tackle before the 5th round, but in the end the real question is how many keepers did we actually draft. Noone really knows that now.

The Patriots are supposed to be geniuses and check out the raft of flat out busts they've drafted in the second round in the past 5-6 years. **** happens.

We need to get lucky somewhere. NE got Brady in the 6th and Moss for a 4th. That's a pretty good start. New Orleans got Drew Brees as a free agent. Those are difference makers. We need a few of our own.

[Philagape]

There was just no other feasible pick at #9. I would have liked Bulaga, but NFL scouts didn't have him highly rated, it turns out.

[NOT THE DUDE...]

who else were we going to take? bulaga? davis? red flags... u take the sure fire superstar! spiller is that!

[Mr. Miyagi]

Surface media haters. I hate how lazy writers are nowadays. They just regurgitate the same **** over and over.

Uhh Uhh no first round LT. Uhhh fail. Any damn moron could write that. It's despicable. Greg Easterbrook is not your average copycat writer. He's a great writer, with plenty of independent insights and very very objective. And he does a ton of research. He slams all the hype teams just as much as any other team.

I may not agree with him in this article but he is no idiot media yack.

[Mike13]

u dont pass on a potential home run hitter... u just dont!

who is going to block for him?

[NOT THE DUDE...]

who is going to block for him?

bell/flozell adams levitre hang wood, green....................... its not like our line is putrid.. we had lots of injuries last year... we were 16th in rushing and that was from playing from behind.... u dont pass on the next marshall faulk!

[mysticsoto]

Interesting that he doesn't mention that we got Jason Peters as an undrafted free agent who eventually started for us and went to the probowl.

Nor does he mention that we went 1st round with our 4th pick a decade ago to get Mike Williams who was a perennial flop and extremely costly mistake that hounded us for years!!!

[acehole]

OMG!!! Ramsey!! HA thats a condom brand!! Perfect!

Ramsey and wang!!!



hahahaha



Page 2 columnist Greg Easterbrook shared plenty of thoughts on the draft (http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=easterbrook/100427_tuesday_morning_quarterback_draft_review) in his "Tuesday Morning Quarterback" column.
OMG
Here are the AFC East highlights from his review:


Buffalo Bills (http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/clubhouse?team=buf)
In April 2009, the Bills entered the draft with an emergency situation at left tackle, and chose no left tackle, but did use their first selection on a nickel linebacker who, even if all went well, would play only on passing downs. The Bills' 2009 offense proceeded to be awful as Buffalo started five different players at left tackle. This April, the Bills entered the draft with an emergency situation at left tackle, and did not choose an offensive lineman until the fifth round.
For a decade, Buffalo has failed to reach the playoffs -- the worst such streak in the AFC -- and in that period drafted horribly, making repeated luxury picks (three first-round running backs in a single decade, for instance) rather than fixing its offensive line. Offensive tackles on the Buffalo roster: Demetrius Bell (http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/players/profile?playerId=11453), eight career starts, coming off an ACL tear; Jamon Meredith (http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/players/profile?playerId=12696), four career starts; Edward Wang (http://insider.espn.go.com/nfldraft/draft/tracker/player?draftyear=2010&id=25678), fifth-round draft selection; Kirk Chambers (http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/players/profile?playerId=5701), waived four times by the Bills over the last three seasons; Cornell Green (http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/players/profile?playerId=2471), who will be 34 years old on opening day; Nick Hennessey (http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/players/profile?playerId=12986), no career starts, though he surely got a great education at Phillips Andover Academy and then Colgate; Andre Ramsey (http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/players/profile?playerId=12837) and Jason Watkins (http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/players/profile?playerId=13096), no career starts. Presumably, the quarterback-needy Bills passed on multiple chances to select Jimmy Clausen (http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/players/profile?playerId=13198) or Colt McCoy (http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/players/profile?playerId=13199) because they know the blocking is so bad, anyone under center for Buffalo next season will just get killed anyway. It's the year 2010. How can a professional football team totally ignore the need to be solid at offensive tackle?
http://espn.go.com/blog/afceast/post/_/id/13258/tmqing-the-afc-east-draft

[Philagape]

who is going to block for him?

The line that helped the Bills to the eighth-best YPC last year.

[dannyek71]

Nailed it on the head. In round 2, we drafted a backup (a guy with the intention spelling KW) We are an injury away to Bell (which history shows us is likely) from having Chambers as our starting LT.

Luck has little to do with our team being so bad for so long.

[Philagape]

If Troup is as good as advertised, he'll easily beat out Williams

[NOT THE DUDE...]

Nailed it on the head. In round 2, we drafted a backup (a guy with the intention spelling KW) We are an injury away to Bell (which history shows us is likely) from having Chambers as our starting LT.

Luck has little to do with our team being so bad for so long.

dude we did not draft a back up in troup... he will start on run downs.... U MUST HAVE A NT TO RUN A 34. we were 30th in run d last year.. we have been in the bottom 5 in run d for like 5 years now... we were 16th in rushing offense last year. nt was the bigger need...

[BertSquirtgum]

Page 2 columnist Greg Easterbrook shared plenty of thoughts on the draft (http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=easterbrook/100427_tuesday_morning_quarterback_draft_review) in his "Tuesday Morning Quarterback" column.

Here are the AFC East highlights from his review:

[/URL]Buffalo Bills (http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/clubhouse?team=buf)

In April 2009, the Bills entered the draft with an emergency situation at left tackle, and chose no left tackle, but did use their first selection on a nickel linebacker who, even if all went well, would play only on passing downs. The Bills' 2009 offense proceeded to be awful as Buffalo started five different players at left tackle. This April, the Bills entered the draft with an emergency situation at left tackle, and did not choose an offensive lineman until the fifth round.
For a decade, Buffalo has failed to reach the playoffs -- the worst such streak in the AFC -- and in that period drafted horribly, making repeated luxury picks (three first-round running backs in a single decade, for instance) rather than fixing its offensive line. Offensive tackles on the Buffalo roster: Demetrius Bell (http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/players/profile?playerId=11453), eight career starts, coming off an ACL tear; Jamon Meredith (http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/players/profile?playerId=12696), four career starts; Edward Wang (http://insider.espn.go.com/nfldraft/draft/tracker/player?draftyear=2010&id=25678), fifth-round draft selection; Kirk Chambers (http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/players/profile?playerId=5701), waived four times by the Bills over the last three seasons; Cornell Green (http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/players/profile?playerId=2471), who will be 34 years old on opening day; Nick Hennessey (http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/players/profile?playerId=12986), no career starts, though he surely got a great education at Phillips Andover Academy and then Colgate; Andre Ramsey (http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/players/profile?playerId=12837) and Jason Watkins (http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/players/profile?playerId=13096), no career starts. Presumably, the quarterback-needy Bills passed on multiple chances to select Jimmy Clausen (http://insider.espn.go.com/nfldraft/draft/tracker/player?draftyear=2010&id=25716) or [URL="http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/players/profile?playerId=13199"]Colt McCoy (http://insider.espn.go.com/nfldraft/draft/tracker/player?draftyear=2010&id=25548) because they know the blocking is so bad, anyone under center for Buffalo next season will just get killed anyway. It's the year 2010. How can a professional football team totally ignore the need to be solid at offensive tackle?
http://espn.go.com/blog/afceast/post/_/id/13258/tmqing-the-afc-east-draft


the only thing he nailed was showing us his stupidity.

[THATHURMANATOR]

For someone looking at the Bills from the outside you can't totally disagree with that sentiment.

Spiller could be viewed as a luxury pick but he is much more. He is someone that could stretch the defense and open things up overall.

1 tackle doesn't make or break the entire line. We are fairly set from LG to RT.
We have 3 younger guys with some talent that can battle it out for the LT position. Who is also to say we won't get another veteran before the season starts as well. It is all in the way you look at it. Could not getting a LT be a horrible mistake? Of course it could and past problems point to that. I just feel like this FO had a plan and stuck to it. They trusted their draft board. Hopefully that works out for us for once!

[THATHURMANATOR]

dude we did not draft a back up in troup... he will start on run downs.... U MUST HAVE A NT TO RUN A 34. we were 30th in run d last year.. we have been in the bottom 5 in run d for like 5 years now... we were 16th in rushing offense last year. nt was the bigger need...
Yeah I don't know how you could make that statement. We went Troup, who is a hard working guy with a good attitude and in good shape over a fatso that ballooned to almost 400 pounds and has a bad attitude in Cody.

NT was a TOP need going in. I felt THE top need tied with QB. It was addressed with a player who will start from Day one IMO.

[Akhippo]

A NT in the 34 is just as important as a LT. If your NT can get blown off the ball by a center you are in for a ram it down your throat night.

Previous years our drafts have been very very questionable. Those can be ripped apart all they want. This years given the teams direction, you cant question much of the draft stategy. Especially if you go back and try to redraft.

[mysticsoto]

I don't know why analysts completely ignore the great pickups at Defense. They act like QB and his surrounding cast is the only thing on a team...

[Philagape]

Stopping the run is so hugely important. If a defense can do it:
1. It forces opponents to pass to the Bills' strong secondary
2. It controls TOP
3. It means the Bills' offense won't have to pass so much, lessening the need for a QB and LT. And that means the Bills can put the ball in the hands of its suddenly loaded and potentially explosive running game.

Win-Win-Win

Seven of the top nine rushing defenses made the playoffs.

[justasportsfan]

I wouldn't put it past Nix and Gailey to think we had decent players who were poorly coached and that they can do better with the players we have on our team.

If we fans can see how stupid Dick was, all the more they did since they were closer to the situation. I mean, the team played better when Fewell was the coach with players that were brought in from the streets because club Jauron sent our starters on vacation to IR resort. There's no better proof.

As for drafting Spiller, maybe they think that he's the next Adrian Peterson and can't pass him up. The last time we took the 2nd best rb in the league, we ended up with Lynch.

As TDummy pointed out, The highest OL player that was drafted in the saints OL was in the 2nd round.

I don't think Gailey and NIx drafted for immediate results. They drafted for years to come. Nix has stated that numerous times.

[Ron Burgundy]

Greg Easterbrook is not your average copycat writer. He's a great writer, with plenty of independent insights and very very objective. And he does a ton of research. He slams all the hype teams just as much as any other team.

I may not agree with him in this article but he is no idiot media yack.

Totally and wholeheartedly disagree. And this isn't even remotely close to the dumbest thing he's ever written.

[ServoBillieves]

OH NO WE DON'T HAVE A LT?! The other 21 spots on the roster are worth nothing!

[ServoBillieves]

I'm somewhat of an optimist, but I know this team is a few years away from being great, but the pieces put in place by this draft are going to pay off down the road. Really don't care what this nobody thinks.

[Griff]

So what were we supposed to do pick a project QB or LT at 9? Ignore our bottom of the barrel run defense? There is a reason why these guys aren't employed by an NFL team.

[Ingtar33]

Surface media haters. I hate how lazy writers are nowadays. They just regurgitate the same **** over and over.

Uhh Uhh no first round LT. Uhhh fail. Any damn moron could write that. It's despicable.

Gregg Easterbrook is a Bills FAN. He grew up in western new york. Furthermore he's not an average writer. he an editor for The New Republic, and while admittedly isn't a sports writer by nature, is a passionate football fan who tends, more often then not to think outside the box and is right more often then he is wrong... (frankly, i've changed some of the things i do in coaching because of his opinions... and he's been right... mostly his punting and 4th down philosophy, which appeals to my former quarterback self)

I agree with him. read what i wrote leading into the draft. for the Bills to skip on an OT in the first round was insane.

I'm not going to pull a punch on this. Our OTs were horrific. and we didn't get any better. I love Spiller's speed, but you don't take Reggie Bush 2.0 in the top 10 picks of any draft. I hope he's more Chris Johnson then Reggie Bush, but when i watch spiller i think "Reggie Bush" i don't think "chris johnson".

I know people saw my mock drafts and thought "why is spiller at the bottom of round 1?" Simply because i don't think he was worth a top round 1 pick. I could be wrong, and i pray i am. But i still fail to see how adding (best case scenario) Chris Johnson v2.0 improves our O-line.

If the bills didn't think any OT on the board was worth the 9th pick, Dan Williams was sitting right there... and i KNOW for a fact he was top 15 round 1 material. Take the Top 15 Dan Williams there, then take your OT in round 2. There were some good ones there when we picked...

I am not a fan of this draft. and while i know there is an upswing of enthusiasm on this board about the team because of it, i think a lot of you guys are in for a long season of disappointment (BTW: Troup IS McCargo in my eyes. he's the same basic player... and i highly doubt we'll be loving that pick in 2 years)

[imbondz]

I don't know, I think he nailed it exactly right.

[NOT THE DUDE...]

Gregg Easterbrook is a Bills FAN. He grew up in western new york. Furthermore he's not an average writer. he an editor for The New Republic, and while admittedly isn't a sports writer by nature, is a passionate football fan who tends, more often then not to think outside the box and is right more often then he is wrong... (frankly, i've changed some of the things i do in coaching because of his opinions... and he's been right... mostly his punting and 4th down philosophy, which appeals to my former quarterback self)

I agree with him. read what i wrote leading into the draft. for the Bills to skip on an OT in the first round was insane.

I'm not going to pull a punch on this. Our OTs were horrific. and we didn't get any better. I love Spiller's speed, but you don't take Reggie Bush 2.0 in the top 10 picks of any draft. I hope he's more Chris Johnson then Reggie Bush, but when i watch spiller i think "Reggie Bush" i don't think "chris johnson".

I know people saw my mock drafts and thought "why is spiller at the bottom of round 1?" Simply because i don't think he was worth a top round 1 pick. I could be wrong, and i pray i am. But i still fail to see how adding (best case scenario) Chris Johnson v2.0 improves our O-line.

If the bills didn't think any OT on the board was worth the 9th pick, Dan Williams was sitting right there... and i KNOW for a fact he was top 15 round 1 material. Take the Top 15 Dan Williams there, then take your OT in round 2. There were some good ones there when we picked...

I am not a fan of this draft. and while i know there is an upswing of enthusiasm on this board about the team because of it, i think a lot of you guys are in for a long season of disappointment (BTW: Troup IS McCargo in my eyes. he's the same basic player... and i highly doubt we'll be loving that pick in 2 years)

how is troup even compared to mccargo???? troup is 6-3 320lbs space eater with tremendous power and stout strength... mccargo was a 290lbs jaroun tampa 2 pick with mario williams and manny lawson next to him..... ur comparison is simply being paranoid,lazy , and ignorant...troup is basically terrence cody only in shape without all the blubber... dude troup has been reported to put up 225 like almost 40 times at central fl... the dude is a beast... watch the tape before you make depressing jaroun type comments..

[don137]

Teams in the 8-12 slot in round 1 all faced criticism. There was a ton of talent but many thought none were available in that slot.
Rolando McClain taken 8th. Many love the pick but say he was taken too high. The Jaguars pick at 10 they say they should of traded down and was taken too high. #11 Davis taken by San Fran. has huge question marks, #12 Ryan Matthews the experts also say taken too high.
The ONLY player taken between 8-12 that was said to be worth taken in that slot was Spiller. Spiller was the highest rated player on the board and in many cases under valued at #9. The Bills now have a game changer which has been lacking for years.
Even when the Bills take the best player available they get criticized. Well after so many years of the Bills taking players because they fill a need even though they are overvalued at that spot it is refreshing to see them take value and actually a position that is a need when looking at the whole scheme of things.

[justasportsfan]

I am not a fan of this draft. and while i know there is an upswing of enthusiasm on this board about the team because of it, i think a lot of you guys are in for a long season of disappointment (BTW: Troup IS McCargo in my eyes. he's the same basic player... and i highly doubt we'll be loving that pick in 2 years)

You mean if we took OL with the 9th pick we wouldn't have been in for a long season? None of those guys were Jake Longs or D'Brick . Even if we landed Jake Long it would still be a long season.

We are going to run the ball all season long and I'm glad we took Spiller.

[eee1776]

As far as our LT need the season as not started yet. I feel the bills will address this in free agency ala Flozel or that LT from baltimore.

[mrbojanglezs]

i like how this guy names all of our backups and fails to mention any of our starters.....wood, hang, levitre..... the main reason our line was terrible was all the injuiries, if they stay healthy they will be better