Another Reason Why We Suck So Much

[Mike]

Because we are limiting ourselves to only getting players from the Draft. For years the Bills have had a 'Building a Team through the draft' mentality and for years they have sucked. No Great GM, Coach or Team will impose artificial limitation on themselves, instead they will give themselves every chance and opportunity to improve, not just one.

Only an inept organization would do so. Can you imagine this in any other arena of life. Can you picture IBM saying, we will not hire any top tier employees, we will only develop our own and hire only fresh graduates. Surely such an organization will be doomed to fail fairly quickly

[Mike]

Look at the QBs we could have had in the Past Few Years Alone:

1) Breese
2) Vick
3) McNabb
4) Big Ben -was on trading block-

Being a good GM is all about finding a way to get things done. If you can't, no matter the reason, you will not be a GM for long. Our GMs, and FO, has repeatedly demonstrated ineptitude from the smallest thing to the biggest thing. [We could not even get the Orakpo pick right for heavens sake much less orchestrate a Blockbuster Trade! Thats how bad they are. Most of us on this board would have taken Orakpo, but not the Bills FO. A monkey throwing a dart would have better first round selections in the past 10yrs than the Bills.]

[Throne Logic]

The Bills are not the NFL doormat because they haven't invested in free agency.

The decision to build through the draft wouldn't look so bad if the Bills had any sort of consistent ability to select quality players.

For that matter, if they were able to adequately evaluate veteran free agent talent, they would be a better team.

Bottom line: When you can't properly evaluate draft picks or FA talent, you're pretty much screwed.

[billz83]

Look at the QBs we could have had in the Past Few Years Alone:

1) Breese
2) Vick
3) McNabb
4) Big Ben -was on trading block-

Being a good GM is all about finding a way to get things done. If you can't, no matter the reason, you will not be a GM for long. Our GMs, and FO, has repeatedly demonstrated ineptitude from the smallest thing to the biggest thing. [We could not even get the Orakpo pick right for heavens sake much less orchestrate a Blockbuster Trade! Thats how bad they are. Most of us on this board would have taken Orakpo, but not the Bills FO. A monkey throwing a dart would have better first round selections in the past 10yrs than the Bills.]

dont forget Matt Schaub or the countless other QBz the bills could have gotten but chose to lowball..This team is run like a salvation army and wilson has destroyed this team from WITHIN..

[Throne Logic]

A monkey throwing a dart would have better first round selections in the past 10yrs than the Bills.]

Do you have some sort of proof that this is NOT how the FO drafts their players?

I want sources, dang-it!

Prove to me that there is neither monkey nor dart in the Bills draft room each April!

[jpdex12]

We splurged back in the mid 2000's with Spikes, Fletcher, a couple of highly over priced below average lineman, etc and it didn't get RW anywhere and he probably thinks that it's a waste of effort and money. Snyder from DC probably doesn't help solidify that FA theory either but I do remember picking up Biscuit back in the day just as we went on our SB binge and we actually traded for him. He wasn't a free agent. Neither was Bledsoe. Doesn't seem like we have ever spurged on FA's just offered up some trades to get what we felt was right at the time.

Either way, we have apparently abandonded both types of acquisitions.

[Mike]

Didn't even thing About Math Shuab

I remember the year he was coming out. I think the same year we drafted Lossman, many on this board wanted him. He was a steal in the 3rd round...

[Stewie]

Because we are limiting ourselves to only getting players from the Draft. For years the Bills have had a 'Building a Team through the draft' mentality and for years they have sucked. No Great GM, Coach or Team will impose artificial limitation on themselves, instead they will give themselves every chance and opportunity to improve, not just one.

Only an inept organization would do so. Can you imagine this in any other arena of life. Can you picture IBM saying, we will not hire any top tier employees, we will only develop our own and hire only fresh graduates. Surely such an organization will be doomed to fail fairly quickly

If you said any company other than IBM, I'd be on board, but I've seen the way they operate :D

[Mike]

We splurged back in the mid 2000's with Spikes, Fletcher, a couple of highly over priced below average lineman

And that got us a #2 Defense

[psubills62]

Green Bay does this under Ted Thompson. They've got a ton of talent on their team, and rarely sign players in FA or make trades.

Building through the draft is not a bad strategy in general. It becomes bad if that team can't evaluate or develop talent. It appears the Bills have had trouble in both of these areas for the past 10 years or so.

[Throne Logic]

If you said any company other than IBM, I'd be on board, but I've seen the way they operate :D

Ha! Good point. If OBD operated like IBM, we'd still be watching leather helmets on Sunday!

[Pinkerton Security]

And that got us a #2 Defense

...and that #2 defense got us how many wins??

[jpdex12]

...and that #2 defense got us how many wins??

It got us as close to the playoffs as we've seen in 10 ***** years...even though we are snake bitten and blew that Pittsburg game to third stringers in 2004...

[Pinkerton Security]

It got us as close to the playoffs as we've seen in 10 ***** years...even though we are snake bitten and blew that Pittsburg game to third stringers in 2004...

just saying, we had the 2nd best defense in the entire NFL and still werent good enough to even MAKE the playoffs...yes it was better than we are now but im just saying this method where we were actually buying players obviously isnt that great.

[Throne Logic]

You have to be good at all aspects of player management.

Draft well.
Sign key FA's.
Retain the right internal FA's.

The Bills have consistently failed to do any of these for over a decade.

[TacklingDummy]

Because we are limiting ourselves to only getting players from the Draft. For years the Bills have had a 'Building a Team through the draft' mentality and for years they have sucked. No Great GM, Coach or Team will impose artificial limitation on themselves, instead they will give themselves every chance and opportunity to improve, not just one.


Flutie, Rob Johnson, Bledsoe, Spikes, Fletcher, Stroud, Robinson, TO, etc....

[ddaryl]

we don't have the personel at other key positions to begin wasting draft picks and bring in high profile players.

When nix was hired we took a step backwards so we can try yet another rebuild.

and the players we have brought in via FA in recent years have either been over paid and under whelming or both.

The bottom line is our fortunes change when our draft picks start forming a competent core that can win games.. Then we can start getting a little crazy and make thesse bolder moves that can make a difference

[Billz_fan]

It's a combination of all aspects and doing them correctly that gets it done. In no particular order.

A. Getting quality players via the draft
B. Sprinkling in some veteran FA leaders who can contribute and lead.
C. Ability to retain the core group of your team one established.

If they just build through the draft it will never get done or it will take an eternity. It will take 3-5 years if they DON'T make any draft boners. Without using free agents your draft players are gonna have to have that much more star power.

[Johnny Bugmenot]

It's not so much they WON'T, it's that they CAN'T. Remember Willis McGahee's comments about there being nothing to do in Buffalo other than an Applebee's and a Dave & Buster's? Well, that's how the rest of the league feels. Heck, our own population is fleeing to North Carolina as it is, what makes anyone want to actually buck that trend? Buffalo has a huge disadvantage when it comes to signing free agents, just by simply being in Buffalo. The same thing is happening in Detroit and Cleveland.

[Cleve]

Look at the QBs we could have had in the Past Few Years Alone:

1) Breese
2) Vick
3) McNabb
4) Big Ben -was on trading block-


I think you could have added Brett Favre to that list, also.

The biggest fault I find so far with the Nix/Gailey regime is their failure to even attempt an interim fix to the painfully obvious quarterback problem, and essentially 'writing off' the entire 2010 season by not even hiring a temporary Q.B from the list above. You know the season is a write off when Trent Edwards is retained, but T.O. is sent packing leaving only one quality W.R. on the roster. I don't know if anyone noticed, but T.O. had a pretty good game on Sunday. But given the passing game ineptness, I suppose there was no compelling reason FOR another W.R. After all, Lee Evans was only used ONCE on Sunday.

The Bills built their season offense strategy around a third-string caliber quarterback that's been concussed multiple times, and boy does it show. Shame on Nix and Gailey.... and that's assuming of course they had any say in it. I still think it's possible the 'Three Stooges' retained as the only quarterbacks had something to do with Wilson and Brandon pulling the strings.

[ChristopherWalken]

It's not so much they WON'T, it's that they CAN'T. Remember Willis McGahee's comments about there being nothing to do in Buffalo other than an Applebee's and a Dave & Buster's? Well, that's how the rest of the league feels. Heck, our own population is fleeing to North Carolina as it is, what makes anyone want to actually buck that trend? Buffalo has a huge disadvantage when it comes to signing free agents, just by simply being in Buffalo. The same thing is happening in Detroit and Cleveland.

This is so true and a very poignant observation. In the end it will more than likely be the main reason this franchise is forced to flee the city.

[Mike]

It's not so much they WON'T, it's that they CAN'T. Remember Willis McGahee's comments about there being nothing to do in Buffalo other than an Applebee's and a Dave & Buster's? Well, that's how the rest of the league feels. Heck, our own population is fleeing to North Carolina as it is, what makes anyone want to actually buck that trend? Buffalo has a huge disadvantage when it comes to signing free agents, just by simply being in Buffalo. The same thing is happening in Detroit and Cleveland.

I think that great players want to win. Not every player in the NFL is about partying. For example, Bledsow loved how low key Buffalo was. In the 1990's the Bills had no problems attracting players, but the Jets & Pats did. Why? Because Buffalo was a great team, and the Jets/Pats sucked.

Today Buffalo sucks, so does Detroit & Cleveland. FA, who are great at what they do, prefer to go to a contender and as a result the above three teams may have to overpay to get that player. Conversely, a team like Green Bay attracts far more FA due to their competitiveness then Buffalo even though there is more to do in Buffalo than Green Bay.