Bill Polian's first draft, 1986

[YardRat]

1a. RB Ronnie Harmon
1b. OT Will Wolford
3. C Leonard Burton
5. RB Carl Byrum
7a. TE Bob Williams
7b. LB/DE Mark Pike
7c. TE Butch Rolle
8. LB Tony Furjanic
9. WR Reggie Bynum
10. DT Guy Teafatiller
11. DT Tony Garbarczyk
12a. QB Brian McClure
12b. LB Derek Christian

Wow.

A situational RB in the first round, despite having Greg Bell and Joe Cribbs in '85. ANOTHER RB in round 5, to boot.

No QB until the last round.

A starting LT, back-up/special teams DE and TE, back-up center, and 8 guys never to be heard from again.

The Bills started off 0-2 in 1986.

Maybe Bill was another dumb-ass who should've been fired two games into the season.

[mikemac2001]

Re: Bill Polian's first draft, 1986

Perfect example of people spazzing give people a chance

Think we knew it might be a rough year

[Dujek]

Re: Bill Polian's first draft, 1986

What were we thinking keeping him around all those years, the guy obviously should have been out the door immediately.

Though apparently making this sort of point and not simply crucifying the GM is "toeing the company line".

[X-Era]

Re: Bill Polian's first draft, 1986

1a. RB Ronnie Harmon
1b. OT Will Wolford
3. C Leonard Burton
5. RB Carl Byrum
7a. TE Bob Williams
7b. LB/DE Mark Pike
7c. TE Butch Rolle
8. LB Tony Furjanic
9. WR Reggie Bynum
10. DT Guy Teafatiller
11. DT Tony Garbarczyk
12a. QB Brian McClure
12b. LB Derek Christian

Wow.

A situational RB in the first round, despite having Greg Bell and Joe Cribbs in '85. ANOTHER RB in round 5, to boot.

No QB until the last round.

A starting LT, back-up/special teams DE and TE, back-up center, and 8 guys never to be heard from again.

The Bills started off 0-2 in 1986.

Maybe Bill was another dumb-ass who should've been fired two games into the season.

Read my notes in my thread.

3 years in a row he traded picks and players to get more picks or move around (1985, 1986, 1987).

He traded a 1st and a 2nd round pick for Cornelius Bennett.

His method was clearly to be aggressive in both the draft and through trades to make his team better. I hope Nix learns from our history.

And to be fair, he already had Kelly (we picked him in 1983 and he didnt want to sign with us). who made his debut in 1986 after tearing up the field for Houston in the USFL... it wasn't like we had no QB.

[YardRat]

Re: Bill Polian's first draft, 1986

Polian was aggressive...all season long, also.

He wasn't afraid to give up picks, or ship out veterans, to try to acquire better talent.

New England and Billicheck get a lot of credit for stockpiling picks, etc, but Polian was way ahead of them on the curve.

[Dr. Taylor Zaius]

Re: Bill Polian's first draft, 1986

I will cherrfully eat crow if Nix's moves turn out to be as brilliant as Polian's. Unfortunately as a lifelong fan, my guess is this will not happen.

Nix is no Polian. I only wish he were...

[X-Era]

Re: Bill Polian's first draft, 1986

Polian was aggressive...all season long, also.

He wasn't afraid to give up picks, or ship out veterans, to try to acquire better talent.

New England and Billicheck get a lot of credit for stockpiling picks, etc, but Polian was way ahead of them on the curve.

And yet we have tried to go opposite from that approach for some reason.

[Extremebillsfan247]

Re: Bill Polian's first draft, 1986

1a. RB Ronnie Harmon
1b. OT Will Wolford
3. C Leonard Burton
5. RB Carl Byrum
7a. TE Bob Williams
7b. LB/DE Mark Pike
7c. TE Butch Rolle
8. LB Tony Furjanic
9. WR Reggie Bynum
10. DT Guy Teafatiller
11. DT Tony Garbarczyk
12a. QB Brian McClure
12b. LB Derek Christian

Wow.

A situational RB in the first round, despite having Greg Bell and Joe Cribbs in '85. ANOTHER RB in round 5, to boot.

No QB until the last round.

A starting LT, back-up/special teams DE and TE, back-up center, and 8 guys never to be heard from again.

The Bills started off 0-2 in 1986.

Maybe Bill was another dumb-ass who should've been fired two games into the season.

I commend your effort, but trying to reach a hardened dis spirited fanbase such as this one is breaching on the border of impossibility. lol To all against better judgment who expected a quick turnaround that has not yet happened, that little note might as well fall to the blind. JMO

[NOT THE DUDE...]

Re: Bill Polian's first draft, 1986

yeah but look at polian who wasnt in charge in 85 but played a huge role in picking the players... bruce, reed, tasker, hull, reich...

[patmoran2006]

Re: Bill Polian's first draft, 1986

1a. RB Ronnie Harmon
1b. OT Will Wolford
3. C Leonard Burton
5. RB Carl Byrum
7a. TE Bob Williams
7b. LB/DE Mark Pike
7c. TE Butch Rolle
8. LB Tony Furjanic
9. WR Reggie Bynum
10. DT Guy Teafatiller
11. DT Tony Garbarczyk
12a. QB Brian McClure
12b. LB Derek Christian

Wow.

A situational RB in the first round, despite having Greg Bell and Joe Cribbs in '85. ANOTHER RB in round 5, to boot.

No QB until the last round.

A starting LT, back-up/special teams DE and TE, back-up center, and 8 guys never to be heard from again.

The Bills started off 0-2 in 1986.

Maybe Bill was another dumb-ass who should've been fired two games into the season.

Thanks for a great story idea, yard! Im straight out housing this theory.

[Johnny Bugmenot]

Re: Bill Polian's first draft, 1986

A starting LT

And for that, he's already above Nix.

[Ebenezer]

Re: Bill Polian's first draft, 1986

Actually, that was BP's first draft officially as GM. He conducted the '85 draft and picked Bruce Smith when everybody else wanted Flutie. He ran the show after Terry Bledsoe's heart attack in February '85.

[YardRat]

Re: Bill Polian's first draft, 1986

Actually, that was BP's first draft officially as GM. He conducted the '85 draft and picked Bruce Smith when everybody else wanted Flutie. He ran the show after Terry Bledsoe's heart attack in February '85.

He had Smith signed before he was even picked, for all intensive purposes, so there really isn't much merit to the "everybody else wanted Flutie" argument.

[Ebenezer]

Re: Bill Polian's first draft, 1986

He had Smith signed before he was even picked, for all intensive purposes, so there really isn't much merit to the "everybody else wanted Flutie" argument.

let me rephrase...

before the days of 24/7 TV and the internet all the fans who called the one local radio show that talked sports for four hours a night with Stan Barron wanted Doug Flutie. People were shocked when he drafted Smith.

is that better?

point is that he ran the '85 draft.

[Ebenezer]

Re: Bill Polian's first draft, 1986

He had Smith signed before he was even picked, for all intensive purposes, so there really isn't much merit to the "everybody else wanted Flutie" argument.

...and it is "intents and purposes"...just saying.