How do you rebuild a team?

[The King]

Seems like this keeps popping up so I thought I would give my two cents as to how I think an NFL team should rebuild. Why express my opinion, because even still no one in this organization can nail it down.

Year One:

I think you start big picture you disect your franchise by position. So we have

QB, RB, WR, TE, OL, DL, LB, DB, ST.

You look at those 9 areas and you say ok were are we getting our ass kicked the most? And what does that area effect. So if your QB looks terrible and your backs are running spotty, you think Offensive Line. If we can make a few improvements here we might be able to ignore RB and QB for another year. As this correction will help us get a little more out of our existing players. So you look at FA's and you look at the draft, in this teams case it's got to be in the draft since no FA's will sign here. IMO you spend your top 2 picks on fixing this need.

You then consider where you feel like you're close in our case I would say DB. So you think about rounds 3-4 locking down that position. By locking it down its off the list to address next season.

So in our first 4 rounds of the draft we have now made significant improvements on our weakest area, hopefully increasing the efftectiveness of your QB and RB's which you know you'll have to address next year. You've also eliminated a position from your list.

Your late round picks should be used for depth or trade bait, we know we need two difference makers in those early rounds use a late pick to help land that second guy and jump a few spots.

Year Two:

The following season, you hope you made the right choices to fix that line. You now re-evaluate....

You're O-line should only require minor attention now. Your DB's are locked. So what position now will make the most impact... a QB sure, but is there one that fits both where we draft and quality wise? That's something that has to be considered. Is there a player in the first round who can instantly cross one of these positions off the rebuilding list? A DE, or LB? One of these guys now makes your defense 2/3 complete...

Well I am rambling on now, but these are the questions you need to ask yourself as a franchise. I dont think you can rebuild looking at a big picture you really need to chip away into little areas, until you have it all pieced together... The better you draft the better you play. And eventually you're filling holes with FA's.

[Historian]

2011: QB and LT, TE

[Typ0]

Owner.

[patmoran2006]

I think you rebuild a team simply by drafting better.. I shouldn't say simply because when it comes to this front office making early picks its a discgrace.

Look at this way, just in the last five years see how many 1st and 2nd rounders we took instead of players taken after them, in the same round and often the same position. Every team misses on future stars but nobody does with the regularity of the Bills.

Just this alone..
Maybin instead of Cushing or Matthews
Poz instead of David Harris
James Hardy instead of DeSean Jackson

Thats only three picks.. Three guys who went in the same round AFTER we took our guys, who play the exact same position.

How much closer to being a good team we would be if we just had David Harris, Brian Cushing and DeSean Jackson on this roster?

I wont even get into things like taking Whitner instead of Ngata, or McCargo instead of Mangold, or Lynch over Revis. Again, all teams miss, but none quite like we do.

[Prov401]

Seems like this keeps popping up so I thought I would give my two cents as to how I think an NFL team should rebuild. Why express my opinion, because even still no one in this organization can nail it down.

Year One:

I think you start big picture you disect your franchise by position. So we have

QB, RB, WR, TE, OL, DL, LB, DB, ST.

You look at those 9 areas and you say ok were are we getting our ass kicked the most? And what does that area effect. So if your QB looks terrible and your backs are running spotty, you think Offensive Line. If we can make a few improvements here we might be able to ignore RB and QB for another year. As this correction will help us get a little more out of our existing players. So you look at FA's and you look at the draft, in this teams case it's got to be in the draft since no FA's will sign here. IMO you spend your top 2 picks on fixing this need.

You then consider where you feel like you're close in our case I would say DB. So you think about rounds 3-4 locking down that position. By locking it down its off the list to address next season.

So in our first 4 rounds of the draft we have now made significant improvements on our weakest area, hopefully increasing the efftectiveness of your QB and RB's which you know you'll have to address next year. You've also eliminated a position from your list.

Your late round picks should be used for depth or trade bait, we know we need two difference makers in those early rounds use a late pick to help land that second guy and jump a few spots.

Year Two:

The following season, you hope you made the right choices to fix that line. You now re-evaluate....

You're O-line should only require minor attention now. Your DB's are locked. So what position now will make the most impact... a QB sure, but is there one that fits both where we draft and quality wise? That's something that has to be considered. Is there a player in the first round who can instantly cross one of these positions off the rebuilding list? A DE, or LB? One of these guys now makes your defense 2/3 complete...

Well I am rambling on now, but these are the questions you need to ask yourself as a franchise. I dont think you can rebuild looking at a big picture you really need to chip away into little areas, until you have it all pieced together... The better you draft the better you play. And eventually you're filling holes with FA's.

Starts with getting a good coach.

As for players, you need a franchise QB, and build the trenches.

[mrbojanglezs]

1) get the qb
2)protect the qb
3) give the qb weapons

priorities for offense at least

[SeatownBillsFan21]

Start with football mined personal Not Ralph Not Modrak not Nix not Gailey start there.

[BILLSROCK1212]

protect the QB before you get the QB i think...then you get your RBs (which we already have) then you get yourself QBs and WRs together so they can go through the maturation process together and build a very close relationship...that's the key to offensive success...in the meantime we should get more andra davis' (hopefully a little younger and better) as stop gaps at the LB position, but at the same time upgrades...this should all take a year or two if we do it correctly and then we are well on our way

[Mr. Pink]

Don't do what the Bills have done.

[malo]

You don't sit on your hands during the off-season.

[YardRat]

Wish in one hand, Bills in the other...See which one fills up first.

[tampabay25690]

2011: QB and LT, TE

QB
OL
DL
LB
TE
This would be a good start.

I think if we can get a Franchise type QB we can start to work around him.
We definitely have the franchise back.
To be honest i really wish we drafted Clasuen, at least Carolina has there guy of the future getting reps.

[Night Train]

You immediately find help for the D Front 7, which keeps you in games while the O is built and comes together.

If you can't stop ANYONE on defense, you don't come close to winning. No O can consistently catch up from 10-14 points down early and even a wider margin early in the 2nd half.

See Buffalo.

[DynaPaul]

Year 1: LT, DT/DE
Year 2: C, DT/DE
Year 3: QB, LB
Year 4: RB, WR
Year 5: CB, TE

[X-Era]

You can address both the QB position and the RT position in this years draft. There are plenty of guys out of round 1 who could be solid prospects as RT's. Address the QB spot early in round 1, go RT, pass rushing DE or DT, and add LB help... throw in a SS and a TE and we are better.

Next year, go WR, and continue on the D.

[theanswer74]

Owner.

You mean Owner stays away.

Ralph would be a great owner if he just stayed away.

I remember the Steelers owner saying that he never thought he should be involved in anything, he hires people and lets them do their job. No wonder this guy has had 3 coaches in like 40 years.

[Ingtar33]

simple.

1) fire gailey
2) hire me (at this point i think i'm a better coach)
3) take a long hard look at the qbs coming out this year... this is the big one... because if you don't think the franchise guy is in this draft we'll have to fall back and stock picks... because i intend to rebuild both sides of the ball in 1 offseason.
4) FA - sign the biggest and most expensive guy on either line... two if possible. this is to send a message to the other FA... things are changing in buffalo, it's alright to sign here.
5) if the franchise QB isn't in the draft or at our position in round 1, trade for a suitable vet... and sign another. then in the draft draft 2 qbs min... at places you feel are good for their ability. Otherwise sign the vet (jeff garcia, or gargia like would be great) and draft the franchise guy
6) spend every remaining pick on the dl-ol-lbers...
7) sign a FA playmaker at WR or TE
8) get a new stadium and facilities... this is HUGE to FA, and the health and future of the franchise.

-size-

this team is small, slow and weak. they need size everywhere. draft it or sign it i don't care. at the end of the day if the team isn't made to knock your teeth out you failed in your first offseason.

[Dr. Taylor Zaius]

Draft a RB in the 1st when you already have one...

[DraftBoy]

Back to basics...

Build the OL and Front 7.

[billz83]

do EVERYTHING opposite of what this incompetent organization has done and ull be in pretty good shape..

[jamze132]

Football starts and ends in the trenches. It's really that simple. If you can run the ball on offense and stop the run on defense, you will win many games.

Buffalo has the absolute worst O and D lines in the NFL.

[ChristopherWalken]

Chicken meet egg. QB / OL

I agree with Ingtar, for the most part. The difference is that I think Gailey can accomplish this task, and needs to prove that he's capable.

It's a balance of getting the right FA players to bite and making the right choices in the draft.

I have never been in favor of BPA drafting, unless you're refering to filling holes on the team with the next BPA. Not to mention, this has not worked well for the Bills over the past decade. Remember Millen in Detroit? Same concept similar results.

Ingtar's plan (minus the hiring of Ingtar) is working very well in SF. They've turned a sub-par team into a weekly contendor, and IMO, are only a few pieces away from going the distance in the playoffs.

How many OL did SF take this year?

How to lure decent FAs?

1) Money - sometimes it just takes a little monatray nudge. In some case you'll also draw in the occassional bum looking for a handout. Beggers can't be choosers. Over paying for an alarming overweight, end of life, NT (for example) is probably not a bad idea for the Bills at this point and time.

2) A proven Head Coach - players will flock to coaches like Parcells, Cowher, Bellichick etc...Hate to say it but Brian Billick would have been able to lure players into Buffalo. He's that type of coach and the Bills organization really would have benefited hiring him.

3) A winning formula - A what? It will be the later part of the next decade for us to remember what a winning formula is exactly. Let's put it this way, the Bills do not have one...and haven't for quite some time.


Currenlty, the Bills have only 1 of 3 options to work with. If they want to obtain some top notch FAs they're going to have to lose this "won't over pay for talent mentality" and open up the check book nice and wide.

[DraftBoy]

Chicken meet egg. QB / OL

I agree with Ingtar, for the most part. The difference is that I think Gailey can accomplish this task, and needs to prove that he's capable.

It's a balance of getting the right FA players to bite and making the right choices in the draft.

I have never been in favor of BPA drafting, unless you're refering to filling holes on the team with the next BPA. Not to mention, this has not worked well for the Bills over the past decade. Remember Millen in Detroit? Same concept similar results.

Ingtar's plan (minus the hiring of Ingtar) is working very well in SF. They've turned a sub-par team into a weekly contendor, and IMO, are only a few pieces away from going the distance in the playoffs.

How many OL did SF take this year?

How to lure decent FAs?

1) Money - sometimes it just takes a little monatray nudge. In some case you'll also draw in the occassional bum looking for a handout. Beggers can't be choosers. Over paying for an alarming overweight, end of life, NT (for example) is probably not a bad idea for the Bills at this point and time.

2) A proven Head Coach - players will flock to coaches like Parcells, Cowher, Bellichick etc...Hate to say it but Brian Billick would have been able to lure players into Buffalo. He's that type of coach and the Bills organization really would have benefited hiring him.

3) A winning formula - A what? It will be the later part of the next decade for us to remember what a winning formula is exactly. Let's put it this way, the Bills do not have one...and haven't for quite some time.


Currenlty, the Bills have only 1 of 3 options to work with. If they want to obtain some top notch FAs they're going to have to lose this "won't over pay for talent mentality" and open up the check book nice and wide.

SF is currently 0-4 and they took two OL in the first round this year.

[Stewie]

how do you rebuild a team?

the lines the lines the lines the lines... none of it matters if you cant run and stop the run.

get some playmaking DT's and DE's, get a great center and LT, and go from there.

[ChristopherWalken]

SF is currently 0-4 and they took two OL in the first round this year.


I understand that and maybe they're not the best example. I was honing in on SF nearly knocking out New Orleans and Atlanta. Two very heavy fisted teams in the NFC.

My point is they have the right formula for rebuiliding and that they're just a few pieces away from making it all work.

[Ingtar33]

I understand that and maybe they're not the best example. I was honing in on SF nearly knocking out New Orleans and Atlanta. Two very heavy fisted teams in the NFC.

My point is they have the right formula for rebuiliding and that they're just a few pieces away from making it all work.

if by "few peices" you mean QB, you're right.

Alex Smith is a failure of Ryan Leaf levels... only difference is he hasn't melted down at the press, and the team for some unknown reason keeps playing him.

[DrGraves]

you get an owner who cares about winning and hires competent people to work under him.

[ChristopherWalken]

if by "few peices" you mean QB, you're right.

Alex Smith is a failure of Ryan Leaf levels... only difference is he hasn't melted down at the press, and the team for some unknown reason keeps playing him.


Precisley my point. If the Bills would have drafted accordingly the last 3 years, we might still have Trent Edwards, but we could also have built a line suitable for blocking for when they obtain a real frachise QB.

Looking within the division, both Henne and Sanchez are servicable but hardly Pro Bowl caliber QBs. The difference between say Henne and Fitz is the offensive lineman. Neither are great, but if you get the lined tweaked just enough, you should be able to plug and play the right QB when he suddenly comes along.

[DraftBoy]

I understand that and maybe they're not the best example. I was honing in on SF nearly knocking out New Orleans and Atlanta. Two very heavy fisted teams in the NFC.

My point is they have the right formula for rebuiliding and that they're just a few pieces away from making it all work.

I see what you were getting at, but Im sold on what SF is doing quite yet.

[HHURRICANE]

I don't care anymore.

This team is 5 years away from having any kind of relevance.