Walter Football is ******ed. Buffalo Graded D

[BuffaloBlitz83]

2011 NFL Draft Grades:

Teams that draft well (i.e. Steelers, Packers, Colts) win Super Bowls. Teams that screw up in the NFL Draft every year never make the playoffs. Buffalo hasn't qualified for the postseason in more than a decade, and if you want to know why, all you have to do is look at how they draft.

The Bills screwed up yet again. How the hell did they come away from the 2011 NFL Draft without a quarterback? Ryan Fitzpatrick is not the answer. Every football person outside of Buffalo knows this, yet the Bills stubbornly continue to settle for mediocrity at the most important position in football.

Protecting the quarterback and getting to the other quarterback are two things that are also very important to every team in the league outside of Buffalo. No rush linebackers? No offensive lineman until the 122nd pick? And what's with all of these running backs and cornerbacks?

I really feel sorry for sensible Buffalo fans who know that their front office is clueless. The Bills are like the fantasy owner in your league who drafts a kicker in the eighth round every single summer. You quietly laugh at them during the draft, and smile when they hand in their league dues because you know they're going to finish 5-8 for the 10th year in a row.

Overall 2011 NFL Draft Grade given on 5/1/11: D



2011 NFL Draft Individual Grades:

3. Marcell Dareus, DE/DT
This pick is not an A because the Bills need a franchise quarterback and are once again passing up on the opportunity to acquire one. Buffalo will never be a playoff contender until it finds a franchise signal-caller.

However, Marcell Dareus is a terrific prospect and should be a fixture on Buffalo's defensive front for years to come. The Bills' stop unit has just improved exponentially. (Pick Grade: B)

34. Aaron Williams, CB/FS, Texas
So, Ryan Fitzpatrick is a franchise quarterback, eh? I like Aaron Williams, but he does not fill a need at all. As I've been saying, new regimes mean new rush linebackers, cornerbacks (safeties) and "pass-catchin' runnin' backs" in Buffalo. (Pick Grade: C)

68. Kelvin Sheppard, ILB, LSU
I mocked Kelvin Sheppard to the Bills atop the fourth round for a while, so I can certainly understand why they're taking him, albeit a round early. Buffalo had to find an upgrade next to Paul Posluszny. (Pick Grade: B)

100. Da'Norris Searcy, S, North Carolina
What are the Bills doing? How many defensive backs do they need? This is a slight reach, so it's not even like Buffalo is getting good value. (Pick Grade: D)

122. Chris Hairston, OT, Clemson
This is a decent pick. The Bills had to upgrade their offensive line, and Chris Hairston fits the range as a right tackle in the bottom of the fourth round. (Pick Grade: B)

133. Johnny White, RB, North Carolina
Where does Johnny White fit in with Fred Jackson and C.J. Spiller entrenched as the team's top running backs? I don't get this pick. It's not like White is an incredible value or anything. (Pick Grade: D)

169. Chris White, ILB, Mississippi State
This pick is a slight reach and doesn't fill a need. Some of Buffalo's selections have been head-scratchers. (Pick Grade: D)

206. Justin Rogers, CB, Richmond
Another defensive back? I'd like to say I'm surprised, but the Bills draft this way every year. It sucks for their fans. (Pick Grade: C)

245. Michael Jasper, G, Bethel
Here's how you know this is a crappy pick: NFL.com lists Michael Jasper as a defensive tackle even though he's really a guard. Oops.

Update: I've been bombarded with e-mails telling me that Jasper played both ways at Bethel, and that I'm an idiot for not knowing so. Well, maybe I'd know so if the Bills drafted a guy ranked in the top 1,000 on draft boards. (Pick Grade: D)

[BillsWin]

We should stop bringing that tool's smut to these boards.

[BuffaloBlitz83]

We should stop bringing that tool's smut to these boards.

Who runs that page? Any one with credentials?

[justasportsfan]

if we grabbed a qb ,they would still have graded us low because they'd say we still can't stop the run. walterfootball loses its credibility when they post articles like that

[BillsWin]

Who runs that page? Any one with credentials?

He has zero legitimate credentials to my knowledge. Just a guy with too much time on his hands. That, or he is Mel Kiper's alter ego.

[BertSquirtgum]

that dude is a moron. he should hang himself.

[Buffalo Thriller]

Hes an idiot with no football smarts. He reads up on ESPN and puts it on his website.

[Slim]

He's always very harsh on the bills.

[ublinkwescore]

He is gay. he sits on lollypops and guesses what flavor they are kinda gay.

[Bangarang]

Something tells me that if we drafted Gabbert instead, he would be saying that we're morons for passing on Dareus. Either way, whoever wrote that is a damn fool.

[TigerJ]

Walter Cherepinsky has some decent draft information on his website. When it comes to the Bills, he has become a bit fixated on their QB issues. Consequently, he has lost some objectivity if he ever had it. It's true that Buffalo needs better quarterbacking at some point, but if it's not there (in the draft) Buddy Nix can't manufacture it out of thin air.

[dreamwalker]

First off I am a Miami fan even with my bias I would rank the draft as follows
1.Bills- best 1st round pick of the bunch
2.Miami
3.NE (simply for the 1st and 2nd round picks they picked up)
4.Jets (I think they maintained statis quo but did nothing to get better this year) they better not do that again next season because they could find themselves at the bottom of the division.

Regardless of whether or not Fitzpatrick is the answer I like him and I would love to have him in Miami. I think the bills did right not going after a qb this year. Like I said I am a Miami fan praying for the bills to pick up a QB in round 1- so ultimatly that means the bills did right by not doing what I was praying for them to do.

With NE i have lost faith in BB's draft choices. You cant question their success but I think since pioli left they have been treading water (reluctantly spending their draft choices)

[Oldbillsfan]

duh wallter. the bills picked up probably the best player in the draft

[DrGraves]

any legitimate points he makes are lost in the fact that he expresses his opinions like a 5 year old

[Ingtar33]

i'm mixed on this article.

On one hand i agree with him. RBs, DBs, and Kick returners weren't anywhere near the top of the bills need list. Front 7 (both pass rush and run stopping), OL (particularly both Tackles), and QB were our biggest needs.

This is why i was very displeased with this draft. I'm not a huge fan of any of the DBs outside of the tweener we got in round 2 (he's not bad, he should be able to contribute at either CB or safety). I'm sorta ok with the OT... I love the Dareus pick.

That said, where i don't agree with him was his complaining about QB. no one in this draft was worth a 3rd overall at QB. Hell, no one was worth it at 28th either. The only QB left on the board who was worth a 2nd round pick was Kaepernick when our pick came up in round 2. I'm 50/50 on if i'd of taken him instead of Aaron Williams (seriously... i liked both players, and while i think Williams was a slightly safer pick, QB was a bigger need so i'm not sure where i'd go there)

Anyway... other then his wish for a QB (this was NOT the draft to get one) i sorta agree with most of what he wrote.

What i find interesting is how most of this board is eviscerating him as if the last 10 years hasn't happened. We have drafted like crap. And just like he said, we usually are good for drafting RBs, WRs, and DBs too. I probably would have used every single pick on the lines and linebackers this year. and used FA to fill whatever holes i had in my roster.

this was a b- draft just because they didn't do the unthinkable and skip Dareus (easily the best player in the draft)... after that... not much to be happy about.

[Buddo]

i'm mixed on this article.

On one hand i agree with him. RBs, DBs, and Kick returners weren't anywhere near the top of the bills need list. Front 7 (both pass rush and run stopping), OL (particularly both Tackles), and QB were our biggest needs.

This is why i was very displeased with this draft. I'm not a huge fan of any of the DBs outside of the tweener we got in round 2 (he's not bad, he should be able to contribute at either CB or safety). I'm sorta ok with the OT... I love the Dareus pick.

That said, where i don't agree with him was his complaining about QB. no one in this draft was worth a 3rd overall at QB. Hell, no one was worth it at 28th either. The only QB left on the board who was worth a 2nd round pick was Kaepernick when our pick came up in round 2. I'm 50/50 on if i'd of taken him instead of Aaron Williams (seriously... i liked both players, and while i think Williams was a slightly safer pick, QB was a bigger need so i'm not sure where i'd go there)

Anyway... other then his wish for a QB (this was NOT the draft to get one) i sorta agree with most of what he wrote.

What i find interesting is how most of this board is eviscerating him as if the last 10 years hasn't happened. We have drafted like crap. And just like he said, we usually are good for drafting RBs, WRs, and DBs too. I probably would have used every single pick on the lines and linebackers this year. and used FA to fill whatever holes i had in my roster.

this was a b- draft just because they didn't do the unthinkable and skip Dareus (easily the best player in the draft)... after that... not much to be happy about.

While it isn't an unfair comment to say we've drafted crap previously, that should have absolutely no bearing on who/what/where we drafted this year, if you are attempting to 'grade' this draft.
All these sites seem to view picks in isolation, as and when it suits them.
There are obviously some things that we could have done differently, but there's probably a lot less than people assume to be the case.
We could have, for example, taken Ijalana (sp?) with the #34 pick. Was he worth that? Okay, the Colts thought he was worth a 2nd rounder, but they took him 15 spots further back. The Broncos took an OT also, a few spots earlier, but still 10+ after we picked.
If you are going to be decent drafting, getting the value/need balance is pretty crucial.
I think the Bills did a decent job of that, this time around.
Unfortunately, as things stand, we do need more DBs. There's a good deal of uncertainty as to who will be back (Florence is wanted, but may get a good offer elsewhere), and also as to who will actually progress, McKelvin in particular.
As to RB, again, looks like good value, and while a depth pick, is still a 'need' afaic.
TBH, personally, I probably would have looked at the lines again, instead of taking the other CB late on, but I'm not convinced there was someone there who would make any real difference. I think they've probably got a 'Greer' type of kid with the pick, who could turn out to be as good.
There's obviously still a fair way to go, to getting this team where Nix wants them to be, but I can see he's working at it.#
One last observation I will make, is that the Dareus pick, gave them a lot more freedom to draft value, than any other one would have.
I do like this draft, and I think it will be viewed pretty well, over the right sort of time period to evaluate it properly.

[better days]

i'm mixed on this article.

On one hand i agree with him. RBs, DBs, and Kick returners weren't anywhere near the top of the bills need list. Front 7 (both pass rush and run stopping), OL (particularly both Tackles), and QB were our biggest needs.

This is why i was very displeased with this draft. I'm not a huge fan of any of the DBs outside of the tweener we got in round 2 (he's not bad, he should be able to contribute at either CB or safety). I'm sorta ok with the OT... I love the Dareus pick.

That said, where i don't agree with him was his complaining about QB. no one in this draft was worth a 3rd overall at QB. Hell, no one was worth it at 28th either. The only QB left on the board who was worth a 2nd round pick was Kaepernick when our pick came up in round 2. I'm 50/50 on if i'd of taken him instead of Aaron Williams (seriously... i liked both players, and while i think Williams was a slightly safer pick, QB was a bigger need so i'm not sure where i'd go there)

Anyway... other then his wish for a QB (this was NOT the draft to get one) i sorta agree with most of what he wrote.

What i find interesting is how most of this board is eviscerating him as if the last 10 years hasn't happened. We have drafted like crap. And just like he said, we usually are good for drafting RBs, WRs, and DBs too. I probably would have used every single pick on the lines and linebackers this year. and used FA to fill whatever holes i had in my roster.

this was a b- draft just because they didn't do the unthinkable and skip Dareus (easily the best player in the draft)... after that... not much to be happy about.

In the 1st place the last 10 years have nothing to do with this draft. In the 2nd place he only gave the grade of B for Dareus because the Bills did not get a QB. That is just stupid.

[Mr. Miyagi]

:rofl: This guy has a hard-on for a quarterback, ANY quarterback. If any pick that's not a quarterback got a bad grade. Even though there's no real franchise type QB in this draft.

I didn't click on the link but here's my guess. Arizona and Seattle got a D for not getting a QB, and Cincy and Minnesota got an A regardless of the rest of their draft. Am I close?

One-track-minded guys like this shouldn't be giving any draft grades.

:moon:

[trapezeus]

i guess that guy doesn't subscribe to the "qb's get too much credit when they win, and too much credit when they lose."

I think the bills just weren't much of a team. and unfortunately, due to crappy drafts previously, positions that should be shored up line CB/Safeties are still needs.

While, i think that the front 7 on defense makes average CB's better, i don't even think they really had enough to go through the season.

If the bills passed on the dareus of QB's for a D man who wasn't graded highly, i would have been mad. but they didn't. i think they did alright for themselves. we'll see in september.

[PTI]

Their Emmit Smith stuff is pretty funny though!

No team can get D. You can get incomplete before a D. All teams can really only be graded 3 years after, we all know this.

[elltrain22]

2011 NFL Draft Grades:

Teams that draft well (i.e. Steelers, Packers, Colts) win Super Bowls. Teams that screw up in the NFL Draft every year never make the playoffs. Buffalo hasn't qualified for the postseason in more than a decade, and if you want to know why, all you have to do is look at how they draft.

The Bills screwed up yet again. How the hell did they come away from the 2011 NFL Draft without a quarterback? Ryan Fitzpatrick is not the answer. Every football person outside of Buffalo knows this, yet the Bills stubbornly continue to settle for mediocrity at the most important position in football.

Protecting the quarterback and getting to the other quarterback are two things that are also very important to every team in the league outside of Buffalo. No rush linebackers? No offensive lineman until the 122nd pick? And what's with all of these running backs and cornerbacks?

I really feel sorry for sensible Buffalo fans who know that their front office is clueless. The Bills are like the fantasy owner in your league who drafts a kicker in the eighth round every single summer. You quietly laugh at them during the draft, and smile when they hand in their league dues because you know they're going to finish 5-8 for the 10th year in a row.

Overall 2011 NFL Draft Grade given on 5/1/11: D



2011 NFL Draft Individual Grades:

3. Marcell Dareus, DE/DT
This pick is not an A because the Bills need a franchise quarterback and are once again passing up on the opportunity to acquire one. Buffalo will never be a playoff contender until it finds a franchise signal-caller.

However, Marcell Dareus is a terrific prospect and should be a fixture on Buffalo's defensive front for years to come. The Bills' stop unit has just improved exponentially. (Pick Grade: B)

34. Aaron Williams, CB/FS, Texas
So, Ryan Fitzpatrick is a franchise quarterback, eh? I like Aaron Williams, but he does not fill a need at all. As I've been saying, new regimes mean new rush linebackers, cornerbacks (safeties) and "pass-catchin' runnin' backs" in Buffalo. (Pick Grade: C)

68. Kelvin Sheppard, ILB, LSU
I mocked Kelvin Sheppard to the Bills atop the fourth round for a while, so I can certainly understand why they're taking him, albeit a round early. Buffalo had to find an upgrade next to Paul Posluszny. (Pick Grade: B)

100. Da'Norris Searcy, S, North Carolina
What are the Bills doing? How many defensive backs do they need? This is a slight reach, so it's not even like Buffalo is getting good value. (Pick Grade: D)

122. Chris Hairston, OT, Clemson
This is a decent pick. The Bills had to upgrade their offensive line, and Chris Hairston fits the range as a right tackle in the bottom of the fourth round. (Pick Grade: B)

133. Johnny White, RB, North Carolina
Where does Johnny White fit in with Fred Jackson and C.J. Spiller entrenched as the team's top running backs? I don't get this pick. It's not like White is an incredible value or anything. (Pick Grade: D)

169. Chris White, ILB, Mississippi State
This pick is a slight reach and doesn't fill a need. Some of Buffalo's selections have been head-scratchers. (Pick Grade: D)

206. Justin Rogers, CB, Richmond
Another defensive back? I'd like to say I'm surprised, but the Bills draft this way every year. It sucks for their fans. (Pick Grade: C)

245. Michael Jasper, G, Bethel
Here's how you know this is a crappy pick: NFL.com lists Michael Jasper as a defensive tackle even though he's really a guard. Oops.

Update: I've been bombarded with e-mails telling me that Jasper played both ways at Bethel, and that I'm an idiot for not knowing so. Well, maybe I'd know so if the Bills drafted a guy ranked in the top 1,000 on draft boards. (Pick Grade: D)

Wow that is some seriously bad journalism. I kept an open-mind as to what they might say b/c constructive criticism is okay, but its pretty clear that this website has bias w/ some teams, and has it in for teams like us. This article contains opinions and hardly anything factual. It's pretty clear that this website doesn't do their own homework, but they rely on ESPN, Mel Kiper, and more than anything else, there own bias as to what they think is right or wrong. In the process, they make there website look like junk and totally BS

[justasportsfan]

this is my biggest problem with this guys assessment.

He gave the jets drafting Wilkerson an A . The jets are already stout at D while the bills were dead last vs. the run yet he wasn't giving the Dareus pick an A.

We need to stop the run more than we needed a qb which makes his opinion ******ed.

[PTI]

this is my biggest problem with this guys assessment.

He gave the jets drafting Wilkerson an A . The jets are already stout at D while the bills were dead last vs. the run yet he wasn't giving the Dareus pick an A.

We need to stop the run more than we needed a qb which makes his opinion ******ed.

Jets D is worse without Kris Jenkins, they needed to get DLINE, he played in 7 games the last two years, I think their pick is good, don't care about grades though.

[justasportsfan]

Jets D is worse without Kris Jenkins, they needed to get DLINE, he played in 7 games the last two years, I think their pick is good, don't care about grades though.


Even without Jenkins , the bills still needed to stop the run more than they do.

NY jets rush D - #3 Bills #32 (gave up franshise record yards)


Total D jets #3 Bills # 24

tell me who was more in desperate need of a stud defensive lineman?

[THATHURMANATOR]

i'm mixed on this article.

On one hand i agree with him. RBs, DBs, and Kick returners weren't anywhere near the top of the bills need list. Front 7 (both pass rush and run stopping), OL (particularly both Tackles), and QB were our biggest needs.

This is why i was very displeased with this draft. I'm not a huge fan of any of the DBs outside of the tweener we got in round 2 (he's not bad, he should be able to contribute at either CB or safety). I'm sorta ok with the OT... I love the Dareus pick.

That said, where i don't agree with him was his complaining about QB. no one in this draft was worth a 3rd overall at QB. Hell, no one was worth it at 28th either. The only QB left on the board who was worth a 2nd round pick was Kaepernick when our pick came up in round 2. I'm 50/50 on if i'd of taken him instead of Aaron Williams (seriously... i liked both players, and while i think Williams was a slightly safer pick, QB was a bigger need so i'm not sure where i'd go there)

Anyway... other then his wish for a QB (this was NOT the draft to get one) i sorta agree with most of what he wrote.

What i find interesting is how most of this board is eviscerating him as if the last 10 years hasn't happened. We have drafted like crap. And just like he said, we usually are good for drafting RBs, WRs, and DBs too. I probably would have used every single pick on the lines and linebackers this year. and used FA to fill whatever holes i had in my roster.

this was a b- draft just because they didn't do the unthinkable and skip Dareus (easily the best player in the draft)... after that... not much to be happy about.
What are your thoughts on Sheppard?

[better days]

this is my biggest problem with this guys assessment.

He gave the jets drafting Wilkerson an A . The jets are already stout at D while the bills were dead last vs. the run yet he wasn't giving the Dareus pick an A.

We need to stop the run more than we needed a qb which makes his opinion ******ed.

My biggest problem with this guys assessment is he gave the Dareus pick a grade of B & not A because they took Dareus over a QB. As if there was a QB worth drafting at #3.