When will the Bills learn

[Albany,n.y.]

Outside of OJ, the Bills continue to waste 1st round picks on RBs who last a few years, have maybe one good year & are gone. You'd think after 45 years of the common draft they would just look at the results & know better. Spiller is just the latest in a long line of 1st round RB failures by the Bills:
2010 Spiller
2007 Lynch
2003 McGahee
1997 A. Smith (big gap because we hit on Thurman outside the 1st round)
1986 Harmon
1984 Bell
1981 Moore
1978 Miller
1969 Simpson-the last and only 1st round RB who was the answer.

[PTI]

Bills have been decent at secondary players in round 1, but all in all, the first round picks have sucked for the most part.

I didn't realize the Bills also took OJ's buddy Al Cowlings the year after OJ in round 1 too!!

[stuckincincy]

1st round rb picks spur ticket sales - not necessarily wins.

BUF has been egregious - a useful Travis Henry - then drafted (injured) McGahee. A useful McGahee, then drafted Marshawn Lynch. A useful Lynch, then drafted Spiller.

Madness.

[k-oneputt]

They still think it's the 1970's and 80's.

[Mr. Miyagi]

Disagree on Spiller being a failure.

If it wasn't for Freddie being such a beast, Spiller would be featured and would probably do pretty well. His problem thus far has been not getting the ball.

[zone]

The most recent 4 on that list were/are all pretty darn good RB's IMO.

[Johnny Bugmenot]

...but not the elite running backs that would warrant them being picked up in the first round.

[EDS]

...but not the elite running backs that would warrant them being picked up in the first round.

And more fundamentally, it is worth noting how relatively easy it is to find good running backs outside of the first round. Only 2 of the top 10 rushers this season - lead by undrafted Fred Jackson (not unlike undrafted Arian Foster leading the league in rushing last season) - were picked in the first round.

[chernobylwraiths]

I believe if you look at a list of the best RBs in history, most of them are first round picks.

[paladin warrior]

I talked to my brother in law about why C. J Spiller is not good that Bills pick 1st round Pick #9. He said that C.J spiller is not big and he is little light WT. It that true??:shocked:

Fred Jackson WT is 215
C.J Spiller Wt is 197

[Buddo]

I believe if you look at a list of the best RBs in history, most of them are first round picks.

It's not where you pick, it's who you pick.
Is Adrian Peterson a bust?
Darren McFadden?
It's also what you do with the RB - or what they are doing, as both Lynch and McGahee pretty much ran themselves out of town.

With the possible exception in the future of Spiller, it seems to me that the identification of talent at RB, hasn't been an issue. Developing it and hanging on to it, has been.

[better days]

1st round rb picks spur ticket sales - not necessarily wins.

BUF has been egregious - a useful Travis Henry - then drafted (injured) McGahee. A useful McGahee, then drafted Marshawn Lynch. A useful Lynch, then drafted Spiller.

Madness.

Yeah, I'm sure people ran out & bought tickets just to see Henry, McGahee & Lynch. You can't be serious.

[Bill Cody]

it's so true. The Bills should lay off the RB's and stick with picking more tried and true positions like OT (Williams), S (Whitner). DE/LB Maybin, Flowers, QB (Losman), DT (McCargo). When will we learn??

[Bill Cody]

...but not the elite running backs that would warrant them being picked up in the first round.

Spiller's not elite?:confused:

[dannyek71]

Disagree on Spiller being a failure.

If it wasn't for Freddie being such a beast, Spiller would be featured and would probably do pretty well. His problem thus far has been not getting the ball.

Based on what?

[YardRat]

Draft big, early and often. Skill positions are a dime-a-dozen and can be filled in later. The only time an offensive 'weapon' should be drafted in the first round is if you're damn sure, 99% positive that he's going to be a stud at the next level.

[better days]

Draft big, early and often. Skill positions are a dime-a-dozen and can be filled in later. The only time an offensive 'weapon' should be drafted in the first round is if you're damn sure, 99% positive that he's going to be a stud at the next level.

Ah the Bill Parcells school of drafting. Pass on Matt Ryan to draft a LT.

[Extremebillsfan247]

He's actually improved a lot from last year. Through 9 games this season he's averaging 6.9 yards per carry. He's only got the ball 18 times out of the backfield. That's only 1 game worth for 118 yards rushing and a TD. For most RB's, that's a pretty good day.

[SaviorEdwards]

it's so true. The Bills should lay off the RB's and stick with picking more tried and true positions like OT (Williams), S (Whitner). DE/LB Maybin, Flowers, QB (Losman), DT (McCargo). When will we learn??


What you do is build the lines in the first round because those guys are rarely if ever available in free agency. When the Patriots did that, they were winning championships in the years that followed.

[RoscoeMagic]

What you do is build the lines in the first round because those guys are rarely if ever available in free agency. When the Patriots did that, they were winning championships in the years that followed.

:negrep:

[Night Train]

Wait until dozens of posters want a top WR in this next draft, then complain when the D still struggles.

It's the same thing.

[BillsFever21]

The most recent 4 on that list were/are all pretty darn good RB's IMO.

Good but not elite which you are expecting to get when you draft a RB in the first round. Especially the Top 10 or so like Lynch and Spiller were. That's the big difference. You can find good/average RB's in any round but when you draft one in the first round especially high in the first round they better be an elite RB which none of them have been.

So basically in a 7 year period we spent three first round draft picks with two of them being Top 10 RB's, 1 second round RB and a couple or so 3rd/4th round RB's and we don't have anything to show out of them.

Also during that 7 year period we drafted an average but nto elite WR in the Top 10, a Top 10 LB that played 2 seasons and maybe 20 snaps during that span, a QB that flamed out, etc.Then before that we drafted an OT with the 4th pick who was a bust.

And we wonder why we suck. We hardly haven't received anything out of our draft picks in the last 10 years. A few average players traded for 3rd/4th round draft picks afterwards, a couple average ones who played but wasn't anything special, a couple that did absolutely nothing for us and now another one in Spiller who hasn't contributed or shown much at all in his two seasons.

You can say that Spiller hasn't had a chance because of Jackson which definitely plays a part in it but even in his limited action he hasn't showed much. Even if he is a decent RB but just hasn't gotten the opportunity this year to show it as a featured back or even a dual system RB it was a horrible draft pick when we already had Jackson and even Lynch at the time although he wasn't very good and only average.

We could have definitely used somebody else that maybe would be giving us some much needed production somewhere else instead of Spiller. RB's are almost a dime a dozen where teams keep finding good RB's far beyond the 1st or even 2nd round yet the Bills have been hell bent on keep drafting them high in the 1st round or 2nd round over the last 7 years. A total waste.

[zone]

For those of you who still don't get it, the draft is a crap shoot plain and simple.

[djjimkelly]

The most recent 4 on that list were/are all pretty darn good RB's IMO.


the problem is once we hit we kept replacing them the next year in the first round

just ridiculous

just imagine we just went D line every year we'd actuallly have a defense

[BillsFever21]

For those of you who still don't get it, the draft is a crap shoot plain and simple.

It's part crap shoot. Of course it is and you never know what you will get.

There also is skill and planning involved in it and not just plain luck like you are insinuating. You need to have a competent and good front office and scouts to take away the crap shoot risks and actually be able to access the players and find the ones that fit your system and be able to plan on the future.

Look at teams like the Steelers and Packers as an example. There is a reason why they have rarely missed on their 1st round picks over the past decade. Especially the Steelers.

The Steelers almost always draft late in the 1st round every season but they always end up finding a competent starter in that 1st round along with many other rounds.

Something like 35 of the 53 players on the Packers were drafted by them. Some huge number. That's no coincidence. Teams like them and the Steelers are able to spot out the talent that fits their system and use strategy to plan for the future.

The Steelers are the greatest example of it. Their entire core and most of their team are all drafted players. There are other teams with similar success also. The Packers are stacked and the best team in the league because they have exceled at finding great players in the draft and planning ahead with their draft picks too.

We have a crappy front office and we haven't gotten anything out of our draft picks even though we are always drafting in or around the Top 10. It's no coincidence teams like the Packers/Steelers always seam to find good players to rebuild their teams even though they always have a later draft pick(s)