This Veteran fans Golden Rule needs opinions

[Marvelous]

-Been debating this with RL idiots lately and need the support and opposition from my own fans.

--Golden Rule is about The Draft-
-As long as we are NOT a playoff team/still struggling- drafting non skilled in the 1st round(esp the top of the 1st round) unacceptable and a luxury bad team can't afford..
For any who don't know I'll save the time and list the non skilled-
-Guard,Center,TE,Safety(esp FS),MLB..

-LG Andy Levitre- high 2nd round pick- top 10(I don't do top 3 or top5) top 10'in league
FS-Byrd, same as above
--I'm ok with not keeping these guys esp Byrd cause 9 mill a year for safety/him is not for us!
-at least these guys were high 2nd rounders and not 1st. Byrd isn't our fault(IMO) but Levitre they should had resigned two years prior. Esp once he was able to play (spot)LT.
--these are important NON skilled positions who we probably would have been forced to overpay to keep in sunny happy B-lo.

-so I'm just curious in the veteran fans opinions. I say veteran cause I know the youth are sooo tempted to have the years hot TE. I've been there. I wanted Dallas Clark,Witten in our Mcgahee/Kelsay draft but that was the last season I dealt that way. So are we a freak inexperienced rookie TE away from sweeping Patsies and taking the east? :

[YardRat]

Re: This Veteran fans Golden Rule needs opinions

Levitre was a train wreck at both OT and C when he was asked to fill in.

[Meathead]

Re: This Veteran fans Golden Rule needs opinions

-As long as we are NOT a playoff team/still struggling- drafting non skilled in the 1st round(esp the top of the 1st round) unacceptable and a luxury bad team can't afford

pls rephrase in english. i have no idea what this sentence actually says

[coastal]

Re: This Veteran fans Golden Rule needs opinions

Gold

[BLeonard]

Re: This Veteran fans Golden Rule needs opinions

I say the same thing every year about what I want to see out of the Bills' first round selection.... If the Bills are not a playoff team (as they haven't been for the past 14 seasons) then their first round selection should be an immediate starter at the position he plays.

The problem with that is, while the Bills have indeed done that in recent years, when it comes time to re-sign the draft picks they hit on, more often than not, they fail to.

Case in point: Levitre and Byrd.

Now, neither of those were first round picks, but, if you're "building through the draft," as the Bills claim every year, you have to keep the ones you hit on. The same year they drafted Levitre and Byrd (2009) their first round pick was Aaron Maybin.

Many people will also tell you that "it takes three years to properly evaluate a draft." Fine, but, how much does that really matter when after 5 seasons, only one player from the draft remains on the team? That's now the case with the Bills 2009 draft (Eric Wood).

Going back 3 seasons would put us at the 2011 draft... Of the 9 picks the Bills had, 4 remain on the team. It'll be interesting to see how many remain on the team in 2 years... Or, will we be hearing Bills fans say "Dareus wanted too much!" or "He didn't want to be here!"

The other excuse would be the "regime change" one... Personally, I don't buy that as an excuse as to why the Bills can't keep their own players... Yeah, we seem to go through new coaches every three seasons lately, but the front office has had four high ranking constants that have been there for the entire 14 year playoff drought: Ralph Wilson, Russ Brandon, Jim Overdorf and Jeff Littmann.

In short, it doesn't matter who you draft, or how well you draft, if the ones you hit on aren't with the team after their rookie contract.

-Bill

[BLeonard]

Re: This Veteran fans Golden Rule needs opinions

-Golden Rule is about The Draft-
-As long as we are NOT a playoff team/still struggling- drafting non skilled in the 1st round(esp the top of the 1st round) unacceptable and a luxury bad team can't afford..
For any who don't know I'll save the time and list the non skilled-
-Guard,Center,TE,Safety(esp FS),MLB..

Disagree 100% with your "Golden rule."

Prior to the 1994 season, the Bills lost two very good offensive linemen to Free agency: Howard Ballard and Jim Ritcher. They missed the playoffs that season.

First pick in the 1995 Draft? Ruben Brown (G).

This would be a player that falls into your "non-skilled" positions and therefore a "luxury."

On the other hand, the Bills first pick in the 2009 draft was Aaron Maybin... An Outside Linebacker/Defensive End that doesn't fall into your "non-skilled" positions.

Ruben Brown started immediately... In fact, he started every game he played in... Made 8 consecutive Pro Bowls as a Buffalo Bill and made the Bills 50th anniversary team.

Aaron Maybin, five years after being drafted, is playing in the CFL...

But, according to your "golden rule," Ruben Brown would have been "unacceptable and a luxury bad team can't afford," while Aaron Maybin would have been fine, again, according to your "golden rule."

The way I'm reading your "golden rule" is that you're fine with taking, say, a Wide Receiver, that may or may not get any sort of significant playing time, but taking a Offensive Guard that would start all 16 games in the 2014 season would be "unacceptable."

Me? I couldn't care less what position the player the Bills take plays, as long as he is an immediate upgrade to what they have and can contribute on day 1.

-Bill

[X-Era]

Re: This Veteran fans Golden Rule needs opinions

-Been debating this with RL idiots lately and need the support and opposition from my own fans.

--Golden Rule is about The Draft-
-As long as we are NOT a playoff team/still struggling- drafting non skilled in the 1st round(esp the top of the 1st round) unacceptable and a luxury bad team can't afford..
For any who don't know I'll save the time and list the non skilled-
-Guard,Center,TE,Safety(esp FS),MLB..

-LG Andy Levitre- high 2nd round pick- top 10(I don't do top 3 or top5) top 10'in league
FS-Byrd, same as above
--I'm ok with not keeping these guys esp Byrd cause 9 mill a year for safety/him is not for us!
-at least these guys were high 2nd rounders and not 1st. Byrd isn't our fault(IMO) but Levitre they should had resigned two years prior. Esp once he was able to play (spot)LT.
--these are important NON skilled positions who we probably would have been forced to overpay to keep in sunny happy B-lo.

-so I'm just curious in the veteran fans opinions. I say veteran cause I know the youth are sooo tempted to have the years hot TE. I've been there. I wanted Dallas Clark,Witten in our Mcgahee/Kelsay draft but that was the last season I dealt that way. So are we a freak inexperienced rookie TE away from sweeping Patsies and taking the east? :

1) We're not one player away from sweeping the Patsies regardless of what player we get. So, that is just not the way I would look at it.

2) I feel like the rule is that there is no rule. You need a quarterback and then the team can win in lots of different ways.

3) As far as skilled versus non-skilled I don't think that is the issue. I think the issue is finding the most gifted talent. I think it's about finding the best possible athletes. So when you pick you should (in theory) be taking the best, most rare even, player. It's about value. If the player at 9 is a stud OT who is one of the best prospects at that position in years, take him. But if you're looking at the 3rd best OT and the best WR prospect in years, take the WR... The same can be said for any position really. If we're looking at the 3rd best OT, 2nd best WR, but the next Vernon Davis type TE... I think you take the best player available and that could be the TE.

For years the Bills have had gaping holes with no starter at several positions coming into the draft. They have been stuck with having to fill needs first. This year we have a few starters that need to be upgraded/pushed but no real empty spots. We have the ability to get the best player at our picks. And I hope we do that.

[swiper]

Re: This Veteran fans Golden Rule needs opinions

It's hard to give an opinion on a post that is unreadable because it is unintelligible.

[Pinkerton Security]

Re: This Veteran fans Golden Rule needs opinions

It's hard to give an opinion on a post that is unreadable because it is unintelligible.

this we can agree on.

that being said, this Rule the OP made up is garbage. perhaps it is a real thing but if it is, I totally disagree with it. If anything, I'd say the Golden Rule would be to take the best player available.

[DynaPaul]

Re: This Veteran fans Golden Rule needs opinions

Build from the lines out is what I say unless there is a 100% guarantee on a skill player.

[trapezeus]

Re: This Veteran fans Golden Rule needs opinions

if you stand behind ej (which i don't think makes a ton of sense), then getting him a TE is a good idea. In the games ej did well, he threw the ball well. in the games he struggled, he looked tentative and pushing his passes. a good te might help him get into rhythm early.

i still think the bills would best be served grabbing another qb early. and it's not to unseed EJ, but simply to push him harder. EJ isn't a 50/50 gamble in my mind. i think its more 60/40 after that one season that he'll be a failure vs allstar. and as a result, going into the season just with thad and pretty good defense seems idiotic.

Russ has his gig for life, but he could take a lot of heat off himself simply by getting a team to the playoffs. they don't even have to be a real superbowl threat, but just getting in and having a meaningful game in january would do wonders to have people focus on players and coaches and not the immediate management structure that has been failing the bills since 1996

[IlluminatusUIUC]

Re: This Veteran fans Golden Rule needs opinions

Build from the lines out is what I say unless there is a 100% guarantee on a skill player.

I would be ok with taking only linemen (both sides) and QBs in the first in almost any year. With dominant OL play and a good QB you can pad out the skill positions and be alright until some of your late rounders hit.

[MTBillsFan]

Re: This Veteran fans Golden Rule needs opinions

Build from the lines out is what I say unless there is a 100% guarantee on a skill player.

I couldn't agree more! Stop the run and run the ball! EJ struggled at times last year because he was a rookie didn't deal with an aggressive pass rush well. Last time I checked most qb's tend to lose their cool under constant pressure. Manning and Brady can be made to look human when you can get constant pressure. Also, I think another year working with Crazy Nate Hackett will help EJ a ton!