Honestly, I think Buddy Nix is gonna be the man

[ChanGailey]

Talent kills, folks. If there's one thing I take away from the Chargers, it's that they always start slow, or slump, or lose to teams they shouldn't. Yet, because they're so talented, they always manage to find a way into the playoffs, and then they make waves in the playoffs, almost every year. I don't exactly consider Norv Turner a great coach, in fact I'd consider him in the Gailey ranks when he was hired at San Diego.

Nix was in Buffalo for most of the 90's. All of our free agent acquisitions during that period, were Buddy Nix. He moved to San Diego in 2000 and became their Asst GM in 2001. "Nix's job with the Chargers was to oversee both pro and college scouting and to be one of the main decision makers in each NFL Draft." is how his Wikepedia reads. Don't jump on me about how valid you consider Wik. I don't care. I'm making a point about Nix.

So in 2001 he takes over their drafting, and talent selection.

2008
Rnd
1 Antoine Cason Arizona
3 Jacob Hester Louisiana State
5 Marcus Thomas Texas-El Paso
6 DeJuan Tribble Boston College
7 Corey Clark Texas A&M

2007
Rnd
1 Craig Davis Louisiana State
2 Eric Weddle Utah
3 Anthony Waters Clemson
4 Scott Chandler Iowa
5 Legedu Naanee Boise State
7 Brandon Siler Florida

2006
Rnd
1 Antonio Cromartie Florida State
2 Marcus McNeill Auburn
3 Charlie Whitehurst Clemson
5 Tim Dobbins Iowa State
6 Jeromey Clary Kansas State
6 Kurt Smith Virginia
7 Chase Page North Carolina
7 Jimmy Martin Virginia Tech

2005
Rnd
1 Shawne Merriman Maryland
1 Luis Castillo Northwestern
2 Vincent Jackson Northern Colorado
4 Darren Sproles Kansas State
5 Wesley Britt Alabama
6 Wes Sims Oklahoma
7 Scott Mruczkowski Bowling Green

2004
Rnd
1 Eli Manning Mississippi
2 Igor Olshansky Oregon
3 Nate Kaeding Iowa
3 Nick Hardwick Purdue
4 Shaun Phillips Purdue
5 Dave Ball UCLA
5 Michael Turner Northern Illinois
6 Ryan Krause Nebraska-Omaha
7 Ryon Bingham Nebraska
7 Shane Olivea Ohio State
7 Carlos Joseph Miami (FL)

2003
Rnd
1 Sammy Davis Texas A&M
2 Drayton Florence Tuskegee
2 Terrance Kiel Texas A&M
3 Courtney Van Buren Arkansas-Pine Bluff
4 Matt Wilhelm Ohio State
5 Mike Scifres Western Illinois
6 Hanik Milligan Houston
7 Andrew Pinnock South Carolina

2002
Rnd
1 Quentin Jammer Texas
2 Toniu Fonoti Nebraska
2 Reche Caldwell Florida
3 Ben Leber Kansas State
4 Justin Peelle Oregon
5 Terry Charles Portland State
6 Matt Anderle Minnesota
7 Seth Burford Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo

2001
Rnd
1 LaDainian Tomlinson Texas Christian
2 Drew Brees Purdue
3 Tay Cody Florida State
4 Carlos Polk Nebraska
5 Elliot Silvers Washington
5 Zeke Moreno USC
7 Brandon Gorin Purdue
7 Robert Carswell Clemson

Obviously, some awesome drafts. Now for those of you who want to argue about how much say he actually had...It's a thing I wondered about too. I think the best way to see if it's Buddy or not, is to look at the drafts the year before and the year after he was there, right? We all already know that starting in the year 2000 our drafts were terrible, right on up to 09 when Buddy Nix came back and selected Jairus Byrd, Levitre, and Wood. All who seem to be solid choices. Maybin is still waiting for a chance to play in the 34.

But in San Diego in 2000 and 2009, the years before and after Nix was there, not so great. I'd paste it here but then my post would be getting really, really long. But the bottom line is, nobody in 2000 have I ever heard of (that was a terrible draft, anyway)...and if you look at 09, it certainly doesn't look as good as ours:

2009
Rnd
1 Larry English Northern Illinois
3 Louis Vasquez Texas Tech
4 Vaughn Martin Western Ontario (Canada)
4 Tyronne Green Auburn
4 Gartrell Johnson Colorado State
5 Brandon Hughes Oregon State
6 Kevin Ellison Southern Cal
7 Demetrius Byrd LSU

So take it for what it's worth. But I don't expect to pick anybody like Donte Whitner with the first pick. I have a strong feeling we'll take a lineman on either side of the ball, and I also think it'll end up being a home run.

Buddy Nix may end up a Buffalo Legend!

[BuffaloBlitz83]

With a user name as ChanGailey, you have no credibility sorry

[ChanGailey]

What else is awesome, he was getting better as he went. San Diego basically built a strong team in a few years. Look at 04-06. He's basically hitting 3-4 home runs per draft. Getting Olivea, a starter, in the 7th!

[ChanGailey]

With a user name as ChanGailey, you have no credibility sorry

Thanks for helping everyone understand the word "ignorant" today.

If I were to use it in a sentence, it would probably be something like "BuffaloBlitz83 is an ignorant troll"

I-G-N-O-R-A-N-T...ignorant.

[BuffaloBlitz83]

Thanks for helping everyone understand the word "ignorant" today.

If I were to use it in a sentence, it would probably be something like "BuffaloBlitz83 is an ignorant troll"

I-G-N-O-R-A-N-T...ignorant.

How am I a troll. Because I find it amusing you made a user name after an unproven HC, with all our past coaching failures. I'd understand if it was a top HC like Cowher. Come on, you are the reason Ralph continues with hires like this, he knows no matter what you'll drink his vision.

[ChanGailey]

How am I a troll. Because I find it amusing you made a user name after an unproven HC, with all our past coaching failures. I'd understand if it was a top HC like Cowher. Come on, you are the reason Ralph continues with hires like this, he knows no matter what you'll drink his vision.

If you've ever read any of my posts, you'd know I did this the day he was hired, as a joke.

I disagreed with a lot that happened this off season, but I'll also admit the last few moves have been nice. Meaning Whaley, 3-4, Edwards...

My point, not that I even think you read my original post, was that you can't ignore Nix's history drafting, and he even improved our draft last year.

[BuffaloBlitz83]

If you've ever read any of my posts, you'd know I did this the day he was hired, as a joke.

I disagreed with a lot that happened this off season, but I'll also admit the last few moves have been nice. Meaning Whaley, 3-4, Edwards...

My point, not that I even think you read my original post, was that you can't ignore Nix's history drafting, and he even improved our draft last year.

I blame Nix's hire on a lot of HC's not wanting anything to do with Buffalo.

[Jan Reimers]

If you've ever read any of my posts, you'd know I did this the day he was hired, as a joke.

I disagreed with a lot that happened this off season, but I'll also admit the last few moves have been nice. Meaning Whaley, 3-4, Edwards...

My point, not that I even think you read my original post, was that you can't ignore Nix's history drafting, and he even improved our draft last year.

Many on here can - and do - ignore anything positive, including Nix's draft record, Gailey's success as an OC and HC, etc., and doom us to automatic failure.

[ChanGailey]

Many on here can - and do - ignore anything positive, including Nix's draft record, Gailey's success as an OC and HC, etc., and doom us to automatic failure.

It's not like I'm willing to gamble one way or another, but I think Nix is going to increase the talent level substantially.

[Don't Panic]

Good points... it is hard to argue that Nix hasn't in many ways proven himself to be a high-level talent evaluator, which should result in a longer lifespan for my TV screen, which somehow has been damaged nearly every April for the last 7 or 8 years by a flying object.

[Mr. Miyagi]

Great post Chan. Great analysis. I hope you're right.

[BillsWin]

Is BuffaloBlitz83 versus ChanGailey the new ByrdistheWord versus Mitchell55????


Stay tuned to Billszone.com to find out!


All kidding aside I think Nix is a great scout. There are some who claim he is a top five talent evaluator in the league. He has experience draft wise and seems to find good players who fit the system provided for him. I loved it when we brought him back prior to last season. My only knock on him being our GM is a lack of experience as a GM and the fact that he was 70 and we had no succession plan in place.

With Whaley being hired that clears up one of the two. He is an excellent GM in training.

I hope Nix turns out to be a great find.Can't argue with what he's done in his career scouting wise.

[Hemlepp53]

Great Thread. I come here to read such posts. I like seeing what other Bills fans think and how they perceive certian moves made by the teams FO. I agree we are looking for some good years to come if everything is what it appears to be. I wanted a different choice at HC but it appears some moves were made to bring on proven HC talent. I do agree some moves werent made to bring in talent.

All we can do is strap on the seat belt and see what happens. We should have a pretty goood idea what we can expect from this years up coming draft and espically in preseason.

Its hard to be a Bills Fan these days... Things can only get better.

[EDS]

Talent kills, folks. If there's one thing I take away from the Chargers, it's that they always start slow, or slump, or lose to teams they shouldn't. Yet, because they're so talented, they always manage to find a way into the playoffs, and then they make waves in the playoffs, almost every year. I don't exactly consider Norv Turner a great coach, in fact I'd consider him in the Gailey ranks when he was hired at San Diego.

Nix was in Buffalo for most of the 90's. All of our free agent acquisitions during that period, were Buddy Nix. He moved to San Diego in 2000 and became their Asst GM in 2001. "Nix's job with the Chargers was to oversee both pro and college scouting and to be one of the main decision makers in each NFL Draft." is how his Wikepedia reads. Don't jump on me about how valid you consider Wik. I don't care. I'm making a point about Nix.

So in 2001 he takes over their drafting, and talent selection.

2008
Rnd
1 Antoine Cason Arizona
3 Jacob Hester Louisiana State
5 Marcus Thomas Texas-El Paso
6 DeJuan Tribble Boston College
7 Corey Clark Texas A&M

2007
Rnd
1 Craig Davis Louisiana State
2 Eric Weddle Utah
3 Anthony Waters Clemson
4 Scott Chandler Iowa
5 Legedu Naanee Boise State
7 Brandon Siler Florida

2006
Rnd
1 Antonio Cromartie Florida State
2 Marcus McNeill Auburn
3 Charlie Whitehurst Clemson
5 Tim Dobbins Iowa State
6 Jeromey Clary Kansas State
6 Kurt Smith Virginia
7 Chase Page North Carolina
7 Jimmy Martin Virginia Tech

2005
Rnd
1 Shawne Merriman Maryland
1 Luis Castillo Northwestern
2 Vincent Jackson Northern Colorado
4 Darren Sproles Kansas State
5 Wesley Britt Alabama
6 Wes Sims Oklahoma
7 Scott Mruczkowski Bowling Green

2004
Rnd
1 Eli Manning Mississippi
2 Igor Olshansky Oregon
3 Nate Kaeding Iowa
3 Nick Hardwick Purdue
4 Shaun Phillips Purdue
5 Dave Ball UCLA
5 Michael Turner Northern Illinois
6 Ryan Krause Nebraska-Omaha
7 Ryon Bingham Nebraska
7 Shane Olivea Ohio State
7 Carlos Joseph Miami (FL)

2003
Rnd
1 Sammy Davis Texas A&M
2 Drayton Florence Tuskegee
2 Terrance Kiel Texas A&M
3 Courtney Van Buren Arkansas-Pine Bluff
4 Matt Wilhelm Ohio State
5 Mike Scifres Western Illinois
6 Hanik Milligan Houston
7 Andrew Pinnock South Carolina

2002
Rnd
1 Quentin Jammer Texas
2 Toniu Fonoti Nebraska
2 Reche Caldwell Florida
3 Ben Leber Kansas State
4 Justin Peelle Oregon
5 Terry Charles Portland State
6 Matt Anderle Minnesota
7 Seth Burford Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo

2001
Rnd
1 LaDainian Tomlinson Texas Christian
2 Drew Brees Purdue
3 Tay Cody Florida State
4 Carlos Polk Nebraska
5 Elliot Silvers Washington
5 Zeke Moreno USC
7 Brandon Gorin Purdue
7 Robert Carswell Clemson

Obviously, some awesome drafts. Now for those of you who want to argue about how much say he actually had...It's a thing I wondered about too. I think the best way to see if it's Buddy or not, is to look at the drafts the year before and the year after he was there, right? We all already know that starting in the year 2000 our drafts were terrible, right on up to 09 when Buddy Nix came back and selected Jairus Byrd, Levitre, and Wood. All who seem to be solid choices. Maybin is still waiting for a chance to play in the 34.

But in San Diego in 2000 and 2009, the years before and after Nix was there, not so great. I'd paste it here but then my post would be getting really, really long. But the bottom line is, nobody in 2000 have I ever heard of (that was a terrible draft, anyway)...and if you look at 09, it certainly doesn't look as good as ours:

2009
Rnd
1 Larry English Northern Illinois
3 Louis Vasquez Texas Tech
4 Vaughn Martin Western Ontario (Canada)
4 Tyronne Green Auburn
4 Gartrell Johnson Colorado State
5 Brandon Hughes Oregon State
6 Kevin Ellison Southern Cal
7 Demetrius Byrd LSU

So take it for what it's worth. But I don't expect to pick anybody like Donte Whitner with the first pick. I have a strong feeling we'll take a lineman on either side of the ball, and I also think it'll end up being a home run.

Buddy Nix may end up a Buffalo Legend!

Would you honestly expect the rookie class of a team that went 13-3 to have as big a role as the rookie class of a team that went 6-10? At least two of their draft picks started most of the year. English had a better year than Maybin, etc.

Were the 2008, 2007 and 2003 drafts really that good for SD?

[justasportsfan]

I just hope Nix is on the same page with Chan and Modrak.

Dick sucked as a coach, player evaluator and wasn't on the same page with the rest of the team.

[OpIv37]

Many on here can - and do - ignore anything positive, including Nix's draft record, Gailey's success as an OC and HC, etc., and doom us to automatic failure.

Nix may know talent but he's still dependent on Ralph, Brandon and Overdorf to open the purse strings. He's also a first time GM learning on the job.

Gailey's success as an OC? He was fired from his last two jobs after very short stints.

Gailey's success as HC? He snuck into the playoffs twice and lost in the first round both years. Granted, that would be a welcome improvement over how this team has played during the last decade, but it doesn't exactly inspire me to believe he can finally get this team back to the SB.

And even if he is a good coach, see above. He's dependent on other people to find him talent, an area in which this organization has consistently failed.

This is yet another case where Bills fans should be hoping for the best but expecting the worst.

[ChanGailey]

Nix may know talent but he's still dependent on Ralph, Brandon and Overdorf to open the purse strings. He's also a first time GM learning on the job.

Gailey's success as an OC? He was fired from his last two jobs after very short stints.

Gailey's success as HC? He snuck into the playoffs twice and lost in the first round both years. Granted, that would be a welcome improvement over how this team has played during the last decade, but it doesn't exactly inspire me to believe he can finally get this team back to the SB.

And even if he is a good coach, see above. He's dependent on other people to find him talent, an area in which this organization has consistently failed.

This is yet another case where Bills fans should be hoping for the best but expecting the worst.

I don't feel that we shy away from paying rookies. We trade up more often then not, which increases the overall numbers. The things we've shied away from were paying big name coaches, and paying big name free agents. Big contract free agents live up to the numbers very rarely. We signed TKO, Fletcher, Dockery, etc. Granted, they didn't necessarily work out, but I am merely pointing out that Ralph green lighted to pay for it.

He green lighted trading up for JP Losman...

Again, not saying they are Super Bowl bound, but I sure feel as though we're headed in a much better direction than we have since Wade Phillips.

[SABURZFAN]

this is actually the first time i've been optimistic about the upcoming draft and next season for a while. i don't honestly know when the last time i felt that way. i hope Nix and Co. can turn this thing around.

[OpIv37]

this is actually the first time i've been optimistic about the upcoming draft and next season for a while. i don't honestly know when the last time i felt that way. i hope Nix and Co. can turn this thing around.

I've actually never been less optimistic about an upcoming season.

This team has far too many holes to fill in one off season: QB, OT, WR, DE, NT, LB and all around depth. On top of that, they are introducing new offensive and defensive systems.

Nix and Gailey may or may not be successful, but they almost certainly won't be successful this upcoming season. It's a full-on rebuilding year.

[SABURZFAN]

I've actually never been less optimistic about an upcoming season.

This team has far too many holes to fill in one off season: QB, OT, WR, DE, NT, LB and all around depth. On top of that, they are introducing new offensive and defensive systems.

Nix and Gailey may or may not be successful, but they almost certainly won't be successful this upcoming season. It's a full-on rebuilding year.

i understand what you're saying but not having Skeletor on the sidelines is a step in the right direction. the fact that we have some new blood coming in from the outside gives me some kind of hope that the future is brighter than the past.