What does this say about our Scouting Department?

by freddyjj on May 9, 2008 8:57 AM EDT

It just occurred to me after reviewing our 10 picks that only 1 is from what any of us might call a NCAA College Football Factory - and that would be Chris Ellis DE from VT in the 3rd.

Forgetting the players we drafted and the postions they play, if I gave you a GPS or access to Mapquest, who could even find these schools, let alone find an NFL quality player there:

Troy, Akron, Iowa St, NW Missouri, Northwestern St.

Even our large school picks are from less than stellar D1 Football programs:

Indiana, Kansas, Pitt, Kentucky

Makes you wonder what our scouts were looking for - and IMHO the following epitomizes what that "it" is.

Prior to the draft there were some minor red flags on USC's TE Fred Davis for being "not too excited about playing football" and his "Hollywood Posse". He chose to be a Day 3 no show at Redskins Minicamp. Meanwhile Derek Fine was at OBD showing that, while he may not be great at any one thing, he is happy to simply have the chance to be a "football player". This "it" factor also showed through in our post Draft Rookie FA signings.

Kudos to OBD so far on finding guys that want to be here and truly appreciate the opportunity. Like the old saying states "Football doesn't build character, it reveals it".

This FanPost written by a registered user of Buffalo Rumblings.

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Who did we get from Georgia Tech?

I think you mean Pittsburgh which is where Cox came from. It still works to make your point however.

I must admit sometime I get nervous when I see small schools prospects getting picked over bigger school guys. I’m not sure if there is a clear cut better way to go or not.

The time has come for someone to put his foot down. And that foot is me.

by sireric on May 9, 2008 9:23 AM EDT 0 recs

Thanks

Swapped GA tech for Pitt and corrected some typos.

by freddyjj on May 9, 2008 11:05 AM EDT up 0 recs

I agree

Davis skipped a third day mini camp? That is terrible, if someone on our team did that, like Fine, or lets say Ellis, this site and Bills fans everywhere would be going crazy. I’d be interested to see the reaction at the redskins site. I think alot of people are under the impression that these mini-camps don’t matter, but when you are on a team that isn’t in the playoffs and hasn’t competed for divisional championships, than every player should be participating.
I am happy with how we pick players until proven otherwise.

The Bills can win every game

by killascript on May 9, 2008 9:33 AM EDT 0 recs

He "overslept" per Redskin reports

That’s his story and he’s sticking with it.

by freddyjj on May 9, 2008 11:07 AM EDT up 0 recs

Well

I agree with the general concept of this post, but I think the multiple players from small schools this year is a coincidence. The last couple of seasons the Bills took players from big-time programs early and often. Even the small school guys were from household name schools like Boise St. and Fresno St.

2007
Cal
Penn st.
Stanford
Fresno St.
Wyoming
Boise St.
Oklahoma

2006
Ohio St.
North Carolina St.
Ohio St.
South Carolina
LSU
Virginia
Oregon st.
New Mexico
Cal

by kaisertown on May 9, 2008 9:41 AM EDT 0 recs

I think there are a couple of factors at work as well

Recently more small schools have been competing on a more level playing field with the big factory schools because more and more quality HS players are going to the smaller school where they KNOW they can start from day 1, and make a name for themselves early on rather than being redshirted for a year in a factory school.

And as more and more small schools knock off big ones during the season, scouts take notice and start sniffing around the talent there, which lead to this season of the draft where so many young small college guys got drafted, and not just by us. Some commentators are complaining now that teams are looking to draft that diamond in the rough rather than taking a kid proven at say Ohio St. or Michigan, but I think teams are finally getting the idea that a stud is a stud no matter where he plays. Jerry Rice, T.O. our own now departed London Fletcher-Baker ring a bell? London played at John Carrol U. for god sakes in Cleveland, and at the time it wasn’t a D3 football hotbed like Baldwin-Wallace or Mount Union are.

So I think its just a market correction to steal a phrase from the economists, and that we’ll see more small school studs get picked in the draft as time goes by.

Fear the mighty helmet wearing gopher, he is coming for your soul....

by WABillsfan on May 9, 2008 6:26 PM EDT 0 recs

Big schools vs. small schools

So much of this depends on the high school you go to and how competitive they are. And that depends on where your parents want to live. To say colleges turn over every stone and find all the quality players in small town USA would not be correct. Not to mention that for some teens, they don’t fully develop until their sophomore or junior year of college. So finding gems at small schools is a great way to get quality sometimes later in the draft because they are so many factors to why someone ends up at one school or another.

by hilliarddavid on May 10, 2008 9:19 AM EDT 0 recs