GM Scouting: Bears Director of College Scouting, Greg Gabriel
by Brian Galliford on Dec 21, 2009 12:58 PM EST
in Buffalo Bills News
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PrintThe biggest, most important necessity for Buffalo Bills fans right now is catharsis. At the time of this posting, the 2009 version of the Bills are 5-9 and coming off of their most recent embarrassing home loss. The 2000-2009 Buffalo Bills? Yeah, they're 65-93 in the decade, likely to add two more losses to that pile, and about to finish the entire decade without a single playoff appearance.
I tried to hold off on the "moving on to the next decade" posts for as long as possible. The season is still being played, after all. But I doubt you'll hold it against me that I'm about to start off our GM search articles here at Buffalo Rumblings. We all want to see things change, and change is coming. Hell, the vast majority of Bills fans would take change from Russ Brandon all the way down to the team's uniforms without a second's hesitation right now.
There are plenty of names the Bills have already pursued in relation to their head coaching opening as well as their likely opening(s) in the front office. More names will be linked to the team over the next two or three weeks as the '09 season - and a decade's worth of terrible football in Western New York - comes to a close. For now, we're starting the 'Catharsis Now' movement. It's time to move on. Mentally, I can't bring myself to talk about this team today. So we're going to talk about Greg Gabriel instead.
I've spoken several times of my belief that Buffalo needs to fix its front office before it even considers hiring a head coach. Names like Mike Shanahan and Bill Cowher are nice to talk about and all, but asking one guy to rule the roost and fix every dysfunctional portion of an organization is a move of desperate madness. Fix the front office first; when the Bills miss out on bringing in a big name, it's exactly what the Bills should do.
So I'm not even thinking about the Shanahans of the world. Let them take their money where they can get it. Buffalo needs a GM. It needs a visionary in the front office that isn't here to fix the team; rather, he's here to build a team with the right front office, coaching and playing talent, from top to bottom. (And fix those uniforms, too, Mr. New Bills GM Person.)
Greg Gabriel
The first thing you should know about Greg Gabriel - who, at this time, is the Director of College Scouting for the Chicago Bears - is that he's a Buffalo native. Many of you probably already knew that. He grew up in the area, attended Bishop Neumann High in Williamsville, was a football star at Canisius College, and knows precisely what the Buffalo Bills mean to this area. If there is one single GM candidate on the market that has a rooting interest in this franchise engrained into the very fiber of his being, it's Gabriel.
His bio from the Bears' official team website is linked above. We'll talk about some things piece by piece as we break down that bio.
Hired by Chicago on June 19, 2001, Gabriel is a veteran of 28 NFL seasons, spending 16 years in the New York Giants scouting department, one season with National Scouting and two years part time with the Buffalo Bills.
Not only is he connected to the area, he's actually worked for the organization (in 1983 and 1984). He therefore has at least some small semblance of a working relationship with Ralph Wilson, which is obviously important. That gives him something of a leg up on other up-and-coming GM candidates.
Gabriel's chief job responsibilities are scheduling scouting visits, coordinating scouting meetings, evaluating collegiate players while playing an instrumental role in the development of the Bears draft plan.
That all sounds good to me. It's not imperative that a GM candidate come in with experience in all facets of the game (college and pro scouting, salary cap management, etc.), and Gabriel has had a good job for a number of seasons. I will always and forever prefer candidates that have strong backgrounds in college scouting as compared to pro personnel evaluation, because as the old adage goes, the best way to build a team is through the draft. Gabriel has been in the league long enough to have enough ties to bring in strong people to fill in the gaps.
His first seven drafts with Chicago yielded 16 players who started at least one game for the Bears in 2008 and Pro Bowl selections for Lance Briggs (2005-08), Tommie Harris (2005-07), Devin Hester (2006-07) and Nathan Vasher (2005). Chicago finished the 2008 season with 34 players on its roster drafted or signed as undrafted free agents during Gabriel's tenure with the team, including 13 of 22 opening-day starters.
This is why I generally dislike team bios. Those were not Greg Gabriel's drafts, folks. They were Jerry Angelo's drafts. Yes, Chicago has had some great draft picks this past decade (Gabriel has worked in Chicago since 2001), but they were Angelo's picks, not Gabriel's. That idea encompasses the good and the bad picks, as well. I think Jerry Angelo has as solid a scouting department as anyone, and in general has been a good decision-maker. Gabriel has worked pretty closely with him for a number of years, and knows his way around a war room. But it's important - not just in evaluating Gabriel, but in evaluating any candidate - to understand that Gabriel is not responsible for the team's success, nor their draft picks. He's just one cog in the process, for better or worse. It is noteworthy, however, that Gabriel's profile in Chicago is strong.
Gabriel came to Chicago after serving as the Director of Player Development for the New York Giants... During his tenure with the Giants, the team went to three Super Bowls, winning two.
Gabriel has worked for three organizations - Buffalo, the Giants and Chicago. He left Buffalo prior to the team's glory years, but has been part of Giants and Bears teams that have participated in - and in New York's case, won - championship games. Gabriel's experience with championship organizations is important. At age 58, he's been a part of Super Bowl winners, but has never had the chance to build his own contender from the ground up. He'd jump at the chance to do so, particularly if his home town team came calling.
I should note here that the point of this series - oh yes, we'll be looking at many, many more GM candidates - is not to advocate any one individual. We'll do that at a much later date. For now, we just want to get names out there for discussion purposes. I happen to like the idea of Greg Gabriel returning to his home town as the football ops chief of his home-town team. You might not - that's why we're having these discussions.
Mark Gaughan of The Buffalo News mentioned last week that the Bills would start interviewing for the front office sometime after Christmas. That's as soon as next week, folks. So the obvious question here is this: would you have an objection if Gabriel was one of the first candidates to get a phone call?
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I'm in favor of this.
Nothing really to add other than that…Time to start the countdown to the draft on the main page I believe.
"always thinking one step ahead, like a carpenter...who makes stairs..."
Nice article. I believe this is the gentleman who should’ve been hired in ’06. He needs to be the first call, no doubt.
~Michael~
No Problem What so Ever
As long as there is a tie to our past, and referrence to success in his career.
Excuses are a sign of weakness!!!!!!
Sounds like he could be a fit.
(And fix those uniforms, too, Mr. New Bills GM Person.)
My friends won’t let up on how bad these uniforms are, I just repeteadly tell them “Look, I didn’t pick them, I like the throwbacks!”
They are hard to play but not hard to beat.
- Mike Lombardi on the Buffalo Bills
I like the charging Buffalo, but it looks much better on the white helmets. Definatley need to go back to the white helmets.
~Michael~
by Michael_Necci on Dec 21, 2009 2:13 PM EST up reply actions
Man I am happy to hear that from someone else. These uniforms are atrocious, far and away the worst uniforms in the NFL. I would say ever, but I did watch a few plays of the UFL.
I like the charging buffalo also, but I think the buffalo should be red instead of blue on the white helmet. couple that with the throwback jerseys and we have arguably the best uniforms in the league.
I love the standing buffalo. Always have. Always will. I like the charging buffalo too, but I’m not a big fan of it on the white helmet.
Official ledge-talker-offer of the Buffalo Bills.
by WhyBillsWhy on Dec 22, 2009 12:19 PM EST up reply actions
No matter what we need to look in as many directions as possible.
He’s got an acceptable resume and you would think that he has an added impetus for the team succeeding given his roots in Buffalo. However, I’m pretty sure any first time GM of an NFL franchise would like his team to succeed seeing as how that is kind of important to keeping that job title. I get the sentiment though. He’s not necessarily at the top of my list, but he’s worth bringing in for an interview for sure.
I actually like the current uniforms quite a bit...
but I also realize the bad stigma attached to them.
Hey
If the guy can do the job successfully, then I’m fine with it.
I wonder how many people had heard of Bill Polian before he came to Buffalo?
Get the Bills back to the big game!
Nobody. He was an entry level guy in Buffalo.
"Play like hell and win." - Perry Fewell
Your daily source for Buffalo Bills information.
by MattRichWarren on Dec 24, 2009 9:57 AM EST up reply actions
I spent an afternoon on the beach with this guy about 3 or 4 years ago.
It was before Losman had a big year. We had an argument about Losman’s career prospects. He claimed he didn’t have what it took to be a good NFL QB.
One year later, I felt as if I was smarter than he was. Two years later, I felt dumb, and he looked smart again.
Other than that, he’s a very nice guy. That’s all I got for ya.
Jonathan Stupar won the Heisman…while playing in the NFL!
I live in Chicago and...
…while I certainly don’t trust most Bears fans’ opinions, they’re all for clearing house and are really down on recent drafts. I don’t follow the Bears enough to know or to know of what Gabriel’s specific role has been in the process, so here’s to hoping that Ralph/Brandon figure it out and take in more counsel than just Marv…
Please, no input from Marv
PLEASE!
He got us into this situation. We don’t need him making it worse.
~K
"As the governor of Louisiana once said, the only way Chris Kelsay can lose his job is if he got caught in bed with a dead girl or a live boy."
by Kurupt on Dec 21, 2009 2:38 PM EST up reply actions 1 recs
Kyle Williams?
Buffalo Rumblings. On Twitter.
"You miss 100% of the shots you don't take. --Wayne Grezky" --Michael Scott
by Brian Galliford on Dec 21, 2009 3:09 PM EST up reply actions
Gotcha.
Buffalo Rumblings. On Twitter.
"You miss 100% of the shots you don't take. --Wayne Grezky" --Michael Scott
by Brian Galliford on Dec 21, 2009 3:29 PM EST up reply actions
Please, no input from Marv
I was pretty anti Marv when he was hired – man was that a bad move
Never put salt in your eyes
by J2 on Dec 21, 2009 4:15 PM EST up reply actions
I was actually pretty psyched about it at first. I was even OK with it when he left. I was less OK with it when they installed the crazy Inner Circle thing to replace him. I should’ve known he wasn’t really a GM type of guy.
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by WhyBillsWhy on Dec 22, 2009 12:22 PM EST up reply actions
know nothing of Greg
but, I shudder to think of past Chicago connections, i.e. DJ and, yes, the venerable Marv in his later years. Agree with Kurupt…through Marv’s suggestion, we are where we are.
Plus, unsure of what impact Greg has had on the Bears, but, they have languished as well.
Cutler has fizzled so far and, like the Bills, blame is being laid at the feet of the O line. In any case, they are not a powerhouse or the factor they once were. Color me sceptical.
Marv
I agree—Marv and/or Chicago are not good combinations !
We’re going to say no to Greg Gabriel because Marv Levy is loosely affiliated with the city of Chicago?
Why does it matter that Gabriel works for the Bears? As I mentioned in the article, the Bears are not “Gabriel’s team.” Let’s not shun the guy because of where he works, because to be frank, there aren’t any under-the-radar GM candidates with perfect pedigrees from constantly-winning organizations. Those guys don’t exist.
Buffalo Rumblings. On Twitter.
"You miss 100% of the shots you don't take. --Wayne Grezky" --Michael Scott
by Brian Galliford on Dec 21, 2009 3:12 PM EST up reply actions 1 recs
That’s exactly the point I’m trying to make – we can’t judge them on much, other than the type of organizations they’ve worked for, the men they’ve worked with, and their reputation around the league. These are guys that haven’t captained a ship yet, so it’s particularly difficult to say “yay” or “nay” to any of them.
Buffalo Rumblings. On Twitter.
"You miss 100% of the shots you don't take. --Wayne Grezky" --Michael Scott
by Brian Galliford on Dec 21, 2009 3:53 PM EST up reply actions
gotcha.
other than the type of organizations they’ve worked for, the men they’ve worked with, and their reputation around the league.
So wouldn’t we judge them on the drafts those men conducted?
I’m not trying to be argumentative, but it seems like we if we can’t count the drafts of a guy who is the guy in charge of college scouting, then we cant judge them on anything.
Jonathan Stupar won the Heisman…while playing in the NFL!
We can’t judge them on much. And yes, Gabriel can absolutely be given some credit for Chicago’s drafts. But we can’t say “he’s a bad drafter” or “he’s a good drafter,” because he’s never run one. That’s the point I’m trying to make.
Buffalo Rumblings. On Twitter.
"You miss 100% of the shots you don't take. --Wayne Grezky" --Michael Scott
by Brian Galliford on Dec 22, 2009 5:13 AM EST up reply actions
fair enough.
i guess i was just having some cognitive dissonance between “we can’t judge them on much, other than the type of organizations they’ve worked for” and “Why does it matter that Gabriel works for the Bears?”
Jonathan Stupar won the Heisman…while playing in the NFL!
Yeah, allow me to clarify. I can see why that might be confusing. :)
When I say “type of organization they’ve worked for,” I’m not referring to wins/losses, success, any of that stuff. I’m referring to the type of team that franchise fields. The Bears have not had a lot of success, but they’re a smoothly run organization that does what it wants to try to get better (see: Cutler). They’ve been aggressive, and they’ve stuck to their guns. It hasn’t always yielded success, but it very rarely does.
Those are the types of things I’m referring to. How do they go about their business? What does their front office structure look like? These, and others, are things that candidates would probably try to replicate in some fashion in Buffalo. They are more important, at least to me, than whether or not they were a minor voice-cog in a successful or non-successful franchise.
Buffalo Rumblings. On Twitter.
"You miss 100% of the shots you don't take. --Wayne Grezky" --Michael Scott
by Brian Galliford on Dec 22, 2009 9:06 PM EST up reply actions
Or go the George Costanza route and do the opposite of what your instincts tell you because that just leads to failure.
If Jauron did that he’d still be employed.
"They're Killin' Me Whitey. They're Killin' Me" -- Lou Saban
Welcome to 2009 Buffalo Bills football. That was Jauron fighting his instincts. It wasn’t pretty.
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by WhyBillsWhy on Dec 22, 2009 12:24 PM EST up reply actions
Maybe we should hire Miracle Max as our head coach?????
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D9tAKLTktY0&feature=related
"The Bills have no playoff aspirations" – Dan Dierdorf
Hahahahahahahahahahaha
It would probably take more than Ralph wants to pay to lure Max out of retirement!
Get the Bills back to the big game!
Classic
MIRACLE MAX: He probably owes you money, huh? Well, I’ll ask him.
[He goes to get a huge bellows.]
INIGO: He’s dead. He can’t talk.
MIRACLE MAX: Look who knows so much. Well, it just so happens that your friend here is only mostly dead. There’s a big difference between mostly dead and all dead. Please open his mouth.
[Inigo does. Max inserts the bellows in Westley’s mouth and starts to pump.]
MIRACLE MAX: Now, mostly dead is slightly alive. Now, all dead…well, with all dead, there’s usually only one thing that you can do.
INIGO: What’s that?
MIRACLE MAX: Go through his clothes and look for loose change.
Official ledge-talker-offer of the Buffalo Bills.
by WhyBillsWhy on Dec 22, 2009 12:30 PM EST up reply actions
It’d be a nice story that he’s from the area, but I wouldn’t want that to have any influence on who was ultimately selected. Any GM is going to want to win regardless of where he grew up or previously worked for. That might make him want the job more, but it shouldn’t be any sort of qualification (and I’m not suggesting this article is suggesting that).
He seems like someone that should be considered, but not overwhelmingly so. I like him better than a re-tread GM, but I tend to believe that high profile positions in football should go to someone closer to 40 than retirement (unless it was a ‘czar’ situation where that person sets the tone, but isn’t doing the heavy lifting).
I’m really not a fan of the personnel moves Chicago have made over the last couple of years so that persuades me to dislike Gabriel. Most recently, the Cutler/Orton and Gaines Adams were downright horrible…. whether this can be attributed to Jerry Angelo, I don’t know….
I’m in favor of someone from the Polian/AJ Smith linage. I’ve said about a hundred times on this site the Bills organization went south quickly after the last Polian guy left the house. And no one can really argue with the job that they have done the past 8-10 years….
But a combination that has me intrigued the last week or two, mainly because I like the coach, is Randy Mueller and Jim Haslett. Minus the Katrina year…. Haslett had a 42-38 record, I like his fire, and he’s a B-lo guy.
Not a fan of Eric DeCosta….
Eagles, not sure if there is anyone attractive in their front office but I’ve always been envious of how they put together a team. Not Andy Reid’s playcalling and game management, but I like their roster philosophies….
whether this can be attributed to Jerry Angelo, I don’t know…
Absolutely, they can. Every single personnel move should be attributed to Jerry Angelo, because he’s the guy making the moves.
And you’re getting ahead of the game bringing up other guys. :)
Buffalo Rumblings. On Twitter.
"You miss 100% of the shots you don't take. --Wayne Grezky" --Michael Scott
by Brian Galliford on Dec 21, 2009 3:31 PM EST up reply actions
The Bills started going south when the salary cap was implemented. Butler and AJ Smith didn’t do a whole lot to help that after they left. They didn’t draft a franchise QB either.
"Play like hell and win." - Perry Fewell
Your daily source for Buffalo Bills information.
by MattRichWarren on Dec 24, 2009 10:01 AM EST up reply actions
I was just saying that I’m sure Angelo relies on a lot of feedback from his staff…. who knows where Gabriel stood on those moves but it left them with no 1st or 2nd round picks this year.
who knows where Gabriel stood on those moves
Precisely. We can’t possibly know that, so my stance there is that there’s no way Gabriel would have done everything exactly the way Angelo did, and thus is apportioned only a small amount of the praise and/or criticism that comes with the success/failures of the team that currently employs him. I’ll take that stance on all of the candidates.
Buffalo Rumblings. On Twitter.
"You miss 100% of the shots you don't take. --Wayne Grezky" --Michael Scott
by Brian Galliford on Dec 21, 2009 3:42 PM EST up reply actions
Just curious
Has Gabriel ever interbiewed for even been considered for any other jobs around the league? I remember his name getting thrown around after Levy stepped down and hadn’t heard it since. Does his name getting linked to Buffalo just because he lived in the area at one time?
Personally, I’d like to see the Bills bring in someone from one of the model franchises around the league: Indianapolis, Pittsburgh, New England, Philadelphia, etc. I realize Chicago wasn’t Gabriel’s team, but in my opinion, it matters that he comes from somewhere where there’s an established blue print for consistently winning.
Aaron Maybin is Chris Ellis 2.0.
Please not New England. And I’m not saying that just because I dislike the organization. They have a weird power structure there and it seems like Belichick is the guy that makes that place exceptional. With Pioli gone, I’m not even sure they have a true GM anymore. I guess my point is that if a guy is used to that structure, will he be able to install the more traditional one that we all desire if we don’t get a “mastermind” like Belichick to play that type of role.
Official ledge-talker-offer of the Buffalo Bills.
by WhyBillsWhy on Dec 22, 2009 12:38 PM EST up reply actions
an idea
as these articles roll out – can we have links to the other posts that have been written and published already on the GM hunt? not everyone visits everyday – it’d be nice to have the links in one spot for people.
Never put salt in your eyes
oh yea – on this guy – no idea
it’s going to be tough for us to gauge some of these guys when they aren’t running drafts. this really is going to come down to Brandon/Wilson and how they feel the guy interviews and his past experience.
I am with you on the college scouting aspect – I think it’s important to get a guy that scouts college players because thats how you build a team – through the draft.
i’ll probably give a golf clap to any GM we hire – then every subsequent move from then on until I truly see some rewards.
good write up – keep ’em coming – but this is going to be a tough call for us fans
Never put salt in your eyes
by J2 on Dec 21, 2009 4:14 PM EST up reply actions
eventually, they’ll all be available at this link.
Buffalo Rumblings. On Twitter.
"You miss 100% of the shots you don't take. --Wayne Grezky" --Michael Scott
by Brian Galliford on Dec 21, 2009 4:20 PM EST up reply actions
Perry is making me mad
In his interview he was asked about giving Hardy and Stevie a chance to get some playing time. Instead of saying yes or no he goes on to say we are going to do whatever it takes to get a win. This is frustrating in more ways than one way.
I know you got to pretend like you want to win right now but c’mon man, you will never get this job and winning two more games this year only hurts this team. The smart play for this franchise is to give some young guys experience and see what they got. I don’t expect you to try to lose but if you lose you lose.
T.O was thrown to like 2 times last game….this gives us a better chance to win? I was not necessarily all for Brohm to play this year, but with injuries to Trent and Fitz, give him a chance.
T.O will not be here next year. Give some guys a chance to go out there and play!
"Hold ya chin up...nuh nuh nuh...gone" -Marshawn Lynch-
… none of this has anything to do with Greg Gabriel.
Buffalo Rumblings. On Twitter.
"You miss 100% of the shots you don't take. --Wayne Grezky" --Michael Scott
by Brian Galliford on Dec 21, 2009 4:21 PM EST up reply actions
well...
no not really but it is discussing a coaching/GM candidate….Perry is a coaching candidate.
"Hold ya chin up...nuh nuh nuh...gone" -Marshawn Lynch-
You could just make it a fanpost if you want….
"Play like hell and win." - Perry Fewell
Your daily source for Buffalo Bills information.
by MattRichWarren on Dec 24, 2009 10:03 AM EST up reply actions
First thing I’d do when evaluating Gabriel is to throw out all the pro personel moves the Bears have made. His job there has been college scouting, so his input on the Cutler trade and FA moves is most likely minor or non-existent.
The second thing I’d do is throw out the way that the drafts have come together to form the roster Chicago has. Since Gabriel’s job is to scout, help put the draft board together and advise Angelo, it’s not Gabriel’s job to make sure the offensive line is good enough or that certain needs are addressed. His job is simply to help the GM choose the best players that they can. So I think that what we can look at is each individual pick added up to see whether or not Chicago is making good picks. Not whether or not they have built a great team through the draft, but whether or not the cumulation of each individual pick shows that they take some of the best players available or whether they don’t.
Here’s the Bears drafts, and I’ll urge people to not put too much stock into any specific picks, regardless of how good or bad they are because we don’t know whether these guys were picks that Gabriel supported. Use the draft history as a whole.
2009
3rd – Jarron Gilbert, Juaquin Iglesias, 4th – Henry Melton, DJ Moore, 5th – Johnny Knox, Marcus Freeman, 6th – Al Afalava, 7th – Lance Louis, Derek Kinder
2008
14th ovr – Chris Williams
2nd – Matt Forte
3rd – Earl Bennett, Marcus Harrison, 4th – Craig Steltz, 5th – Zack Bowman, Kellen Davis, 7th – Ervin Baldwin, Chester Adams, Joey LaRocque, Kirk Barton, Marcus Monk
2007
31st ovr – Greg Olsen
2nd – Dan Bazuin
3rd – Garrette Wolfe, Michael Okwo, 4th – Josh Beekman, 5th – Kevin Payne, Corey Graham, 7th – Trumaine McBride, Aaron Brant
2006
2nd – Daniel Manning
2nd – Devin Hester
3rd – Dusty Dvoracek, 4th – Jamar Williams, 5th – Mark Anderson, 6th – JD Funnels, Tyler Reed,
2005
4th ovr – Cedric Benson
2nd – Mark Bradley
4th – Kyle Orton, 5th – Airese Curry, 6th – Chris Harris, 7th – Rod Wilson, UN – Brandon McGowan
2004
14th ovr – Tommie Harris
2nd – Tank Johnson
3rd – Bernard Berrian, 4th – Nathan Vasher, Leon Joe, 5th, Claude Harriott, Craig Krenzel, 7th – Alfonso Marshall
2003
14th ovr – Michael Haynes
22nd ovr – Rex Grossman
2nd – Charles Tillman
3rd – Lance Briggs, 4th – Todd Johnson, Ian Scott, 5th – Bobby Wade, Justin Gage, Tron LaFavor, 6th – Joe Odom, Brock Forsey, 7th – Brian Anderson, UN – Brandon Ayanbadejo
2002
29th ovr – Marc Columbo
3rd – Roosevelt Williams, Terrence Metcalf, 4th – Alex Brown, 5th Bobby Gray, Bryan Knight, 6th – Adrian Peterson, Jamin Elliot, Bryan Fletcher
The things that stand out to me are:
Chicago has had pretty bad luck with injuries, or they’ve taken too many risks. Guys like Tommie Harris, Dusty Dvoracek, Chris Williams, Nathan Vasher, Charles Tillman and probably a bunch of other guys have had consistent issues with injuries.
The Bears have done a lot of moving around in the 4-7 round area and have a way of stockpiling picks in the 4th and 5th.
The early, mid and late rounds don’t stand out as great or bad. There’s some hits and misses across the board. Overall, I think Chicago has been one of the better drafting teams in the league, but not one of the best.
The Bears have very rarely had undrafted players make their roster. Either they’ve had deep teams, or they don’t do a good job grabbing guys after the draft.
I signed up for Second Life about a year ago. Back then my life was so great that I literally wanted a second one. In my Second Life I was also a paper salesman and I was also named Dwight. Absolutely everything was the same. Except I could fly. - Dwight Schrute
kaiser....
thanks for the breakdown of the Bears draft history. I’ve been wondering how the Bills have fared versus other teams. Any chance we could get a complete breakdown of the NFL versus the Bills- even if its takes until the draft to compile. Thanks
You can go to wikipedia
and look at all the drafts over the years. Or to NFL.com and sort by team each year.
~K
"As the governor of Louisiana once said, the only way Chris Kelsay can lose his job is if he got caught in bed with a dead girl or a live boy."
I use wikipedia. The only reason being that I find it convenient to be able to change the address to hop around from year to year. For example:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009_NFL_Draft
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_NFL_Draft
It’s easy to just click up at the top of the page and punch a new number in.
I signed up for Second Life about a year ago. Back then my life was so great that I literally wanted a second one. In my Second Life I was also a paper salesman and I was also named Dwight. Absolutely everything was the same. Except I could fly. - Dwight Schrute
There's a link at the bottom of each page for all the drafts too....
~K
"As the governor of Louisiana once said, the only way Chris Kelsay can lose his job is if he got caught in bed with a dead girl or a live boy."
http://www.pro-football-reference.com/draft/buf.htm
Here you can see every player the Bills ever took in the draft. It works for other teams, too. You can go year by year as well.
"Play like hell and win." - Perry Fewell
Your daily source for Buffalo Bills information.
by MattRichWarren on Dec 24, 2009 10:05 AM EST up reply actions
Bears
Chicago has done a pretty job with the 4th round and on. If Gabriel is a big part of that, then that is obviously one of his selling points.
~K
"As the governor of Louisiana once said, the only way Chris Kelsay can lose his job is if he got caught in bed with a dead girl or a live boy."
But alot of misses on drafting offense.
That’s my red flag.
Same for Baltimore, though better than Chicago slightly.
We need to fix the O most.
There's not a wide receiver who is fast enough, that J.P. Losman can't overthrow him on a fly pattern.
by The Buffalo Kid on Dec 22, 2009 12:33 AM EST up reply actions
a name for you to consider adding
to your GM inquiry is Dave Gettleman, New York Giants Director of Pro Personnel.
That's my guy
"A failure becomes just one time at bat if you refuse to let it defeat you." Marv Levy.
by SERGEANT MAJOR THOR on Dec 21, 2009 8:36 PM EST up reply actions
He’s already on the list.
Buffalo Rumblings. On Twitter.
"You miss 100% of the shots you don't take. --Wayne Grezky" --Michael Scott
by Brian Galliford on Dec 21, 2009 8:46 PM EST up reply actions
I wouldn't be Objectionable to interviewing Gabriel.
But would be more interested in a personnel guy that comes from an organization with a better track record of success on offense rather than defense.
The Bears have had some abysmal offense this decade.
There's not a wide receiver who is fast enough, that J.P. Losman can't overthrow him on a fly pattern.
by The Buffalo Kid on Dec 21, 2009 5:18 PM EST reply actions
Does anybody know...
do we even have a shot at interviewing a Polian or AJ Smith assistant? I wouldn’t be surprised if Bill/AJ advised their guys to not consider coming here at all.
Why leave a sure thing?
Current Phinsider Feud Points: 23
T.Lex doesn't want to be fed, he wants to hunt. Can't just suppress sixty five million years of gut instinct.
And the chance.
For the student to show he can surpass the teacher.
There's not a wide receiver who is fast enough, that J.P. Losman can't overthrow him on a fly pattern.
by The Buffalo Kid on Dec 22, 2009 12:38 AM EST up reply actions
I’ll echo kaisertown’s sentiments: why the hell is it so ultra-important for us to target Polian/Smith guys? Their poo stinks too, folks.
Buffalo Rumblings. On Twitter.
"You miss 100% of the shots you don't take. --Wayne Grezky" --Michael Scott
by Brian Galliford on Dec 21, 2009 8:46 PM EST up reply actions
I think someone on the BR staff should be put in charge of verifying that fact :-)
"The Bills have no playoff aspirations" – Dan Dierdorf
I nominate Eric
~K
"As the governor of Louisiana once said, the only way Chris Kelsay can lose his job is if he got caught in bed with a dead girl or a live boy."
Yeah, it’s not that getting somebody from one of those organizations is a bad thing, I just don’t know why it’s a better option than getting somebody from one of the other well run organizations.
I signed up for Second Life about a year ago. Back then my life was so great that I literally wanted a second one. In my Second Life I was also a paper salesman and I was also named Dwight. Absolutely everything was the same. Except I could fly. - Dwight Schrute
I think part of it is.
I would like someone from an organization who has churned out a lot of good offensive picks for awhile, the Colts and Chargers qualify.
But there are others also.
New England has been pretty much been picked over for their best personnel guys the last few years.
The Giants though have done a pretty good job drafting on O, especially the last several years.
There's not a wide receiver who is fast enough, that J.P. Losman can't overthrow him on a fly pattern.
by The Buffalo Kid on Dec 22, 2009 12:26 AM EST up reply actions
Not sure if it’s ultra-important but certainly it’s not a waste of time to investigate the “trail” of the only good GM the Bills have ever had.
by radan on Dec 21, 2009 9:07 PM EST via mobile up reply actions
I’m much more interested in a guy like Dave Gettleman from the Giants or Eric DeCosta, who is one hell of a scout, I can tell you that, and who has experience both in terms of running the draft and free agency.
by BillsfanfromDenmark on Dec 21, 2009 7:08 PM EST reply actions
Summary
So to sum this up:
1) The guy has ties to the area including HS, College, and actually working for the Bills.
2) We can not judge the guy on any work he complete in Chicago because all personnel moves were ultimately made by the owner.
So I ask, is this guy any good? I don’t really care about his local ties if he is not a good candidate for GM. I would rather bring in someone with a proven record of good moves and winning. The fans at least deserve that after this decade. This guy is unproven and will come cheap, other than that someone tell me why we should hire him as GM?
Am I missing something?
"You play to win the game, you don't play to just play it" - Herm Edwards
by Jason from OH-IO on Dec 21, 2009 7:11 PM EST reply actions
If you want to get down that road, trust me you’d rather have Eric DeCosta, who’s – as I mentioned – a terrific scout with great knowledge of free agency as well. Dave Gettleman is a guy, whom I’m growing a little iffy on, especially as he doesn’t seem to have much experience at all within scouting, which – as Brian sharply has pointed out numerous times – is a critical area for a GM to succeed within. However, if we could get Marc Ross, the Giants director of college scouting, with us to Buffalo, I would be absolutely ecstatic.
by BillsfanfromDenmark on Dec 22, 2009 5:41 AM EST up reply actions
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