Modrak to blame for why our team missed playoffs the last 10 years?

I’m not sure why a guy who made zero final personnel decisions should be blamed.

I’m not sure why a guy who made zero final personnel decisions should be blamed.

maybe because we can’t fire Ralph Wilson or his mini-me Russ Brandon.

Man that guy get’s a lot of undeserved crap around here. Look he doesn’t coach,he doesn’t play offense,or defense,and he didn’t hire Dick Jauron or implement the cover 2. Yetsomehow he’s to blame? I’m so confused.

A good team is not the product of simply drafting well, because drafting is not an exact science. There are multiple factors that go into creating a good, or even great, player. There are very, very few draft picks that have the talent to simply come into the NFL and succeed.

Finding starters from the draft requires skill, patience, and some luck. Once you have a player, you had better have the coaching staff in place to develop him. Not only that, you had better make sure he fits the scheme your coaches run. Both J.P. Losman and Trent Edwards are decent example of this — while having the physical tools necessary to play in the NFL, they were not equipped with the tools to play behind the team’s offensive line. In Losman’s case, panic led him to run around like a madman. In Edwards’, fear of getting pulverized led him to only throw checkdown passes. It certainly appears to me the team seemed to realize the line was a problem with this past year’s draft, but that help came far too late for both quarterbacks — they would probably look better behind veteran lines.

A better example is Tom Brady, who was a 6th round supplemental pick. It cannot be argued that the Patriots simply knew something the rest of the league didn’t, since they also passed on Brady 6 times before finally picking him. He wasn’t the QB he was when he was drafted — he was developed into one. The reason the Patriots are a good team is because for the past decade they’ve excelled at finding players who fit their scheme and then developing them. The reason Buffalo is not a good team is because they flounder from scheme to scheme and then wonder why they can’t find players that fit. It is this reason above all others that continuity is so important in this league, but the bottom line is that simply drafting a player is not the deciding factor for whether or not they pan out.

I think Modrak could be blamed for these drafts under Jauron. DJ had final say, but Modrak is the top draft guy in the organization and had to have had the 2nd biggest voice on draft day after Jauron’s. As the head coach, it’s obvious that Jauron wasn’t worrying about the draft during the regular season, so Modrak and his scouts had already put a ton of work in before Jauron got involved for each draft.

I don’t believe that Modrak can be blamed for the Donahoe drafts. Sure, Modrak was involved in those, but when you’ve got somebody with the power that Donahoe had at the top of the organization and a coach who might outrank Modrak too, it’s impossible to say that Modrak was part of the problem there.

What a pitiful season. Thank goodness it is finally over.
I like the Nix hire a lot. Great choice.
On Modrak, I just cannot understand the negativity. What do we know FOR SURE about the influence of Modrak in the draft decision room? Nada. Schmots. I have never seen any definitive word on how much Tom Modrak influenced his boss. Did he want Whitner? Maybin? McGahee? We simply don’t know squat. We do know that first Donahue and then Jauron had final say. My best guess is Modrak’s influence increased with time and the last draft was his most influential. But I also would speculate that Maybin was not his first choice there. I sure would like to read something from an insider on who Modrak favored with what pick. If I were Buddy Nix I would have a long talk with Modrak to get a good feel for his preferences in our last few drafts. Remember he comes from the Pittsburgh tree where they have favor building from the lines out for some time. We have done well with later round picks. Is that where his influence was more prominent? I am surprised Guy is not gone (I think Ralph has a soft spot for Guy), but not Tom Modrak.

According to ProFootballWeekly.com, during a five year study from 2004-2008 Buffalo has placed 21 players on the roster. 12 have become starters—tied for third in the league. The Bills have also been active after the draft securing six undrafted free agents. The Bills, more than most teams, have also shown a knack for uncovering some late-round gems (Williams, Ellison and Schouman) So I would say Modrak isn’t to bad and shouldn’t be the one responsible for the teams short comings.

What about Nate Clements, Travis Henri, Willis McGahee ? Are they not starters? McGAhee & Clements ea went to the ProBowl as well.

Not defending Modrak but let’s at least give him the credit where it is due. The fact that our FO has been horrible for the past 10y is not entirely his fault. And like Brian suggested he did not have final say so how do we know who he really wanted to draft? For example I read somewhere that in 2006 he didn’t want Whitner he wanted Jay Cutler but Marv & Dick wanted Whitner. So really how can you really know how much blame he really deserves?