MVN - Most Valuable Network

Well, it has been fun…

Hey Guys,

Unfortunately, I will be stepping down as the writer for the Bills and Sabres pages here at MVN.com. It’s been a lot of fun writing and interacting with you readers over the past few years, but it’s time for me to move on. I’ve officially graduated from Northeastern University and have accepted a full-time position with Messenger Post Newspapers.

I really appreciate those of you who have taken the time to read my thoughts on the Bills and Sabres over the years. I will continue to be a Bills and Sabres fan of course, but I just won’t be writing about them for now.

Thanks again,
Dan Goldman

Easterbrook tears into ex-Bills GM Donahoe

While watching draft coverage on ESPN this weekend, I cringed when Chris Mortensen found a way to bring up former Bills GM Tom Donahoe.

I believe it was after the Patriots took quarterback Kevin O’Connell. Mort said that he talked to Donahoe before the draft and the worst decision maker in NFL history had the QB in his top three. At that point, I decided O’Connell would accomplish little in this league.

The Bills receive a lot of flak on ESPN and the NFL Network for being out of the playoffs since 1999. Yet few people point to the reason for this. So, I was pleased to read that ESPN’s Gregg Easterbrook pointed this out in his Tuesday Morning Quarterback: 2008 Draft Review.

Here is the relevent excerpt:

The Bills are still reeling from the final two years of bumbling former president and general manager Tom Donahoe; his 2004 and 2005 drafts produced just one player expected to start in 2008: receiver Lee Evans. Donahoe was also the genius who let Pat Williams go, though Bills owner Ralph Wilson strongly wished to re-sign the Ticonderoga-class defensive tackle. Donahoe told Wilson that Williams was washed up; since being shown the door at Buffalo, Williams has been voted to two Pro Bowls. Note that after being shown the door himself in 2006, Donahoe has not worked in football.

Bottom line for a web of Bills trades over the past year: Buffalo surrendered the complaining Willis McGahee and the fading Takeo Spikes for Trent Edwards, Marcus Stroud and a late draft choice. That’s the kind of sharp management decision making the Bills lacked under Donahoe. But note, Buffalo has not made the playoffs since abandoning red, white and American flag blue — not to put too fine a point on it, but the single most successful color scheme in world history — for its current hideous livery based on a hue TMQ calls Rusting Russian Dreadnaught Aft Bulkhead Cyanic. Plus the new Bills road uniforms look like toddlers’ pajamas. Please Bills, simply return to your handsome old unis. No questions will be asked.

Thank you Mr. Easterbrook. I know Mort and his NFL Live colleagues would never point out this fact. Mort is too busy kissing Donahoe’s behind to get “inside information.” If the Bills had the Chiefs draft this year, Mort would’ve ripped it.

On the plus side, Mike Mayock from the NFL Net and ESPN’s Todd McShay have both been praising the 2008 Bills draft.

Should rookie McKelvin take over return duties for Bills?

When the Buffalo Bills’ first-round pick Leodis McKelvin was introduced to the media over the weekend, he was told that the Bills already have two good returners. His response?

“They can share it,” McKelvin said. “They are going to have to give me some time. I’ve been doing it the past four years and nothing but great things have come out of it.”

The rookie does have a point. In four years at Troy University, McKelvin returned seven punts and one kickoff for touchdowns. Despite having only two offensive touches, he racked up a school record 3,909 all-purpose yards. He holds the NCAA Bowl Subdivision record for kick return yardage with 3,817, breaking Deltha O’Neal’s previous mark of 3,455. The seven punt returns are one shy of the NCAA record set by Wes Welker.

Those are some quality numbers but Roscoe Parrish and Terrence McGee haven’t been half bad in Buffalo.

In his five years with the Bills, McGee has emerged as an elite kick returner. In those years, he’s averaged 26.4 yards-per return with five touchdowns and 23 returns of 40-plus yards. 2004 was the year McGee broke out with three touchdowns and in 2005, he upped his return average to a career-high 30.2 with one touchdown. However, since then his average has declined to 26.1 in 2006 and 24.0 in 2007.

McKelvin only averaged 23.6 yards on kick returns in college with one touchdown, but it may be a good idea to protect McGee. You don’t want your best corner to get hurt. The team took Nate Clements off punt return duties later in his career.

The argument to get rid of Parrish isn’t as strong. He just signed an extension through the 2011 season, after leading the league with a 16.3-yard return average. Parrish has two touchdowns in his career, 18 returns of 20-plus yards and four returns of 40-plus yards. McKelvin may have been dominant in college, but Parrish is already among the league’s best.

The best I can propose is a split of time on punts. I’m sure Bobby April will devise some trick play involving both players with a reverse.

Here is a video of McKelvin’s work at Troy:

Who do you think should be the starting returners in 2008?