Russ Brandon

A Purge is the Only Logical Choice at One Bills Drive

Chris OstranderLeave a comment

Another Bills season has gone without playoffs and yet another season has ended with an impending search for a new head coach. We’ve all heard this song 17 times over yet there’s no sign that anything will be different this time around.

Yet there’s no sign that the Pegulas are willing to burn down the front office and start fresh.

The only thing different this time around that more questions are being asked of the decision makers at One Bills Drive, not just the failures of the coach. Doug Whaley, Russ Brandon and the Pegulas have come under fire from fans and media alike and while it doesn’t appear as if any serious changes will come, at least the larger issues are being addressed.

I didn’t have high expectations for this season, I didn’t see the Bills as the playoff team some were selling them as, and I certainly didn’t think they had the answers to overcome their shortcomings. Somehow they still managed to fail to meet my expectations. It’s an amazing feat that the Bills can find new and interesting ways to disappoint, but with nearly two decades of practice I guess I shouldn’t be too surprised. Continue reading →

Buffalo Bills All-Drought Team

Chris OstranderLeave a comment

As you may have heard, the Bills won’t be making the playoffs this year. Entering their week 14 pillowfight matchup with Cleveland, they still have a mathematical chance of qualifying, but for all intents and purposes this season is yet another write off for the Bills.

So, as the playoff drought gets one year closer to legal voting age, I decided to form the Bills All-Drought Team to look back fondly on some of the players who admirably contributed to Buffalo’s playoff plight over the past 17 years.

This practice was inspired by this tweet from my friend Russ, whose friends recently held an impressive 11-round Bills Drought Draft.  I decided to put together this little project in a similar vein to the Ultimate Hockey and Football Movie Roster posts I did in previous years. The final product is a 22-man roster along with specialists, general manager, head coach and coordinators that spans the entire length of the Bills’ drought. I was going to include President but there’s really only one choice for that now isn’t there?

My goal was to pick a roster that would best represent the trials, tribulations and ineptitude of the Bills drought. I didn’t want it to simply be a roster of the most random players (of which there are plenty) nor will this be a roster of the worst players (of which there are plenty). Ideally there was to be a mix of good players, average players and downright bad players and I think I did a fair job in accomplishing that. Each position will feature at least one backup (aka honorable mention). In some cases there are multiple backups, that was all dependent on qualified candidates and wealth of choice at certain positions.

Each choice was based on a handful of categories that would go beyond simple on-field contributions. The factors I considered included on field play, off-field activities (positive and negative), career trajectory and their overall impact (expected or actual) on the franchise.

Without further aideu, here is the Buffalo Bills All-Drought Team. Continue reading →