billsfan89

I am not a fan of the trade up considering they now don't have a pick until 96. I like the position as this team had no LB's but dam this team is going to be seriously flawed.

I like the pick considering the fairly lowish cost to get him (Keeping 22 and not giving away any 2019 picks) but Allen is so risky with his accuracy. But large kid, cannon arm, and some factors in college certainly kept his completion percentage down (lower amounts of throws and bad WR's.) He also is a high character player with a smoke show of a girlfriend. I hope he works out, but man they need to find some more WR's and they only have pick 96 up next.

Get your QB, throw AJ to the wolves (Which even if the Bills trade a good amount of picks they should still have at least 2 premium picks to address other needs like grabbing a guard and a WR so it's not like there isn't other picks to address other needs) and see what happens in 2018. But if you have a QB in place you can figure out the rest of the team much easier. It's a lot harder to find a QB than it is a pair of guards, a WR, and a RT. The Bills will have a draft class in 2019 and a **** load of cap space to plug in some other needs around a QB. But if they don't find a QB they won't have any shot at sustained success.

My hope is Barkley is taken by the Giants, that puts pick 4 into play. I wouldn't hate giving up 12, 22, and a 2nd next year for pick 4 for Josh Allen, but Rosen or Darnold is worth that large commitment of picks. I think for the Browns that trade makes sense too. They take their QB at 1, Barkley isn't there at 4, so Chubb or picks 12, 22, and a 2nd next years sets the table for them with 2019's draft (they would have two second round picks and two third-round picks.) I think I would rather have picks 12 and 22 plus a 2nd in 2019 than Chubb at pick 4. The Bills need their QB badly the Browns would already have their QB and then get a chance to get another haul of picks.

Freddy by the numbers might not be eye-popping (he had 4 really good seasons and 2-3 other productive ones) but he was a true underdog who played his heart out and got the most out of his ability. In an era where there wasn't much to root for Freddy was a player that you always enjoyed watching. Fred is a beloved player for good reason and certainly worthy of the honor.

The only concern about the Bills pass rush situation is there isn't a clear-cut dominant pass rusher on the roster. It's a grab bag of players that could be good but no one you can feel confident in to be a 10 or even close to 10 sack guy. Hughes is a bit older and his QB hits and pressures were down last season. Lorax was misused in 2017 hopefully in 2018 as a pure pass rusher he rebounds, but he will also be 35 which is a concern. Shaq set the edge against the run well but has been hurt a lot and hasn't broken out as a pass rusher, hopefully he breaks out. Murphy was the big addition to help the pass rush in free agency but he is coming off a big injury. They signed that former 3rd round pick from the Giants too he is a good take a flyer type player. All of the Bills pass rushers have huge concerns but they all also have potential to be productive. I think they are likely going to see what pans out from the current players and then address it next off-season.

I feel like the Bills are going with quantity over quality on the pass rush front. They have Shaq, Hughes, Lorax, and Murphy and a few other players they seem to be taking a chance on and just hoping 1-2 of them have good seasons and they can cobble together a pass rush. Considering the resources so far this off-season I think it isn't a bad strategy.

I wouldn't mind a 12+22, and a 3rd next year for Rosen at 6. The Bills land a top QB prospect, keep most of their draft capital in 2019 (I think you can live with not having a 3rd esp considering you have 2 4th round picks), and still have picks 53, 56, 65, and 96 to fill other needs. I think for the Colts you set the table with picks 12, 22, 36, 37, 49, and 67 while having extra picks in the 2nd and 3rd next year. That's a haul of picks in 2 consecutive draft classes.

Arm strength isn't about launching the ball 60 yards down the field. Arm strength is about how quickly you can get the ball to the sideline and in the intermediate range. Any QB worthy of making an NFL roster can launch the ball 50 yards or more in the air. But what separates the best from backups is how strong a QB's arm is and how accurate their throwing is along with their decision making and footwork.

A dominant pass rushes causes all sorts of issues for offenses and makes every aspect of your defense that much better. If you have an excellent pass rushes all you need is a handful of other good defensive players to have playoff caliber defense. A WR and LT are too dependent on a QB to be successful and a RB has a short shelf life. The Browns had Joe Thomas one of the best Left Tackles of all time and because he had no one of quality to protect they never had more than 1 winning season with JT. Calvin Johnson never sustained any success until Stafford came along. A lock down corner is a weapon but has limited impact in the ground game. I think a dominant pass rushes that also sets an edge in the ground attack really is a lynchpin to any defense.

You can find the rest of the team much easier than you can find a QB. That's the bottom line. You can spend decades chasing a QB while if Left Guard is an issue you can always put a bit more resources to find much easier. Teams don't go decades looking for a good Left Guard. Get your QB, hopefully, it comes at a good cost where you have 3 or more premium picks left over to fill some other needs. But don't be stingy with picks when it comes to getting a QB. My ideal scenario is Rosen, Allen, and Darnold go top 3. Mayfield (even Rosen or Darnold would be good, just not a fan of Allen) falls to pick 4 and the Bills scoop in and get him for picks 12, 22, a late round pick, and a 2nd next year. The 2nd next year isn't easy to lose but you have to pay a premium to get a QB. 12 and 22 are OK as that amounts to filling your biggest need on the roster. Toss in a late pick to sweeten the deal and you get a top QB prospect while still having picks 53, 56, 65, and 96 to fill some other holes on the roster. The Browns would get their QB at pick 1 then have 12, 22, 33, 35, and 64 (while also adding a late round pick) to fill out the rest of their roster. Next years draft would also be set up nicely having two 3rd round picks (Danny Shelton trade) and an extra 2nd. The Browns could have a dynasty with 2 good draft classes and some of last years draft class panning out (not to mention tons of cap space.) McCarron can be an effective game manager and keep you in games if your defense is good (Which if they can find 1 good linebacker and get some luck via pass rush the defense should be solid.) I would rather have a young high potential QB in place learning the system for a year and some other hole on the roster than a roster that's better overall but lacks a coherent future at QB. As you said there is a windfall of cap space that could be used to fill 2 or more needs with high-end players if issues are that big. But finding a QB is and should be the top priority for the team.

Producing quality NFL players helps a college coach win because top prospects will want to go to where they have the best path to the NFL. That being said if they have a system that wins but isn't always the best for the pros they will continue to run it as long as they win.

Rosen has some durability issues and he never really light the world on fire at UCLA. I do like his style of play and he has the physical and Rosen is exceptionally smart (I don't see how being too smart could be a negative.) I rank the QB's as such. 1- Darnold 2- Mayfield 3- Rosen 4- Jackson 5- Allen

The Bills O-line from 2015-2016 was a pretty good unit, a dominating run blocking unit and an average pass blocking unit. Injecting InCog a damn good left guard inbetween Glenn a (who was a stud from 2015-2016) and Wood (An above average center, and even in the 7 games Wood was hurt last season he was replaced by Groy who played well) made the difference to turn the O-line in a good unit (Miller being solid at RG helped too.) Going into 2017 the only big issue with the O-line was RT and they drafted a tackle in round 2 not to mention there was attention to detail paid with depth not letting Groy and Mills go. When your best player in a unit gets hurt and another player you were counting on to be a starter (Milller) struggled in a new scheme there is going to be a regression that you can only do so much to prevent. I think that you can expect to see at least one significant draft pick at RT or LG if not two. My ideal scenario is that the Bills trade 12, 22, a late round pick and a 2nd in 2019 to trade up to 4 and get Baker Mayfield or Rosen (I am hoping Allen goes ahead of one of those other two.) I think that still gives the team picks 53, 56, 65, and 96 to address some other needs. They could easily get their QB of choice and draft a LG, WR, LB, and RT with those picks and realistically get 2 impact starters.

I think the risk of running QB's getting hurt is certainly higher esp if you aren't built like a tank like Cam Newton. But I really like Jackson as a QB project. Lamar Jackson has Michael Vick levels of ability but unlike Vick, Jackson is a really coachable kid. Jackson has a good work ethic by all reports and a desire to be a great QB. Vick in Atlanta got by on his amazing athletic ability and did not work on his game or take to the coaching. Jackson can be coached up much better than Vick which to me makes his potential ability that much higher. If the Bills can't get a trade up for a top 4 QB I wouldn't mind Jackson as a plan B if he is there at pick 12. Sit Jackson for 2 years behind AJ, using picks 22, 53, 56, 65, and 96 they can fill a lot of needs particularly at O-line, WR, and LB and put good talent around AJ and round out the defense a bit.

I think it's easy to forget about context. Glenn's injury was more serious than it was projected to be as camp went underway. But going into the draft they expected Glenn to be the LT and spent that 2nd round pick to fill the hole at RT, they went into the season with an O-line that you could say was a good unit, things fell apart but they had 4 starting caliber players (Glenn-InCog-Wood-Miller) and drafted a tackle in round 2 to fill the hole at RT. They also signed Ducasse, resigned Groy and resigned Mills for depth. Even this offseason they signed Bodine and Newhouse as depth despite limited cap space. The WR situation is dire, even before Zay Jones had his off the field. Kelvin Benjamin is a low end WR1 or a high end WR2. Zay might be a solid slot receiver but I wouldn't count on him much. Holmes doesn't impress me much, at best he is a mid level WR4 or a high end WR5. I can't think of any pro-caliber WR's on the roster. If you want to tell me that the administration doesn't put resources into WR then I am onboard but I think they have been pretty solid as far as the O-line.

My point wasn't that the team shouldn't trade up for a QB, but rather that if the team is going to trade up I would rather they use more picks from 2018 to do so.

The QB's this year are much more valued than last year. Combination of the prospects being more coveted this year and more teams having draft capital to bid on. Mahomes and Watson were rated similar to Lamar Jackson this season. I think the context of the trades are much different. I think the Bills got a decent return.

I would rather the Bills give up more 2018 picks than the 2019 1st. I think giving up a 1st is always super dangerous as if your season falls apart you can really get set back. I think the Bills have enough draft capital to make a big move up for a QB without including the 2019 1st. Include a 2nd in 2019 if you have to but that 1st is a hard asset to give up.

Once again you are playing this out in hindsight and not taking into the context of the time. Miller coming off of 2 pretty decent seasons and was the starter at RG. He clearly wasn't a fit for the scheme so his playing time slowly got eroded away once he looked out of place in training camp and pre-season. But going into the 2017 season there was no reason to think that RG was a massive hole. Cordy Glenn missed 5 games in 2016, injury was a concern but he had started all 16 games in 2014 and 2015 and 11 out of 16 in 2016. It was not irresponsible of the team to think Glenn would likely play effectively. They drafted Dawkins to play RT and they spent a 2nd round pick in doing so. I think that you are thinking that because things didn't pan out that with injuries and scheme fits that the GM and coach don't care about the O-line. When in reality they had a good unit going into last season with only one major hole and they spent a 2nd round pick trying to fix that hole (not to mention that they kept Groy as good depth and resigned Mills on the cheap both players helped with depth.) Even this off-season they signed Newhouse and Bodine two nice depth players. The O-line needs a lot of help but I don't see what makes you think that the regime isn't going to spend at least 1 premium pick to help out the unit unless a massive trade up for a QB occurs (Even then I think a good pick will still be spent on LG or RT.)

They did try to address it last year, they had Glenn at LT and drafted Dawkins to play RT. Mills was not intended to be the starter going into last season. So I don't get where this perception that the current administration lacks care for the O-line comes from. Going into last season they had a line of Glenn (A dam fine LT when healthy) - InCog (A good LG coming off of 2 probowls) - Wood (An above average starting center) - Miller (A young guard coming off of some pretty decent seasons) - Dawkins (A 2nd round pick they traded up to get) Glenn got hurt and Miller regressed beyond reasonable expectation, that is what caused the O-line to regress. The construction of last years O-line to start the season was not bad at all.

My ideal trade back would be to go up to 4 for Baker Mayfield by giving up 12, 22, The Bills 4th, and a 2019 2nd. That still leaves the Bills picks 53, 56, 65, and 96 to address other needs and losing a 2019 2nd hurts but I can live with that as the 1st in 2019 is the one pick I would hate to have to give up.

Mills is an above average run blocker (although not a mauler by any definition.) But I can honestly say he might be one of the worst pass blockers in the NFL certainly as a starter. I think as a backup he isn't bad to have on the roster but going into the season with him as a starter is nearly criminal. Granted I have faith in the GM to address it because they did bring in Dawkins as the intended RT last season, it proves they aren't comfortable with Mills since Cordy's injury is the only reason Mills got starts last year.

The team will still be competitive even if they trade 3 high draft picks plus a pick in 2019. They will still have some draft capital to address at least 1-2 other needs and the roster isn't terrible as is. They will then have a complete windfall of cap space to build the roster back up and build around a QB.

2018 is a wash for me as a Bills fan expectations-wise. I think that the Bills are going to trade up for a QB and won't have a dramatic amount of draft capital left over to address other needs (of which there are many WR, LG, RT, LB, CB, Pass rush, and secondary/depth needs at TE, DT, and RB) and the depth of the team is suspect. If The Bills keep their picks they can address some needs but there will be big holes on the roster even if they hit on most of their early picks. Get me a stud rookie QB and take the best players available with the picks you have left over. 2018 I don't have much expectations if a big trade up for a QB is to occur. But 2019 the team's windfall of cap space will occur and they will have their Qb in place and they will be in position for sustained success.