BADOLBILZ

What do you think about Beane trading for 6th rounders?

Beane needs to trade back for three 4th's and blow some minds here.

Yeah it wasn't almost every 4th rounder.......but it was a really good %..........people forget that Searcy and Bradham got PAID.......Cockrell was only cut because of the scheme change to press man coverage (he would have been a starter in a McDefense over Levi Wallace)..........and Ron Brooks was a talented player in a deep secondary whose career was cut short by injury. It was a tossup whether the 3rd or 4th round pick would be the better one in the Nix/Whaley era. This regime, by contrast, has been really good in rounds 3 and 4. And remarkably ineffective and probably too reach/draft-for-needy in round 2. With 5 drafts in the bag after this one..........if he doesn't NAIL this 2nd rounder this year maybe Beane needs to self-scout and re-evaluate like Les Snead did. Learn your strengths. If you are reaching for need in round 2 then maybe he needs to get himself out of that situation and be more aggressive in round 1 or add more rounds 3 and 4 picks.

Umm........Beane hasn't drafted ANY pro bowlers outside of round 1..........the truth is that Gabe Davis and Dawson Knox(a near 4th) are the two best post-round 1 players that Beane has selected. Period. But actually, getting 3-4 starters is the more generally accepted measure of a good draft. And there is a huge difference in the likelihood of getting those kind of players in round 4 versus subsequent rounds. By rounds 6 and 7 it's about half the chance of round 4. But yes, absolutely, most pro bowlers come from the first 3 rounds and it's a matchup league so you really want to do well there. However, a merely adequate player at a PREMIUM position like LT could be worth a lot more than say........a pro bowl RB.

The individual CB talent standard was higher then because the system was more demanding physically. Cockrell was definitely more talented than 4 year starter Levi Wallace and probably Dane Jackson as well.

Well he's WITH Rutgers now.........not playing against them.

Back to back sweeps.........13-6. That's what you gotta' do to the Tigers and Tirds. Good to see them playing at least a little small ball.

Well, yeah except the OP neglected to mention the prior three 4th round picks. Nigel Bradham.......starter who got a good second contract with Eagles D'Norris Seary........starter who got a good second contract with Titans Ron Brooks.........good player for the Bills who might have had a really long career but for a knee injury 4th round has produced. Cardale was a lottery ticket on a QB.........but he was picked because Rex and Whaley stupidly traded up for Reggie Ragnuts and then just missed the QB that they claimed to have wanted.........Dak Prescott. 4th rounder is NOT a throwaway pick.

to the idea that the team is so filled out that they don't have squares to spare. That's literal bullsh*t and just a shout down..............no roster is too good to add a Taron Johnson or Gabe Davis........let alone one where Kumerow, Ques, Doyle, Matakevich etc.. are one twisted ankle away from starting. The proper response is..........it's a risk for a very small move-up..........but if Elam turns into the player they obviously think he will be, it will likely be worth it. No need to oversell it to try to get people to agree so that you can feel better about the trade/pick..........if you were that confident in it you wouldn't be arguing about it. What I would say is that maybe Beane should take a page out of the Les Snead playbook and recognize his strengths and play to them. Snead was a terrible early round drafter..........he started trading THOSE picks.........and suddenly the Rams stopped drafting at the top of each round every year. Beane has been completely ineffective drafting in round 2...........his best use of second round picks has been too trade up for Allen and Edmunds. Meanwhile..........he's had success with big moves in round 1...........and been almost perfect in rounds 3 and 4 (Zach Moss being the only exception). So maybe learn what works and go big or go home with the trade-ups.........or trade BACK from round 2 and get more picks in that round 3/4 sweet spot instead of trading them away.

When you can't run the ball well enough.........it's always ultimately an OL issue. It's not a coincidence that the pass blocking was maybe the worst in the league.........125 combined pressures and sacks. Addressing RB first is treating the symptom instead of the cause. I hope this puts a bow on that.

Wow I had no idea how deep the pre-draft dislike for Elam was on TSW.

It wasn't every fan narrative. But don't worry, if you forget I will remind you.

Last two 4th round picks: Gabe Davis..........200 yards receiving 4 TD's in divisional playoff Taron Johnson.......101 yard interception return in divisional playoffs. Almost every 4th rounder they've actually drafted in the last decade or so has become a good starter for the team. It's not a throwaway pick and the strength of this draft is considered it's middle rounds.

By the mock draft watch I would say Hassan Haskins was the one you've wanted the most. Was there anyone you didn't want as you drafted them around the foundation of Hassan Haskins 3,000 times? Otherwise, I think you mock drafted 250 different players to the Bills.

For their scheme..........yeah maybe.......... if Elam pans out and White stays on top of his game. But they have had A LOT of good CB combo's who were actual real man coverage dudes who could run with anyone in the league at that time. If the Bills played a defense like Cinci..........which changes schemes based on opponent...........would be hard to beat peak Clements and Winfield. But like I said.......they've had a lot.........they have basically drafted a CB in round 1 every 3-4 years over the past 30. Elam is the 8th. Only bust was McKelvin. All the rest got big second contracts........though most were with other teams..........because the Bills always felt they could just draft another in round 1 and plug them right in.

Yeah I assume Elam will turn into a really good starter. Maybe the low fruit of the Elam football tree would be REALLY bad pickin's for a drought era team........especially snagging him just before his daddy's team could. That might have dampened his spirit significantly and set him on a course for 1 contract and done OR bust if this was 2012. But as Richard Sherman said..........with the coaching he is going to get and the situation the team is in he shouldn't fail. It's important to remember that one of the reasons the Bills drought left them with ZERO of their first round picks from the prior 17 drafts on the field in Jagsonville when they finally made the playoffs was because the organization didn't get the best from those players. It wasn't a lack of talent. It was a lack of direction.......and a lack of a QB to put them into contention.......more than anything else.

I like Bates but he is not why the OL started looking better. The OL looked better when Josh Allen started running 10+ times..........that's what took the starch out of pass rushes and put defenses in catch mode..........not knowing if he was going to stand in the pocket where they could just target him and ignore their other responsibilities. In the midst of their late season panic-scramble to make the playoffs, and after the foot injury in Tampa, they clearly made a concerted effort not to run Josh against Carolina and he got sacked 4 times and struggled. They currently have no promising backups at guard or center or a swing tackle with LT capability. Cody Ford status went from *meh-be* a guard to seemingly a lost cause last season and Ike Boettger is coming off a torn achilles and was largely ineffective prior. Saffold came out of like 8 games injured last season and is very old for a guard. If he is healthy *maybe* he is an upgrade over Williams but he certainly isn't as versatile so I don't really get the "huge improvement" talk. That feels a lot like the Sanders signing.......not much left in the tank........maybe not even a full season. Ques is the only reserve who they might be able to expect decent play from and he allowed 11 sacks last year as a starter. I agree that YAC receivers can be found all over but ideally you find one with WR1 capability as well. The first rounders have more likely traits to turn into WR1 with big YAC. You can get one later the same way you can get a much faster but also zone scheme compatible CB later in Tariq Woolen or Kalon Barnes. The difference is that those guys are more tooled up relative to the McDuffie/Elam picks than the late receivers are to Jameson Williams/Olave/Burks picks. As for Kaiir Elam making a difference in the Tampa game........I doubt it. Again, the issue wasn't CB play it was a lack of pass rush. I like Elam, he has solid traits for a late first rounder...........but I do question if they have invested too much. One of their great organization efficiencies has been getting excellent play from low pedigree CB's. Maybe they will suddenly play more press and the traits will make a difference. Or maybe not. I don't trust the Bills to change their plan defensively from opponent to opponent. That's just not how they've operated, unfortunately.

The biggest problem the Bills had in the playoffs was playing on the road..........they are 0-4 on the road in the playoffs under McDermott and 3-0 at home. And they were on the road at no fault of their defense.........it was as a result of their season-long struggles on the OL and a lack of YAC talent during the regular season. They had the #1 defense in the NFL and got beaten on the road in the only playoff game in NFL history where two teams that had scored 40 the week before met up. It was a unique situation. Whether they've done enough on offense to improve their regular season performance on offense is up for debate.........knowing full well that Josh Allen isn't going to be running 10-15 times per game in September/October/November like he did down the stretch when they got desperate last season. I agree that pass rush was a huge need and Von Miller can tangibly make a difference. Mahomes was just LETHAL in that game scrambling and buying time. Can Kaiir Elam do anything about what happened in the Chiefs game? Probably not. He'd have been in the same spots in "13 seconds". And no he isn't catching Tyreek Hill in a foot race. The lack of pass rush made it impossible for anyone to do their job........much as it had the year before when All Pro Tre White looked totally overmatched in the AFCCG.

This is white gold

I like the player. I didn't like hearing that Beane didn't even talk to any teams about moving up until the 20's............when the Lions had somehow made a BIG jump from far behind the Bills to move up for pretty cheap MUCH earlier in the draft. I think the player they picked will be less questioned than the decision to trade a pick that has traditionally yielded starters for them to move up a couple spots, perhaps unnecessarily, when trading a better pick much earlier maybe puts them in position to move half way up the board.

If you are a proven successful shot caller you don't need it. If you are historically a brick layer...........with a generationally bad take or two like that on your stat sheet...........it should be required. imHo......of course.

Last year, maybe. This year........more reserve roles up for grabs. Need backups with some actual replacement potential for pending UFA's Edmunds, Knox, Poyer, Singletary and Saffold. Absolutely need an upgrade from Jake Kumerow at WR3(outside) and Stevenson should have more competition. Ques would seem like the only roster lock reserve OL........and they will carry 4 of them.........Tommy Doyle could stand to have some competition. And of course, a punter. More spots than picks.........and cap space is only going to get tighter so the more young players they can plug in the this season the better off they will be the following 2.

You also thought Dwayne Haskins(RIP) was going to be better than Josh Allen. Elam is a nice prospect but that take certainly warrants an "IMO" attached.