BADOLBILZ

Late in the draft process there is information overload and you can begin to doubt some of the things you KNOW are right. When you are considering a RB in round 1...........ask this simple question.............in the past 30 years what RB that the Bills could have picked in round 1 that subsequently went in round 1 did the Bills live to regret NOT taking with that pick? There aren't any. But they should regret ALL of the RB's they have taken in round 1 in that time frame. None of them even got a second contract and that was BEFORE not giving RB's second contracts was accepted as the best move. Your 1st round pick is a chance to add a franchise building block..........RB's are just short term rental-level impact for your franchise........and the notion that a rookie RB of any ilk is the final piece of any SB puzzle has proven to be without merit for decades now.

When YoAdrian Waddle was with Buffalo I remember his wife was always publicly inviting McDermott to their functions.........which McD then felt obligated to attend despite his busy schedule. Not sure being a Waddle family member has anything to do with their interest in him.

April is still winter in WNY nowadays. It's no longer any surprise to have long cold stretches and snow late in April even. But it doesn't cool off at the end of August here like it used to anymore either..........summer lasts into October now most years.

Joe B did also mention that particular aspect as probably the most compelling reason to take a CB. I don't really think that McDuffie or Gordon or Elam are those guys though..............and I don't feel the conviction on Andrew Booth Jr. that I did Tre White who I felt was CB1(over the more gifted Lattimore) and definitely CB1 for the McDermott style of defense...........though I do think Booth should be better than the other 3 and could be very good. I think we can make the mistake of assuming that to get a CB1 they need to go back to the well that got them White.............and in this style of defense I don't think that is the case. White is a lot more Rhonde Barber than he is a traditional lock-down, island type CB. You can get the kind of athletic traits needed to be a star in this defense on day 2 or day 3 and I still think they are in position where they can draft and develop rather than reach. An all things being equal.........and I do suspect that there will be WR's that are better prospects than the available CB's......and maybe they even get lucky and a tackle like Penning falls to them.........supporting the QB is the highest organizational priority. The primary focus of the draft is building and maintaining the foundation of the organization.

7-5 Injurino didn't find his command until 75 pitches........Boone stupidly pulled him out at 85 pitches.........nearly blew the game..........but small balled their way to a passable 5 runs and a W.

Would you wear a Red Sox hat to Bills/Sabres game, or no?

Points from the article: - Bills haven't prioritized CB2 in the draft or with anything but short term UFA deals under McDermott. - "At the NFL owners’ meetings, McDermott made it a point to start the conversation with White when asked about the need at cornerback and said White is “doing well.” The logical deduction is that their star cornerback is still at the top of their minds when thinking about the position, which likely can be seen as optimistic for the season." - If White indeed is on schedule he should miss no more than 1 month........in a long season.........and they played well for more than a month without him down the stretch in 2021. - "Since McDermott has become the head coach, the Bills have hesitated to put a complete starter’s workload on a young player, regardless of how early he was drafted........The only exceptions to the rookie rule have been White, Zay Jones and Tremaine Edmunds, though they all started because the Bills would have been utterly non-competitive without them in the lineup." Drafting a CB at #25 would be a move for a full time starter. - "The in-house development is another important piece to the cornerback puzzle. Perhaps more than any other position, the Bills have a history of developing their cornerbacks to reach their potential." Points out that even Cam Lewis has been a useful depth piece and that they really like McCloud and Griffin. - "But taking (a CB) to take one because of a 2022 need is how teams can get in trouble. The Bills usually swing for the fences with their first-round pick, too, opting for something that isn’t on their roster rather than just settling on a need or for more of a finished product." - "They can find an above-average-to-good starter in the second, third or fourth rounds and add value to their defense without spending their top resource on a position in which they haven’t made a worthwhile investment in more than five years. Players such as Kyler Gordon (Washington), Cam Taylor-Britt (Nebraska), Joshua Williams (Fayetteville State), Damarri Mathis (Pittsburgh), Zyon McCollum (Sam Houston State), Akayleb Evans (Missouri) and Martin Emerson (Mississippi State) all satisfy the size and run-defending requirements they generally covet and can likely be had outside of the first round." - "All the historical context, rookie dealings and 2022 factors bring us to this point. Will the Bills take one with their first-round pick? Maybe, if the value is right and they think that player can become a star. But is it an absolute lock based on the above factors? Not even close."

Yeah if they draft Robinson then McKenzie better try to go month to month on his apartment. Can't see them keeping 3 smurf, slot-types.

In general this should be one of the most successful UDFA classes ever. Tons of late draftable players who will not be drafted.........and quite a few RB's like Horvath with a chance to earn a spot. This draft gets knocked for the lack of 1st round grades but there is a lot of depth at non-premium positions in particular........so if you are a GM who plays the percentages it's a good draft to avoid them early.

My defaults regarding what Beane says to the media are thus: 1) If there is ANY strategic advantage at all to lying.......he will lie.......and sometimes even go a bit out of his way to do so. 2) Otherwise he is pretty honest. There are obvious strategic reasons to not speak negatively of the value of the RB position. Be it simply not to alienate your own running backs and keep the "perception" that they are valued and that hard work and production could result in a second contract. Or just to make teams think you *might* take a RB with your pick. It would be nothing short of idiotic for Beane to say that he wouldn't take a RB in round 1 or even that they would have to be a generational type, etc..

I think the difference between now and 2017 was that McDermott felt like he had to do a full re-tool of his secondary. The 2016 Bills defense featured 2 quality man cover CB's in Gilmore and Darby but the safety situation was a black hole..........they were the weak link of Rex defense. So they spent real money on 2 safeties..........they are viewed in retrospect as value deals but the deal Poyer got in particular was out of left field. Then they (carelessly) let Gilmore leave without a tag and trade..........and were left with nobody who fit the scheme at CB. White was zone CB1 in that 2017 draft..........some saw him as a reach because he didn't have great man cover skills.........but his availability at #27 in 2017 would be the near equivalent of zone CB1 Sauce Gardner being available at #25 this year........but at the time a zone CB had less value than today, IMO. Now, with some offenses capable of lining up three guys who would have all been WR1 types in 2017...........I think teams are willing to invest a bit more in a zone CB because it's not practical to play man against some teams. So taking White was not just like taking a flyer on McDuffie/Gordon or even the well regarded Booth Jr............I think in this draft White would have gone between picks 10-15. I just don't expect the Bills to get THAT kind of value at zone CB at #25 this year..............but, as always, there are A LOT of good zone CB prospects. You don't have to take one in round 1 if you can't get THE one.

There is a lesson in here about giving a valued WR the touches you normally give a RB and creating this weird situation where he is now seen as "more valuable" than he was prior............when in fact they are just putting hard miles on the dude and shortening his career. He was coming off the field injured frequently at the end of last season............that isn't what you want to see from a young WR1........unless you plan to use him up and let him walk. I think it's smart of Deebo and his agent to try to get him paid........he could end up Saquon'd or McCaffrey'd next season.........young but already worn out........so he should be trying to get that money while he can.

I think there are a lot of folks looking at all the impending 2023 free agents and thinking that the Bills gotta' draft their replacements pronto! In reality we are talking about: MLB (Edmunds) Safety (Poyer) TE (Knox) RB (Singletary) You could scarcely pick 4 easier positions to fill in an offseason. They could throw some day 3 picks and a couple UDFA's at those positions in this draft.........and then still be able to come back next offseason and have another shot to find cheap replacements in UFA or in the draft if the 2022 crop doesn't look promising and if some or all of the established starters aren't re-signed. The process on draft day should remain the same..........early picks on premium positions.

His confidence hang like sleeve of wizard.

There are plenty of roster spots up for grabs..........the right mix of 7-9 rookies could make the Bills 53 this time around...........the team is clearly not as deep with proven talent as it was last spring. Especially on the OL and at WR. One each might not do it.

Extra points for taking the "Barn-burners" back-to-back.......and for not taking a RB at all.

I know Beane is a good salesman........but when we get to the point where people are questioning whether 3rd round and 4th round picks can even make the team.........you guys are really letting your imaginations run wild with this "Bills don't have spots for draft picks" narrative. The Bills did have a lot of veteran depth in 2020 and 2021..........that was a function of Beane having plenty of cap room and spending big on reserve players......which made it harder for 6th and 7th rounders and UDFA's to earn a spot on the 53. But those days are over. The Bills are overextended on the cap now.........they are spending future seasons cap space to win now..........and that has lead to them replacing some of their more expensive veteran depth with veteran minimum types who will be quite a bit easier to supplant on the roster. There are very winnable jobs available at RB3, XWR2, YWR2, TE3, TE4, swing OT, reserve guard, reserve center, reserve DT, CB3, CB4, MLB2 and OLB2 and both reserve Safety positions. That's 15 different roster spots that could end up being manned on opening day by someone not currently on the roster.........and that doesn't even account for injury. So they are basically back where they were a few years ago where they very well could have 7-9 rookies on the 53.

Wishing they would have kept the Blue and Gold colors for the Maulers.

https://nypost.com/2022/04/18/yankees-beat-cowboys-for-title-of-most-valuable-sports-team/ Most valuable sports team on the planet per Sportico. Hal is cheap.

I don't have that info........but the last time they had this level of access to players was 2019 and I think the amount of data they collect on players in the season has increased a lot in that time. Like the gps data.......they have been doing that at the Senior Bowl for some time and now it's tracked extensively in-season/in-game........and unfortunately fans don't yet have access to that valuable info. It's my estimation that teams can get to know A LOT more about a player without the in-house visit than they were able to glean in 2019. That being the case...........they still get the same amount of visits and the time. It just makes sense to utilize a portion of it on players they will have to recruit. And I do think that some of the guys they have been rumored to be looking that are fringe draft picks. Rambo is pretty fringy, IMO. Max Borghi. Anyone who goes in round 5 or later is probably a UDFA on some team's board.

He's devalued some because he is coming from a poorly coached Miami team..........there has been great value in selecting Miami players late in recent years and coaching them up. But his hands were bad in college. His hand reliability improved some after transferring to Miami from Oklahoma.........but he's still basically a 3rd-4th round athlete with UDFA hands, IMO. Fix the hands and you have an NFL receiver. It would be good strategy IMO to bring into the building or have private workouts off-site with players that they anticipate being priority UDFA's..........I think most of the top prospects they really don't need to have visit...........but the one's they need to recruit they would gain an advantage by doing so.

Yeah that attitude is consistent with their defense heavy drafting in round 1. But the fact is that it's even proven easier still to find good players for the Bills secondary from later round selections and even undrafted players. The only player in the Bills WR corps.......OR their secondary..........that was drafted into the NFL before round 4 is Tre White. Jamison Crowder is the highest drafted receiver on the roster (105th pick). IMO they can probably anticipate adequate CB2 level play as a rookie with their 3rd pick in the 2022 draft. It would be a bit disappointing if they couldn't find a player who could play zone behind a pass rush with the pedigree the Bills line has. That player should be more talented than Wallace or Dane Jackson were and presumably a good fit in zone. It's a strong WR draft but I wouldn't anticipate a WR2 ready player from a 3rd or 4th round WR in year 1. Could happen, but it's not like the secondary where 6th rounders and UDFA's have literally come in and performed well as rookie. Bills have had no luck with WR's they've picked after round 4.

Yeah.......to me just 6 games out of 37..........16% of games played............with over 80 yards receiving..........and most nowhere near that......... just isn't anymore convincing than pointing out that he's averaged 35 yards per game in the regular season. It's assumed that receivers will have some notably above average games...........which is what 80 yards represents..........not "greatness"........but definitely an above average game. If Davis has no real competition for that WR2 spot..........he should be expected to produce well over 1,000 yards with Josh Allen as his QB.........just as he and John Brown combined for 1048 in 2020............and as he and Sanders combined for 1172 in 2021. But the real objective should be to be on par with Tee Higgins........Cinci's #2...........who put up 78 yards per game last year and around 1100 yards. Almost double the yardage of Gabe Davis despite Davis (571) playing 80% of the snaps Higgins did(710). That's what a clear #2 in an offense with Josh Allen should probably put up...........which is a WHOLE LOT more than the 55 yards per game figure you think represents what the best WR2 can average. But whether what we expect to see from WR2 is just 55 yards per game or 80 yards per game.............the fact remains that 35 is what he averaged for his first 36 games in the NFL.........and that wouldn't be even CLOSE to good enough. When you look at it objectively.........it's A LOT to ask of Davis to make that big of a production jump without giving him some significant competition.............which Jake Kumerow is not.

I don't know if Peters would be willing to be a backup.........he joined the Bears in mid-August last year and played pretty well last year as a starting LT for Chicago.........he's just a freak of nature like that. And he did it for a mere $1.75M. He may wait until camp again and pick a place where he thinks he can start...............but he's never played in a Super Bowl.......he was on IR when Philly went.........so maybe he would be willing to join Buffalo. I don't think it's very likely at all that Tommy Doyle could stay ahead of Jason Peters on a depth chart. Doyle had 1 snap at LT in 2021.......and promptly gave up a sack. There is a chasm between solid LT play and what should be expected from Doyle at this point. Hopefully Doyle develops into a guy who can back up at RT/BlockingTE/RG and maybe become a starting quality player eventually.........but they need a swing tackle who can actually play LT in 2021. Right now if there is an injury or another illness related issue with Dawkins then Spencer Brown has to move to LT.............and he was a pretty bad pass blocker last year.........that is a situation that would be good to avoid.

The training staff and the emphasis on doing the right things has always made a big difference with regard to avoiding injuries. When Rex was here I took a ton of grief on TSW for calling out the Bills organization and certain players........like the constantly hamstrung LeSean McCoy...........for all the soft tissue and joint injuries that were sidelining players...........when that hadn't been the case under the more demanding Doug Marrone. There was a lot of mocking about players with injuries drinking too much booze, etc.. But if you followed the team you knew the differences between staffs. Wade Phillips had the same injuries issues when he was here..........the more lax the staff is about training and techniques.........the more ST and joint injuries. It's not as random as some people have long wanted to believe. The current Bills training staff and what they ask of players has been a game changer, IMO.