BADOLBILZ

Yeah Moss and Megatron are the two most "talented" WR's in NFL history..........if Moss had his head right and was committed to being great he would own all receiving records. The numbers he put up he did so without being fully invested in being great.........it came easy for him. There is A LOT of distance between being a star WR in the NFL and being of the talent level of those kind of greats.

You had Fehoko and Imatorbhebhe backward.

Troy Anderson His draft slot may not end up aligning with good value for an off-ball LB but he's a guy who I think has a chance to be tremendous in the Bills defensive system.

He was both the best RB prospect in that draft, IMO.........and still a low ceiling option to use that pick on.

I think the comp I've settled on is Vincent Jackson. Jackson was basically unrecruited..........went to Northern Colorado because they were the only one to offer a scholarship........somehow excelled as a punt and kick returner despite his size........had the size and speed but very little refinement to his game entering the NFL.........entered the league at 22 as opposed to the 20-21 year olds who were 4-5 star prospects..........and had a long career of big production as primarily a deep threat. Watson is a little lighter and considerably faster than Jackson but there are a lot of similarities. Seems like a smart, well spoken guy like Jackson was as well. Jackson ended up being a second round steal but his rise in the draft process was very similar to what we are seeing with Watson........early on Jackson seemed like a late round flyer kinda' guy and rose all the way up to second round. I was a little concerned with Watson's narrow frame..........I was thinking more along the lines of Marquez Valdes-Scantling.........but I think he's going to be much better than the less than physical MVS. Although MVS has gotten paid too.

Their defensive system is built around executing a complex zone scheme...........they aren't "hiding" a CB2 in zone.........that's what they play. And even if they invest the equivalent of a $20M+ chip into a CB in round 1........that CB is still going to mostly be doing the things that Levi and Dane have been asked to do. They aren't going to be running a "box and one" concept where one CB with good man cover skills is running around rogue while the rest of the defense is adhering to their zone concepts/responsibilities. The Bills drafting a stud cover talent at CB is akin to drafting a deep threat WR when your QB can't get the ball over the top of a defense.........it's talent totally wasted if you can't use it.

The Bills need a corner in the same way that they needed a guard when Ryan Bates was a free agent still........and then suddenly didn't. Many fans have this "on paper" notion in their head that drafting a stud cover CB means that player is going to be chasing Tyreek Hill around the field...........and that's not how the Bills play defense. No matter how early you draft that guy he's mostly going to be asked to drop back and make the plays in front of him............a job late rounders and UDFA's have proven to be very adequate at in the Bills defense DESPITE a lack of finishing pass rush in recent seasons. So the Bills may not need a receiver in round 1 but they also don't need a CB with elite man cover skills........which is what you'd BETTER be getting if you invest a 1st rounder in one.

I'll go back to me tryna' sell TSW on the Bills standing pat and drafting the best defensive player in the 2014 draft....... Aaron Donald........when the Bills already had a stacked DL.........they didn't "need" one right then..........but first round picks aren't necessarily about 1st year results. Dude became the best defensive player of this century so far and is still playing at a superstar level. And Gabe Davis doesn't have the All Pro track record of those Bills DL .......... he is a 500-something yard receiver the past 2 seasons. He is a projection who failed to beat out a tired Emmanuel Sanders, struggled with a foot injury yet again, had a terrible in-season game where he had like 3 catches on 13 targets and also had a costly drop in the Jags loss and missed the second NE game entirely because he wore too much tinfoil under his helmet. People are so fixated on the playoff game vs KC that they think the Bills have the best 1-2 combo in the league or something. They don't.

I'd hope that Beane has learned the folly of throwing good draft picks at RB's of this ilk.

He was DK Metcalf-like size/speed athlete who was a star QB in the SEC but didn't have much in the "want to" department.

Any of those WR's and Dotson........except London..........over any likely CB option available........and I've probably gotten to the point where I'd add Christian Watson and put him over Burks. If I thought the Bills were going to become more opponent specific and play more man coverage my opinion of CB value might be different...........but going CB twice in round 1 in 6 years when playing zone coverage doesn't add up, IMO.

Yeah they need more WR talent being in this AFC arms race.........even if they are totally in on Davis as a perennial 1,000+ yard type receiving option. I don't question the talent of the dog in the fight but maybe the fight in said dog........in the dog days of last regular season he was on the f*cking porch. He was more of a meh than a positive until the games started getting interesting and higher profile. If he just turns into a "playoff Gabe" character that's fine..........as long as they have someone else to be the man.

Clever move by the Saints. They know they are going to be too far over the cap to even participate in the draft in 2023 and 2024 so getting picks while the getting is still good. Reminds me of when George Allen traded the same pick twice......... https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/dc-sports-bog/wp/2014/04/16/redskins-george-allen-traded-same-pick-twice-before-74-draft/

I'm less worried about roles than I am the overall talent..........the only top regular season producer they have is Diggs. Davis may be able to do it but we don't know if he can. In a league with so many good receivers..........being all-in on a 500-600 yard WR as your #2 and having Jake Kumerow as his backup........that is more of a problem that it would have been a decade ago, IMO. I was less than impressed with Davis not taking playing time away from the tired Sanders sooner last year.........and that dreadful game he had where he was like 3-13 on targets......and that killer drop late in the Jax game....there is reason to wonder if he can bring the intensity/focus to be exceptional week in and week out, IMO.

Yep, 3 of the top 6 guards changing teams in a 12 month span..........and no banks actually broken and one day 3 pick liquidated. Imagine 3 of the top 6 All pass rushers getting their deals re-opened or traded and consider the $ and draft capital that would be changing hands.

Top 5 players in their prime signing for $16M aav is cheap, Hapless. To put it in perspective..........Von Miller is a top 20-25 pass rusher in the league now(including some interior rushers) and his advanced age suggests his trajectory is flat or downward........he's certainly not up there in the top 5 with the young guns like these guards in question.............and he got MORE $ than Scherff who is still in his prime. As did Chandler Jones. If Miller were top 5 and similarly unrestricted in his prime he'd be getting a $25M-$30M aav contract. Maxx Crosby wasn't even free and got 4 year $94M this offseason. It's not complicated...........premium positions are worth a lot more. So while you may not find $16M aav cheap for an All Pro........it actually is, relatively speaking.

Well, I mean.........you are only a Bills fan because you were following Josh Allen..........you root for the player first, team is relative............the majority of the fanbase is here to root for the laundry. And actually Diggs going out on top would give him hero/cult status among the types of fans who worship Freddie Jackson and Kyle Williams etc.. This as opposed to underperforming his contract and bitterly playing out the string under fan/media scrutiny........which seems inevitable if a new contract takes him into his mid-30's. For people who are attached to the player it might be a good ending while preparing the Bills for sustained success.

Like I said, sometimes every box is checked. This year the best of a good UFA group was just Brandon Scherff who is generally considered among the 3-5 best OG's in the league(1st team All Pro in 2020).........and is still in his prime. Joe Thuney is also one of those top 3-5 OG's in the league and he was a fully unrestricted free agent who changed teams last offseason. Shaq Mason is more of a top 7-8 OG in the league and he just got traded for a 5th round pick while on a team friendly contract. There is no shortage of examples of how easy it is to get one of the best OG's in the league without investing an early round pick. You're welcome.

Yep, correct, my bad. My point about the defensive scheme is the same though...........the defense began playing better ONLY when the team itself wratched up the intensity mid-way thru the Bucs game. This after 2 months of intermittent sleep walking as a team. They made stops in that second half in Tampa to get them back in the game and played better defense the rest of the season. The idea that the Bills secondary cost them a chance at the SB doesn't jive with what happened with the SB winner..........even Ramsey and the great Rams pass rush got torched in Tampa..........but they made it thru anyway. They outscored the Bucs to move on. The Bills didn't outscore the Chiefs.........they got too conservative on some drives and took the ball out of Josh Allen's hands and that combined with having 2 less possessions is what got them beat. (And yes, they had two less possessions.......first half was even........Chiefs had the first possession of the second half and the last 2 possessions of the game.)

There are 3 good reasons to never select a guard or in round 1. Money. Organizational impact. Successful habits. 1) You can always buy a very good guard or two cheap in UFA.........sometimes all pro's with no perceived liabilities and in their mid 20's even............this is RARELY the case with players at premium positions. Not only can drafting a player at a big $ position save you money in the first contract but it gives you a chance to have negotiating leverage on that player prior to the first contract ending. The savings can be substantial and the tens of millions we are talking about have real value. 2) As far as organizational impact........guards rarely have the opportunity to actually change games on the field.........that's usually done by QB's with significant assistance from edge/island players. This is why the money flows the way it does in the NFL. You want to be good at the LOS but you don't need to draft interior lineman early to be good at the point of attack. And as an aside they don't move the needle off of the field by making your team more interesting/marketable/attractive. 3) And ultimately you either are a consistent, sound decision maker as a GM..........or you aren't. I've been saying it for 15+ years here........the draft is an ongoing process of team building not just an annual event to patch up holes. Is the juice at G ever worth the squeeze to break from common sense? Not when you consider the opportunity cost. Ask the Chiefs if they wish they had that CEH first rounder back. The rationalization for selecting a guard is not much different than a RB.........we tend to think of RB's as disposable and G's as ten year assets.........but what they share in common is the likelihood that if they reach their lofty 1st round ceiling then your team won't feel compelled to retain that player at their open market figure.

As I said before you tried to straw-man me..........the first game they lost AFTER the injury was KC. When White got hurt in Tampa they were already being blow torched by the Bucs offense.........mainly because they were playing uninspired football as they had been doing consistently for 2 months. They actually began playing better WITHOUT him.........which isn't to say that he's not a tremendous player but rather it underscores that the Bills secondary isn't about dynamic matchup athletes..........it's about executing the assignments and minimizing big plays. Reality is that they tied both of those games and lost in OT...........it isn't OBVIOUS that secondary play cost them those games..........not at all really.

I am envisioning some old Flutopians re-plating their old jerseys and then realizing after the fact what they've done.

Yeah the question with Gilmore is does he have another big payday in him or is he like Richard Sherman..........All Pro one year.........injured for much of the next.........then he was struggling to get a good paying gig. Gilmore is actually coming off two injury plagued/marred seasons........they were both last "All Pro" in 2019. It took some off-field sh*t to reduce Sherman to a league minimum status player but it's not out of the question that Gilmore isn't seeing offers anywhere close to what he was expecting.

So we are in agreement that expecting 1st and 2nd round rookies to be difference makers in the defense.........thereby addressing the perceived immediate need for pass rush........did not fix the problem. Personally, I think the lack of finish in the pass rush was the biggest problem for the Bills defense in their loss to KC............not the cornerback play. All Pro quality Tre White on his best day can't cover Tyreek Hill for 4 seconds........as evidenced by the scorching Hill gave him in the AFCCG in January 2021. Having a stud CB out there made zero difference against Mahomes without effective pass rush. Now with Von Miller and Settle/Phillips and the developing young DE's that has been HEAVILY addressed the past 2 offseasons. The Bills defensive secondary is what it is though.......heavy zone based......and it's probably not an accident that players who know their limitations and their role in the defense have thrived in it. Maybe Tre White doesn't come back to the All Pro form he was playing at last season.........but could he come back and play his role as well as Levi Wallace until he gets there? I think so. And that was good enough to be a #1 ranked defense.........the first game the Bills lost after the White injury game was the last one. I'm not saying don't draft or sign any CB's but there are positions on the team where elite early round traits actually do make a big difference............and CB hasn't been one of those in the McDefense..........and once you get past those early rounds then it goes back to what Beane said..........can draft picks beat out the experienced young players they have on the roster?

Did drafting two DE's in round 1 and 2 last season "ensure" that the pass rush would be strong? No it did not..........throwing numbers at a perceived problem in the draft doesn't guarantee anything. Beane is a confidence man at the mic.........so we know he's not afraid to bald-face lie to the fans or media in his job............but I do believe him when he says that he didn't select a CB early in the draft last year because he didn't think any of them could beat out Dane Jackson. McBeane have had undrafted Levi Wallace and late rounder Dane Jackson starting a lot of games with great success the past couple seasons...........they like some of their low pedigree reserves including toolsy Nick McCloud who ran a 4.37 at the ND pro day last year and has 32" arms. Adding 3 new CB's to the existing mix of White/Jackson/Johnson/Neal/Lewis/McCloud/Griffin isn't out of the question but it also could end up causing a roster crunch and/or leaving the Bills with a disgruntled vet on the bench and a high draft pick struggling to get playing time ahead of more experienced young players who have been in the system. If they eschew BPA to throw numbers at CB that would be a mistake.