OldTimer1960

I guess I don’t have any big favorites - at least that are likely to be available at 28 and would be fits for the Bills. I really like watching McConkey’s route running, but I don’t think the Bills will take him. I would also like Latu, but he is unlikely to be available. Of the WRs that have a reasonable chance to be there, I guess I would go Mitchell, but I’m not super crazy about that. On the flip-side, I would be a little disappointed if they took Troy Franklin at 28 - if they took him somewhere in the 2nd I would Be more happy with it. They need D, but I don’t have any big favorites besides Latu and maybe Verse. Just get the best players they can with their picks. Samuel ran a faster 40 than Franklin and Shakir was in the same range. They have some speed. More speed with size is needed.

I think 1 WR is what they will reasonably draft. If they keep all of their late round picks, then maybe a second Wr will be picked. They have 3 pretty good ones now in Diggs, Samuel and it appears an emerging Shakir. I’m sure they would like a bigger body to play the boundary and I’m guessing that’s what they will do. So, that would leave them with 4 that they would seem to like. They signed Hollins to play Special Teams and backup outside and they have Justin Shorter coming back to try to make the team. If they take a second Wr in the draft, that guy likely won’t see the field and would have to have value on special teams. You could be right, but I don’t think the cupboard is as bare as many seem to think.

I think Legette is much stronger in contested catches. I am not disagreeing with you on Walker’s athleticism and that his Combine was much better. FWIW, former GM Rick Speilman described Walker as a “Saturday pick”.

The expectation that they are obviously doing something wrong if they haven’t won a SB is, in my opinion, unreasonable. They have had one of the best teams in the league for several years. It’s unfortunate that KC is a dominant team. There have been many outstanding QBs that never won a SB and more that it took a long time to get theirs. It is very hard to win a championship and the idea that somehow one more big move is all that was needed is questionable. They might have been right on tack until Von tore up his knee….

That’s right, but they would get you near the top of the 4th which in practice isn’t much different than late 3rd. I do think moving up in later rounds where those late picks can move the needle up more than a couple spots is the best play. I don’t think you will get both a 2nd and 3rd this year for next year’s first. I think you’ll get a late 2nd.

I’m just not interested in trading next year’s picks. A key injury or falloff from the D and next year’s pick could be top half of the first. Trading that away this year, it will be valued as a late 2nd. If it was a team looking for franchise QB, I understand. Otherwise, I’m not interested. I’ll admit that doesn’t make me necessarily right, but seems a steep price for a wr when they need talent elsewhere as well.

I’m in agreement on Coleman at 28, would you consider him at 60 if you hadn’t taken one in the first? Walker was miserable at the Sr Bowl for sure, but he has athletic tools. Do you think he is fatally flawed? I know he dropped a bunch at Sr Bowl, he was better, albeit against no defense at the Combine. He would not be one of my top choices, but is he “developable”? I guess that you do have to consider that Odinze and Polk were there. Virtually every play that I watched of his (only 1 game), he was in the slot. I might not have picked his best game because I came away thinking “what is the buzz about him?”

I am very leery about Colman and he might last to striking distance of pick 60 if other teams fear his lack of speed and lateral movement. Isn’t McMillan 90% slot? Walker is possible in round 2. He really had a bad time at the Senior Bowl and that’s hard to forget, but he has size, great speed and hops. Can he catch, especially contested catches?

Who says they didn’t like those guys? They wanted a vet for a young Allen to aid his development. I don’t think you can conclude that they didn’t like Jefferson, Aiyuk, etc.

I think the pass rush will be worse without Floyd. They did at least re-sign Jones and signed a backup 1T to keep the Bills LBs who are on the smaller side clean. I also worry about competent depth at CB if either Douglas or Benford get hurt and there is no quality depth at S right now. I also think they need a good backup to Oliver at 3T. Of course, those might be addressed in FA before or after the draft, but they don’t have much cap room and I don’t think they can solve those issues through the draft if they use their first two picks on WR. As I said, I am conservative regarding trading future picks as they can come back to haunt you.

How many receivers are going to play? Diggs, Kincaid, Samuel, Shakir and two rookies (and Knox and Cook) would have to split the available targets. You are right that a 25 2nd and 60 probably gets them up to mid-2nd. To me, that’s a lot to give up when the defense could really struggle this year. You might be giving up a high 2nd and getting late 3rd value for the pick. I admit that I am future risk averse in these matters.

If they take one early and then a WR is BPA at their pick after 2nd, fine. Those 4th, 5th and later picks don’t move you up far in either 1st or 2nd and I would not trade next year’s picks to move up.

I think because the best receiver options will likely be gone by 60, lends weight to trading down out of the first - IF you can make a fair deal. Even trading up in the 2nd to about pick 40 would cost at least both late 4ths they have. I don’t think they will want to go from around pick 40 to the 9th pick in the 5th without a pick.

I think the receiver pool will be pretty shallow by 60. You might get guys like Polk, Baker or Rice there - maybe an outside shot at Coleman, but the better prospects will be snapped up by mid-round (at least that’s my $.02 worth).

What is EPA per route? Hill is about 20lbs heavier than Worthy distributed on a shorter frame.

Sorry, didn’t mean to imply that you said that. What I was trying to raise is the idea that maybe we shouldn’t rule out the possibility of drafting a “non-X” receiver early. I still strongly believe that they need a big body WR, but I’m asking do they really want to avoid guys that are mostly or partially slot or move guys who are excellent prospects on the basis of having Samuel and a promising but not fully proven Shakir. This is meant as a question to spark discussion not as me arguing one way or the other.

I like that Shakir was trending upward at a pretty high rate to end last year, but are we getting ahead of ourselves thinking no way do they draft competition for Shakir? He caught 39 passes last year and defenses now have a year of film on him so they will try to take away what he thrived on last year. I am excited about Shakir, but I’m not sure that you can write it in ink that he is for sure a good starter in the slot or out wide.

The receiver class is very strong, but that doesn’t mean everyone in it is a future dominant receiver in the NFL, nor does it mean that a receiver that still needs development can’t contribute while they develop or that they won’t become outstanding. I think fans expectations are a little high. Patience will be required for many of these receivers and some who start modestly will become outstanding. Most rookies take time unless they are so physically dominant that it carries over to the league immediately. Even Bruce Smith had only 6.5 sacks as a rookie.

I’m a big fan of your knowledge, but what do you do if the top 3 and Mitchell and Thomas are gone by pick 28? I know that you would take Legette - and that might be the right thing to do, but assume that the Bills don’t have him rated before mid-2nd and then what? What WR left isn’t very similar to a mostly slot WR? Would you take Troy Franklin or Wothy? I was pretty hard on Franklin from the Combine, but possible I overreacted. Still, I don’t know that I’d take Franklin there. I’ don’t think I’d take Worthy, either.

Many of the top WR in the league we’re not 1st round picks.

I’m not trying to convince anyone that the Bills should take Robinson. I am just saying that I’ve watched 3 games vs Big 10 competition and I see that he has made an impact in those games (to my eyes). This isn’t the game video that I’ve watched, but this is all his rush snaps vs Michigan. He isn’t perfect, but his athletic traits are at least as impressive as any of the WR in this class and are basically the best of the edges in the class. Again, not arguing to pick him, but I would understand if they do.

Now, I’m not pounding the table for him, but Ladd McConkey continues to crush the athletic testing in draft run up. He posted a 20 yard shuttle time in the 95th percentile since 1999 and his 3-cone was 85th percentile among this year’s class. That doesn’t erase the fact that he does a lot of the same things that Kincaid, Samuel and Shakir do in terms of area of the field that they operate in, but he is a very good prospect.

I agree mostly, but I like what I’ve seen of Chop Robinson vs Michigan, Ohio State and IIRC, Iowa. He made impact in each of those games with numerous pressures, though I think only 1 sack. That’s against some of the best college competition (admittedly not SEC).

That’s too steep a price for 1 player, in my opinion.

28 & 60 & next year’s #1 might get you to pick 12ish. Not sure that is high enough. Regardless, I think it would be foolish to trade next year’s picks - they are going to need them as they will still be tight to the cap for the foreseeable future. FWIW, all 11 picks this year would maybe get them pick 13.