OldTimer1960

This is very relevant here. It seems that some think that it is written in stone that Rosen, Darnold and Mayfield are sure-fire top 10 in the league QBs. Based on history there will probably be 1 QB who turns out to be great, 2, maybe 3 who turn out to be good starters whom their team is not trying to replace and the remainder likely fall between ok lowered 1/3 of the league starters and flat out busts. - And THAT would be a very good QB class compared to history.

They might even have to trade up a little to get Rudolph or Lamar Jackson. I have a feeling that there will be a big QB feeding frenzy.

I thought that O'Leary played well this year and I hope he gets a chance for a larger role going forward. He went to Florida State.

And with due respect, you do not have inside information. I am not trying to trash you or any poster.

Ourlads has been around for a long time and they do a nice job, in my opinion.

I think we will see more defense selected early compared with this mock.

I think that if the Vikings keep Bradford and Keenan, that will tell you that they don’t thinkBridgewater is healthy.

I also like Ourlads.com and DraftInsiders.com - they publish draft guides, but you pay a reasonable fee for the guides. I am going to try OptimumScouting's draft guide this year. It looks more thorough than others I have seen. It looks a little similar to GM Jr that former NFL scout Russ Lande used to publish.

Nice! Have missed your contributions to the board. I hope that you will be commenting a lot on draft prospects in the months leading up to the draft!

Respectfully, I can't envision a "decent" trade market for Taylor. I'm not a TT hater at all, but the reason that the Bills want to move on from the 28 year old QB that they already have is that they know he is, at best, a low-end starter. I'm going to be surprised if they can get even a 5th round pick for him.

I don't think that there will be any trade market for Taylor. Remember he could have been a FA last offseason and his agent judged his market value so low that he took a reduced deal to stay with the Bills. His performance last year did not increase his value.

The Bills’ two picks in the second are late. Even if Rudolph doesn’t go in round 1, I’d be shocked I he made it through 20+ more picks in round 2. if the Bills don’t take a QB in round 1, they would need to trade up in the second to get anyone who is left.

If the plan is to ONLY settle for someone who is a candidate to be a HOFer, you are out of the game already. This view, I vehemently disagree with. Look at the likely HOFers who are currently playing- not one of them would have been considered as such on draft day - Rothilsberger, Brady, Brees, Rodgers. Going back a bit further, Farve would not have fit that description either.

If I were running the Colts, I would not trade for Alex Smith under any circumstances. If Luck will eventually be healthy, I’d roll with Brissett. If Luck might not be healthy, I would still not be inclined to trade for Smith as the Colts aren’t ready to compete anyway. Disagree.. scouting QBs is seriously a crap shoot. Nobody really knows who will be a good NFL QB.

Alex Smith isn’t a free agent. If the Bills want him, they would have to trade for him. It isn’t a foregone conclusion that the Chiefs won’t keep Smith. We don’t know if Mahomes is ready or good enough to take Smith’s position. Andy Reid would be fired if they dump Smith and Mahomes flops. Note that I am not saying that Mahomes WOULD flop, just that we don’t know and I’d think KC would keep Smith and make Mahomes beat him out.

I agree completely.

Dareus only tries when he feels like it, which isn’t really very often. He makes huge money for his spotty effort, doesn’t get and keep himself in shape and has missed a lot of time due to suspension and injury. Other than that, I am outraged that they traded him for a low draft pick.

I am not fully sold on Jackson, but if he is still available when the Bills pick, i think he would be worth the gamble.

This is the Chris Kelsey syndrome. Kelsey actually had a good NFL career and did what he was expected to do. He was good against the run and would get some sacks. Still, he was reviled here by “fans” who lamented that he wasn’t getting 10 sacks a year. Look around the league at left defensive ends. They are mostly good against the run and are try-hard pass rushers. This is EXACTLY why offensive RTs are valued lower than LTs. +1 Do you think they will likely find a “fine 1st down2nd down DE” with the 4th round pick they might get in a fire sale for him?

I disagree with this part of your post. Very few rookie QBs are really ready to start as rookies, let alone game 1. Think of run-of-the-mill new entry level employees at everyday jobs - even if they have lots of education from college, they have little practical experience in the "real world". Beyond that, they have no idea of the details of how your specific company does things. if a rookie QB is not ready to start when they walk in the building, I don't think it diminishes their long-term potential in any way. There may be a number of reasons that a rookie isn't ready to start, among them: - not fully physically developed - these are YOUNG guys, especially underclasssmen. - lack of experience: some of these guys have only started 1 or 2 seasons at the college level. - completely new offense to learn: even if they played a "pro-style" offense in college, their NFL team is likely running a different scheme with different players with all different terminology. - Not many veteran teammates are going to be excited about suffering through a rookie's growing pains Look back at Jim Kelly - he really wasn't ready to play as a rookie and he had played 2 years of pro ball in the USFL. Troy Aikman was awful as a rookie. Now, we can debate whether the benefits of playing (and struggling) as a rookie outweigh the potential damage to confidence and credibility among teammates.

But I don’t see a scenario where Mayfield would be available at 12. Bills, at best, are looking at choosing between Lamar Jackson and Mason Rudolph - if they are lucky.

You are over-valuing Taylor. Indy is not going to trade the 3rd pick, it will take a lot more than pick 21 and Cordy Glenn coming off an injury. I can’t envision any scenario in which the Colts would want Taylor at his current salary as a backup to Andrew Luck. i am not a Taylor hater, but realistically his current salary makes him a non-starter as a backup and only the truly desperate teams would consider him as a starter.

Too much read into the target of building a winning culture. While I don’t think that they have any shot at Baker Mayfield, I do think that he very much fits the culture that they are trying to build. They are looking for guys that football is extremely important to, guys who will put football above everything except family. They are not necessarily looking for fine upstanding church-going men.

No, I was just commenting that Taylor would really be a throw-in, at best equivalent to a 5th round pick or so - at least in my opinion. I am not saying that Taylor has no value to any team, but I wouldn't expect Cleveland to want to trade for him as a "vet bridge" for a rookie that they draft early. Rationale is that Bills don't seem to want him in that role, why would Cleveland? If they are looking for a veteran mentor, I don't think Taylor is really the guy for that given where his weaknesses are. I'd think someone like Josh McCown would be a better alternative and they may not need to trade for him.

I think you are valuing Taylor much too high. I would not expect that the Bills could get a 5th round pick for him. im not a Taylor hater, but the reason that the Bills want to replace him is why most teams would not trade for him. Maybe someone will, but I will be surprised