OldTimer1960

Nice job. I agree. Really good NFL starting QBs are very hard to find. In several drafts there are zero guys that became NFL starters. I think that none of these QBs are sure things, but I do think that Rosen, Darnold and Mayfield have a pretty good chance to be successful. I think Allen, Jackson and Rudolph are 50-50 kinds of guys for success.

I'd rather have a really mobile guy who completes >65% of his passes. Why would you ever prefer physical limitations over better physical skills? If the point is that you want a very good pocket passer, then I agree. I just don't think that mobility means that a guy can't be a good pocket passer. Now, don't take that to mean that I think that Lamar Jackson is currently a good pocket passer - I'm not sure. I am sure that he is not a finished product, maybe he can improve his passing, maybe he can't. I am confident that someone will pick him and hope that he pans out.

I agree that OL is an important position (all across the line), but I think given equivalent prospects at DE, DT and OL, that they'd use a high pick on defense before an OL. Further, I recognize that the Bills do have extra draft picks, but I think many are over-estimating the number and value of those picks. They have 21 and 22 in round 1, 2 picks in the 20s of round 2, 1 pick around 20 in round 3 and their own #4 and 2 #5s. Any move for a QB in the draft is going to consume at least a 1st and 2nd, probably both firsts. If they do that, it doesn't leave a lot to address big need areas like DE, DT, LB.

Rules were different then. Defensive backs were not prevented from contacting receivers byond 5 yards downfield and DBs were allowed to be much more violent hitting receivers once they touched the ball. There were no penalties for hitting "defenseless" receivers and intimidation of receivers was a big part of the game.

I appreciate that the Bills snapped the drought with him at QB. Check my posts on this - I have said many times that the Bills could and have done much worse at QB than Tyrod gave them. However, the evidence is overwhelming that he is a very limited NFL passer. Just check Watkin's, Woods' and Goodwin's stats in their first year with other QBs -or- check Clay's, Benjamin's and Mathew's stats before Taylor was their QB. Yes, Taylor can run, but teams bottled him up well this year. They are not really pushing the pocket and are daring him to beat them passing. He has not shown that he can make defenses pay for that. i like and respect Taylor, but he is flat not good enough to be the starting QB on a contender. He may find a starting gig on a bottom 25% of the league team, but that team is already looking for his replacement before he even gets there.

You can see every throw from several of his games at draftbreakdown.com

Not much thanks to Taylor, though. Brady threw 65% more TDS in 3 fewer games.

What do you think that Mularkey did to “ruin” Mariota? He had a down year, for sure, but hard to pin that all on the HC. It is possible that after 2 very good seasons that the league figured him out or quite possible that he was injured without a lot of publicity. They also drafted Corey Davis high to help their receiver group, but he was hurt a lot of the year.

Agreed and I am not sure what to think of Mariota. Good mobility, but I wasn’t sold on him as a passer. He has been better than I thought he’d be, but he needs to be a better passer to stick around as a good starting QB.

Agreed. Vrabel was almost the prototypical Belichick player - intelligent, high effort and maximized his potential.

That is a lot to give up even for a QB.

Yes, but I’ll admit that I wasn’t sold on Watson in the draft. I thought that his college receivers made him look better than he was. The games he played this year say otherwise, but still a very small sample.

That is too steep for my blood in both cases.

I just don’t see how they could get high enough to get that done. *Maybe* they could get far enough up to get Mayfield. i would not trade more than both ones this year to move up for any of these QBs. Yes, the team needs a QB desperately, but I would not want to trade both 1s this year and next year’s 1 - I just don’t see these guys as can’t-miss.

Not necessarily, if you trade a lot of picks to move up, they’ll need all that cap space to pay free agents to fill the other positions

+1

I don't think that would be enough to get to 10.

I wouldn't be opposed to that, but I fear that they'll need to trade up even to get Rudolph. My guess, uneducated at the moment, is that if they sit tight the only name QB available may be Lamar Jackson. I don't know what they think of him, but I'm not sure what to make of him. He has a strong arm and makes some throws that are NFL caliber, but he misses badly on others and is very quick to bail and run - now, for sure he is great at running.

I would be on board with trade downs and even trade ups in the 2nd and later to get guys they really like. I just can't see trading a lot to move up in round 1 unless it is t get the QB that they like. At the moment, I'd be willing to give up a 1 & 2 to move up some for the QB that they like, but I think getting high enough to get one of the top 3 will be too pricey and who know if they will pan out anyway. None of them strike me as can't miss guys. If they can't get a QB that they really like, I would even consider trading one of the 1sts for a 1st next year and a later pick this year. There is no point to taking a QB in round 1, if they aren't pretty sold on him.

I hope that you are right about re-signing Gaines. I originally thought he was just a throw-in in the Watkin's trade, but he is a good CB.

Unless it is to get a QB, it would take a lot to justify trading up in the draft this year.

I would not be surprised with a step-back in 18. They greatly overachieved this year given the talent level on the roster. Save for a ton of turnovers created early in the season by the defense, this could have been a 6-10 team.

I am with you - Glenn can be a dominating run blocker and is a good pass blocker, if healthy. If he is healthy, the OL would be MUCH better with him than without him.

But if Dawkins is playing LT, he is cheap for a starting LT

Agreed.