OldTimer1960

I get that Darnold is a good prospect, but nobody seems to mention the 13 INTs he threw in 13 games and had 11 fumbles on top of that. That is A LOT of turnovers for someone whom is supposed to be a top prospect. Again, I am not saying that Darnold isn't one of the top QB prospects. I am just surprised that nobody mentions the turnovers. I was with you right up to the point where you talked about trading Taylor to the Browns. Why would the Browns want Tyrod Taylor? They are going to draft their own QB and Taylor is not a long-term answer for any team as a starting QB.

I think that Allen will go in the first round and probably top 20. There are not many QBs with his physical talent and there are a LOT of mitigating circumstances that can explain his less than stellar collegiate stats - foremost his supporting cast was well below par for even their level of competition. Tom Brady, Satan himself, did not light it up in college and did not have near the physical gifts that Allen has. The problem is deciphering what made Brady (and Montana) great in the pros when they did not dominate in college. I don’t think anyone *really* knows, but some form of mental processing ability appears to be key since few of the truly great NFL QBs have had really exceptional physical gifts such as size, speed, arm strength, etc...

I don’t disagree agree that he is a season or two away from being really ready, but that for sure does not disqualify him for the Bills, in my opinion. First, the Bills are a far more than a QB away from being serious contenders. Second, none of these QBs is going to walk in year 1 and lead a modestly talented (at best) Bills team to the Super Bowl. For sure, if they think that they can trade up and get a QB who will be very good for 10 years, then by all means do so. BUT, don’t thinks that 1- they don’t have a LOT of other holes that will not be filled exclusively in FA. 2- most, maybe alll of these QBs are more likely to be “ok” rather than great. Who thinks any of these guys will be better than Brady, Rodgers, Brees, Roethlisberger in year one? For me, I couldn’t care less whether the QB prospect is ready to play year one. I think it is unlikely that any of these guys will be truly ready to do that. What I want/hope for is a QB prospect who has a chance to be a top 10 QB in the league eventually when the rest of the team is built around him.

I am not keen on trading 2 #1s and a 2 or more to take a shot on a good, but not great QB prospect. There are maybe 4 QB prospects that have a decent to good chance to be that elusive “franchise” QB. Everyone of them have flaws/questions that make you pause before selecting them. i know that eventually you have to Sh*t or get off the pot at QB, but trading the farm for a guy with major questions about whether he can be good, let alone great, should be considered very seriously. if they *really* like a QB prospect in this draft, I’m not opposed to trading what they need to in order to get him. However, if they are ambivalent or can’t pull off the trade to get who they want, I’d be on board with trading one 1st for a 1st in 2019 and a 2nd or 3rd this year. Stocking up on other positions this year to prepare to go all out for a QB next year isn’t a bad plan.

There are 3 maybe 4 very good QB PROSPECTS. There may be zero elite QBs. I know most understand the difference, but there is considerable risk with giving up a lot for any of these guys. Each of the "top prospects" carries some concerns: Rosen- some questions about his want-to, how important is the game to him Darnold - 13 INTs and 11 Fumbles in 13 games this year. That is a lot of turnovers for a top prospect Allen - Low level of competition that he did not dominate, poor completion percentage Mayfield - primarily height and overall size

I think that what will be required to move up for a QB will eat in to the ability to take a WR. The defense needs too many reinforcements to not address that with multiple early picks - unless they dive into FA for more help than I expect them to go after.

Mayfield being shorter than expected is about the only thing I can think of that would give the Bills any shot of drafting him. If he measures a true 6'1", he will be gone early.

I don't disagree that they need an infusion of youth. I am only saying that DT and DE are more immediate needs as there is nobody there to get by with for 2018.

Speaking of OL, now that they have hired a new OC, does anyone think they will be hiring a new OL coach as well? The line actually came together a bit later in the season, so not sure it is totally necessary. I do wish they still had Aron Kromer. He got a lot out of that group.

No argument there. I just think that tying in athleticism with ability to read the defense and deliver accurately and on time muddies the water some. So, I'd rather have someone like Andy Dalton than Akili Smith.

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