OldTimer1960

Nobody said the defense the defense woul “fall apart”. What some are saying is that it is unlikely to get a comparable player to Lawson with a 4th round pick.

Well, certainly can’t judge him much off that. All of those guys would make you want TT.

Not likely. He is likely the Vike’s starting QB next year. I don’t think the Vike’s will dare go into next year counting on Bridgewater to be their starter. Bridgewater is a more likely FA candidate.

Nope. The Bills sold out completely to stop the run and, in that game, Bortles could not make them pay. That does not mean that their defense is good. Indeed, without the turnovers they got this year, this defense is bottom 1/3 of the NFL.

That is about right, really. A coach is only as good as his players, unless it is Belichick.

I think that is too simplistic of a view. Hughes is supposed to be the pass rusher and he had the same number of sacks (in more games) as Lawson did. If you want to point the finger at someone for not doing enough, I’d say Hughes was the one who underachieved. Lawson will never be a dynamic pass rusher, but he can be a solid DE and I don’t think you can get anywhere near even value out of a 4th round pick.

I would not fire Tomlinson. They are consistently competitive- that is what we want, right?

Both Hunt and Kamara were top 100 draft selections.

For sure, they need more pass rush, but I don't think that means you give away a good run defender who at least rushes with effort for a mid-round draft pick. If they get a 4th for him, they would be doing well just to get an equivalent player with that 4th round pick. If they can get a 3rd, then I might consider it, but I just don't see the reason to jettison Lawson. He was drafted as a good run-stuffing base end and I think that is what he is. Nobody thought that he was going to be a dynamic pass rusher. I get the idea of finding "your own players", but I don't think it is likely that they'll ever get a guy that will be the equivalent of Ragland with the pick they got for him. I'm not saying that Ragland is great, but he did start for KC and they will be very lucky to find a guy who can be even a decent starter with the 4th or 5th round pick that they got for him.

I agree. They aren't looking for choir boys, but rather guys that want to be the best football players that they can be. I think Mayfield fits that description (and I'm not sure that I even think he is a jerk).

I was happy with the team breaking the playoff drought, but they very definitely over-achieved. I love the culture that the coaching staff and front office are building, but living off turnovers is very unpredictable and unsustainable. I'm afraid that the team has to address quite a lot in order to build a consistent contender. If they can re-sign EJ Gaines, I think that the defensive secondary can be a building block to a very good defense. Still, I think the team needs 2 LBs, at least 1 DT and a DE that can provide some pass rush. On offense, they are going to need some help at OG, a speed WR and, of course, the ever-elusive QB. Ideally, I hope that they can get a decent QB prospect without trading up. If they can, then with their other 1 and 2 #2 picks, I'd like to think that they could find a good DT and LB. I wouldn't hold out a lot of hope that a very good pass rushing DE will be available to them in the draft. I would think that maybe they can get some role players for the D (maybe another LB and a veteran DT) in FA. Still, even if all of those things break right, they are still not guaranteed to even make the playoffs.

I am talking about Hughes' production to salary ratio compared to Lawson's. I am not suggesting that Lawson was as good as Hughes. BTW, Hughes is interesting in this conversation given that he was a 1st round pick of the Colts who gave up on him too early. Bet they wish they had him back.

Shaq Lawson had the same number of sacks and only 10 fewer tackles in fewer games compared to Jerry Hughes. Who was a better value?

Thank you for this post. It should be brought back every year at draft time. Really good QBs are very hard to find. It isn’t as easy as just trading “whatever it takes to go get your guy”.

So the question is, how much are you willing to trade to take a guy who maybe has a 50% chance to be Rivers? Most would agree that Andrew Luck is very good, but with nobody around him he still can’t win.

You do need to move your arms to catch, right? Too many here are too quick to dismiss injuries. These guys are playing against super elite athletes - trying to do that while injured is incredibly difficult.

I am with you. I think he will be much better next season.

I hope for better from you than comments like that. You are knowledgeable.

Agreed if you know for sure that is who you are getting, but you don’t. BTW, in his 12 year career, Rivers has made the playoffs 5 times and is 4-5 in the playoffs. Sure, better than the Bills over that time, but he is good enough to be competitive with, but he isn’t a guarantee that you’ll make the playoffs every year.

Obviously, but it isn’t easy to find a good QB. There are some good, not great QB prospects this year. If one is there at 21, by all means take a shot, but I would not trade a ransom for any of these guys. The most that I’d consider would be to trade a 1st and 2nd to move up and get a QB in the teens of round 1.

Let’s hope that they re-sign Gaines. They should be talking with his agent now.

Doing deals like that is a reason the Bills have had almost no success. Too much coaching turnover and all the new coaches ditch the previous regimes’ draft picks. There are a number of former Bills playing roles for playoff teams. Watkins, Woods, Bradham, Darby and more. i know that you can’t keep everyone, but dumping guys almost indiscriminately because the previous regime drafted them is bad business. To be clear - I understood the Watkins trade - got a 2nd for a guy who surely would have left in FA. But the Darby deal will look bad if they don’t re-sign Jordan Mathews. If all they end up with is a late 3rd round pick for a good CB, then it was a poor deal.

I agree. I would not trade him for less than an early 3rd and maybe not then. Dumping good solid players for low draft picks doesn’t help. The Eagles’ Brandon Graham is a valuable player, but his sack totals early in his career were: 3, 0, 5, 3, 5.5... instead of dumping Graham for a mid round pick, they have a good solid starter on a very good defense.

I’ll support the original poster here. I understand that good RBs can be found outside of round 1, but a great running game can be extremely valuable to an offense. I would still consider a top RB prospect as early as one of the Bills’ 2nd rounders. I think the “conventional wisdom” that RBs aren’t valuable is bunk.

I think that the result of this game is interesting. The Falcons and their high-powered offense couldn’t beat a good defense. I am sure that we would all take Matt Ryan, but I think this game reminds us that there are only a small number of true game-changing QBs like Brady, Rodgers and Brees. Everyone else is playing with the prayer that those super QBs are injured or have horrible, terrible, rotten days. I don’t think that any QB in this draft is that level good. So, if in round 1 you think you are drafting a competent game manager with no chance to be great, maybe spend that pick to build a great defense instead. i am NOT necessarily advocating that at this time, just something to consider