OldTimer1960

Agreed! It is so “today” to say that RBs can be found anywhere. If if we want a rookie QB, folks should know that a young QB’s best friend is a strong running game.

Way too many here dismissing a shoulder injury like spoiled kids. Last I checked, catches are generally made with two hands and a bad shoulder certainly affects the ability to position at least the hand on that arm. i don’t know if Zay Jones will end up being a good NFL WR, but I really don’t understand the hate for the guy that some are showing. MANY WRs struggle early in the NFL - see Eric Moulds’ first two years. On top of that Jones had a shoulder injury that likely affected his arm movements AND he came from a lower-level of collegiate competition AND he appeared to have gutted his injury out without excuses AND many passes were off target. I just don’t see the need to bury the guy so early. If he doesn’t pan out, there will be plenty of time to tell everyone that you were so prescient that you knew he would suck.

I think the Jaguars (Fournette) and Rams (Gurley), No (Ingram) might say otherwise. Don’t forget how Dallas was derailed by the suspension of Ezekiel Elliott.

Well thought out post and a lot of it is spot-on. In THE QB draft of 1983, 5 QBs were taken: John Elway (1) Todd Blackledge (7) Jim Kelly (14) Tony Eason (15) Dan Marino (27) Also, very interesting is that Bills also had pick 12 and used it on TE Tony Hunter - AHEAD of picking Jim Kelly at pick 14.

No worries. Actually KC traded their 3rd plus a 4th and 7th to move up 18 spots in round 3 to draft Kareem Hunt. I am not advocating a first round pick on a RB, either, but a 2nd or 3rd rounder for someone who looks like they could be a very good back is not unreasonable in my book.

I think the most they are likely to be willing to do is to move into the teens to pick a QB that they like if one is left then. As you indicated above, they may be able to do that for a 1st and 2nd plus maybe some change. That feels about right given what KC gave up last year to get to Bills spot last year (a 1st (27), 4th (136) and future #1). Future picks are usually valued about 1 round less than the actual pick, so at the time the Chiefs 2018 1st would have been considered roughly equivalent to a 2017 2nd. One could argue that this year's QB crop might be considered stronger than 2017's which could push up the price (better product = more demand) or could push down the price (larger supply = lower price), depending on how you look at it.

Both 1sts and the Bills second would be enough to have a conversation about moving to 4, BUT there will be competition to move up for a QB, so the price would likely be considerably higher than that. Beyond Rosen and Darnold, I wouldn’t want to give away that much any of the remaining QB prospects. i would consider 21 plus a second to move into the teens if they like a QB that is still available after the top 10. That package might get them to about pick 15.

This has long been the mantra - defense wins championships. But you do generally also need a good competent QB along with a good defense. I expect a lot of help to be brought in for the D this offseason.

Is CC Charles Clay? If yes, that isn’t shocking. Of that whole list, the most shocking is Lawson. Taylor will not fetch anything of value, Glenn might get a 3rd and Miller and Washington will be hard-pressed to return a 5th or more. Overall, I like the team’s direction, but this fire sale, if true, seems imprudent. The picks you might get for those guys are very unlikely to even match the production of those guys.

I said take a QB late in round 1, but if there was a can’t miss QB for sure, trade the farm. I don’t think there is a can’t miss QB in this draft. I think that Rosen and Darnold *could* be very good, but far from a sure thing. I would not not trade both #1s for any of the other QBs in this draft. Most I would do is to trade 21 and a 2nd to move up into the teens for whomever they like most that may be left among Mayfield, Allen, Jackson, Rudolph.

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.