OldTimer1960

I wish I knew why Davis has so much trouble with drops. I think we’ve seen him make some great catches, especially along the sideline, but there are too many drops to consider him reliable at this point.

Thank you for such a large amount of effort. You really know your draft stuff, kind sir! Question: would you have considered Matthew Bergeron in round 2? Idea being that if Spencer Brown doesn’t pan out, Bergeron could play there and if Brown is up to the RT job, put Bergeron at one guard spot.

Why not take Bergeron in the 2nd over Vorheese? Bergeron would give them insurance at RT in case Spencer Brown doesn’t improve and, I would think, he could play guard if Brown improves. If Anthony Richardson is still available, someone might want to move up from 2nd round for him. Other than that, I can’t see much hope for anyone else available that a team would trade up for. As many here, I would not be very excited about Rashee Rice in round 1. He does have good hands and is pretty good at contested catches, but can he get open in the NFL? I’m not sure what his combine 40 will tell us, but I don’t think he is going to win many battles on speed or quickness. He seems to have had a pretty quiet week at the Senior Bowl.

It used to be that there were only a few outstanding QBs, but today there are many more. The Bills are in a group of teams that have great QBs, any one of which could win the SB. While we all watched Brady dominate thinking if only we could get a great QB, we would win, it turns out just having a great QB isn’t enough.

Screens and draw plays as well. I suspect that the lack of screens may be related to the OL struggling to block in the open field.

It is a fair question. All that I am arguing is that there were mitigating circumstances. I do think all of the above played into it. McCaffrey got a lot of carries and I speculate that taking handoffs takes less familiarity with the O than does getting into pass routes. Fair to question the coaching decisions on that.

Not a complete excuse, but 1. coming to a new team mid-season meant that he had to learn a whole new offense and develop relationships with his new teammates 2. He was also playing Special Teams which drew some of his attention away from learning the new offense 3. The OL was really struggling so RBs needed to be held in to block more often than usual 4. Singletary and Cook were both playing well ahead of him Do you really think that they purposely drafted Cook and traded for Hines, both pass catching backs, and then forgot about using them? I think more likely, circumstances like the above made incorporating the backs into the passing game difficult. Specifically regarding Hines, imagine starting a new job at a different company. Do you think you will understand everything and perform all roles immediately?

They were 13-3 in a season where the secondary was decimated by injuries, they went through two major blizzards and lost a home game because of that and had a teammate nearly die on the field. I cannot even imagine what that must have been like. They lost to a very good Bengals team and lost badly, but I think part of that was mental exhaustion from the Hamlin injury and having to struggle so hard throughout the year. Yes, outside of the above the team has weaknesses and I am confident that they will try to address them within the constraints of the cap and picking late in every round of the draft. I think they will try to give Allen more weapons to work with - I am sure that is what they were trying to do by acquiring Cook, Hines and Crowder. They may have overestimated Gabe Davis and McKenzie and underestimated the poor state of the OL, but I believe they tried.

It is very hard to win championships and that involves some level of luck (avoidance of bad breaks, injuries, bad calls, etc). Every team should strive to win a championship, but really all any organization can do is put together the best possible team they can and compete. Having the most talented team or the best coach is often not enough. Some (much?) of the disappointment in the Bills this year is related to the false belief that they clearly had more talent than any other team and therefore, it must be that someone f*cked up because they failed to win it all. I believe that the Bills are currently in the top group of organizations in terms of how well they are run. Are they perfect? Of course not, but neither is any other team. I think it would be a major mistake to get rid of Brandon Beane or Sean McDermott. The Bills are competing at the level of the very top teams right now.

I’m not trying to be argumentative, but what assets would he trade to move up, say 20 spots in round 2? I would not want to trade our 2nd and 3rd to move up in the second. Maybe they trade Oliver, but I don’t think you’ll get a high 2nd rounder for him given he is due a new contract soon. What I am suggesting is that it might not be easy to address OL in the late 2nd, so that makes Robinson an ill-advised luxury pick, in my opinion. That doesn’t mean that I am certain to be right - just how I see it.

How will you get Darnell Wright and Bijon Robinson in the draft. I would be very surprised if Wright makes it past early-mid 2nd.

I’m just noting that in 5 years, they will have a hole whereas selection of a good OL leaves the possibility that he is still with your team and performing well for maybe 3-4 more years. Additionally, picking Robinson with this OL will dilute his value/production until they can fix the line. The Eagles are not a great running team because Miles Sanders is the best RB in the league, it is because they have a really good OL and weapons in the passing game that spread defenses thin. I am wholeheartedly on board with Bills improving their run game, I just think that is better and more sustainably done through a good OL and other weapons to threaten a defense than through picking an Uber-talented runner and dumping him behind a weak OL with only 1 NFL starting caliber WR.

Slot is where Boutte played a lot, too. I agree Downs’ size really limits him to that and Boutte at least has decent size to play out wide, but not sure he did it much.

If the talent lines up with our picks, remember the Bills’ 2nd round pick is only a few picks from being top of 3rd round and their 3rd is nearly a 4th rounder. All things being equal, I’d hope for 2 good OL in this draft. One more OL isn’t going to fix that group. I agree that WR is a big need. If they go that way, I’d look at Josh Downs before Boutte. Rice might be ok.

He is good, no doubt. I don’t think he would be nearly as good behind a poor OL in an offense that only runs the ball occasionally. RBs really don’t generally have long careers, so if you draft one you figure he is on your team four only 4-5 years. A good OL can play much longer.

I think because the WR class is not as good as years past, some are projecting guys like Boutte and Rice into the first. I just don’t want to see them reach for wr just to get one if there are better players available at other positions, like OT, G, C. Rice and Boutte seem on different paths. Rice seems to have helped his stock with a good year where Boutte was hyped highly going in, but failed to really show he was a first rounder. Maybe both will go early, if I had to choose one I’d take Rice, but I would lean OL there because I don’t think either Rice or Boutte are real game changers. Long way to go before the draft and I could change me opinion when I see some game tape of each.

I don’t think Boutte is going to be a consideration for any team in round 1, but who knows? He is reportedly highly talented, but he wasn’t really dominant in college.

Henry Riggs didn’t.

Well, that is really the only real option because they don’t have cap room to bring in any significant FAs. Mid-tier FAs may be a pipe dream.

The team was 13-3 with a ton of inuries - particularly the secondary - they lost a home game to a blizzard, they had travel disrupted by another blizzard, had several games where Allen’s elbow wasn’t fully right and had a player literally dead on the field. I am not saying they are perfect. I am not saying that they should just stand pat. I AM saying: 1. They went 13-3 in a very difficult season, in a very difficult division 2. There are other excellent teams in the league, too. It isn’t hyperbole to say that there were at least 8 teams on their level in terms of talent and some were subjectively more talented. This is a very well run organization, but there are other well run organizations in the league, too.

We’ll have to see if any of the prospects show that kind of talent through the Shrine and Senior Bowl games and the combine. Would love to find a very good outside WR prospect, but if one isn’t there, totally comfortable going OL, especially OT if a better prospect is available.

The thing is that Watson went 34th - 25 picks earlier than the Bills 2nd round pick this year. 34th is only 7 later than the Bills 1st pick. I am just highlighting that there is a big difference between an early pick and a late pick in the same round.

While I agree that the offense needs help, the last 3 years, Bills really haven’t picked early in rounds. Picking late, you have to balance best player among who’s left by your turn vs positions you might really want to pick. I had no problem with Rousseau pick and I didn’t mind Epenesa and Basham picks. Late 2nd and they are contributing, not stars, but OK. It can be argued that maybe Epenesa or Basham should have been passed for someone on O, but who?

That will be the question for sure. I don’t know that he has the high-end arm talent to be a top pro. He is also much older than most college QBs (25), so you would expect top understanding and leadership at the college level.

I don’t understand your last comment above. Singletary has been good, Cook looked very good so far. Do you mean they haven’t found a dominant 20 carry/game back? There are very few of those guys in today’s NFL.