OldTimer1960

Who are the players that you DON’T want the Bills to take in round 1? For me: Zion Johnson, Kenyon Green, Tyler Linderbaum: Good interior OL and that is a need, BUT not super special and IOL is not a premium position. Of the 3, could maybe see Green because he could fill in at T in a pinch. Jordon Davis: I’m not a full believer, but mainly the Bills have DT covered for this season. Breece Hall or Kenneth Walker: they are good, not great prospects. Without better OL play, no RB will really be much better than Singletary. Any of the LBs - Unless they are moving on from Edmunds, no room this year. For me, only positions for consideration (except for extreme value at another spot) are: CB or S that can play CB, OT or OT that can move to OG, WR (outside, or reluctantly a slot WR like Dotson)

That all comes at a future cost.

Ugh, not sure how the Rams are managing cap space, but Stafford is considerably older than Allen, so smaller “good window” likely. When their spending comes home to roost, the bottom will probably fall out for them. As far as CB, I’m not sure how they fit a decent vet under the cap unless they cut or trade someone who has at least a moderate cap cost. While there are really good WR prospects this year, I am confident that Wilson, London and probably Olave will be gone before 25. Unsure what to make of Williams- ACL could rob some speed and he is a one-year producer. I don’t need to see a 40 time to know he is very fast, but will he be after the ACL? I can’t decide if I like Burks or not. I’ve watched a few games and he has a lot of plays where he doesn’t run any sort of route - just a behind the line toss. He shows that he can get deep and make contested catches, but he lets balls into his body sometimes and i think Allen’s bullets could ricochet off him. Burks should be more dangerous on crossing patterns, but I did not see many of those in the 2 games I watched. Really like Dotson, but a slot WR in round 1? Watson has the tools, but his ascension has been extreme. I understand why he is liked and he could be great, but I am wary. Anyone at 25 isn’t going to be perfect, but maybe best to fill another spot in 1st and take advantage of the WR depth in 2nd or 3rd

Thank you for the thorough response. I agree that his movement skills suggest that he could improve his route running and I have read that he does have a good work-ethic. I think that we would all love a really fast and quick game breaker at WR, but many of the best WRs in the league aren’t 4.3/low 4.4 guys. I think we are out of range for the top WR prospects this year and I would not want to give up the 2nd pick to move higher in round 1. And might be convinced to trade the 3rd to move up in the 2nd depending on the prospect, but that only gets you in the 10-15 range of round 2.

I think terrible is overstating a 4.52 40 yard dash. A 39.5” vert and 10’8” broad albeit at pro day show he has explosiveness.

Is Tolbert really a field stretcher in the NFL? I know that he made many plays deep at his lower level of competition, but unless he develops his pattern running more, he may not be able to get by NFL DBs deep. That is, he’ll need some threat of shorter routes with good moves to juke NFL DBs, because, while he isn’t slow, he also isn’t so blazing fast that he can just run by DBs at this level. Don’t get me wrong, I like him, but drops and that many of his plays are downfield leave room for concern. I don’t think a receiver needs to run 4.3/4.4 to be a deep threat in the NFL, but I do think that they have to fool DBs some in order to do so.

To get near the top of the 2nd will cost the Bills’ 2nd + 3rd + 4th. Depends on who is available and what concerns there are (such as injuries) to determine if that is worth it.

Tolbert looks smooth to me, some reports suggest an issue with drops. I have not watched enough full games to know if that criticism is warranted, but he did have a couple of drops in the two games I watched. Not saying that disqualifies him at 57 - he is intriguing.

Pierce doesn’t belong in the conversation at 25, maybe at 57.

Can he play outside corner or just slot? He could be a dark horse, but I don’t know what he would do year 1. Won’t beat out Poyer or Hyde at S. Taron Johnson is excellent at slot corner. So, if they take Hill, they must believe he can move in at outside corner. I’m not sure what to think of Hill. Is he a safety who played slot and is being projected to outside corner? He is certainly an athlete.

I think Gordon could be a fit for the Bills. I have seen ratings on him from late 1st, early 2nd, to late 2nd. I think those with the lower rating may be there because he ran a 4.52 - which isn’t “slow”. 40 times can indicate speed or lack of, but it is not hard to imagine that guys with a track background could time .1 or .2s faster than others purely on starting technique. Gordon is an outstanding athlete with size and tackling want-to and ability that the team looks for. That is also the profile for Booth. In contrast, Kaiir looks very smooth in coverage with good size too, but he doesn’t appear to me to be as eager to tackle.

He might be talked into an inexpensive contract due to his injury history. Doesn’t look like he played a full season since 2019 - and before that looks like a bunch of injury time, too. He looks like damaged goods, but his pedigree is interesting. I would not say that they have solved their CB problem if they sign Kevin King because of his injury history.

Are you talking about Desmond King? I think he signed with Houston.

Yep. I can’t imagine that a sports hernia would put teams off, but that teams would take a chance on ACL (Williams) and Achilles (Ojabo).

Steven Nelson isn’t coming in at all - he is signing with Houston.

No, I think I would still favor Booth over Watson because I think Booth is a better player. Others may like Watson over Booth - I acknowledge that those two are close. But if they reduced the urgency by having a viable vet on the roster before the draft, I could understand picking a player at a position other than corner if that other position is as important as corner and if that other player is better than the available corners. I have no inside information, but it could be that they are looking to trade a vet on the roster (Epenesa?) for a corner. I’m thinking like the deal where the Bills traded a LB who had fallen out of favor here (Kelvin Sheppard) for Jerry Hughes whom the Colts had kind of given up on. I think that your argument has some merit, I just don’t think that Breece Hall or Kenny Walker are anything special. They are decent prospects, but I don’t think they would make that much impact over what Singletary does - I would rather bolster the OL than pick a RB in the 2nd.

Steve Nelson is not currently on the team. My posts are considering current situation, not what might happen. If Nelson or another vet that can start early and challenge Jackson when White gets back signs before the draft, that would reduce the urgency to pick a CB high, though it is still a need.

Agree not optimal to have a rookie start, but it is certainly not unheard of. Greg Rousseau started most of last season - at least I think he did. Spencer Brown started part of the season as well. But isn’t it possible that a rookie is just better than some cheap vet who is likely near the end of his career (hence why he would be cheap enough to fit under the cap)?

I will agree that I don’t want them to reach for a corner, but it isn’t like they can control what vet CBs will sign for and the longer they wait, the fewer that may be available. I am not one of the fans chanting “all in for this year, future be damned”, but from my vantage point they have only a mostly unproven 7th round draft choice who doesn’t have the high-end athletic tools (relative to the NFL) and nobody else to start at corner should Tre White miss the beginning of the season. In this scenario, I think that they need to find a way to address CB in the draft to have someone who could step in at the beginning and not get roasted (maybe not optimally, but better than what is currently on the roster). If that means trading up to secure who they want or trading back into the early 2nd to try to get CB value to match draft position (perhaps for Kyler Gordon), then that is what I think they have to do. An alternative might be to trade for a veteran CB, but they would still have to somehow fit that vet in under the tight cap. Otherwise, I think they risk some damaging losses early if they try to play defense against, say Miami with Jaylon Waddle, Tyreek Hill and Mike Gesicki by playing defense with Dane Jackson and Cam Lewis or Siran Neal lined up with Taron Johnson in the slot corner spot. I don’t think it is a stretch to say that Dane Jackson and Cam Lewis might not even make the roster on several other teams.

IF true and IF signed before the draft, OK, but if not then I think it is foolish to count on that as the draft starts.

You would be mad if they took a player at a premium position of need, who played at a much higher level of competition and was a much more sought after recruit over a high-upside athlete from a much lower level of competition who showed well at the Senior Bowl where the best underclass players are not represented and showed great athleticism at the combine? No debate that receiver is a sneaky need. No debate that long-term competitiveness is the goal. But, if you are “all-in” for SB this year (unwise in my opinion), then Watson would not make sense over Booth. I know that I sound like an alarmist, but in the AFC where an 11-6 team could miss a wild-card spot, I personally think that having to start Jackson and a rookie with high upside like Tariq Woolen could lose you a few critical games early and leave you on the outside of the playoffs. Don’t kid yourself, Miami is dangerous if Tua is even decent, the Pats will always be competitive with Belichick and the Jets have a highly talented young QB and a ton of high value draft picks to improve with. If White misses the first month of the season, somebody better be able to play opposite the anointed, but athletically limited and unproven Dane Jackson. Not saying that Jackson CAN’T be a decent starter, but to think he is proven - especially to think that he is more proven than Gabe Davis at WR is questionable in my mind. I don’t want to see Siran Neal or Cam Lewis starting for the first month and, yes they might sign a vet stop-gap they have not done so yet.

Really enjoy reading your insights. I’ve been a draft fanatic since the early 80s consuming as much on the topic as I can find, yet I acknowledge that I am not very qualified to judge prospects “on the tape” - oh I have opinions, but I recognize that doesn’t make me right.

He has great potential with his physical tools and smarts, but inexperience at LB and level of competition leave him as a projection. I would not want to count on him playing a lot of defensive snaps next year, but long-term he might be very good.

Some of these stats can be misleading. I think his value is in clogging the middle of the field passing lanes with his size and speed. He is not often asked to play man coverage. He also does a good job roaming sideline to sideline on wide runs/short passes. Like all inside LBs, he is affected if the DL allows OL to reach the second level and block him on inside runs. His instincts may not b perfect, but I think the criticism of him on this board is overblown and is born from the misconceptions that all first round picks should be game changers and are slam dunks. i see Edmunds as a good starter that is a positive in the Bills’ preferred zone pass D and can impact outside run game as well. He is not at his best as an inside run stuffer, but if DL can keep him clean, it would help a lot. Now, is that enough to pay him a big contract next year? I’m not sure, but I think that Bills think much more highly of him than this message board does. I know that for his detractors this won’t matter, but he doesn’t turn 24 until this May. That is only a year (for some 2) older than this year’s rookie crop.

I think that Kyler Gordon could be an outside possibility for the Bills. I don’t understand why some have him as a late 2nd rounder - he looks like a fit to my untrained eye. If the Bills take WR or OL in round 1, Gordon would be one guy that I could see trading up in round 2 to pick. Problem is that our draft capital isn’t strong and I’d rather not trade the 3rd to move up in the 2nd, if it could be avoided. I love the upside of Tariq Woolen and Zyon McCollum, but they are risky projections. I do think Woolen will go by mid 2nd.