OldTimer1960

I understand that point and that’s an ownership problem in my view. They are going nowhere until they can find a QB and striving for .500 with Wilson will make it much harder to get one (my opinion, of course).

I agree that the Bills need a young big body DT even with the signing of Ogunjobi, but that doesn’t have to come in round 1 ( though I’d happily take Grant there). I think there is still room for a good DT prospect like Harmon if he is close to BPA at 30. The CBs that will likely be there feel like a little bit of a stretch (Amos, Thomas, etc), but most of the top ones will be picked over by the Bills’ next selection, so they will probably look hard at one at 30. One guy I hope they don’t take is Emmanwori - these guys that don’t really fit any one position scare me off. By the accounts I’ve read, he would need to be an in-the-box S and isn’t the greatest playing deep where the Bills like to play their S.

I am not big on purposely tanking, but it often makes sense to do so. The Giants are not really playoff contenders even with Russell Wilson, so why sign him? All that will do is likely gain them a few wins next season and leave them out of reach for a QB in the draft again next year.

That would be a pretty nice draft - I'm not super crazy about Landon Jackson in the first, but he isn't going to make it to the bottom of the 2nd and isn't too big of a stretch late in the first.

That's a nice time and nice number of BP reps for him. I hope it kindles some interest from the league for him.

Gives them some options for sure. If there is someone that they really like at back of 3rd they have ammo to move up. Alternatively, they could spend those 5ths to move each of their 4ths earlier in that round.

If you believe in the draft pundits, most thought he was a late first to early 2nd round player. Sometimes these picks don’t work out - it happens to every team.

I understand your point, but come on Nate Clements was drafted 24 seasons ago and McKelvin 17 seasons ago. Aaron Williams was a safety. Given that the Bills play 3 CBs almost all of the time, that list seems pretty light to me. Please don’t get me wrong - I’m not pounding the table to take a CB, but they pretty much have to take 1 early this year and probably another later.

The only corner that I remember being drafted fairly early in the last several years has been Elam who was clearly a miss. I don’t know why he hasn’t panned out and the consensus that I remember about him was late first early 2nd range. Every team has regrettable picks now and then - especially when picking late in rounds. I understand the hesitation due to being burned by the Elam pick, but cornerback is an important position and avoiding it early because they missed on Elam will not lead to good results.

I don’t understand the aversion to drafting CB early.

That top of the 4th is practically a late 3rd. Trading 108 and 131 would get you about pick 96 (bottom portion of 3rd). Obviously depends on who is still available around pick 96, but at this point I’d rather have both 108 and 131.

What do you think of Jamaree Caldwell later in the draft? I haven't watched much of his game tape, but I was surprised at his quickness for his size at the Senior Bowl.

There was never a really big chance (at least in my opinion) that the Bills were seriously in on Garrett or Crosby - the deals they signed were deserved, but also too expensive cap-wise for the Bills' situation. I'm not holding my breath for a trade for a pass rusher, either - same reasoning - cap space. I expect that they will look very hard at pass rushers in round 1 and 2 - whether one that they like will be there or not is the question. Also, pass rush doesn't just depend on DE/Edges - DTs can help the pass rush as can better coverage in the secondary and timely occasional blitzes.

I didn't mean to come across as saying they should not draft a RB this year. If there is a good one sticking out in any round after the 2nd, then I have no problem with them drafting one. Good to great RBs still have value and I think the tide is shifting back to a bit more balance of pass and run on offenses instead of the ultra-pass-heavy offenses we've seen for the past few years. As defenses adjusted with faster and lighter players to deal with the passing offenses, some (notably Philly) have made the run game a big part of their offense to take advantage of those lighter defenders.

Cook is still under contract for this season - even if they don't extend him, they don't HAVE to take a RB this year. They could wait until next year's draft or possibly even franchise tag Cook next year.

I think that they know that they need to be better on defense vs both pass and vs run. They are limited cap-wise with $ for FA, so necessarily aren't making big splashes there. I think we'll see them draft a DT, DE and CB by the end of round 2 - of course it depends on who is available at their picks, but I imagine that those are their priority positions (with also a need for WR).

This level FA is what the Bills can afford under the cap. He has size to play outside and has been consistently productive, but so far hasn’t proven that he is starter level in the league. He is still young - won’t be 25 until September. There are guys in this draft that are about as old as him. Now, I’m not saying that he is likely to develop into a good starter, but he is young enough to at least be here for a few years and provide good backup production. I wonder if WR prices are up in FA in part because the the WR draft class isn’t thought of highly.

37-13 in last three years. You can be miserable because they didn’t win a Super Bowl. Me, I am enjoying having the Bills be one of the best teams in the league.

Turner is a little interesting, but seems to have done little to nothing in 4 seasons. If he would sign very inexpensively, he might be a decent backup edge. After 4 years, I would not count on a big breakout season from him. For comparison, AJ Epenesa was drafted a full round later (1 years earlier) and, though Epenesa is much maligned here as a poor draft pick by Beane, he has far outperformed Turner.

Interesting fodder and fun. My opinion is negative on Alexander at 30. My main concern is his age (will be 25 this season), so do we really know that just being physically much more mature than most he faced in the MAC and many even at the Senior Bowl wasn’t the reason he looked so good. Late 2nd, I’d be happy to get Alexander. I don’t know how Jared Ivey helps the pass rush, but I think he would help the run defense. I know that Noel has a lot of hype now, but isn’t he mainly another slot guy? The middle of the field would be very clogged up with him, Shakir, Kincaid all looking for room in there.

Just a comment on Darius Alexander - he is only a few months younger than Greg Rousseau is and Rousseau has played 4 seasons in the league. That doesn’t necessarily mean that Alexander can’t play, but he was basically a fully grown man vs often younger players in the MAC. I am not forgetting that Alexander showed well at the Senior Bowl and combine, so there is evidence that he can play with the best in college. I’m just highlighting that there should be at least a bit of caution when evaluating him.

I don’t hate Tuimoloau late in 2nd, but I would not call him a great pass rusher. When did he run a 4.62?

I would not take the 6th year player who wasn’t even a starter in the MAC until last season- at least not in the 1st round. Pick 56 would be fine, but that’s too early in my unqualified opinion. I would have to have thought hard about Walter Nolan as long as speculation about character issues checked out ok. If Nolan’s character was a concern, I’d partake Nick Scourton there.

I’ll admit that I thought that Basham would be pretty good, but I think Scourton is at worst a strong run defending end, but we’ve also seen his pass rushing skills.

I understand that point. FWIW (and my opinion isn't worth much!), I would tend to avoid Burden just because he hasn't shown an ability to really run many routes - so many catches were short. Now, as you said he may be able to improve that. My main concern though is to try to fix the D. I'd really like the draft to fall so that they can get 3 eventual good defensive starters with their first 3 picks - I think that is possible in this draft. They NEED DT help desperately and really could use help at DE as well. They also NEED help at CB. I'm not opposed to drafting a WR if the value is there, but if they do that in round 1 or 2 it will almost certainly leave at least one gaping hole on the D at either DT, DE or CB.