OldTimer1960

Agreed, Phillips has had many outstanding defenses over a long career. Great defensive coordinator.

Gunner: what do you think of Carlos Basham? He isn’t the twitchy/explosive pass rusher that we would love to find, but he looks fairly fluid, has very good size and was productive, albeit at Wake Forest. I would think he could go early to mid 2nd. I would be surprised to see Bills’ pull the trigger on Farley with back surgery and no ability for their own Docs to examine him. Great talent for sure, but a big risk this year.

Nice read, seems maybe too generous with number of players with “Pro Bowl talent”.

Rashan Gary was a highly athletic, not-as-productive-as-he-should be prospect in 2019. He didn't do much in 2019, but started coming on in 2020. Is there a similarity with Oweh and Gary? https://www.si.com/college/michigan/football/michigan-football-rashan-gary-jim-harbaugh-green-bay-packers-wolverines

A good rookie could compete to start at CB, though I don’t know that there will be such a player available at 30. I think a good OL could compete to start on the interior of the OL.

Has DE Ronnie Perkins been selected? I would double up at DE with him over the prospects listed in the poll.

Agreed on that point, but to extrapolate from some anomalous late picks who turned out to be good that nobody has any idea of who will be good seems wrong to me.

If he were to miraculously last until the Bills' pick, they should be on him. He should be able to get to 175-180, but he is a damn fine route runner and receiver.

I just don't see any intriguing TE prospects beyond Pitts. If Freiermuth were to last until pick 61, but pick 30 or early 2nd in trade-down would be disappointing to me - of course I only know what I've read and, in some cases, watched on game film (not highlight videos).

I'm looking for good players regardless of the position in this draft. If he is one, I would be on board even though we have Hyde and Poyer to start for this year and maybe next.

In the late 3rd, maybe Long is OK. I think the TE class is really weak and Freiermuth and, especially Long, are being elevated because there are not high-end TE prospects after Pitts. Is Long any better than Tommy Sweeney? If yes, how much better?

Well, yes. Point taken. However Burrow was more athletic and has a better arm than Jones - at least I think that.

Agreed, but the draftniks often pick up "vibes" from the NFL evaluators. I suspect that they picked up on the "we're not sure about Fields" vibe.

Don't forget Art Schichter (sp?). Still, Fields played very well in big games, has a much better arm and is another league athletically compared to Mac Jones. Jones played with 2 slam dunk first round WRs in this draft, 3 OL who will be drafted, 2 of which in the top 2 rounds, and a borderline first/second round RB. Jones had SO much talent around him, how do you even evaluate him? I am pretty sure that any 2nd/3rd string NFL QB and some guys who couldn't make the league would have looked great with that Alabama team. I'm not saying that Mac Jones isn't gooe, but rather how could he look bad on that team?

Now it is understandable why there has been any question about whether he is the 2nd or 3rd ranked QB. I could not understand why anyone would rate Mac Jones ahead of him.

Have to be careful with this logic. If you pick the "best" DT, particularly 1T, early and pass over (potentially much) better players at other positions, you can be left with a DT who isn't good enough to start or maybe even contribute and also have missed out on a potential starter or significant contributor at another position. The Bills do need to improve the DL, including DT. Just because Shelvin is (very) big, does not mean that he will be a game changer for this defense. He is basically a 1 year starter who was held back by weight issues previously. Do you want to gamble that once he gets paid he will stay in shape? Do you want to say that a block eater is worth a late 3rd over potentially better players elsewhere? I am not here to say that I know the answer, just throwing out points to consider.

The TEs available are not very good.

I think the focus (obsession?) with finding a "big nickel" is dangerous to good drafting.

This is true about far more first round picks every year than many of us want to acknowledge. A first round pick, especially late first is no guarantee of even finding a good starter for multiple years - indeed that is a win.

Feliciano was still playing mostly 1-armed. No way that he was 100% or close after tearing his pec. It takes more than 8-12 weeks to have surgery to fix a torn pec and get your strength back. I think that we, as fans, really underestimate how long it takes to get back to even close to 100% from significant injuries.

Why not OL? I think some of the best players on the board at 30 will be OL and maybe WR- DE, CB and DT will appear to be reaches (of course, we don’t know how the Bills have guys graded).

Agreed - if he was the younger version of himself- great, but he isn’t.

30 BPA is unlikely to be DE or CB, maybe S? 30 BPA could be OT, IOL, RB, but only OT is a premium position. With recognition that Bills will have their own grades that may differ considerably from other team’s grades and from what the pundits and we think, the question will be: how far down the board do you go for a player at a premium position vs. a “better” prospect at a less valued position?

I think the Bills consider both tape and athleticism/upside. They took both Allen and Tremaine Edmunds who had great physical tools and upside, but (especially Allen) hadn’t really shown consistent top production on the field. On the flip side, the drafted AJ Epenesa who what’s highly productive in college, but doesn’t have the outstanding quickness and speed that people are looking for in pass rusher. What I do think those 3 have in common is want-to and work ethic to succeed.

OK...