Brandon

It was too far. Ideally, you wouldn't trade down more spots than there are guys acceptable to draft while at 28. That guarantees at least one will be there. I don't think I'd drop below Washington at 36 on the first trade down and even that is a bit more risky than I'd like.

Of the choices given...Javon Bullard. Ideally, I'd rather wait a round to draft a safety, but it looks like this mock isn't going terribly well for the Bills at other positions.

I've kind of suspected that Pearsall was being undervalued and might actually sneak into the late 1st. I'm not sure I'd put him ahead of Worthy, but I'm not sure I wouldn't, either. I like McConkey at 28 better than both.

Yeah, which means that the Bills would be drafting him to fill a similar role as Kincaid.

Yeah, looking at the list of visits and interviews for the Bills, I had also noticed that as a common theme. They also apparently had interest in Addison last year who also seems to fit that type. And we also know how they'd really been trying hard to acquire Emmanuel Sanders for awhile before they actually did it. Given that, I went with McConkey here. Seems like the the best all around guy of the group to me. The one outlier I included is Legette and while he's not similar to that group as a technical route runner etc, I do think the Bills would be interested.

McConkey would be my choice and I think is my WR #5 in this draft. Legette, Worthy and Franklin are about even with each other, but slightly below him.

That's how I see it as well. In fact, I'd rather they take WRs at 28 and 60 rather than use those two picks to trade up for just one. It's a deep WR draft. They don't need to throw a bunch of picks at one player. And as you say, there's no guarantee even if you trade up.

I really hope that's not the plan. This appears to be one of the deepest WR drafts in several years. There's no need to bet the farm on one guy. They'd be better off taking WRs at 28 and 60, or perhaps making a small move up the board from one of those two picks. Regardless. I'd like to see them keep those three picks in the first two rounds next year.

No thanks. They don't need a QB project. I would expect they'll only carry two QBs on the active roster, anyway, and they'll want the backup to be a veteran.

Even if you trade up, it's still just potential and just based on the odds, at least one of those guys isn't going to meet expectations of a high first round pick. That's one of the reasons why I'd prefer to say put at 28 and draft two of them early.

Obviously, they need a replacement, but I would prefer to take one at both 28 and 60 rather than a major trade up from 28. Inevitably, someone available at 28 is going to be as good, if not better than at least one of the guys that go earlier. And they need two now, anyway, not just one. They can then fill out the remaining holes with their later round picks and use some of the June 1st cap room on bargain veterans.

Well, that's two out of seven. How did the others turn out for them? Yes, they've had some success in the past. That doesn't change anything. I still have more confidence in their ability to find a competent safety or corner later on than a WR.

The defensive backfield is the strength of the coaching staff. They can find someone they can get by with. I'm considerably less confident of their ability to find a starting caliber WR later in the draft. And then the are the longer term contract considerations. With FA WR costs skyrocketing, it's more valuable to have that position on cost controlled contracts than it is a safety. And then there's the fact that DeJean would be a projection to safety. He's a college corner and that's where I'd give him his first shot in the NFL. Maybe he can play safety, but maybe he can't.

I wouldn't be too interested in a 1st round corner, but the Bills being the Bills, I wouldn't be surprised if they go that route at 28. Maybe they could move him to safety, but we all know what that talk is about and I would rather not pick a S in R1, either.

They weren't counting on needing it. That miss on Basham really screwed up the depth. They'd likely have a mid round developmental guy or two on the roster from the last few drafts if not for that.

At 28, maybe, but I wouldn't move up for a player with his injury history. I'd rather not draft a DE in R1, though. I can understand the interest in finding an elite pass rusher, but ignoring the high bust rate, the odds of that outside the top 10 are poor. You're probably just going to find another guy who averages 6-8 sacks per season. Plus, they have quite a bit of cap space invested in Miller and Epenesa over the next 2 years, plus a contract extension likely for Rousseau in the same time frame. I think they'd be better off throwing a couple of those 4th and 5th rounders at the position (or adding a 30+ veteran after June 1st) and re-evaluate in the next offseason.

Maybe at 28, depending on relative player grades. But trading up for someone you project to play 40% of the time is a no-go for me, especially considering the opportunities for a WR or DB to play a much higher percentage of plays and that there's a general 30-50% bust rate for anyone they select.

The Bills had the highest cap allocation in the league to the DBs and were 4th highest among DL. No position group on offense was in the top 10 last year.

I wouldn't pick one before day 3. They've got too many other needs and too much invested already in their top 3 DEs to burn a high pick on a guy who will likely spend much of the season as the #4. Find one later in the draft to compete for that last roster spot.

Yeah, but everyone always says that those depth players have gotta be able to play special teams. It's the only valid consideration for reserves at WR, in particular, so if a backup punter adds more ST value by holding for FGs than a WR, then he gets the spot, right?

So Samuel is more of a slot receiver in the Cole Beasley role?

Unfortunately, I think you're very likely correct. My guess is that they're going DB at 28. Still, I think this is a good signing. I just hope they're willing to make another big investment at this position in the draft.

Yes. It means the Pats will get a 4th out of it.

That was the argument in 2022...and by November, they were signing Cole Beasley and John Brown off the street to fill the depth roles because they were that desperate for competent WR play behind Diggs and Davis. I'm not saying the Bills should bother bringing Hodgins back at this stage. I do think he was very likely a better value at the time, especially on a 6th round contract, than what they brought in for 2022 and 2023.

I would never argue that he was a starting caliber player. Just that he had value as a reserve and that if he has to start due to an injury, 2022 would seem to indicate that you can get some decent mileage out of him as a stopgap.