TPS

Yes, it was the US Open on Father's DAy beating Mickelson, yes? Thanks for that.

There was a time when he was known for choking in the majors, and it didn't go unnoticed that he wore Bills' gear. Fortunately, he finally won that Master's and got the yoke off his neck. He was a great personality, and it was very sad that he left this earth too soon...

You should see my list, it's in the simulator thread. One safety is divine....

He made my "best names in the draft" draft, along with TE Tre McKitty.

There are some great names in this draft. After selecting the first 3 on need and talent available, I went names after pick 93 (made a trade or two): 30 Jaycee Horn CB S. Carolina 71 Dillon Radunz OT N. Dak St 93 Chazz Surratt LB 114 Tommy Tremble TE Notre Dame 141 Divine Deablo S V Tech (my favorite) 162 Whip Philyor WR Indiana 175 Tre McKitty TE GEorge (surely he'll become a fan favorite)

As I've been arguing, it is always situation dependent. The biggest determinant this year will be whether or not Beane can work any magic with FA. If you lose Milano or Williams, then you have a big hole or two to fill, and you will be forced to think about need instead of BPA. This will be a very interesting draft given the difficulty from a Covid season, so I won't be surprised if team grades are all over the place, and a prospect the Bills really like is there at 30. I do agree with you, however, there is a lot of talent to be had in R2 and into R3, but I wouldn't trade back if there's someone there they really like.

Yeah, that's why I stated "McBeane". However, your point was about trading back vs trading up, not who is doing the picking. I don't think it's controversial to say the choice is dependent on the situation. If you have a group of say 6-7 guys with similar grades, and you don't have a specific positional need, I'm sure Beane would not hesitate to make a move back to pick up additional assets and still get one of the guys in the group. The real issue in your example is the Bills (Buddy) were desperate to find a "franchise" QB in a terrible QB class--it was either EJ or Geno Smith. The Rams took Tavon Austin with the Bills' pick, and the Bills were able to get Kiko and M Goodwin with the additional picks from the trade. Maybe they should've taken a someone like OT Pugh at 16 and stuck with Fitzpatrick? There were some decent players at pick 8, but picking up 3 starters by trading back and keeping Fitz "could" have been a good strategy back then. Hindsight...

@Aussie Joe provided a couple other examples under McBeane, Zay and Cody. I simply disagree with the generalization about trading up vs trading back. It's all about the specific situation, not a general rule that one is better than the other.

Sammy Watkins says hello...

Playing around, here's one version (I only do 4 rounds): Traded back with Cin to get 38 and their 2022 R2 38. K Toney WR Florida 61. Aaron Robinson CB UCF 93. Q. Meinerz C WI-Whitewater Two R2 picks in 2022 could move them up to the 10-12 range. I've done some where I've gotten 2 R2 picks or an R2 and R3, and still drafted some decent players that would fill some needs. Now, in the real world ...

Yes, the obvious answer to the question. If someone slides that you have highly rated, draft him; if you have similar grades for players from 30-40, trade back. If the latter is the road taken, I've been thinking about, and playing around with in the simulator, a strategy for accumulating 2022 picks. While I don't know what that draft looks like, I've been doing some trades where the Bills end up with 2 R2 and a an R3 pick in 2022. These could be used to then trade up in that draft to get a talented edge rusher. Just a thought...

Playing around with the simulator makes me think this is a good option too. There seems to be a lot of talent in the 50-80 range, and trading back with one of Cin, Car, Den, and Det wouldn't be a bad move. They'd still get a good CB, LB, or OL at the 40ish pick. Can't remember which mock I saw, but it was a trade back for Bills and mentioned teams like the 5th-year option for an R1 pick.

I just looked at the simulator that's posted here and they have him at 84, however Brugler has him at 43!

@GunnerBill I was going to tag you in another thread (don't remember which one now) a day or two ago to ask you about LB Chaz Surrat. I've been playing around with the draft simulator, and with Milano most likely leaving, I thought he might be a good target in R2 for the Bills. Seems he is moving up the boards a bit though. Thoughts on this possibility?

I say let him go. I agree with all of your points. If Josh went down, I don't think Barkley gets you to the playoffs anyway, and if he did, they wouldn't go far...

It’s actually a good draft to find an RT, one that can come in and start right away. The Bills could trade back into the 35-40 range and find a starter.

Buscaglia mentioned in that same article, they could restructure by converting most of his 2021 salary to signing bonus, saving almost the same amount if they released him. This seems the optimal decision. It would let them groom a draft pick for a year or two to replace him.

Colts will get one of the QBs on the trade block, so they will be very tough.

I remember reading about the pass blocking/D Rush somewhere, and I believe it was based on a specific time (e.g. 2 seconds?) engaged with the primary blocker.

Good topic. I was thinking about this a couple days ago in relation to Yolo’s ongoing threads about Bills FAs. I looked at spotrac which shows 12 teams currently over the projected cap. My thinking is that teams may find it easier to keep the FAs they want as well. I can’t see mongo getting over $8 mil as spotrac projected. They don’t adjust their projections based on a lower cap. The most interesting will be Milano. Certainly there are teams with significant cap space and they will be in the catbird seat this year.

Given his versatility and process mentality, I expect him back and could see him getting $6 mil/yr. Starting C or G is the question...

Just wait until @Virgil starts the TSW mock drafts! Best thing in the off-season! Last mock I did with this simulator, traded back and picked up an extra R3 (I only do the first 3 rounds) 36. Jayson Oweh, Edge Penn State 61. Jay Tufele, DT USC 81. Jackson Carman, OT Clemson 91. Hunter Long, TE Boston College

Williams is good, especially in pass blocking, but I think they can do better. Personally, I'd like to see someone who is good at both pass and run blocking, and has a nastier attitude. I'd like to see this a the C position too. Morse and Williams are both good, but I'd like to see them upgrade both over the next 2 years. That said, you can certainly make an argument to support your case, I'd just believe they can do better at these two positions.

The link to Spotrac is also on the front page of TBD, so you might have better luck using that. Update: I just clicked on it again and didn't get the info I did the first time. Maybe I somehow got to see the premium content...?

I view Williams as a bridge to a more permanent solution. If they can get him for 2 years around Spotrac's estimate, that it a very good solution for now.