HappyDays

You don't think drag racing on a public highway, causing a 6 car accident, and fleeing the scene is an arrestable offense?

Yeah we should have gone with your idea and drafted Trenton Simpson in the 1st last year. Nevermind that he almost made it to our 3rd round pick. His 1 sack and 2 TFL on the season surely would have been the difference. Why he even played 61% of special teams snaps. If the rest of us weren't so clueless maybe we would have foreseen this elite production.

I like Legette too, his package of physical traits is tantalizing. The concern on him is he is 27 months older than Coleman so I worry that he is already close to his ceiling. I prefer high upside in my 1st round picks if it can be helped. Mitchell I don't see a physically dominant player on tape. He has the look of a good all around WR2. I'd be fine with him in the 1st round but I fear that he wouldn't ever give us a true #1. It is kind of the poor man's version of Jerry Jeudy coming out where everyone agreed he was a very good well rounded WR but at this stage his lack of one elite trait has limited his ceiling in the NFL. I've ultimately decided my preferences are Coleman, Legette, and Franklin, in that order and with more separation between Coleman and Legette than Legtte and Franklin. After that I would be happy with Thomas (I don't think he will be at 28 in any case) then Mitchell. Then there is a drop off to the next batch which for me is Worthy then McConkey. After that I think you're getting into prospects that I wouldn't consider until the middle of the 2nd round or later. So for me there are 7 WRs that I would be at least happy with at #28, although the last 3 I would feel better if it came after a trade down.

Yeah because what we've learned is that great route running isn't enough to get open outside in the playoffs. DBs are allowed to put their hands all over you and the officials are keeping their flags tucked away. So at this point we need physical traits - size/strength or speed. Someone that can either bully through the physical coverage or run away from it.

I think his QB invited the competition a lot of times. I think he is better at separating at the top of his route than you give him credit for... but the ball has to be on him as soon as he separates or else it will turn into a contested catch every time. It is a different kind of separation than what most people talk about though. It isn't Stefon Diggs in his prime juking CBs out of their cleats and catching the ball a full 4 yards away from the nearest body. He instead uses his size and strength to box out the CB and create a window for the ball at the last second, but those windows close fast when your QB is a pure "see it, then see it one more time, then throw it" type. I agree he could be a great big slot in the NFL but I don't think that's his only role. Guys with his size and strength can be planted outside full time if needed. He has the frame and the look of a true #1 X. But with his run after catch skills he definitely has the inside/out versatility that the Bills love. And he's probably not even fully developed yet - he'll just be turning 21 this May. So when you talk about the physical traits AND upside that you look for in a 1st round pick, he fits the profile. The question I keep coming back to in these discussions is, what has been our kryptonite (on offense) in our annual playoff losses? To me the answer is obvious - our WRs get bullied by physical man CBs every year. They simply can't match the physical intensity of DBs that are allowed to get away with murder in the playoffs. With Diggs in particular this has been why every year his production from regular season to the playoffs doesn't translate. So I am looking for a counter to that kryptonite and I believe Coleman would be the answer. He doles out the bullying, not the other way around. Give Josh Allen a physical stud on the field with him for the first time in his career.

When I watch Coleman full game cut ups I see the ball constantly arriving late. And when it isn't arriving late, it's arriving high or behind. The extra half second it takes for the ball to get to him is leaving room for the DB to impact the catch. In the NFL playing with good QBs that stick the ball on him he won't have that problem. So the real problem is that his style of game isn't conducive to playing with a pure college QB because he isn't creating yards of separation. I still think his skill set projects very well to the pros though.

They didn't do that because our coaching inevitably fails in critical moments in playoff games year after year after year. There were multiple coaching issues during that final offensive series. Wasting a 1st round pick on the easiest offensive position to fill besides RB would not solve that problem. Even if you want to say center was a problem last year, fine. It's an easily solvable problem without using a 1st round pick. Outside WR is not so easily solvable.

That was Chris Jones on Dawkins, not on Morse. Anyways, Chris Jones is a mismatch against any offensive lineman in the final minutes of a game, other than maybe 6 or 7 guys in the entire league. You aren't going to get over the hump by improving at center and expect to just take Chris Jones out of the game. We get over the hump by out scoring KC. Which means when three perfect deep balls hit the intended receiver in the hands, we can't have all three of them hitting the ground.

The only thing I'll say is a lot, if not all WRs take some plays off when they know they're not getting the ball. But once you're pegged as a guy that takes off plays it becomes the entire story around you. Perhaps the Bills will find that the story doesn't match the tape. Nobody seems to question his willingness to play when he knows he might be getting the ball. My concern with Mitchell is that he doesn't have WR1 traits. I could see him being a very good WR2 but of course we want more than that from a 1st round pick. I would feel better about him being the pick if it came after a trade back.

I have warmed up to Mitchell. I'm not sure he has a single elite trait but his all around package plus his combine numbers make me think there is upside there to be a true #1. The only thing is I don't know if he'll be on our board if the reported work ethic/football character issues are true. That is one factor that the Bills have simply not been willing to look past.

It also has Chris Grier written all over it. To me he is the closest modern equivalent of Doug Whaley. He gets easily bamboozled by "off the bus" talent but has no clue how to build a team for a playoff run.

This was a coaching issue, not a roster management issue.

Drafting two WRs with our first two picks would just bump Mack Hollins off the roster and increase the chance that we come away with a stud at the position. It would also help us catch up to the rest of the league as far as investment at the position over the last four years. I would be all for this if the value is there.

How would you feel about Coleman after a trade back that netted us a 3rd rounder?

Correct. So based off that game our #1 need is an outside WR that can win vertically. A close 2nd is a pass rusher that can actually take down Mahomes. We didn't lose to the Chiefs because of our IOL.

The blips don't add up. Only the top 51 contracts count towards the cap. Vet minimums push other vet minimums out of the calculation. My hope is that the team will be more willing to let day three picks replace the likes of DeShawn Williams and Casey Toohill. But we still need a baseline piece in place before the draft because maybe we won't get any DEs for example on day three. At least now we are spending the vet minimum or close to it on these baseline depth pieces, instead of paying Jordan Phillips $5M to sit in the medical tent.

One of their reported top 30 visits is a DT projected to go in the 6th round (Khristian Boyd out of Northern Iowa). I think Beane has finally learned his lesson after years of wasting money 3-4 players deep at the position. The savings from Jordan Phillips/Tim Settle to the depth DTs he has signed this offseason is probably enough to cover the year one salary of Curtis Samuel. Small philosophical changes at the bottom of the roster lead to more difference makers at the top of the roster.

Cutting the fat was as much about bloated salaries as it was about age. I criticized the DQ signing for being too expensive for an older player. This signing however is probably vet minimum for a roster bubble player. Save your energy for moves that are worth thinking about. This one is a blip on the transaction wire. If it means Beane isn't reaching for a DT in the 1st round, all the better.

Beane is like a college kid who spent years overdrafting his credit card and now is finally forced to make smart spending decisions. Let's hope it's a long term lesson and not just a short term change out of necessity.

Sure but the goal isn't to have a passing offense that's described as "not struggling." The goal is to have the most productive passing offense in the league, one capable of simply blowing other teams out of the water and steamrolling its way to a #1 seed. Considering our annual abysmal defensive performance in the playoffs, that caliber of offense is the only way we're going to sniff a Super Bowl. And let's be honest. The offensive cast as it stands right now is not at that caliber. It's good enough to be a top 5 passing offense like it always is under Josh Allen, but it's still an entire tier short of where it needs to be to get over the hump.

No, I see him as more of a slot at the next level. His skill set is too redundant for what we already have on the roster for my liking. I want someone with physical traits, top end size/strength or speed or both.

Thomas, Franklin, Coleman, Legette, Mitchell, Worthy.

I don't think so. Beane called Samuel a "weapon" when asked about him and alluded to his early days in Carolina when he was a hybrid RB/WR. I think they see him as the much better version of McKenzie/Harty. Clearly they value that role, they just haven't been able to get it right yet. Throwing a lot of money at Samuel is a way of them finally getting that role figured out once and for all. It won't preclude them from drafting a true outside WR high in the draft.

All of us have our preferences for which WR we want. For me it's Franklin, Coleman, or Legette in no particular order. But if it helps, I'm not as tied to the specific player as I am to the position. I just want a projected X WR. If we take Mitchell for example he isn't my preference but I would still be happy that we followed the right process and wait to see how he develops as a player.

I'm at a point where I would still take the WR in this scenario, or at least trade down with someone that is eager to take the pass rusher or whatever position is sticking out as BPA, and then take a WR at the lower pick. I'm looking at it almost like a team that still needs a QB, not quite to the same level of course but the same idea - take a WR even if they're not quite the highest graded player on your board. The WR position is too important and we have invested less resources into it than probably every other team in the league over the past 5 years. In a draft class like this I really can't find any excuse to pass up on the opportunity.