HappyDays

I just realized the pick we gave the Bears was their pick to begin with. They effectively traded us a 2025 4th rounder for Ryan Bates.

That is the surprise of the draft for me, he has not moved up once. I'm guessing the cap issues have forced them to be more willing to let day three rookies fill out the bottom of the roster. Not a bad thing IMO. Getting younger and cheaper at the bottom of the roster allows for more talent at the top of the roster.

Sounds like the only downside is that he's a pure center, no versatility at all. But in the 5th round that's fine. I won't be shocked if he wins the starting job and McGovern kicks back to LG. He is not a raw player, has a lot of experience and plays a position that is pretty easy to transition to in the NFL.

I really like that trade. Honestly a no brainer. Next year we will likely have three 4ths because of Gabe Davis' comp pick.

Text I got on this pick:

Okay this pick I really like. 5th round is the right value for a center.

We had Ty Johnson making those plays for us after signing him off the waiver wire. It's no surprise the board's favorite picks are the safety and the RB. It is easy to find decent NFL caliber players at those spots, and Bishop and Davis both look like day one NFL caliber players. But we don't need just NFL caliber players at easy to fill spots. We need guys at premium positions that make plays. In the 4th round it is of course harder to find those guys but I would still rather try than do the safe thing and draft a dime a dozen RB.

Just from a high level philosophy, drafting a safety and a RB with two of our first four picks is bad strategy. The players might be good. But there is extremely low upside with that strategy. It's the two least valuable positions on the team.

It just feels like a lot of RBs with that kind of profile are still on the board. Wait until the late 5th to take one.

Not a fan of taking another RB this high. With our last three picks we have taken a safety, a backup DT, and a backup RB. And he'll be 25 years old in November. A lot of mileage on him already, over 800 touches in college. No high upside traits to write home about. You can get that caliber of RB in the 6th/7th round.

Sigh. Another RB in the first 4 rounds. With our last 3 picks we have taken a safety, a backup DT, and a backup RB.

If some team wants to give us a 2025 3rd for our 4th I would easily take that deal.

The Bears had three great picks, but using 1 of their 4 picks on a punter is a choice... And that ends their draft.

Lol the Dolphins gave up a future 3rd rounder to take a RB3. Really pleased with their draft. They won't be overtaking us any time soon. Now go give Tua a big extension.

I think those are both slot only WRs in the NFL. Brendan Rice is the best outside WR left on the board IMO.

Meh on Tez Walker. His mental makeup profiles as the type of prospect that surprisingly gets cut by the team that drafted him in his 2nd offseason. Real talent but a lot of problems upstairs. At this point I would be happy with Brendan Rice. True outside WR that does well when his QB goes off script.

I heard Javon Baker interviewed poorly and teams were concerned he would have trouble picking up an NFL playbook.

I'm definitely not tied to any one player. Suamataia, Rosengarten, Coleman, Wallace, Adams, Beebe, Amegadjie, Glaze, Goncalves, and Haynes all got selected over the next 20 picks after we took Bishop. So half of that next batch of players was OL. The league told us that's where the value was and we punted on it for a safety. All along I have considered safety in the 2nd round as dangling bait and I hoped that Beane was smart enough to avoid falling into that trap, but instead he proudly admitted that he was trying to trade up for Bishop. So he didn't just take the bait, he was going out of his way to take it. Oh well. At least he didn't take Kam Kinchens, which was my realistic nightmare scenario. Bishop seems like he has a good chance to be a good player. I just don't agree with the value.

I don't mind that it wasn't a WR. The league told us Troy Franklin is a day three prospect, I accept that. I mind that it was a safety. Taking a safety in the first 2 rounds was the main thing I didn't want Beane to do. It is almost equivalent to taking a RB that high. Beane has a history of filling short term needs in the 2nd, and Torrence so far looks to be his only hit with that philsophy. I would have much rather taken OL. Kingsley Suamataia got snatched by the Chiefs the very next pick. Next year when Spencer Brown gets priced off the team we'll be scrambling for a RT replacement at the last second because we took the short term need at a less valuable position the year before. And once again we have spent two top 100 picks on the defense. As of right now our offense is clearly worse off than it was last year. On paper Mack Hollins or Justin Shorter is our #2 outside WR. Our OL was remarkably healthy last year and doesn't appear to have much leeway for injury. But we have safety and defensive line depth!! This regime just can't help themselves, unfortunately.

On reflection I don't mind this pick so much. The one that still really bothers me is Cole Bishop, and that pick I think makes the DeWayne Carter pick look worse by association. Drafting a safety in the 2nd round was just not smart resource management, it undermines some of the shrewdness that Beane has shown this offseason, and it contributes to a general feeling that the Bills have neglected to really invest in their franchise QB. A bunch of solid OL came off the board right after that pick, including one taken by our main rival. That is where the value lied at that spot in the draft. Safeties are almost as devalued as RBs at this point. Next year Spencer Brown might get priced off of the team and we'll be scrambling for a replacement at the last minute because Beane and McDermott couldn't help themselves. It just demonstrates such short term thinking and that's why I hate it. Worst of all it continues a pattern of short term thinking with our 2nd round picks which means Beane hasn't learned anything from past mistakes.

Man that is shocking if true. On film he looks very competitive and looks like he loves playing football.

Hope he brings his film crew.

Yeah he said Bishop was the last 2nd round graded player on their board for a few picks so they were trying to go up for him. Hope they are right about him. Taking a safety in R2, he has to be really really good to justify the selection.

It's frustrating that KC comes away with more offensive players than the Bills despite having one less pick.