Logic

I see a Darren Sproles/Austin Ekeler type. Or Eric Metcalf without the return ability. I think he’ll always be part of a committee throughout his career, but he’ll be the best and most electrifying part of that committee. There will always be a Singletary or Moss around to do the dirty work — even the Saints platoon Kamara with another guy — but the most exciting stuff out of the backfield will be coming from Cook.

Seven prime time games? I don’t buy it.

The Chiefs and Ravens had really nice drafts. So did the Jets, but they're not "serious SB contenders", so I won't discuss their class. - The Chiefs saw the Bills beat them in the regular season and then outscore them (until the final 13 seconds and overtime) in the playoffs, then saw the Bengals outscore them in the AFCCG. They responded by prioritizing the strengthening of their defense through the draft. McDuffie, Karlaftis, Williams, Cook, Chenal, Watson is a nice group of defenders. I also really liked their 7th rounder Isaiah Pacheco as a sleeper homerun hitting running back. While they almost certainly took a step back on offense, it seems they may have taken a step forward on defense. The only question I now have with their defense is whether they have enough edge rush to make life uncomfortable for opposing quarterbacks. Regardless of that, this was a nice class. - The Ravens had hands down my favorite draft class. They added three legitimate first round talents in Hamilton, Linderbaum, and Ojabo. They then continued with talented prospects Travis Jones, Daniel Faalele, Jalyn Amour-Davis, Charie Kolar, Isaiah Likely, Damarion Williams, and Tyler Badie, AND got the best punter in the draft. They got starters, they got contributors, they got value. They improved their defense, they improved their offense, they improved their special teams. Combined with all of the key players returning from injury, I like the Ravens to have double digit wins and return to the playoffs. Sure, we can all question the long term prospects of trying to win with defense and running game. That strategy seems to work very well in the regular season, but not so well in the playoffs. But we're not talking long term Super Bowl prospects here, we're talking draft class, and the Ravens' was great.

We think a lot alike when it comes to this draft class. I feel like I just read a remix of my own recap! Spot on with all points. But boy oh boy, I sure hope they start taking draft swings at IOL. Can’t ignore and duct tape that position room together forever.

If you like seeing “experts” grade each team’s draft class, you might enjoy this chart. I feel like letter grades right after the fact are an exercise in futility, but maybe not everyone agrees.

I agree with you about Tenuta overall and am not a fan of the pick. That said…in his defense:

Well put. I DO think they were on their heels a bit and had some guys they liked scooped out from under them. As you said, they responded pretty well. I agree that the top five will all contribute this year, and I don’t see any of them not being on the roster and contributing in 2024. If you get five rosterable contributors — including two-three starters (Elam and Araiza, Shakir as starting KR/PR) and some contributors, then it was a successful class. Again, I can’t help but feel like they could’ve benefited from adding a couple developmental IOL, but in the sixth and seventh rounds, I’m not gonna complain too much.

Agreed. The second round, in particular, with the two trade backs….that felt like all the guys they wanted got taken right before them. With Trent McDuffie and Skyy Moore, the Chiefs might’ve actually stolen TWO players from them. The fact that they got Khalil Shakir in the 5th REALLY boosted this draft for me. To address the hole at corner definitively and to still add an explosive running back and receiver makes this draft a win overall in my book, even if I didn’t love every single pick.

**Note: I'm nothing more than a fan, just like all of you. This is nothing more than my opinion. You know how the saying goes: Opinions are like buttholes: everyone's got one and most stink. I don't grade picks, because doing so before the prospects have played a single NFL down is foolish. Instead, I'm just going to discuss my feelings on each pick and my feelings on the class overall.** CB Kaiir Elam - This was not the corner that I had pegged for the Bills in the first round. I thought for sure that his lack of tackling prowess and the perception by some scouts that he is "soft" would keep him off the Bills' draft board. Nevertheless, as I read about his top level athletic traits, speed, high character, work ethic, and coachability, the pick began to make a lot of sense. Tackling is something you can teach. Speed and size are not. In letting Levi Wallace walk and replacing him with Kaiir Elam, the Bills' coaches clearly wanted to upgrade the CB2 spot with a much better, faster athlete -- one that will allow them to diversify their defensive playcalling and to play more man coverage. While they prefer to play zone, the Bills wound up playing the 8th highest percentage of man coverage in the league last year. Now, when they do so, they won't be quite so vulnerable. Overall, this pick adds speed, versatility, and upside to the Bills' secondary, and the timeline of this selection lines up perfectly so that when Elam's ready for a second contract, Tre White will be just about exiting his prime. HB James Cook - When this pick was made, I felt it was a bit of a reach, value wise. It's clear to me, though, that the staff highly prioritized adding a true pass-catching threat to the backfield. I wrongly assumed that Duke Johnson sufficiently checked that box after they struck out on JD McKissic. Instead, they selected the toolsy and under-used James Cook. As I said elsewhere on this forum, one of the main ways the Bills intend to beat two-high coverage going forward is to use checkdowns and dumpoffs. Cook can take those three yard passes and turn them into 12 yard gains. He can also split out not only into the slot, but out wide as well, and can legitimately run routes and beat corners. He has great ball tracking skills, great hands, and doesn't fumble. He'll be a versatile, movable chess piece for Ken Dorsey, and adds instant explosiveness and homerun ability that the Bills offense previously lacked. While I question the value of the pick, I think he'll be a valuable and dangerous contributor from day one. LB Terrel Bernard - Once again, I feel this was a bit of a reach, value wise. The Bills didn't have a 4th round pick, though, and I think they just didn't want to miss out on this player. Sean McDermott is very close with Baylor head coach Dave Aranda, and I'm guessing Bernard -- who was said to be the heart and soul of the Baylor defense -- got a more than glowing review of Bernard from his college coach. Onthe surface, this one's simple: Fills the role vacated by AJ Klein in being the third linebacker when the Bills are in 4-3, and will play special teams. A closer look reveals a little bit more intrigue, though: I believe that Bernard's addition will allow the Bills to play 4-3 more often if they so choose, without losing much against the passing game. Last year, when the Bills were in their base nickel, good running teams ran it down their throats. When they switched to 4-3, they became vulnerable against the play-action and mid-level passing game. Now, when they face such teams, they can operate out of the 4-3 in an attempt to stop the run, but Bernard stands a much better chance of matching up with tight ends and speedy running backs than Klein did. Furthermore, if the Bills decide to invest in Tremaine Edmunds, they may decide that they don't want so much money tied up at the linebacker position, and in 2024, they could release Matt Milano, who would then be 30 years old, and whose release would save the Bills $7.5M. A pick with an immediate ST and sub-package role, but who may be a starter down the line. WR Khalil Shakir - I fist pumped when this pick was made. I watched a lot of highlights and cut-ups of this guy and quite liked what I saw. He offers immediate punt and kick return ability, which will make him active on gamedays as a rookie. From there, he can initially start off as a WR5 and gadget player. He can work from the slot, from the backfield, and can be a jet-sweep option. Over time, as he refines his route running and adds strength, he's a candidate to become the Bills' long term starting slot receiver. Jamison Crowder is only on a one year deal, after all. The comparisons I've seen for Shakir include Diontae Johnson, Christian Kirk, Stefon Diggs, and Michael Gallup. The value I feel the Bills got by adding Shakir in round five makes up a bit for the value I feel they DIDN'T get by drafting Cook and Bernard when they did. P Matt Araiza - What can I say? I laughed out loud when this pick was made. The amount of hype around a freaking PUNTER this offseason was absurd. The amount of excitement that the Bills fan base has for drafting a punter to a team that never punts is also hilarious. Call it leftover Brian Moorman love, or maybe we just loved the thought of having the strongest armed QB, strongest legged kicker, and strongest legged punter all on the same team. Whatever the case may be, this was a fun pick. As for the player: a left footed guy who can kick it really far but doesn't have great hang time and has no experience holding....sounds a lot like Corey Bajorquez to me. If he can add some hang time and hold capably, he'll win the job. Matt vs Matt #puntapalooza, here we come. CB Christian Benford - I won't pretend I had ever heard of this player. From what I'm reading about him, he's big, strong, mean, physical, and had great ball production at Villanova. You can never have too many corners, and McDermott and Frazier have shown a propensity for turning late round and UDFA corners with chips on their shoulders into legitimate starting caliber players. Not sure if he'll make the 53, might be a practice squad candidate. Might be a steal, might be a nobody. I'll always trust our coaches when it comes to DBs, though, so I'd bet on the former rather than the latter. OT Luke Tenuta - I'll be honest: I don't get this one. I know that it's always good to add O-line depth, but the deck seems highly stacked against this guy ever becoming a good NFL player. It sounds like he has an awkward build, short arms, and bad functional athleticism. His redeeming quality seems to be...that he's huge, I guess? I don't see it. They'll develop him on the practice squad for two seasons, I suppose. I would have much preferred an interior OL here, someone who at least has a chance to make the roster. They can't all be winners... LB Baylon Spector - Again, I won't pretend that I know much about this player. I think his primary avenue to making the roster would be to play special teams so capably that he allows the Bills to cut Taylor Matakevitch for cap savings. With Bernard, Spector, Andre Smith, Tyrel Dodson, Joe Giles-Harris, and Tyler Matakevitch, the backup linebacking corps is now pretty full. Will be a good competition in camp. Overall: The Bills' biggest need coming into this draft was a couple of capable outside corners. They added a first round prospect with legitimate Pro Bowl upside, and they added a late round prospect who looks set to follow the Bills' recent trend of late round corner contributors, like Levi Wallace and Dane Jackson. The Bills' second biggest need, generally speaking, was to add speed and schematic versatility on both sides of the ball. They accomplished this goal on defense in two ways. First, by adding Kaiir Elam to the secondary. They will be faster and more capable in man coverage, and can call a more diverse defensive game. Second, By adding Terrel Bernard at linebacker, they can choose to go 4-3 more than they have in the past, without losing nearly as much in the passing game as they did when they inserted AJ Klein into the game. Bernard can also be a sub-package weapon as a blitzer and matchup piece in the passing game. They accomplished this goal on offense by adding James Cook at HB and Khalil Shakir at WR. Both players played in the backfield, in the slot, and out wide in college. Both can capably fill multiple roles on offense. Cook adds speed and explosiveness to the running back room that it has lacked for years. He will also allow the Bills to come out in 12 personnel, but still spread the field, thus creating a nightmare for opposing defenses. Think Diggs, Davis, Knox, Howard, and Cook -- this screams "running play" to the defense, so it comes out in base defense. Then the Bills line up in an empty set and linebackers are forced to cover Knox, Howard, and Cook. This is the future of the Bills offense. This is the type of unpredictability and versatility that we can expect in 2022. Shakir adds yet another gadget option, and profiles as a long term starting slot receiver. Both players add speed, both players add versatility. Lastly, even the Bills special teams got a significant boost in this draft via the acquisitions of punter Matt Araiza, linebackers Terrel Bernard and Baylon Spector, corner/gunner Christian Benford, and returner Khalil Shakir. I question the value of the Cook and Bernard picks. The value of the Shakir pick makes up for it to some degree. All in all, my only real regret is that they didn't add any legitimate interior offensive line prospects. You can't address every need in one draft, and perhaps Beane will sign another interior o-linemen or two. Still, I'd like to see them start taking swings at that position in the future. You can't just avoid drafting guards forever. That said, I feel they capably addressed the biggest roster holes on the team, made the offense and defense faster and more versatile, and generally improved the Bills' roster going into 2022. Best Draft Classes: Jets, Ravens, Chiefs. All three of these teams got a LOT better, and I hated it.

Interesting: competition at gunner for Taiwan Jones. Cutting Jones Could bring Bills cap savings AND make it so that Singletary, Moss, Cook, and Johnson all make the roster.

This is a weird take, in my opinion. Its not as if Brown came into the league at his ceiling. He was very raw, coming from a lower level of competition and coming off a year of no football. To think he won’t improve with a year of NFL experience and an offseason in our strength and conditioning program is odd to me.

They must have faith in the Quessenberry, Ford, Mancz, Boettger IOL depth chart. Of that list, I only have faith in Quessenberry as a capable backup. Won’t surprise me if they sign another FA or two, as well as whatever UDFA might have to offer.

The Bills listing him as OL instead of OT -- not to mention his short arms -- make me wonder if he's a candidate to be an OG in their scheme.

Yet another guy I've never heard of. Huh.

I hope the Bills' final two picks are offensive linemen.

I usually prefer the NFL Network draft coverage to ESPN, but I have found it severely lacking in quality analysis this year. I recognize that they're not going to break down every single day three pick, and that it's still a television show in the end, and they need to keep eyes on the screen, but... They have spent the vast majority of day three re-hashing storylines, re-capping days 1 and 2, interviewing people, and showing musical performances. I've lost count of how many players they haven't said one word about. They didn't say a thing about or show a single clip of Khalil Shakir or Benford kid in the sixth round. Just an all around disappointing draft broadcast by NFLN this year.

A+ Tweetery:

White Elam Jackson Johnson Benford Lewis McCloud Griffin Harris Suddenly our cornerback depth chart has some actual depth!

Yeah. He sounds like a Levi Wallace clone, to be honest. Big, strong, good eyes, but lacks deep speed. Great work ethic. First in, last out type guy. He's the latest of McDermott's late round/UDFA cornerback specials, following Wallace, Jackson, Wildgoose (poached by NYJ off practice squad). Given the chip on the shoulder of these types of players and McDermott's propensity for coaching up these kids into playable pieces, I won't be surprised in the least if he becomes a productive depth piece for us.

7 INTS in 2021 is nice, regardless of what level he played at.

"Days off and me don't get along. I don't like taking days off. Doesn't feel right". Hello, Mr Process.

Never heard of him. Not gonna pretend otherwise. I trust McDermott/Frazier when it comes to DBs. After drafting Shakir in the 5th and the Punt God in the 6th, who cares how the rest of the draft goes?! 😆

This is one of those "video truck guys have nothing on this player" picks. Total mystery. Gonna have to trust McDermott and Frazier when it comes to DBs.

I laughed out loud when his name was announced. The memes and silliness alone are worth it. All this excitement over a sixth round punter who we're only gonna get to see two times a game anyway... I friggin love it.