Logic

No.

I think Epenesa will even wind up being an upgrade over Shaq. I liked Lawson, but he was 6'3", 260 lbs. Epenesa is 6'6", 280 lbs. He's just a larger -- and based on the film, stronger -- human being. You're right that even if he winds up just filling Shaq's role at about the same level of production, it's still a win for the Bills, because we got him on a cheap rookie deal for four years instead of paying $10mil+/year to Shaq. But I think AJ will represent an upgrade.

I agree with pretty much everything you said except for the bolded. Lee Smith's "excuse" for being on the field is that he's the best blocking tight end on the roster, and sometimes you need a blocking tight end in football. I assume the DiMarco comment refers to the playoff game? You may or may not recall that DiMarco brought two defenders with him on that play, which means that an actual wide receiver elsewhere in the play was single covered. That being the case, the play was likely a smartly drawn one and worked as designed. The onus is on Josh Allen in that situation not to THROW IT to the double-covered fullback. I like Daboll more than most. I think he has tailored the offense to Josh Allen enormously and given great ownership over the playbook to the young QB. I, too, believe Daboll has a pivotal year ahead, but I probably put more of the blame for the offensive failings on Allen than I do on Daboll. Why? Its simple: When you watch the All-22 from last year, you see a lot of open receivers that Josh doesn't pull the trigger on. You also see a lot of guys open down field that Josh overthrows. Those two things aren't Daboll's fault. If Allen has the confidence and can read the defense well enough to hit those open receivers, and if his deep ball is good enough to hit some of the guys open deep, the entire offensive output changes drastically. You're right that both Allen and Daboll need to improve this year, but I put the bigger weight on Josh Allen.

I just watched all the AJ Epenesa highlights I could find. He reminded me of someone, but it wasn't JJ Watt. I realized it was another #94, Justin Smith. Smith was a 5T, but truthfully, one could argue that that's Epenesa's best position, anyway. Besides, McDermott's defense often has his DEs aligned at 5T anyway. But that's AJ...a classic strong, tall, powerful 5T, base end that can kick inside on passing downs. Justin Smith made 5 Pro Bowls and was a two time 1st team All Pro and two time 2nd team All Pro .... all without ever having 10 sacks in a single season. If bending the edge and tallying sacks is the measure, he may never be elite. But in terms of defending the run, taking on double teams, collapsing the pocket, controlling the edge, and pitching in 6-10 sacks a season...I think he's going to be dominant.

Just got done watching his highlights. Reminds me a lot of another #94 who never put up huge sack numbers but still dominated and made 5 Pro Bowls: Justin Smith.

It would be great if they could stash him on IR for a year, let him fully heal and hit the weight room and make use of the Bills' recovery facilities...and then NEXT offseason, when things are back to "normal" for the league, he can really compete for a spot.

The only thing I agree with is that, due to injury, he won't start right away, and it may take him a while to work back into the rotation. Other than that, I disagree. Last year, before he got injured, it was clear as day that he was outplaying Star at 1T. I fully believe that, had he not been injured, he was going to overtake the lion's share of reps and the "starter" designation from Star. Not only was he doing his job well and occupying multiple blockers and defending the run well, he was also collapsing the pocket at times and getting great penetration. His injury happening when it did was a real shame.

I know, I know...painful memory. Still, given how bored and starved for sports many of us are right now, I thought people might be interested:

Take away the one or two great preseason runs, and no one cares about Christian Wade. He's 29 years old. Even if he suddenly, somehow, miraculously proved himself to be more than a mere curiosity, what's he gonna give you -- one good season? Two? I'd understand the fascination a little bit more if he were 24 instead of 29. As it stands now, by the time he grasps the mental side of the game well enough to compete for a roster spot, he'll be 30+. I'd also understand the fascination a little bit more if played special teams. As far as I know, he doesn't. In order to get a gameday jersey as an RB3, a player needs to play special teams. He seems like a nice guy. He's a Buffalo Bill, so I'll root for him. The truth is, though, that the odds of him ever making meaningful regular season contributions in the NFL is very low.

The only thing I’d be curious about is what it would have looked like if they took Dobbins in the 2nd and an Edge in the 3rd. I’m glad they went Epenesa/Moss, mind you. Quality Edge players are of higher importance than committee running backs. Still, I can’t help but wonder how things would’ve gone if they’d flipped it and gone, say, Dobbins and Zuniga instead.

The only two changes I make to this are substituting McKenzie for Hodgins at WR and substituting TE Lee Smith for DE Trent Murphy, who I think will be a cap cut.

I have no problem — absolutely none — with using a sixth round pick on a kicker. Further, I would suggest that Bass has a better chance to make the 53-man roster than, say, a linebacker or safety would have. In in terms of chances of sticking on the final roster and the long term impact they’ll have on a team, kickers beat special teams-only late round players.

You pointed out something that I hadn't connected the dots on: The offseason used to be FAR AND AWAY my favorite part of the year with regard to the Bills. The roster building, the "next big thing", pinning my hopes to free agents and rookies...all of those things were preferable and provided more optimism and joy than watching the actual on-field product. Now? For the first time in my adult, Bills-watching life, the script has flipped! The season is now vastly more enjoyable than the offseason! I enjoyed free agency, but thought "yeah, okay, great". I enjoyed the normalcy and distraction of watching the draft, but I knew as it was happening that it wasn't going to drastically change the team's fortunes. In fact, I had the thought prior to the draft that the Bills were battle-ready WITHOUT it! The hay is in the barn. If the QB takes another step, the Bills are a good team for a decade+. If he doesn't, the offseason becomes interesting again. For now...it's strange days in Bills Land. I think you missed the entire point of his thread. Like...COMPLETELY.

This. The guys whose opinions are actually worth a darn, Matt Miller included, had straight As and A+s across the board for Buffalo. They raved about Brandon Beane, saying no one in the NFL gets better value in the draft than him. The Bleacher Report’s draft show videos are still up on Youtube, and I HIGHLY suggest people skip to the Bills picks and watch them.

Yeah... The part I relate most to is that this was the first draft I’ve EVER experienced that I felt like the Bills didn’t even need. They were battle ready BEFORE the draft. Our general manager has a great understanding of what needs to improve each offseason, and he attacks those areas of improvement in varied, strategic, intelligent ways, and does so while respecting draft value and remaining cap sound. Our coaching staff is one of the very best in the league. Our roster and culture are exceptional. We won multiple big time games last year that we would have normally lost in stupid fashion. We clinched playoffs with WEEKS to go. We all EXPECTED to win that playoff game. You’re right. It’s a new era.

I predict that Davis's first three years in Buffalo will look a lot like those of another 6 foot 2 WR from the Bills past: Eric Moulds. A couple of 200+ yard seasons while he hones his craft, followed by a breakout 1,000+ yard season in year 3, when he takes over full time as our starting X receiver. I'm not saying he is as good as Eric Moulds right now, obviously. He has the physical talent to be a good receiver in this league, though, and a couple seasons of learning the finer points of route running from some of the NFL's best in Diggs, Beasley, and Brown will do him wonders. So it is written, and so it shall be.

As long as he takes two defenders with him like DiMarco did, it will remain a good call on Daboll's part. Someone just needs to tell Josh not to THROW it to the double-covered fullback.

Fair.

Funny that the Bills 5th round pick has the post with the most replies (30 pages). Just because he's a QB, I guess? People are weird.

Incomplete. Grading a draft before any of the players have played a down in the NFL is a fool's errand.

It's funny... Leading into the draft, people were talking about how unlikely it was that all the Bills' draft picks would even make the final roster. Now, we have people getting their panties in a bunch over guys that weren't even drafted. I'm more worried about the Bills finding a roster spot for Isaiah Hodgins and Dane Jackson than which third-string Auburn guard they landed in UDFA. It's fun to track -- especially during a pandemic when there's little else to follow, sports-wise -- but let's not get out of hand here.

Biggest Regret: I'll go a little off the books here and say George Carlin. I don't really have any music concert regrets, but I greatly regret passing on a ticket to see Carlin on his final tour. What a mistake on my part. Biggest Miss: Grateful Dead 50: Fare Thee Well in Chicago. Don't get me wrong, the weekend was great fun. Deadheads took over the city of Chicago, the weather was perfect, it was an historic and record-setting event (it broke the Soldier Field attendance record THREE NIGHTS IN A ROW!), but musically? It was...just fine. Nothing to write home about.

I'd trade ScottLaw's left arm for a punter!