Logic

I was thinking about this the other day. There are many fans on this board who say they're totally fine with the BPA strategy, i.e. drafting the best player available no matter what.. Many will go to great lengths to defend it or remind everyone daily that it's the way to go. I get it. I really do. I'm not here to argue against taking the best player available in each round. It's fine with me. I think every team does a little bit of lip service to it every year while also making draft picks that make it clear that "need" is at least a LITTLE BIT of a factor, but I digress. The point of this post is this: You say you're all for taking the best player available in each round, but if that idea is put to the test, how will you react? Here's the scenario -- The Bills have selected, let's say, Ed Oliver with pick 9. Now, after anxiously waiting for the Bills to be on the clock in the second round, it's finally time. Still available on the board are N'Keal Harry, Hakeem Butler, Irv Smith Jr, Chris Lindstrom, and Dalton Risner. The Bills turn in their card. We all wait with great anticipation as it is announced...."With the 40th pick in the 2019 NFL draft, the Buffalo Bills select....Rock Ya-Sin, cornerback, Temple". Or "The Buffalo Bills select Jonathan Abram, safety, Mississippi State". Well? What's your reaction? Are you thrilled that the Bills got the highest rated player on their board? Are you not at all bothered that they didn't fill their offensive "needs"? What say you? When the tires hit the pavement, are you truly on board with drafting the BPA?

Appreciate the post. I see the following to be more likely: Bills take impact defender at 9 (Oliver?). Bills package 2nd and 3rd round pick to move up to make sure they don't miss out on one of the "big three" tight ends (Hock, Fant, Irv). Bills wind up drafting 6 or 7 players when it's all said and done, not 10.

Liked this one, from Draftnetwork.com's draft machine (the copy and paste comes out all weird, but here it is): TJ Hockenson TE Jeffery Simmons DT Kaleb McGary OT DeMarkus Lodge WR David Montgomery RB Devin Singletary RB Jalen Jelks Edge Derrek Thomas CB Jalen Hurd WR Ryan Finley QB

Just in general, I'd bet there's at least a reasonable chance the Bills could take a defensive back in rounds 2 or 3. If so, expect an epic meltdown on this forum and Twitter and such.

Good post. Overdorf seems to be the one guy who has survived everyone else and stuck around. Pegula empowered Beane to completely re-shape the front office, and Beane opted to stick with Overdorf, even after jettisoning virtually every other member of the front office staff. I get the feeling that while Overdorf takes care of the nuts and bolts of the contracts, he still gets his directive from the GM as far as how much to be willing to spend, how aggressive to be, etc. I don't think he just has carte blanche to do what he wants. I truly don't know, though.

Your post is well thought out and makes logical sense. I can't help but wonder if you're in the right church, but the wrong pew. In other words, I wonder if McBeane are thinking along the exact same lines as you, but they plan to select a different tight end in, say, round 2 or 3. Perhaps they like an Irv Smith or a Dawson Knox or a Kahale Warring. I think a lot of it will come down to whether or not Ed Oliver is on the board at 9. If he is, I think he's the slam dunk pick. If he's NOT, I could absolutely see Buffalo trading back or even just standing pat and taking their tight end of choice. The key to this whole draft, to me, is Beane's recent comment that "if a position is particularly deep in a draft, it allows you to wait a round or two on your need". That statement could apply to the defensive line OR tight end in this year's draft, as both positions are unusually deep. Do they take a defensive lineman early, knowing that they can still get a talented tight end in round 2 or 3? Or do they take one of the "big three" (Hock, Fant, Smith), knowing that they can still get quality lineman into the 3rd and 4th rounds. The last thing I'll say is this: if they select Hockenson, I'll be thrilled. Aside from Oliver, Hock is the one player likely to be available at 9 that I think will be an All Pro level talent for the next decade. This early in a rebuild, that's what the Bills should be after with their top 10 pick: an All Pro level talent. I think Hockenson would be an excellent choice.

The Fate or Ray Ray McCloud? I mean...all things being even, I'm taking The Fate every time.

Hah! But seriously, I love that dude. He's the one redeeming quality the Jets have. I wish he was a Bill.

Bills should spend one of their 7ths on punter Mitch Wishnowsky from Utah. He is being compared to Michael Dickson, Seattle's phenom rookie punter from last year. You've usually got your 2 or 3 best punters in the game and your 2 or 3 worst. The 26 or so guys In between are all pretty interchangeable. So either try to find a top 3 guy or accept that you're one of the middle 26 or so. But whatever you do, make sure you don't have one of the 2 or 3 worst. Arguably, Darr and Schmidt are in that "worst in the league" tier. As such, Bojorquez and a late draftee or UDFA should battle for the starting spot.

That's all inference on your part. And I'd be willing to bet that Beane has spent just as much time on the road as Whaley ever did. Go find me a recent interview or article with Beane where he's not either on the road, just back from the road, or just about to set out on the road.

Using DraftNetwork.com's mock draft machine, here's one I did today: 9) Ed Oliver, DT 40) Kelvin Harmon, WR 74) Kahale Warring, TE 112) Devin Singletary, RB 131) Bobbt Evans, OT 147) Anthony Johnson, WR 158) Jalen Jelks, EDGE 181) Bryce Love, RB 225) Terril Hanks, LB 228) Jordan Miller, CB

Your post completely ignores two critical points. 1.) The culture/locker room when McDermott walked through the door was awful. How many articles did we read from that time about how dysfunctional the ENTIRE Bills organization was from top to bottom? How many shouting matches between head coaches and Whaley took place in public view? Whaley built a collection of talent, but he did not build a team. I don't care that Greg Roman smoke and mirrored the Bills offense to 7th place or that they had a nice collection of names written on paper. The actual team, the team itself, in terms of functioning AS A TEAM, was not built for sustained success. There were some nice coats of paint thrown onto what was ultimately a rotting foundation. 2.) The way that Whaley handed out and structured contracts DID get the Bills into salary cap trouble. The largest cap hits on the team belonged to guys who either underperformed (Dareus), were often injured (Glenn, Clay), or had questionable character (Dareus again). Sammy Watkins was next on the list of guys who were due a second contract. And guess what? He belonged to group 1 (under-performers) AND group 2 (the often injured). Should they have just extended his deal any way? It is certainly fair to say that McDermott and Beane CHOSE to tear down and rebuild the Bills. However, it is important to look at WHY they felt the need to do so. The Bills long term salary cap situation was a mess due to bad contracts. The players who WERE getting big paydays were NOT the type of guys you want to be taking up such large portions of your cap. The culture sucked from top to bottom. The Bills, as constructed, were just good enough to sneak into the playoffs every other year, but didn't have the culture, character, or talent to make it further than that. Even WITH the decision to tear down, jettison bad contracts, and rebuild from scratch, McDermott/Beane's Bills made the playoffs in year 1. Yes, they had a down year 2, but it was a year that featured lots of live reps for their franchise QB (who was obtained largely thanks to their shrewd trading away of the Watkinses and Dareuses of the world for draft capital, thank you), as well as live reps for lots of other crucial youngsters. Now, in just year 3, they have one of the best cap situations in the league and a roster full of promising young players. They are building a team to go BEYOND the occasional wild card weekend, and they are building the right way, with an emphasis on culture and the importance of a sustainable model for success. Kudos to Beane and McDermott, and pshaw to anyone who pretends like they walked into a rosy situation that didn't need A TON of work.

So, so awful. Between my dislike for Gase, my conviction that McCagnan is an awful GM, my aversion to mongoloid Jets fans, and now my hatred of these ugly jerseys....you could say I've become a full fledged Jets hater.

I think all the folks getting worried that Allen's gonna hurt himself are being silly. This event would bring positive publicity and national attention to Josh Allen. The mere fact of this event taking place would put Allen in the same conversation, for at least a moment, as the NFL's biggest star and reigning MVP. That's a good thing. It would also result in money going to a good cause. I suppose there's a small chance the guy hurts himself, but I really doubt it. I'd like to think he's smart enough to not do long term injury to himself just to win a silly throwing competition.

Opinions are like buttholes. Everybody has one and most stink.

I feel great about 4 out of the 5 spots. I'd like to see the Bills add one more legitimate tackle via the draft.

What?

https://www.cover1.net/2019-nfl-draft-buffalo-bills-brian-burns/ The 2019 NFL Draft is less than one month away, and the Buffalo Bills could go in a variety of directions with their No. 9 overall pick. The team did a great job plugging holes throughout the roster at key positions during free agency, which gives Buffalo the flexibility to select the best available player with each of their 10 draft picks. Most mock drafts following the Bills’ active approach to free agency have the team selecting players like Alabama’s offensive tackle, Jonah Williams, Houston defensive tackle Ed Oliver, and Ole Miss wide receiver D.K. Metcalf, among others. But one player that hasn’t been linked to Buffalo very often, and one who probably should be, is Florida State’s dynamic edge rusher, Brian Burns. Brian Burns is a long, athletic pass rusher who stands 6-foot-5 and 249-pounds. He improved in each of his three seasons with the Seminoles, finishing his career with 123 tackles, 38.5 tackles for loss, 23 sacks, seven forced fumbles, and seven pass breakups in 33 games. The former five-star recruit out of Fort Lauderdale, Florida’s American Heritage High School was named All-ACC after racking up 52 tackles, 15.5 tackles for loss, 10 sacks, three forced fumbles, and three pass breakups in 13 games during his junior season, his last at Florida State.

Yep. Everything I read about Brandon Beane indicates that he is a relentlessly hard worker. He always seems to be on the road. Is this common? I legitimately don't know. He seems to be on the road as much as his scouts. Is this how all GMs operate?

Yep. People don't have the same fond memories/associations attached to our current jerseys, for obvious reasons. But from a purely aesthetic standpoint, I would argue that the current jerseys -- both home and away -- are the best the Bills have ever had. The all-white throwbacks are beautiful, too.

The Nike-i-fication of the NFL is not very impressive. I'd argue that the Jets, Bucs, and Jags all downgraded with their new looks. The Bucs are the worst of the bunch, but the new Jets look isn't far behind. The shoulder stripes are non-sensical, the italic "New York" on the front looks out of place, and the metallic green helmets don't match the green on the jerseys very well. And the all-black alternates, when black isn't even a primary color in the scheme? Yuck.

If Schein keeps this up, he's going to become Bills Mafia's most beloved sports analyst since Chris Berman. Schein is ALWAYS saying nice things about the Bills these days. He's like a closet Bills Booster. Went to school in Syracuse, which I suspect has something to do with his WNY love.

I agree on all counts. Most Bills fans are sleeping on Spencer Long, in my opinion. I think Long, if allowed to just compete for a starting guard spot, will win said spot. I think an interior three of Spain, Morse, and Long will be of high quality and high production. They're all still on the right side of 30, too. Training camp is going to be extremely interesting with respect to offensive line battles. While I like Long a lot and think he can return to being an effective starting guard in this league, I also like Wyatt Teller and Ike Boettger. In an ideal world, we could start Spain and Long at guard (assuming they win the competition), and still find a way to roster Teller and Boettger. Then, when Spain's one year deal is up, you can decide if either Teller or Boettger have shown enough in development to let Spain walk.