Logic

For those who still feel that Josh Allen needs more weapons or that the running back room needs more youth: https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2834898-matt-millers-way-too-early-2020-nfl-draft-big-board?share=twitter#slide0 Matt Miller's way-too-early 2020 draft Big Board The 2020 NFL draft looks like a special one if your favorite team needs a running back or wide receiver. It might be a historic group in those positions once the evaluations are all wrapped up. The running back group is four deep with established, legit stars at the position. Wide receiver is loaded with maybe the best prospect I've ever evaluated (Jerry Jeudy) as well as household names like Tee Higgins, Laviska Shenault, CeeDee Lamb and Donovan Peoples-Jones. The rest of the draft? We're waiting to see how it plays out with some key players primed for breakout seasons and the surprise players to jump onto the scene—remember no one had Baker Mayfield or Kyler Murray as No. 1 overall picks the summer before their final seasons—but the early look is that this could be a down year for offensive line, defensive tackle and cornerback. Ranking players before the college football season has begun can be dangerous, but think of this as a prioritized watch list more than a set list of rankings.

I don't mean to be a wet blanket, but I predict Ansah signs elsewhere. Why? Well, the path to consistent snaps is greater elsewhere, and that's what Ansah needs on what will presumably be a one-year prove-it deal. In Buffalo, he'd be part of a heavy rotation and would likely split snaps about evenly with the Murphy/Lawson combo. In, say, Seattle or Tampa Bay, he might be the unquestioned, just about every-down starter at edge. Also, the need for an additional edge rusher in Buffalo simply isn't as high as it is for some other teams. As such, I'd expect other teams to be willing to pay more than what the Bills are willing to pay. Beane has shown that he sets a value to a player and sticks to it. He's not going to get into a bidding war over Ziggy Ansah.

Is it too late to use the 9th overall pick on him?

Wish him all the best. Oh, and while I'm here: Gruden is going to run the Raiders into the ground and they're going to be getting rid of him AND Mayock within the next three years, after which time a full bottoming out and rebuild will be necessary. Dark times ahead for the Raiders. I mean...did you SEE the three players they take with their three first round picks? Yikes. I like Gruden and Mayock a lot and I'm actually rooting for them. I hope I'm wrong about them in this instance, but I don't think I am.

I hear ya. The key, I think, is a good blend of motor and athleticism. If a player JUST has a high motor, well....he's Chris Kelsay. If a player has a high motor AND above average athleticism, he's Kyle Williams. Here's hoping Ed Oliver and Cody Ford and Devin Singletary and all the others are more like the latter.

I agree completely. Astro's list of visits, as well as any other info I could scare up in the pre-draft process, always linked the Bills to Singletary. I never saw ANYTHING linking them to Montgomery. Also, Devin Singletary's nickname is "Motor", so basic science dictated that Beane and McDermott HAD to draft him. They had no choice.

#29 is available, right? That's probably the best of the bunch. He wore #5 in college, so #25 seems logical. The only problem is, it's already taken for 2019. After that, though?

Thanks for posting. I'll say this: a lot of people -- myself included -- thought that the Bills actually wanted David Montgomery at running back but had to "settle" for Singletary after Montgomery was picked one spot ahead of them in the 3rd round. Now I'm not so sure. After hearing Beane's effusive praise of Singletary, and now hearing that they were one of the teams that showed the most interest in Singletary in the pre-draft process, I think he may have been the target all along. As a team that's gotten to watch LeSean McCoy juke defenders out of their shoes the past few years and believes that Singeltary shares some of those traits, the Bills probably weren't as scared off by Singletary's lack of home run speed as some other teams. They may have wanted Singletary whether Montgomery was on the board or not.

I think time will prove that he should have been. Entering 2018, there was talk of him being the #1 overall pick in the coming draft. A somewhat down season (by Oliver's lofty standards) and the "jacket incident" -- not to mention GMs overthinking his lack of size -- led him to fall. Thank goodness! The Bills will be reaping the benefits for years.

$200 on the over for me.

Colin Cowherd is still miles away from touching his first boob.

This.

The look of relief on Beane's face when the Lions pick Hockenson is awesome. I also wonder what it is about Greg Little that caused the Panthers to prefer him over Cody Ford. Oh, and I LOL'd when the Bears offered NEXT YEAR'S 4th round pick to move up to our spot in the third round. Get real. Beane's expression said the same.

I know. I loved reading that. It puts my heart at ease. Tape > measurables. Nah. He says a lot more about Singletary. I just didn't want to post a lot of it because I want people to sign up for The Athletic because those guys deserve the clicks and the subscription dollars. I only highlighted that quote in particular to point out that Beane gives more credence to tape than he does to measurables, which is a good thing. Beane ALSO talks about Singletary's heart and drive, and how there are no combine measurables for those things. He speaks more glowingly of Singletary than probably any of the seven other guys he picked.

I also lol'd at Gabriel saying that Oliver is sort of "lackadaisical", with "inconsistent effort". Literally everything I've read and seen shows the opposite. Beane and McDermott themselves both directly SAID the opposite, stating that Oliver goes 100mph all the time. Greg Gabriel is unemployed for a reason.

For those with a subscription to the Athletic, this article is absolutely worth the time it takes to read it. For those without a subscription, well, get with the times. This is the best Bills coverage out there right now. I'll post a few snippets that I liked about each player, with some bits that I really like in bold. There's more, though, and I encourage everyone to get a free trial and check this site out. All quotes below are from Brandon Beane. https://theathletic.com/959262/2019/05/02/the-film-is-the-most-important-thing-bills-gm-breaks-down-the-scouting-process-behind-every-draft-pick/ Regarding Ed Oliver: “Quick twitch, quick hands, power,” Beane said. “He had all of that the way he went in and out of the back with tight turns. He was explosive. Once he got his hips flipped and went, he’s rolling. You see him on tape and he’s running at linebacker-speed chasing guys. You don’t see that from bigger nose-tackle types. This guy is running the way Tremaine (Edmunds) is going to run or Matt (Milano) is going to run to the ball. The effort and compete, the way he plays with an edge, that all showed up on tape.” Regarding Cody Ford: “You see an excellent run-game player,” Beane said. “This guy can get to the second level. Once he gets his hands on you, school’s out. He was the best finisher of any lineman I saw in this draft. When you grade many linemen, a lot of them are locking their guys in and they’re peeking over their shoulder to see where the quarterback is. I never saw Cody peek. The next time he peeks will be the first time I saw him peek. He looks at it like if the whistle hasn’t blown and I knock my guy down, I’m either going to really finish him or I’m going to look for more work. That’s already in him. Some guys you have to kick in the butt. If anything, you have to pull him back.” Regarding Devin Singletary: “We’re still playing football. If I’m going to miss on a guy, I want to miss on a guy that I saw being a really good football player versus a guy who I questioned his football ability but he was a really good tester. We’re all going to miss on players. I would rather miss on a guy like this.” Regarding trading up for Dawson Knox: "I think it’s where you’re at in your build. It’s not my philosophy to only trade up. There were opportunities we were looking at to trade down. Part of it is, going back to Cody and Tremaine, we had them up there and they were sticking out. If a guy is sticking out and you’ve done all this work and it’s not forfeiting a crazy amount of stuff, if you felt that good to give him that grade, go get him! How excited are you to have another player with that value? Now it’s important we value them right. If we were right on our value, it’s a no-brainer to take that chance....In time we’ll be able to be a little bit more patient with the board, but any year I am here if there’s a guy sticking out and it’s a position of need, I’m not going to hesitate." Regarding Vosean Joseph: “He has the DNA to play on special teams. If he shows he has what it takes, he’s not going to start at linebacker, but he can get a jersey by being a guy on special teams. I think he’ll be in the mix with that.” Regarding Jaquan Johnson: “I think he fell because he didn’t test well, but if I didn’t see those numbers and just saw the tape, I see a good football player,” Regarding Darryl Johnson Jr: “They felt this guy was someone with high upside, raw but had good testing numbers. A lot of things that we saw in the seventh round, let’s take a shot on this guy. If he makes it, it may be because he tested really well and he fell because he’s still on the come-up. Some other guys may make it because they didn’t test well, but they are good football players and they are going to figure it out.” Regarding Tommy Sweeney: “He knows how to play the game. He’s tough and edgy,” Beane said. “He’s not a throwaway in the passing game, but that’s not his first skill. He makes it because he’s a smart blocker. He knows how to use angles if he’s getting outsized or out-muscled. He just finds a way.”

Greg Gabriel's a moron. Full stop.

There's just no way to know this. Panicking and picking the next best running back just because a team before us took a running back doesn't sound super Beane-like. Also, Beane mentioned that Singletary was "the most fun player to watch of all the guys he scouted all year". Furthermore, Singletary's similarities to LeSean McCoy would presumably be a viewed as an attractive component to, well...the team that currently employs an aging LeSean McCoy. In the end, we'll always be left wondering. There's just no way to know for sure.

If it happens on private property owned by the Bills, it absolutely IS the business of the Pegulas. If someone dies in the Bills parking lot, does any part of you doubt that the family will be bringing a lawsuit against the Pegulas?

I've been to many, many Bills games. I've literally never seen this happen. I'm sure it DOES happen, but I would venture to guess that the frequency of it is far, FAR less than the frequency with which one sees vast over-indulgence of substances, fights, and destruction of property. To get hammered drunk on a Sunday morning and jump through a table? K. It's funny. I go to the games to watch football happen. Guess I'm a weirdo.

I've been around and around with fans on this board about this, but I'm not a big fan of the fact that when you mention Bills fans to people, the first thing that comes to mind is drunkards jumping through tables. I like the notion of the fan base being recognized for loyalty to the team, persistence through bad weather conditions, etc..The fact that, instead, people just immediately equate Bills fans with drunken and destructive behavior is, to me, an embarrassment. This is where everyone jumps in and says I'm a kill-joy, that people are entitled to enjoy themselves however they want, blah blah blah. That's fine. My position stands. The gameday experience for many has become more about over-indulgence and "look at me" shenanigans than about football. It's just not my scene. To each their own, but I'm not fan of that aspect of the #BillsMafia experience.

Tough spot for the Bills. Tailgating is obviously a big part of the gameday experience. On the other hand, it has become a complete circus out there. Dangerously inebreiated people jumping through flaming tables, puking everywhere, getting into fights. It's out of hand. I condone and understand any efforts the team takes to curb the ridiculous over-indulgence that takes place in the lots.

I believe Dawkins will be fine. He got the wake-up call he needed. I also believe Ford will win the RT job. Dawkins Spain Morse Feiciano Ford Backups: Waddle, Nsekhe, Long

Thanks for taking the time to annotate this. Very much appreciated!