Logic

Right. But in this case, Rice has admitted full guilt, turned himself in, is fully cooperating, and is going the total contrition, "throw himself on the mercy of the court" route. In these types of cases, it's my understanding that prior legal history and a stance of remorse both play big parts, and Rice has been in absolutely no prior legal trouble, and is at least feigning (if not actually feeling) remorse. At the end of the day, I STILL expect this to be plead down to lesser misdemeanor chargers, a hefty fine and financial restitution paid, no jail time, and no more than four games suspension. Likely just two. That's my prediction and I'm stickin to it!

Unless the Bills are trading up in the first round...Troy Franklin would be a great get. As I've stated here before, I think he's underrated, and very possibly the 4th or 5th best receiver in this draft. That said...I sometimes think more gets made of the "draft visits" stuff than is reasonable. Oftentimes there are just lingering medical or character questions, or they didn't get as much work done on them as they would have liked due to any number of reasons (scout availability, scheduling, etc). Put another way, it's possible the Bills put a ton of work into a player during the college season, have a lot of information on him, and don't need as many visits and as much "draft season" research.

With the 14th pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, the Philadelphia Eagles select Terrion Arnold, CB, Alabama. ROLL TIDE! With James Bradberry and Darius Slay both coming off down years, we felt the time was right to add some youth and athleticism to our cornerback group. Cornerback was far and away our biggest need, and we coveted Arnold above all other corners in this draft. He was the top corner on our board, and one of our top graded players overall. Rather than wait around to see if he fell to 22, Howie "Wheelin and Dealin" Roseman used one of his two 2nd round picks to move up and secure his guy. Arnold is a twitchy man coverage corner, with loose hips, quick feet, and an aggressive willingness to challenge the receiver at the catch point. He boasted excellent turnover production in 2023, with 5 INTs and a FF. He'll come in and compete with the veterans we have, but we're confident that by year two, he'll be the alpha in our cornerback room and will lead the secondary for years to come. **side note: In all my years doing these mocks, this was the first time I've successfully pulled off a trade. I just liked the player and the team fit too much to wait around for him** @Allen2Moulds and the Indianapolis Drunken Irsays are now on the clock.

I did sign off on it last night, yes sir. Made sure the values matched and submitted the offer. It was fairly late at night and I headed off to bed. Figured it wouldn't get dealt with/submitted 'til morning. Apologies for the unintentional breach of protocol. I think some wires just got crossed. I will await your word as to whether I should proceed with making my pick.

This draft outcome so far already feels like a bad start for the Bills. Top four WRs gone, and BTJ earlier than expected, which could have a ripple effect. I hate it lol. (Mind you, I'm not criticizing anyone's picks specifically or the lack of the Bills trading up, per se, I'm just saying that if this is really how the draft played out -- with the teams at 9 and 11 both willing to trade down and the Bills doing neither and missing out on the best four receivers -- I'd be kinda bummed).

Fair enough. Thanks Virg.

I can understand and agree with the first sentence. I do not necessarily agree with the second sentence. Unlikely? Yes. Completely out of the realm of possibility? No.

Color me surprised and at least a little bit disappointed that there was no discussion of the Bills trading up to 5, 6, or 7 for one of those guys. Not sure if that would've come in the form of a poll, a private message inquiry to those picks' owners, or what, but...it seems at least a reasonable enough possibility in real life to discuss the possibility within the context of this mock, no? Bummer.

If the Cardinals like all three wide receivers, or even prefer Nabers to MHJ (as some teams in the NFL apparently do), or have those Odunze even with those guys on their board...then I could see them doing this. It's not like they WOULDN'T be walking away with an alpha WR. They would.

I happen to think Nabers is the superior prospect, and I happen to believe that multiple NFL teams feel that way, too. It's been reported that teams across the league all rank the top three very differently, and MHJ is NOT the consensus WR1 that fans and draftniks think he is. I think there's a realistic shot that Nabers comes off the board first. I also think that, of the top three, Nabers is the guy the Bills like best. He ticks all the boxes Brandon Beane has recently mentioned as far as what he looks for in a wide receiver. I don't know how feasible it is in real life, but Nabers to the Bills is the absolute best match and the best case scenario for their WR corps, IMO.

I wonder what it would cost the imaginary Buffalo Bills to move up to this spot...

If I was running the Vikings, I'd have already sent you my two 1sts for this pick

Just curious if you made this pick because it's what YOU would do, or because it's what you think the Bears will do. I'm always fuzzy as to which of those we're supposed to be doing in these things, but...just wondering what lead to this pick.

I thought it was 42069

Yes sir. I'd be happy to. Thanks!

I'm with you 100% If there's one bugaboo that I can't overlook in a wide receiver draft prospect, it's separation. The major problem with the Bills' passing offense was that guys weren't getting open. They weren't gaining separation. Adding Keon Coleman does not seem like it would fix what ails us. Give me someone a bit smaller and slighter, but who can gain cleaner and more consistent separation, please and thank you.

Thanks for that post. Outstanding. I agree. If the Bills don't trade up for one of the big three, Franklin is the guy I'd like to see drafted by the Bills.

Good one. I'm highly dubious as to his ability to be a traditional NFL receiver. But as a move player, big slot, TE/WR hybrid that's used situationally and in the red zone? I think he could have some real value. Put him up against a 5'9" slot corner and throw it up high to him. Let the big man work.

A-E-DUB! A-E-DUB! A-E-DUB!

Just as the title says. In your opinion, what player is the draft community too low on, that you think will (or at least should) be drafted higher than where the analysts and the draftniks have him going currently? I'll start: Troy Franklin, WR, Oregon. I get it, it's a great WR class. Still, for all you hear about the big three, Brian Thomas, AD Mitchell, Xavier Worthy, Keon Coleman...Troy Franklin tends to be an afterthought. Yes, he's skinny. He's also fast, silky smooth, has legitimate ability to win deep, and posted quality production at Oregon the past two years, including 1383 yards and 14 touchdowns in 2023. To me, he's akin to a Devonta Smith, Chris Olave type, if perhaps a step down (though not a big one) in overall talent from those two. I think everyone is too low on Troy Franklin. I'm not sure that, after the big three receivers, he's not the next best guy. I like him a lot. So who's yours? Which player is the draft community too low on?

Eagles Titans Raiders And I'm also more than happy to give up my spot so someone new can do it since I participated in the last one. Thanks Virgil.

I keep coming back to two of Brandon Beane's comments. The first was "how many different things can you do? Inside? Outside? How versatile are you?". The second was his repeated mentioning of yards-after-catch. They both keep bringing me back to Malik Nabers, Xavier Legette, and Malachi Corley. All three have serious yards-after-catch ability, all three have some degree of inside-outside versatility (Nabers especially). I think Beane's (and maybe Brady's) ideal vision for a receiving corps is a bunch of guys who can more or less play any of the positions. Curtis Samuel and Khalil Shakir both have inside-outside versatility. Diggs had it. I think they want it in the guy(s) they draft. I think they want to be able to put Samuel, Shakir, and the draftee(s) out on the field and be able to put any of them in any of the WR spots, without telegraphing to the defense from snap to snap who will be lined up where. It's probably a dumb and overly optimistic thing to think, but assuming he's not the first WR off the board, I have this weird feeling that the Bills really love Malik Nabers and want to try to find a way to make him a Buffalo Bill. He just ticks all of Brandon Beane's boxes. Explosive athlete, elite production, outstanding after the catch, positional versatility. All of it. He also instantly elevates gives the Bills a viable WR1 and elevates the entire receiving corps in a way that whoever they pick at 28 likely doesn't. Here's hoping I'm right and that Beane is feeling saucy come draft night.

Saw this chart on The Ringer today (part of a fun but silly article which nevertheless had some nice info hidden amongst the jokes). Not a great look for Brian Thomas Jr and Adonai Mitchell, with the takeaway being that while they have everything you want from a physical standpoint and have both shown the POTENTIAL to be good, their college production (not just raw numbers, but yards per route run relative to their target rate) is lacking. https://www.theringer.com/nfl/2024/4/9/24124742/best-wide-receivers-2024-nfl-draft-class-marvin-harrison-jr-malik-nabers-rome-odunze

Regarding Elam and Burks: If we're taking a swing at a third year breakout player, I'd rather have a talented man cover corner be the guy that breaks out while on my roster than a receiver. I think the latter are easier to find than the former. That said, the new Titans regime has no ties to Treylon Burks, so if they're willing to flip him to us for a late round pick (think 5th or later) then I'd be on board. I like low risk, high reward swings on former first and second round picks. Burks is a guy I'd be willing to gamble on, provided the compensation needed to acquire him is relatively meager. He's dealt with injuries, sure, but the Titans passing game has also just generally been a wasteland for lots of guys the past few years. Who's been slinging the rock? The ghost of Ryan Tannehill, Malik Willis, rookie Will Levis...yuck! So it's a no for me on an Elam swap, but a yes to Burks if he can be had for cheap.

Haha. Point taken, but...Don't shoot the messenger. I'm not the one who came up with this stuff.