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The Athletic article from Tim Graham on the whole “can he hold?!” thing did a really good job of breaking things down. He spoke with legendary punter guy Brian Moorman who provided some good insight. The backup QBs no longer do it because teams don’t wanna remove a QB from offensive reps to go onto the other side of the field and work on holds. Hapless pointed this out earlier. This is the same reason it’s not a “best guy for the job” type thing. Also, it’s a lot more difficult than it looks. Moorman talked about how other players on the team would try it and see it wasn’t so easy. He said when he played he and his teammates had the whole snap to hold thing down in like 1.26 seconds and how you’ve gotta turn the ball as you’re putting it down and making sure it’s in line with how the kicker wants it held. It was also mentioned that Araiza has been practicing holds and is said to be doing great with it. A pro kicker who’s name escapes me commented something like, “He’s doing great. I’d trust him.” Myers from Seattle was it? Anywho, so long as he shows consistency with it there’s no reason he shouldn’t win the job. Bojo was also discussed in Graham’s article and he’s bounced around four different teams because he’s so inconsistent as a holder. I think Zierlein from NFL.com put Bojo as the pro comparison for Araiza. They can both boom it and we’ll see how Punt Gord does not only with holds but also directional punting and all that jazz. Good read, check it oot if you can.

Tough to say they haven’t improved, at least on paper. Miller is a huge addition, I think Rousseau is gonna take another step forward, Ed should be good, Settle is probably better than Butler and Jones is just as good as Phillips. Contract year for Tremaine, maybe it finally all falls into place for him and he has a monster run. Tre will be back, Hyde and Poyer are still one of the best safety duos in the league, Milano is solid, etc. I’ve no idea if the numbers will line up like they did last season but we should hopefully see an uptick in sacks and better against the run. Not that they technically need to but Josh and the offense should still score 80 points a game. Just to be sure. 😄

Ohh, that explains it. I remember catching that on Friday night. The first time they cut to him and his family it came off super awkward, almost seemed like James was annoyed or even pissed off with someone. Everyone around him was super quiet and it was like, huh, that’s awkward. But the next time they cut to him he was putting on the hat and the family was celebrating. I know there have been a lot of jokes about him looking stoned and he may very well be a Stoney Baloney, whatever that’s fine, or he might just be a real laid back kinda subdued person. Kinda reminded me of Gilmore, lol, both dudes just kinda stoic, I guess. Since he’s been drafted he’s been talking about how much he loved his visit with the Bills and how excited he was to hear how’d they’d utilize his skill set. Seems like a good kid all around, the scouting reports I saw on him said he’s super competitive and a good teammate that can get his team fired up.

I wish, man, but Teller is one of them freak athletes with crazy strength and agility, just happens to be a big dude. He switched to OL from DL after his first year at VTech (I think, not 100%) so he had only played OL for a couple of seasons before Beane drafted him. The dude also had some major ADD that went unaddressed until like his final year in school. Supposedly it was impacting his play on the field, but he’s since sorted it out. The Bills must’ve done a decent job coaching him up given the pick they got in return for him. Put all that together and that’s how the dude has turned into an all pro. Teller had all the physical tools and just needed to sharpen his skill set and now he’s a top OL in the league. I think Tenuta has been playing OL for a while now and he’s just pretty average with what seems like below average athleticism right now. I’m not trying to knock your opinion or anything, I just think Teller and Tenuta are completely different players. They could certainly coach up Tenuta into a spot starter and a decent backup, anything’s possible. But just from reading and comparing the scouting reports on these guys shows that they’re on different levels in a lot of categories.

I’ll be real surprised if Luke Tenuta makes this team. Nothing against the kid but aside from his size, I have not read very many positives about the guy. They don’t like giving up on their draft picks too early so I’ll say he might end up on the practice squad but he’s got a tough road ahead if he’s making this team. In line with holding out on their picks, I’ll say Zack Moss makes the cut over Duke Johnson. He might be the gameday scratch more often than not because we know Singletary is RB1 and they’re gonna get James Cook involved right off the bat, I think. And of course McDermott gots to have his special teams guys so Taiwan Jones will be RB3 over Moss, unless Moss suddenly morphs into a special teams all star or something. Much to the chagrin of some posters here, Tremaine Edmunds and Cody Ford will make this team. Ford actually showed some real improvement late last season when he played. The Washington DL (Daron Payne, mainly) mugged that kid for his lunch money every down during Week Four last season. That was brutal. But later in the year, he was better. And with Tremaine, I can *kind of* understand the criticism he gets here. I’m sure with his elite size and athleticism we’d all like to see more game changing and impactful plays, however, he’s more so just been a steady eddie in the middle there with the occasional big play and the occasional lapse. His size and range still makes it tough for opponents to attack the middle of the field with the passing game. Does he have a misstep here and there? Sure. He gets caught on blocks as well but overall he’s a solid player. The grass isn’t always greener. Remember last year when he missed the game against Indy and Jonathan Taylor ran all over AJ Klein, I think Klein still has cleat marks in his face all these months later. So before you go clamoring for someone to be replaced, consider who could possibly replace him and how they’d do wearing the green dot and leading a complex defensive scheme. You gonna have Milano play the middle? Then y’all gonna scream he’s too small for it. Dodson? Andre Smith? Marquel Lee? Matakevitch? Shoot, even the MLB some of y’all thought would be a better pick than Edmunds (Vander Esch) has been all sorts of injured and is pretty much second fiddle to Parsons now. It’s always a crapshoot with the draft and even signing players from the lower tiers in free agency. All told, Edmunds is one of the better LBs in the league but because he went 16th overall he needs to be picking off nine passes, forcing a dozen fumbles along with ten sacks and fourteen tackles for loss per game otherwise he’s a bust.

I honestly think they ask these guys to look a little animated for the cameras. All about that production value and trying to make things exciting or important or dramatic as possible.

I’m with ya, I’m excited for the pick. I was just reiterating some of the quotes I’ve seen. Compared to what he’s shown he can do, I wouldn’t look at the short arms as a barrier. They’re a little under the prototypical length or whatever but the dude more than makes up for it with his versatility. Lots of ways Dorsey can get him involved. I expect we won’t see much of him early on as is customary with McDermott rookies, but if he performs well when his number is called we should see him featured more and more as the season goes on. I like Cook too, and OJ Howard to go along with the group of Diggs, Davis, Crowder, McKenzie, Knox, and Singletary. Lot of options.

I would imagine most of the medical reports from team doctors are not good. Perhaps he’s on super limited time before his condition keeps him from playing anymore? If that’s the case then teams aren’t going to waste the time and energy, sounds harsh but that’s how they’d see it.

I actually thought the Chiefs and Packers had really average drafts. In all, it’s kind of a mostly average group of prospects this year. Reminds me a lot of the 2013 draft, no real elite players and not very many consensus round one grades. I’m sure some players will turn out pretty good but I really wouldn’t expect this class to turn into a bunch of perennial all-pros and pro bowlers. I could be wrong.

According to some of the ol’ anonymous scout quotes I read, the big knocks on Shakir are the 29” arms (too short for a lot of teams, apparently) and the sense that he’s mainly just average at everything with no real elite skills or traits. Also, that some teams wouldn’t know how to best utilize his skill set.

They certainly have a theme with the type of players they prefer to pick. High character, hard workers, humble, team first, smart, etc. And they’re not afraid to look at a player not only for what he is now but what he can be with their training and coaching. I’m pretty psyched for Shakir. Like a lot of their other picks, I’m sure they’ll work him in slowly. Everything I’ve read about him sounds super positive. I saw scout quotes that thought he could go as high as mid-second round, but I also saw scout quotes that said he was completely average at everything and the scout wouldn’t even consider him for a UDFA signing. Whatever, opinions are all over the place this year. The main knocks I saw on him were the short arms and teams being unsure of how to best utilize his skill set. I mean, if those are really the only two things keeping you from adding this guy to your team then, I dunno, you’re kind of a dummy. It certainly appears he has enough positive traits to compensate for the areas he lacks in. Bernard is also intriguing. Super under the radar pick but he’s super smart, productive, if a little undersized. Beane will go for a player who has all the traits you want except elite size. I remember when they drafted Milano, he was like 6’0” 219 coming out of college and had played safety early on at BC. I thought he was too small to play linebacker but he’s been nothing but a perfect fit in this system and a solid player. Heck, the most athletically gifted player with elite physical tools (Edmunds) is the one that gets dragged non-stop by a lot of the online Bills fan community. Basically, if you’ve got the desire to get better along with the other traits I named above plus at least average athleticism, then you’ve got a chance to make it on the Bills roster. They’re gonna maximize what they already do well and do as much as they can to improve in the areas that most need it.

One big ol’ poopershootin’s

I read some scout quotes on this pick. Unfortunately, a really mean quote stuck out. A scout said, “I love his dad, he’s been a defensive coach for 30 some years. Luke ain’t *****, though, he’s nothing.” Swell, lol. I know it’s “how the old scouts talk” and all that, I’ve just never been a fan of describing another human so poorly. There are better ways to word “I don’t think he has what it takes” ya know?

Rankings are absolutely all over the board this year. I’d imagine in most years it’s like that except there are typically 5-10 consensus elite players plus a good 15-20 consensus first round guys. That wasn’t the case this year. No real elite players. Opinions are everywhere. Bob McGinn, a football writer for like 30 years does some real insightful draft pieces over on Tyler Dunne’s GoLong website. McGinn has a ton of sources he speaks with and he uses scout quotes in his draft profiles. I just looked at the feedback he got for the Bills picks this year. A guy like Shakir was all over the place with the scouts. One said he loved the kid and thought he could go as high as mid-second round. Another scout said the dude was too slow with short arms, won’t make it at all and wouldn’t even consider him as a undrafted free agent. It’s just kinda whacky there can be such differing opinions. On one board I saw, Elam was their top rated corner and rated the 14th best prospect overall. On another board they had him rated 49th overall. It really is a crapshoot and a lot of times it comes down to how teams see these players and how they think they can utilize them in their systems.

Dude certainly checks a lot of the boxes for them, experience, character, leadership, productive, etc. It doesn’t appear to be the most popular pick but I’m gonna wait and see how they utilize the guy and how they coach him up and all that. Again, BBB gets the benefit of the doubt from me, way more hits than misses. It ain’t exactly the Cadillac of prospect groups for this year either so…

Haha I was gonna say either the dude just woke up or uh, toked up. When they first cut to him and his family it kinda seemed like homeboy was yelling at someone, everyone got real quiet for a minute. Then the next time they went back to him he was putting the hat on with everyone cheering. Seems like a solid pick. Beane deserves the benefit of the doubt at this point. It’ll be interesting to see how they work him into the offense and split time with Singletary. I wonder if they try to move Moss, I like him too he’s just never really got going with them.

Seems like a solid pick. Has the traits they look for and I trust them to coach him up and he should be pretty good.

I think it’d be cool to see them get S Kyle Hamilton, McDermott has wanted that versatile movable piece type of defender for a while now. Then maybe they jump to the top of the second for RB Breece Hall or something. Expect: is this for only the first two rounds or the whole draft? If it’s the whole draft I expect them to land the Montana LB Troy Andersen as well as one of the higher rated TE’s like McBride or Otten. Settle: Georgia S Lewis Cine, Texas A&M RB Isaiah Spiller

Big Baller Beane does all sorts of wheeling and dealing on all three days. Thursday night he jumps up at least ten spots and finds a way to draft S Kyle Hamilton. Heck, he might even find a way to jump back into the first between 28-32 to snag RB Breece Hall. I also think he lands one of the two too TEs, either Otten or McBride. I lean McBride, I think they’ve met with him more. What else? Um, they also draft that LB out of Montana, Troy Andersen, that’s not a super bold prediction tho. Anywho, yeah, I think Triple B is gonna move around a bunch and end up with four or five picks in the top 100-150 picks as opposed to seven picks from the whole group of 255. Stacked roster as it is, players taken in the later rounds would really be on the bubble for a roster spot.

They won’t draft a corner real high. They’re gonna bank on Tre being just fine and they remain pretty high on Jackson, just like they did with Wallace for the last four years. They probably do draft one but not until the third or fourth round. They like their WR group and unless one of the top WR names falls to them somehow, I don’t think they’re gonna go WR in the first. They just extended Diggs, Davis is on the up and up, Crowder is a solid slot replacement over Beasley and then McKenzie rounds out the top four. They’re gonna give plenty of chances to Marquez Stevenson and Isaiah Hodgins to win a spot. Maybe they take one late but yeah, unless one of the top receiver prospects falls to them I don’t think that’s happening. I’d advise reading Joe B’s most recent draft write up on The Athletic. He makes the case that they might very well move around in an attempt to land Norte Dame safety Kyle Hamilton. This kid checks all the boxes they like, he’s versatile, he has elite size, has a knack for big plays, he’s played in a lot of college games and he’s a leader. McBeane value the crap out of those traits. Plus, they’ve been looking for a movable piece on their defense for a while. They were rumored to be high on Kyle Dugger a couple years back, another versatile defender. Jordan Poyer is in the final year of his deal and between him and Hyde, it was Hyde who got the extension and so far, Beane has given no indication they plan on extending Poyer. I’m sure they’d like to but as he’s said, they can’t pay everyone. Plus, Poyer (and Hyde for that matter) will be 32 or 33 heading into next season. McDermott emphasizes safety play in his defense so Hamilton makes a ton of sense if they can pull off the right trades to get him. If they can’t, Joe B named Georgia’s Lewis Cine as a possibility at 25. If none of those scenarios pan out, I can totally see them going with Breece Hall at 25. He gives them a dimension they currently don’t have in the run game. Plus, this is Singletary’s final year on his rookie deal. Unless Zack Moss suddenly becomes a stud, their run game beyond Singletary isn’t great. And it’s rumored the friction between McDermott and Daboll last season was about Sean being irritated with Daboll calling too many designed QB runs. Obviously Josh is gonna scramble, that’s part of his game. But it seems clear the head coach would prefer far fewer designed runs. Adding a player like Hall allows them to lean on Josh a lot less in the run game. Hall is a three down back who can catch it and he looks like a really good fit for the zone blocking scheme they’re likely to run this season. They’re also gonna try to walk outta there with one of the top tight ends. I do believe they’ll extend Knox and let Howard walk after this season so long as they add one of the better ones from this draft. I think it’s the McBride kid they like a lot, I think they’ve met with him the most of any of the TE prospects. I also don’t think this is the year to stand pat and let the board fall to them. Go wheel and deal and move around and walk out with like four or five guys out of the top 100-150 players as opposed to seven picks from the whole field of 255 or however many it is this year. Their roster is pretty stacked so guys picked in the 6th and 7th rounds don’t have the best shot to make the team.

S TE LB CB OL WR I'mma say a dark gray suit for the tie breaker thingie. Did I wins?

His rapper name is so rude. Mine is much better, "WKRP Bossperson Husky."

Sheesh, not even 25, that stings. Way too young. So weird to see this after I saw his name come up when I was browsing thru drafts from the last couple years and was reminded that he was a first round pick. I totally forgot he ended up with Pittsburgh. Tragic stuff.

WR Chris Olave, Ohio State LB Troy Andersen, Montana State

Always had high hopes for this guy since he was a former third round pick. He showed some stuff here and there and hung around on the roster for a few seasons but never did much of anything. Once he got cut from the Bills I think that was it for him. I could be wrong but I don't believe he was picked up by any other teams following his three seasons here. Interesting he still hangs out around here. Perhaps he made some friends or really likes the area.. or maybe he made a couple baby mamas while he was here.