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BuffaloBillsGospel2014

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    Logic's 2022 Draft Review

    in The Stadium Wall

    Posted

    40 minutes ago, Logic said:

    **Note: I'm nothing more than a fan, just like all of you. This is nothing more than my opinion. You know how the saying goes: Opinions are like buttholes: everyone's got one and most stink. I don't grade picks, because doing so before the prospects have played a single NFL down is foolish. Instead, I'm just going to discuss my feelings on each pick and my feelings on the class overall.**


    CB Kaiir Elam - This was not the corner that I had pegged for the Bills in the first round. I thought for sure that his lack of tackling prowess and the perception by some scouts that he is "soft" would keep him off the Bills' draft board. Nevertheless, as I read about his top level athletic traits, speed, high character, work ethic, and coachability, the pick began to make a lot of sense. Tackling is something you can teach. Speed and size are not. In letting Levi Wallace walk and replacing him with Kaiir Elam, the Bills' coaches clearly wanted to upgrade the CB2 spot with a much better, faster athlete -- one that will allow them to diversify their defensive playcalling and to play more man coverage. While they prefer to play zone, the Bills wound up playing the 8th highest percentage of man coverage in the league last year. Now, when they do so, they won't be quite so vulnerable. Overall, this pick adds speed, versatility, and upside to the Bills' secondary, and the timeline of this selection lines up perfectly so that when Elam's ready for a second contract, Tre White will be just about exiting his prime.

    HB James Cook -  When this pick was made, I felt it was a bit of a reach, value wise. It's clear to me, though, that the staff highly prioritized adding a true pass-catching threat to the backfield. I wrongly assumed that Duke Johnson sufficiently checked that box after they struck out on JD McKissic. Instead, they selected the toolsy and under-used James Cook. As I said elsewhere on this forum, one of the main ways the Bills intend to beat two-high coverage going forward is to use checkdowns and dumpoffs. Cook can take those three yard passes and turn them into 12 yard gains. He can also split out not only into the slot, but out wide as well, and can legitimately run routes and beat corners. He has great ball tracking skills, great hands, and doesn't fumble. He'll be a versatile, movable chess piece for Ken Dorsey, and adds instant explosiveness and homerun ability that the Bills offense previously lacked. While I question the value of the pick, I think he'll be a valuable and dangerous contributor from day one.

    LB Terrel Bernard - Once again, I feel this was a bit of a reach, value wise. The Bills didn't have a 4th round pick, though, and I think they just didn't want to miss out on this player. Sean McDermott is very close with Baylor head coach Dave Aranda, and I'm guessing Bernard -- who was said to be the heart and soul of the Baylor defense --  got a more than glowing review of Bernard from his college coach. Onthe surface, this one's simple: Fills the role vacated by AJ Klein in being the third linebacker when the Bills are in 4-3, and will play special teams. A closer look reveals a little bit more intrigue, though: I believe that Bernard's addition will allow the Bills to play 4-3 more often if they so choose, without losing much against the passing game. Last year, when the Bills were in their base nickel, good running teams ran it down their throats. When they switched to 4-3, they became vulnerable against the play-action and mid-level passing game. Now, when they face such teams, they can operate out of the 4-3 in an attempt to stop the run, but Bernard stands a much better chance of matching up with tight ends and speedy running backs than Klein did. Furthermore, if the Bills decide to invest in Tremaine Edmunds, they may decide that they don't want so much money tied up at the linebacker position, and in 2024, they could release Matt Milano, who would then be 30 years old, and whose release would save the Bills $7.5M. A pick with an immediate ST and sub-package role, but who may be a starter down the line.
     
    WR Khalil Shakir - I fist pumped when this pick was made. I watched a lot of highlights and cut-ups of this guy and quite liked what I saw. He offers immediate punt and kick return ability, which will make him active on gamedays as a rookie. From there, he can initially start off as a WR5 and gadget player. He can work from the slot, from the backfield, and can be a jet-sweep option. Over time, as he refines his route running and adds strength, he's a candidate to become the Bills' long term starting slot receiver. Jamison Crowder is only on a one year deal, after all. The comparisons I've seen for Shakir include Diontae Johnson, Christian Kirk, Stefon Diggs, and Michael Gallup. The value I feel the Bills got by adding Shakir in round five makes up a bit for the value I feel they DIDN'T get by drafting Cook and Bernard when they did.

    P Matt Araiza - What can I say? I laughed out loud when this pick was made. The amount of hype around a freaking PUNTER this offseason was absurd. The amount of excitement that the Bills fan base has for drafting a punter to a team that never punts is also hilarious. Call it leftover Brian Moorman love, or maybe we just loved the thought of having the strongest armed QB, strongest legged kicker, and strongest legged punter all on the same team. Whatever the case may be, this was a fun pick. As for the player: a left footed guy who can kick it really far but doesn't have great hang time and has no experience holding....sounds a lot like Corey Bajorquez to me. If he can add some hang time and hold capably, he'll win the job. Matt vs Matt #puntapalooza, here we come.

    CB Christian Benford - I won't pretend I had ever heard of this player. From what I'm reading about him, he's big, strong, mean, physical, and had great ball production at Villanova. You can never have too many corners, and McDermott and Frazier have shown a propensity for turning late round and UDFA corners with chips on their shoulders into legitimate starting caliber players. Not sure if he'll make the 53, might be a practice squad candidate. Might be a steal, might be a nobody. I'll always trust our coaches when it comes to DBs, though, so I'd bet on the former rather than the latter.

    OT Luke Tenuta -  I'll be honest: I don't get this one. I know that it's always good to add O-line depth, but the deck seems highly stacked against this guy ever becoming a good NFL player. It sounds like he has an awkward build, short arms, and bad functional athleticism. His redeeming quality seems to be...that he's huge, I guess? I don't see it. They'll develop him on the practice squad for two seasons, I suppose. I would have much preferred an interior OL here, someone who at least has a chance to make the roster. They can't all be winners...

    LB Baylon Spector - Again, I won't pretend that I know much about this player. I think his primary avenue to making the roster would be to play special teams so capably that he allows the Bills to cut Taylor Matakevitch for cap savings. With Bernard, Spector, Andre Smith, Tyrel Dodson, Joe Giles-Harris, and Tyler Matakevitch, the backup linebacking corps is now pretty full. Will be a good competition in camp. 


    Overall:

    The Bills' biggest need coming into this draft was a couple of capable outside corners. They added a first round prospect with legitimate Pro Bowl upside, and they added a late round prospect who looks set to follow the Bills' recent trend of late round corner contributors, like Levi Wallace and Dane Jackson. 

    The Bills' second biggest need, generally speaking, was to add speed and schematic versatility on both sides of the ball.

    They accomplished this goal on defense in two ways. First, by adding Kaiir Elam to the secondary. They will be faster and more capable in man coverage, and can call a more diverse defensive game. Second, By adding Terrel Bernard at linebacker, they can choose to go 4-3 more than they have in the past, without losing nearly as much in the passing game as they did when they inserted AJ Klein into the game. Bernard can also be a sub-package weapon as a blitzer and matchup piece in the passing game.

    They accomplished this goal on offense by adding James Cook at HB and Khalil Shakir at WR. Both players played in the backfield, in the slot, and out wide in college. Both can capably fill multiple roles on offense. Cook adds speed and explosiveness to the running back room that it has lacked for years. He will also allow the Bills to come out in 12 personnel, but still spread the field, thus creating a nightmare for opposing defenses. Think Diggs, Davis, Knox, Howard, and Cook -- this screams "running play" to the defense, so it comes out in base defense. Then the Bills line up in an empty set and linebackers are forced to cover Knox, Howard, and Cook. This is the future of the Bills offense. This is the type of unpredictability and versatility that we can expect in 2022. Shakir adds yet another gadget option, and profiles as a long term starting slot receiver. Both players add speed, both players add versatility.

    Lastly, even the Bills special teams got a significant boost in this draft via the acquisitions of punter Matt Araiza, linebackers Terrel Bernard and Baylon Spector, corner/gunner Christian Benford, and returner Khalil Shakir. 

    I question the value of the Cook and Bernard picks. The value of the Shakir pick makes up for it to some degree. All in all, my only real regret is that they didn't add any legitimate interior offensive line prospects. You can't address every need in one draft, and perhaps Beane will sign another interior o-linemen or two. Still, I'd like to see them start taking swings at that position in the future. You can't just avoid drafting guards forever. That said, I feel they capably addressed the biggest roster holes on the team, made the offense and defense faster and more versatile, and generally improved the Bills' roster going into 2022.


    Best Draft Classes: Jets, Ravens, Chiefs. All three of these teams got a LOT better, and I hated it.

     

    I enjoyed the read.... I would have also added Steelers as a draft class I liked also, just my 2 pennies!

     

    I thought the biggest need coming into this draft class was CB2, my favorite player was Trent McDuffie and I can't help to wonder if he was there if he'd have been our pick but we'll never know that. I'm more than happy with the Elam pick, I saw what this regime did with 7th rounder Levi Wallace/Dane Jackson so I can only imagine what we do with this 6'1" freak of nature at corner plus we added some much needed depth in the 6th round with Christian Benford.

     

    I thought we also needed some depth or speed at IOL, WR, RB and LB. We didn't get much at IOL but I really liked WR Khalil Shakir, RB James Cook could be a real steal for us with his great bloodlines, his 4.43 speed, catching out of the backfield will be where I think he'll be the most dangerous and I'm looking forward to see what the running game will look like this season. I like the depth we got at LB also, this wasn't the flashiest draft but we filled some much needed holes (that's what she said!?).

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    Depth Chart Discussion

    in The Stadium Wall

    Posted

    55 minutes ago, Yantha said:

    Of course the roster can still change, as can who the starters will be.  I'm just wondering what you think about the state of the Bills now that the draft is settling in.  Is this team better than last season's team?  I also know that the base 4-3 might not be the right look (RE: Von Miller etc...).  But let's look at the overall roster here.

    Screen Shot 2022-04-30 at 5.07.48 PM.png

    Screen Shot 2022-04-30 at 5.07.29 PM.png

     

    Has Saffold ever played RG? 

    NFL Draft 2022 Fourth to Seventh Round Discussion Thread

    in The Stadium Wall

    Posted · Edited by BuffaloBillsGospel2014

    18 minutes ago, Playoffs? said:

    Who knows draft value/points?

     

    Could we move up into the middle of the 4th round?  And how many/which of our picks would we have to give up?

     

    If we trade all of our 6th rounders it comes to 54 points roughly, that equals pick #120 (Washington Commanders) in the 4th round

    • Like (+1) 1

    Rd 3, Pick 89 (25): LB Terrell Bernard, Baylor

    in The Stadium Wall

    Posted

    So the thought process from what I'm reading/hearing is that Beane believes that Bernard can backup up both Milano and Tremaine Edmunds, what he lacks in size he can make up with athletic ability. If that's the case and can indeed play both without missing the athletic ability of either of those LB's than I love this pick her because lets face when both Milano and Edmunds went down to injuries, we weren't as efficient and rightfully so.

    NFL Draft 2022 Second & Third Round Discussion Thread

    in The Stadium Wall

    Posted

    2 minutes ago, Bruffalo said:

    Arguably the two biggest needs have been addressed.  I wouldn't mind using some of those picks to move up in the third and get somebody like Calvin Austin III or Parham now.

     

    Calvin Austin would be amazing and 1 of my favorite players in this draft but sadly he wasn't a draft visit and seems to be the theme, love the player though

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