Shaw66

When the Bills were on the clock at 7, I wanted Rosen. Literally seconds before Goodell made the announcement, I thought "I don't want Rosen, I want Allen." For me, it's attitude, and Rosen demonstrated it again in his comments about making 9 teams pay. For Rosen, sooner or later it always seems to be about Rosen. I don't a guy like that. I want a guy who's always about winning. Look, Allen went at 7, Rosen at 10. Which guy had the right, over his entire football career, to feel slighted? The guy whose nickname in high school, for heaven's sake, was "chosen." The guy who went to the glamour football school? The guy who's been all over the media for the past three years? Of the guy who played 8-man football in high school, who was recruited by ZERO Division I schools, the guy who went to junior college and sent 1000 emails to coaches, begging for a shot? Allen has lived his football life PROVING people wrong. Rosen has lived his football life reading his press clippings.

Wow!!!! That's outstanding analysis. I just knew the Bills wanted big fast guys, but you explain how they will be utilized. I think McD desperately wants Edmunds to succeed in the middle. We wants a guy who can play the deep zone in the cover 2, and Brown just didn't have the speed to get back there. Edmunds does. And his height not only helps with the A gap rushes. It also means he's getting his hands on balls that were consistently six inches over Brown's reach last season.

Um, the Wonderlic isn't an intelligence test. It IS a processing speed test. Processing speed under time pressure. I thought I said that.

Well, who knows whether Allen will become that guy, but the Wonderlic is a measure of quick, accurate thinking, and Allen blew away the other QBs on the Wonderlic. His shortcomings in the decision making arena may relate more to his coaching that his abilities. He had a year of junior college, was injured his first year at Wyoming, then played two full seasons. No one is going to mistake the coaching at Wyoming for the coaching at USC, UCLA and Oklahoma. Those are big-time programs with big-time coaches. Craig Bohl has had success, but not at the major college level. He had Carson Wentz for Wentz's freshman and sophomore years and didn't make Wentz the starter. Wentz only started after Bohl left for Wyoming. If Bohl couldn't get Wentz near his ceiling in two years, why should we assume that he did it with Allen?

The Rockpile Review – by Shaw66 “Sling It and Bring It” One day as the Bills brain trust began planning for free agency and the 2018 NFL draft, there was a meeting. The meeting was called by Brandon Beane and attended by Sean McDermott, the coordinators, Terry Pegula and others. Everyone grabbed a pastry and coffee and, after the minutes of the last meeting had been read and approved, they got down to the business at hand. Beane said, “Okay, before we get into the specifics of individual players, let’s define in a broad sense what our player personnel objectives are for this year.” McDermott said, “Get me someone who can sling it and someone who can bring it. Get me a quarterback and a linebacker.” Pegula said, “What about all the other positions where we need help? We need offensive linemen; we need to rebuild the defensive line; we have to do something about the receivers; McCoy isn’t going to play forever.” Beane replied, “Terry, remember that Sean and I told you in my interview that we were going to rebuild this team, that big personnel changes were needed and that it was going to take at least two full seasons to replace many of the players we had with the players Sean needs. Those two seasons are 2018 and 2019 – we played 2017 more or less with the team Sean inherited, less the guys we unloaded. We used last season to get rid of some of the high-value guys Sean didn’t want around and to build a war chest to acquire new players. We tore things down, and now we start building again. “There’s not much we can do in free agency this season, because our dead cap situation is horrible, but the draft is another story. Getting rid of Watkins, Darby and Dareus made the cap situation worse in the short term, but it got us some valuable picks to add to the pick we got from KC in the draft trade last year. So the draft is where we start building. Next year, we’ll have cap room and draft picks and we’ll stock up on players.” “I get all that,” Pegula said, “but that doesn’t explain why we’re only looking for two guys.” McDermott joined in. “Terry, I can teach 20 players who are good, solid NFL athletes how to play their positions to make a winning team. We’ll collect those guys as we go along. But I need two special players. I need a quarterback and I need a linebacker.” Pegula ended the exchange by saying, “I brought you guys here to build a winner, and I said I’d give you complete authority to do it, so you’re calling the shots.” Okay, I wasn’t there, so I don’t know exactly who was there or what was said. I don’t know if there were Dunkin Donuts old fashioned doughnuts or Wegman’s croissants, but I’m betting that exchange between Beane and McDermott took place somewhere, sometime. And Terry Pegula is not a stupid man, so he didn’t need an explanation in 2018 about what the process is. Still, that conversation, or the essence of it, has been at the core of the Buffalo Bills’ strategy as they seek to become relevant in the NFL. How do I know? It was obvious by late last year, if not earlier. Taylor was not McDermott’s guy to run the offense, and Preston Brown simply didn’t have the speed to be McDermott’s guy to spearhead the defense. McDermott wanted and needed someone to sling it and someone to bring it. Beane went to work, and in one April evening in Dallas, he completed the first big steps in the process. It cost him essentially all of the surplus draft capital he and McDermott had acquired trading picks and players over the previous year. Now, with no second round picks this year and with no cap room, Beane will have to wait until 2019 to fill some of the holes. Beane’s not done acquiring guys; there will be some late-round picks and some undrafted free agents, but the guys with high-end NFL measureables will be gone before Beane gets another pick. McDermott and his coaches will do the best they can with the guys who come to camp. We will see how much magic they can do with limited resources, but it’s fair to assume that they will have some weaknesses in the lineup in 2018. The Josh Allen debate will rage on for months, maybe even years. Why didn’t Beane move up to #2 to steal Darnold from the Jets? (Too expensive to get the Giants to move off Barkley.) Why didn’t they take Josh Rosen, the more NFL-ready guy available at 7? (I don’t know, but I’m guessing three reasons: Size and durability, native intelligence – Allen crushed the Wonderlic, and continuing fears that Rosen is a “me-first” guy.) For now, Allen will be number 2 on the depth chart, until he shows, in July or September or November, that he should be the starter. If he isn’t the starter by 2019, the doubters will have been right. And Tremaine Edmunds, talent or not, still hasn’t played a down in the NFL. He’s an unfinished product. Beane could have stayed at #22 and held onto #65 and gotten two good football players, but Beane and McDermott saw what looks like their best shot at a difference maker on defense and took it. Beane and McDermott’s strategy was interesting. After all the debate about the strengths and weaknesses of the quarterbacks in the draft, and after all the analysis of the linebacking prospects, the Bills chose the best athlete at each position. In Allen and Edmunds they have the guys who were the biggest, strongest, best physically equipped players in the draft at their positions. In each case, they were the best by a good margin over the others. Why were the two best athletes available at #7 and #16 in the draft? Primarily because neither has demonstrated football instincts quite as good as some of the others at their positions. Neither was quite as “NFL-ready” as a Baker Mayfield or a Roquan Smith. Was Allen their #1 quarterback? Was Edmunds their #1 linebacker? GMs and coaches never answer that question, and we may never know. What we do know is that Beane and McDermott believe that these guys can be the offensive and defensive leaders they need to build a big-time winner. Essentially, Beane sent a message to McDermott: “I’m getting you the best talent available. It’s your job to get them to be stars in the NFL.” And McDermott is ready for the challenge, because McDermott has shown already that he’s prepared for any football challenge. GO BILLS!!! The Rockpile Review is written to share the passion we have for the Buffalo Bills. That passion was born in the Rockpile; its parents were everyday people of western New York who translated their dedication to a full day’s hard work and simple pleasures into love for a pro football team.

Except for all of the other most important nights. The night they traded for JP Losman was a pretty important night. Cost them Aaron Rodgers. How about the night they took CJ Spiller? The night they traded up for Sammy? The night they draft that total bust from Penn State (thank God I'm losing my memory, so I can forget guys lke that). Those all were important nights. Let's hope tonight is important for a different reason.

You're more than welcome!

She won't listen to a word I say about the draft. A lot like around here, actually. Anyway, I told her I was watching the draft tonight. She was more or less dumbfounded. All I know is she won't be sitting beside when the Bills trade up. She'll miss all the fun. Just like me, except she has dinner plans with a friend, so she's leaving me home. Give me your number and I'll text you updates.

Exactly. He isn't my choice, but the pros know what they're looking for. Allen has the best Wonderlic, by far, and I think that has something to with why the pros like him. They see that on the interviews and we don't.

This

Yes, thanks, indeed! It's been a great run up to the draft, and this has been a great place to keep up with developments rumors and theories.

Of course there will be details. I was just giving the broad outline. Plus Bills 56th has around the same value as next year's first. You can probably get #2 for that.

Opens the door to the three-way deal - Bills to #2, Giants to #4 with the Bills first pick next year and Browns to #12 and #22.

Fergy - Some say you're just baiting people. I hope so, because if you're serious about this you're way off base. Several posters here have explained aspects of it, the fundamental point being that these men who are getting drafted are completely free to participate or not. You may find it offensive, but if the participants don't find it so, I don't see the problem. The real clue that you're way off base, however, is this: "Men and women join the military because they have a sense of pride in their country, they wish to serve and protect our nation." If you actually believe that, you have been hopelessly brain-washed. If men and women joined the military because of pride in their country, the enlistees in the armed forces would come proportionally from all walks of life and all socio-economic levels. They don't. The military is disproportionately populated, at the non-officer level, by people whose best opportunity to make something of themselves is to join the military. At the officer level, many join because it's a great career opportunity, particularly because you can retire in 40s, collect a nice pension and move right into a second career. I recently heard about a guy who's joining the Marines because white male veterans have a significant edge over white male non-veterans getting into Harvard Business School. Neither your take on the draft nor on the military has much connection to reality.

This is where you are wrong. Professional sports are simultaneously a business and a game. Listen to the players; they tell us this all the time. they play the game, they love the game, they love the competition. They don't like the business part of it, but they recognize that business IS part of it, and they live with that. And you know what? The teams aren't interested in the guys who think it's a business, because guys who aren't in it for the pure love of the game won't subject themselves to the rigors, and indignities, of that life. That's a point that Kapernick and his supporters don't understand. Kapernick doesn't have a job not because he won't stand for the flag; he doesn't have a job because his focus isn't 100% on playing the game.

Geometrically speaking, when two lines are parallel, they are NOT the same line. Give me five minutes, and I'll give you parallels between Joseph Stalin and Barack Obama. Parallels don't make Obama a butcher. Just because there are parallels between slave auctions and the draft doesn't make the draft a slave auction. It's far from it.

When's the last time you or your child applied to college? It's the same meat market. What are your scores? What are your grades? What are your extra-curriculars? Are you the right race, the right culture, the right religion? Applied for a job lately? Is there anything more impersonal than modern human resources procedures?

Fergy - That's an interesting way to look at it, and of course there's some truth in it. Of course, it's not just pro football. It's all of pro sports and the entertainment world in general. Future entertainers are put through a similar meat market, and if you're a women in that field, it's not just your mouth that has things stuck in it. But we're living in a modern world where to reach the top of the heap there are occasional indignities we must endure. People WANT to get to the top of the heap, and they choose to endure the indignities. It's all driven by money. If I'm going to pay you $3 million a year for the next five years, I want to know if your teeth are straight. Do you want the money or don't you?

I think I missed the signups for that.

Yup. Three way deal with the Giants and either the Browns or the Broncos. Keeps the Giants in the top 5 along with another nice pick somewhere, gives the Browns or Broncos some nice picks and moves the Bills up. Not beyond the realm of possibility.

I'd love it. I think it's impossible. As I've said, I don't think the Giants are trading out of 2, but if they are, it's because they don't want a QB. The safe trade for them is with the Jets. If the Giants tell the Jets the Giants are trading out, the Jets can't afford to sit at 3. The Jets don't have a second round pick, so the Giants probably could pry the Jets' 2019 first round pick out of them. That's a much better trade for the Giants, because they still get the best non-QB in the draft AND they get an extra first rounder next year. In terms of pure draft value, the Bills have capital to deal with. They could offer, as was rumored, two first rounders this year and one next year, a really hefty price to pay, as far as the Bills are concerned. But that deal leaves the Giants outside the top 10, and I doubt they want that. So for the Bills to get to #2, I think they need a three-way deal with the Browns. The Browns might be willing to move back to 12 and 22 in exchange for #4, and the Giants might be willing to move back from #2 to #4 in exchange for the Bills first rounder next year. That still leaves the Giants in position to take the first non-QB. The Giants' risk in that deal is that the Browns and Bills take the two QBs the Jets want, so at 3 the Jets decide not go QB.

I agree something could happen at #1. As to why the Browns haven't announced, I think in many drafts it isn't until the day or two before the draft that word leaks about the #1 overall pick. I'm expecting that we'll hear sometime today that the Browns will take X.

I don't know about only 4 or 5 wins, but I think they're under .500. 2018 is just one of those seasons where so many things have to come together that it simply isn't likely to happen. First, I keep remembering that a month or two ago McDermott said something like "we're not as far a long as people think." That was his way of saying "lower your expectations. We're rebuilding, and we're going to get worse before we get better." Second, there's a new offensive coordinator, new system. Third, position-wise, there are question marks, if not flat out holes at positions all over the lineup. QB, for sure. Wideout, for sure. Offensive line, for sure. Defensive line. Linebacker. Fourth, the Bills have no cap room, so they aren't plugging holes with decent veterans. If the Bills get above .500, McBeane should be coach of the year and GM of the year. 2018 is setting up 2019. The Bills should have their QB by 2019, and they'll probably have a top-10, top-12 pick in the draft, as well as a lot of cap room. The 2019 roster will have the players McBeane actually want.

This, and more. This draft is unique in my memory. The trade possibilities are endless. Because they have #4, Browns could trade out of #1. Possible, not likely. Giants could trade up to #1 or trade back to #3, #4 or anyplace else. Jets could trade up to #1 or #2. They could trade back if #1 and #2 don't work out as they're hoping. Browns certainly could trade out of #4. Broncos could trade up or back. Colts could trade up or back. They could move to #4 to get ahead of the Broncos. After #6, anything could happen, because there are four teams not looking for a QB. There are plenty of teams looking for a QB or that may want to get into the top 10 just because they want a guy who's there. Or everyone will stay where they are. Actually, #1 through #12 staying where they are almost seems like the most unlikely scenario. I think there will be multiple trades in the top 10.

If this is true and the Giants are dealing, Bills will have outbid the Jets. It's a problem for the Jets because they dont n have a second round pick to package with their third pick overall. Bills have the assets to outbid them.