Richard Noggin

Big fan of building the trenches through the draft. Love the idea of Oliver playing next to either of the DTs we get with this heavy trade-back and -forth mock. Adding some legitimate talent to the WR, DT, and S rooms, with a very McDermotty CB tossed in there. That EDGE guy can maybe play, too. Was hoping for more/better OL help, given the perceived potential that they move on from Morse. But, can't have it all.

A few light trade backs beginning with round 2 netted what could be great talent reboots (2 top half of draft guys) at three positions of greatest need: WR, DT, S (EDGE gets 2 players as well, but lower picks). Keeping both Georgia safeties together is interesting, to me.

2024, semi-retired, 32-year old, practice squad version of AJ KLEIN was the primary, man-to-man coverage plan for stopping Travis Kelce on far too many snaps. Reeaally disconcerting design, despite the crippling injuries. NO LB should be tasked with covering Kelce m2m without a serious pressure package. Feels more like a gameplan problem than a depth chart issue.

Much more movement than I usually allow myself. Only trading back, of course. Never up. As a fan I'd ***** a brick if the Bills waited until their 3rd pick to grab a WR, but I think you'll agree this draft represents a workable restocking of the interior lines (cutting Morse in favor of someone who might be even better already, and adding 2 specimens at DT), while still adding two legitimate receiver prospects. Young numbers at safety, edge, and QB as well.

Moss is an effective enough zone scheme RB. Unfortunately, during his time in Buffalo, the offense tried each year to force zone blocking on a unit that was much better suited to man and pin-and-pull type design. Moss was a potential fit for what McD has always wanted his offense to be (based on coaching hires and my eyeballs), but not what they did well consistently.

@Einstein shared started a thread yesterday based on this chart: Guess how many other teams spent THREE top 3-round picks on RB over the past five years. (The answer is of course zero. Only the Bills have invested that many valuable picks in the RB position recently.) Suggests that the Bills could maybe chill on a RB until day three. Fascinating info down the board shared here:

No trades. REALLY fell nicely.

Bowers fell to me in only one mock so far and I absolutely jumped at the chance to add him. Or the Bills could continue to develop their heavier packages including at least two TEs on the field at a time. Fielding at least two of Knox, Kincaid, and Bowers on the majority of snaps shouldn't coincide with less passing explosiveness. It SHOULD coincide with less predictability and less vulnerability to defenses with excellent secondaries, like KC, for example. 2 or 3 TE sets are fascinating responses to defenses who like to go nickel and dime all the time. This was allegedly Dorsey's plan for the offense in 2023, being physical and multiple and unpredictable due in part to multiple-TE sets. If trading Knox carries cap relief, then sure, that makes sense. But with him having two years left on his extension, I'd imagine it's better to keep him one more season and benefit from his presence we'd be paying for anyways. Why not try to adapt and operate from a position of strength?

Oh, but I still hate Brady on so many levels right now in 2024. And I exist.

Found myself in that old Belichick pattern of not finding compelling value towards the end of rd 1, so I traded back here and there to add top-100 picks while also bringing in serious talent on the IDL: Are Worthy and Walker satisfactory additions to the WR group? Not sure fans would be reassured. But it's probably better than forcing picks based primarily on need, long-term. And Murphy plus Jackson at DT is a nice haul.

I hate your team and all that and hope they suffer untold misfortune, but this is an excellent post.

Majority of the picks here are unlikely to be available, or at least they mostly represent surprisingly excellent value. (Which means I'd be happy with this draft's value long term, despite low floors on those 2nd and 3rd picks.) Bills would be compelled to move on from Morse in this scenario, which is probably smart (for the cap) AND regrettable (for the locker room and maybe on the field--maybe not with JPJ coming in though).

Tried a different simulator (Fanspeak) for this one. Would have liked to grab an IOL (especially OC), but oh well.

Too bad we can't bring him home to The City of Good Nabers

What if the Bills had LOST 5 straight after being 6-6? What if they had top-10 picks in each round and a new, offensive head coach in Ben Johnson? Part of me was open to that kind of result this year. Organizational reset. Still could happen in 2024, but seems unlikely as long as #17 is healthy. He's too good to get his head coach fired.

My guess is outliers like Crosby and Watt and Bosa skew fan perceptions/expectations of DE snap counts for everyone else. And for DTs maybe it's just memories of some bygone era when Henderson and Stroud allegedly never came off the field for Jacksonville?

How is retaining the bolded players helpful? If the Bills are tight against the cap, then strictly depth players like those you've listed should be replaced by rookies (drafted and signed) and overall, younger, cheaper options. If the Bills could cut Miller (which mostly they can't/shouldn't, unfortunately) I would hope they don't use any savings expressly on re-signing bottom-of-the-roster veteran guys like Rapp, Lawson, Jackson, Sherfield, and Dodson. There is no improvement in that. I like the players you've listed, for the record, but as vested veterans they will command more cap space than draft picks, UDFAs, and other, younger options who can fill those fringe spots for less.

Would ya? Board showing this: (With Legette, McConkey, and Franklin still available) I'd have to at least seriously consider the move. The long-term org value is solid (despite the "draft" value being bad IF you automatically downgrade future picks at least a round), plus they could obviously try to leverage picks to get back in it. Gotta consider Seattle's 2024 outlook, too. Hidden value there.

Couple targets FELL on day one and two. Bowers and Franklin in first two rounds by just letting the draft play out? Sign me up. Kincaid, Bowers, and Knox could allow the Bills to make more dynamic use of those heavier and condensed formations they were using more under Brady. Plus a legit boundary prospect in Franklin. Heck yeah. (Not to mention the knee-jerk reactions of Bills fans everywhere when they take ANOTHER 1st round TE lol)

Ergo. "Our linguistic pendulum swings away from the literate and toward the spoken in the ages of Youtube and TikTok, ergo people who call out spelling/grammar mistakes online are sad relics."

This is exactly what I'm curious about. Butler, by title, has overseen the ascension of some seriously over-achieving, day three starting DBs like Taron Johnson and Christian Benford, and available free agents like Hyde and Poyer (from their 2nd years-on), as well as above average spot starters with limited physical traits like Levi Wallace and Dane Jackson. Ways people could try to downplay or mitigate Butler's impact on the above players' developments above and beyond general expectations include primarily acknowledging the presence of both Frazier (former CB) and McDermott (former S) until 2023, as well as Babich, who coached Safeties specifically for a few years there when things were humming with that duo (and then moved on to LBs who immediately thrived no matter who was plugged in -- until we got to a retired AJ Klein covering Travis Kelce m2m in the playoffs). I can't see anything in Butler's departure other than a net loss, on paper. But then again, if there's anything we should trust McD to do, it's get the most out of his secondary talent.

This happened quietly, no? Butler has since 2018 overseen a defensive backs room that has seemingly overachieved each year (in collaboration with other excellent DB coaches on staff, of course). How did I miss this?

Is it really just the Parcells (offensive) tree that has spread the gospel of E-P since the 90s?

NY Post and Rossini. Quite the credibility combo. Plus there's no actual story here aside from Rossini conjecture that stretches even the unattributed vague-as-eff conversation anecdote.