WideNine

This probably is not the draft to find your future LT, and I cannot see grabbing a RT within the first 25 picks. I would predict that if the Bills stay at 9 they go BPA DL and they give Dawkins a chance at redemption to clean up his game and lock down that LT spot. That being said, there are solid G and/or RT prospects in this draft that should be available thru the 2nd and 3rd rounds...there are also several solid FA o-linemen the Bills can sign too....they have options and do not need to reach to fill their o-line needs.

That is why game tape trumps highlight reel all day, every day. Does it really help your team if a receiver makes one circus catch that makes his highlight reel for every 3 easy passes he drops that doesn't?

Don't know if it is a this or that kind of thing. I think the better offenses in the league have competent TEs. We don't. We have Croom who fits more the KB big WR role than traditional TE. Picking a TE in the draft is no more a crapshoot IMO than any other drafted position if you count how many receivers that don't pan out. The Bills have grabbed some later round prospects and UFAs TEs that have been meh. The top cupboard is usually pretty bare of great TE talent because those with the elite size and athleticism often end up as basketball recruits. The skills translate well. TEs do take a beating, and may not put up the huge yards on average, but the yards gained are usually those contested 4-7 yard completions needed to move the chains and keep drives alive, or dump offs to keep your QB from taking hits. I am not sure how gimpy Ebron was this past year, either way he was very productive in the red zone and earned his pro-bowl invite. If an elite talent is there at TE I take that prospect over an average receiver prospect. According to most scouting reports, this year there are a few of these more elite TE prospects. It is a deep position this year...that is not usually the case. On the other hand, the way the receiving prospects are bunched up (talent-wise) this year, I am ok with taking one later in the draft...he just has to have sure hands. Can't wait for the draft to see how things pan out.

I catch the Iowa games too, and I like your Witten analogy. I would not say that being comparable to Gronk is beyond his reach though as I do not think Hockenson has filled out or hit his ceiling yet...and if he stays healthy I have no idea where that may be. His combine measurables will be interesting. Either way if he stays healthy in the right system the kid could be a very dependable TE like Witten. Only time will tell and I like a few TE prospects in this draft.

He has my 10 year old daughter beat by 60lbs....but for an NFL player... That, and the fact he will struggle against the jam, goes down if sneezed on, has concentration lapses...aka drops the ball, and disappeared in big games against better competition. Left me underwhelmed...speed and college production in other games aside. Too bad about the injury, but knowing this should help the Bills FO make better choices if they are going to invest in any receivers this draft.

I agree with MrEpSYTown that the Patriots target linemen from schools who teach NFL fundamentals. They have also keep bringing Dante Scarnecchia out of quasi-retirement to coach their o-line back up... the guy knows what he is doing and gets the most from their o-line players.

Agree that scheme to talent is a very important factor, probably more so now than ever, but I think using examples of players prior to Free Agency, and several generations before the current CBA agreements and before the spread offenses in college became vogue, does not address the challenges the articles lay out that coaches have today getting college prospects NFL-ready. Having players from the NCAA ranks that cannot operate out of a 3-point stance, who no longer learn NFL level blocking techniques, means a longer time needed to coach those skills up, but the CBA allows less, Free Agency takes the units that learn how to work together in the same scheme with the same language and breaks them up. Successful teams need to have schemes and teaching techniques to get players up to speed faster, and IMO teams need to stress keeping these units together longer, and front offices and coaching staffs need to stress more effective o-line player transition planning & replacement strategy. Interesting read, and adds some caution to expectations of o-line players taken high in the draft, or thinking free agents will provide instant success as there are plenty of examples where they did not. There is more to filling the gaps than grab another prospect to plug in.

That is the logical, sane, and well thought-out way rookies should be evaluated, but this is the NFL and there is a regime change so all "Cards" are on the table - lame joke I know. I think they would have more success building around and better supporting Rosen, but there are more than a few teams that prefer investing in more mobile QB's that can help them win NOW and disguise all the warts they have with protections, receivers getting open, etc... Longer term I think the better defenses in the NFL figure out how to bottle up those QBs and they struggle throwing from the pocket. I think Murray will be very susceptible to that kind of defensive approach considering his height and size, but you never know.

Although the topic was quickly locked out... I found Chief fans arguing about Mahomes' ball placement when KB was dropping passes from him. Seems that when Mahomes gets passes near their "real" receivers they are normally caught. I found it enlightening that a QB who was considered very successful was having the same issues (drops) that Allen was having trying to throw to one of the same receivers Allen was trying to throw to during the season. Also interesting the way fans were dissecting those Mahomes throws the way we do Allen's. I think the glass is half-full with Allen and if we can get more options for him who can catch - the Bills will be fine.

Don't honestly think I will be around THAT long. I remember reading an article where they were trying to find a professional football QB who had worse stats than Peterman, they were going back to the leather helmet days. His performance was the stuff of legends.

He did get KB lit up on one high throw earlier in the year, but in hindsight I am not all that broken up over it.

As an EJ apologist I get it - there were times he flashed the mechanics and types of throws I wanted to see from our QBs, but had to come back down to Earth. For me, it was when I heard from a reliable source that the Bills players themselves were fed up that EJ just could not grasp an NFL playbook and coaches had to "dumb" everything down to half the field.

"The Pill" (Pillsbury Doughboy) knew how to read defenses and where to go with the ball, but oh man there was nothing on those passes - took forever to get there. When he tried to put more on those passes, they were so bad I remember they would slow-mo replay them. If they fell incomplete or got picked off or nearly picked off they would do a replay that would show the ball flopping around in the air. Pretty cringe-worthy stuff, but as the adage goes, those who can't "do" - teach. Coaching the position is where AVP has found his success. R J definitely was the better of the two. If he had a bit more pocket presence and less of a wind-up to his throws he may have been able to find more success. We definitely have fielded worse QBs than Rob or Doug - hence a bit of the controversy in the locker room when they were competing to get the starts.

Agree with most of this. I do think "the pocket" was the least safe place for Josh last year, but also that he really needed to learn how to slide or step out-of-bounds. At least with some space he could use his speed and ellusiveness to keep from getting plowed over. That does not guarantee that some tool like Alonso won't still try to take your head off with a flying forearm/elbow. Good thing the kid had his head on a swivel that play. Defensive players hate running QBs and the cheap shots will keep coming...if running and making linebackers and safeties look silly is going to stay a part of Josh's game he has to remain aware that sliding or going out of bounds is no guarantee he won't get hit.

That is because the brain cells for reading have shrunk down for some folks to the point where they are at full capacity with about a 6 word tweet. Some, if not most of us understood "designed runs" as opposed to saying scrambling to avoid pressure or if Allen sees that the defense has given up 20 yards of green in front of him. He is money on those sneak plays though...think we have to keep those in the playbook.

I would not undervalue that director of pro personnel role. When the Bills promoted John Butler from his pro personnel role to GM and then jettisoned he and his protege A J Smith and Wade too...Butler and Smith both went to the Chargers. They built a great Chargers team while the Bills sank into a freaking tar pit of poor personnel decisions and even poorer leadership. The good ones are worth retaining.

May be making too much of the Long signing as Bodine is set to be a UFA after next season and I think Long fits in nicely as a starting Guard that could serve as a backup to center if needed. I don't necessarily see a little over 4 million a year deal being a show- stopper for the Bills front office still finding a premium upgrade at center. IMO He may be just a guy that can fill a need and depth role when Bodine is either released or hits the market as a UFA. Admittedly, I am hoping this is the case. Otherwise my mental response to Beane's plans on making upgrades around, and protecting Allen better will be a slow clap of mocking derision. "Awesome, yay we landed the 37th rated center" where do we sign for those club seats?

Wasn't Borq the punter who was supposed to hold on a field goal and thought it was a fake kick...than ran around for 2 seconds before getting crushed looking for a receiver while all the Bills players were all WTF-ing? I like that guy

Normally I don't think so. I like the prospect from Utah and think the Bills should have him on speed dial as a UFA.

That being said if he is that good pay the man $$$$$ so he does not feel so "held back". I am a bit selfish regarding this, as I would like to see more continuity in the Bills FO. That being said, you still don't block guys from taking a promotion if your perks can't sway them towards retention.

Dunno about the Ebron reference. I don't think I ever caught Ebron saying that about Stafford, but will revise opinion if you have a quote. What I did read was that Ebron went on record saying that Stafford was a general who lead on the field, but did not throw him the ball and Detroit refused to use him as a red zone target. https://www.prideofdetroit.com/platform/amp/2019/2/5/18212005/eric-ebron-begged-detroit-lions-more-red-zone-targets

I would have to think after the underwhelming QB skills on display at the Senior Bowl this year, that Elway has to be kicking himself. We can argue all day about the different QBs taken last year, but regardless I believe it was a very, very good year to take a top-end QB. It may even go down as a great year if some of these guys develop like I think they will.

You may be right. I like Hockenson a lot, but I think any other year he would probably be a 2nd round pick. Because no one has really separated themselves from the pack as THE top-end receiver in this class folks are looking more at the deeper TE class and it's top-end prospects. Kittle was taken in the 5th I believe, but his success now has more teams looking at that Iowa program, how they recruit and coach up their TEs. These other factors I do think have caused his draft stock to rise... I don't think he will last through the first round, and neither will Irv Smith. Not sure about Fant, but don't know if there was ever a year where 3 TE's went in the first...would have to do some digging. I personally do not see the Bills brass taking him at 9, but there are no guarantees even at the top of the draft either. I do think he should be just as much an option as the top receivers folks are batting around if they trade down in the 1st.

Run out of town and was arguably the biggest offensive impact weapon for Indy last year. Went to the pro bowl this year and scored the AFC winning TD....so there may be more to the Ebron story. Detroit was clueless on how to use him whereas Indy was not. https://247sports.com/nfl/detroit-lions/Article/Eric-Ebron-Lions-offensive-targets--128709175/Amp/ That being said Ebron reminds me more of Fant with the athleticism, but concentration lapses...he will drop some passes. Hockenson supposedly has the more dependable hands and blocking of the 2 Iowa prospects. The Iowa HC was NE's TE's coach and that is why they have been churning out some pretty good prospects like Kittle in 2017 who broke NFL receiving records last year. Not saying Hock will do the same, but TEs coming out of that program are generally well coached.

No offense taken. Many of us feel that at 9 the BPA will be a defensive prospect. I think if the Bills trade down then they may turn to our O-line needs 1st as the BPA should align better with those sans reaching. So this was just a conversation about which direction they would go IF they go defence at 9.