Florida Bills Fanatic

Having seen Burks play live at a game, no way would I waste any time or resources on him. Bad hands, poor route runner, and poor quickness was what I saw from him. I don't understand how he was ever seen as good prospect.

I think this whole idea of it being a transition year or a rebuild is a bit over blown. Returning 8 starters on the offense and 7 or 8 (depending how you count Douglas) on defense doesn't sound to me like a major upheaval. I thought Morse was reaching the end of the line and it was time to move on. Diggs and Davis were not the weapons that they needed to be, especially for the last nine games. The team also didn't need the ongoing Diggs drama. Floyd had good games but faded some down the stretch, showing some of his age. White's major injuries and missed games made him a non-factor for two seasons. Poyer and Hyde were not terrible but had clearly lost a step. They remained somewhat effective because of their intelligence and experience. The Bills need the new receiver group to collectively deliver good results, Miller to be at least as good as Floyd, and the safeties to be at least as steady as the older versions of Poyer and Hyde. Moving on from Morse will probably prove to be a nonevent. I don't think any of these things are out of the realm of reasonable possibility.

A friend of mine that works in the NFL (not the Bills) told me not to discount the impact that Hamler will have. He said that Hamler has the speed and deep ball tracking skills that will make him a real threat. Hamler has never had a QB like Allen. He also told me that other teams were interested in him before he chose the Bills. I hope my friend is correct but I will remain skeptical until I see him in the preseason.

second round guy

It would be interesting to correlate the data with good or elite QB play. Some of the guys going in the top half of the draft probably went into a bad QB situation. No matter who the Bills select, they will be under a lot of scrutiny and will constantly be compared to Diggs.

Beane's first round M.O. has been to move up to get a guy they like, if there is a chance the player isn't going to get to them. It will all depend on who they like and where that player or players are likely to be selected. A lot of people expect 5 QB's and as many as 6 OT's going in the first round. If that happens, a good receiver should fall within range to move up. With 10 draft picks this year and the extra second rounder next year, Beane has the capital to make a couple of moves. I'll be surprised if they actually select more than 7 players. The other picks will probably be used to move around. If there isn't a player available to them at 28 that they like at that price, a trade back could happen. I believe that Beane really wants to gain a pick before the end of the third round and those two factors could motivate him to trade back.

How about Bass hole?

Dallas and Miami for starters

When I look around the league and see the number of good receivers that were not drafted in the first round, I get the feeling that fans are more locked into a first round receiver than Beane. The depth in this draft also contributes to that feeling. Beane isn't prone to making abrupt moves without a plan. Trading Diggs wasn't done in a vacuum. The Bills must be confident of drafting a guy that can be a good player or they believe that somebody like Shorter or Hamler can do the job. I thought Diggs looked slow and ineffective during the last half of the season. Davis was too inconsistent. Improving upon them doesn't seem like it should be much of a reach. The Bills may also believe that Allen is good enough to elevate the performance of less regarded draft prospects. In any event, I will be watching the draft unfold with a high degree of anxiety and a couple of adult beverages.

No GM is going to telegraph any info that will tip their plans for the draft. Given Beane's past, he is too clever to do otherwise.

I can't rule out any of your well thought out scenarios. They all could be accurate. Thanks

Thinking back, I felt the same way when Hyde and Poyer showed up. Neither had really given an indication of how good they would become. McD needs to work his magic. I do hope the Bills draft someone that can play sooner rather than later. Having to play Lewis and Hamlin would be a nightmare scenario.

Picking a day two talent with a first round pick is a losing strategy for the long run. Fortunately, there are more receivers with first round talent than are likely to be selected in the first round. Even with the numbers stacked like that, there are no guarantees that the Bills will even like any of those guys that are available. I do hope they select a highly graded receiver in the first round. IMHO they need to be prepared to replace Diggs in a year. Beane has not shown the propensity to over reach in the draft and I don't expect him to this year. If they go with a day two guy, they probably know something that we don't.

It is highly probable that a WR worthy of pick 28 will be available. There are also a large number of receivers that make sense for a day two pick and should not be selected in the first round.

It is all going to come down to perceived value, supply, and demand. A run on receivers or d-tackles might force Beane in one direction. It could also be a situation where a player drops and is the best value on the board. We won't know for sure until the draft unfolds. I am confident that having 5 or 6 teams taking QB's before pick 28 will guarantee that some really good value will be available. As free agency unfolds; WR, Safety, and d-tackle appear to be the most important needs. And to a lesser degree, they also need to add at CB and IOL. Because of the concentration of positional needs and the number of picks, Beane will be able to trade picks to move around and still pick more than one in some of these position groups. It's no surprise to me that Beane has himself in a great position going into the draft.

I think Beane will get a WR and DE in first two rounds. The order will depend on who is available. Day three will probably be safety, d-tackle, and interior o-line. I think that many of us have a much higher opinion on most of the WR's in the draft than the Bills do. It might be a case of the top three being really good and a large number of the rest being significantly less talented. The bust rate on highly drafted WR's seems high to me.

There's a good article on clutchpoints.com that provides a pretty good history on Samuel. The article can also be accessed through the Yahoo sports app.

This is a play to get ahead of the Giants at 6 to draft McCarthy. It's a pretty serious commitment of resources for a guy with mixed opinions from scouts. When your team is up the creek at QB, I guess you roll the dice and take the best shot available. We should all be glad that the Bills aren't in this situation. I hope 6 QB's go ahead of the Bills at 28 and good talent drops to them.

I guess you'll just have to watch him play because it is pretty clear that you have an opinion.

Put down the bong and step away from the computer...... Hollins was signed for special teams and nothing more. We really know very little about Shorter or Hamler at this point. There are at least a dozen guys in this draft that have the potential to become a dominant downfield threat that the Bills don't currently have under contract. They need to get one of those young guys on the roster. Beane has done a good job of improving the WR talent pool to set up competition during the preseason. He should not be done yet. However it sorts out, the WR group will be better than last season.

Yes and have you ever watched him play. He played a role in Washington that did not take full advantage of his skill set. His speed and quickness are clearly evident. If you really doubt his big play ability, look back at his Ohio State video. He didn't get picked 40th overall for doing nothing. Allen will be the first good passer that he has played with in the NFL. He didn't have great air yard stats because of QB play, not because he can't get open down field.

Debo was playing hurt and was not 100%.

There is absolutely no comparison between Samuel and Crowder. Samuel is a faster, bigger, stronger player. He is a big play threat because of his ability to run after the catch. Crowder was never a big play threat. Samuel played a lot in the slot in Washington because Dotson and McLaurin don't. He also played with very bad QB's.

Samuel's ability to beat man coverage is one of the main things he brings to the Bills. With the exception of Diggs, the WR room did not have this ability. Samuel will be the guy that will deter defenses from blitzing with straight man to man behind it. KC did that to the Bills in the playoffs and nobody could make them pay. With 4.31 speed, two steps will mean some big plays.

I'm not as sure about the defense going downhill as many are. Poyer and Hyde were not great all season. Floyd is really the only significant contributor that is gone and even he faded down the stretch. A starting safety and one more pass rusher will be critical. Adding a couple of rotational d-tackles will be necessary but are available in free agency or the draft. Trading down will definitely be an option but it may happen in the second round. I also expect Beane to use the extra day three picks to move. I don't picture Beane actually drafting 11 players. I really hope that there is a run on first round QB's, maybe 5 or 6. This will drive talent further down the boards and give Beane great options (including trading down).