Florida Bills Fanatic

Irv Smith

I agree. I think the success of the individual is a function of good college experience, athletic ability, effort exerted, learning ability of the player, teaching ability of the coaching staff, and the effectiveness of the offensive system in which the player is asked to function. From everything I have read about Hockenson, he had good development at Iowa, is very athletic, is a high effort guy, and is a very smart player. The team owns the responsibility to teach what is lacking and put him in a system that fits his ability. He is the best TE prospect that has come along in a long time. If he is the BPA at pick #9, there should be no hesitation. There is a real chance that he will be gone before Pick #9.

I agree with you. There are at least 12 prospects that have top 10 talent. We can use upgrades almost everywhere. Other than a QB, I'm okay with any of them. If they are really difference makes, they'll earn their way onto the field regardless of who is already on the roster today..

Me too! I always find it entertaining to read the posts from people who don't have access to the scouting and medical information on draft prospects. Yet they are absolutely sold on either drafting or passing on an individual. Trades always elicit overreactions good or bad mostly based on emotional opinion. Fortunately, this forum has a significant number of contributors that provide good insight based on research and knowledge of the game. I enjoy ready their posts as opposed to the ones from the fire everybody crowd.

Maybe they're checking out the consolation prize in case they can't get their first choice.

It wouldn't surprise me if they replace Carr so they can make a big splash for their move to Vegas. With Chuckie, who knows for sure. I still believe that there is a good chance AZ takes Murray and trades Rosen to the Giants for their high second round pick. I've read in several different forums that AZ has been offered second round picks by a couple of different teams. But again, nobody knows for sure. That's why the televised draft is so entertaining to watch.

Not me either, He'll be over-drafted by someone in the second round and not be available when the Bills pick in the third round.

Ask David Carr if drafting a good QB to a bad roster was a good strategy. Either way I respect your opinion. Time will tell how it all works out.

Close but no cigar! Mahomes was not considered a sure thing in a draft that was not considered to have strong QB prospects, thus his drop to pick #10. He was considered to be one of the better QB's available in that draft. The knock on him was the system that he played in. He sat for a year because KC felt that he wasn't ready to play and Alex Smith was still the better player. To his credit, he learned quickly and is on his way to being a great player with great players around him. The trade down isn't being looked at as an overly rosey scenario. Your view of the GM at the time is spot on. By the time of the draft, he wasn't involved in any of this decision making (he was a dead man walking). I believe that McD was hired because he had experience in Carolina in their process of rebuilding their team to compete for the long term. Picking a QB that wasn't viewed as a sure thing onto a bad roster with an imminent cap disaster, was not a good long term strategy. In addition, the consensus was that the 2018 draft was going to be deep in high quality QB talent. That view won out and they made the trade down. The trade down produced multiple starters and draft capital to move up to select a QB. Time will tell whether that QB develops into a great player or not.

KC is not in the Bills division and he was not that highly regarded coming out of college. He landed on a great offensive roster and has flourished with all of that support. I doubt that he would have been the league MVP playing with the 2018 Bills. During the 2017 draft, the Bills had a terrible roster with too many holes. They were headed to cap hell. The smart play was to trade down, get extra picks, fill some holes, and not draft a QB at that time. They would have just squandered two years of the QB's rookie contract on a terrible team.

You very seldom see a GM help a team within their division crawl out of a hole. If you can prevent them from getting the future QB they desire, it is even better. Usually you see them put the proverbial boot on their throat and step down hard on a variety of personnel moves. Recent examples are Belicheat signing Hogan and Gillisliee away from the Bills or the Bills signing Clay away from Miami. It's not about Miami not being a threat this year. If you can keep Miami in rebuild mode for a longer period of time, it will be a greater benefit.

I will be greatly surprised if there is a RB selected before day 3 of the draft. As others have pointed out, this isn't a great year for RB prospects. I believe that Beane is comfortable with McCoy and Gore for this year. It makes sense to have the heir apparent on the roster for a year before they have to be the main guy but they may not see it that way.

I doubt that Beane would trade down with a division rival (Miami ) unless he could really exact an outrageous price. There are so many moving pieces with the draft, predicting the Bills moves are nothing more than a guess. Not even an educated guess, at that.

I agree with you. He may already have a deal in place to acquire Rosen from Arizona. They have an early 2nd round pick that may be enough to make the trade. He may think that none of the QB's other than Murray are better than Rosen. If he pulls off the trade, he keeps the two #1's and keeps the flexibility to take two good position players on either offense or defense.

I agree with you. I think he is one of the top five prospects. We need about 5 GM's to completely whiff on their picks so that he can drop to #9. I don't expect that to happen.

Looks like one of the Kraft family!

When I look at the Bills roster, other than QB, they can use a talent upgrade at any position group. That's why Beane keeps talking about taking BPA. It gets a little confusing when trade downs come into play. Those decisions are made when the grade on available players doesn't match the pick or when the roster has enough glaring wholes where the extra picks are of more value than the player available at the original pick. Since I don't know about the specific grades on given players, I don't feel like I'm really in a position to judge the draft until I see them perform in games. I have draft prospects that I like but that doesn't mean they will be the best selection. I have to keep reminding myself that I really liked the selection of Dareus and we all know how poorly that turned out. I'm just going to trust the process.

With the depth of good players in certain position groups in this draft class, I think it makes more sense to move up into the second or third rounds. The price to make those moves is a more reasonable use of the extra 4th, 5th, and 7th round picks.

I have to believe that Beane is playing his cards conservatively at this point. Based on his past comments about managing the cap, I don't expect him to throw big money at a guy like Clark or Clowney. Depending on how the draft falls through the first few picks, he will make his move for either a specific player or down for more picks or make the pick at 9. In my opinion, the only likely trade candidate that has any potential value is Lawson. Other than some speculation from some sports reporters, I haven't seen anything to indicate that they are serious about a trade. The decision with his 5th year option may clarify things.

I'm not sure that they will re-sign Lawson, especially if they don't pick up his fifth year option. If they stick to BPA in the draft, they won't worry how they will get him on the field (at least according to Beane). He would be a rotational player to start and earn more playing time with good performance. I don't care for this scenario but it is one that they may follow. I agree with you that we need to select an impact starter with our pick at 9. It's not like the Bills have a loaded roster and can afford for a number 9 pick to wait on the sidelines.

The Browns didn't tank. Their front office did an incredibly bad job of drafting (Johnny Football and others) and had some of the worst coaching in the league. They squandered multiple high draft picks, several years in a row. They finally got a good GM, had two good drafts in a row, made one really good trade, made a couple of really good FA signings, and improved their coaching staff. They really stumbled their way into this great situation. They were so bad that they didn't need to tank. They still have some holes to fill on their defense but I expect their GM to get them fixed. They have a window of time to be successful before rookie deals start to run out on those high draft picks. In the meantime, I expect them to be good, especially on offense.

I think "Depends could have a market for an athletic fit version". Just sayin

Depending on who is picked in 1 through 8, it is possible that he could be the BPA. I don't think it will fall that way, but it is possible. It wouldn't be horrible but I'm hoping for better.

As much as we all like to throw rocks at Roger the dodger, the restrictions on off season workouts and practices are the result of the demands of the NFLPA. This was negotiated in lieu of benefit and monetary demands. The owners gave this and kept more cash. Can't say as I blame them. As many have pointed out, many of these restrictions are really stupid. I'm sure that as players gather for their own private offsite workouts, defensive players are catching balls, etc. I can't wait for real football to start.

You got it! BPA because the Bills need better talent in all of those areas.