BigAl2526

I would hope and expect improvement from Rousseau this season. I don't expect Von Miller to have any magic effect on him beyond attracting more attention from opposing blockers. Rousseau has an entirely different body type, and a different skill set rushing the passer. He may learn a trick or two from Miller, and I think he's a strong leader and locker room presence, which benefits everyone, but Miller's presence is not going to remake Rousseau's game.

I was already optimistic about Cook, and I've heard lots of good things about Shakir, but the presence of Terrel Bernard on that list is really encouraging. Once he gets acclimated to the NFL, I can imagine it will be like having a Milano clone. They are both small for linebackers, and Milano has begun to have some injury issues. If the Bills can get solid play out of Bernard, I can see the Bills platooning the two, each getting 50% of the reps more or less. Less wear and tear means less risk of injury.

Any time a prospect pulls out a notebook, you know McDermott is going to start drooling.

With a nod to Elton John, I would like "Rocket Man" or maybe since his name is Matt, "Rocket Matt"

The posts about Benford being slow are interesting to me. He timed 4.52 in the 40 at his pro day. That is significantly better than Levi Wallace and better than Dane Jackson. It's comparable to what Kyler Gordon did in the 40 at the combine, and Gordon went in the second round. It's pretty well known that a lot of young prospects get coaching specifically for the combine and pro day testing. Benford, being a small school guy who didn't get invited to the combine, is far less likely to have been coached up for the running that he did at his pro day, than say Kyler Gordon. The Bills are getting somewhat faster at the position. Of course, Elam is pretty fast at 4.39 replacing Wallace who was 4.6+. Nick McCloud on their practice squad last year is still with the Bills, is their fastest CB with a 4.37 40. He's also got decent size at 6' and 193 lbs. If he can get his deficiencies coached up, the Bills secondary is looking up.

Araiza's struggles to drop the ball inside the 20 have, I think, more to do with inexperience and lack of coaching in that area than some innate thing he can't correct. He's going to get a lot of coaching between now and the start of the season.

The problem with Tenuta is his size. Being 6'8" would seem to put the kabosh on any notion of inside outside versatility. Playing on the inside on the line is all about leverage, and that means getting lower than your opponent across the line. That's tough to do at 6'8" though perhaps not impossible. Obviously, Dawkins and Brown look entrenched on the ends of the line. Buffalo signed David Quessenberry to play, or at least compete strongly, for the role of swing tackle. They also have Tommy Doyle, another 6'8" guy they picked up in the draft last season. To win a spot on the 53 man roster, Tenuta would have to beat out Doyle at least. Since he's obviously not going to be the second guy on the depth chart behind Dawkins and Brown, it would be better for him if he had some inside/outside flexibility, since the interior is where the Bills' depth is probably weakest.

It seemed to be solid though unspectacular, which is what I expect for a team in the 25 picking slot. Picking a grade would make me a hypocrite after posting what I just did in another thread.

Spurr of the moment evaluations are very much prone to be affected by the bias of the reviewer. Case in point is Walter Cherepinsky who grades each pick of the first three rounds (http://www.walterfootball.com) He downgraded Buffalo's pick a bit, mostly because they traded up when there were still multiple options left on the board at CB (Andrew Booth and Kyler Gordon along with Elam). His rationale was that if Dallas takes Elam, Buffalo still has a couple really good CBs to choose from. But listening to Brandon Beane, Elam was the last guy on the board that they had a first round grade on. We don't know how much higher the Bills think Elam's ceiling could be, but it's clear they think it is higher. Is Cherepinsky right, and the Bills wrong (along with Gunner, who thinks Booth is a top ten player overall) or are the Bills? There's no possible was to determine that right now. In a year or two we'll know a lot more.

Scientifically, it's the leg and it's not close. When it comes to launching a football. Josh Allen IMO can make the ball be airborne for a greater distance than Arraiza can punt it. As has been mentioned, Arraiza's longer punts benefited from roll after they hit the ground. While on the subject of Matt Arraiza, it's clear he's going to have some adjusting to do before he can be a successful pro punter. Yes, he has that famous "rocket leg," more power than any punter ever. However, critics say that his timing is so quick, from the instant he gets the ball to the moment it leaves his foot, that his coverage guys don't have as much time as they could to start down the field. Second, Arraiza has to some extent sacrificed altitude for distance. Of course, that too can make it tough on your coverage guys. Thirdly, Arraiza is undeveloped in the art of pinning the other team deep inside the 20. We've seen tape of him doing exactly that, but those are long punts the receiver wasn't able to get to, and the ball to a good roll, but the way he's punted, once the offence gets to the 50 yard line, and then has to punt, there is a very good chance the ball is going into the end zone for a touchback and 30 yards or less net. Lastly, because Arraiza was also the kicker for the Aztecs, he has to learn from scratch how to be a holder. I'm not saying he can't come in and learn all of that stuff, but he is going to have his hands full learning and practicing new techniques between now and the season opener.

I can almost guarantee that at least one 2023 mock has been published since the 1011 draft was completed. After an initial mini-flourish, the pace normally drops way off for a while. It picks up more in November and increases gradually for a couple months. There will be a spurt in January , and again post combine. In the last days before the draft it will be a deluge.

It will forever be known as the "Strange" pick in the future. As far as the Bills are concerned, it's tough to try and earn top notch grades when you're drafting near the bottom of the order. Conversely, if you're the Jets and you've got three first round picks, you'd better have a superlative draft, or you deserve to get fired. I think Buffalo's grades are understandable and fair, and reflect the circumstances that bond the Bills at this point in time. In any case, it's better to be in Buffalo's position than the Jets'.

Fascinating and fun to watch. What they don't show is also interesting, namely any discussion about any other cornerbacks. For whatever reason, there is stuff they are going to keep in house, and death to anyone who leaks it.

One big factor was his disaster of a combine and his 5.03 40.

Having just drafted Desmond Ridder, I think they still start Marriota and let Ridder have some time to develop. None of this year's crop of QBs really has plug and play readiness.

My wife and I are trying to be thrifty with my limited retirement income so we cut the cable. That meant I've been limited to ABC. ABC's coverage sucks a dry cow's udder. Even if ABC caries rounds 4-7 tomorrow, I'm tempted to listen to WGR radio instead. Yes, they are amateur, but at least they will talk about Buffalo's picks. I can watch NFL.com's tracker to keep track and follow all the picks.

He's a bit slow for a pure safety, and Buffalo really likes the young safeties on the team, particularly Damar Hamlin and Josh Thomas. They have decent size and are very athletic. With Poyer and Hyde anchoring the middle, Buffalo has had the luxury of taking the time to develop these guys. Jaquan Johnson is probably a bit too limited to be in the long term plans as a starter.

I didn't hate the pick to begin with, but as I hear more, I feel even more comfortable with it.

ABC didn't say a single word about either Bills pick this evening. If there was some pre-draft hype about a player, they'll talk about him. Otherwise they're too busy having guest stars banter with the host and commentators.

Good to hear from you, Spags. Comic relief is always welcome. The Jets had a great first round. They should have, with 3 first round picks, 2 of them in the top 10 of the draft, and Houston giving them an absolute gift by picking Stingley as the first CB off the board. Here's the thing. The Jets were a bad team last season. It's going to take them more than one offseason of good drafting and smart free agent signings to put together a solid franchise. We'll see if Saleh has it in him to make the Jets a serious competitor.

I'm actually shocked to hear that there was that close to a consensus among NFL teams on who the top 23 players in the draft were.

I did not see the terms of the trade, so I went through Draft Tek's running 7 round computer projection of the draft that is updated after every pick. I don't know if there are any future implications for the trade, but in the latest simulation, Buffalo has no 4th round pick. The Bills appear to have given of a 4th round pick to move up. I don't know whether or not Buffalo might get some latte round throw in pick in 2023.

Obviously, traits were important to Beane in this pick. Elam is long, fast and quick. Beane must be assuming Buffalo can coach up his deficiencies in tackling and his tendency to take some penalties due to his aggressiveness in coverage. My biggest question is why Beane thought a trade was necessary to move ahead of Dallas. Nobody I saw ever suggested Dallas was going to draft a CB. We'll probably have to wait and see if any rumors emerge to explain it. In any case, is obvious that Buffalo's preference for Elam over Kyler Gordon and Andrew Booth had to be pretty strong to drive the trade.

Hindsight is 20/20. In this case, it supports me. Jameson Williams and Garett Wison are long gone when Buffalo picks.

There's been a recent run of Breece Hall to Buffalo projections lately. I'll bet it's way over 4 by now.