finn

Wow, just 27% of WRs are signed to a second contract. Does this argue for moving up or NOT moving up?

I don't like trade-ups. Quarterbacks are one thing, but a costly trade for any other position is just gambling. Even if it works out, you have only one player. Trading up for Kincaid, Elam, and Ford meant that the Bills couldn't draft three other players that might have helped, maybe even a lot, given Beane's gift for finding talent late in the draft.

I agree, except it will be a slight trade up to something like 24 or 25, giving up a fourth.

Would be a great pickup in the fifth or even fourth round. His intensity would be a tonic to the DL. Guy is a berserker.

And would have been available in the pick we traded for Diggs?

You forgot about the part where he gives up a fourth rounder to move up to take that DB.

Ideally, freaks who don't drop a perfectly placed bomb in his hands at the most clutch moment of the most important game of the year. Nice knowing you, Stef, glad the next time you choke will be against us in the playoffs.

That could just be the laws of probability at work. If every team just threw darts at their draft board, at least some would have good results. I've always thought the best draft strategy, at least for teams drafting high, would be to trade down incrementally for as many second-round picks as possible, and do the same from the other direction, trading up into the second round. End up with, say, six or seven second-round picks. The odds of hitting gold seem much higher than just two high picks.

That's what I tell myself when I find myself obsession about the draft. As Marv Levy always said, it's about last year's rookies (and sophomores) not this years. So Shakir, Benford, Bernard, Kincaid, Torrence, and Cook, with Dorian Williams and Spector singing backup, and, hopefully Elam and Shorter doing something to help. That's six young starters and four others that might be a lot better this year. Promising. The top two rookies might contribute significantly, like Kincaid did last year, but it's not likely they'll make a huge difference. If the Bills go all the way, it'll be because the current roster of young players improves.

Wonder if Beane is using Miller to lay down a smoke screen, maybe to provoke KC into spending draft capital to preempt the Bills; I bet their moving ahead of Buffalo to snag McDuffie still rankles. If it is a smoke screen, Beane might be planning to stay put or trade down.

Another reason to trade up for Latu. Deke everyone out so it's not too costly. Then pick up a WR in the second round and a safety in free agency after June 1. If you have a need in a position in which the draft is unusually deep, let the draft come to you.

That would be ironic, to trade Brown just when he's showing his potential, after years of him serving as a 6'8" swing gate. No, if I'm Beane, I'm looking hard at trading Milano of all people. He's very expensive, 30 years old, we have a replacement in place with upside in Williams, and he's one of the few players on the roster who could garner a first-round pick in return. Continue the younger and cheaper trend and use that pick to trade up for Nabers.

Elam is such a mystery. Prototypical physical build and talent/skills, along with an excellent work ethic (or so we heard when he was drafted), yet he can't get on the field. Is zone coverage and tackling really that hard to learn? What is going on there? Anyway, I say keep him just in case a new DB coach can help turn the light on for him.

This is a fair take. Beane didn't know Jefferson would be there, or no one knew he'd be such a good player. The trade paid off, no question. You can't fault him for extending him in 2022, either. Diggs was coming off multiple stellar years and was 29. No, I would say the big error Beane made re wide receivers was deciding Gabe Davis could be WR2. He used a fourth rounder to move up in the first to take Elam that he could have used to trade up for George Pickens in the second round. Sure, hindsight, but a lot of people had high grades on Pickens, including Greg Cosell, who thought he'd be a perfect complement for Diggs. That would have put Davis in the WR3 role, which is much better suited to his abilities. I may be wrong, but I suspect Beane may have been on tilt after KC leapfrogged him to take McDuffie. An icy-smart move, to use your phrase, would have been to step back and see the big picture. Instead of paying a lot for a CB who is talented but doesn't fit your scheme, you find your corner elsewhere and take a true WR2.

He did get a ton of targets, though. Maybe he didn't like the play designs. Or maybe he was in denial that his skills were sharply declining across the board. You have to be wise to accept that and not blame others. Diggs is anything but wise.

Or, in his case, the dropping game.

Came in as a prima donna, leaving as a prima donna. The only guy on this team who has been a distraction. All about him. Good riddance, Stefon.

Like Whaley went after Sammy Watkins? Two first rounders and fourth to move up four spots to get a player he had conviction on, as you put it, while passing on Mike Evans and Odell Beckham, who were both available in their original spot and ended up having far better careers. Not saying you never trade up. It's sometimes the right move, especially for a quarterback. Beane has moved up four times, for Allen, Edmunds, Elam and Kincaid. Given what he gave up, that's not a very good record. Allen was a slam dunk of course, and Kincaid looks great (although La Porta was available in their original slot). But Edmunds was no more than above average, and Elam, well...

I agree. If a draft is loaded in a position of need, you don't trade up. When he was Bills GM, John Butler would let the draft come to him; sometimes the best move is not to move. E.g., not panicking and giving up a fourth to trade up for Elam (given that Beane realized he wasn't a good fit despite his skills). It looks like plenty of good WRs will be available at the end of round one and even in round two. If a good edge rusher is available at 28, I'd take him and pick up a WR in the second round. The alpha WR might be coming next year, when Beane has cap room, in the form of top free agent. Patience, grass hoper!

I compliment you for spelling "complement" correctly. 🙂

His catch-rate percentage is pretty mediocre, too: 68%. Compare that rate to his teammate Shakir catching ball from the QB: 86.7%. Let's put this all together. Diggs was (and is) earning the second highest salary on the team, drawing a huge percentage of targets. Yet last year he caught a far lower percentage than any of his teammates, except long-ball Davis, he's a distraction, he disappears in the playoffs, and he's washed. Beane was right to flush him. He extended Diggs when he was a top receiver, not knowing he would bottom out so quickly, which happens. To be blunt, his production is no longer worth the money or his whining, which was going to only increase as he declines. Take the hit and move on.

I was. Should have /s

What are you referring to? I missed a few news cycles.

There goes Simmons as our safety....

What would it take? Maybe our first and second this year, as well as our first and both seconds next year. That's one impact player instead of, potentially, five. No, better to trade up to the middle of the first round to take one of the top four WRs. Even that will take three high picks.