finn

You had me until Gabe Davis.

Including Marquez Stevenson, whom we drafted a few years ago. He ended up a bust. Speed isn't everything.

The scouting reports certainly back up your take more than mine.

How so? He looks like just another guy in his highlights, more like a free agent or camp fodder than a fourth-round pick. Not fast, big, or elusive. Sort of a dulled-down Singletary. What are you (and the Bills) seeing that I'm not?

I'm guessing it's Mahogany. Depth for the OL.

So to sum up Gabe Davis' abilities, he isn't particularly fast or tall or elusive or clutch, he drops balls on a regular basis, and he doesn't fight for the football. Could it be that what little success he had was the result of playing with the best quarterback in the league?🤔

Seems like a strong safety, which is Rapp's position. Looks like Mike Edwards is their free safety.

Like us, maybe Beane got sick of seeing Davis, Cook, and Diggs drop balls. Now Allen has what might be the best all-hands team in the NFL in Kincaid, Shakir, and Coleman. They might not be fast, but they all catch the ball.

It'll be fun to revisit our respective comments in a few years.

Looking at his highlights, I'm reminded of DeAndre Hopkins. Same speed, same physicality, same great hands, circus catches.

A taller, much more athletic Davis with better hands. Same speed, though.

We're going to look at this list with a great deal of emotion in a few years. Not sure which emotions, however.

Think positively. This draft could be the turning point of the rivalry. Chiefs get a skinny WR who is going to get hurt early and often, while the Bills pick up the receiver they wanted all along AND a star safety for the third round pick the Chiefs gave them.

Beane was obsessed with getting that third-round pick back.

Who do you have in mind, especially that would fit the Bills?

This read sounds about right to me. Could be a surprise in there like someone falling, but it's unlikely. I prefer a Kinchens and Worthy in the second and an X WR in the third (from the trade down) to giving up more than we've been discussing here for Thomas. It's not fun, but we need bodies. DeJean in the second would be great, worth giving up a fourth.

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.