In a OL heavy draft why no OL?

[SoFFacet]

Let me preface this post by saying that I was very excited about this draft. Big fan of EJ and Woods also liked the Hopkins pick and the UDFA pick up in Rodgers.

 

My question is with Barrett Jones from Alabama slipping why not grab him? Being an All-American at 3 different o-line positions how could we pass him up? Could fill almost any hole we have due to losing Levitre or just an injury (Wood) next season!

 

Only disappointing part of the weekend for me

 

My take is that Marrone is confident he can coach up the guys we already have. Pretty bold imho, I like it. His attitude certainly allowed us to stock up on more WRs and DBs than we normally could have gotten.

 

Hindsight IS 20-20 , but yes they could have gotten EJ in the second and taken OL in the first. so yes we can monday morning QB all day, but they could have waited. but then you miss on Woods or the crazy LB guy. we need WR and crazy LB guys more than OL this year.

 

Pure conjecture. I liked our 2nd round picks anyways, not getting one of Woods or Alonso would have been disappointing. Only player that went between 17-40 that I was bummed out over missing was Eifert.

 

To be fair to FearTheLosing, all he is saying is that the Bills have the Penchant for doing the opposite of the strength of the draft. Last year in a QB rich draft, they did not draft a QB and this year in a OL rich draft, they have completely ignored the line. When many of the teams draft to the strength of the draft, why would the Bills try to do the opposite.

Again these are not my views: I do like the EJ drafting and I am mystified that they ignored the OL in spite of losing a starter.

 

First of all the "Strength of the Draft" is just pundit opinion until several years afterwards. But in any case there is nothing intrinsically wrong with going against the grain. No matter what the overall trends of a draft are, each individual pick is a unique situation where any position could end up BPA on your board at that time.

Edited April 28, 2013 by SoFFacet

[ganesh]

My take is that Marrone is confident he can coach up the guys we already have. Pretty bold imho, I like it. His attitude certainly allowed us to stock up on more WRs and DBs than we normally could have gotten.

 

 

 

Pure conjecture. I liked our 2nd round picks anyways, not getting one of Woods or Alonso would have been disappointing. Only player that went between 17-40 that I was bummed out over missing was Eifert.

 

 

 

First of all the "Strength of the Draft" is just pundit opinion until several years afterwards. But in any case there is nothing intrinsically wrong with going against the grain. No matter what the overall trends of a draft are, each individual pick is a unique situation where any position could end up BPA on your board at that time.

 

There were five OL drafted in the 1st 10 picks of the draft....followed by more of them in the later part of the round and then in the 2nd round too. That is not a pundit's opinion but teams showing where the strength of this draft was.

[SoFFacet]

There were five OL drafted in the 1st 10 picks of the draft....followed by more of them in the later part of the round and then in the 2nd round too. That is not a pundit's opinion but teams showing where the strength of this draft was.

 

What if several years from now none of the OLs from this class are pro-bowlers yet but several WRs from the class are? You can't judge a draft until years afterwards.

[Original Byrd Man]

There were five OL drafted in the 1st 10 picks of the draft....followed by more of them in the later part of the round and then in the 2nd round too. That is not a pundit's opinion but teams showing where the strength of this draft was.

Or lack of strength in other area's. From things I have read none of the 3 tackles were considered "elite" and might be better suited for RT in the long run. Only Warmack was considered an "elite" guard. The Giants took Pugh in the 1st and he is most likely better suited for guard. Only time will tell how this draft plays out. If E J becomes the stud they envision, the FO will be lauded, and if not they will bear the burden. otherwise I like a lot about this draft.

[nucci]

What if several years from now none of the OLs from this class are pro-bowlers yet but several WRs from the class are? You can't judge a draft until years afterwards.

No one's really judging. Some would have preferred an O-Linemen early. I can't disagree too much but I think we already have players on the roster that can play now and I like who was picked. WR was badly needed as was DBs.

[3rdand12]

There were five OL drafted in the 1st 10 picks of the draft....followed by more of them in the later part of the round and then in the 2nd round too. That is not a pundit's opinion but teams showing where the strength of this draft was.

Or that some teams felt a stronger need than us.

But reading today i see we got the kid from Syracuse a Marrone guard and a 2 year starting center from Pitt.

I had my concerns also but we have a pretty full staff for O linemen to sort out right now and thats the best you can hope for.

Good Q from the OP

 

No one's really judging. Some would have preferred an O-Linemen early. I can't disagree too much but I think we already have players on the roster that can play now and I like who was picked. WR was badly needed as was DBs.

I think they hit on every need and they will still be watching waiver, udfa etc.

Probably the best draft on paper in awhile . pretty stoked about mini camp now

[filthymcnasty08]

This all comes back to one move:

 

Not drafting Russell F@#$ing Wilson......and instead taking TJ Graham only to get 3 new WR's a year later....including a clone of TJ Graham!

 

Wouldn't have had to talk about a QB this year. Would have loved to had the luxury of drafting/trading this year knowing the QB position was set.

 

Sorry but that will forever define Nix to me as we watch Seattle become an elite team with an elite QB.

[67 Lion]

I share your pain on Barret Jones. I was hoping for them to pick him from the fourth round on. He would have been the ultimate backup player across the entire OL.

[ColdBlueNorth]

They let Levitre walk, and I think it was wise given they could not compete with the $$ he was being offered as a FA. I figured they would take a shot at Warmack and then grab one of the many 2nd tier QB's that most of us figured would fall out of the 1st round. Obviously they felt that Manual was not going to last through the later half of the 1st round or the first half of the 2nd and took him where they did.

 

So I understand the way things unfolded and they filled their QB and WR needs up front in the draft, but the one thing that has me scratching my head as well... if not blue-chip prospects, there were plenty of solid OL contributors in the later rounds that could have added depth.

 

The only thing I can think of (and Buddy eluded to) is that they must have more confidence in the bench-strength of our 2nd string OL than any of us do. That and they picked up a center and a guard as UFA, they must be awfully high on these guys and must have known they were not on anyone else's radar. The guard is from Cuse so Marrone knows the player very well so he probably feels he is a prospect that can step in where Levitre left off pretty quickly. He would definitely be a guard that is used to and has a leg up executing the up-tempo offense they like to run and is familiar with the pulls and traps they like to run...and he must be a player that Marrone and Hackett feel can make the transition to the pros.

Edited April 28, 2013 by ColdBlueNorth

[machine gun kelly]

Levitre walked because he was over paid for a guard like Pozluzny was over paid to go to Jags. Our mistake is not extending Levitre over a year ago for FMV ( fair market value). We had an excellent draft, picked up an urfa, and I think we're going to see Zebrie Sanders on the field this year.

[billsareduein72]

This all comes back to one move:

 

Not drafting Russell F@#$ing Wilson......and instead taking TJ Graham only to get 3 new WR's a year later....including a clone of TJ Graham!

 

Wouldn't have had to talk about a QB this year. Would have loved to had the luxury of drafting/trading this year knowing the QB position was set.

 

Sorry but that will forever define Nix to me as we watch Seattle become an elite team with an elite QB.

 

Who's to say Russell Wilson won't be one and done? And maybe TJ will come into his own this year with a QB that can throw the ball down field...

[SoFFacet]

 

Who's to say Russell Wilson won't be one and done? And maybe TJ will come into his own this year with a QB that can throw the ball down field...

 

I think Wilson will continue to have a successful career, but this is one thing that has been bothering me. Far too many people are taking continued success for Luck, Griffin, Wilson, Kaep, etc for granted. Injuries, slumps, regression to the mean, defensive adaptations, any number of things could occur to result in decreased effectiveness for one or many of those players.

[atlbillsfan1975]

There were five OL drafted in the 1st 10 picks of the draft....followed by more of them in the later part of the round and then in the 2nd round too. That is not a pundit's opinion but teams showing where the strength of this draft was.

Or these where safe picks

or need picks

Why do you assume the other teams know more then the Bills?

[Alphadawg7]

Buddy Nix says the O line is fine. He will find more band-aids on the waiver wire, no doubt.

 

This line will really be exposed when Kolb, TJ or the rooke start playing for real. I feel bad for Marrone in trusting Nix.

 

BTW, If EJ fails to impress, who do you think will get the blame?

 

It was a great draft for the O line. From the top 3 OT's Fisher, Joeckel, Johnson to the top 2 OG's Warmack, Cooper. 3 of the first 4 picks were LT's, and 5 of the top 10 were O line.

 

Then OT Justin Pugh to the Giants to OT DJ Fluker to the Chargers.

 

The Bills were looking the other way this year, and had their eyes focused on a weak QB class. Then they panicked and took a QB in the first at 16 because they thought every other team wanted him. When in fact Buffalo was the only team.

 

Kinda sad really, but that has been the identity of this franchise for 13 years.

 

Geezus, your self misery know no bounds. I haven't seen a positive post by you ever I don't think. First off those great OL guys were off the board when we picked...hard to draft a guy already drafted ahead of us. Second, your loathing of the Manuel pick is fine, but your panic claims and assumptions that no one else wanted them are your personal speculation built around focusing on mock drafts that have no NFL football relevance at all. Truth is, Eagles were in discussions about moving back into first to get him. Cle wanted him too.

 

Get a grip, this was a great draft and try smiling for once and going out into the sun and relax and let new regime have a chance before you decided everything and everyone sucks again

[TPS]

In his post-draft comments Marrone said he thinks they have a good group of O-linemen and that the was looking forward to working with them (and O-line coach) and taking a little more hands-on approach in that area. "Teaching them up."

[Captain Hindsight]

This is one where I have a difficult time trusting the FO, to be sure. FO thought O-line would be great after RT hole was filled with Cornell Green and Demetress Bell on the other side playing LT

 

On the other hand, I think we even got a couple months until training camp starts so let's wait and see.

So your still mad about a guy we cut after 8 games, 5 of which came when he was on IR, 4 years ago? I'd let it go man.

[RyanC883]

I think the UDFA's, plus getting Zerbie Sanders back will be enough additions to the O-line. (Getting Sanders back is like drafting an OL). Plus, a TE is an OL to some extent.

 

Levitre walked because he was over paid for a guard like Pozluzny was over paid to go to Jags. Our mistake is not extending Levitre over a year ago for FMV ( fair market value). We had an excellent draft, picked up an urfa, and I think we're going to see Zebrie Sanders on the field this year.

 

Well said. I think Sanders will be a beast.

[xsoldier54]

This all comes back to one move:

 

Not drafting Russell F@#$ing Wilson......and instead taking TJ Graham only to get 3 new WR's a year later....including a clone of TJ Graham!

 

Wouldn't have had to talk about a QB this year. Would have loved to had the luxury of drafting/trading this year knowing the QB position was set.

 

Sorry but that will forever define Nix to me as we watch Seattle become an elite team with an elite QB.

Thank you Captain Hindsight.

[KD in CA]

Hindsight IS 20-20 , but yes they could have gotten EJ in the second and taken OL in the first. so yes we can monday morning QB all day, but they could have waited. but then you miss on Woods or the crazy LB guy. we need WR and crazy LB guys more than OL this year.

 

How do we know that?

[xsoldier54]

I would have liked to see an OL picked as well, but overall, I can't complain. I like every single pick that they made and believe that all will contribute. It's possible that all seven picks could make the roster and contribute in their first year. Nothing is guaranteed, but I can't think of a single pick that they made that I don't like.