Astrobot Posted July 4, 2013 Share Posted July 4, 2013 Based just on the end of last season, the draft, and minicamp information, how would you rank our positional needs? This is my regular task at DraftTek as it is for the other 31 analysts, and I set initial guesses for this week's 1-round mock as follows: CB=P1 (top need--if there's a player still on our big board within 1-8 slots at this position, the computer drafts him. Can only have one P1 need; if you have more than one, make all of them P2's). I think we have the scheme and the pass rushers now; we need another CB at Gilmore's level to take out the #2 receiver. DE34, OLB34, SS34=P2 (important need--if there is no P1, the computer takes the next player on the big board at one of these positions). Anderson could be odd man out at DE as he's the least positionally flexible. Pettine wants hybrid OLB's who are big and can move. Byrd is a wildcard for the next 7-10 days. TE, OC, ILB, FS=P3 . Gragg-Chandler-Smith is iffy, but Chandler could be huge this year if healthy. Wood needs depth behind him with 3 injuries in 3 years. Is Kiko the answer? Does Pettine want more positionally-flexible LBs, and are current ILB's a good place to look? Is Free Safety a good place to look? LT, RBF, FB=P4. Should LT be lower since we have like 9 tackles on roster? We need depth behind Freddy as Feature RB not named Tashard. Spiller's great but start looking for midround value now. Also Fullback here. RT, OG =P6. There is a lot of players on the roster, but we get good value from OL in later rounds. RBC, QB, WRF, WRS, DT34, PK =P9. Spiller's the best RBC (Change of Pace Back) in the NFL and proves it this year. We're set at QB and Wide Receiver (Featured and Speed Receiver). We have incredible on-paper talent at DT34 (Williams, Dareus, Carrington, Branch). We have good competition at Punter and Placekicker. We'll do this again in the middle of minicamp and after some preseason games have been played. -Astro Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bags Posted July 4, 2013 Share Posted July 4, 2013 I agree that CB is definitely P1, but I would move TE, ILB and interior O-Line depth up to P2 and slide safety, OLB and DE down to P3. I've posted before that I think Chandler and another decent TE could provide a double TE package option, and I'm not completely sold on Bradham & Alonzo at ILB b/c they're both so inexperienced. And we need depth at C/G b/c of Wood's injuries and Levitre's departure. As for safety, OLB and DE, I think we're decently stocked there after the draft and FA but of course Byrd's situation does leave a potential question mark there, if not for this year then in the future...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Astrobot Posted July 4, 2013 Author Share Posted July 4, 2013 Thanks for the feedback, Bags. I have changed Drafttek's Bills Needs to reflect your thoughts! -Astro Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boyst Posted July 4, 2013 Share Posted July 4, 2013 I would like us to look at another FB or two. Maybe a TC cut? I am not sire what to expect this year and want to know we have options here. Will give your post some thought. Have 1 question. I forgot the list but there are some moderately priced CB's available. Could we afford to invest P1 to CB? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vincec Posted July 4, 2013 Share Posted July 4, 2013 (edited) It's tough to guess until we can see what Marrone's offense and Pettine's defense will be like. Based on my guess however, I think that you'd have to be looking for pass rushing OLB assistance. The Bills are now playing a blitz heavy 3-4 and still don't really have a premium OLB pass rusher. I can also see CB as a high priority. OG and possibly safety (if Byrd leaves) are weak spots but not worthy of a 1st round pick, IMO. Could possibly justify OT at #1 depending on what happens with Pears this season. I'd have OLB, OT and CB as P2s, no P1. P3 would be NT, S, C, TE. P4 is G, ILB and RB. All else P9. Forget FB. I'm not sure how you can have DE at P3. Don't the Bills have M Williams at one spot and Dareus, Carrington and Anderson vying for the other? Edited July 4, 2013 by vincec Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boyst Posted July 5, 2013 Share Posted July 5, 2013 QB should be P4, maybe P3. Unless something changes this season to show that Kolb wants to be a backup and EJ appears to be a top 5 AFC QB, top 10 in the league - we need to look at QB's again in 2014. SS and DE are two positions that we need to keep in the mix for the simple reason that the drop off between the starters and backups is generally large. If we lose Byrd our S position as a whole is weak. (I would love to see us work out some trade with Anderson or another DE to get a SS, even if he is 2nd on the depth chart). I cannot even speculate the LB position right now, except to say I think we need to draft at least one OLB and one ILB in or before Rd 5. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Astrobot Posted July 5, 2013 Author Share Posted July 5, 2013 I've changed positional needs to reflect all of the posts above this one. These are not displayed yet on the DraftTek Team Needs page, nor are they in the Simulator yet. Here is the 2014 Big Board, which IS up to date: http://www.drafttek.com/Top-100-NFL-Draft-Prospects-2014.asp Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KeisterHollow Posted July 5, 2013 Share Posted July 5, 2013 Good analysis. My opinion is: interior O-line is our biggest offensive need, unless EJ proves inept, in which case QB is top priority. However, if EJ plays well then we're looking at interior O-line as our top offensive need, followed by TE. On defense we need that second shut down CB, but I think our overall LB corps still is light compared to truly good defenses (like San Fran, Houston). So, we find out which are our really good LB's, in this scheme, this year, and the ones who fail to live up or hold up we look to replace sooner than later next year. I'd imagine that would create a need for at least one good LB. I also think we're in need of a truly good NT. So, my total, overall needs, prioritized (supposing QB is good this year) would be: CB PS1, LG / C PS 2, TE, LB PS 3, NT PS4. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Astrobot Posted July 5, 2013 Author Share Posted July 5, 2013 Agree about CB. Gilmore was 9th among CB's last year in passes defended; the 2nd best pass defender was Bryan Scott at #78, and Aaron Williams was tied for #96. So, yeah. LB Courtnei Brown was doing very well at minicamp, so he'll be the surprise guy to come out of preseason. I think we'll see a learning curve with Kiko Alonso. Pettine likes versatile, hybrid players, so we won't necessarily be picking the "name" college guys at one position. This makes positional needs for the Bills somewhat difficult. The interior O-line guys don't usually come off the board early. Do you want a Guard like Cyril Richardson of Baylor in RD2 who won't ever be a RT, Travis Swanson of Arkansas at OC, or a OLB-DE like James Gayle or a TE like Colt Lyerla with the same pick? FAR too early, but I'm guessing we'll still need CB in Round 1 (Bradley Roby, Ohio State), TE in Round 2 (Colt Lyerla), and hybrid LB-DE in Round 3 (Chaz Sutton of S Carolina). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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