Bills Fan of St Augustine Posted May 11, 2014 Share Posted May 11, 2014 (edited) Solid B At the end of the day, I like what we've done. Whaley's got stones. However, the risk is huge. If Watkins isn't at least all pro, if not HoF, then the move up is a fail. Our biggest weakness was OL. All three OL have elements of risk be it knee arthritis, Senior Bowlitis or weed mania. LBs were questionable at least as far the talking heads had them rated. BB was a solid pick up and should be the RB of the future. If Spiller doesn't produce large in 2014 and Freddy keeps getting older (my guess is that he will) we don't resign either. I'm cautiously optomistic that at least two of the three lineman hit and am very optimistic that Watkins is something special. Time will tell. Edited May 11, 2014 by Bills Fan of Maryland Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KDIGGZ Posted May 11, 2014 Share Posted May 11, 2014 I think the draft reflected their WIN NOW strategy. Trading away our first next year to get a player this year that can get us over the hump and into the playoffs as well as getting a player in the second round whose knees are bad and might not make it until year 4 of his rookie contract. They made some gutsy picks that might not rank well with draft insiders but they made us a better team so I would say mission accomplished. B+ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ALF Posted May 11, 2014 Share Posted May 11, 2014 The coaching staff has a lot of players to sort thru . Training camp and 5 preseason games will be interesting to follow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Security Posted May 11, 2014 Share Posted May 11, 2014 Hahahaha, the absolute highest grade they will get anywhere is a C-, from people in the know, and they will mostly get a Ds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AltoonaPaBillsFan Posted May 11, 2014 Share Posted May 11, 2014 A solid B solidifying the draft with the final pick. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sjjr Posted May 11, 2014 Share Posted May 11, 2014 Great draft....the Bills just got a lot bigger and more physical on the offensive line and got a franchise playmaking WR. They also addressed the huge need for a run stuffing MLB. Cockrell will compete at FS. Solid A. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bananathumb Posted May 11, 2014 Share Posted May 11, 2014 Solid B - At the end of the day, I like what we've done. Whaley's got stones. However, the risk is huge. If Watkins isn't at least all pro, if not HoF, then the move up is a fail. Our biggest weakness was OL. All three OL have elements of risk be it knee arthritis, Senior Bowlitis or weed mania. LBs were questionable at least as far the talking heads had them rated. BB was a solid pick up and should be the RB of the future. If Spiller doesn't produce large in 2014 and Freddy keeps getting older (my guess is that he will) we don't resign either. I'm cautiously optomistic that at least two of the three lineman hit and am very optimistic that Watkins is something special. Time will tell. Â Agree with your analysis. Mostly depends on whether the WR gets them to playoffs this year and one of OLs can perform well at RT. We'll know by January. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dog Posted May 11, 2014 Share Posted May 11, 2014 Any other team moving as they did during the draft would have gotten accolades as brave moves, the first pick alone was huge! Job we'll done! The bills filled most needed holes, plenty of tight ends still available. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TSNBDSC Posted May 11, 2014 Share Posted May 11, 2014 (edited) A+ ! Great day in Bills History ! And, they're stayin Edited May 11, 2014 by tsnbd Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Cocktosten Posted May 11, 2014 Share Posted May 11, 2014 Watkins was the best player in the draft IMO and has been CFBs best play maker for 3 years. Cyrus will be the steal of the draft. I really wanted Borland over Brown but I know his shoulder was a concern. If the shoulder checks out fine, Borland is twice the player Brown is. Still I thought Kareem Martin or Terrance Brooks would've been a better selection there. I do like Cockrell and CR is a beast who needs to keep his weight down. Â Overall I give it a B. I think all of the players will be contributors with Sammy and CK being future stars but not grabbing a QB is mind blowing. There were so many chances to get a QB cheap and they passed. Murray single-handedly won games in the SEC which was something EJ couldn't do in the ACC. Mettenberger's growth was noticable form his Junior year and McCarron has huge game experience. All three were better than EJ in college. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillsBytheBay Posted May 11, 2014 Share Posted May 11, 2014 Three lineman, two linebackers, a corner and a wideout. They drafted positions of need, and with a lot of guys rated higher than where they were taken too. Great draft. Â man was I wrong about Stevie. Nice to see we have way to many WR's and RB's to pick from now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kellyto83TD Posted May 11, 2014 Share Posted May 11, 2014 A+ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dean Cain Posted May 11, 2014 Share Posted May 11, 2014 I am glad about OL we drafted. I'd like to see a few RFAs make the team at TE & DT. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buffaloed in Pa Posted May 11, 2014 Share Posted May 11, 2014 A+. Even got the RB , I think will help. Our OL vets are sweating now. I think four get cut. Pears,Legursky.Hairston Young,Welch are gonna have to step it up bigtime,to earn a backup job. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VanCity Posted May 11, 2014 Share Posted May 11, 2014 (edited) Any other team moving as they did during the draft would have gotten accolades as brave moves, the first pick alone was huge! Job we'll done! The bills filled most needed holes, plenty of tight ends still available. I have been checking through most of the major draft reviews this am and the reviews have generally been pretty spot on. It was a gamblers draft. Three days of picks and trades that each included a sizeable element of risk. We all hope that they were each well calculated, but nobody comes with any guarantees. I think that the national media has actually, for once, actually examined the Bills roster when picking their draft grades. Edited May 11, 2014 by VanCity Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ektin Posted May 11, 2014 Share Posted May 11, 2014 If next years 1's a top 10 pick they gave up too much for Watkins, if the pick is 20 or lower it is steal. Liked the Cyrus and Cyrill picks, should shore up the line for years. others are good depth or special teams and if they can keep Seantrel straight t will be even better Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PromoTheRobot Posted May 11, 2014 Share Posted May 11, 2014 This is all part of Russ's plan to sell more merchandise by turning over the roster. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattM Posted May 11, 2014 Share Posted May 11, 2014 Hahahaha, the absolute highest grade they will get anywhere is a C-, from people in the know, and they will mostly get a Ds. Â Perhaps, but remember when Seattle was getting those D's a few years back for doing things like taking Irvins way too high? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Over 29 years of fanhood Posted May 11, 2014 Share Posted May 11, 2014 This draft was all about the trenches. 3 OL and 2 LB...  Added a hopefully elite WR and then via trade a RB with spiller speed that has more size, runs inside, north and south. A DB never hurts...  Throw on top of that Spikes Chris Williams Mike Williams Rivers Graham Dixson   They literally attacked WR LB RB OL  And bought in multiple options in case something fails to pan out. They also bought insurance for injury and contract expiration at the weak positions.  Ok FS is the one position where they may have taken a hit. But overall the net talent took another big step forward.    Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reed83HOF Posted May 11, 2014 Share Posted May 11, 2014 This is all part of Russ's plan to sell more merchandise by turning over the roster. Â LOL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MTBill Posted May 11, 2014 Share Posted May 11, 2014 Regarding the trade up for Sammy - you have to factor in that Whaley knew he was trading Stevie. Has anyone researched historical moves up? Giving up next years first stings, but 9 is just not a great spot to be in. Â OBD is all in for '14. I think they did a decent job in the Draft. Time will tell of course, but count me in the 'Like' category. The OP is setting goals too high to state Watkins HAS to be an all-pro if not HOF player for it to be a success. If he is a part of a team resurgence, that's enough for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChevyVanMiller Posted May 11, 2014 Share Posted May 11, 2014 I give it an A+, even if it doesn't pan out in the long run. Â For years, the team has taken the safe road while the playoffs became a thing of myth in these parts. Whaley is playing for keeps right now and I applaud him for it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kipers Hair Posted May 11, 2014 Share Posted May 11, 2014 If everything pans out, it's an A+ draft....Going in, for a team with a poor record, we did not have a ton of holes to fill and where they endevored to fill the holes, they swung for the fences - nice change from the past decade. As with anyone swinging for the fences, I expect some bad misses, but if we hit on Sammy (good bet), Cyrus, Cyril, and Mike Williams - it's an A+ going away. The position not taken, DE, in my opinion, is not one immediately critical, but something where an insurance policy would have felt good. Â By the way, don't be surprised to see them give the DB from Duke a crack at the FS role somewhere down the line - good smarts, ball skills and athleticism...sounds like a recently departed Pro Bowl FS... Â Of course, it's all hinging upon EJ playing a full year and progressing from last year. Â Hahahaha, the absolute highest grade they will get anywhere is a C-, from people in the know, and they will mostly get a Ds. I have already seen a couple of B's... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reed83HOF Posted May 11, 2014 Share Posted May 11, 2014 Regarding the trade up for Sammy - you have to factor in that Whaley knew he was trading Stevie. Has anyone researched historical moves up? Giving up next years first stings, but 9 is just not a great spot to be in. Â OBD is all in for '14. I think they did a decent job in the Draft. Time will tell of course, but count me in the 'Like' category. The OP is setting goals too high to state Watkins HAS to be an all-pro if not HOF player for it to be a success. If he is a part of a team resurgence, that's enough for me. Â I think it was in the Watkins thread, but someone posted a MMQB article from January talking about the high rate of undergrads this year and that umber has been increasing dramatically due to the 5th year option and wage scale in the CBA. Agents and players are seeing that if they declare early, who cares they can get to the second contract sooner and make more money than being drafted in round 1 like the past. Les Snead even commented stating that he feels many teams will look at the following year's draft talent and figure after the first half of round 2 the talent drop off is big enough that teams will trade away those future picks this year.... Â As far as the players they drafted in the the rounds they were drafted in - Watkins was one of the top 3 or 4 players in this draft; he was tied with Clowney on top of our board, Cyrus is a first round talent (lots of peeps thought the Phins would grab him in round 1), Preston meh (but he was the starting mlb on the best D in CFB), Ross (love his strengths and his weaknesses are strength - great value pick with something that is easily correctable), Cyril great value, Seantral - why not take the flyer on this player, better to draft this kind of talent in rd 7 than let him be a UDFA. Â On value alone it is an A/B+. The potential is there we shall see in the next 2-3 years how this turns out... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
machine gun kelly Posted May 11, 2014 Share Posted May 11, 2014 A+ Â Us Kelly's have to stick together. Agreed. A+. Â We filled areas with nice quality players. There is risk with any draft and the lower the round, the more you can find wrong in a person. We actually might have a 7th round starter. Tell him to put the bong down and he can make millions. I'd take that gamble. Â If our line really improved then we picked up a beast for a WR, and if you ad free agency, this has been an excellent off season, with money left in the cap to resign other players before next year like Spiller. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hplarrm Posted May 11, 2014 Share Posted May 11, 2014 it's a pretty foolhardy exercise to compare the market value of one year's draft versus market value in another year's draft as in essence they are different markets. Further, even within a draft, a specific trade may be a stupid trade for one team, but the same deal basically may be a smart trade for another team which is in a different position. Â The NFL draft is actually fun because of the many variables. In essence, trading away next year's first rounder (or even most of next year's draft)to get the one player which you believe will deliver you an SB this year would be a deal most teams would make. Â Is a third round pick worth more than a 1st round pick? Obviously not. However, woulkd you rather have third round pick Joe Montana or 1st round pick Mike Williams? I would take the third rounder all day and twice on Sunday. Â If EJ and Watkins click (and EJ avoids the seeming random occurrence of injury) then I simply do not care who trades which pick for which or whom next year. Â Â Â If next years 1's a top 10 pick they gave up too much for Watkins, if the pick is 20 or lower it is steal. Liked the Cyrus and Cyrill picks, should shore up the line for years. others are good depth or special teams and if they can keep Seantrel straight t will be even better Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LOVEMESOMEBILLS Posted May 11, 2014 Share Posted May 11, 2014 A+ This is two days in a row, there's two questions I have. Who are you? And what did you do with Kellyto83TD ? As for the draft, I loved it A+. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sumin Posted May 11, 2014 Share Posted May 11, 2014 I wish the Bills had kept their additional pick in the 5th and selected a quarterback. Â Other than that, this draft was pretty solid. We addressed most of our weaknesses and were aggressive. I hope this draft class will be the factor that pushes us into the playoffs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoFFacet Posted May 11, 2014 Share Posted May 11, 2014 I think the draft reflected their WIN NOW strategy. Trading away our first next year to get a player this year that can get us over the hump and into the playoffs as well as getting a player in the second round whose knees are bad and might not make it until year 4 of his rookie contract. They made some gutsy picks that might not rank well with draft insiders but they made us a better team so I would say mission accomplished. B+ Â I don't think it's necessarily win-now. It's perfectly possible that we are better off in several years with Watkins than we would be with say, Ebron + 2015 1st. It just depends on whether or not the scouting that underpinned the trade in the first place is correct. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swnybillsfan Posted May 11, 2014 Share Posted May 11, 2014 i just love the fact that whaley seems to be bombarding certain positions with talent. a lot of this talent has a certain amount of risk attatched to it. But if only half of these guys pan out, i think we'll be in really good shape. Â i also really liked the fact that whaley really seemed to be dictating his way through the draft rather than letting the draft "come to him". very aggressive, and whether it works or not, i am happy with enthusiasm in which he attacked this draft. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobobonators Posted May 11, 2014 Share Posted May 11, 2014 From A+ to F Id have to objectively give them an A. Â We snagged the best WR in the draft without having to give anything up this year. We lacked true playmakers at WR. Â We improved the OL, which was also a weakness. Â We added some depth at ILB which is also key having older veterans play that spot right now. Â Great draft. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bowery4 Posted May 11, 2014 Share Posted May 11, 2014 Solid B with a chance of turning into an A, is the draft over yet? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BreezeMafia Posted May 11, 2014 Share Posted May 11, 2014 B. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chilly Posted May 11, 2014 Share Posted May 11, 2014 A+. We haven't had an explosive wide receiver like Sammy Watkins in forever. He alone is awesome. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beerball Posted May 11, 2014 Share Posted May 11, 2014 Impossible to rate, but..."all in" seems to be the phrase of the week. High risk with possible high reward is how I would characterize the draft. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mead107 Posted May 11, 2014 Share Posted May 11, 2014 A+. I love what we did. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sherrif John Brown Posted May 11, 2014 Share Posted May 11, 2014 This draft was all about the trenches. 3 OL and 2 LB...  Added a hopefully elite WR and then via trade a RB with spiller speed that has more size, runs inside, north and south. A DB never hurts...  Throw on top of that Spikes Chris Williams Mike Williams Rivers Graham Dixson   They literally attacked WR LB RB OL  And bought in multiple options in case something fails to pan out. They also bought insurance for injury and contract expiration at the weak positions.  Ok FS is the one position where they may have taken a hit. But overall the net talent took another big step forward. +1 I really love what Whaley & Brandon are trying to do....win!. Everything might not pan out exactly, but they are sure as hell trying & I love it!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KOKBILLS Posted May 11, 2014 Share Posted May 11, 2014 I think based solely on the talent and where they Drafted them I would give it a B+...Watkins is a stud and arguably the best player in this Draft...Definitely one of the Top 5...Kouandjio was a 1st round talent and would have gone MUCH higher if other teams agreed with the Bills doctors...Brown was a solid pick and will contribute...Cockrell was a great value in the 4th, he's going to surprise I think...Richardson and Henderson have BIG upsides and if they were clean off the field (Richardson with weight and Henderson with...well...a few things) they would have been 2nd-4th round picks...And Johnson has some very nice athletic ability, measurables, and production for a 7th round pick...Plus they pick up Brown and Williams who are already good, solid NFL players... Â Hard to put too many holes in this Draft...Sure they would have liked to get a 4-3 DE, and maybe a Safety...But this Draft, for all it's depth, was weakest in those two areas...So the Bills did the smart thing and took the more talented football players...I honestly think that with this off season almost in the books this is the deepest roster we have seen in Buffalo in the last 15 years or so...There's just not a lot of holes anymore...Which puts the pressure squarely on the QB position to simply execute, and not lose games for us...I'm very excited about this coming season...More than I have been in years... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob in STL Posted May 11, 2014 Share Posted May 11, 2014 Grades mean nothing at this time, lets see in how these players it looks in 2017. Â I think the front did a great job in free agency and in the draft. You can see movements in place too improve the team on al fronts. Â So far I am impressed with Whaley. Much more action than Donahoe/Williams/Mularky, Levy/Brandon/Jauron, Nix/Gailey. Â Whaley atttempts to address all areas with proactive moves. The others settled for what they had at times. Â How the Bills do in 2014-15 will depend on two things: Â 1. EJ 2. Will the veterans rally for their coach and come up big when needed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BuffaninATL Posted May 11, 2014 Share Posted May 11, 2014 Hahahaha, the absolute highest grade they will get anywhere is a C-, from people in the know, and they will mostly get a Ds. Â look again negative Nancy, they got a B from cnnsi.com ........ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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