YoloinOhio Posted May 4, 2015 Share Posted May 4, 2015 His whole premise that they could have gotten Evans without trading up says it all about the credibility of this piece. Do copy editors even exist anymore? Also, is he still grading the 2014 draft here? Time to move on Mel! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RyanC883 Posted May 4, 2015 Share Posted May 4, 2015 His agent told every team not to take him as he would just enter the 2016 draft if they did. poor decision by his agent. He is now not eligible to enter the 2016 draft apparently. He will have to sign as an UDFA, which also limits the amount of money he can be paid. If I'm the Bills, I'm calling his agent offering him a 1 year contract after he's cleared, and then he would be a FA eligible for top round money. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C.Biscuit97 Posted May 4, 2015 Share Posted May 4, 2015 Kiper is a hack. His "best position" rankings had numerous individuals who went undrafted. We should have added a QB who would likely not have made the team? Or reached and drafted Petty too early. The Jets can have fun with another round of inconsistent QB play. We are in a much better QB situation for this year than the Jets. Next year we have the parts to move up and grab a QB if needed. This was a good draft by the Bills. (would have liked an OT like Chaz Green later in the draft, that's my only critique). exactly. The guy watches film and makes guesses. Some of you guys on this board do the same thing and are perhaps better qualified than him. He thought we were idiots for not drafting Jimmy Clausen. My favorite is when he calls a pick a reach or great value because of his "board." Great businessman who helped create an industry. But I put no stock in his opinion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RyanC883 Posted May 4, 2015 Share Posted May 4, 2015 I agree with Kiper and anyone else critical of the Bills' draft. The only pick that makes sense is the guard in the third round. The Bills constantly try to outsmart everyone, drafting for glamour (Watkins, Spiller) and reaching when they draft for need and then indulging in luxury picks (a running back this year, really?). The character issues in this draft are very disturbing as well. I can't see the two picks with serious character issues keeping it together over the long haul. If the Pegula era is about disregarding character by signing the likes of Incognite and drafting some of the players we did, I am concerned about a sleeze factor. One Buffalo may be a tank and a football team with a significant number of low character thugs. Yeah, Sammy was a total bust playing with injured ribs and almost catching 1000 yards while having sub-par QB play. Kiko was also another example of "outsmarting" everyone that backfired. He thought we were idiots for not drafting Jimmy Clausen. My favorite is when he calls a pick a reach or great value because of his "board." Great businessman who helped create an industry. But I put no stock in his opinion. Agree with your points here. The think I can't stand about him is the level of self-righteousness he has, and no one ever has the balls to call him on his numerous mistakes (Claussen, etc.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C.Biscuit97 Posted May 4, 2015 Share Posted May 4, 2015 Yeah, Sammy was a total bust playing with injured ribs and almost catching 1000 yards while having sub-par QB play. Kiko was also another example of "outsmarting" everyone that backfired. Didn't Kiper and draft "experts" rid us for Cordy Glenn because he couldn't be a NFL LT? I'd have a lot more respect for their profession if they ever admit their mistakes. If they ever got a NFL job (no one is offering Kiper or McShay jobs), they would be fired after 3 years like Matt Millen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ricojes Posted May 4, 2015 Share Posted May 4, 2015 You have to evaluate the entire draft, so without a 1st and a 4th, the best grade you could get would probably be a C+. So I would agree with the grade, not that it means anything at this point and time.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Malazan Posted May 4, 2015 Share Posted May 4, 2015 He seems very upset that they didn't take Bryce Petty Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kirby Jackson Posted May 4, 2015 Share Posted May 4, 2015 You have to evaluate the entire draft, so without a 1st and a 4th, the best grade you could get would probably be a C+. So I would agree with the grade, not that it means anything at this point and time.... The point that KTD has been making is that they docked us last year for trading this year's 1st in the Watkins trade and then docked us this year for having traded this year's 1st. I do agree with your post though. They could not have an A+ type of draft with picks 50, 81 and then not again until the 5th round. There is no reason to be bothered by Kiper's opinion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YoloinOhio Posted May 4, 2015 Share Posted May 4, 2015 This >> @ChrisTrapasso: Re: earlier tweet on draft grades - teams who will have many "starting rookies" = good draft grade but those clubs usually struggle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BuffOrange Posted May 4, 2015 Share Posted May 4, 2015 (edited) Not sure why so many posters get defensive about our draft grades if they are poor. A lot of our drafts have been average or worse over that last 12 plus years, and many times the draft experts have been right about their assessments of our drafts and our drafting. The Bills seem to have good talent at a number of positions now. Is that primarily the result of good drafting or solid free agent pick-ups? It would be interesting to see statistics that show for each team the percentage of starters that are draft picks versus free agent acquisitions, and for a deeper dive, the quality of our drafted starters versus other teams. Ripping Kiper is a favorite pastime of fans. Even though his player ratings are pretty much the same as most teams. The cherrypicking here is hilarious. Ask the best GM ever to grade every player for 30yrs and he's going to get tons of stuff wrong. Everyone says you have to wait 3yrs and then when you wait 3yrs you're crying over spilled milk for bringing anything up (often it's a different regime because the previous one couldn't find a QB), so you can't win. Edited May 4, 2015 by BuffOrange Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cash Posted May 4, 2015 Share Posted May 4, 2015 Where is Maxx Williams going to play? We have Clay for 5-6 years. You going to sit Harvin? OLeary is good because he will play 10-15 snaps. You don't want your number two pick to play 15 snaps. Darby will be a starter next year and rarely come off the field on defense. So it sounds like you think McKelvin will be cut and/or Graham will be moved to safety? Both of those are definitely in play, whether Darby wins the starting job or not. I can't see McKelvin making the team as a backup without taking a huge pay cut. Overall, I'm pretty unenthused by this draft, but I don't really watch college football, so I won't kill the Bills unless/until the guys they draft turn out to stink. (These days, I do all my "scouting" after the draft, so I don't waste my time on anyone the Bills don't pick.) But I am somewhat concerned about the design/building of the team, particularly on offense. This is more of a feeling than a prediction, but I worry that, similar to last year, we're going to have a disconnect between the talent on the roster and the talent on the field. To address Kelly's question up top, I actually think Maxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Williams would've played a lot if we'd drafted him in the 2nd. (I'm glad we didn't, because I think he'll be a bust.) In fact, I kind of think that our #2 TE will play more this year than our #3 WR. I base that on 1.) Everything I've seen breaking down SF's offense under Roman says that they played the most FBs & TEs and the least WRs in the league, and 2.) Whaley has made a few comments about how much Roman likes TEs - most recently, "we have a tight end-centric offense" in one of the draft press conferences (presumably the overall recap, because Monos was the one who directly followed the O'Leary pick). If I'm right, I'm worried, because TE is one of the weakest positions on the roster. Clay is pretty good, and definitely seems to be a fit for what the Bills want, but after that we have a 6th-round rookie, a 7th-rounder from a few years back who's done nothing, and a mid-season signing who caught 2 wide-open passes and turned them into great gains. I'm not a huge fan of either Woods or Harvin, but either of them is WAY ahead of our backup TEs in terms of NFL talent. I'd say both Hogan and Goodwin are still quite a bit ahead of our backup TEs. If we wind up with Gray & Gragg & O'Leary playing more than those WRs, then that's 2 straight coaching staffs (staves?) that had a disconnect with the front office. There's not much point in amassing this super-talented roster if we're just going to keep playing crappy TEs all the time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C.Biscuit97 Posted May 4, 2015 Share Posted May 4, 2015 Ripping Kiper is a favorite pastime of fans. Even though his player ratings are pretty much the same as most teams. The cherrypicking here is hilarious. Ask the best GM ever to grade every player for 30yrs and he's going to get tons of stuff wrong. Everyone says you have to wait 3yrs and then when you wait 3yrs you're crying over spilled milk for bringing anything up (often it's a different regime because the previous one couldn't find a QB), so you can't win. Well, you have zero fact to prove this at all. He had Clausen as potentially the top pick in his draft class. Apparently, every team went off their draft board that year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattsox Posted May 4, 2015 Share Posted May 4, 2015 Straight from the Kype himself... http://espn.go.com/blog/buffalo-bills/post/_/id/18654/mel-kiper-grades-bills-draft-as-nfls-worst Here is my view. This was a weak draft class to begin with and we didn't have a first rounder this year so that is going to substantially lower our "Draft Grade" to begin with and we didn't do what we were supposed to do and draft a QB. The jury's out on the QB decision. We'll see if anyone flourishes. I'm not even sure the top 2 guys have what it takes to win. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nucci Posted May 4, 2015 Share Posted May 4, 2015 I agree with Kiper and anyone else critical of the Bills' draft. The only pick that makes sense is the guard in the third round. The Bills constantly try to outsmart everyone, drafting for glamour (Watkins, Spiller) and reaching when they draft for need and then indulging in luxury picks (a running back this year, really?). The character issues in this draft are very disturbing as well. I can't see the two picks with serious character issues keeping it together over the long haul. If the Pegula era is about disregarding character by signing the likes of Incognite and drafting some of the players we did, I am concerned about a sleeze factor. One Buffalo may be a tank and a football team with a significant number of low character thugs. Watkins was drafted for glamour? What does that mean? Low character thugs? Wow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BuffOrange Posted May 4, 2015 Share Posted May 4, 2015 (edited) Well, you have zero fact to prove this at all. He had Clausen as potentially the top pick in his draft class. Apparently, every team went off their draft board that year. If your go-to example of having a guy rated differently than everyone else is someone who was picked 48th in 2010, that should tell you something. You have zero proof that the Bills evaluations of EJ Manuel, JP Losman, John McCargo, and TJ Graham were any less of an outlier to the rest of the league than Kiper's of Clausen. Edited May 4, 2015 by BuffOrange Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C.Biscuit97 Posted May 4, 2015 Share Posted May 4, 2015 If your go-to example of having a guy rated differently than everyone else is someone who was picked 48th in 2010, that should tell you something. You have zero proof that the Bills evaluations of EJ Manuel, JP Losman, John McCargo, and TJ Graham were any less of an outlier to the rest of the league than Kiper's of Clausen. Neither do you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FLFan Posted May 4, 2015 Share Posted May 4, 2015 He seems very upset that they didn't take Bryce PettyAlthough with what draft pick he does not say. Chances are, if they had taken with their third round choice, Mel would have derided them for "reaching", and for failing to pick up an OL. Post draft ratings, his in particular, are useless. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DDD Posted May 4, 2015 Share Posted May 4, 2015 No one knows if these guys can play. Everbody is just making an educated guess. Whaley said he expects his two top picks to be starting in a year. Hope he is right but he too is just blowing smoke up our ass at this point. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuck Wagon Posted May 4, 2015 Share Posted May 4, 2015 This >> @ChrisTrapasso: Re: earlier tweet on draft grades - teams who will have many "starting rookies" = good draft grade but those clubs usually struggle. The formula basically seems to be "How many rookies will start day 1" + "How did they fill the perceived media needs created by spending 5 minutes looking at a depth chart and highlighting guys without well known names" + "How much of the benefit of the doubt they get based upon track record" + "How many name brand draft guys did they take" + "How off base did they make my projected picks look". He said he likes the Miller pick but today he's been saying we should have taken Bryce Petty, who 22 teams passed on after the Miller pick. He had Darby as his 130th ranked player, which sounds absolutely ridiculous given what everyone else has to say about him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kelly the Dog Posted May 4, 2015 Share Posted May 4, 2015 So it sounds like you think McKelvin will be cut and/or Graham will be moved to safety? Both of those are definitely in play, whether Darby wins the starting job or not. I can't see McKelvin making the team as a backup without taking a huge pay cut. Overall, I'm pretty unenthused by this draft, but I don't really watch college football, so I won't kill the Bills unless/until the guys they draft turn out to stink. (These days, I do all my "scouting" after the draft, so I don't waste my time on anyone the Bills don't pick.) But I am somewhat concerned about the design/building of the team, particularly on offense. This is more of a feeling than a prediction, but I worry that, similar to last year, we're going to have a disconnect between the talent on the roster and the talent on the field. To address Kelly's question up top, I actually think Maxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Williams would've played a lot if we'd drafted him in the 2nd. (I'm glad we didn't, because I think he'll be a bust.) In fact, I kind of think that our #2 TE will play more this year than our #3 WR. I base that on 1.) Everything I've seen breaking down SF's offense under Roman says that they played the most FBs & TEs and the least WRs in the league, and 2.) Whaley has made a few comments about how much Roman likes TEs - most recently, "we have a tight end-centric offense" in one of the draft press conferences (presumably the overall recap, because Monos was the one who directly followed the O'Leary pick). If I'm right, I'm worried, because TE is one of the weakest positions on the roster. Clay is pretty good, and definitely seems to be a fit for what the Bills want, but after that we have a 6th-round rookie, a 7th-rounder from a few years back who's done nothing, and a mid-season signing who caught 2 wide-open passes and turned them into great gains. I'm not a huge fan of either Woods or Harvin, but either of them is WAY ahead of our backup TEs in terms of NFL talent. I'd say both Hogan and Goodwin are still quite a bit ahead of our backup TEs. If we wind up with Gray & Gragg & O'Leary playing more than those WRs, then that's 2 straight coaching staffs (staves?) that had a disconnect with the front office. There's not much point in amassing this super-talented roster if we're just going to keep playing crappy TEs all the time. So we signed Percy Harvin for one year for $6 million dollars but are not going to play him much because Roman likes two TEs? I get the Roman likes TEs and mentioned it a lot. But no chance any second TE plays more than Harvin. Probably a quarter of the plays. OLeary fits a perfect role for that. Roman likes a lot of different things but he uses what he has rather than just having a philosophy or system. He's going to play Harvin. He's going to play Felton because he's one of the best FB blockers in the league. Clay is going to be all over the field. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aristocrat Posted May 4, 2015 Share Posted May 4, 2015 So last year we get sammy who was very good and preston brown who was also very good. Henderson up and down and this year I think we see cyrus step up. That would bring last year's draft to an a. Let's see how these guys develop. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BuffOrange Posted May 4, 2015 Share Posted May 4, 2015 Neither do you. Right. All we know is everyone under the sun but the homers here said they were a reach, and that they stunk. But I can't prove that the Packers or someone didn't secretly love them and wouldn't have jumped at the chance to take all of them in the same round. I guess. Good job on being the Facts Police and clearing that up. Please continue with the celebratory Jimmy Clausen failure parade. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YoloinOhio Posted May 4, 2015 Share Posted May 4, 2015 Right. All we know is everyone under the sun but the homers here said they were a reach, and that they stunk. But I can't prove that the Packers or someone didn't secretly love them and wouldn't have jumped at the chance to take all of them in the same round. I guess. Good job on being the Facts Police and clearing that up. Please continue with the celebratory Jimmy Clausen failure parade. the Packers acrually said today they had no plan to draft Hundley but he was bpa on their board at the time so they did. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Over 29 years of fanhood Posted May 4, 2015 Share Posted May 4, 2015 I've never understood the argument that a player was taken a little too high. We had the #50 pick, wanted a player that probably would have been gone before our next pick. So, what are they supposed to do? Trade down... what if no one wants to trade up 10 spots? None of us are in the war room. We don't know what moves they may or may not have tried to make. You can also say, they could have taken this other player. But maybe their paid, professional scouts didn't think he was a fit for our team? I respect a lot of the opinions of a lot of people here, but none of us are paid by the Bills to evaluate and rank the players in terms of best fit for the schemes our coaches want to install. It seems they had their players ranked and took the guys they wanted, when they could get them. The notion that they could trade down a few spots and still get a guy is all reliant upon willing trade partners and none of us know what was pursued or not. Personally, I'm completely underwhelmed by our draft. But, I suspect it was a very good draft for us because Whaley seemed to get exactly who he wanted with each pick. In a couple years, we'll know if he was right. Interesting.... So back AWAY from the cliff 3 days after the draft? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nanker Posted May 4, 2015 Share Posted May 4, 2015 He also said we could have gotten Mike Evans staying at 9 last year. Ridiculous calling Darby a reach. There's a handful of blue chip guys in every class, then a large group that could go anywhere from 1st to the 3rd depending on team needs and teams boards. Darby is squarely in that group. Just because Kiper thinks he belongs in the 60s and he goes 50 doesn't make it a reach. Kiper hasn't had a reach-around in years so he's antsy to use that word. The Bills "won" Free Agency. They didn't have to "win" The Draft. We're looking at a pretty darn good team this year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
negativo Posted May 4, 2015 Share Posted May 4, 2015 Kiper ripped the Bills last draft for the Watkins trade, saying they should have taken Beckham and kept the picks. Turned out he was right. This year, he sticks to the Watkins premise for the 2015 draft being a failure, too. Impossible to say whether he's right or wrong yet, but it's no surprise he doubled down. Of course, he's been wrong as often as he's been right in his predictions so hopefully for us this is one of those times. Let's face it, draft success is impossible to predict. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AllDayADay Posted May 4, 2015 Share Posted May 4, 2015 "I gave the Bills a hard time in the draft grades last year because I thought they paid far too steep a price to move up for Sammy Watkins, given how many good WRs were in that draft. Watkins is going to be just fine, but Mike Evans and Odell Beckham, Jr. could have both been taken without moving up, and that move up now factors into the grade this year, when the Bills didn't have a first-rounder and simply couldn't add the same amount of talent as other teams. I thought Ronald Darby was a reach in Round 2 at No. 50. There's a lot of natural ability with him, but I didn't have CB as nearly the biggest need, and I don't think he was the best player available, either. I'm a lot higher on the third-round selection of John Miller, a physical force in the run game, which they need to succeed to take some pressure off whoever is taking the QB snaps. (There's some buzz that Tyrod Taylor could be really pushing for that role, by the way.) Karlos Williams provides some depth at running back, but I'm not sure how much they needed it, and I might have looked at one of a number of values to be had at linebacker in that range. That said, if Rex said he needed it on defense, my guess is they would have made the move. Nick O'Leary can stick because the competes like heck and can catch the ball. I also think Buffalo got one of the bigger steals in the draft in Dez Lewis, a big-bodied speedster out of Central Arkansas who doesn't look the least bit out of place from a physical and workout standpoint next to the first-round types. The Bills didn't need an amazing draft, thanks to good roster-building outside of QB. That's a good thing." -Kiper I think the last two sentences are the most important in the whole piece. Hes not totally off base with what he says, he just focuses too much on needs and measurables. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. The draft is subjective. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Talley56 Posted May 4, 2015 Share Posted May 4, 2015 I'm fine with the Ronald Darby pick. DB depth is important especially considering a couple years back when we were thin at DB and got lit up by Geno Smith. Yes, GENO SMITH. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
qblax16 Posted May 4, 2015 Share Posted May 4, 2015 Easy to say without a 1st round pick. Not ground-breaking analysis there. We got some depth, and as a fan I'm happy with the draft. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billshank Redemption Posted May 4, 2015 Share Posted May 4, 2015 Just more of a general statement, I just don't understand how people could be saying that we "killed" this draft. Im not furious about it but from a bystanders standpoint we really didn't do all that well. I haven't found one place that thought it was particularly good and we took people with a lot of character concerns while ignoring some of our most important needs. I really don't think a C- is that unfair but then again with no 1st its tough to have an A grade draft as well. Hopefully some of these guys pan out after development and we can keep improving but no need to get pissed at Mel, he ranks his players and based where teams pick them he can praise or criticize. None of our players with the exception of Miller and maybe O'Leary are prove per say. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bills Fan in MD Posted May 4, 2015 Share Posted May 4, 2015 (edited) Straight from the Kype himself... http://espn.go.com/blog/buffalo-bills/post/_/id/18654/mel-kiper-grades-bills-draft-as-nfls-worst Putting aside what any of us thinks about this draft class, does anyone else see this as basically part of one big scam? Kiper is paid by ESPN to come up with a highly subjective ranking of draft prospects -- which you can only really see in detail if you decide to pay for access to Insider -- and then "grades" teams based on whether or not they selected players using the same evaluations that HE provided. Thus, if you disagree with his preliminary analysis, you of course do poorly in his grading. And of course, that post-draft analysis also gets stuck behind the paywall. . . Edited May 4, 2015 by Bills Fan in MD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yungmack Posted May 4, 2015 Share Posted May 4, 2015 Why are so many vexed about Kiper's ratings? Who takes him seriously? Seems even the more expert analysts on ESPN disdain him. His next-day explanation remarks are the perfect example of his idiocy: he doesn't see CB as a need but is more than okay with a "big bodied" WR. Right there he is 180 degrees wrong; the secondary is thin in comparison to WR. And I think he completely misses the point of drafting Karlos Williams, which is for ST mainly, with the possibility of using him on D. Finally, the guy uses last year's draft to factor into this year's ranking. Now I could almost accept his strange logic if he would also factor in all the moves the Bills made in the off season because the real point isn't "to win the draft" but to win the Super Bowl, and by that goal, the Bills are in the best shape they've been in since the turn of the millenium. BTW, just because I think Kiper's reasoning (& knowledge of the Bills) is woefully inadequate does not mean I think the Bills had a good draft because I don't. While there was/is a big need at LB and in the Secondary, I am not over the moon about the guys they took, for many reasons, and I think there were better alternatives than Miller, and as much as I am a huge fan of O'Leary, given other needs, I don't believe it was the best use of the very few picks the Bills had to use it on that position. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John from Riverside Posted May 4, 2015 Share Posted May 4, 2015 I agree with Kiper and anyone else critical of the Bills' draft. The only pick that makes sense is the guard in the third round. The Bills constantly try to outsmart everyone, drafting for glamour (Watkins, Spiller) and reaching when they draft for need and then indulging in luxury picks (a running back this year, really?). The character issues in this draft are very disturbing as well. I can't see the two picks with serious character issues keeping it together over the long haul. If the Pegula era is about disregarding character by signing the likes of Incognite and drafting some of the players we did, I am concerned about a sleeze factor. One Buffalo may be a tank and a football team with a significant number of low character thugs. "I agree with everyone who hates our draft" waa waa waa EVERY ONE of those picks made sense in one way or another....and we only had 6 of them. - If you call Sammy a "glamour" pick then you should learn football New posters shouldnt even be able to post until they have a post count of at least 100 posts...... (Yes I see what I did there) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Canadian Bills Fan Posted May 4, 2015 Share Posted May 4, 2015 I bet Rodak just loved writing that article. I dont care what Kiper says. Never have. I actually laughed out loud when I turned on ESPN (TSN) and saw him. That hair.....LOL CBF Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YoloinOhio Posted May 4, 2015 Share Posted May 4, 2015 Chris Trapasso @ChrisTrapasso 5m5 minutes ago Due to loaded roster, #Bills '15 draft has bigger implications on future. In '16, Darby in spot to be CB2. Same for Karlos as RB2/Dez as WR3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John from Riverside Posted May 4, 2015 Share Posted May 4, 2015 Chris Trapasso @ChrisTrapasso 5m5 minutes ago Due to loaded roster, #Bills '15 draft has bigger implications on future. In '16, Darby in spot to be CB2. Same for Karlos as RB2/Dez as WR3 I would like to see one more quality OT....but other then that Rex has a full compliment of groceries to work with Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuck Wagon Posted May 4, 2015 Share Posted May 4, 2015 Putting aside what any of us thinks about this draft class, does anyone else see this as basically part of one big scam? Kiper is paid by ESPN to come up with a highly subjective ranking of draft prospects -- which you can only really see in detail if you decide to pay for access to Insider -- and then "grades" teams based on whether or not they selected players using the same evaluations that HE provided. Thus, if you disagree with his preliminary analysis, you of course do poorly in his grading. And of course, that post-draft analysis also gets stuck behind the paywall. . . More or less yes, beyond a few good apples, I think ESPN has sacrificed much of their journalistic integrity in order to profit from click bait headlines and creating non stories to fuel their 24 hour news cycle. For example, they employ people like Mike Rodak to troll the Bills because they know they'll get more clicks by having a clearly biased anti Bills reporter writing stories which then get posted on internet message boards and passed around emails with people saying "Did you see what the idiot said now?". In Kiper's case, his value lies in his name brand. You have to remember, ESPN's target market isn't people who care enough about sports to post on internet message boards, they know they've already got us. They are looking for casual fans who know little beyond "I've heard of Mel Kiper" when it comes to draft analysis. I think most of what Kiper says and writes is his personal beliefs, it's just that he really doesn't know nearly as much about the game as his pay grade and reputation suggests. The people who understand this dismiss him, the casual fans don't know that much. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YoloinOhio Posted May 4, 2015 Share Posted May 4, 2015 I would like to see one more quality OT....but other then that Rex has a full compliment of groceries to work with I have a feeling they aren't done making moves. There are teams making cuts now that they are bringing in rookies. There will be trades. It's hard not be excited though looking at where the roster is today (and coaching staff) vs where it was this time last year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KOKBILLS Posted May 4, 2015 Share Posted May 4, 2015 He gave seattle a D the year they took bruce Irvin and russell Wilson and the Bills an A when they took Maybin. I know he studies these guys in college for a living, but his ability to project to their NFL success/ scheme fit /understanding of teams roster forecasting is questionable at best. A good number of the "experts" suffer in the same area... In all seriousness there are plenty of posters on this wall...yourself included Yolo...that have a FAR greater understanding of what is best for the Buffalo Bills Roster at this point in time...There's no way most of these experts can keep up with every team...There's simply not enough hours in the day...So they wing it... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Direhard Fan Posted May 4, 2015 Share Posted May 4, 2015 Kipper doesn't like Miller Lite either. Thats why I don't like him. I believe in Waley. We have to believe in something. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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