The Bills are doing good with FAs, now draft starters.

[boater]

Back to the OP.. Tipster is right.

 

Subdued FA + value-based drafting will build the team for the long term.

 

Whaley is a good judge of talent.

 

Note: the team that plays FA and value drafting the best is the Patriots.

 

The worst team is the Redskins (to wit RGIII)

Edited April 6, 2016 by boater

[LeGOATski]

I love the way the Bills have been working FA and the draft in recent years.

 

I'm really excited to see who they get again this year. Lot's of defensive talent so I know we'll have an exciting player to root for from this draft.

[3rdand12]

I find it unfair to judge draft picks after one season. and two is a bit risky unless a huge drop off has occurred . I understand it is a fun exercise but hardly definitive.

 

Lets look at injuries and factor that in btw. Who in the last draft did NOT have a fairly significant injury would be the shorter list. i know, part of the game. But we are evaluating success and failure, so it must be factored in.

Surely that hinders progress?

Whaley has done okay. He certainly is no idiot. He has a method.

 

He has not been large, whatever the hell that means, But he has not set the Bills roster back either. that's alright by me.

[machine gun kelly]

but your digging on players like you know how they are gonna turn out which is baffling to me.....

 

Not every player "nfl matures at the same rate"

 

OG Miller.....played with a high ankle sprain for much of the year......and OL dont exactly light it up in their first year much less a 3rd round pick

Steward? Played behind Bradham......where is his playing time gonna come from.....I will say this regarding Steward.....who almost immediately got injured....in the few plays he got before that happened? He was around the ball on every play

5th round running back? If ALL he ever ends up being is a complementary running back to some starter...that is a great use of a pick

Nick O'Leary......who knows.....didnt get playing time till the end of the year.

Dez Lewis......he is a hight weight speed guy who might need some time to get it together.....but at that part of the draft you are basing it on potential

 

but.hey lets go back to the beginning of the draft.

 

Keep in mind that Sammy Watkins is also a part of this draft evaluation because the 1st round pick is given up to GET Sammy Watkins.....so that is your first round pick......so your draft is actually Sammy Watkins, Ronald Darby, Miller, Karlos Williams as your first 4 picks

 

or

 

You could look at it like we had NO first round pick....but still managed to come up with a runner up rookie defensive player of the year.....a starting OL.....and a very productive big physical back in the first 4 rounds of the draft

 

That is a excellent draft no matter how you look at it....no GM is gonna hit ever pick.....and not all players are gonna hit their ceilings immediately

 

John, I'm with you in that Karlos is not made of glass. The dude had 1 TD shy of the record. He was dynamic and a fun change up to McCoy. Darby as you stated should have been DROY, and I liked Miller. he was playing hurt halfway through the year and needs time to develop. I remember when I was young it was always commonly thought you have to give an O Lineman three years. I don't mean if they suck like Richardson or Kuondjo, but Miller started strong. He'll get better.

[John from Riverside]

 

John, I'm with you in that Karlos is not made of glass. The dude had 1 TD shy of the record. He was dynamic and a fun change up to McCoy. Darby as you stated should have been DROY, and I liked Miller. he was playing hurt halfway through the year and needs time to develop. I remember when I was young it was always commonly thought you have to give an O Lineman three years. I don't mean if they suck like Richardson or Kuondjo, but Miller started strong. He'll get better.

I think Miller is the key.

 

If Miller improves on last year and stays healthy. People will be much more upbeat about this draft.

 

He was a 3rd round pick......and all Whaley.....so

[Beef Jerky]

Back to the OP.. Tipster is right.

 

Subdued FA + value-based drafting will build the team for the long term.

 

Whaley is a good judge of talent.

 

Note: the team that plays FA and value drafting the best is the Patriots.

 

The worst team is the Redskins (to wit RGIII)

Actually the Patriots haven't been that good.

[LeGOATski]

Actually the Patriots haven't been that good.

They're great in FA. They haven't drafted as well, but they put more emphasis on quantity.

That makes sense when you're constantly drafting at the end of the first round.

[YattaOkasan]

I love the way the Bills have been working FA and the draft in recent years.

 

I'm really excited to see who they get again this year. Lot's of defensive talent so I know we'll have an exciting player to root for from this draft.

I am also pleased with how they have worked FA. In particular the guys we are brining in are young. If one pans out he can get an extension. Hoping we get one 2017 starter from the defensive signings.

[BillsVet]

Amazing the Bills need multiple starters after 4 off-seasons with Whaley as GM and the 2015 spending spree.

 

I guess one could say Nix left him a crap sandwich, but Whaley was on board then.

 

Teams that rebuild for 3+ seasons and still need to his 2-3 homers in the draft aren't rebuilding. They're just maintaining mediocrity.

[BuffaloBillsForever]

Amazing the Bills need multiple starters after 4 off-seasons with Whaley as GM and the 2015 spending spree.

 

I guess one could say Nix left him a crap sandwich, but Whaley was on board then.

 

Teams that rebuild for 3+ seasons and still need to his 2-3 homers in the draft aren't rebuilding. They're just maintaining mediocrity.

 

Yup and they won't even maintain that mediocrity next year IMO as my current projections that I have been working on before the draft has them well below .500 (5-11)

 

I will plug in their draft of course when that happens.

[That's No Moon]

Your going back a bit pulling the Gallagher.....but yeah.....I think that is a fair ranking.

 

Its amazing what having a great QB can do for the the overall success of your organization right? Polian and Butler got to have Jim Kelly through those years (not that they didnt do a great job surrounding him with talent)

Part of having the great QB is acquiring them.

 

Polian got Kelly to sign. Kelly certainly didn't have to and, with the cache he had coming out of the USFL, could have forced the Bills to move him if he wanted to.

 

Gallagher made a shrewd waiver claim to get Kemp from the Chargers for essentially nothing. He also acquired Daryle Lamonica, it was the bonehead that followed him who traded Lamonica to the Raiders for nothing. That's 2 great QBs on Gallagher's + column (in a time when QBs were gold and being chased by 2 leagues)

 

Part of Butler's big problem was that he couldn't bring in a QB to follow Jim. Todd Collins, Alex Van Pelt, Rob Johnson, Doug Flutie. Collins was a #2, Johnson cost us a top 10 pick that could have been used on a myriad of players including Fred Taylor, Keith Brooking, Takeo Spikes, Randy Moss, and Tra Thomas.

[John from Riverside]

Amazing the Bills need multiple starters after 4 off-seasons with Whaley as GM and the 2015 spending spree.

 

I guess one could say Nix left him a crap sandwich, but Whaley was on board then.

 

Teams that rebuild for 3+ seasons and still need to his 2-3 homers in the draft aren't rebuilding. They're just maintaining mediocrity.

Players leave via free agency.......and need to be replaced via draft.

 

Why is this so complicated. This is exactly the way the steelers do it

[Pete]

Amazing the Bills need multiple starters after 4 off-seasons with Whaley as GM and the 2015 spending spree.

 

I guess one could say Nix left him a crap sandwich, but Whaley was on board then.

 

Teams that rebuild for 3+ seasons and still need to his 2-3 homers in the draft aren't rebuilding. They're just maintaining mediocrity.

The Bills were built to win last year. Last year's Bills were one of the most talented teams in the NFL, and very deep. They still are pretty loaded. If Whaley hits on this draft(and keeps improving roster), if we can stay healthy...I love our chances this year

[Pete]

And yes, Nix didn't leave Whaley much. The Bills were a bad football team when Whaley took over. We used to have a hard time filling a 53 roster. Now the cuts are tough, and Bills cuts/free agents get signed

Edited April 7, 2016 by Pete

[LeGOATski]

Amazing the Bills need multiple starters after 4 off-seasons with Whaley as GM and the 2015 spending spree.

 

I guess one could say Nix left him a crap sandwich, but Whaley was on board then.

 

Teams that rebuild for 3+ seasons and still need to his 2-3 homers in the draft aren't rebuilding. They're just maintaining mediocrity.

Rarely does a team not need 2-4 starters for the next year. Rosters are constantly changing. Teams with a history of success obviously have it easier when it comes to acquiring FAs without breaking the bank.

 

The Bills need a good LB and DE. A RT would be nice. Fortunately, this draft is stocked with defensive talent. What are we freaking out about?

[GunnerBill]

Amazing the Bills need multiple starters after 4 off-seasons with Whaley as GM and the 2015 spending spree.

 

I guess one could say Nix left him a crap sandwich, but Whaley was on board then.

 

Teams that rebuild for 3+ seasons and still need to his 2-3 homers in the draft aren't rebuilding. They're just maintaining mediocrity.

 

 

It isn't really 4 offseasons with Whaley is it? Come on - let's try and be accurate. This is his third. If someone else is GM through the draft and the opening weeks of free agency then it is misleading to claim that as a Whaley off-season.

 

The 2 seasons that have followed Whaley off-seasons have resulted in a 17-15 record. Changing Head Coach between the two seasons was less than ideal but Whaley didn't fire Marrone - Marrone walked.

 

The Bills need to hit on a couple of home runs in the draft - same as every team in the NFL this year. There isn't a single roster out there that doesn't have at least a couple of holes. The Panthers might be the closest to complete but they have a couple of question marks on their defensive line, in the secondary and could still use an upgrade at offensive tackle.

Edited April 7, 2016 by GunnerBill

[26CornerBlitz]

It's about time the Bills became do gooders.

[BillsVet]

The Bills were built to win last year. Last year's Bills were one of the most talented teams in the NFL, and very deep. They still are pretty loaded. If Whaley hits on this draft(and keeps improving roster), if we can stay healthy...I love our chances this year

 

There isn't much wisdom to building for the short term at the expense of the future. No perennially successful NFL teams go wild in free agency like Buffalo did last year and maintain much beyond 1-2 seasons.

 

Being consistently successful, i.e. a playoff contender each year is very hard but not impossible. I heard for years on this board that spending like Dan Snyder was bad because Washington wasn't building right. At that time the Bills were notoriously frugal in UFA. Now that they're spending big it's good because it shows they want to win. Which one is it?

 

I see issues all over the field with this team. They're not sure enough on the QB to sign him long term, no doubt the result of meetings between personnel and coaches. They have a new defensive scheme that needs 2-3 new front 7 players. Their presumably starting RT has a serious medical issue, and there's little proven depth at WR, TE, and the OL. All of this after 3 seasons spent "rebuilding" the roster.

Edited April 7, 2016 by BillsVet

[thebandit27]

 

There isn't much wisdom to building for the short term at the expense of the future. No perennially successful NFL teams go wild in free agency like Buffalo did last year and maintain much beyond 1-2 seasons.

 

Being consistently successful, i.e. a playoff contender each year is very hard but not impossible. I heard for years on this board that spending like Dan Snyder was bad because Washington wasn't building right. At that time the Bills were notoriously frugal in UFA. Now that they're spending big it's good because it shows they want to win. Which one is it?

 

I see issues all over the field with this team. They're not sure enough on the QB to sign him long term, no doubt the result of meetings between personnel and coaches. They have a new defensive scheme that needs 2-3 new front 7 players. Their presumably starting RT has a serious medical issue, and there's little proven depth at WR, TE, and the OL. All of this after 3 seasons spent "rebuilding" the roster.

 

This is a false dichotomy.

 

Dan Snyder went out year after year and paid huge money to the hot FAs in an attempt to put together a star-studded roster.

 

That's not what this team has done.

 

They built through the draft, and added what they felt were some key pieces through FA and trades (Shady, Harvin, Clay, Taylor). The vast majority of the big-money that they've spent is on retaining their own.

 

Case-in-point: look at the team's depth chart right now:

 

QB - street FA

RB - trade & draft pick

WR - draft pick, draft pick, street FA

TE - FA, draft pick, draft pick

LT - draft pick

LG - street FA

C - draft pick

RG - draft pick

RT - draft pick

 

5-tech - street FA

1-tech - draft pick

3-tech - draft pick

Sam - UFA

Will - UFA

Mike - draft pick

Rush - trade

LCB - draft pick

FS - UFA

SS - draft pick

RCB - draft pick

NCB - UDFA

[GunnerBill]

Correct Bandit - and I think if you compared that across the league it would not be massively out of step with the organisations who are winning consistently. The big difference is the route we acquired our Quarterback.