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SB Nation: Every team's smartest pick in the last 5 years

YoloinOhio

By YoloinOhio
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Doc Brown Hall of Famer

Doc Brown

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My first thought was Darby or Glenn. I guess Watkins is our best pick talent wise, but giving up a 1st to get him and all his injuries makes Whaley's first move as GM in the draft possibly the worst thus far. Here's crossing my fingers and hope for a rebound year.

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Dragonborn10 Veteran

Dragonborn10

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Games started last three years: Watkins 37. Glenn 43.

Glenn is a very good player but was effectively replaced by CK.

There is no substitute for Watkins ability.

 

1. Watkins

2. Gilmore

3. Glenn

4. Darby

5. Miller

 

With any luck, next year two of the five names on this list will be Ragland and Lawson

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mjt328 Veteran

mjt328

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Sammy Watkins may be the most talented player we have drafted in the past 5 years. But he wasn't the smartest pick. Not by a mile.

 

First of all, it doesn't take a genius to draft someone considered a Top 5 elite talent in the draft. Any idiot GM can draft a Watkins or a Marcel Dareus. What would have been smart, is to stay put and take Odell Beckham Jr., who has been a better player than Watkins. Or to trade down and take someone like Kelvin Benjamin. Even if you account for the trade up (which hasn't been worth the price so far, considering Watkins injury history), I think most would admit that Khalil Mack would have been a smarter choice.

 

I agree with those that say Cordy Glenn was probably our smartest pick. Not only did we get a very good starting Left Tackle in the middle of the 2nd Round, but Glenn has been better than any of the tackles drafted ahead of him. Almost every analyst I read thought that Glenn was destined to be a Guard or Right Tackle. Most figured he wouldn't make it on the left. The Bills believed they knew better, and they were.

 

Kiko Alonso was also a good pick. But one of the main reasons his draft stock dropped was because of injuries. And the Bills lost Alonso for his entire sophomore season, before shipping him off to the Eagles. Injuries are the main reason that Alonso has failed to live up to his potential. If the Bills hadn't traded him for Shady and he had stayed on the roster, I think most fans would be considering the guy a disappointment at this stage of his career.

 

Ronald Darby looked like a genius pick during his rookie season, but the guy really fell off last year. Jury is still out on Darby.

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I strongly suspect that Whaley is generally better respected outside of the Bills' fan base.

 

Having lived outside of Buffalo for a long time in a few different cities, I can attest to this. People generally complain about their own teams delusional offseason's (mostly Baltimore out of the few places I've been) but admire what my team is doing.

Sammy Watkins may be the most talented player we have drafted in the past 5 years. But he wasn't the smartest pick. Not by a mile.

 

First of all, it doesn't take a genius to draft someone considered a Top 5 elite talent in the draft. Any idiot GM can draft a Watkins or a Marcel Dareus. What would have been smart, is to stay put and take Odell Beckham Jr., who has been a better player than Watkins. Or to trade down and take someone like Kelvin Benjamin. Even if you account for the trade up (which hasn't been worth the price so far, considering Watkins injury history), I think most would admit that Khalil Mack would have been a smarter choice.

 

I agree with those that say Cordy Glenn was probably our smartest pick. Not only did we get a very good starting Left Tackle in the middle of the 2nd Round, but Glenn has been better than any of the tackles drafted ahead of him. Almost every analyst I read thought that Glenn was destined to be a Guard or Right Tackle. Most figured he wouldn't make it on the left. The Bills believed they knew better, and they were.

 

Kiko Alonso was also a good pick. But one of the main reasons his draft stock dropped was because of injuries. And the Bills lost Alonso for his entire sophomore season, before shipping him off to the Eagles. Injuries are the main reason that Alonso has failed to live up to his potential. If the Bills hadn't traded him for Shady and he had stayed on the roster, I think most fans would be considering the guy a disappointment at this stage of his career.

 

Ronald Darby looked like a genius pick during his rookie season, but the guy really fell off last year. Jury is still out on Darby.

 

Nobody has yet to take a second and see that trading up and sending next year's first in 2014 was genius. The first round the next year after we were slotted to pick is filled with busts.

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YoloinOhio Hall of Famer

YoloinOhio

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He should have taken a page out of OBJ's book and sat the first 4 weeks to get healthy though.

instead he played through broken ribs and was 18 yards short of 1000 yards as a rookie #1 WR with a terrible EJ Manuel and quasi-retired Kyle Orton in the Marracket offense.
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