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Grade the 2017 Buffalo Bills draft


Grade the 2017 Buffalo Bills draft  

254 members have voted

  1. 1. How did we do?

    • A
      87
    • B
      126
    • C
      27
    • D
      7
    • F
      7


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A

 

Extra first rounder next year, three likely starters in key need areas, some ST help and Peterman could be a gem. I really don't know what else you would want?

Well said. We both know the answer to the question, a guaranteed Franchise QB and All Pro in every round might get some up to C-.smh

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People who expected to get OJ Howard, Reuben Foster, Marshon Lattimore and a franchise QB with our first 4 picks.

I gave it a D. I like the selection of White and the trade down showed some early hope that they understood that old habits need to change. They lost their minds on day 2 even when the draft board was favoring the Bills.

 

This team wasn't in a position to compete and it's still not. So, to me, that doesn't justify trading away picks to fill needs. The most pressing need always ends up being the next players the Bills must have. We have now seen this with Shaq, Rags, Zay, Dawkins.

 

To me that's a D. Poor salary cap management, poor draft strategy, poor roster. The notion that 3 guys will start is true because of the lack of competition at those positions. Whaley sounds like he is gone as soon as tomorrow, that's a start.

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I gave it a D. I like the selection of White and the trade down showed some early hope that they understood that old habits need to change. They lost their minds on day 2 even when the draft board was favoring the Bills.

 

This team wasn't in a position to compete and it's still not. So, to me, that doesn't justify trading away picks to fill needs. The most pressing need always ends up being the next players the Bills must have. We have now seen this with Shaq, Rags, Zay, Dawkins.

 

To me that's a D. Poor salary cap management, poor draft strategy, poor roster. The notion that 3 guys will start is true because of the lack of competition at those positions. Whaley sounds like he is gone as soon as tomorrow, that's a start.

I respect your opinion. Well stated but I really like what we did and the clear vision they appear to have going fwd. Edited by r00tabaga
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I respect your opinion. Well stated but I really like what we did and the clear vision they appear to have going fwd.

Thanks, I don't expect everyone to agree with me. I respect your opinion as well. I'm beyond frustrated with this organization, someone asked me who rated the draft so low and I felt like I should offer an explanation for my doing.

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Well said. We both know the answer to the question, a guaranteed Franchise QB and All Pro in every round might get some up to C-.smh

Well, in the Bills universe maybe we got a FQB and the rest of the picks will go all-pro! Wow, after 52 years following this team, I can't stop dreaming.

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I give it a C

 

1- yeah they got a first rounder but if that doesn't turn into a QB next year then that player might not be as good as what they could have gotten with another second rounder and more from the Chiefs this year.

2- I'm all for taking shots on QB's but they were very pick-shy this year and the roster depth is a serious concern.

3- Maybe but doubtful and it's also not just about getting starters in early rounds.......that's where you need difference makers........it's a matchup league and I think the ceilings of those guys are a concern.

4- true

5- False :doh:

 

I think the Bills did things assbackwards this offseason.........they took a long range cap outlook in free agency........but then drafted for need NOW.

 

I suspect that in the next couple offseasons they will find themselves doing those things that undermined them for most of their existence.......drafting for need.....selecting a RB early.......and overpaying for other teams warty free agents to save McDermott's job....this draft could look pretty ugly.

 

Should have taken the chance on one of the early picked QB's.....preferably Mahomes because of upside.......but in lieu of not taking a potential franchise course changer I didn't like the trade-ups.......roster needed depth and talent.

I give this draft a B- overall.

 

As far as the players actually selected (kind of a narrow definition of how to grade a draft), I'd say that's an A-. Of the 3 top picks, you should have one solid starter, one likely significant contributor, and one possible contributor on the O line. And after that, it's a crapshoot all the time, and taking a flyer on a QB who flew under the radar a bit (bouncing from program to program) is perfectly justifiable in the Bills situation. I'm not about to start critiquing 6th and 7th round picks.

 

But there's a broader way to grade a draft, and the bolded sentence here hits the nail on the head. The broader question is, "how does this draft fit within an overall strategy of developing a playoff team roster in [blank] years?" I don't like these schizophrenic approaches to roster building. Winning teams usually don't hedge bets like this - "we'll draft for need, and fill in a few key holes in our roster, but we'll also start trying to stockpile a future high pick since realistically our competition window isn't open for a couple years." I prefer to go all-in on one or the other. And on that basis, I give this draft a D. The saving grace is the trade down to 27 to get an extra 1st next year. But I'd say it wasn't bold enough. It should have been the first blast in a major drive to accumulate high picks next year, but that strategy was immediately undone by moving up (not down) in subsequent rounds.

 

So that all adds up to my B-.

 

My specific gripes: if you were going to try to have your cake and eat it, and try to take a bold step that could just possibly launch you into serious playoff contention in 2017, I wanted O.J. Howard. That would have created huge matchup problems for defenses: Clay + Howard, plus Watkins. I have to assume they would have gone that route if they'd kept Gilmore, but I guess that just wasn't feasible. On the other hand, I'm not particularly sold on Zay Jones. Can we really say for sure that he's an upgrade over Justin Hunter, a waiver pickup? WRs whose main attribute is being tall/end zone threats, but who don't seem to have great ability to gain separation against NFL DBs, and have never shown RAC ability. I think he'll be good at that, in exactly the same way Justin Hunter was good at that. In other words, I didn't like trading up for him.

 

And on a purely fan level - nobody in this draft that will be particularly fun to watch, unless you're a real film geek who can get all excited about White's solid inside cover technique or Dion Dawkins' good balance for a big man ...

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I give it a B-

 

I didn't really like the trade but that can only be determined by what they do with the two firsts. I like the Jones pick a lot. We may get three starters out of it but White and Dawkins could very well be very mediocre starters. The two baby linebackers will help on special teams but we drastically need a coverage LB and just hope one of them can do it in games. Peterman I said not a favorite of mine even though he will look good and fans will overrate him.

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I'm a bit salty about being forced to use a first rounder on CB after letting Gilmore go.

This has to be the opinion that confuses me the most (Not calling you out specifically), because so many people complained about what a bum and liability Gilmore was, then said Whaley better not over pay Gilmore, now everyone acts as if we handed him to the Patriots and set the team back 10 years. Confusing. The exact same thing is being said about Zay replacing Woods, and again, 99% of this board would have thrown a fit had we signed Woods to a new deal. I'm fairly confident we could win back-to-back super bowls and people would complain on this board.

Edited by DisplacedBillsFan
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This has to be the opinion that confuses me the most (Not calling you out specifically), because so many people complained about what a bum and liability Gilmore was, then said Whaley better not over pay Gilmore, now everyone acts as if we handed him to the Patriots and set the team back 10 years. Confusing. The exact same thing is being said about Zay replacing Woods, and again, 99% of this board would have thrown a fit had we signed Woods to a new deal. I'm fairly confident we could win back-to-back super bowls and people would complain on this board.

because when you do that you can never address other needs. The team had needs LAST year that didn't get addressed because we needed to fill new holes that didnt need to be there. Unless the new CB and WR are upgrades rather than just replacements there was no progress made.

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This has to be the opinion that confuses me the most (Not calling you out specifically), because so many people complained about what a bum and liability Gilmore was, then said Whaley better not over pay Gilmore, now everyone acts as if we handed him to the Patriots and set the team back 10 years. Confusing. The exact same thing is being said about Zay replacing Woods, and again, 99% of this board would have thrown a fit had we signed Woods to a new deal. I'm fairly confident we could win back-to-back super bowls and people would complain on this board.

Some fans wanted to fire Marv after Super Bowl XXV. That's should tell you something.

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because when you do that you can never address other needs. The team had needs LAST year that didn't get addressed because we needed to fill new holes that didnt need to be there. Unless the new CB and WR are upgrades rather than just replacements there was no progress made.

It's not the MLB, you can't pay everyone, even when the cap isn't mismanaged. Again I'll emphasize that it seemed like 90% of this board would have flipped out had we resigned Gilmore and Woods and now that same 90% is complaining because we didn't.

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because when you do that you can never address other needs. The team had needs LAST year that didn't get addressed because we needed to fill new holes that didnt need to be there. Unless the new CB and WR are upgrades rather than just replacements there was no progress made.

One of the main functions of the draft is to 'fill holes', find replacements.... we also signed a number of free agents. This is how football works. NE spent millions on Gilmore to fill a need , we used a draft pick. Takes all kinds.

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I gave it a D. I like the selection of White and the trade down showed some early hope that they understood that old habits need to change. They lost their minds on day 2 even when the draft board was favoring the Bills.

This team wasn't in a position to compete and it's still not. So, to me, that doesn't justify trading away picks to fill needs. The most pressing need always ends up being the next players the Bills must have. We have now seen this with Shaq, Rags, Zay, Dawkins.

To me that's a D. Poor salary cap management, poor draft strategy, poor roster. The notion that 3 guys will start is true because of the lack of competition at those positions. Whaley sounds like he is gone as soon as tomorrow, that's a start.

Because we did no take your picks you give it a D. You do not take into consideration the picks we did get

Your D, way off the mark. You don't want to fill needs leaving a big void going into this season. Sorry just don't get how any one can seriously give it a D.

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I gave them an F, they drafted a CB to fill a need they should have never opened. A possession WR, 3 tweeners, and a mediocre QB AND they gave up additional picks to get the possession WR and a tweener OL.

You were asked to rate the draft so why give an F for letting Gilmore go? SMH-

You are the type of fan who would have also given an F if we DIDNT draft a CB to replace Stephon!

#cantwin

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It's not the MLB, you can't pay everyone, even when the cap isn't mismanaged. Again I'll emphasize that it seemed like 90% of this board would have flipped out had we resigned Gilmore and Woods and now that same 90% is complaining because we didn't.

you're right, you can't pay everyone, but we paid Vlad Ducasse and 2 freaking FULLBACKS. Woods? Fine, let go. Gilmore was a foolish thing to do and they'll do the same thing next year when they let Watkins walk then need to go draft a WR again and we can all be happy about how they addressed their needs.

You were asked to rate the draft so why give an F for letting Gilmore go? SMH-

You are the type of fan who would have also given an F if we DIDNT draft a CB to replace Stephon!

#cantwin

To be honest I could probably just give it an F, not give any reasons, wait 4 years and be right when nobody is still on the roster.

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Do people that do nothing but complain on this board and offer their pessimistic and negative outlooks no matter what happens go through the rest of their lives like this too, or is it just a message board persona? Hopefully all you negative Nancy type folks have some joy in your life somewhere. Try to bring a smile to the board once in a while instead of your constant negative nonsense.

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I was going to give a B but getting that pick next year , we now have the ammo to go get our franchise QB in a year where there is supposed to be some top notch QB's, I know every year we say this but as of now this looks like a decent class in 2018. I like the character guys McDermott is bringing in, Zay Jones looks like he can be a special player right out of the gate , same with White, even Dawkins looks like he has a decent shot to be the starting RT as his biggest obstacle is Mills, shouldn't be hard to beat him out. Big fan of Peterman, I think he will win the backup job by earning it and making Yates expendable, just my opinion and I loved this draft for us. I don't like that were spinning our wheels though (lost Gilmore/Woods and replace them with White/Jones) but it shouldn't over shadow how good we did though.

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you're right, you can't pay everyone, but we paid Vlad Ducasse and 2 freaking FULLBACKS. Woods? Fine, let go. Gilmore was a foolish thing to do and they'll do the same thing next year when they let Watkins walk then need to go draft a WR again and we can all be happy about how they addressed their needs.

 

And, remind me, are you a Watkins fan or are you one who's always complaining about him being hurt and useless? Because, you can't constantly complain about him for four years and then also complain because his 5th year option isn't picked up.

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Do people that do nothing but complain on this board and offer their pessimistic and negative outlooks no matter what happens go through the rest of their lives like this too, or is it just a message board persona? Hopefully all you negative Nancy type folks have some joy in your life somewhere. Try to bring a smile to the board once in a while instead of your constant negative nonsense.

I'm sorry, you're right, it's sunshine and rainbow season right now. Enjoy that, your next GM search starts in about 12 hours. Good luck with that.

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I'm sorry, you're right, it's sunshine and rainbow season right now. Enjoy that, your next GM search starts in about 12 hours. Good luck with that.

You misunderstood. I already recognized that your attitude about this team is extremely negative. I was just curious as to if anything in life brings you joy.

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I get this.

 

The Bills got 0 game changers from this draft.

 

The best the fans can hope for is average NFL starters.

This is dumb on many levels.

 

We already have Shady, Sammy & Clay. We had needs in other areas bro. Can't draft RBs & WRs when we need a RT, CBs and LBs. Cmon dude, u gotta be smarter than that.

 

Wish we got a FS but I'm still hoping for a Byrd reunion.

Edited by r00tabaga
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And, remind me, are you a Watkins fan or are you one who's always complaining about him being hurt and useless? Because, you can't constantly complain about him for four years and then also complain because his 5th year option isn't picked up.

No see, this is where you have me incorrectly pigeon holed. I don't like ANY of them. They are ALL useless and will remain so well into the future. Watkins was a stupid draft choice made for stupid reasons. However, that ship already sailed and he's the best receiver on the team and they need to make it work. They wont do that though. They'll just throw him away and overdraft another WR next year because the problem isn't their cap management or their talent evaluation or their game day coaching or their roster of players. IT'S EVERYTHING. Top to bottom, the entire organization. Useless piles of continual failure. There is literally nothing they can't screw up or won't continue to screw up. They have been stuck in neutral for nearly two DECADES and everything they touch turns to ****. You can feel however you want about this week. Track record says they !@#$ed it up.

You misunderstood. I already recognized that your attitude about this team is extremely negative. I was just curious as to if anything in life brings you joy.

Yes, golfing on Sundays rather than watching the NFL has been wonderful.

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On paper I like the talent, though I'm a bit salty about being forced to use a first rounder on CB after letting Gilmore go. Can't do much about our cap situation though at this point.

 

Think about this though...

 

We did NOT over pay that cornerback. Instead we used the cap room to sign more players where we needed help. We then not only added a much cheaper DB in White, but he has some serious potential to be better than Gilmore who was injury prone, made too many lapses, and wasn't a leader like this kid seems to be. In addition, we added an extra 1st next as insurance if your QB is not currently on the roster to make a move for a QB. If TT or someone else steps up, we get 2 first rounders to load up on more talent. On top of that we were able to also get Zay Jones because of the extra 3rd we got in that trade down to move ahead of Carolina and take him.

 

All in all, I feel like we did a lot better than had we just kept Gilmore.

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No see, this is where you have me incorrectly pigeon holed. I don't like ANY of them. They are ALL useless and will remain so well into the future. Watkins was a stupid draft choice made for stupid reasons. However, that ship already sailed and he's the best receiver on the team and they need to make it work. They wont do that though. They'll just throw him away and overdraft another WR next year because the problem isn't their cap management or their talent evaluation or their game day coaching or their roster of players. IT'S EVERYTHING. Top to bottom, the entire organization. Useless piles of continual failure. There is literally nothing they can't screw up or won't continue to screw up. They have been stuck in neutral for nearly two DECADES and everything they touch turns to ****. You can feel however you want about this week. Track record says they !@#$ed it up.

 

Yes, golfing on Sundays rather than watching the NFL has been wonderful.

Wait, I thought you liked the Bills. Are you a troll from another team? I'm confused. How can you be a fan of a team that you don't like any players. Do yourself a favor and jump on a bandwagon. In all seriousness, it would be healthier.

Come back when we're good again.

Edited by r00tabaga
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FALSE. -Andre Reed is a d__k to me EVERY time I approach him for an autograph!... LOVE the guy anyway! :lol:

 

Jim and Family have always been amazing to me... -He really did improve over time.

Don't approach him for an autograph .... approach him like a man and have a conversation

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Wait, I thought you liked the Bills. Are you a troll from another team? I'm confused. How can you be a fan of a team that you don't like any players. Do yourself a favor and jump on a bandwagon. In all seriousness, it would be healthier.

Come back when we're good again.

Why do I have to be a fan of any team to be posting here? I followed the Bills and considered myself a fan for a very long time. Last September I took all of my stuff and all of my kids stuff and threw it in a Goodwill container and haven't watched a minute since. Things I'd owned for 30 years, gone. The Bills are banned from my house. No TV, no radio, no discussion. They are dead. They are a non-entity in my home. If my kids want to watch football they can become Eagles or Ravens fans because either of those would be acceptable local teams. They should support their local team or none at all. They certainly shouldn't continue to absorb **** from other people, adults and children alike, because their father grew up somewhere else.

 

To be perfectly frank the sport they call football now is very different from what I grew up watching and I'd been liking it less and less for many years but kept watching because of fantasy football and misplaced loyalty to the Bills. I stopped playing fantasy football the year after they started Thursday night football because it stopped being fun and started being a job to keep up with. Without the gambling action the game itself was incredibly boring which made it much easier to face reality about the Bills. They are the jobbers of the NFL and will be forever. Since the NFL sucks in general now, and the Bills suck even more, what was the point? The entire process stopped being fun. It's not about being a bandwaggoner somewhere else, I couldn't give a **** who wins week to week. I watched the Super Bowl and that was only because I had money on it. The game is garbage.

 

So I come in here extremely occasioanally to kick your dog and throw your lolly in the dirt. Get over it.

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Why do I have to be a fan of any team to be posting here? I followed the Bills and considered myself a fan for a very long time. Last September I took all of my stuff and all of my kids stuff and threw it in a Goodwill container and haven't watched a minute since. Things I'd owned for 30 years, gone. The Bills are banned from my house. No TV, no radio, no discussion. They are dead. They are a non-entity in my home. If my kids want to watch football they can become Eagles or Ravens fans because either of those would be acceptable local teams. They should support their local team or none at all. They certainly shouldn't continue to absorb **** from other people, adults and children alike, because their father grew up somewhere else.

 

To be perfectly frank the sport they call football now is very different from what I grew up watching and I'd been liking it less and less for many years but kept watching because of fantasy football and misplaced loyalty to the Bills. I stopped playing fantasy football the year after they started Thursday night football because it stopped being fun and started being a job to keep up with. Without the gambling action the game itself was incredibly boring which made it much easier to face reality about the Bills. They are the jobbers of the NFL and will be forever. Since the NFL sucks in general now, and the Bills suck even more, what was the point? The entire process stopped being fun. It's not about being a bandwaggoner somewhere else, I couldn't give a **** who wins week to week. I watched the Super Bowl and that was only because I had money on it. The game is garbage.

 

So I come in here extremely occasioanally to kick your dog and throw your lolly in the dirt. Get over it.

It just got weird. I'm out.

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I chose "B" but was tempted to go with "A".

 

I wish they hadn't traded up twice (I can kind of get on board with the Zay Jones trade but 3 picks is steep for a 2nd/3rd round O-lineman...)

 

I also wish they had taken better advantage of a historically deep DB class to restock our secondary after getting rid of Gilmore, Robey, Graham, & Williams.

 

And I didn't like the way they were selecting for immediate needs vs BPA

 

But I really liked the trade down in the first a lot!(even though there was some pretty good talent left on the board) Getting an extra first round pick is huge! (especially with our QB position not entirely settled and a potentially strong QB class next year)

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