Trades. Picks. And all the drama. Welcome to the Bills draft room.

[HOUSE]

OMG, did you see all those Banquet tables in the War room?

There is at least 25 good jumps there

After the draft we can just stack them all in one pile , go up the stairs for one Big jump

 I love the white ones...less bounce more crack

 

Edited May 3, 2019 by HOUSE

[Inigo Montoya]

 

Notice how everyone in the room was in a suit and tie.  I'm sure that's not the case in many draft rooms.  I think it's indicative of the culture Beane is building in the organization.  Be professional at all times  There are no short cuts, no causal Fridays.  You are here representing this organization and this city.  We are going to look the part, we are going to act the part, we are going to take care of our business like professionals.

 

It all starts at the top.  You gotta like it.

[Chandler#81]

2 hours ago, MAJBobby said:

 

Hell they could have my phone. Strip search me going in and coming out of the room. I would give anything to be in a war room for an entire draft. 

You seem a bit eager for that strip search thing.. juss sayin’?

 

Loved the video. You never know if teams really got the guy they wanted, though publicly they all say that. This shows Oliver, Ford, Singletary, Knox & Sweeney were who they were truly going after. Very cool!

[The Wiz]

I like at the 5 minute mark how scheon has a potential trade lined up and beane just shuts it down because it's for a future pick.  Then it cuts to him in the interview saying "we did consider it".  

5 hours ago, DJB said:

Anyone willing to comb through the video frame by frame to try and see the draft boards? Because there are definitely some clear but quick shots of it. Would be cool to see

Pretty hard to make anything out since it's out of focus. 

 

Most of the boards showed other teams available picks and point value and even those are are to read. 

[eball]

43 minutes ago, GunnerBill said:

 

Kirby's intel yesterday was that he was sticking out there as the BPA on their board.

 

Exactly.  That is what I was alluding to.  I don't mind when fans have opinions, but when they just make up schitt it annoys me.

[GunnerBill]

1 minute ago, eball said:

 

Exactly.  That is what I was alluding to.  I don't mind when fans have opinions, but when they just make up schitt it annoys me.

 

Yea Singletary was the one pick this year where Beane and I were out of kilter on our evaluations. I thought they took him a round too early, the Bills board would seem to indicate they could have taken him a round sooner. Other than that the lowest any player was on my board at the point the Bills picked them was Dawson Know who was my #11 BPA at that spot. So I don't exactly agree with their evaluation on Singletary but I think it is clear what their evaluation was. He was sticking out as their BPA and they stuck to their board.

[eball]

1 minute ago, GunnerBill said:

 

Yea Singletary was the one pick this year where Beane and I were out of kilter on our evaluations. I thought they took him a round too early, the Bills board would seem to indicate they could have taken him a round sooner. Other than that the lowest any player was on my board at the point the Bills picked them was Dawson Know who was my #11 BPA at that spot. So I don't exactly agree with their evaluation on Singletary but I think it is clear what their evaluation was. He was sticking out as their BPA and they stuck to their board.

 

Yup.  It irks me that BBFS creeps into the thinking by some that the video we saw was "doctored" so we didn't see the Bills "miss out" on who they really wanted at RB.  So silly.

 

If Singletary turns into our Shady replacement by next year everyone will be thrilled.

[Gugny]

10 hours ago, John from Riverside said:

.....who knows what would have happened between 9 and 11.

 

My sources tell me the correct answer is 10.

[The Wiz]

6 minutes ago, Gugny said:

 

My sources tell me the correct answer is 10.

Only a sith would deal in absolutes. 

[GunnerBill]

25 minutes ago, eball said:

 

Yup.  It irks me that BBFS creeps into the thinking by some that the video we saw was "doctored" so we didn't see the Bills "miss out" on who they really wanted at RB.  So silly.

 

If Singletary turns into our Shady replacement by next year everyone will be thrilled.

 

I mean I am sure the Bills didn't get every player they were targeting in this draft... I suspect they "missed out" on TEs who they had graded higher than Knox for example and the move up was predicated on him being the last of the guys who could realistically come in and contribute in any sort of meaningful way as a rookie. But short of televising our draft room for the whole draft, which would clearly be ludicrous, I don't know how they choose to focus on the guys they didn't get. The focus was largely on the guys they did get. The video did show them trying, and failing, to get back up into round 1 on Thursday night and it showed them trying and failing to get up before Carolina did on Friday and it showed a trade offer from Chicago that they knocked back. I don't think it came across as doctored but of course every team misses out on guys it wants in the draft.... if you showed every one of those you would be televising the whole thing.

[YoloinOhio]

9 hours ago, Estro said:

I think there's a reason we didn't see any of that.  Just my feeling, but I think Henderson and or Montgomery both of whom went just picks before the Bills would've been the guy if they were still there.  I like the both of them much more than Singletary.  

Not sure about Henderson,  but I definitely do not think they would have taken Montgomery over Singletary. They didn’t scout him live once. 

Edited May 3, 2019 by YoloinOhio

[MAJBobby]

1 hour ago, Chandler#81 said:

You seem a bit eager for that strip search thing.. juss sayin’?

 

Loved the video. You never know if teams really got the guy they wanted, though publicly they all say that. This shows Oliver, Ford, Singletary, Knox & Sweeney were who they were truly going after. Very cool!

 

Sure maybe Kim or the daughters could help with that search. In all serious I would love to be inside that room more than anywhere else I can think of that has to do with Football or any sport for that matter. 

[mead107]

11 hours ago, YoloinOhio said:

7 min.. enjoy!

A BIG THANK YOU for all you contribute 

 

[MrEpsYtown]

Awesome video. And If you are Oliver or Ford it must be pretty cool to see how excited they were to get you. They tell you they were excited and obviously they take you, but seeing it must be special on another level. Even for Knox he sees how they specifically targeted him to get their guy. 

[BigBuff423]

One of the things that stood out to me was their ability to be patient, but then act decisively when their opportunity came. It also seemed - and it might just be the editing of the video - that right after the Singletary pick, Beane was on to find a way to Draft Knox. That indicates Knox was a target from the beginning in some respect. Had Hockenson fallen to them in the 2nd or Fant, I don't know if they would have immediately jumped at it or not, but to me Oliver was the pick all along (of course presuming Q. Williams was gone). 

[BobChalmers]

I really enjoyed the video, but I think it's telling that it started well into the first round early picks, and yes, I love Beane as GM.

 

What we did NOT get to see was what sort of maneuvering they were trying to do to move up and WHO they were wanting to move up for.  They'll tell us they weren't really and/or they wanted Oliver, but we probably won't know for a decade plus.

[GunnerBill]

4 minutes ago, BobChalmers said:

I really enjoyed the video, but I think it's telling that it started well into the first round early picks, and yes, I love Beane as GM.

 

What we did NOT get to see was what sort of maneuvering they were trying to do to move up and WHO they were wanting to move up for.  They'll tell us they weren't really and/or they wanted Oliver, but we probably won't know for a decade plus.

 

It was to ensure Oliver or Q.Williams IMO. Reading between the lines of what Beane has and hasn't said my belief is that they were 1 and 1A on the Bills' board.

[Wsam4031]

12 hours ago, DrDawkinstein said:

This is what Ive been waiting for. And why I'll always want OUR team on Hard Knocks. Gimme that inside info!

 

Wonder who they were trying to trade back into the 1st for? My guess is Neal.

They were actually trying to trade back into the first for Ford

[Bob Vance]

2 hours ago, Inigo Montoya said:

 

Notice how everyone in the room was in a suit and tie.  I'm sure that's not the case in many draft rooms.  I think it's indicative of the culture Beane is building in the organization.  Be professional at all times  There are no short cuts, no causal Fridays.  You are here representing this organization and this city.  We are going to look the part, we are going to act the part, we are going to take care of our business like professionals.

 

It all starts at the top.  You gotta like it.

 

Its actually kind of funny how they start out in suits on Thursday, then Friday they lose their ties, and then Saturday they lose the coat 

[MAJBobby]

3 hours ago, Inigo Montoya said:

 

Notice how everyone in the room was in a suit and tie.  I'm sure that's not the case in many draft rooms.  I think it's indicative of the culture Beane is building in the organization.  Be professional at all times  There are no short cuts, no causal Fridays.  You are here representing this organization and this city.  We are going to look the part, we are going to act the part, we are going to take care of our business like professionals.

 

It all starts at the top.  You gotta like it.

I could care less how they are dressed, that isn't what makes it professional.  They could have been in Hoodies Bills gear for all I care.  What was professional is clearly there is one voice in the room and that was Beane, the group listened etc.  and after trading both 4ths (could have cam later than the start) instead still came in early to talk post draft UFA.  

54 minutes ago, BobChalmers said:

I really enjoyed the video, but I think it's telling that it started well into the first round early picks, and yes, I love Beane as GM.

 

What we did NOT get to see was what sort of maneuvering they were trying to do to move up and WHO they were wanting to move up for.  They'll tell us they weren't really and/or they wanted Oliver, but we probably won't know for a decade plus.

Right at the beginning before the draft started in their update brief he mentions that "most likely we are going to stay at 9"  so that was the plan it seemed like before AZ got on the clock

 

I would love for them to film one of their Mock Drafts they run in prep, then after the draft release that, I would love to know how that process goes, Does each scout get a team to be GM, do thy consensus on the picks of every team before making the "pick"

[YoloinOhio]

4 hours ago, Inigo Montoya said:

 

Notice how everyone in the room was in a suit and tie.  I'm sure that's not the case in many draft rooms.  I think it's indicative of the culture Beane is building in the organization.  Be professional at all times  There are no short cuts, no causal Fridays.  You are here representing this organization and this city.  We are going to look the part, we are going to act the part, we are going to take care of our business like professionals.

 

It all starts at the top.  You gotta like it.

Everyone except Beane, who was rocking the 1/4 zip. Did he miss the memo? 

 

Edit: looks like that wasn’t day 1. I see he had the suit and tie on Thursday. Whew. 

Edited May 3, 2019 by YoloinOhio

[BabyBills]

Within the first minute or two of the video, you can see a screen in the background that seems to list team needs.  For the Bills, those were:

 

DT

DE

TE

RB

OLB

OC (hard to tell)

OT

 

If this list is in descending order, it shows just how much they must have valued Cody Ford (only the 7th highest positional need taken in the 2nd round) and didn't value players like Chase Winovich (a player at the 2nd highest positional need that was passed over for a player at the 4th highest positional need).

[MrEpsYtown]

2 minutes ago, BabyBills said:

Within the first minute or two of the video, you can see a screen in the background that seems to list team needs.  For the Bills, those were:

 

DT

DE

TE

RB

OLB

OC (hard to tell)

OT

 

If this list is in descending order, it shows just how much they must have valued Cody Ford (only the 7th highest positional need taken in the 2nd round) and didn't value players like Chase Winovich (a player at the 2nd highest positional need that was passed over for a player at the 4th highest positional need).

 

Winovich is a nice player, but he just does not fit the mold of what they look for as an end. He has very little length. I think he will be good for the Pats because they will move him around and have him do different things. That isn't McDermott's style. I feel like he is the type of player that would be quite low on their draft board, if he is even on it at all. 

[The Wiz]

1 hour ago, BillSpurs said:

 

Its actually kind of funny how they start out in suits on Thursday, then Friday they lose their ties, and then Saturday they lose the coat 

Looked like beane was sporting a fleece and some Moccasins Saturday morning. 

 

That rolled out of bed look.  Just missing the plaid pajama pants. Though they do look like track pants. 

 

Edit: well they were gym shoes, not Moccasins. Still casual compared to the shoes he was wearing day 1.

Edited May 3, 2019 by The Wiz

[GunnerBill]

They basically dressed more casual as it went. Day 1 suits and ties. Day 2 jacket, chinos, shirt no tie, day 3 zip up top and trainers.

[whatdrought]

My favorite part of that is that Beane owns the room. You’ve got the owner and the head coach sitting there right next to him, but they’re both absolutely fine letting him do his job while checking in here and there. This is segmentation of the organizational flowchart that makes for successful businesses.

13 hours ago, Alphadawg7 said:

 

Denver was not likely going to take Oliver, but I do think there would have been a substantial chance someone would have traded with Denver to get Oliver before our pick.  So if Oliver was our guy, best to take him at 9.  

 

Interesting scenario thought:  Lets say we did move back with Cincy.  And now at 11 and someone did take Oliver.  We could have moved back a second time with Pitt from 11 so they could get Bush.  We would have scored a lot of assets through moving down twice had someone jumped the ship and got Oliver.

 

But, for me, if you love a guy you take him over more picks.  Especially a top 5 talent like Oliver, so love that we stayed put and got their top guy on the board.  

 

When you have your franchise QB and a young nucleous of talent, the next step is adding blue chip players. I think they believe Oliver to be that. I’m glad we got him!

[Rocket94]

34 minutes ago, MrEpsYtown said:

 

Winovich is a nice player, but he just does not fit the mold of what they look for as an end. He has very little length. I think he will be good for the Pats because they will move him around and have him do different things. That isn't McDermott's style. I feel like he is the type of player that would be quite low on their draft board, if he is even on it at all. 

It seems that a Frank Clark "type" is what McD is looking for. A 23-27 year old prototype.

Edited May 3, 2019 by Rocket94

[Rocket94]

If we could go back in time and bring back Bruce!

[elroy16]

10 hours ago, Richard Noggin said:

We probably don't know the exact timing/context of when those comments (about Knox, in particular, were uttered...although I only watched it once). Even subtle editing can create the impression of a narrative-friendly timeline.

 

But that's a cynical take that I don't care to pursue further. Beane and his team are prepared and poised. I like watching them work.

 

That's a very good point. There's a cut between the Singletary pick and Beane saying they want to get Knox, so who knows when the Knox comment came.

 

I'm glad you brought that up because at first watch is seemed like they wanted Knox as soon as they picked Singletary. Between that and them wanting to trade up for Ford, it almost seemed like they're falling in love with players and may push a bit to get them as opposed to letting the draft unfold a bit. They obviously still let the draft unfold since they didn't trade up for Oliver or make a huge jump for Ford, but it was still something I found interesting while watching the video.

 

 

 

 

12 hours ago, YoloinOhio said:

He got a bigger reaction in the room than Oliver. I think they genuinely felt like they got 2 1st round picks. 

 

Yeah it did, that was interesting. They looked pretty dejected when Carolina traded up. I'm not sure who it was, but Beane asked who traded up and it sounds like someone says, do you really want to know? All of these guys were on the same page, they all knew they wanted Ford and they all knew Carolina was probably trading up for a tackle, hence, the guy not wanting to break the news to Beane.

 

 

 

 

[aristocrat]

intersting we almost went back to 11.  also he was so dissapointed thinking ford was going to carolina. be interesting to see who was right with these picks going forward. carolina is very high on little and are thinking he's a day one starter at left tackle. 

[BillsFan4]

7 hours ago, Poleshifter said:

I would love to see the room's reaction when they selected Dawson Knox, and then Belichek immediately trades out of the next spot. Like we stole the friggin' tight end the Pats wanted. I'll bet the room went wild, but they could never show that stuff publicly.

 

BillsFan4, can you please show the process behind drafting Knox?

 

Unfortunately It’s not a video. Sorry for the confusion. 

 

What I meant was that there is a section in the article on each player, where Beane describes why he drafted each guy (and what he saw on their film).

 

I can post his quotes on what he saw in Knox if you’d like. 

[TC in St. Louis]

10 hours ago, mrags said:

This 

 

Well,  I got the wrong quote.  What I meant to address was the comment about needing more reaction to the Singletary pick.  I think Beane addressed that later when he said that Devin's films were the most fun to watch....and the wear and tear issue was dealt with when he said something about how Singletary wasn't tackled all that often.  Dude scored 62 touchdowns in 700 rushing attempts.  That's pretty impressive.  

[Forward Progress]

Like many on this board, I appreciate the way Beane runs his team.

 

I'd like to add that I like the way the Pegula's run their team as well.  They are present, observing but not interfering with the team.  They have hired capable people to run the team, so they enable them to run the team.  I will take this style of ownership over a meddling owner, playing with his Billion Dollar toy any day.

[Heff]

Awesome inside look. Bills r building something special.

[ticketssince61]

Great Video.

 

Love how all the staff seem so organized and professional

 

Great touch when they called Pancho

[Poleshifter]

1 hour ago, BillsFan4 said:

Unfortunately It’s not a video. Sorry for the confusion. 

 

What I meant was that there is a section in the article on each player, where Beane describes why he drafted each guy (and what he saw on their film).

 

I can post his quotes on what he saw in Knox if you’d like. 

I know you were talking about the article, not the video.

 

Please post the quotes about Knox. Fascinating player - no TDs in college, etc. I love the pick, and would love to see the analysis behind it. Thanks in advance.

 

[hondo in seattle]

In the end, we're going to judge Beane on the players he did get.  And rightly so.

But it would be interesting to know all the potential trades he turned down so we can evaluate the opportunity cost.  

[Moulds_80]

I got chills from that.

 

Perfect video to watch before going into work!

We can conquer the world!

[Shaw66]

7 hours ago, Inigo Montoya said:

 

Notice how everyone in the room was in a suit and tie.  I'm sure that's not the case in many draft rooms.  I think it's indicative of the culture Beane is building in the organization.  Be professional at all times  There are no short cuts, no causal Fridays.  You are here representing this organization and this city.  We are going to look the part, we are going to act the part, we are going to take care of our business like professionals.

 

It all starts at the top.  You gotta like it.

I noticed, didn't think much about it.   But you're right. 

 

That organization is top down doing it the way it's supposed to be done.   I get the sense that the Pegulas realized, probably after Rex, that they want everything done professionally.   Everything.  And that's what McBeane were selling.  

 

And now on to my other reactions:

 

At some point, not in the video but in the quotes from Beane from the Athletic, he said something like when it comes down to football skills and measureables, Beane's going with football skills.  Singletary is a football player, and Beane just wasn't too concerned about his 40 times or anything else.  I thought that was interesting.  We've seen it a lot.  Sills, Sweeney, others in this draft and before.   Beane wants football smarts.  

 

In his post draft speech, he said they got guys who filled needs.   He was talking particularly, I think, about the first two picks.   Huh?   He's sworn up and down that he's a BPA guy, then he says the Bills filled needs.   I think what he means is that he won't take a guy who isn't at the top of his board just to fill a need.   But when the guy at the top of his board fills a need, he'll trade up to get him.   It happened at the top of the second round and again at the bottom of the third round.  

 

It's obvious how well prepared they are.   They know what they're doing as the situations arise, not just sitting there with looks of surprise on their faces. 

 

Beane is so comfortable all the time.   McD too.  Pretty clear that both of them spent years preparing themselves to do these jobs.  They thought about it, studied, even practiced.   Beane's a light year ahead of Whaley, who clearly was learning on the job.   For that matter, McD was better prepared to be a head coach than Rex.   Rex learned from his father, and in those days for a lot of coaches it was just seat of the pants stuff.   No longer. 

 

I also found it interesting how much McD was just a spectator.  This was Beane's show; McD had input, just like the scouts had input, but once the board was set and the Commish said the 2019 draft was open, it was Beane and Beane alone running the show.  

 

I'd love to see the stuff we didn't see, the times they expressed disappointment that one guy or another came off the board.   

 

Great video.  

[chris heff]

Thanks Yolo that was really interesting and fun to watch.