Ben Allbright’s annual mock draft has Bills taking Etienne at 30. He’s been right about where Bills are looking several years running.

[Reed83HOF]

11 hours ago, BADOLBILZ said:

 

 

The conclusion you are drawing is the opposite of what the data on those RB's is telling you.     And the "5 great years" thing might be the biggest fallacy of all the things people use to justify drafting a RB.   Nobody on that list has given their team 5 great years.   Not even one.   Now add a 17th game to their seasons?    Never been more unwise to draft a RB in round 1.

 

Oweh is intriguing.    I am more of a Rousseau fan.    My 3 top targets at #30 are Eichenberg, Marshall and Rousseau.    Eich helps protect Allen and buy him time which makes all of the playmakers more effective.....including the RB's.    Marshall can play all 3 spots and be a seam stretcher or a guy who stretches the field from outside the numbers and also a big body to help them in the redzone.    Rousseau has rare size and length and tackling ability and that leads to production behind the LOS.    The common thread is that they were all huge producers at key positions when they were on the field and aren't all full of injury flags.   I'd also be fine with the right CB but I don't expect Newsome or a Bills medical approved Farley to be there and would be happy with Adebo or Campbell later.

I almost always agree with you, this year I have a different lens on and perhaps it is not the best approach. The first round RBs I would stay away from are the top of 1st guys, great players, but if you are drafting up there, other more pressing needs should be addressed first. Late RD 1 with our roster, make me want to gamble a bit more for the reasons below.

 

What gets me more wins this year? Will CB2 be more of an upgrade this year vs what we already have there? Was Taron Johnson the reason we lost to KC? Would edge have moved the needle enough? We simply were unable to score and we had instances in the season, especially in the 3rd qtrs where our offense stalled. Defenses made an adjustment and we weren't able to counter, when we had to rely on our running game, it wasn't there, we were terrible on screen passes, to close out games we had to pass, our WRs were injured and dinged up because we passed a lot, even when the game was in hand because we couldn't run. How many 3rd and longs did we have miracle plays to keep the drives alive (happened twice against Indy), etc. You could say explosive WR could help, which wr do u take off the field (diggs, Beasley, sanders or davis)? RB could fill a lot of these gaps and help our offense sustain closer to the rate it was last year and provide a different element to force defensive adjustments. Singletary isn't it, I'm not high on moss or Breida either to be that missing piece.

 

Teams with franchise QBs operate on 4 to 5 year windows, let me burn a late 1 this year, in a light class, on an RB who can give me production during this window that will eliminate some of the issues above. I just feel that solves more problems for us instead of trying to find a Tre clone that doesn't help us when the offense stalls and our WRs are taken away.

[Big Turk]

21 hours ago, Logic said:

Totally fair. Based on Allbright apparently having a source within the Bills (which he has subtly implied), I think what this says is that if ETN is on the board at 30, he’s their guy. With 29 picks happening before the Bills are up, it only takes one team to ruin the Bills’ plan and thus, to make Allbright’s pick wrong.

 

I think it’s reasonable to conclude that ETN might be their preferred player based on who they think will be available. Allbright also previously stated that the Bills will be flexible if a player of high value at a premium position slips. If the board falls as many expect, it might be time to buy a #9 Bills jersey.
 

 

 

Al I want to know is will Etienne hear one guitar...that will blow him away?

[maryland-bills-fan]

1 hour ago, Big Turk said:

 

Al I want to know is will Etienne hear one guitar...that will blow him away?

What in the world do you mean by that comment?

12 hours ago, FieldGeneral said:

So we're not going to address the glaring need for a pass rush? Cool. 

The guy that we could draft at #30 is not to much different than the guy we could draft in the middle of the second round. You can't wish a top 15 talent DE into our #30 draft pick.

 

[YoloinOhio]

53 minutes ago, maryland-bills-fan said:

What in the world do you mean by that comment?

The guy that we could draft at #30 is not to much different than the guy we could draft in the middle of the second round. You can't wish a top 15 talent DE into our #30 draft pick.

 

The only way is to get Jaelen Phillips but if he’s still there at 30 there is a reason. Compounding his medical red flags are that he couldn’t even attend the medical combine because he had Covid. I know sal has us taking him in his mock but unless Beane was bluffing (possible) he’s not interested in risking his top pick on muddy Medicals

[Big Turk]

3 hours ago, maryland-bills-fan said:

What in the world do you mean by that comment?

The guy that we could draft at #30 is not to much different than the guy we could draft in the middle of the second round. You can't wish a top 15 talent DE into our #30 draft pick.

 

 

Hahaha...it is a reference to the song Jukebox Hero...just had it come on the radio when I was posting

[Soylent Green]

As probably the only man in the USA who owns both Bills season tickets and Clemson football season tickets, I can tell you that the Bills may pick another player and that player may pan out, but they are going to wish they had drafted Etienne.  He is going to be a great player in the NFL.

 

The Bills have one of the top offenses in the NFL with mediocre (to put it kindly) running backs.  Singletary offers nothing and Moss is Frank Gore, the 35 year old version.  Why not shoot the moon right now?

[FieldGeneral]

4 hours ago, maryland-bills-fan said:

What in the world do you mean by that comment?

The guy that we could draft at #30 is not to much different than the guy we could draft in the middle of the second round. You can't wish a top 15 talent DE into our #30 draft pick.

 

 

What I mean is look at KC last year. They had so many weapons, but as soon as they couldn't get to the QB, they struggled. I don't want to see another season where Allen has to be almost perfect every game for us to win. Seems as if all we have concentrated on the last 2 years is offense and depth on defense. 

[Solomon Grundy]

I don’t want the Bills to pick ETN at 30. I think there are RBs later, Kylin Hill/Khalil Herbert that can contribute to the team and be effective. They both excelled against tough collegiate competition. Both are good rushing/receiving backs with NFL size. I see them as steals a la James Robinson (Jaguars)

[TBBills]

7 hours ago, The Governor said:

Have we all kicked this around and convinced ourselves that ETN would be a great pick? I’m still not feeling it. I hope the board gets shaken up and someone better falls and we ditch this idea.

No, choosing a RB at 30 when you have all these others on the roster reminds me of the ***** Bills when they were picking RBs year after year.

[Aussie Joe]

I guess the Bills front office decided to leak false info to Benjamin this year

[BillsPride12]

On 4/29/2021 at 3:37 PM, Soylent Green said:

As probably the only man in the USA who owns both Bills season tickets and Clemson football season tickets, I can tell you that the Bills may pick another player and that player may pan out, but they are going to wish they had drafted Etienne.  He is going to be a great player in the NFL.

 

The Bills have one of the top offenses in the NFL with mediocre (to put it kindly) running backs.  Singletary offers nothing and Moss is Frank Gore, the 35 year old version.  Why not shoot the moon right now?

That is pretty interesting, what's your background...how did you become a fan of those two teams and where are you located that you have season tickets for both?

[MasterStrategist]

On 4/29/2021 at 3:37 PM, Soylent Green said:

As probably the only man in the USA who owns both Bills season tickets and Clemson football season tickets, I can tell you that the Bills may pick another player and that player may pan out, but they are going to wish they had drafted Etienne.  He is going to be a great player in the NFL.

 

The Bills have one of the top offenses in the NFL with mediocre (to put it kindly) running backs.  Singletary offers nothing and Moss is Frank Gore, the 35 year old version.  Why not shoot the moon right now?

No doubt Etienne is tough, and will be real good.  But Motor and Moss can hold their own.  Yes not talented as Etienne, but this is a passing offense and if we're adding more weapons would prefer its a WR or TE.  

 

Davis is going to keep growing, but this draft has a glutton of very good WRs again.  Would hate to look back and say we regret not grabbing 1.

 

Keep adding weapons to the WR/TE room, and speed in secondary/ability to disrupt the passer

[1ManRaid]

17 minutes ago, Aussie Joe said:

I guess the Bills front office decided to leak false info to Benjamin this year

 

Etienne was gone by the time our pick came up, so how do you figure that?

[Logic]

19 minutes ago, Aussie Joe said:

I guess the Bills front office decided to leak false info to Benjamin this year

.....or a team just drafted him before the Bills were on the board, so we'll never really know how the Bills felt about him? 

[Aussie Joe]

Just now, Logic said:

.....or a team just drafted him before the Bills were on the board, so we'll never really know how the Bills felt about him? 

I thought Beane said that Rousseau was who they wanted?

[Logic]

20 minutes ago, Aussie Joe said:

I thought Beane said that Rousseau was who they wanted?

He did, indeed. I can't remember the last draft after which I DIDN'T hear a GM say some version of that. 

He's certainly not gonna say "he was our second or third choice. Our top choice was already off the board". 

I'm not saying they'd have taken Etienne (or Jaelan Phillips or Kwity Paye or Greg Newsome) over Rousseau. I have no idea. I'm just saying there's no way to know for sure, because those dudes were off the board.

[Aussie Joe]

Just now, Logic said:

He did, indeed. I can't remember the last draft after which I DIDN'T hear a GM say some version of that. 

He's certainly not gonna say "he was our second or third choice. Our top choice was already off the board". 

I'm not saying they'd have taken Etienne (or Jaelan Phillips or Kwity Paye or Greg Newsome) over Rousseau. I have no idea. I'm just saying there's no way to know for sure, because those dudes were off the board.

We might find out when they release those “war room” documentary that they put out after the draft every year.. it’s been obvious in previous years who they were targeting with some of the picks... Ford, Moss come to mind ...

 

I’m just a little skeptical that there is someone in the Bills inner sanctum where only a handful of people would know  what they are thinking would be leaking that to Albright .... unless for the purposes of disinformation..

[Logic]

2 minutes ago, ScottLaw said:

Thankfully Etienne wasn't there... 

Yeah. Amazingly, the coach of the team that DID draft him called him a "third down back", and didn't even list him among his starting 1-2 punch at RB, which he says is Robinson and Hyde. 

Pretty bizarre to spend a top 25 pick on a guy you consider a 3rd down back.

[RichRiderBills]

I like the Rousseau pick all things considered , but Bills blew it by not making a move up to draft Etienne.

 

I also think the Steelers really needed more than another RB. I think they are in fantasyland about the talent on the team.

Edited April 30, 2021 by RichRiderBills

[1ManRaid]

1 hour ago, Aussie Joe said:

I thought Beane said that Rousseau was who they wanted?

 

Yes.  Once Etienne was gone, and they failed to trade down as evidenced by taking nearly the full time allotted to get the pick in.