Bills 2021 Draft - Overall Assessment

[ColoradoBills]

18 minutes ago, Coach Tuesday said:

Best draft of my lifetime.  They had a clear, sane strategy that makes perfect sense in today’s NFL where (i) you’ve got a franchise QB about to take up a big chunk of the cap; (ii) you need depth at premium positions (everyone does); and (iii) you did sober self-scouting to realize you weren’t affecting the passing game enough to beat your biggest obstacle to the Lombardi.  Super impressed with a well-executed PLAN.  This draft was the product of a clear strategic plan and I’ve literally been waiting decades to say that about this team’s draft.

 

A very rational observation.  Thanks Coach.

[GunnerBill]

16 minutes ago, Hapless Bills Fan said:

 

That's above his paygrade.

 

Yep. If anyone has authority to fire the other then it is the other way around.

[buffaloboyinATL]

I gave it an A. Beane did what he said he would, he drafted with the future in mind. The good news is, a couple of those future needs, could likely be for this season too.  (Pass rush, kick returner and ST talent at a minimum)

[GunnerBill]

I gave it a B. 

 

Picks I loved: Rousseau, Brown, Anderson

Picks I liked: Stevenson, Hamlin

Picks I have no firm view: Doyle, Wildgoose

Pick I am meh on: Basham

 

[Gen2]

One of the pitfalls of having a good team is there isn't a single player we could have drafted where the fan base would say "NOW we can contend for the Super Bowl". We already have those players in place. We get robbed of picking the over hyped "name player" and are regulated to picking backup strength or potential type of players and it's hard to get excited about those type of picks.

 

It wasn't fancy or glitzy, as a matter of fact it was kind of boring, but I'm comfortable in the fact that Beane and McD have a plan and they're working toward their end goal, and our scouting department has more expertise in recognizing talent in their little toenail than I will ever have. 

[DCbillsfan]

This draft surprised me. Going in, I thought Edge, CB, and either WR/TE/OL with the first 3 picks.  I thought they would trade up a few times and end up with no more than 5 picks.

 

Curious to see what shakes out.  A lot of competition all over the roster.  I'm confident Beane has a plan.  It's usually pretty risky to stash draft picks on the practice squad.

[Victory Formation]

I’m giving it an A. I believe that both Boogie and Rousseau will be pretty good DEs, maybe not elite ones but 8-10 sacks per year kind of guys.

 

Spencer Brown will replace Williams as the starting RT within 2 years and I feel he will be an above average RT and not by a little. Tommy Doyle will likely be OL depth, not fodder, but depth.

Only “knock” I have is I wanted a CB, but McD really has a knack for finding these guys late in the draft. My guess is that between either Hamlin or Wildgoose, one of these guys will step up. I trust McD when it comes to drafting DBs. Looks like we added depth in the secondary and more importantly STs depth but McD finds quality DBs, sometimes even starting ones in the 7th RD or UDFA.

 

Marquez Stevenson will be our 6th WR. I do believe he will beat out Hodgins because a) Beane wants speed and b) He can also play STs. He is a wildcard player, may turn into a decent weapon for Josh down the line. I believe our depth chart will be: Diggs/Sanders/Beasley/Davis/McKenzie/Stevenson.

 

So I see at least 3 high level starters from this draft long term (Rousseau/Boogie/Brown). I do think that Brown will be an impact player right away in goal line and jumbo packages etc. and ultimately the depth we added here with Brown, Doyle and Anderson is an extremely good thing for Josh and our run game.

 

Maybe 1T could be a concern as well. We are getting Star back which is nice and we do have Ed Oliver as well. Worst comes to worst you occasionally plug Oliver in at 1T when Star needs air, he is more than adequate in that sense and although most people see him as a 3T, he can do good at 1T. We must also keep in mind that Rousseau and Boogie are killer 3Ts, so it seems to me that we have a very solid if not formidable rotation between our 3T/1T rotation. Horrible Harry is a wildcard as is Justin Zimmer! I think Vernon Butler will be the odd man out and we can save some imperial credits of the realm there cap wise.

 

 

DE is a very interesting reality for us right now. Once again, I do believe that Rousseau and Boogie will be above average starters in this league and I do think Epenesa can be a lunchbox steady rotational player behind them. Addison will be gone although they may keep Jerry Hughes out of respect for what he brings to this team as a leader and as a veteran. Daryl Johnson will be fighting for his life in camp. I do think he has upside at DE and IIRC he is fairly good on STs. Should be a dogfight in camp and who knows? They may keep an extra end because Rousseau and Boogie will see a lot of time inside.

[One Buffalo]

I gave it an A.

 

McBeane playing the long game... I like it.  No quick fixes, but we don't need quick fixes.  Each of these picks have massive upside and fit well in the long term plan of building for sustained success.  Nice to have the luxury to take big swings.  Not all of them will hit, but some will to varying degrees.  

 

Edited May 1, 2021 by One Buffalo

[Shaw66]

22 minutes ago, Coach Tuesday said:

Best draft of my lifetime.  They had a clear, sane strategy that makes perfect sense in today’s NFL where (i) you’ve got a franchise QB about to take up a big chunk of the cap; (ii) you need depth at premium positions (everyone does); and (iii) you did sober self-scouting to realize you weren’t affecting the passing game enough to beat your biggest obstacle to the Lombardi.  Super impressed with a well-executed PLAN.  This draft was the product of a clear strategic plan and I’ve literally been waiting decades to say that about this team’s draft.

Well said.  

 

But you must not be very old.   One year the Bills drafted OJ Simpson.   That was a pretty good draft.   Then there was a year they drafted Bruce Smith.  That was pretty good, too.   Josh Allen and Tremaine Edmunds.  

 

Still, I think this draft is pretty special.  In a different way.   It's a draft of a good team building to be even better.   I like that. 

[SCBills]

If they drafted Elijah Moore at 30, instead of Rousseau, I’d probably give them an A.   
 

I get the Rousseau pick.  I like the potential of it.   If it allows them to cut/trade Addison this offseason, I’ll retroactively bump the draft to an A. 
 

I just feel like Josh deserves one more piece/dimension.   We’re asking him to go to war against Mahomes who has an elite WR1, elite WR group, elite TE and a running game AND/OR someone like Cleveland who have a strong WR group, solid TE play and a monster run game and Baltimore who got Lamar a bunch of weapons to go with their running game and TE’s...

 

And what Josh has (that is proven) is an elite WR1 and strong supporting cast of #2 WR’s in Beasley, Sanders and Davis.  Potential at TE and a work in progress run game.  

All 4 teams look to have solid OL’s.  
 

 

Edited May 1, 2021 by SCBills

[Doc]

I give it a B based on needs filled, not quality of players (that grade will come once they've played a few years).  They didn't get a NT.  I can understand CB if they think Dane Jackson is their CB2.

[MAJBobby]

RAS GALORE 

 

 

[TPS]

I'm looking forward to seeing how this draft plays out in the 2023 season.  Can't give Beane an A, as it's a draft for the future; but I do like that strategy a lot.

Josh Allen is going to keep this team at the top for the next 10 years, and Beane is building a team for the long term, not to simply go for it in 2021.

Edited May 1, 2021 by TPS

[John from Riverside]

30 minutes ago, Ethan in Portland said:

Beane to McD:”The roster is good enough to win the SB. Get out coached in the playoffs again and you are gone”

These are some of your posts are so ridiculous McDermott is probably one of the safest coaches in the NFL

[Freddie's Dead]

33 minutes ago, Doc said:

Huh?  They needed a swing OT.  Nsekhe is gone.  I do think they could have traded down and gotten Doyle but that's speculation.
 

I agree on NT but Tonga can be signed as an UDFA.  And after Pitts there were no TEs worth taking.

 

Not anymore, the Bears bagged Tonga at 250.

[MAJBobby]

 

[Ta111]

I give it an A based upon where they were drafting. It’s easy to draft well when you’re drafting 1 or 2, but when you’re at the back end you really have to think it through. They had a plan and stuck with it.

[BobbyC81]

4 minutes ago, Shaw66 said:

Well said.  

 

But you must not be very old.   One year the Bills drafted OJ Simpson.   That was a pretty good draft.   Then there was a year they drafted Bruce Smith.  That was pretty good, too.   Josh Allen and Tremaine Edmunds.  

 

Still, I think this draft is pretty special.  In a different way.   It's a draft of a good team building to be even better.   I like that. 

The year they drafted Bruce Smith (1985), they also picked Andre Reed and Frank Reich.

[Solomon Grundy]

I wanna see the list of UDFAs 

[BADOLBILZ]

4 minutes ago, GunnerBill said:

I gave it a B. 

 

Picks I loved: Rousseau, Brown, Anderson

Picks I liked: Stevenson, Hamlin

Picks I have no firm view: Doyle, Wildgoose

Pick I am meh on: Basham

 

 

A-

 

Yeah I don't have a "firm view" on Doyle either but I like getting an athletic OT there.

 

I liked Wildgoose.

 

Otherwise about the same feeling.

 

Basham is the one I don't "love"..........but as I said,   I felt all along that was the spot that they were most likely to be left without excellent relative value on the board........maybe Beane trades back and they find a better player..........but maybe his hustle and attitude elevates him above his tools.     

 

[NewEra]

B-  

 

I like the bigness

[GunnerBill]

5 minutes ago, Doc said:

I give it a B based on needs filled, not quality of players (that grade will come once they've played a few years).  They didn't get a NT.  I can understand CB if they think Dane Jackson is their CB2.

 

I think on corner we were just badly positioned all draft really. We were always at the point where we'd have been reaching down the board until that spot in the 6th when maybe I'd have gone with a different guy but finally the value lined up.

[John from Riverside]

I think some people not all are really looking at this the wrong way about

 

getting better as a team what was actually missing from this team last year that caused us to go home one game away from the Super Bowl it really fell in the trenches lack of being able to run the ball when we had to lack of making plays on a QB and getting them off of their spot

 

when we had to those were the two biggest things that stopped our seasonBeane went into this draft and addressed all of that and addressed it multiple times

 

then you have to look at what is going to happen in the future we are about to pay a unicorn QB 40,000,000+ a year things are going to get tighter we need to be able to come up with quality line play without being big players in free agency

 

we need to be able to do this and not have the quality of the plate drop off because we can’t afford big ticket free agents on our lines we have players that are on our lines that are getting older

 

injuries happen all of that being recognized what our greatest weaknesses were and address them so how can you say that we did not get better

 

well other teams got significantly better we got better at the things that we needed to get better atWhile other teams that were picking higher than us and draft selection we’re getting name players that people loved in their mocks beane was going about his business of improving the team in the short term and long term

Edited May 1, 2021 by John from Riverside

[Shaw66]

3 minutes ago, ColeB said:

The year they drafted Bruce Smith (1985), they also picked Andre Reed and Frank Reich.

Thanks.  Not bad.   With those three, they could have drafted you and me and the draft still would have been an A+.

[GunnerBill]

2 minutes ago, BADOLBILZ said:

 

A-

 

Yeah I don't have a "firm view" on Doyle either but I like getting an athletic OT there.

 

I liked Wildgoose.

 

Otherwise about the same feeling.

 

Basham is the one I don't "love"..........but as I said,   I felt all along that was the spot that they were most likely to be left without excellent relative value on the board........maybe Beane trades back and they find a better player..........but maybe his hustle and attitude elevates him above his tools.     

 

 

I haven't seen anything at all of Wildgoose. It wasn't a great year for Wisconsin prospects so I never really watched them. Doyle I have seen clips of but never sat down and actually trawled through one of his games. 

[Rock-A-Bye Beasley]

I love the draft. I wanted them to get fast WR and CB late because our WRs can teach route running and McDermott can mold an athletic CB like Wildgoose. So no need to use top 100 picks on complete players at those positions. 
 

Rousseau was a top 5 pick in mocks this time last year and only started to fall before his pro day. I remember thinking it would be amazing if he fell to us. After his pro day he fell even more in mocks so I started thinking about corners. There’s no doubt he has one of the highest ceilings in the draft. 
 

There are UDFA 1T DTs available. Naquan Jones and Forrest Merril (former wrestler) come to mind. 

They added more youth to the o line and versatile high upside guys as well. They may be able to trade some of the veterans they signed in FA creating their own comp picks once again. 
 

 

 

Edited May 1, 2021 by Rock-A-Bye Beasley

[John from Riverside]

3 minutes ago, GunnerBill said:

 

I think on corner we were just badly positioned all draft really. We were always at the point where we'd have been reaching down the board until that spot in the 6th when maybe I'd have gone with a different guy but finally the value lined up.

Would like to see a free agent corner brought in it was not addressed enough in the draft but that is just the way the draft fell

[NeverOutNick]

I’m stoked! 2 of my favorite pass rushers and 2 raw but insane upside Tackles 🥳 

[BarleyNY]

25 minutes ago, McBean said:

We needed to add offensive playmakers. We didn’t. That’s what will beat KC.

 

The fact Dawson Knox and Singletary will start next year makes me puke.

 

Draft could end up being a home run if Greg and Boogie make an impact in their rookie years.

Agree.  This is a speed arms race and we did nothing.  It doesn’t help that I hate the Rousseau pick.  And two swing tackles?  WTF?  I am horribly disappointed. 

[Success]

I don't know enough about college players to think "we should have gotten this guy or that guy instead."  As soon as we pick a guy, I'll google away and see what I can learn about them.

 

There are certain patterns Beane has shown us at this point, and definitely a certain kind of player that we go for.  He likes guys that may have been overlooked for one reason or another, that have huge/freakish skillsets, and tons of upside.  No matter what the pick, you can always find at least one pundit online who had him going 2-3 rounds earlier, and a few who call him a "steal, if he can overcome/do (x)."

 

That works for me. He's a home run hitter, always swinging for the fences.  If you hit on even a few, you win.

 

[Victory Formation]

23 minutes ago, JaCrispy said:

C+ for me...

 

Not feeling the Rousseau pick, and the fact that we didn’t add a 1T DT...also thought we should’ve taken a chance on G Tre Smith in the 6th round...other than that, decent draft...

Star will be our main 1T, when he needs a breather, Oliver will be our 1T and behind him we’re probably looking at Harry vs Butler vs Zimmer. Rousseau and Boogie will see lots of snaps at 3T. We may keep an extra end.

[eball]

42 minutes ago, Coach Tuesday said:

Best draft of my lifetime.  They had a clear, sane strategy that makes perfect sense in today’s NFL where (i) you’ve got a franchise QB about to take up a big chunk of the cap; (ii) you need depth at premium positions (everyone does); and (iii) you did sober self-scouting to realize you weren’t affecting the passing game enough to beat your biggest obstacle to the Lombardi.  Super impressed with a well-executed PLAN.  This draft was the product of a clear strategic plan and I’ve literally been waiting decades to say that about this team’s draft.

 

Well said.  Cracks me up reading the complainers around here.  This is the most competent, professional front office the Bills have EVER had — and yes, I include the Polian era.

[nucci]

42 minutes ago, Coach Tuesday said:

Best draft of my lifetime.  They had a clear, sane strategy that makes perfect sense in today’s NFL where (i) you’ve got a franchise QB about to take up a big chunk of the cap; (ii) you need depth at premium positions (everyone does); and (iii) you did sober self-scouting to realize you weren’t affecting the passing game enough to beat your biggest obstacle to the Lombardi.  Super impressed with a well-executed PLAN.  This draft was the product of a clear strategic plan and I’ve literally been waiting decades to say that about this team’s draft.

How old are you? I'm not criticizing you or this draft and you can't know how the players will turn out but I've been around a long time and seen more exciting drafts

[Process]

I hope this is just talk and we are not really going to keep Addison. What the heck is the plan, to rotate 6 DEs? And spend 3 high draft picks on DEs in two years just to have them play 20-25% of snaps? 

 

Cut the fat and move on. Let these young guns get some meaningful playing time. Hughes and even the guy we signed from CAR are enough of a vet presence.

 

[BillsfaninChicago]

I loved every pick this year. I get that it wasn’t necessarily an exciting draft this year but for once it didn’t have to be. 

[nucci]

12 minutes ago, ColeB said:

The year they drafted Bruce Smith (1985), they also picked Andre Reed and Frank Reich.

'87 Bennett, Conlan. Odomes, Mueller,  Ballard. I know Bennett was trade but same draft

[WideNine]

29 minutes ago, SoCal Deek said:

Now that the dust has settled it’s also clear they’re definitely counting on the return of Star to clog up the middle and keep O Linemen off of Edmunds. 

 

Star does not get moved off his spot much, but I am not sure he actually forces the double-teams. We will be better than we were without him, but I don't think of him as an impact player at the position at this stage in his career. I also have my doubts with Edmunds becoming the kind of LB who will attack and fill the right gap even with the added benefit of coming in clean... jury is out.

 

And yes, if there is a blind spot that I think both Beane and McD have it is they tend to overvalue (and overpay a bit) for former Panthers. I get the comfort that they have on what those players can bring, but...

 

The good news is they have just about tapped that pool out.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Aussie Joe]

26 minutes ago, GunnerBill said:

I gave it a B. 

 

Picks I loved: Rousseau, Brown, Anderson

Picks I liked: Stevenson, Hamlin

Picks I have no firm view: Doyle, Wildgoose

Pick I am meh on: Basham

 

Pretty much agree with all your individual rankings...

 

Basham was a guy that I wanted us to avoid ... just think he is nothing special ... 

 

I guess at 61 rather than 30 I can live with it and hope I am wrong( wouldn’t be the first time..)

[whorlnut]

1 hour ago, BillsFan130 said:

I still wish they addressed the corner position more.

 

Would have taken one in rounds 1 or 2.

 

I’ve said all along...taking a corner early isn’t a priority to Beane. McD took Tre in the first and he has his bonafide number one. Mcd’s history shows that he plugs a late rounder in at CB2 and he’s able to coach them up.

[ngbills]

51 minutes ago, SoCal Deek said:

For whatever reason this year’s class seems like the most forgettable Bills draft I can remember. I sure hope I’m wrong. 

Agree - reminds of the 2016 draft. Lawson, Ragland, Washington and more...