Is there any defensive player you'd be happy with at pick 27?

[SydneyBillsFan]

9 hours ago, Nitro said:

Bills will have major hoes to fill.  O line, Safety and LB are major areas.   I hope they trade out of 27 and move into the second round.  Pick up extra picks.  Deep draft in Safety so that can be addressed in mid rounds.   Building a successful team you do it front to back, inside out.   O line for the first or second pick.   With Edmunds hitting FA the glaring need for an LB is obvious.  I expect the Bills to use the first pick to replace him.  Defense will be different next season.  Whoever gets Edmunds will get a difference maker.  

 

Dude, we're not Cleveland.

[GunnerBill]

7 hours ago, MrEpsYtown said:

@GunnerBillthoughts on Trenton Simpson? He seems more in line with what they look for typically. Came off the edge a lot last year, a bit more in the box this year. I like him a lot, but I love Campbell too. Just a different type of backer. 
 

Drew Sanders seems like a Tremaine clone, with more playmaking ability, bug I am not sure he is a fit either. 

 

Yea Simpson I think skillset wise is more their type than Jack Campbell. I think it is a true position adjustment though for him. He would be a bit of a conversion project to MLB but he has the range, explosiveness and sideline to sideline ability they seem to covet. I'd feel happier drafting him as a WILL for a 3-4 but to a 4-3 team I think he is eventually a MIKE.

 

I think that "what is his position?" question with Simpson is probably the thing most likely to hurt his draft stock.

[NeverOutNick]

It may sound bullheaded but honestly No there isn’t a reasonable defensive player I’d be happy with drafting with our first pick. We need to start focusing on the offensive line and real weapons for Josh early in the draft. The time for developing O linemen and Diamond in the rough receivers has passed. 
 

My dream scenario is the Steelers or Seahawks are enamored with a defensive player at pick 27 and trade us their 2 early 2nd round picks to move up. Then we somehow land with our 3 picks two O lineman and a WR, ideally:

 

Zay Flowers, Darnell Wright and John Michael Schmitz.

 

We get in my opinion the best WR (especially RAC) in the class, An OT who can play both RT and fill in at LT and a flexible interior lineman who will eventually replace Morse when he retires

 

Probably a pipe dream that all 3 will fall but one can fantasize

Edited March 6, 2023 by NeverOutNick

[GunnerBill]

7 hours ago, HappyDays said:

 

I just put on a video of him and wow I found my newest draft crush. TE wasn't even on my radar in the 1st but his motion looks so fluid and he looks so natural plucking the ball out of the air. You think he complements Knox well if we want to do more 12 personnel?

 

At pick 27 we might have to settle for a weird position like TE or LB if we want to maximize the value of the pick. If the goal is offense only I'd be happy picking a potentially elite pass catching TE like Kincaid and figure out how to fit him into our roster.

 

Kincaid is an exception in this class in that he is a player I have liked more the more I watch him. Fluid mover, very good hands, decent understanding of leverage. His blocking sucks, but he is a bit wirey and I don't rule out with an NFL S&C programme him improving that element to at least be passable. Otherwise you could still get a Jimmy Graham, Zach Ertz or Mike Gesicki type big slot even if he never develops as a blocker. 

 

I now have him as my TE1 in the class. Not a true 1st rounder by any means but in a class where they are in short supply..... maybe at #27 I could get myself comfortable with it. I suppose the only thing I'd say is if LB and TE are in play at #27 I am not sure why safety wouldn't be? Again not advocating for a safety, but they are in the same tier of positional value.

[machine gun kelly]

15 hours ago, HappyDays said:

Most Bills fans understandably want an offensive player in the 1st round. I get it. But if the board falls a certain way, is there any defensive player realistically available at pick 27 that you would be happy with?

 

I have mentioned elsewhere that my guy on defense is LB Jack Campbell. He wouldn't be my first preference at pick 27 but I've grown to like him enough that I would be happy with him as the pick there. He brings a size and physicality to the defense that we don't currently have and I think filling that missing element is just as important as filling some of our holes on offense.

 

HD, nope.  We have exhausted too many resources on defense from the draft, and not nearly enough on offense. 

[GreggTX]

I'll be severely disappointed if the Bills pick a defender at 27. I want an OL that makes ALL of the skill players look better. Other teams draft OL in the first round every year, but we treat our OL as an afterthought. 

We put guys in starting OL jobs that should be backups. I'd like to see our defense minded coach realize that as a HC, he's responsible for the offense too. No more excuses. 

I want a top 10 OL at least, preferably top 5. Right now we are bottom 5. We won't win a SB like that. Look at the OL's of last season's final 4. The Bengals OL was banged up, but the other 3 had excellent OL's. 

People overlook OL for the same reason they overlook 1-Tech. Those guys don't make the sexy plays, but they make all the guys around them look better.

[GunnerBill]

2 minutes ago, GreggTX said:

I'll be severely disappointed if the Bills pick a defender at 27. I want an OL that makes ALL of the skill players look better. Other teams draft OL in the first round every year, but we treat our OL as an afterthought. 

We put guys in starting OL jobs that should be backups. I'd like to see our defense minded coach realize that as a HC, he's responsible for the offense too. No more excuses. 

I want a top 10 OL at least, preferably top 5. Right now we are bottom 5. We won't win a SB like that. Look at the OL's of last season's final 4. The Bengals OL was banged up, but the other 3 had excellent OL's. 

People overlook OL for the same reason they overlook 1-Tech. Those guys don't make the sexy plays, but they make all the guys around them look better.

 

I don't disagree with you at all on the importance of OL... but an offensive lineman doesn't become a first round level player just through you picking him in the first round. You actually have to have a guy there that justifies that pick. I think that cost / benefit analysis is different in a weaker class like this but that is still ultimately the question you have to grapple with. 

[Dopey]

16 hours ago, Allen2Diggs said:

I would like to tag-and-trade Edmunds for a 3rd rounder, then take Jack Campbell in the 1st, a receiver in the second, and a guard and safety in the 3rd (I'm assuming we don't re-sign Poyer.

 

I don’t think he will sign the franchise tender. If that’s the case, he’s not under contract and can’t be traded. 

[BeavercreekBillsFan]

11 hours ago, HappyDays said:

 

I hear you. Hypothetically what if in FA we sign OBJ and Isaac Semeulo (or equivalent talents at the same positions), plugging our two biggest offensive holes before the draft? Then would you feel more comfortable with defense at pick 27?

Still no. If we get Semeulo I’ll be thrilled. But that still doesn’t solve the Spencer brown problem or the Mitch Morse potential injuries which looms large too. A follow on investment of resources in offensive line is needed. 

[JerseyBills]

18 hours ago, HappyDays said:

Most Bills fans understandably want an offensive player in the 1st round. I get it. But if the board falls a certain way, is there any defensive player realistically available at pick 27 that you would be happy with?

 

I have mentioned elsewhere that my guy on defense is LB Jack Campbell. He wouldn't be my first preference at pick 27 but I've grown to like him enough that I would be happy with him as the pick there. He brings a size and physicality to the defense that we don't currently have and I think filling that missing element is just as important as filling some of our holes on offense.

I don't follow college football enough to have an opinion and rely on you guys for draft stuff but it'd have to be a game changing player , that they move up for or a guy that falls to 27 that they couldn't resist. Otherwise I want to build around 17 as much as possible 

Edited March 6, 2023 by JerseyBills

[MrEpsYtown]

5 hours ago, GunnerBill said:

 

Yea Simpson I think skillset wise is more their type than Jack Campbell. I think it is a true position adjustment though for him. He would be a bit of a conversion project to MLB but he has the range, explosiveness and sideline to sideline ability they seem to covet. I'd feel happier drafting him as a WILL for a 3-4 but to a 4-3 team I think he is eventually a MIKE.

 

I think that "what is his position?" question with Simpson is probably the thing most likely to hurt his draft stock.

 

Thanks. Simpson maybe is hurt by the whole Isaiah Simmons thing. But I do think Simpson is definitely an in box off ball backer. 

 

He oozes the process stuff graduating in three years and coming from a military family in North Carolina. 

 

I think UFA will kind of be a tell. If they sign a guy like Germaine Pratt for 3 years 24 million, then I think they might be out of the LB market. If they start talking up Terrel Bernard and sign a 1 year stop gap, then I would think Simpson and maybe Campbell will be on the table early. How early? Who knows? but I do think he and Campbell continue to rise in the process just because they are such productive, solid dudes. 

[BADOLBILZ]

8 hours ago, Doc Brown said:

Beane at least to me has followed this strategy and his draft process has always been fine.  QB, MLB, DT, WR, DE, CB are all premium positions he used first round picks to obtain.  The problem is in the scouting department.  I remember Cody Ford being in the 20 to 30 range on most big boards and mock drafts before the 2019 draft.  He may have been there "aim high superstar" talent that they traded up to get when he slipped to the second round.  Boogie Basham was another pick where they thought they were getting great value at a premium position.  

 

 

Yeah for the most part I've thought Beane has been sticking to the premium position model.   MLB isn't a premium position but at the time I saw Edmunds as an excellent edge rush prospect that would probably assume the Lorenzo Alexander role and add coverage ability.    I saw Oliver as a pass rusher.    So in that regard they've all been premium positions in round 1.

 

It's rounds 2 and 3 where they have had a tendency to reach for needs.    Epenesa was the only one that kinda' met both premium position and upside, IMO.   Ford and Basham were just JAG's IMO.   Sometimes players get elevated because there is a lack of talent at the position(like Ford in a bad OT class of 2019)..........and other times the perception of a great class raises a few guys who don't pass the eye test(like Basham specifically).  

 

 

 

Edited March 6, 2023 by BADOLBILZ

[GunnerBill]

7 minutes ago, BADOLBILZ said:

 

Yeah for the most part I've thought Beane has been sticking to the premium position model.   MLB isn't a premium position but at the time I saw Edmunds as an excellent edge rush prospect that would probably assume the Lorenzo Alexander role and add coverage ability.    I saw Oliver as a pass rusher.    So in that regard they've all been premium positions in round 1.

 

It's rounds 2 and 3 where they have had a tendency to reach for needs.    Epenesa was the only one that kinda' met both premium position and upside, IMO.   Ford and Basham were just JAG's IMO.   Sometimes players get elevated because there is a lack of talent at the position(like Ford in a bad OT class of 2019)..........and other times the perception of a great class raises a few guys who don't pass the eye test(like Basham specifically).  

 

What is your view Badol on premium position in a sucky class like this? You are the most devout advocate of premium positions in early rounds (which is a principle I largely agree with) but I have been reflecting a lot on this class over the past fortnight. I think I'd find it really, really hard as a GM at the bottom of round 1 in this draft to stick resolutely to premium positions if I genuinely didn't like any of the guys there. I can see a scenario were even my 2nd round grades at WR, LT, DE, QB are exhausted by the time the Bills pick. The one premium position where I think that might not be the case is corner but @Bill from NYC might actually hunt me down and murder me if I take over from Beane and draft a corner at #27 (even in an alternate reality haha). And I don't make him wrong. Another corner in the first would make very little sense to me. 

 

I'm genuinely interested in your take. I kinda feel like in a class like this I might be more willing to take a non-premium position guy I at least feel somewhat good about - a right tackle only, a safety, a tight end etc. I just find it difficult to get excited about almost any of this class. 

[Airseven]

I wouldn’t be happy with any defensive player in R1. However, they are in desperate need of Edge, S, and LB and so I would understand the pick.

[Gunney]

Jordan Poyer is likely finished as a Bill. He has said he doesn't like New York's high income tax and where he plays next year will be a business decision and what's best for his family. He has also appears to be preparing for a switch, as he edited his profile bios on both Twitter and Instagram to no longer contain Bills gear or mentions. Since, the Bills are way over cap they will also be more limited in FA. I would be happy with the following as a first defensive round choice:

 

S Brian Branch

S AntonioJohnson

DL Bryan Bresee

DL Calijah Kancey

Edge Lukas Van Ness

Edge Nolan Smith

[Simon Says]

21 hours ago, HappyDays said:

Most Bills fans understandably want an offensive player in the 1st round. I get it. But if the board falls a certain way, is there any defensive player realistically available at pick 27 that you would be happy with?

 

I have mentioned elsewhere that my guy on defense is LB Jack Campbell. He wouldn't be my first preference at pick 27 but I've grown to like him enough that I would be happy with him as the pick there. He brings a size and physicality to the defense that we don't currently have and I think filling that missing element is just as important as filling some of our holes on offense.

Assuming Edmunds leaves,and depending on what Bills can do in free agency, I dont have a problem with a top LB or possibly S at 27. I think TWO LBs will be needed,with one able to generate some pass rush.

Beane is going to have to excel in the 2023 draft and that might mean trading down once or twice and accumulating picks. 

 

[Bill from NYC]

2 hours ago, GunnerBill said:

 

What is your view Badol on premium position in a sucky class like this? You are the most devout advocate of premium positions in early rounds (which is a principle I largely agree with) but I have been reflecting a lot on this class over the past fortnight. I think I'd find it really, really hard as a GM at the bottom of round 1 in this draft to stick resolutely to premium positions if I genuinely didn't like any of the guys there. I can see a scenario were even my 2nd round grades at WR, LT, DE, QB are exhausted by the time the Bills pick. The one premium position where I think that might not be the case is corner but @Bill from NYC might actually hunt me down and murder me if I take over from Beane and draft a corner at #27 (even in an alternate reality haha). And I don't make him wrong. Another corner in the first would make very little sense to me. 

 

I'm genuinely interested in your take. I kinda feel like in a class like this I might be more willing to take a non-premium position guy I at least feel somewhat good about - a right tackle only, a safety, a tight end etc. I just find it difficult to get excited about almost any of this class. 

LOL!!!!!

 

I agree that this is a VERY weak draft, perhaps the worst I have seen in many years.

 

Often (not always) these "RT only" types can also play guard. I agree that #27 is almost always a tad early too draft a guard, UNLESS one was there who I would consider to be a great guard. In 2021, I was screaming for the Bills to draft Landon Dickerson (C). We picked at #30 and selected Rousseau who is good. The Eagles drafted Dickerson and moved to him LG where he looks superb. I wish that he was on the Bills protecting Josh.

 

If we draft a corner who is as good as all time greats Darrelle Revis or Mel Blount in their respective primes, Josh is still gonna need more blocking or his career will be cut short, and there is no getting around this sad truth.

[GunnerBill]

1 minute ago, Bill from NYC said:

If we draft a corner who is as good as all time greats Darrelle Revis or Mel Blount in their respective primes, Josh is still gonna need more blocking or his career will be cut short, and there is no getting around this sad truth.

 

100% we need to upgrade the oline. Will the guys good enough to do it be in this draft is the question. 

[Bleeding Bills Blue]

23 hours ago, balln said:

I feel like any team that’s really interested in him would just wait one more year. Edmunds young enough. They would want him for the long term. Bills simply couldn’t play that game and get stuck w that cap number. And no team will give up a 3rd when they can just wait til he hits FA. His position unfortunately doesn’t DEMAND a team go and snatchh him. There’s no leverage for bills

 

We play the comp pick game right, and we get a 3rd round pick for him just signing somewhere.  

[TheFunPolice]

only if he's 330+ pounds. 

 

Otherwise, nope.