Buffalo Bills Consensus Draft Grades

[Don Otreply]

It appears that we got quality throughout this draft, hard to expect more than that, 

[BillsPride12]

B+(with the potential to be A or A+ if these guys pan out)

I don't have any problem with the Bills going Defense heavy in this draft and love the positions they targeted

With that said I would have taken Emmanwori at 30 or tried to trade up for Malaki Starks or possibly Tyleak Williams(trading up for Grant probably not realistic)

I am curious to see how TJ Sanders turns out at the NFL level but fingers crossed he will be more of a hit than bust.

Thought the 3rd and 4th Round picks were great for what rounds they were

[dgrochester55]

A, I do not know enough about the players to criticize or praise them, but the positions filled and the types of players selected to fill them were logically sound. There are some valid arguments about how we could have selected WR, but I feel a lot better about Samuel, Coleman and Palmer that I did about our CB and Defensive line depth before today.

 

 

[Greg S]

B. Say one thing for Beane. He has gone all in to fix the defense with FA and the draft. 

[Boatdrinks]

No WR in the middle rounds turned it into a B for me. Not much substance after round 4 and last couple picks are basically throwaways so why make them. Could have used a 5th and possibly 6th to move up. Still a solid B, but could have been better. 

[Dubie54]

1 hour ago, Ed_Formerly_of_Roch said:

The one thing that surprised me a bit as we didn't take anyone, looking at the roster, the position group that to me is the thinnest is LB

Yeah, I really expected us to draft a LB in the middle rounds. Another injury to either Milano or Bernard where one of them is out for an extended period and we could be hurting big time. Maybe there’s a chance we snag an undrafted guy or sign someone over the summer, but we need another body in there for depth IMO.

[BigAl2526]

I gave them a B+.  They I think they mostly got good value in their picks.  They waited too long to try and snag some speed for the WR position.  I thought they might have wanted to draft a bit of insurance in case James Cook decided to stage a holdout.  If Cook reports and plays they'll be fine at RB, but I don't think Ray Davis has the same big play ability.  Ty Johnson might be able to shoulder more of a load.  Darrynton Evans is kind of an unknown.  Honestly, I don't see Frank Gore Jr. as much more than a fringe guy with a famous name.  I also worry that Walker might not be as NFL ready as is needed.  I think they also could have added some competition at linebacker.  Oh well, they can't have everything.

[BillsFan130]

B to B Plus.

 

Loved the focus on the defensive side. Just thought it was a bit of overkill on day 3. Would have preferred a speed receiver in round 4 or 5.

 

But overall, solid draft and they addressed their biggest 4 needs with their first 4 picks 

[TheWeatherMan]

I gave this draft a C and a B because the Bills drafted 18 CBs

[Maynard]

C- 

[Old Coot]

3 hours ago, Big Turk said:

Irrelevant. We won't know for 3-4 years.

This. Most of the post-Rd 3 picks for good teams (who draft at the end of rounds) look like depth role or PS players. Some will be; others will seize their opportunity and become good starters. So let's wait and see.

[Mike in Horseheads]

If they can cut the frustrating 3rd and long conversions against in half it gets a A++

Edited Sunday at 05:12 AM by Mike in Horseheads

[Steve Billieve]

4 hours ago, NoSaint said:

Here is the problem:

 

if last year was the reset, this year and next are the prime window, right?

 

I think we had a nice enough draft.

 

I don’t look at it and feel GREAT about that being the end result. Paired with our offseason it felt like just throwing volume at DL and secondary in hopes of something hitting and then running it back with the “reset year” roster

 

I don't view it that way at all.

 

We had big time problems with bad contracts and we had to do plenty of restructures just to clean house. This off-season instead of signing a bunch of big multi years we got some rentals and locked in our core with extensions.

 

Last year we had to break our team, and we did incredibly well despite it. This is the actual rebuild year where we bring in a ton of young guys let them develop and then see if we're in a position where we just need a piece or two in the off-season.

[Freddie's Dead]

I gave it a B-.  Josh got absolutely no help whatsoever.  I know we needed to rebuild the D, but 6 of 9 picks on D? And 3 CB's to boot?  A blocking TE, a project tackle, and a project WR on offense.  This WR room just isn't good enough.  Let's hope Beane has another card to play.

[GreggTX]

I didn't know F- was a thing. F+  too, for that matter.

[Warriorspikes51]

B -  overall

 

I personally wasn’t high on Maxwell or TJ

(but what do I know)

 

Landon Jackson, Deone Walker and Dorian Strong are solid value picks to me

 

if we had taken a Speed WR even in Round 5

 

I’d say A -

[hondo in seattle]

I gave it a "B."

 

I have little freaking idea if any of these kids will turn out to be valuable starters.  But Beane usually scores around a "B" so I'm guessing this draft class turns out to be a "B" as well.  

[Solomon Grundy]

3 hours ago, BigAl2526 said:

I gave them a B+.  They I think they mostly got good value in their picks.  They waited too long to try and snag some speed for the WR position.  I thought they might have wanted to draft a bit of insurance in case James Cook decided to stage a holdout.  If Cook reports and plays they'll be fine at RB, but I don't think Ray Davis has the same big play ability.  Ty Johnson might be able to shoulder more of a load.  Darrynton Evans is kind of an unknown.  Honestly, I don't see Frank Gore Jr. as much more than a fringe guy with a famous name.  I also worry that Walker might not be as NFL ready as is needed.  I think they also could have added some competition at linebacker.  Oh well, they can't have everything.

Travis Etienne may become available soon. Think he'd be a good fit?

[Shortchaz]

I can’t give it a grade because I don’t have enough information. I will say it is exactly what I wanted near the end of the season; drafting all defense. 
 

there were a lot of corners on the board

when they drafted Hairston, I.e. they got a corner high on their board. They moved up/targeted sanders, I.e. got a guy high on their board. The reaction in the room for Jackson, the pre-draft visits etc., suggests they, again, got a guy high on their board. In rd 4 they moved up, targeting walker, suggesting a guy high on their board. 
 

thats 4 guys they chose.  Couple that with the free agent signings and I’d say they overhauled the defense about as well as one could in that time frame. For better or worse they got their guys, they own this, it’s on beane/mcdermott. No excuses. 
 

Hairston and Jackson should have solid careers on paper. 
 

Player they drafted with most upside is sanders. has all the tools just needs to want it and get lucky avoiding injuries. Sky is the limit for him imo. 
 

Hancock might be a sneaky excellent pick, immediate special teamer and potential future starter(?) at safety(?). Just seems like a good utility athlete to have on the team. 

[Kirby Jackson]

I give it a B- to C+. I liked the 1st couple of days. I thought that it represented pretty good value and fill some needs. I would have been at B to B+ through Friday.
 

I didn’t love the job yesterday. Walker is huge but flawed. If his lousy 2024 was because of a back injury only, cool. I don’t suspect that though. For as big as he is, he is top heavy and plays high. It’s not a bad gamble at that point but he isn’t a lock to even make the team IMO. He’s a high ceiling low floor guy. 

 

They brought something like 11 WRs in that ran sub 4.4. McDermott and Beane both have said, they need to be able to threaten the field vertically. Yesterday was the perfect chance to do that with most of those guys still on the board. They had the ammo, and had already addressed their other 3 needs (starting caliber CB, rotational DT, and another rotational DL regardless of position). They didn’t accomplish that.

 

There were a few times that it felt like they got sniped yesterday (Tory Horton and Pooh Paul come to mind). With the amount of draft capital yesterday and lack of available roster spots, that shouldn’t have happened. They should have overpaid, if needed, to fill the remaining needs or get players that we know they liked (ie Paul). They didn’t need to preserve picks to draft a Lee Smith clone or a 3rd corner. I would have rather taken a punter for example.

 

It was an okay draft IMO. It was better at the top than as it went along which I normally don’t think of with Beane drafts. If those 3 can play it has a chance to be better than b-/c+. 🍻