What's the first position the Bills draft in 2026?

[GunnerBill]

57 minutes ago, GoBills808 said:

it's also hard for oline guys to hold blocks that long

 

which is probably why a guy like chris clemons could go from a nobody to averaging double digit sacks when he had that secondary behind him...i mean i can't remember any seattle dlineman going on to do anything of note post legion of boom

 

Clemons had a nice year in Jacksonville and Bennett had a nice year in Philly their first Superbowl year. But I think both played their best football in Seattle. They were good players who looked better than they were with those studs behind them.

[SoCal Deek]

31 minutes ago, Kirby Jackson said:

But that’s the entire point on why asset allocation matters. We can’t just say, they used 6 picks on skill players in the 1st 3 rounds. 3 RBs, 2 TEs and 1 WR is NOT the mix that you want from a roster building perspective. You need to use prime draft assets on the most expensive positions BECAUSE of cost control. You can sign guys at S, RB, TE, LB and OG that can start and help inexpensively. As an example, Josh Palmer’s AAV would make him the 8th highest paid RB in football. As a WR, it’s 32. If you draft a WR in the top 3 rounds you don’t need to spend $10M AAV on a role player like Palmer. You can allocate the same $10M to a top 10 LG or something like that. You can make your roster better at the top. 

You’d clearly have gone a different route. I understand that. My point has been that I can see a method to Beane’s strategy. I’m not saying I agree with it. I believe he’s been trying to have a wide range of weapons for Josh. And he wants the sustainable salary structures of ‘some’ of those weapons being on rookie deals, others on long term extensions, and still others on short term contracts. I don’t envy his position. While the Bills wandered in the wilderness for many years looking for a QB, they’re now experiencing the challenge of what happens once you actually get one. I think Beane’s hoping that the kaleidoscope of talent he’s brought to the locker room will be papered over (or their collective tide risen) by playing with the now veteran MVP. It’s much different from a few years ago when he felt he needed Diggs to pull Allen along. Again….it’s a really tough job.

[Kirby Jackson]

11 hours ago, SoCal Deek said:

You’d clearly have gone a different route. I understand that. My point has been that I can see a method to Beane’s strategy. I’m not saying I agree with it. I believe he’s been trying to have a wide range of weapons for Josh. And he wants the sustainable salary structures of ‘some’ of those weapons being on rookie deals, others on long term extensions, and still others on short term contracts. I don’t envy his position. While the Bills wandered in the wilderness for many years looking for a QB, they’re now experiencing the challenge of what happens once you actually get one. I think Beane’s hoping that the kaleidoscope of talent he’s brought to the locker room will be papered over (or their collective tide risen) by playing with the now veteran MVP. It’s much different from a few years ago when he felt he needed Diggs to pull Allen along. Again….it’s a really tough job.

The problem though is the strategy is broken by not prioritizing WR. Here’s a real example that will soon be reality. The Ravens will have Zay Flowers and Isiah Likely for the same cost that the Bills have for Kincaid and Palmer. That’s not good. With the cost of elite WRs going through the roof you HAVE to draft them early or get stuck paying the Curtis Samuel’s and Josh Palmer’s of the world more than they’re worth. Josh is being forced to elevate role players while Lamar and Burrow have Pro Bowl playmakers (Mahomes too especially if Rice is good to go). 

Edited Wednesday at 11:00 AM by Kirby Jackson

[GoBills808]

7 minutes ago, Kirby Jackson said:

The problem though is the strategy is broken by not prioritizing WR. Here’s a real example that will soon be an example. The Ravens will have Zay Flowers and Isiah Likely for the same cost that the Bills have for Kincaid and Palmer. That’s not good. With the cost of elite WRs going through the roof you HAVE to draft them early or get stuck paying the Curtis Samuel’s and Josh Palmer’s of the world more than they’re worth. Josh is being forced to elevate role players while Lamar and Burrow have Pro Bowl playmakers (Mahomes too especially if Rice is good to go). 

Brian Thomas jr was right.*****.there

[SoCal Deek]

4 minutes ago, Kirby Jackson said:

The problem though is the strategy is broken by not prioritizing WR. Here’s a real example that will soon be an example. The Ravens will have Zay Flowers and Isiah Likely for the same cost that the Bills have for Kincaid and Palmer. That’s not good. With the cost of elite WRs going through the roof you HAVE to draft them early or get stuck paying the Curtis Samuel’s and Josh Palmer’s of the world more than they’re worth. Josh is being forced to elevate role players while Lamar and Burrow have Pro Bowl playmakers (Mahomes too especially if Rice is good to go). 

It’s interesting that you bring up Mahomes. I’d suggest that they’ve gone through a similar evolution. Tyreek Hill (like Diggs) is gone. Their coaches obviously felt Mahomes could drag a new WR room over the top, and by their successes it seems like he has. You have to admit, they’ve done it without a room full of superstars. In the longer perspective, the Bills have been chasing pass catching TEs. So much so that they felt they needed two. I opine that it goes back to the punishment that they endured from that position back to /Hernandez and now more recently with Kelce. 

[Kirby Jackson]

3 minutes ago, SoCal Deek said:

It’s interesting that you bring up Mahomes. I’d suggest that they’ve gone through a similar evolution. Tyreek Hill (like Diggs) is gone. Their coaches obviously felt Mahomes could drag a new WR room over the top, and by their successes it seems like he has. You have to admit, they’ve done it without a room full of superstars. In the longer perspective, the Bills have been chasing pass catching TEs. So much so that they felt they needed two. I opine that it goes back to the punishment that they endured from that position back to /Hernandez and now more recently with Kelce. 

It hasn’t been for lack of effort though. Since 2019, they’ve used 3 second round picks and a 1st rounder on WR!! In that same time frame, the Bills have used 1 second. Since Mahomes was drafted they have drafted 8 receivers in total (1 first, 3 2nds, 2 4ths, 1 5th and 1 6th). Since Allen was drafted the following year the Bills have drafted 9 WRs. It looks quite different though. They have 1 2nd, 1 4th, 2 5ths, 3 6ths, 2 7ths. Only Shakir and Coleman remain on the roster. This is why she shouldn’t confuse number of guys for quality of assets used. You ABSOLUTELY 100% NEED to allocate prime assets to WR or you can’t get them. 

[SoCal Deek]

3 minutes ago, Kirby Jackson said:

It hasn’t been for lack of effort though. Since 2019, they’ve used 3 second round picks and a 1st rounder on WR!! In that same time frame, the Bills have used 1 second. Since Mahomes was drafted they have drafted 8 receivers in total (1 first, 3 2nds, 2 4ths, 1 5th and 1 6th). Since Allen was drafted the following year the Bills have drafted 9 WRs. It looks quite different though. They have 1 2nd, 1 4th, 2 5ths, 3 6ths, 2 7ths. Only Shakir and Coleman remain on the roster. This is why she shouldn’t confuse number of guys for quality of assets used. You ABSOLUTELY 100% NEED to allocate prime assets to WR or you can’t get them. 

And at the same time the Chiefs have invested nothing at TE. So….

[Kirby Jackson]

7 minutes ago, SoCal Deek said:

And at the same time the Chiefs have invested nothing at TE. So….

And TEs are easy to find. That’s the point. You don’t need to prioritize TE or RB. You need to prioritize WR. It’s more important. That’s why they make so much more. Only QBs make more.

[JerseyBills]

36 minutes ago, GoBills808 said:

Brian Thomas jr was right.*****.there

So was McDuffie! We get Elam

I think Keon will be the real deal though but ya would definitely prefer BTJ at this point 

[SoCal Deek]

6 minutes ago, Kirby Jackson said:

And TEs are easy to find. That’s the point. You don’t need to prioritize TE or RB. You need to prioritize WR. It’s more important. That’s why they make so much more. Only QBs make more.

I’ve enjoyed the discussion but we’re going in circles. You win….Beane is an idiot. 😂

[Kirby Jackson]

6 minutes ago, SoCal Deek said:

I’ve enjoyed the discussion but we’re going in circles. You win….Beane is an idiot. 😂

Lol, I’ve been a Beane defender. He’s done a ton well. He’s built one of the deepest rosters in the league. In fact, players 6-53 it might be the best roster in football. They’ve just missed a lot in the top 100 picks and that’s why they have 2 of the top 100 players in the NFL instead of 5. Fortunately, he hit on the most important position. 

[stinky finger]

Fun topic.

 

But OL should never be highly unlikely.

[RoscoeParrish]

1 hour ago, SoCal Deek said:

And at the same time the Chiefs have invested nothing at TE. So….

The best TEs in the NFL are almost all later picks .

 

Kelce was a third

McBride was a second

Kittle was a fifth.

LaPorta was a second.

Hunter Henry was a second

Mark Andrews was a third.

 

the one exception is Bowers who was an early first.

 

The best WRs were almost all top picks.

JJ - first

Chase - first

BTJ - first.

Lamb - first.

Jeudy - first

AJ Brown - second

Wilson - first

etc etc

 

its clear to me that much like QB, you almost have to chase WRs in the first (especially as the Bills where there’s a load of difference between pick 38 and pick 62 making finding one in the second a lot harder) if you want a reasonable chance to get a very good one.

 

otherwise you are just hoping you strike complete dumb luck, like ARSB in the fifth or Tom Brady in the sixth.

 

Which to me, evokes drought Bills vibes. Drafting Trent and the other of later round gaggles hoping they get lucky instead of taking a true swing on talent.

Edited Wednesday at 01:26 AM by RoscoeParrish

[Snappysnackcakes]

Hopefully best available. Duh. We have a great front office that doesn’t ever let the roster be “bare” If you will. 

[CNYfan]

Bills were going to draft McBride, he got snatched a few picks earlier.

They traded back twice and took Cook so it turned out ok

[Maine-iac]

There is a large contingent of posters who would just draft a WR first every year no matter what.  Every single year they start thread after thread railing on about how we need to trade half our picks away and draft so and so WR.  I've seen a lot of amazing WR's have amazing years and almost none of them had anything to do with a SB win.  There's also no rule saying you have to draft equal amounts of offense and defense.  Beane feels like the defense is keeping us from winning it all he could draft all defense every year.  He wants to draft a WR with our first 3 picks he can do that also ............... and someone would still rant about how we need to draft a WR in the next draft.  Are there times we should draft a WR, no doubt, but there are two things of absolute certainty.  A broken clock will be right twice a day and there will be post upon post about who our next WR should be and how much we should trade away to get them. 

Edited Wednesday at 02:41 AM by Maine-iac

[GoBills808]

48 minutes ago, Maine-iac said:

There is a large contingent of posters who would just draft a WR first every year no matter what.  Every single year they start thread after thread railing on about how we need to trade half our picks away and draft so and so WR.  I've seen a lot of amazing WR's have amazing years and almost none of them had anything to do with a SB win.  There's also no rule saying you have to draft equal amounts of offense and defense.  Beane feels like the defense is keeping us from winning it all he could draft all defense every year.  He wants to draft a WR with our first 3 picks he can do that also ............... and someone would still rant about how we need to draft a WR in the next draft.  Are there times we should draft a WR, no doubt, but there are two things of absolute certainty.  A broken clock will be right twice a day and there will be post upon post about who our next WR should be and how much we should trade away to get them. 

No there is not

Absurd

[HappyDays]

50 minutes ago, Maine-iac said:

There is a large contingent of posters who would just draft a WR first every year no matter what.

 

There's a wide gulf between "draft a WR first every year" and "invest more than literally the lowest amount of draft resources out of all 32 teams." Most of us fall somewhere near that second statement.

[LABILLBACKER]

Well, all I know is we better pray Kincaid & Coleman don't bust.  I still believe there was a path to trade up for BTJ.  So what if it costs us Bishop (unproven) and a 4th round pick.  Beane is a very good GM, but he has struggled on drafting the 2 most important positions to help 17 win it all.  WR & DE......

[Sierra Foothills]

11 hours ago, GoBills808 said:

There is no scenario where James Cook is your make or break player

 

We wouldn't have made it as far as we did without Cook.

 

We might have gone farther had he played more.

 

11 hours ago, uticaclub said:

Knox is probably cut after this year and Kincaid is trending toward bust. I’m surprised no one else voted TE

 

I could see Knox taking less to stay.