Alphadawg7

Not gonna do another draft grade here, don't really see the point of grading picks. No one here or in the media has any insight on how the Bills graded and ranked players or why. But just some thoughts on the draft picks, our roster now, and Beane: Draft Kaiir Elam - LOVE this pick! Its no secret I was adamant that the biggest need was without question a CB heading into the draft. While I was not insistent on it needing to be addressed in the first, I felt strongly it would be and it was the best place to do it. I thought Booth might be higher on their board based on style of play, but I always loved Elam as well, so was stoked he was the guy. He brings versatility to our defense in how we can play, speed, size and aggressiveness. The negatives on him are all coachable as well. But what I really love about this kid is everything that came out after he was picked. Showing up with his notebook, showing humility and hunger to be better, asking them what Tre does to be so great and what he can be better at, asking the same from Tre himself, asking for the playbook on the flight in, etc. Everything about this kid tells me that he is setup to reach his potential here, and this kid entered the draft already with a high ceiling. My gut feeling is this kid is going to be good to very good in the NFL as I have full confidence in our staff's ability to coach him up. James Cook - LOVE this pick! This is the guy I wanted from the get go. I would have been excited for a Hall or Walker as well, but I am in the camp that has a lot of confidence in Devin and posted many times about his production last year when given 13 or more carries (7 games) and how it projected out to 1400 yards and 17 TDs over a full season. Devin has his limitations though as good as he can be, and those are he is not a great receiver out of the back field and while he is quick and shifty he isn't a home run threat. Enter Cook who is excellent in those very things. I think this is going to be a very potent 1-2 punch which I prefer over a bell cow back anyway helping keeping each other fresh thought games and the season. Note: Devin was so good last year when given carries yet was still playing behind a bad OL most the year. I think adding Saffold and bringing Bates back, plus another year of experience now for Brown and adding Kromer will make this unit a better run blocking unit. Not to mention the exit of Daboll and his allergy to running at times. Terrell Bernard - Not gonna pretend I knew much about him until the Bills picked him. But I have spent time now watching his highlights and reading in depth about him, and I can say there is a lot to like here. After seeing what our staff did to develop Milano, I am excited to see how they use and develop Bernard. Khalil Shakir - LOVE this pick! He was someone I thought could be a target for the Bills if they didn't take a WR in rounds 1 or 2. I actually liked him as much or more than just about anyone that would have been available in round 2. Not gonna pretend I make my own rankings list which would be silly, I just find prospects I think would fit us and could be available when we pick. And Shakir is one of my favorite players in this draft. Player comparisons get way over used, but its hard not to watch him play and not think of Kupp the way he runs routes, uses his body and his hands. And with the ball in his hands he has those AJ Brown and Deebo Samuel type moves and toughness too. I have no idea why this kid wasn't graded to go earlier to be honest and mind blown he lasted to the 5th. Best value pick of the draft IMHO. As much as I love this pick, it will be tough for him to get a lot of targets this year without some injuries just given the guys we have at WR already in Diggs, Davis, and Crowder. Not to mention, Knox and Howard at TE, and now Cook at RB who should all get their share of targets too. But I can't wait to see what he does with those opportunities and I think he has a bright future ahead of him long term. Matt Araiza - LOVE this pick! I would have also loved Stout or really any punter not named Matt Haack who I felt was the worst player on our team last year. Great, he is excellent at holding, but who cares, someone else can be trained to hold for Bass. Araiza has some things to work on, but what I love most about him is his competitive streak and toughness. This kid wants it and wants it bad, and that for me gives me confidence he will make the adjustments he needs to be consistent in the NFL. Everything I read and have seen from him makes me think he can be a Pro Bowl punter at this level. Benford, Tenuta, Spector - I really liked the Benford pick, I felt he could be a good fit here coming into the draft when I was looking at CB's we could get in the middle or later rounds for depth. If anyone read my posts leading up to the draft, I thought there was a good chance we would take 2 corners as we needed the depth. The other 2 I don't know a ton about, but my guess is they will have a good chance to compete for depth as the depth at those positions is not great right now. Spector probably is going to need to show some ST skills to have any shot of making this roster. State of the Bills - Post Draft I feel like I have said this the past few seasons, but this is the most excited I have ever been for a season to start. Last year, I was excited but I wasn't sure we were ready yet to get to the SB. I knew we could, but ending the season in KC in 2020 we just didn't look like a team ready to be on their level. So entering last year, I was excited and optimistic, but still unsure if we were SB bound. This year is different...I know this team that ended on the field again in KC last year could have, and probably should have, won last years SB. Now I look at this team after the dust has settled from FA and the Draft, and its clear we are an even better team and roster today than even we were end of this past season. Defense/ST: Interior DL is substantially upgraded, and I don't use the word "substantially" loosely. People are going to be surprised I think to how good the Settle and Jones signings were, not to mention Jordan. I have full confidence that we will be both better at penetration from the middle and at stopping the run. Pass Rush looks to be better given we were able to get pressure (5th in the NFL) but not always close (10th in sacks). Now we have a closer in Miller and we get to see what Greg can do in his second year after a promising first year (which was also his first year back to football since 2019). CB Just getting Tre back is boost on its own, but now adding Elam to compete with Dane will only make our secondary stronger. Not having Haack likely punt this year is a blessing. Offense: Run game is going to IMO be much better just with Daboll gone and having Kromer here. But we also added Saffold and brought back Bates, who really helped boost the line last year when he became a starter. Plus adding Cook as a complimentary RB is going to be a great fit to this offense. Everything guys like Devin and Moss aren't great at, Cook excels. Receivers are better this year too. Davis has arrived IMO, and he is in line for a good season this year. People are sleeping on Crowder, this guy is going to be dangerous catching passes from Josh and I love adding Shakir into the mix. McKenzie is back, but honestly, I think McKenzie doesn't see a big change in his role without injuries, still an excellent weapon to have on the team when needed and great depth. Tight Ends got a boost too with the addition of Howard coming in to pair along side Knox in 2 TE sets. Josh Allen has also been working this offseason to improve his ball placement to maximize YAC. Every year he picks an area of focus to keep improving. I really think its his time now and has a real shot at MVP, SB Champion and SB MVP all this year. But I know Josh ONLY cares about one of those things...hoisting the Lombardi. Brandon Beane - Just gonna say what I have been saying for a while now...he is one of the best, if not the the best, GM in the NFL. I personally think he is the best GM in football and wouldn't swap him for anyone. He is already getting that kind of praise around the league now too and it will get cemented when we take home a SB Title. Surprisingly some people still don't get this: Beane is always a straight shooter...why some people try and speculate differently when he speaks is puzzling to me. Listen to the man and its not hard to figure out what he is thinking. Love his accountability too like when he openly admitted to getting the Teller decision wrong and wished he gave him more time. A mistake he said he wont make again...which is probably some insight to why Ford is still here despite a lot of people thinking they would trade or cut him by now. I bet he wants to see what Kromer thinks of him and do with working with him. CONCLUSION: This team is much improved and I think, in as an unbiased way possible, that we have the best roster today in the NFL. Now, the games still need to be played, and we still have question marks heading into the season with a new OC, some new starters in key places, etc. But overall, Beane crushed FA adding a closer in Miller and shoring up our trenches on both sides of the ball. Then IMHO, he crushed the draft shoring up our 2 weakest positions (CB and P) while adding some exciting playmakers that should fit nicely into this offense as well. It really feels like something special is brewing and this is our time. GO BILLS!

You’re talking about teams. My sources work at the stadium who would know long before the teams because of scheduling issues and a tv network who would also know beige the teams for scheduling a major prime time holiday game. Again, doesn’t mean my friends sources are correct or it won’t change again before schedule comes out, but both the stadium and networks would be involved along the whole process of building the schedule long before teams would know.

Rankings are meaningless year to year. Teams faced and the quality of each team are all different and vary each year. But this defense is better without question today than the team on the field against KC in the playoffs. 1. Tre will be back and we added Elam 2. Von Miller has upgraded the pass rush 3. Interior DL has been significantly upgraded against both run and pass. This is going to be a better all around defense. Doesn’t matter where we “rank” this year compared to last years ranking, our schedule is going to feature more potent offenses this year. But this unit is stronger today than when our season ended no doubt about it. And I would say significantly stronger.

I’m on the same page, not sold on Tua yet. Just saying with Hill and Waddle being so dangerous with ball in their hands, who ever is playing QB just needs to get the ball to then even on short routes for them to be dangerous

He is a willing tackler, and that is what matters most. His tackling issues are about technique, and that can easily be taught and corrected. Getting a DB mentally wanting to make the tackle is a whole other issue, and luckily not something Elam has. I have a lot of confidence in this kid becoming a very good to great corner in the NFL.

Yeah but that’s trying to also get hang time of some sort too. Curious how far he could kick it if hang time didn’t matter and just going for longest kick

Meh, seeing the wide variance of grades shows exactly why these are silly. First off, no one knows who will do what on the field and none of these “graders” truly even know the ins and outs of each teams needs, system, player fits, etc. Just a guessing game where they can point to the few guesses that prove right as an “I told you so” and ignore the majority in which they were dead wrong about 2 years from now.

Tua doesn’t need to throw deep though, just hit Waddle and Hill on quick strikes and let them bust plays. Dolphins have a lot of speed on offense now at WR, RB, and even TE

Jets got better simply by experience for their rookies last year, especially Wilson, and strong draft. But that’s on paper. Pats got worse based on who they lost and didn’t do much to counter the losses. Mia got better adding elite weapon and Tua entering his third year should help and Waddle has a season under his belt too. But harder to tell if it will translate to the field because coaching is unknown after letting go of a good staff who got the most out the roster.

This thread is becoming comedy gold lol. Can’t wIt to revisit it in a year or two

Agreed, people are sleeping on Crowder. I suggest people go look at what he has done the last few years while playing with weak QBs.

No GM is ever perfect, but Beane is up there probably leading the NFL in batting over the last 4 years on how many hits he has and home runs

Love this pick and draft!!!

Love this pick! He was a guy I thought we could target in rounds 3 or 4 heading into draft if we didn’t go WR early. Man, I can not wait to see this offense this year

Wow that’s early for a Punter

Exactly and quite honestly, outside of CB (which we drafted) and Punter (assume we draft one later) there are not any positions really where we are not locked in this year in terms of starters. Im actually not that familiar with Bernard like most, but I have really liked what I have read and seen so far. He really stands out as a Milano type player, and that excites me as Milano has flourished in our system. Which is probably why he has a higher grade on Beanes board as his tweener size isn’t a deterrent to them the way they have developed Milano.

Jordan Spout will be the pick IMHO in the 6th.

I love this kid already! Everything about him from his pre-draft visit, interviews, meeting Tre, wanting the playbook on the plane, etc just screams someone whose determined to be the best player he’s capable of at the next level. And this is exactly the kind of player that thrives with our coaches. I don’t know the future, but I feel like he’s going to be a great player for us and can’t wait to see him on the field.

Here is the thing. It’s not a reach. Anyone calling it reach is just making that up. Nobody here is qualified to grade these players. Mel Kiper isn’t either. So people are calling it a reach because everything people here know about him is what they read about from unqualified internet and media people giving him a guess of a grade. No teams draft board looks like the next teams either. Our front office placed a grade on him for how he fits in their plans and system. They do not know how the other teams graded him or where they might take him. So based on how we graded him we took him where they felt comfortable taking him based on how he graded against all the remaining players they had on the board. Just like people falsely claiming we reached for Elam. Which is non sense when Beane literally said he was the only guy on their board left with a first round grade. Which means had he taken any of the other players some people wanted him to take Beane would have actually been reaching because they were literally all graded lower than Elam by Beane and his staff as a second round player or less. And when you get down to the 3rd round and later, these grades vary even more wildly from team to team. And media grades and mocks literally have no value in how a team grades a player. FWIW: No one thought much of the Milano pick either at the time it was made and most didn’t even know who he was.

Ha I only saw the one. I don’t know what to say if someone didn’t enjoy that. I mean I feel like you almost have to hate fun to hate that.

Houston Texans are a team are a team who I really like what they have done so far in the draft. Means nothing until they hit the field, but on paper it’s been a strong draft IMHO.

I will say this…Jets had an excellent draft based on what we know today before anyone steps on the field. But…once they step on the field, they are still the Jets. How many times did Browns look like they had an excellent draft and then were still the browns. Also not first time Jets appeared to have a strong draft just to prove they still are the Jets.

I hope this is sarcasm because that was epic. And I’m 45 and been a die hard Bills fan (with never even going to Buffalo until 2021) 35 years.

Cook won’t start, Devin will. But Cook will play a lot and is going to make a big impact this season as a receiving weapon out of the backfield. Him and Devin already work out together in the off-season and are going to be a great 1-2 punch for us. IMHO it’s gonna look a bit like Ingram and Kamara did for the Saints

Yeah not sure he specified a number, just was definitely lower than where we picked is all I was getting at