OldTimer1960

Still a long way to go before the draft, but with the college playoffs and all-star games in the book, let's discuss early draft crushes for the Bills. I'll start with a couple: DT TJ Sanders - He's undersized at 6'4" 285-290, but he has really nice quickness and ability to penetrate/rush the passer. I've also seen him effectively use his height to knock down passes at the line. He wouldn't be the replacement for Daquan Jones at 1T, but I think he would look pretty nice next to Oliver on passing downs early. DE Princely Umanmielen - He's not the stoutest run defender, but he does appear to have the speed and length to be a good pass rusher - something the Bills need. I don't think he is a strong consideration in round 1 and he'd likely be gone before the Bills' first pick in round 2, but he looks good to my mostly untrained eyes. There are whispers of character concern for him and his teammate DT Walter Nolen, but I haven't seen what those concerns might be. I firmly believe that the Bills need a CB early, I just don't know who would be a good fit and after the complete whiff on Elam I am worried about going that way again. Who do you like?

A little early to completely write Coleman off as a bust, but I would not count on him either. Address the offseason as though Coleman isn’t on the team - anything they get out of him next year should be considered a bonus. That said, this looks to be a pretty weak WR draft class. I’m not sure that the top WR in this class would have been in the top 6 last year. I think any receiver that they might find available at end of round 1 will have a ceiling of an average to maybe above average NFL receiver and there will very likely be better defensive players available at each of their first 3 picks, so I’m not holding my breath expecting much WR help this offseason. Agree for the most part and that probably means no WR before the 4th round this year.

Great Lee Evans call. He was so good but held back being on struggling teams.

I think if he was decent, he would have played more and been more productive. Daniel Jones wasn’t the answer at QB, but he wasn’t so bad that he held Hyatt back.

Coleman can sit - he showed some flashes, but was non-existent after Poyer lit him up. Ugh - speed alone doesn’t make a WR. His 8 catches for 62 yards this year don’t warrant trading anything of value. If they would take one of the Bills’ 6ths then maybe. Probably would have to take him by end of 2nd given Bills don’t pick again until the 4th and that feels too high for him.

Not crazy about Walker - I don’t know if he is really the dominant run defender that his size suggests. Sawyer end of 2nd is nice, but he’s will probably be gone before that. Good run defender who can get effort sacks. CB and S are surely needs. I would guess Winston is gone before that pick. I like Bech, but after his Senior Bowl, I think he will go considerably earlier.

Like it a lot if Morrison is healthy. Really think DE is a big need though and there should be someone worth a pick there at 30 or either 2nds. Still, hard to quarrel with CB, WR, DT and I particularly like Collins as a run stuffer in the middle. Like the idea, but would switch out Williams from Ohio State for something else.

While the team certainly needs better WR than they have now, not sure I would trade that much for either of those 2. Love the stout build and running ability of Burden, but is he even a decent route runner at this point and does he need to play slot or maybe Z? Love Egbuka’s route running, but he’s not a deep threat and seems to operate away from the bonundary. Bills already have guys to play in middle of the field with Shakir and Kincaid/Knox.

Thank you Gunner for the thorough and detailed analysis and projections. I love reading your insights. Preface my comments with I am not anywhere near as good at understanding what I see on game cut-ups as you and a few others here. Harmon seems to be getting a lot of buzz and I think DT is a big need. I totally agree that a DE is a huge need and I expect they will take one with one of their first 3 picks. My mental picture of Tuimoloau is a good run defending edge - does he offer enough pass rush ability (developed or even upside) to be more than just a body in their rotation? How does JT compare to AJ Epenesa before the Bills made Epenesa drop a bunch of weight? I admit that I am just down overall on the WR class (and maybe without reason). With Isaiah Bond, I really wonder why he didn’t produce more with Ewers and Manning at QB. Whenever I tuned in to a Texas game to see him, he seemed to be in hiding. For his speed and quickness with a good team, 34 catches leaves me a little worried especially given he totaled 2 catches for 30 yards in his last 4 games (Texas A&M, Georgia, Arizona State, Ohio State). Late 2nd seems ok, I guess.

Your point 2 really hits home with me. It seemed almost guaranteed that the opposition would score on their first possession.

I don’t think that it’s right to evaluate a coach when the defensive talent had taken a step back. Lost Poyer, Hyde, missed Milano for much of the season. They are not deep enough in the secondary and Miller’s injury did in the plan to swing for the fences. I am not saying that Babich is good or bad. I think he should receive an incomplete grade for the season.

156lbs - maybe for a part-time player, but I don’t think I’d spend even a 2nd on him.

I think you’re right here. I really didn’t like the Coleman pick, but he showed a little by mid-season and then got destroyed by Poyer against Miami. He was not heard from again and I would not count on him for much next year. They need receiver help, but it looks like a real down year in the draft for the position. I don’t see a WR that will be available late round 1 that would be worth picking there unless they are willing to draft another guy who is best out of the slot. It seems likely that the DEs available at end of round 1 will be better prospects than any available WR.

Yes, resources need to be applied to D and we still need WR help. I think too soon to call either Kincaid or Coleman busts, but I agree that early returns haven’t been as desired.

I would be one of those “certain posters”. Of course, the ultimate goal is a championship, but that doesn’t mean that they were failures. It’s not binary.

That was admirable - Cooper is a pro. Hope they can retain him.

It was an excellent season (in my opinion) for the Bills. They far exceeded my expectations in what I thought was a reset year. Now it’s time to look forward to FA and the draft. Needs will depend some on what happens in FA, but I am expecting a defense heavy draft. It would not surprise me if their 1st, 2nd and the 2nd they have from the Vikings are CB, DE, DT (not necessarily in that order). WR that can get open would be welcomed, but early reports are that it isn’t a great class and it looks like most of the top prospects are slot guys.

I agree with you there. There are a number of those space eaters in this draft and may be able to get one back end of the 2nd. Many think it’s a value mismatch in round 1 for the space eaters.

While I think Frank Reich is a good coach, I’m not sure I’d mess with the play calling magic that Brady had going. They need better than Shakir, rental Cooper, Hollins and Coleman at WR. They *could* resign Cooper and Coleman could have a breakout second year. I would not break the bank for Cooper, but he is still quite good. They need competition for Coleman in case he doesn’t develop.

I agree - 1. Worthy was not the position they were looking to fill and 2. Let’s see if he can stay healthy at 170lbs. However, I was not a fan of the Coleman pick - it dealt forced in that they wanted a bigger boundary receiver. Still, he might develop and he deserves that chance, but they should bring in competition or a viable starter in case he doesn’t develop. If that position was easy to fill, Gabe Davis would not have gotten the FA contract that he did. Kincaid reportedly played with a torn PCL. Doesn’t mean he shouldn’t have made that catch, but he still has a chance to be good - clearly though there were other good TEs in that draft who have outperformed him so far. I expect he will rehab hard and come back to establish himself as a good player. To your point about needing impact players- I agree. Problem is picking late in each draft makes it much harder to find impact players compared to picking at the top of rounds.

I think WR is a big need unless they resign Cooper. Even then, maybe Coleman improves a lot but he isn’t a good NFL starting WR right now.

Game over…

Takeaways are really the main hope for this D.

Defense is not even putting up any resistance.

Oh hell, Elam is in.