hondo in seattle

I agree that when you tally who we added and lost, we're better. IMHO, we're worse at LB but we're better at WR, RB, and OL. But beside looking at the additions and subtractions, we also have to look at which players will get better this year and which will get worse. Improvement and regression are factors every season but are terribly hard to predict. Will Poyer and Hyde be worse due to age? While Brown or Davis get better? Hard to know. The other wildcard, of course, is injuries. We're screwed if Allen suffers a season-ending injury. If Miller, White, Poyer, and Hyde all get/stay healthy and play at peak form, our D will have a very good year.

I partially agree. The best players should be on the field, and our best 11 only includes one LB. But that doesn't mean we run a 4-1-6. Running a 4-3-4 gives us 3 LBs close to the line of scrimmage to make tackles. In other words, it gives the offense one more second-level guy they need to successfully block on running plays (compared to our base 4-2). I've wondered about this, too: since Rapp is reportedly a solid tackler, will we ever have him in the game with both Poyer and Hyde as some kind of safety/LB hybrid? McD doesn't have an Edmunds-type guy to replace Edmunds. But he does have some tools - guys with interesting skill sets. You hate for your D to be predictable, and I think McD has the flexibility to mix it up a bit.

We're so used to seeing the pairing of Milano and Edmunds that we're wondering who Edmunds' replacement is. I'm not sure it's that simple. I think there will be more variety this season. We might see more 4-3 without a true replacement for Edmunds. I don't think 4-3 will become our base defense which will remain 4-2 but I do wonder if we see it more often. We also might see a rotation of bodies. Maybe Klein in on first and running downs. Maybe Dodson or one of the other faster/coverage guys in on other downs. It'll be interesting for sure.

I had no big expectations this draft but there were some who thought Beane wanted to upgrade the RB position. Yet no RB was taken. And there were some who thought Beane might be more aggressive about picking up a Mike or two. Yet he only picks one LB and he's Will sized. I think the draft tells us that Beane's frustrations matched the frustrations of the fan base. GMs and fans aren't always aligned but, in this case, it seems we were. Fans clamored for offensive help and got it. Fans were frustrated with drops and - judging by the two sure-handed picks - it seems Beane was, too. It also seems Beane was - finally - frustrated with the porous OL and got a couple of guys with good track records as bodyguards.

I personally don't think the Bills OLine looks even 'good' let alone 'terrific.' But I do think it looks better than last year!

Maybe I'm reading too much into this, but I think Beane just told us what frustrated him the most about last year's roster. With just six picks, he drafted two guards who didn't give up a sack last season. And two receivers who only dropped three passes in the past two years.

You may be right. Most 3rd rounders don't amount to much, anyway. But one line you wrote, to me, is meaningless: "Every scouting report..." What you mean is: "Every amateur scouting report..." I forget which one, but one draft guru a couple of years ago mentioned that he watches 3 or more game tapes of each of the top 100 prospects and then 1-2 games of all the rest. I imagine that's a lot of work for one guy so I'm not knocking it. But draft 'gurus' like him may have only watched one of Williams' games. How accurate will their assessments be? But now imagine an entire NFL scouting department with a team of year-round professionals studying film, talking to coaches, interviewing players and their teammates, and in some cases, even hiring private detectives. Who's going to make the better assessment? When the media talks about a player falling in the draft, what they really mean typically is that the amateurs in the media overrated someone and the professionals didn't think he was worth a high pick. The amateurs and pros often disagree. Personally, the fact that Wiliams was rated a 4th-6th round pick by some amateur talent evaluators in the media means nothing to me. FWIW, some mocks had Williams in the 3rd round:

Someone described him as a "bodyguard". That's what we need - someone to keep Josh vertical and healthy!

If the Bills have a bunch of guys with similar grades available, I think they'll choose either the (1) MLB - if he's a rangy coverage type, or (2) OL. But if there's a player available with a much higher grade than everyone else, other positions come into play (though, not QB of course).

If you view Kincaid as Knox's backup, it's a bad pick. If you view Kincaid as Knox's twin in a conventional 12 alignment, it's a bad pick. But if you view Kincaid as his own unique thing - tight sometimes but more often split him out like a jumbo-version of Beasley - it's a good pick. I'm hoping Haplo is right and the Bills get creative.

Hmm... I might have been slightly off.

True-ish. But our pass catchers also include Gabe, Shakir, Kincaid, Sherfield, Harty, Cook, Hines... Overall, it's a pretty good group with some speed, quickness, size, and route prowess. Dorsey has plenty to work with.

I agree... We got two speedy wideouts in free agency and now a jumbo slot guy with good hands. We needed a big target with good hands. I won't say our receiver corps is elite but it's solid - certainly better than last year. I just hope Gabe gets over the dropsies. My biggest offensive worry remains the OL. The two new guards will help some but not enough. I don't think the OL gets fixed this year.

Dorsey looked like a genius for the first half of last season. I began the year with huge concerns about the OL - as well as lesser worries about our RB room - yet Dorsey generated tons of points. I was super impressed. Then Josh's elbow happened. But it also seemed like defenses caught on to us. Opponents sometimes said they knew what we were doing, Gabe's routes were predictable, and so on. And Dorsey's inability to productively integrate Hines and Cook was worrisome, too. But I've heard coaches say that coordinators often improve a lot from Year 1 to Year 2. I'm hoping. I wish the OL was better, but Dorsey certainly has weapons at the skill positions.

Devil's advocate... I get the positional value argument. But let's say both these guys turn out to be perennial all-pros and future HOFers. No All-Pro pick is a bad pick, regardless of position.

Dorsey has a ton of weapons. Besides the wideouts, he's got TEs and RBs who can catch. We've got size, speed, and soft hands. And, for a pass-first team, Harris is a fine starting RB. But the OL is below average. And then there's Dorsey himself. Can he design an offense that succeeds despite the shortcomings on the offensive line? Will he know how to optimize the production of his varied weapons? Like others, I'm waiting, with fingers crossed, to see.

After the runs on Tackles and WRs, I was looking to see who the best guard available was. But, after some research, I'm happy with Kincaid. Though I'm still hoping for some OL help.

Everyone suggesting we consider Kincaid as a big Beasley or McKenzie: Thank You. That does make me feel better about the pick - my initial thought/fear was that we traded up to get Knox's backup. Now I'm hoping we find some OL help.

Nothing against Kincaid but my first thought was, we traded up to get Knox's backup??? But I'm warming up to it. Somewhat. Like others, I wonder if Dorsey will know how to use him. It's a different position but it bugs me that Dorsey didn't know how to integrate Hines into the offense last season. Not sure how creative Dorsey is.

Thanks GB. As the draft unfolds, I will reference this to see how you rated the young men picked.

On the one hand, I don't think this is great for the Jets. They, more-or-less, give up a second-round pick and a first-round pick for a guy who probably doesn't have very many good years left. It's a high price for rental. On the other hand, this isn't great for the Bills either. Rodgers's good Jets years will overlap with the Josh Allen SB window. Every win is important, and it just became significantly harder to beat the Jets on the gridiron. It might become harder to beat them in the standings, too.

Talk about obfuscation... “If I was in Vegas right now putting money down I would say if we were going to do anything, it’d be more likely to go back than go up,” Beane said. “But listen, you’re talking to a guy who gets antsy at times and goes up and gets guys. So Vegas probably would still go against what I just suggested would happen.” www.syracuse.com/buffalo-bills/2023/04/nfl-draft-analyst-predicts-buffalo-bills-to-make-big-splash-by-moving-up-in-draft.html

We looked like an elite team the first half of the season. Not the second half. Wonder which Bills squad shows up this season.

Like a lot of fans, I was underwhelmed with our receiving corps last year (not including Diggs). Still - and this is an admittedly a crazy idea though not as crazy as the infamous Ditka Ricky Williams draft - I wouldn't be upset if Beane drafted nothing but offensive linemen. With 6 picks, we'd be bound to upgrade our line... wouldn't we? Give the receivers more time to gain separation and they'll get open.

Which puts him the top quartile of self-appointed draft experts. Pretty good, actually.