mjt328

This is a very superficial way to look at the NFL draft. Fans need to get over rooting for us to draft "a position" and simply root for our front office to make smart decisions. I've been following these boards long enough to remember the OUTRAGE when the Bills passed on guys like Jimmy Clausen, Ryan Mallet, Johnny Manziel and Bryce Petty. People complained about us taking other positions instead of QB. But if we would have drafted any of those guys, our team would be infinitely worse than today. It's possible that passing on Mahomes/Watson will come back to haunt us. But it's also possible we dodged a bullet. Right now, it's impossible to know.

1. Some people had their heart set on a certain player, such as OJ Howard, Malik Hooker or Reuben Foster. So they are mad we passed on a guy they liked. 2. Some people were going to be upset unless we drafted a Quarterback. Period. 3. Some people think that because we let a starting Cornerback leave in free agency, it is stupid to draft his replacement in the First Round. 4. Some people are going to complain no matter what we do.

I think it was a good trade for both teams. Kansas City has been a consistent playoff team, but stuck in neutral because they have reached their ceiling with current QB Alex Smith. They really liked Pat Mahomes and believe Andy Reid can develop him into a franchise quarterback within the next 1-2 years. Buffalo believes they can compete for a Wild Card spot this season, but know they are 2-3 years (at bare minimum) from being a legitimate contender. Thanks to a new coaching system and free agent losses, they have a lot of holes to fill. Getting an extra pick this year helps. Getting an extra pick next year may help even more. Either way, it will take a few years to know for sure who made out in the deal. Most of that will depend on how good Mahomes ends up, and how the Bills use the Chiefs 1st Rounder next year.

We'll see if this was the smart move soon. How good is the player we draft with the Pats 5th Round Pick? What kind of production will we get out of our backup RBs? What happens if McCoy goes down with an injury?

I've kicked around conspiracy theories like this in the past. It just doesn't hold water. If the NFL was all about "market size" and favoring teams with larger fan bases, then why are the Jets always a laughing stock? Why do the Bears have one Super Bowl win and virtually no sustained success in its entire history? Why are the Steelers and Packers two of the most consistently successful franchises in the league? Why did the NFL ignore the large Patriots market until the turn of the century? What happened to the Cowboys after their dynasty players retired in the late 90s? The small market excuse is bull. It always has been. The Bills are on the same playing field as everyone else. They just have a history of hiring the wrong people to run the organization. This trickles down to bad GMs, bad coaches and bad players. This equals losing. The ONE TIME in 50+ years this team actually hired a brilliant guy to head everything up (Bill Polian), he ended up bringing in a Hall of Fame coach (Marv Levy) and building one of the best football teams ever to step on an NFL field. We won consistently and went to 4 Super Bowls. Nothing any of the "big markets" could do to stop us. And of course we eventually ended up firing Polian, which should tell you something about the decision-making coming from above him.

You can't re-sign everybody. Every team loses Free Agents. Every. Single. Team. The Bills have actually managed to retain the majority of their top free agent talent over the last few years. Jerry Hughes, Marcel Dareus, Cordy Glenn and Ritchie Incognito were all brought back. The only major free agent the Bills let walk since Doug Whaley took over was Jairus Byrd. Fans whined and complained about that. But it was clearly the right decision (even though nobody wants to give this front office credit for being smart). Byrd was ridiculously overpaid and hasn't done squat since leaving Buffalo. The Patriots always let young guys walk, and are notorious for hard-balling anybody that wants a decent contract. The latest example being Malcolm Butler. In many cases they will actually trade a guy before he hits free agency, just because they don't want to pay him. See Chandler Jones and Jamie Collins. Teams like Pittsburgh and Green Bay are also stingy with re-signing players and are rarely active in free agency. I know the drill. Bills fans are tired of losing. So they criticize every move this front office makes. But the truth is, the Bills have done a very good job in free agency since Whaley took over. They have re-signed the right players. They have known when to let players walk. They have found bargains that have made a strong impact. The biggest problem with this franchise (when it comes to player acquisition) continues to be sub-par drafting. The good teams can afford to let free agents walk, because they have strong replacements groomed and waiting in the wings to step up. The Bills continue to spin their wheels because every free agent they don't re-sign creates another hole. On average, Whaley's drafts are yielding about 2 solid starting players per year - with virtually all of his success coming in the first 3 rounds. His Day 3 picks and undrafted free agents aren't even contributing as decent depth. Now, that number may be an improvement over the disastrous Marv Levy/Dick Jauron years. But that still just isn't good enough to keep the pipeline full.

I'm not a big supporter of Doug Whaley, but what is your reasoning for this comment? Since he took over as GM, I can't think of too many players that were considered "reaches" where they were drafted. Certainly not at the top of our draft classes. Most actually considered Shaq Lawson and Reggie Ragland huge bargains last year. And how do you know what Whaley's reasoning is behind draft picks? As fans, let's judge Whaley by his results and not speculation.

I think most of the criticism is how the Bills handled the situation to begin with. They could have made him untouchable for a higher tender, which only amounted to about $900,000 more in salary. Now they will need to pay him an additional $2.2 million to match the offer sheet, or let him walk to our biggest division rival. It's really a lose-lose situation now. Letting Gillislee walk for only a 5th Round Pick makes us look dumb, because it leaves us with no RB depth on the "run-heaviest" team in the NFL. Matching the offer makes us look dumb, because it costs us an extra $1.5 million in cap space just because our front office gave him a lower tender. The only way the Bills walk out of this situation looking smart, is if they replace Gillislee's production with a cheaper RB or if they draft a stud with the 5th Rounder they get from New England.

Interesting observation. I haven't looked at everyone's schedules, but our NFC games are all early and our biggest AFC East games are in the last month. It makes sense from the NFL's standpoint. By doing that, it would keep most division/playoff races alive later in the season and make it harder for teams to clinch early.

It's always hard to judge a schedule before the season even starts, because so many things can change. But based on what these teams looked like last year, this schedule looks pretty tough. - There are only 5 games against teams with worse records than us last year (Jets twice, Panthers, Bengals, Chargers) and 1 game against a team with the same record (Saints). - There are 7 games against teams with double-digit wins last year (Falcons, Raiders, Chiefs, Dolphins twice, Patriots twice) - There are only 3 games against teams with unresolved QB situations (Jets twice, Broncos)

Tom Brady has already defied the odds by playing at a high level this long. He wants to continue going like this for 6-7 more years, but the chances of that actually happening are very small. Regardless of his training/diet, there will be a point that Brady drops off. And I think the Patriots know this. All of their moves this off-season have been VERY unlike typical Patriot behavior. This is a team that historically has shunned big-name free agents, traded away big players before their contracts expire, and stockpiled draft picks. But this year, the Patriots have: 1. Been reluctant to trade Jimmy Garoppolo, despite the fact he is a free agent next season 2. Traded a 1st Rounder for Brandin Cooks. Next year, his 5th year option will jump his salary to over $8 million. Then he is also a free agent. 3. Signed one of the most overpriced free agents on the market in Stephon Gilmore. The Patriots are obviously mortgaging their future for another Super Bowl run.

Exactly. Every organization front office is run differently. On the Patriots, all of the personnel decisions are made by the Head Coach (Bill Belichick). On the Cowboys, all of the personnel decisions are made by the owner (Jerry Jones). These were two of the most successful franchises in football last year, and neither operates with a GM at the top of the pyramid. I see people calling Doug Whaley a "weak" GM, or claiming the guy is trying to duck responsibility for team failures. Neither of those things is necessarily true. Although it isn't the model Bills fans are accustomed to, it's not rare for the hiring of a Head Coach to be done by someone other than the GM. And few GMs in this league have seen the strange ownership/front office/coaching staff turnover as Whaley has been forced to endure. Consider Whaley's history here for a second: 1. Most GMs are brought into failing organizations from the outside. Whaley sat behind Buddy Nix (as Assistant GM/Director of Player Personnel) for 4 full drafts before getting promoted to the job. So while most GMs are starting with a clean slate, Whaley always has the decisions of his predecessor hanging over his head. Especially the 2013 draft. 2. The front office changes have been ridiculous. Doug Marrone was hired before Whaley officially took over the GM position. A season later, Ralph Wilson died and there were questions whether the team would even remain in Buffalo. Then Marrone quit. The Pegulas flirted with hiring Bill Polian to take over for Whaley before finally settling on Rex Ryan. Of course, Ryan then lasted less than 2 seasons. 3. The Bills have changed defensive coordinators every season (Pettine, Schwartz, Thurman, Ryan, Frazier) since Whaley stepped onto the job. That can't be easy for continuity. This is why I've been willing to grant some patience to Doug Whaley, while most others are calling for his head. But my patience is nearing it's end. This will be Whaley's 4th full off-season assembling a roster. So far, we haven't gotten better in the win column. The roster is full of holes, and we don't have a ton of cap space. Like his predecessors, Whaley's drafts have been filled with too many misses and busts. In my opinion, next week will be his last chance. Whaley doesn't need a home run. He needs a grand slam and this team to make the playoffs. Anything less than I'll be leading the charge to kick him out myself.

I never criticized Doug Whaley for letting Chris Hogan walk out the door. But I believe his handling of Mike Gillislee has been done poorly. It's not about matching the offer sheet. It's about the fact that we could have paid Gillislee less than $1 million more and locked him up for sure. Hogan was never going to be a big producer on our offense. He always fit the Patriots system better than ours. And even if he was still on our roster, we would still be looking for an upgrade opposite Sammy Watkins - with Hogan sitting as our #3 or #4. However, with our run-heavy offense and Shady's age, it would be foolish to enter the season without an experienced backup RB that can carry the offense if needed. We know that Gillislee fits our offense and we know that he can produce big when called upon. Maybe it's all about the system, and we'll have no problems plugging in another guy that can produce 7-8 TDs and over 5.5 YPC. But if Shady gets hurt, and our run game falls off... there will be no place that Whaley will be able to hide from this decision.

Odds are, Gillislee was going to have a very important role this season. How confident are you that McCoy is going to stay healthy for 16 games? This is why injuries cannot be an excuse for a GM. Because it is his job to make sure we have strong depth behind the starters.

On the surface, this is very frustrating. The Bills offense is the most run-heavy in the NFL. Our starting running back will be 29 when the season starts and entering his 9th year as a pro. Having a strong backup RB is very important. Especially for us. From what I understand the RFA tender to make Gillislee basically untouchable (nobody would give up a 2nd Rounder for him) would have been less than $1 million more. Now it will cost us an additional $2 million to match New England's offer. Our compensation for letting him go would only be a 5th Rounder, which has netted us the following players in the last couple drafts: Jonathan Williams, Karlos Williams, Cyril Richardson, Jonathan Meeks. That is the track record of our scouting department and Doug Whaley. In my opinion, Gilislee is way more valuable than any of those guys. Like many on this board, my patience with Whaley has grown very thin. I'm tired of the excuses. I want results. In my opinion, the guy gets 2017 to get this team back into the playoffs. Considering how much this team will depend on McCoy to get this team there, I think this was a stupid gamble to play with his primary backup. We will know for sure when fall hits.

My initial reaction is smokescreen. But if the report happens to be true (we will find out next week), I think we as Bills fans should just cross our fingers and hope Doug Whaley gets this one right.

I think he would definitely be a possibility if we trade down. But if we stay at #10 and take him, odds are we are bypassing a much higher rated prospect (at least based on general consensus). My biggest concern would be the position change. He played more of a DE/OLB pass rusher at Temple, than a traditional Will/Weakside Linebacker.

Ideally, the Bills can trade back 5-10 spots and still land someone worthy of consideration at #10. I'm thinking someone like Corey Davis or Cam Thomas could potentially drop that far. Especially if some Quarterbacks and Running Backs begin creeping into the Top 10-15 picks. In this scenario, the Bills could possibly get themselves another 2nd or 3rd Rounder. But knowing the Bills, we will probably TRADE UP for Marshon Lattimore. Seeing as how this is the deepest cornerback draft in years.

It's a balance. For some guys, being cocky or arrogant is just a part of their personality. It doesn't create a problem for the team and never becomes an issue. Other guys become a massive distraction for their teammates. Some guys get in trouble off the field, and it becomes a wake up call in their life. Others can't stop getting in trouble, and spend the majority of their careers getting suspended for various incidents. Lots of players work their tails off, but still stink. Others are lazy, but manage to be good/great players based almost entirely on their talent.

Sammy Watkins may be the most talented player we have drafted in the past 5 years. But he wasn't the smartest pick. Not by a mile. First of all, it doesn't take a genius to draft someone considered a Top 5 elite talent in the draft. Any idiot GM can draft a Watkins or a Marcel Dareus. What would have been smart, is to stay put and take Odell Beckham Jr., who has been a better player than Watkins. Or to trade down and take someone like Kelvin Benjamin. Even if you account for the trade up (which hasn't been worth the price so far, considering Watkins injury history), I think most would admit that Khalil Mack would have been a smarter choice. I agree with those that say Cordy Glenn was probably our smartest pick. Not only did we get a very good starting Left Tackle in the middle of the 2nd Round, but Glenn has been better than any of the tackles drafted ahead of him. Almost every analyst I read thought that Glenn was destined to be a Guard or Right Tackle. Most figured he wouldn't make it on the left. The Bills believed they knew better, and they were. Kiko Alonso was also a good pick. But one of the main reasons his draft stock dropped was because of injuries. And the Bills lost Alonso for his entire sophomore season, before shipping him off to the Eagles. Injuries are the main reason that Alonso has failed to live up to his potential. If the Bills hadn't traded him for Shady and he had stayed on the roster, I think most fans would be considering the guy a disappointment at this stage of his career. Ronald Darby looked like a genius pick during his rookie season, but the guy really fell off last year. Jury is still out on Darby.

There are a few ways to look at an NFL prospect (at any position). The first is physical ability. Size, speed, strength, agility, etc. Basically the things you get from the Combine. This is by far the easiest way to measure and compare players, which is why this area is always overrated by scouts and analysts. Cardale Jones is overflowing with physical ability. So did EJ Manuel. But physical potential doesn't always translate into success. The second way to judge a prospect is on-field production. Basically game-film and tape. This gives you a better idea of how physical ability can translate onto the football field. You can see how a defensive lineman's strength allows him to beat his blocker. You can see how a receiver's speed allows him to get open. With film, you can also get a sense of how polished a player is in the technical aspects, like accuracy, throwing mechanics, etc. In this area, Cardale Jones has much to be desired. His accuracy was all over the place in college. As was his footwork and mechanics. His decision making was often poor. His throws often lacked anticipation and timing.

Anyone that considers Sammy Watkins a Top 5-10 receiver in this league is a true homer. At some point, the guy has to prove he can stay on the field before being put in that category. He played 13 games in 2015. He played only 8 games last year, contributing a whopping 430 yards and 2 touchdowns. And he will likely miss training camp once again recovering from foot surgery. With that said, the Bills only have a few weeks (May 2) to make the decision. And at this point, they have very little to lose by granting his option. But if the trend continues, I certainly wouldn't be extending the guy after his contract is up.

Yep. Even if you go back to the start of "the streak" - you will see coaches and front office divided between Rob Johnson and Doug Flutie. If reports are to be believed, Doug Whaley has clashed with pretty much every coach over the starting QB. Whether it be benching EJ Manuel, signing Kyle Orton, releasing Matt Cassel, retaining Tyrod Taylor. It's hard to believe the team has a unified vision, when those in charge can't even agree on the starting QB.

True. It is tough for a single person to have all the information/insight on every player. But when we are constantly hearing that the front office and coaching staff are at odds on players, it can't be a good thing for the organization.

Reading this makes me wonder. Maybe our problem in the draft room is related to "too many voices" when it comes time to make picks. It's important for teams to have a collaborative effort between scouts, coaches and the GM. But at some point, there needs to be a LEADER at the top of the pyramid. Somebody with a singular vision for how to construct the roster. That person needs to make the final call every time. He needs to be the one held responsible. If there is truth to this article, Marv Levy, Tom Modrak and Dick Jauron all had pieces of those Bills drafts. And it sounds like they couldn't agree on which players were the best fits, whether they were reaches, etc. It's no wonder our rosters during that time were such a mess.