sven233

Good for him. That's a lot of money for a guy on the wrong side of 30 coming off an injury. But, they have money to blow so if it doesn't work out, they'll be able to eat it.

This is pretty much how I go in thinking about the draft. It's about the premium positions in the 1st round. There are many reasons for it, but the obvious ones are that they are the most important positions on the field where you have to be good and the cost control of those premium assets. I know you are being general with this, but I am even stricter on QB. That is a top 10 type of pick only for me. Sure, you can hit on guys lower than that, but it is much more rare to get a superstar at that position outside that area. Jackson comes to mind for sure, but there are some that were arguing he could have been a top 10 pick at the time and I don't think anyone would have blinked if he had gone there. But yeah.....round 1 to me is to try and get that cost controlled superstar at a premium position. Outside of QB, that is EDGE, WR (preferably outside WRs), CB, and possibly OT depending on the guy. I do think you have a good chance of hitting on a solid to potentially great OT in rounds 2 and 3 if needed. But, if you really need one, round 1 is totally fine to do that in. When you get into the 2nd and 3rd round, I look at those premium positions first, but if there is nobody obvious to take, that is when I am looking at those positions I consider second tier in terms of impotence where I think if you wait to these rounds, you can still potentially get the best, or one of the best, at their positions in the draft. Safety, Guards, Centers, DTs, Slot WRs, an possibly LBs and RBs. Personally, I am Round 3 or later for LBs and RBs, but if you are pretty set at other positions and have a glaring need, Round 2 is acceptable. Then, when you hit the 4th round and later, I am exclusively BPA no matter what my roster looks like. I don't care if I think I have my top 5 WRs set. If WR is the best player on the board, I'm taking him. Same can be said for other positions. I am also looking for traits. I am focused on speed and size and the combination of the two. If there is an EDGE or LB there that runs say a 4.65 and is 6'4+ but for whatever reason hasn't had the production you would expect with those traits, I am ready to start taking chances on athletic freaks. Same with those guys that were great and projected to go in the first round but didn't for whatever reason. Maybe they had an injury. Maybe there is something in the medical you are concerned with, but it could be fine down the road......take the swing. Is it a character issue? What's the issue? Is it really that bad? Can you take a swing and afford to cut the guy if he is a trash person once you get him in the building? I'm fine with taking those chances to potentially hit a grand slam if it works out. Then when you get to the late rounds, I am focused on the guys that had a ton of production but it maybe it happened at a smaller school. The perfect example is Benford. Big CB. Maybe not the fastest, but fast enough. Played great at a small school, but because he wasn't in a major program, didn't get the attention other guys did. Beane is great at finding these guys and I think this is one part of the draft he has a great handle on. But yeah.....I definitely go into the draft with a plan and I stick to it especially in the first couple of rounds. I think having set positions and priorities can really help in building a team that has sustained success. Unless your team is absolutely stacked at premium positions, I don't stray from this plan. But even if you are stacked, all that means is that you will have contracts coming up that you will have to pay or move on from and replace that guy at the end of the season anyway, so I am still sticking with this plan regardless.

This is a discussion that isn't even worth having. The QBs playing today are redefining the position just as guys from Brady's era redefined the position from the Kelly, Marino, and Elway era. The rules, the athletic requirements, and skill set are completely different today than in these other eras and you can't compare them. Guys like Allen, Mahomes, Jackson, Burrow, etc. are going to shatter yardage and TD records by the time they are done. In fact, if Allen stays healthy and plays for another decade or so, may end up the all time leader in total yards, TDs, etc. He could hold a ton of NFL records by the time he's done. Heck, he owns a bunch of them now. And he may do this without ever having to be the most prolific pocket passer. You've already seen a steady decline in rushing attempts the last few years from him. But, what you do see is him making guys miss in the pocket and getting out of the pocket to make a big play down the field. As long as he never loses that ability to get away from the immediate threats and can get out of there, he will continue to be able to be successful for a very long time. That's why when you start talking about the "GOAT" in football, especially at the QB position, I kind of find it a bit odd. Sure, Brady is considered by many as the GOAT, but why? Is it just because of the number of rings or is it because he was the best/most talented to play the position? Because to me, in football, wins are not a QB stat. Never have been, never will be. They are a team stat. Yes, when talking about legacy, wins have a place......did you affect your team's performance? Did you make those around you better? Are you the primary reason your team is successful? Because there are so many examples of QBs winning Super Bowls that have little to do with the actual outcome of those games. But there are also many examples, heck, Allen might be the biggest example, of the QB being the best player on the field yet, in the end doesn't win an important game for reasons that are out of their control. So yeah......what makes you the GOAT? Because in 10 years, if Allen continues to play like he has been and only wins a Super Bowl or two.....or heck.....even if the Bills never win one but Allen still dominates every season and retires with the most total yards and TDs ever, maybe even by a lot with the trajectory he is on, I think there will be many that can make an argument that you would take Allen over any QB in history because he was the most talented, not because his team kept letting him down. Guys today may have to adapt their style a little bit, but the rules favor QBs not getting hit and allowing WRs to get open. That bodes well for this generation of QBs to be successful and put up big numbers for a very long time.

Here's the thing about Benford for me. I think he is really good. His numbers are great. The analytics are great. He has good size and plays physical. All that said, I watch him and I never see "Best in the League" out of him. No, I am not saying others view him as the best in the league by any measure, but I think that is my point. The numbers say he is in the conversation, but the eye test to me says I don't see a shut down CB deserving of top dollar like he is probably going to get. He is very good at covering guys down the sidelines and in zone. In fact, I will say he is elite at those things. But where my issue with him is when he is lined up against WRs that are great slant runners and when other teams get him running across the field on drag routes. I've seen him get abused on slants, drags, and crossers and it is because he is not a quick twitch guy and doesn't have top end speed to recover when he does get beat cleanly. I will say those routes are hard to cover no matter who you are, but there are those guys that just can throw a blanket over the entire field no matter who they are covering and what routes they are covering even when being asked to do it in mostly man situations. Our scheme plays to Benford's strengths, as it should, but because of that he is not asked to play primarily man coverage for most snaps like other teams ask some of these other top CBs to do against the top WRs in the league. He also very rarely has been asked to travel with a top WR and cover them for an entire game. The Bills primarily ask him to line up on his side and whoever the other team throws over there is the guy he covers. He's not being asked to find WR1 and just shadow him for entire games like the top shut down CBs many times do. Now I don't want this to look like I am bashing the guy. I am absolutely not doing that. I think Benford is a top CB in this league. Borderline top 5 even. I guess the only point I am trying to make is that I'm struggling to give him money like Stingley just got because I don't view him in the same class as he is. I think he's great and our scheme has played to his strengths which is obviously important. I guess the question I have is if you swapped Benford for a guy like Stingley on a different team if he would have the same success in a different system. If he was forced to be a true lockdown CB in a man to man system, could he do it consistently? I'm just not sure he could. But, I know Stingley would still be a shut down CB here. Finally, how can you not think about his health. Two concussions to close out the year last season and he has missed other important games because of injury as well. I'm not a doctor and obviously we don't have access to his medical records, but these things are hard to ignore. I have no doubt that the Bills are going to pay him at some point because he is a very good player, but I am not sure I would be in a hurry to do so. He's not going to reset the market like Stingley did. At this point, I think no matter how good he plays next season, we know there the CB market ceiling is at. So, even if he has the best season of his career next season, and I hope he does, the difference might be in paying him $23-$24 million next season compared to $20-$22 million this season. I think making sure he can play with the concussions and injury history to see if he can play a full season before you drop a huge contract on him might be worth that extra couple of million he gets next season by waiting.

Absolutely concerns, but I would also add a 1 tech DT to that list as well. We still don't have that young, monster space eater in the middle of the defense to help stop the run. But you're right.....we still don't have that fast, explosive WR on the roster that will strike fear in defenses vertically and we have nobody of starting lever calibur at CB2 either. Sure, we have plugged up some holes in FA, but there are still glaring holes on this team that need to be addressed by trade and in the draft.

Maybe it's me just being old school, but I miss LB numbers in the 50's. I know you still see them, but they are not nearly as popular as they once were with players. I mean, 8 will be fine for him, but I am still one of the few that like to see LBs in the 50s, WRs in the 80s, OL in the 60s, DL in the 90s, and CB in the 20s. I will say I don't mind WRs and RBs in the single digits, but it's nice to see a throwback once in a while as well. Like Hoecht taking 55.....perfect.

So they knew this was happening with Hoecht and signed him anyway. They found out that it was happening with Ogunjobi before he signed and they still signed him anyway. Obviously, they really like both players, but this really leaves us short handed for the first 6 games as of now. I think many of us though these signings would keep us away from Edge and DT in the first round anyway, but that isn't the case anymore. I definitely think it is back to being BPA at DT, Edge, and CB. I do wonder if this affects the contracts in any way, especially Ogunjobi who they just found out about.

I'm not going to pretend I have ever seen a snap this guy has played, but the numbers are terrible...... Not sure what this one is about. Our line and even our depth is good and it seems like there are guys on the street that we could bring in as camp bodies that are just as good as this guy. But hey.....whatever. As long as we didn't give him any type of real contract.

Not a surprising move in the least. Obviously, none of us want him starting, but as a depth option, sure. All signs point to drafting CB2 next month, providing Beane picks the right guy and we don't end up with another Elam. This does have me wondering what is going to happen with Tre. Does he want to play? Is he really that shot that nobody wants to sign him? Is he looking to find a starting role? If he signs somewhere for backup money, I think even with the injuries he may have been a better option than Dane as a depth CB (wouldn't want him starting either). Maybe not, though. Maybe he truly is done.

Unfortunately, this has KC written all over it. He'd excel there. Not sure of the fit here. He can play outside, but is better suited for the slot. With Shakir and Kincaid here (and Coleman who should see more snaps inside), the fit really isn't right. Wouldn't be mad at it for the right money as he could be a stop gap on the outside, but it's not something at this point I see us doing. We need an outside speedster with some explosiveness. It's still the one thing missing from this WR room and it is a glaring need.

Happy for both sides here. We get a couple more picks to work with and Elam gets a fresh start. Look, it stinks that is didn't work here. But sometimes that is going to happen. In this case, I don't think it was for lack of effort on either side. I know Elam worked hard to get better and I know the team tried to get him to be the player they wanted him to be. But in this case, I think the scheme fit was just so bad compared to the player's strengths that they just couldn't make it work. It's frustrating to invest such a high pick into a player and not have it work out. But the fact is, he wasn't the original plan. KC did what they needed to do to go up and get their guy and Beane failed to prevent that from happening. Hopefully this is a lesson learned by Beane that if you have someone you want, and the drop off is fairly substantial even just a few picks later, you have to be proactive and go get the guy you want. He's done it a few times, but maybe not enough. Maybe the picks he got in this trade can help make that move up this season if there is someone they have targeted a few picks higher than 30. Go get your guy. Good luck to Elam, though. Fresh start and I hope he makes the most of it.

Not a move I saw us making. Only 1 year, though. Not huge money. It's a gamble. Could pay huge dividends or he could be a non factor. Either way w/ our heavy rotational system, I am guessing his snaps will be much more limited than he is used to seeing. Hopefully it keeps him healthy. If not, whatever. He's an absolute animal when he's healthy and on the field. Just hasn't been on the field enough the last couple years. Here's hoping he was saving a full, dominant season for us! Worth the swing. GO BILLS!

Yeah. Kind of a tough break for Smoot here. But I'm pretty sure this will be his replacement and he's going to make some plays. He's one of those guys you can tell loves football and I think fans will appreciate the effort he gives on every play.

Everyone hating on him I can pretty much guarantee has never watched him for a single snap of his career. He's not one of those big name guys that everyone has heard of that does something great. He's a guy that does a little bit of everything. I think he is what they had envisioned Smoot being. Smoot had some good moments here, but was never able to give you the consistent production you'd like. This guy is going to line up at DE, DT, and LB depending on the call. If nothing else, he should be a guy that allows the DC to shake things up once in a while and do something different. You have to remember that the Bills don't like playing guys every snap. They love to move guys in and out and keep them fresh already and this is a guy that can do a little bit of everything and you can use him to do some things that may not be traditional in this scheme that we have been watching the last few years. But yeah.....he's not going to put up double digit sacks and that's why you see people on here complaining. They've just never heard of him before or seen a down of football that he's played.

A lot of big money being thrown around out there for average to above average players. I kind of figured it would be on the quiet side for us today for that reason. Not only that, many of the top guys I had targeted in FA re-signed with their teams before they got here. It is what it is. That said, it was never about FA for me. To me, this is the year to be wheelin' and dealin' with draft picks to fill needs. Yes, a lot of the big name guys that were out there to be traded for are off the trade market now, but if I'm Beane, I've called every team about WR, DT, DE, and CB. I know who can be had for what price and that is where my focus is. It's time to fill some important holes with proven talent and let some of these draft picks go. The time is now to win......not 5 years from now. So, get a WR1. Get a run stuffing DT. Get a pass rusher. Get a corner. We need all these things and I want to use the draft picks we have this year and next year to get as many proven guys in these spots as possible.