HappyDays

Joe Marino said he has heard the rumors on Bond too. He didn't specify the exact details but said he doesn't believe Bond will be on our board if what he heard is true.

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Interesting visit. He profiles as a big slot which doesn't seem to fit a need on our roster.

I wonder if they see him as a slot CB where size and length isn't as important. We can release Taron Johnson next offseason and save $6.7M in cap space so preparing for that possibility would be a wise move. https://www.nfl.com/prospects/billy-bowman-jr./3200424f-5766-9654-778d-1d85c852b173 His profile reads as a perfect fit for our slot role. Highly instinctive and cerebral, smooth transitions, able to run pre-snap disguises well. You worry about him getting steamrolled in the run game but Taron's size gives him the same issues and he's still been a great player in our scheme.

Yeah there's been no reports that we've met with any day 1 or 2 WR prospects. Bond is the one exception, but also now I wonder if he is a day 2 prospect? That rumor about his major character concerns keeps popping up, and presumably every team would have the same info. Is it possible he'll plummet down the board and the reason we're meeting with him a lot is because we think he'll still be around in round 4 or even 5?

This is an interesting choice for a top 30 visit. He's projected as a 7th rounder or even UDFA. He has some vertical traits but very much a developmental prospect.

With the 81st pick, the Bengals select Shemar Turner, DT, Texas A&M. Seattle @Logic is on the clock. Turner has impressive physical traits, but he needs some technical refinement. His first step quickness and high motor give him a very solid floor. He'll be a 3T for us and spend his rookie year rotating in behind BJ Hill, who can be cut after this season. We drafted DT Kris Jenkins in the 2nd last year but we have no qualms about loading up on DL and finding a way to get everyone involved. Turner in our eyes should have been drafted sooner so this is a true BPA pick. I'm a bit disappointed that I couldn't address the secondary at all with any of my early picks, but the value never matched up properly. But we badly needed help in the trenches on both sides of the ball so I can't be too disappointed coming away with one OL and two DL.

I actually have a really good feeling about Forrest. I don't want to overdo it but there are reasons to be optimistic. I think the team really likes him too. This might sound trivial but he did have a full press conference after signing, and under this regime that has been an indication that they see him as almost a roster lock. By my memory the only players that have had press conferences after signing but didn't make the team were OJ Howard and Mike Edwards. So I don't see that as a throwaway or depth signing. He won't be handed the job by any means but if I had to predict right now I'd say Forrest and Rapp end up being the starters.

Joe Marino broke down the WRs with vertical traits on Locked On Bills today. It's a great listen, I highly recommend it. Joe said he has heard the rumors on Isaiah Bond. He didn't specify the details but he said it is a "major character concern" and that if the rumors are true he doesn't think Bond would be on our board. So there's been enough independent reporting on this that I think we can safely remove him as an option for us.

Here's my one and only Bills mock draft. I traded up with Minnesota twice to get higher quality players, under the logic that Minnesota needs more picks. In Revel I got a legitimate 1st round prospect that fills a need and has upside to become an elite player. In Kyle Williams I got the vertical WR this roster desperately needs. In Collins, Jackson, and Robinson I hopefully have rebuilt the DL. Tuten is a speedy RB that can get on the roster as a kick returner. Zy Alexander felt like too good of value to pass up that late in the draft and might knock Dane Jackson off the roster. Vinson is developmental OL depth, get him in an NFL weight building program and stash him on the PS.

Yeah WR is a big need but it has to be specifically a WR that can get vertical, otherwise it is redundant with what we already have on the roster. Unfortunately this draft doesn't have a lot of options for that type of WR. Williams is my favorite for that type of WR in this class. I'd be willing to trade into the late 3rd to make sure we get him.

You're right I don't. All we can go off of is consensus rankings and no one has him as a top 64 or even top 75 player. Maybe Williams will go much higher than projected. Tutu Atwell was seen as a 4th rounder and instead went #57. Like I said it only takes one team to fall in love with a player. But I don't see it as more likey just because Simms ranked him high.

I'm not hating on him. I like when draft analysts are willing to make bold takes that go against consensus. Simms may prove to be correct about Williams. I just don't think his ratings reflect how the NFL feels about these players.

Chris Simms had Dyami Brown as his #3 WR in 2021 and he ended up going a full round later than projected. I enjoy Simms' draft analysis even if it can be a bit predictable at certain positions, but I don't think his rankings actually influence how teams think about these players. I could definitely see Kyle Williams sneaking into round 3 partly because the WR draft class is so weak that teams will be willing to reach for one. I would love him with our early 4th or a trade up into the late 3rd. He fits the type of player we need but he isn't exactly a clean fit as a bona fide starter in the NFL. He could end up being like Marvin Mims who has been just a role player/specialist.

I don't think so. The mock draft database consensus big board has him at #107 so early 4th. It only takes one team to fall in love with him of course but teams are going to have questions about his size and the low level of competition he faced, and he's still somewhat unpolished as a route runner. He is my #1 day three target since I really like his fit for our roster but 2nd is too early.

I have the same idea but instead swap our pick 109 for their pick 94. That gets us our 3rd round pick back that we gave up for Amari Cooper and we'd still have our normal 4th round pick. The player we get at 33 would be the same caliber as whatever player we'd take at 30, and if Cleveland takes an OT we would hurt KC in the process.

It depends on what kind of character issues. Mike Green has had sexual assault allegations and rumors of more that haven't been revealed yet, so that's a player I'd have off my board. James Pearce has reportedly skipped practices without telling anyone which reminds me of Jermaine Burton so I would stay away from him as well. With Nolen the reported character concerns sound more vague. Nothing serious has been reported, just general concerns about his motivation and effort. I get that that isn't nothing, but we have a strong culture and locker room that affords us to take the risk IMO. No championship team is made up of exclusively boy scouts.

I changed my vote from Tuimoloau to Watts for one simple reason - Farmer is much more likely to still be there at 62. Even Beane I think would know this and make his decision accordingly, if these were the two players he was debating between. In general I think this area of the draft is way too high for Farmer. I know he is a bet on traits player but by pretty much any consensus ranking this would be a reach. I think fans are giving too much weight to the fact that the Bills have met with him a lot. We met with Troy Franklin a lot too and passed on him three times. We met with Justin Shorter a lot but we took him where he was projected on day three. The Bills publicly showing interest in a player doesn't mean they are going to reach for him. It may actually mean the opposite, that they have serious questions about the player and need to do more digging to round off the evaluation.

I take mock drafting to be an exercise in predicting where players will go. We're not building a big board, we're building a draft. Taking Amos over Nolen seems like a Beane move for a few reasons.

That's the curse of drafting late every year. With your 1st round pick you're selecting 2nd round prospects. With your 2nd round picks you're selecting 3rd round prospects. This exercise proves that Beane's job is hard and we can see why he often gets antsy fo trade up a few picks in the 1st round. And also I think the board made a mistake taking the safer player/cleaner roster projection (Amos) over the BPA who didn't necessarily fill an immediate need (Nolen). But that is a realistic mistake that even I voted for because I could see Beane making it. And we are seeing that that mistake has followed us all the way to our 2nd round picks and taken a possibly better option out of consideration. The exercise proves that Beane's job is hard but it also proves that taking BPA with every early pick is still the best avenue for success and the whole draft can fall apart if you don't stick to it religiously.