transplantbillsfan

2 rookie classes? What are you talking about? There's only one rookie class every year. Where on earth are you getting your numbers. Right now the Bills are about $3m under and then get $10m more on June 1st. I don't know if you're counting our cap money this year towards next year, but if you are you're even off with those numbers.

I posted the roster because I think it just shows that our only truly GAPING hole is at WR.

Fill out the WR corps with a 1st round pick and a guy like Javon Baker in the later rounds and get us a short yardage back like Estime and it's a 12+ win team.

And our 1st this year, obviously.

So... let's see how our roster improves starting tonight. I said I think the Bills will be better this upcoming season... I still think they will. As of this moment, just hours before the draft, this is how I view the Buffalo Bills roster at the moment. And yes, we can field a 53 man team that consists of zero guys I'd strictly put in the "Practice Squad" category. LOCKS (1st-5th round rookies included) Close to locks Baseline rosterable depth Players the team seems somehow invested in Rookie 6th or 7th round pick STARTER 2ND 3RD 4TH QB Josh Allen Mitchell Trubisky Shane Buechele RB James Cook Ty Johnson Ray Davis Darrynton Evans- WR Khalil Shakir Justin Shorter Tyrell Shavers WR Curtis Samuel Andy Isabella Bryan Thompson WR Keon Coleman Mack Hollins KJ Hamler TE Dalton Kincaid Dawson Knox Quintin Morris Tre' McKitty FB Reggie Gilliam LT Dion Dawkins Ryan Van Demark Travis Clayton Richard Gouraige LG David Edwards Alec Anderson C Connor McGovern Will Clapp RG O'Cyrus Torrence Sedrick Van Pran-Granger Kevin Jarvis RT Spencer Brown La'el Collins. Tylan Grable Tommy Doyle STARTER 2ND 3RD 4TH LDE Greg Rousseau Javon Soloman Kameron Cline LDT DaQuan Jones Austin Johnson Eli Ankou RDT Ed Oliver DeWayne Carter. DeShawn Williams RDE Von Miller AJ Epenesa Casey Toohill Kingsley Jonathan WLB Matt Milano Edefuan Ulufoshio MLB Terrel Bernard Baylon Spector SLB Nicholas Morrow Dorian Williams LCB Rasul Douglas Kaiir Elam Kyron Brown SS Cole Bishop Taylor Rapp Kendall Williamson FS Mike Edwards Cam Lewis Damar Hamlin RCB Christian Benford Taron Johnson Daequan Hardy Ja'Marcus Ingram STARTER 2ND 3RD 4TH PK Tyler Bass P Sam Martin Matt Haack H Sam Martin Matt Haack PR Khalil Shakir KR Khalil Shakir Andy Isabella LS Reid Ferguson 53 man roster 34 LOCKS 10 close to locks 4 baseline rosterable depth 5 Players the team seems somehow invested in *EDITED POST DRAFT... UDFAs not included*

Rome Odunze

First of all, Buffalo didn't restructure Allen's entire contract this offseason because they're pushing it into next offseason. I think that's about an additional $8m. Then there's the fact that we have Von Miller's contract still on the books next season, but once we cut him (like most project we will), we save a bunch of CAP space.

I'll be excited but nervous about him. He excites me as a player. He doesn't sound like the same type of "process" Buffalo Bills guy the other 2 guys are. With Diggs gone, I want the most team first Elite WR we can get.

I'm really tired of this narrative. What I'll say about a WR corps is that I don't believe it's just that it's a sum of all its parts. Buffalo has had so much success in the passing game since 2020 because of Stefon Diggs. Davis, McKenzie, Beasely, & Shakir have all benefitted over the years in their production largely because of his presence. Cincy has had so much success over the last few years because of Jamarr Chase. Higgins & Boyd benefitted from his presence. KC was so successful for years because of 2 HOF pass catching monsters and maybe one of the most talented and unique WRs (even though he's a head case) in NFL history in Hill. Sure... KC won the Super Bowl the last couple years, but their offense very obviously took a massive step backwards. This team runs through Josh Allen, period. Give him the best weapons possible. That might not be an Odunze in a massive trade up. It might be BTJr or Legette or Worthy... but honestly... if this team isn't looking for whoever they believe "their guy" is at WR in round 1, tonight is a massive letdown. Buffalo has 10 picks in this draft and is forecasted to have 9 picks next year. Our roster this year is honestly already at the point where there's absolutely no way 10 or even 9 or 8 draft picks make this team. Trade up! Trade up! Trade up!!!!!

True Shocker: Marvin Harrison Jr. Realistic Shocker: Rome Odunze

I would be both excited and nervous if we traded up for BTJ. Honestly though... I'd be both excited and nervous for almost any WR we draft in any round simply because of the inevitable pressure on them to immediately step in and produce. However, I would be just excited if we traded up for Odunze. For some reason he's the only one where it's just excitement. Some nerves would creep back in even if we traded up for Nabers, even though I know he might have the highest ceiling in the draft. I'm not even thinking about MHJ. Absolutely not true with Joe Marino.

No we aren't... our salary cap situation is at its lowest this offseason and will get significantly better from here on out. He played QB as a Senior

You're using the Senior Bowl as a measuring stick? He played in the SEC and destroyed his competition at South Carolina in 2023. The one-year-wonder conversation is more nuanced. There were a lot of circumstances involved with that, including a late shift to the position and a motorcycle accident, among other things. I'm not advocating a trade up. But I'd be happy with him at 28.

Can I ask you guys why you think Xavier Leggette is so clearly not a 1st rounder?

Yeah, I listened this morning thinking he'd go through the players, but he didn't. Still, it was good to listen to it first and then look at the document to view all the players themselves. @GunnerBill also has Leggette as his 4th WR, from what I can remember. Plus, there's been a lot of talk among the media that Leggette could slip into round 1. What that likely means is that while the national media has one perspective on him, NFL teams have another.

You can watch the episode with his explanation of it here, but right below the video I posted the link to his Google Doc that shows both his horizontal and vertical draft boards. As he says in the video, the horizontal one may be most interesting and relevant because it breaks players down into tiers.: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1d6y5YK7S5pN8WgqF5t6qJSvpyQsA44hDkts8hPHDDSs/htmlview# He only did 170 players this year because he only had 5 months to do it, unlike previous years where he does it year round. Might be a good tool to look at on draft night.

But he specifically said in his first years (plural) in Buffalo he was coached to run while talking about his excitement of a scheme by Joe Brady to get him more outlets on the field in the passing game. He may not have directly stated he was coached to run in recent years, but at best it sounds like he believed the passing scheme itself didn't provide enough realistic opportunities in the passing game, forcing him to run.

Shaw, listen to Allen’s PC the other day. In fact, skip to the last few minutes he talks about Joe Brady and what he's excited about. Allen directly says he was coached previously to run. It's revealing. Go listen because it completely contradicts this belief.

This criticism of Buffalo’s roster is overblown. It's funny... The Athletic came out with an article the other day ranking all 32 NFL rosters ahead of the draft. 4. Buffalo Bills This one makes me a little uneasy, but like Mahomes and the Chiefs, an elite QB (Josh Allen) erases a lot of roster issues. The Bills have had to part with some quality players this offseason, but there are enough solid pieces still around to not panic. The Bills should be mimicking the Chiefs’ plan of the last few years while building around Mahomes and focusing on drafting the best available player at a premier position in the first round. They also have traded away their top wide receiver (Stefon Diggs), similar to what the Chiefs did a few years ago with Tyreek Hill.

This criticism of Buffalo’s roster is overblown. It's funny... The Athletic came out with an article the other day ranking all 32 NFL rosters ahead of the draft. 4. Buffalo Bills This one makes me a little uneasy, but like Mahomes and the Chiefs, an elite QB (Josh Allen) erases a lot of roster issues. The Bills have had to part with some quality players this offseason, but there are enough solid pieces still around to not panic. The Bills should be mimicking the Chiefs’ plan of the last few years while building around Mahomes and focusing on drafting the best available player at a premier position in the first round. They also have traded away their top wide receiver (Stefon Diggs), similar to what the Chiefs did a few years ago with Tyreek Hill.

Daquan is on a 2 year deal. And he's been EXTREMELY durable throughout his career, including his first year with Buffalo.

I guarantee the argument will be that the Falcons didn't win a Super Bowl. I agree it's a completely ridiculous argument. And this resource argument some are making also neglects the potential in a cost-controlled CHEAP #1 WR (the 2nd most expensive position) for at least 4 years. That $$$ savings should be part of the resource argument as well. Remember... Buffalo is going to suddenly get a lot more CAP space in future years and Free Agency is another aspect of team building. Plus... 10 draft picks this year + 9 draft picks next year after our comp picks. Worse case scenario is the 2011 trade model for Julio Jones. Falcons traded their 2011 1st, 2nd, 4th & 2012 1st & 4th. This would still leave us with 7 total picks in this year's draft and next year's draft. Plus, next year's draft we'd still have 2 2nd rounders... one of which very well might be in the early to late 30s. That one is I think the steepest price, though. I think the Lions trade up for Jameson Williams and the Chiefs trade up for Mahomes are other models to look at that might be even better.

Correlative, not causal. Are you really trying to argue that the Bengals are not winning a Super Bowl because they drafted Jamarr Chase? Has it been CeDee Lamb holding back the Cowboys over the last few years? That the Falcons didn't win the Super Bowl because they drafted Julio Jones? That Drake London is holding the Falcons back right now or Garrett Wilson is doing the same for the Jets? It's the QB, first and foremost, who's obviously the most critical piece to any team winning the Super Bowl. Buffalo has their QB for the next 5-10+ years. When did Josh Allen turn into an Elite QB? Obviously (and Josh directly said this yesterday) it happened once he got an Elite WR in Diggs. What do we no longer have??? You alluded to me not being a Bills fan and just being a Josh Allen fan... that's pretty rich coming from the guy who really doesn't do anything on this message board other than drop grenades and plant landmines all over the place. I'm absolutely not without my flaws, but you painted me so horribly wrong. If anything, I'm a Bills homer with Bills colored glasses. I know how that's how some see me and I'm fine with it. Your assessment just proves you're not very observant... or maybe you just let your anger cloud your judgment too much.

Another point... while I mention "hits..." all that really means is that you have a pretty decent starter. We're hoping for more than a decent starter, though. We want a WR who can be a pro-bowler if not an All-Pro, right? I've been thinking a bit about this since I started the thread, because I think the reality is we all want a DUDE at WR, not a JAG. So I googled it to see if there was any data out there. Found this on a reddit board and it looks like someone else actually did the work. I cross-checked it and looks accurate. If you go back several years to give WRs over the span of 2000-2017 (18 years total), here are Pro Bowl %s for those years slotted by draft pick in the top 100: Pick/ Pro-Bowl% 1-10/ 55% 11-20/ 44% 21-30/ 33% 31-40/ 24% 41-50/ 18% 51-60/ 16% 61-70/ 16% 71-80/ 9% 81-90/ 10% 91-100/ 12% Plus, The Athletic examined it over a span of 10 years a couple years ago by round and position https://theathletic.com/3242308/2022/04/13/nfl-draft-analysis-2022/ Wide Receivers only 1st round 42.4% 2nd-3rd round 36.4% 4+ round 21.2%