Rochesterfan

Disagree - they were literally on the phone working trade calls when the NE trade out was announced. They did not know who was moving up. With what they showed and what Beane said afterwards and the timing as the KC trade was announced - things fit together. The Bills were looking really at 1 player and were willing to give up a 4th round pick to ensure they got him. They were not willing to give up a day 2 pick to get him the difference in value was to great. Beane originally said they started calling once the draft reached 20 seeing if a 4th could get it done. It sounds like even 130 and 168 was deemed to rich. What I saw was concern when KC moved up, but no real change when McDuffie was the pick - they did not seem to scramble as if suddenly we need to move - that action had already began. They want Elam - I still do not think McDuffie was on their board in reality - he was more a guy they were waiting on as a potential start of another CB run. Beane did talk in post draft about moving down if their last guy was drafted - he also started thinking they might have to move down when 4&5 went as CBs.

With ABC and ESPN owned and run and spending huge money - they are looking for exactly this - multiple games to ensure getting viewers on each game. The Monday night games have been bad for a while and adding games increases the chance on 1 game hitting and allowing them to push advertisement dollars to either game.

Forgive me if I have my doubts. The guy seems like a weird person to have a “confirmed” leak - not a real sports guy. If it was confirmed- the Bills would tweet something out - just like for the Titans confirmed leaked released for Week 2. He may be right, but I just doubt it at this point - although I would absolutely love it. Give me Detroit early or a Home game on Thanksgiving every year.

Maybe - Beane also said he looked as high as 20 - which was before the KC move. Around pick 20 was where a move up cost a day 3 versus a day 2 pick. If he only had 3 CBs with 1st round grades - that would explain looking as high as 20, but Pittsburgh went QB and didn’t want to trade. 21 was NE - not sure the Bills wanted to over pay as KC gave up a day 2 pick - which Beane said he wanted to avoid. 22 was GB and they did not want to move 23 was Baltimore and they were looking to move - so that fits. It very well could be they had 4, but based upon visits and Bills drafting history with Beane - it is just as likely they did not feel McDuffie was an ideal fit and was not graded.

This could solve an argument - which 4 had a 1st round grade by the Bills. I have heard 3, but not this elusive 4th?

I agree - I think that gives most eyes - just not sure they give Dallas 2 years in a row. They and the Bills are the remaining marquee match ups - so if they want the best that would one of them, but if they figure they are getting eyes just as the first game then pick a more middling team. Can’t wait.

Well now we have the confirmed Broncos at Rams on Christmas. So what is new with the source? I have no source and do not think the Bills/Rams game will be week 1, but the NFL has quietly reduced the other teams that make sense little by little. It could be Bills or Dallas as marquee match-ups. It could be divisional rivals - SF or Arizona (but without Hopkins not sure Arizona is the draw. The Raiders is the final team and I do not see them as a huge draw, but being that they used to be the LA Raiders - maybe they can push that narrative. If I had to guess - I think Raiders for the LA vibe and the fact that it gives the SB champ a fairly easy opponent to get the win. The Home team wins this game so much - I have to believe that is part of the charm - give a good, but winnable match-up.

Well to be fair (to be fair 🎶) the guys in NY are the same ones that brought Hickey to Buffalo - so it is not a surprise. Now we are bringing in guys associated with other hires like Gaine.

The issue with Foster was the majority of the catch’s were deep over routes where the ball came at him directly in his line of sight. With that speed - if he had any ability to track a ball along the sidelines - he would still be a WR 4 or 5, but he was terrible at tracking the ball. There are limited routes he could succeed with, but very limited QBs that can throw those routes. He needs a Josh Allen throwing a rope right to where he is. A high arching pass to where he is going forces him to track and that caused him to slow down and get overthrown. It was unfortunate.

No one has experience because with the new practice rules - everyone uses the punter. There is not enough practice time for any position players to hold. FG, Punt, Long Snapping - all get practiced and worked on at the same time as the rest of the team is practicing. When guys like Tasker or Reich held - lots of back up QBs held - because they had unlimited practice time so they could stay after and hold. It will be just like every other team and the punter will hold. One of the backups will get a chance to hold in case of injury, but other than that it will be the punter.

I am wondering if someone got paid to post that trash. Terrible.

We will see, but from everything said - his role is similar to Dorsey the last 2 years. Be a sounding board for Josh on the sidelines and another set of communication between the QB and the OC to make sure both are seeing and hearing the same thing. Be the on the sideline coach to go through things with Josh and make sure he is getting what he needs. He has experience as an assistant, an OC in college, and an OC in the Pro’s (with varying success) - so I am sure if he sees something that might work from a different viewpoint - share that info. The final thing I would expect is that he will be a helper to make sure Dorsey in his first role as OC does not overly complicate things. I think that is what Shula is there for also. A couple of guys that can help ensure that the offense rolls and the players and coaches are on the same page.

You were doing so well until this. Keenum is not going to hold. It is going to be a punter. It has been stated many times - due to very limited practice time - the 3 special teams players (long snapper, punter, and kicker) have to do the majority of their work while the Offense and Defense practice. No team is taking players away from practice to have them hold full time. A guy like Keenum may get a few snaps just to practice on a weekly basis for in game injury, but the punter is going to have to hold this position down on a full time basis.

100% agree - that was exactly what I saw and said to my wife on draft night. He was 100% worried about Tennessee moving ahead and was working GB and Baltimore to get their guy.

That is sort of trying to drive the brand. They said certain things are going to get leaked and announced leading up to the Grand Reveal. At the Draft they announced the Week 2 Thursday night game (1st on Amazon Prime for the season) KC/Chargers. Now they will release the International games. I expect there will be some info on the Christmas/New Years Day games that comes out. Maybe the Opening Night/Thanksgiving games also get previewed. Little tidbits just to keep you focusing on football - even with NHL and NBA playoffs going on and MLB. The NFL still gets more talk about things like International games coming up in 5 months than the other sports get for nightly coverage. The draft alone will outdraw everything the other sports can throw at it. It is why companies like Fox keep trying spring leagues because even a stupid week 1 USFL game outdraws MLB and Hockey and is on par with top NBA ratings.

A couple of things - First - the Cowboys have recently been an excellent drafting team by most measures. They had a bad run for a while, but have been a top 5 drafting team over the last 5-7 years. Second - a draft board for each team is fairly unique because unlike someone’s top 10 board - it takes into account a teams needs and scheme fit. CB was not a big need for Dallas - so that pushed CB value down their board. OL and DL seem more their need based upon their board set-up if real. Third - Beane said in his press conference they were not necessarily worried about Baltimore or Dallas picking CB, but we’re very worried about a trade up into that spot by a team wanting a CB as that was the Bills pressing need. Finally - @unbillievable - I am not sure that teams do not have people that concentrate solely on gathered data. Beane has talked about how - especially the pro scouting staff after the FA push - spend time looking at team needs and matching that to visits and draft history. They do several mock drafts and get competitive about having the right choices play out. My guess is every rumor, every scouting visit, every piece of intel they get goes into a database to help them prepare and better plan future drafts. I think they have people on the payroll who gather and enter all of that data and trends. We also know the Bills self scout those same traits after each draft to try and ensure they do not fall into the same ruts over and over. If you went through each teams payroll- I think you will find some nebulous names/positions that end up as really an IT guy solely dedicated to gathering as factual as possible information about each teams plans leading up to the draft. It is part of the reason smoke screens are common by teams because everything they say gets out to someone listening.

How big is she? (You know Herbig) - I will show my self out. I have no issue going after these types of signings - young with experience - not sure he is good enough to make the team and had a terrible RAS score, but probably intelligent with a Stanford education.

For me - thought this was fun, but I think just a little more clarity about expectations: 1) was it our 6 picks in order versus the 6 picks total. I mean you could have 100% matched the positions, but the order was 100% wrong. It was not clear exactly what was the defining correct results from the instructions. 2) Since the Bills were picking late and reading the instructions- I assumed that you wanted the suit color of the 1st pick (so I went with Bulldog colors assuming it was going to be Walker). The Bills pick I assumed rightly was going to be at home more comfortably dressed. It would not have mattered for me, but just a touch of clarity on that would be nice. Overall - it is all in good fun and I don’t really care about winning or losing - just want to make sure I am choosing the best possible answers. Thanks for the effort and the thoughts.

Why not one of the 3 Safeties they have drafted and really like?

I heard they are going to let Breece Hall re-enter the draft - since he wasn’t drafted by a real team - to see if @IronMaidenBills can get the thread to 200 pages - so we are allowed to draft him next year. Seriously love seeing us pick at 32 - that would be amazing.

Doesn’t really matter much after the drop off from week 1 to week 2. They are not getting the viewership of the last 3 leagues that have tried this. The slippage in viewership is worse and the games are not good.

Yes the OP double counted the draft picks and therefore was off by 8. The updated roster numbers already included the draft picks - then he added them to the updated roster - putting us at 83 rather than the 75 we were at. Now with 10 UDFAs - we have 5 spots left.

It might be brilliant, but at the moment I think they have the worse skill positions in the division. They have Mahomes, but he is no longer the by far and away best QB in the division. Their OL is better suited to a dominant run game. They have an aging Kelce and now do not have the ultimate deep threat that opens him up. The KC WR group lacks the elite guy to help open everything up. We will see how it goes long term, but I think they are still not as good right now as they were last year and all 3 teams in division got better. Without Hill they are no longer the favorites in that division and I could see them struggling to make a playoff push this year. They will be a fun watch and I would love to see them finish last out west - although I still think they can beat Denver and are right no on par with LV for 2nd.

Would you - even if Parham does not fit what the OL coach wants and would have been a bad fit. That I don’t get - Parham had a below Ave RAS score and it was boosted by his size. His movement scores were all red, but he had explosion. He was a better fit for teams that want him to stay in position and block - he was a bad fit for a Kromer line with movement needed from Center/Guards.

This draft I found very difficult to grade - I decided on a B-. I love several of the Picks: Elam, Cook, Shakir are all guys I had as picks at different times. The hard part was typically Cook in the 3rd and Shakir in the 4th (so 2nd and 5th throws me a bit). A punter in the 6th was fine - the fact that this pick seems like everyone’s favorite is just insane, but that was right we’re I thought he would go so props to the Bills for that. I have no issues really with the rest of the picks - nothing overwhelming either way - I think they will come in and have a role and develop from there. With where the Bills picked and the limited needs and what they got - it was a solid draft right down the middle where it should be. If a higher end WR or some IOL that fits the athletic profile had fallen correctly - it could have been better, but I don’t see that big miss in identification that will set the team back. Now I will sit and wait to see if any other veterans join the team. I could still see Williams, Hughes, and Sanders all as potential guys to come in if a need presents itself. The roster is still not complete, but they did some good work. They were better overall punters. Many places had him as the 3-5 best punter. He has the “best leg”, but lacked control, hang time, and placement. He basically rockets every kick, but the fact that he mentioned studying Ray Guy and working with former Punters to correct that and learn holding - tells me he understands and is willing to try and fix the issues and I give him props for that.