TigerJ

He played at Pittsburgh, didn't he?

McCants sounds like a really unique prospect. One article I read suggests he is a dominant blocker. Maybe a team could use him as a full back on one play and a WR the next. It makes a player who is only a fullback in this day and age (Patrick DiMarco) seem almost obsolete. He ran a 4.5 in high school.

Unfortunately there is no shortage of incompetence in the medical world.

With the signing of Spain, Feliciano and Long will be relegated to competing for one guard spot with Wyatt Teller. I think because Long has more experience at center, there will be a temptation to use him to back up all three interior line spots rather than start him in one place. Feliciano is better than Teller was last season, but expect Teller to have a major upgrade in his play this coming season. With his youth and upside to count him out in competition with Feliciano, who is a mauler but is somewhat limited athletically.

It depends entirely on their assessment of the value of the top 8 players on their draft board relative to the cost of moving up. Obviously, the Bills are not going to draft a QB in the first round (if at all). Among the non-quarterbacks likely to be drafted ahead of them, is there one they value so highly that they are willing to pay the cost of trading up to guarantee they can get him? I doubt Beane would trade up into the top 4 or 5, so it would then depend on who drops.

I do think chemistry is pretty important for the offensive line, Particularly when it comes to handling stunts and blitzes by the defense. Time has to be be developed for switching off as the situation calls for it.

It's a freaking tweet. Are you saying you wouldn't come here and post if you were doing a guest spot on a nationally televised TV series?

David Edwards sounds like an appropriate Oline pick. He's not ready to be a starter in the NFL, but he's got good athleticism, measurables and upside. The Bills can pick him a bit later and coach him up for a year or two.

He signed a two year deal. To play longer than that, Beane will need to decide that a 35 year old (turns 36 in the middle of the 2021 season) player is worth extending, probably for more money.

I wonder some about that. They need to get the top five figured out quickly so they can use some of training camp to develop the necessary cohesiveness and chemistry. The question is, how do you do that quickly with so many new guys? We can safely assume Mitch Morse is starting at center and Spain at guard. Dawkins and Nsekhe are the probably winners at tackle at this point (I think). The other guard spot is the question. Teller, Feliciano and Long may all be in the competition. McDermott may prefer to have Long as an interior backup. He can play guard or center, despite his injury related struggles with the Jets. Feliciano can too, but I think he's more familiar with guard. Feliciano is a pure mauler. He's not a great athlete or technician but gets the job done. I would guess Teller has more long term upside, but Feliciano might be a little better right now. That's all speculation though.

The point of acquiring good players is to create competition in training camp. Sometimes that means cutting a player that could make another team's roster. That's acceptable if you're not getting stuck with piles of dead cap money and you end up with your 5 or 6 best receivers.

Maybe we could pick up his brother later in the draft. His brother is Jazz Ferguson. He's a big WR.

Beane has essentially stated that free agency is all about plugging holes so that when you get to the draft you can take to best players available. He does not want to find himself in a position of having to draft for need. First round picks get a four year contract with a fifth year option. You at least like to have that player contribute for four years. If it is longer, that's the cherry on the sundae. Your second round players get a four year deal and later picks get three year deals. If your scouting department is competent, you'll have a better than average number of rookie draft picks play out their contracts and get an offer for an extension. (Buffalo has been far worse than average just about forever.) You're combining competence with continuity. That is the recipe for success in the NFL long term. The better you draft, the less dependent you'll be on free agency to fill holes because you won't have as many. Looking back and when McDermott and Beane arrived on the scene, the Bills were in a bad place cap wise. Beane signed mostly low level, cheap free agents because cap space wouldn't allow him to spend more. As a result, holes weren't filled with good players. This year, the cap situation has been much better. Beane still; refrained from doing many big splash signings. The biggest signing was a center. Mostly what he got were second tier guys willing to sign shorter contracts for less money in hopes of having a big year and getting a much bigger contract the next time around. Obviously, many of them aren't going to be around that long. A few might get contract extensions.

Essentially it sounds as if the OP is saying you might have a choice between a player who had a real productive college career and a player that for some reason didn't seem to be as productive as one would like, but has elite athleticism and looks as if he might be a generational type player, you role the dice on the potential generational player in the first or second round. An example might be Rashan Gary, who at 6'4" and 277 lbs ran a ridiculous 4.58 40. He's strong and has long arms. He is just an incredible athlete. However, he was not super productive in college. Some have speculated that his underperformance might have something to do with the way he was used. On the flip side Christian Wilkins is considered a pretty safe pick. He's an excellent athlete. He's technically sound and he's had a long productive college career. The OP is saying, you gamble on Gary's upside rather than taking the safer pick. After the first couple rounds, maybe then college production begins to be more of a factor. At least that's how I take it.

Beyond what Brady makes for playing football, I'm sure he makes millions on endorsement deals too. Bundchen made 30 million plus in 2016 dropping to 10 million between July 1, 2017 and June 30, 2018, the latest one year time period for which there is a public record. Given their career earnings, they probably have amassed a significant fortune. If they have invested wisely they probably make more off their investments than they do income from employment.

I only make it to games very occasionally. I'm fine with New Era Field. The only problem I have is when my tickets are in the nosebleed area of cheap seats. As I've gotten older, it's gotten a lot tougher to climb all those big steps. The last game I went to, I made sure I got seats near an exit. That was much better. Food is not an issue for me. I don't mind the rather spartan seating. I know there are probably those who like a little more luxury. Myself, I'd rather have the cheaper tickets (as long as their aren't too high up).

Let's develop our own superstars and hope some turn out to have a similar attitude. This thread should probably be merged with this one:

When I looked him up, I didn't think he was THAT small. He's listed at the UB website as 6'3" 305. That's 2 lbs heavier than McCoy, and 1 inch taller (1 lb. lighter) that Garrett Bradbury, two of the top centers in the draft. I think that would be a very cool sleeper pick for Buffalo.

Sorry to contradict the OP but Buffalo's opponents are as follows: Away - Pittsburgh, NY Giants, Cleveland, Dallas, Tennessee, AFCE Home - Baltimore, Philadelphia, Cincinnati, Washington, Denver, AFCE Replace the Cowboys on the list of home games with the Denver Broncos, and it will be right.

I had to look that one up. May Punch Imlach rest in peace.

At least we haven't seen the old "Bills sign Askew" line - yet.

We've had "sleeper" threads before, but we don't usually go too deep looking for them. I'm suggesting that for this thread we look for guys who are likely to go no higher than round 6. Players that you think might be UDFAs are OK too. Most never amount to much, but they you get guys like Robert Foster or Levi Wallace, who prove you can still get lucky. My deep sleeper is a running back out of Florida Atlantic. He's fast and he's shifty and he's versatile. No, it's not Devin Singletary. That would be too easy, and he's getting drafted before round 6. I'm talking about Kerrith Whyte Jr. . He was a teammate of Singletary. He came out of High School with only one scholarship offer. That only came from Florida Atlantic after Whyte attended a football camp at the university and ran faster than anyone else there. Singletary was the high profile recruit at running back and didn't do anything to suggest he shouldn't be the starter, so Whyte backed him up and returned kicks. As a backup last season he had a 6.5 yard per carry average and gained a totla of 866 yards on the ground. He has great lateral quickness and at his pro day ran a 4.37 40. His off field character is spotless. So, who do you like that nobody has ever heard of?

There are some guys I have reservations about, but I assume that if Buffalo picks one of them, Beane and the staff will have done plenty of homework to be sure the benefit outweighs the risk. The guys I would really hat, I don't think there is any chance of Buffalo taking (like Jachai Polite Greg Little)

The main drawback I saw in that mock was the lack of a defensive tackle (3 tech) Yeah, you might be able to move Gary inside on obvious passing downs, but he's still not the rotational guy Buffalo needs. I'm not terribly impressed with Damien Harris. Edwards needs development and won't start as a rookie. Overall, I thought it was a mediocre draft.

Please don't take me for an expert. Most of what I know, or think I know is second hand as well. I read anything I can get my hands on, and I have a good memory. I would say Neither Oliver nor Gary is a sure thing. Oliver is underweight, but his natural position is almost certainly defensive tackle. There was also some question about his attitude stemming from from a sideline shouting match with his head coach. I don't know that anyone but Oliver and his coach really know what that was about, though I'm sure anyone considering drafting him has done their level best to find out. You've read the same thing I have about Gary. He might be one of the top two or three athletes in the draft, but he never showed up on the stat sheet in a big way. There are different opinions as to why. The best way to try and answer that question is tons of film work. That's not something I have the opportunity to do, and I'm probably not qualified anyway. Buffalo employs scouts who are qualified. I'm sure if they have any interest in Gary, they have looked very closely. I think Gary's natural position is probably defensive end, unlike Oliver. Some suggest he could play outside on early downs and move to tackle as an interior pass rusher on third and long. That makes some sense to me. Depending on the coach and the defensive system those "tweener" characteristics can either be a challenge or an opportunity. I think McDermott probably sees it as an opportunity. The kid from ND is, I assume, Jerry Tillery. He's pretty impressive. I think he's more of a pure defensive tackle, even though he's pretty tall. He could, I think, also be a 3-4 defensive end, but that's not Buffalo's defensive system. Actually he has better sack stats than Oliver or Quinnen Williams. There was some buzz about Tillery's attitude. Like Oliver, he allegedly had some rough moments with his coach. If that checks out, I agree, he could be a really high value pick for the Bills in the second round.