Inigo Montoya

Hey Gospel, I agree with you, McCarron isn't my first choice either, I just think he is a better option than trading three 1st round picks to the Giants to move up into the #2 spot. I don't think anyone of those QBs is worth three 1st round picks. If our guy drops out of the top three and we can trade up to 4, 5, or 6 and we get them at a reasonable rate, that's great. Do we draft Rudolph with a later pick and see what he's got? That's fine too. I just don't want to pay the ransom to move up to 2 in this year's draft. If that means rolling with McCarron, so be it.

Three 1st round picks plus another pick to draft one of these guys? I really hope that doesn't happen.

It would be great if our guy dropped to 6 and we could trade up and get him at that spot. I would rather wait and see what happens at 6 than spend all of our draft capital on trading up to 2. There is also a smaller chance that we can trade up to 4 with the Browns if they are game. I'd be OK with that too if the cost wasn't too high and our guy is sitting there. I'm sure Beane will be on the phone with the Brown's and Colt's GMs repeatedly between now and draft night building possible frameworks for trades. I'm sure he'll be calling Elway too to get a sense of what they're willing to do. Any trade up the Bills make will have to be predicated on who is left on the board when the 4th, 5th, and 6th picks roll around. No way Beane deals before the draft, he won't pull the trigger on any trade up until he knows which QB falls out of the top three.

If we can swing a trade to get our guy at 6 for a reasonable price I'd be all for it. I think trading up to 2 is just going to be too expensive.

What if the Giants want both 1st round picks this year and our 1st next year? At what point does the cost get too great? When does the cost outweigh the reward? Would you trade three 1st round picks for the second QB off the board this year? In my opinion it's not worth it. Just my opinion, I know others disagree. I'd rather roll with McCarron, fill in holes with our draft picks this year including grabbing McDermot's LB, and grab someone like a Rudolph with a later pick.

Not sure what else to list for stats. If I went with career wins and national championships I would guess McCarron wins those too. Having said that, I agree with the thrust of your post, a single stat doesn't prove much. I was big on trading up for one of the elites this year but the specifics of this year's draft order, team's needs, and the Jet's trade up have made that possibility too expensive in my opinion. I'm not willing to sell the farm (3 first round picks +) to get one of the big guys this year. I just don't think any of them are that good. Once again, just my opinion. If one of the big QB's does drop past 5 I'd love for Beane to try and trade up and get him. I just don't think that is very likely this year, but there is nothing wrong with hoping that it happens. One thing is for certain, I am going to be glued to the TV this year to watch the Draft. Like a lot of posters here, I don't live in Buffalo anymore. I grew up in Tonawanda and we moved do to the poor economy when I was a teenager in the Eighties. Would be fun to go to a bar and hang with other Bills fans to watch the draft.

I am not a student of the college game and have no idea who the QBs are going to be coming out next year. There just always seem to be a couple every year that everyone fawns over. I agree with you 100%, I think Beane should pick up another QB in this draft outside of the first round. I think the Bills need to keep picking up QBs until they find their guy. I just think that the cost of moving up into striking range this year is too high. It's just Murphy's Law with the way the board is stacked and team's needs this year. Beane made the moves he could to position the Bills to make a play. I heard the Colt's GM in an interview say that they had heard from other teams (I assume the Bills were one of them) and that ultimately the Colts just wanted to stay in the top 10 of the draft. Not much Beane could do about that. McBeane can take our two 1st, 2nd, and 3rd round picks and hopefully put four-five new long term starters on the field for us. I have been really impressed with McBeane's personnel evaluation and trust them to find good players. Maybe they can trade back during the draft and pick up more ammo for next year's draft too. I am just not in favor of drafting a QB this year at all costs. I don't want a Ricky Williams deal for the Bills.

Hey G.L. 66.9 was McCarron's college accuracy percentage. It thought that was a more fair comparison. I agree with you that we are not in optimal position right now rolling with McCarron. I just believe that at this point in time, with the way the draft is developing, that going with McCarron and filing in the many holes in our roster this year with our draft capital is the best way forward. I wanted the Bills to trade up and grab one of the QBs in this year's draft too, but I think that with the Jet's move, the cost is going to be way too high for us to do that. I am seeing people on this forum saying that they should trade both of this year's 1st rounders plus next year's 1st and some 2nd and 3 rounders to get the Giant's pick this year. I think that is crazy. If we were one QB away as an organization from being a Super Bowl contender I would back the Brinks Truck up myself. The honest truth is that we are not a QB away from being a Super Bowl team, and I'd argue we're more than a QB away from even being relevant in the league. This team has a lot of holes on its roster. Lets fill these holes this year and then next year if we are just a QB away, then we can back up the Brink's Truck to grab the best QB prospect in the draft. Next year there will be a new crop of "can't miss, elite QB prospects" to jockey for. We can mortgage the future for one of them if we need to then. Who know's, maybe McCarron will be a pleasant surprise. If not, we will have a solid supporting cast for whichever QB we go after and give them a fair shot at success.

I think trading three 1st round picks to move up to the second pick in this years draft is crazy. We are more than a QB away from being relevant. We have a lot of holes on this roster. Take our draft capital this year and fill those holes. Next year, if we are only a QB away from being a great team (and McCarron doesn’t work out) then sell the farm and go get your QB.

I think we agree more than disagree. I want the Bills to draft a QB this year and keep taking shots to land a franchise QB until they do, but with the Jets trading up, I think the cost of moving ahead of them is now too high for the QBs that are sitting there. I don’t think it’s a good use of our draft capital. I really wanted one of those guys at the top (I’m a Darnold guy) but not for what it is going to cost us to do it now. The Jets move screwed us. We are not just a QB away from relevancy, we have a lot of other holes that need filled. Fill those holes this year, and maybe next year with a team that is only missing a QB to compete (if McCarron doesn’t work out), then sell the farm to get our QB.

Great QBs are found in all rounds of the draft. Hell, Kurt Warner wasn’t even drafted. I admit that one of the guys at the top of this draft has a good chance to be great. The question is which one? If the Jets hadn’t jumped to three, I was all for moving up and trading our 1st round picks and a second or third to grab one of those guys, but now I think the cost for moving up ahead of the Jets is just going to be too steep. Does someone really look at one of these QBs at the top of the board and see someone like an Andrew Luck type of prospect who is worth giving up that much draft capital for? I don’t see anyone like that. It’s just my opinion, but I don’t see someone worth “selling the farm” for this year.

I’d like McCarron to have an honest chance. I think if we “sell the farm” to draft an “elite” QB this year, we put McCarron on the field with a team so full of holes that he has the deck stacked against him. We need WR, LB, O-line help in a big way. We don’t get to fill those holes if we move up to the 2nd pick.

I don’t know if “the process” involves giving up an entire draft to grab a QB on a team with an inadequate WR and LB corps, and a questionable O line.

He was in Saban’s pro-style offense. He played well in big games, won two national championships. Is used to taking snaps under center. Has a 66.9% accuracy percentage which is better than every other QB prospect in this year’s draft besides Mayfield. He has now had a couple of years to sit behind Andy Dalton, a solid NFL QB, and acclimate to the NFL, and has looked good in spot duty when Dalton was out. I think going up to pick 2 is going to take all of our draft capital. I’d rather give McCarron an honest chance to be our QB. Surround him with talent from this year’s draft and let’s see what the kid can do. Accuracy percentages 2017 Mayfield. 70.1% Rosen 62.6% Darnold 63.1% Allen 56.3% Jackson 59.1% McCarron career 66.9%

McCarron’s career accuracy 66.9% Mayfield 2017 70.5% Rosen 2017 62.6% Darnold 2017 63.1% Allen 2017 56.1% Jackson 2017 59.1% Doesn’t look like McCarron’s accuracy is an issue. As for arm strength, other than Allen whose arm strength is in a league of its own, McCarron’s is similar to all the others.

I was listening to NFL radio last night and they had one of the Jet’s beat writers on the show. He said the Bills got a steal on Stanford, said he was a solid linebacker and that team “politics” is what kept him off the field, not ability. He didn’t elaborate. I’m hopeful.

Sounds like McCarron fits the bill nicely.... Give the kid an honest shot and surround him with talent from this draft.

I hope we don't trade up and just take the best player available with every one of our picks and roll with McCarron and see what the kid has. I think we have a lot of holes to fill on this team and I'm not sure I see the sense in spending all of our draft capital on an "elite" QB prospect and then putting him behind a suspect O-line with a second rate receiving corps. That doesn't look like a recipe for success. We need to be picking up some linebackers in this draft too and that will be hard to do if we ship out all of our picks. Give McCarron an honest shot, draft some great LBs and WRs, pick up a beast of an offensive linemen, and see what happens. There is no Andrew Luck or Peyton Manning in this draft that is worth mortgaging your entire franchise for.

The Jets front office is acting like they’re on dope this off season. It’s like they had no idea what they were going to do with the QB position this year. When Cousins opted for the Vikings they lost their minds and got swept up in the free agency QB feeding frenzy and grabbed not just one QB, but two of them, and signed both of them to sizable contracts. Less than a week later they send a boat load of picks to the Colts to trade up to draft a rookie QB. They are going to have Rosen/Darnold/Allen + McCown + Bridgewater on the roster. I like a bit of insurance just like the next guy but that seems a bit extravagant. That’s clearly one too many. Of the two I’d pick McCown because he can mentor the rookie. I have no idea what the hell Bridgewater is doing there. What were they thinking when they brought him in? It’s like they hadn’t thought about trading up in the draft to get a QB at that point yet. How does that happen? Haven’t they heard of something called contingency planning? Oh yeah, then there is the little detail of the other two QBs already on the roster, Hackenberg and Petty. So right now they have four QBs under contract and just threw their hat over the fence to draft a fifth. It just doesn’t look like they thought this whole thing out very well.

First off, people calling for Beane to go are beyond ridiculous. Second, in order to trade up you need a partner to trade with. It’s likely that the Colts have their eyes on one or two non-quarterback prospects who will be there at pick 6 but who will be gone by pick 12. So they trade down a few picks and get the exact same guy they were going to pick at 3 and pocket three second round picks in the process. Good for the Colts. Not much Beane can do about that. I don’t think Beane is going to wrangle the 2 pick out of the Giants either. I think they take Eli’s replacement. The next time the Bills can conceivably move up is at 4 and three of the QBs will already be off the board at that point. What are the odds the one QB McBeane wants is still there? ( I know, 1:4 it was a rhetorical question you wiseacres ) It may be that due to circumstances beyond Beanes control, the one or two options at QB they have been looking at simply can’t be had for any price this year and we will have to take a chance on a later round QB like Jackson or Rudolph. I’m personally a bit curious to see what McCarron has. In any event, it sure looks like we are going to miss out on this year’s QB sweepstakes, but what can you do? That’s life. Sometimes you’re the bug, sometimes you’re the windshield.

I simply do not agree with the majority of the posters on this board. I do not think Beane should pay ANY price to draft one of the top tier QBs this year. That’s just foolish.

Can’t imagine the Colts GM didn’t call Beane to see if he would beat the Jets offer before they agreed to the trade with the Jets. Would be GM malpractice not to maximize their return for that pick. We’re not trading for the Giants pick now. If Beane wouldn’t pay the price for the 3rd pick there is no way he’s going to get raped to move up to the 2nd pick. They will likely wait and see how things fall and possibly move up some from 12 if by some chance their guy drops or just wait at 12 and restock the cupboards with all their picks and hope McCarron is a diamond in the rough.

In addition to the above sensible requirements, I believe new posters should also have to storm a castle and rescue a princess before they can post. Inigo

I think it’s fair to say that in the last 20 years Manning and Luck have been closest to a sure thing QB coming out of college. As has been stated repeatedly, all the QBs in this draft have a significant flaw. Accuracy, size, attitude, personality, fragility. I’m surprised you would take issue with my erudite post. Do you have six fingers on your right hand???

If we can’t get our QB this year I’m fine with stacking our team with great young players from this draft on cheap rookie contracts and seeing what McCarren can do. This team has a lot of needs and this draft and all of our picks can fill a lot of them. McCarren had great success in college and has had several years to watch the pro game and evolve. Anyone who says they can predict how a young QB is going to develop is fooling himself. There is no certainty that one of this year’s rookie QBs will be better than McCarren. There is no Peyton Manning or Andrew Luck in this draft. I’m not ready to drink iocaine powder if we roll with McCarren this year.