BigAl2526

I wish I could say I was surprised at his absence. It's what disgruntled players do. I think he and his agent have both overestimated his contractual value to the Bills, so this has the makings of a difficult relationship this year. Only Cook and his agent have any idea about whether or not he will play this season under the terms of his rookie deal, which is still in effect for the upcoming season. I think that is what Beane is hoping. He's pretty sure that if Cook does play, it will be his last season as a Bill. After the season, Cook will put himself on the market and go to the highest bidder. The overriding question is, if Cook holds out, what will Beane do? Play hardball and levy a fine for every day he sits after attendance becomes mandatory? Attempt to trade him to a team that doesn't think $15 million a year is too much? Cave, and pay Cook what he wants? Of course, trading depends on finding a willing trade partner, and Buffalo would be trading from a position of weakness.

I don't think Gabe's return is that likely. I just don't see that there is that much room for him. Ideally, I think the Bills can find blocking elsewhere and his receiving role should be covered by what Coleman could do if he develops as expected. Buffalo doesn't have elite receivers unless you want to put Shakir in that category, but they have receivers that easily compete at Davis' level or better, and may have upside that Davis doesn't. With Davis, what you see is what you get.

I agree. I would love it if Buffalo started 2 new safeties, but McDermott seems to like Rapp. I would be surprised if he's not starting at least to begin the season.

The defensive line and cornerback spots both have potential for significant improvement if everybody Buffalo acquired in those areas pans out as hoped. At linebacker, it's mainly a matter of hoping Bernard and especially Milano can stay healthy. At safety, it's a matter of hoping that Cole Bishop can develop and provide an upgrade to Damar Hamlin. In both cases (LB and safety) the potential for improvement is not terribly high.

You have to get really lucky to nab a top sack artist picking in the back end of round 1. There are not many to be found in any given draft year.

I pretty much agree with this. I think the Bills are hoping Coleman takes a very large step forward. If he does, he could leapfrog several players in front of him. Samuel was hurt by injury las season, but he would probably be in a similar role to Elijah Moore. and Moore is both younger and cheaper. That puts Samuel's roster spot in jeopardy.

Rapp actually times slower than Hamlin. Rapp also times slower than Buffalo's starting linebackers. I actually doubt if Rap times faster than any of Buffalo's linebackers. He's smart, and that's why he has enjoyed some success with Buffalo, but if almost any receiver gets behind him with the ball, and he's the last line of defense, chalk up six points for the bad guys. Both Rapp and Hamlin have to keep the play in front of them or bad things happen.

In terms of traits, it looks like Elgersma beats out Buechele. Buechele has more familiarity with Buffalo's system and some preseason experience, but Elger would not be expected to step in and play in the regular season for a few years at least, so that's not really an issue. If Trubisky or White had to step in and start more than a few games this season, it would sink the team's playoff chances to say nothing of either Buechele or Elgersma.

The labels "reach" and "steal" are connected to preconceived notions about what draft values are. Every media observer and every team have their own criteria for rating the value of draft prospects. TJ Sanders has been called a "reach" by some highly visible sports pundits, but they don't know what criteria the Bills used to judge Sanders as meriting a trade up. Jackson has been viewed as a "steal," but every team in the league passed on a chance to draft him earlier than where Buffalo picked him in the third round. NFL teams all have larger scouting departments and more collective experience at their craft than any media pundit. It's true, sometimes teams make mistakes. Brandon Beane has made a number of them. Scouting is still an inexact science, after all. The bottom line is that while we all have things we like or dislike about the players Buffalo has drafted, and where in the draft Buffalo took them, there is no substitute for a year or three in the league for making evaluations of Buffalo's drafting acumen for Landon Jackson and his fellow prospects.

Spencer Brown has been an iron man since his back issue. I think maybe Walker should be given some credit for playing through his injury

Overall, I think the Bills did a good job. I hoped the offense would have been addressed a bit earlier and I think Beane went a bit overboard on drafting CBs, but signing Elijah Moore alleviated some of my angst. I have to laugh at outlets which grade each pick by a team. Essentially, they start with their own big board. If a team drafts a player that was lower on their board than his draft position, it is rated a reach and a bad pick. If he's higher on their board than he was drafted, it was a good pick. The problem is, every person's board is different. Case in point: Pro Football Focus rated Deone Walker a terrible pick for the Bills, essentially saying he was drafted two full rounds early. I will guarantee you that he was not rated two rounds later on Brandon Beane's draft board than where they picked him. So, whose to say PFF's evaluation is more accurate than Brandon Beane's. The only authoritative judge is time, and even there, injuries and unforeseen circumstances can change what might have been.

I went with Baltimore. Sean McDermott says he wants the Bills to play a physical game, but John Harbaugh wrote the book on physical football, particularly in the run game. I hope the Bills made strides this off season, but I need to see it on the field.

I think we all knew Buffalo has struggled to contain KC's offense in the post season. We had to get bigger and create more pressure up front while getting DBs who can cover on the back end. I think Buffalo had one decent defensive back in the post season in 2025 (Christian Benford). The Bills may like Taylor Rapp, but he's always going to have some vulnerabilities that great safeties don't. And he is the better of the two incumbent starters. I'm hoping Bishop develops enough to win a starting job It's probably too much to hope that either Darrick Forrest or Jordan Hancock can win the other starting spot at safety. I'm counting on Hairston to nail down the #2 outside corner spot.

The fact that a team drafted a short armed tackle fourth overall does not negate the fact that arm length is a factor in the valuation given to prospects. Will Campbell started at left tackle starting in his freshmen year for a top notch SEC school. Lundt started for the University of Connecticutt. He ran a sub 5.0 40 (Lundt ran a 5.4). Campbell had what are considered elite numbers in his vertical and broad jumps and outweighed Lundt by 15 lbs. Lundt is 2 inches taller, but I don't know that 6'8" height is considered to be an advantage. Lundt apparently did not do a vertical or broad jump in testing. All of the above, except for the arm length are among the reasons why Campbell was drafted so high. Lundt might develop into a good offensive lineman. He apparently has pretty polished technique and good lateral movement. I just don't think he's going to jump Ryan Vandemark on the depth chart at tackle or Alex Anderson at guard/center. Buffalo also has Tylan Gable, who played pretty well, well enough to threaten Van Demark's spot as a swing tackle before he got hurt, and Travis Clayton, the Brit who has freakish athleticism.

Short arms, small school for football (level of competition., doesn't have a lot of lean muscle. That is, he needs to get a lot stronger. I think his near term ceiling is the PS.