finn

I admit that I feel like a seasoned expert after reading a few scouting profiles and watching player highlights on YouTube. On draft day, I'm outraged--scandalized!--that Beane would ignore my favorites for some player my sources say will be a dub. (Then I proceed to ignore the favorites who turn into busts and remember only that I wanted the Creed Humphreys over the Boogie Bashams.)

I teach students this age, and I'm here to tell you, most of them are not ready, mentally or emotionally, for anything more rigorous that an entry-level job in their chosen field. Thinking of them thrown into an arena with grown men hardened by years of grueling competition, and expected to perform under the klieg lights of intense national scrutiny, makes me wince. They would be chewed up, spat out, and left whimpering in the dirt. College seniors and rookies may look like NFL players, and some of them have the requisite physical abilities, but it takes a lot more than that to survive in the NFL, let alone thrive, from what I can see. You need a supportive environment that gives you time and training to adjust to the crazy speed, power, and sheer violence in the NFL. But you also need maturity and character. How do you handle adversity, especially injuries? How do you deal with the obscene amount of money dumped on you, and the way it changes the relationships with your friends and family? What do you do when you whiff a block, drop a critical pass, get knocked down, and everyone says you suck? No wonder it's hard for Beane to hit on draft picks. Maybe Boogie Basham and Elam are good enough, physically, to be elite players but don't have or didn't get everything else they needed to succeed.

I thought Beane and McDermott put all their efforts into building a defense specifically to beat KC. Ironically, they managed to build one that KC found much, much easier to beat than either Houston or Philly.

Xavier Watt looks like he'll be a star. I'll take exceptional instincts and ball skills in a safety above speed and even tackling. We need more than just hitters back there.

What do you make of the point that he's had to rush from the defensive right side, not his strong suit, because they have Miller rushing from the left? If this is the case, it might be better at this point to put him back into his natural position and either let Miller go or serve as depth only. Also, it hasn't helped Rousseau to have Epenesa on the other side. Pair him with an explosive rusher and maybe we'll see more than 5 sacks a year from him.

If he's going to ever do it, this would be the year, with 50 DL in Brugler's top 100 prospects. If I'm Beane, I go DL for two of the first two picks, CB for the third pick (still in the second round), then secondary depth as the next priority. Resign Amari, let Cook play out his contract, extend Rousseau, Shakir, Benford, Bernard. In other words, keep your own and build through the draft.

Long thread, so maybe someone else made this point already, but why would Beane extend Cook if he doesn't have to, given the other priorities and tight cap space? Especially with this bogus, pouting stunt? I hope Beane will do the smart thing: say nothing, let him play out his contract, and either extend him then or say goodbye, sending the message that you don't negotiate with the Bills via social media. Meanwhile, Cook will have all the incentive to turn in a stellar year since he's auditioning for a big contract from someone. Me, I hate this kind of posturing so much, I would deliberately try to extend everyone but Cook: Rousseau, Bernard, Shakir, Benford. Reward performance and a team-first attitude these players have displayed, and signal to Cook that he needs a new agent (and brother).

I have enough to deal with reading sophomoric replies like this, dude.

In this thread about the 2024 draft, people keep saying you can't judge a draft until it's three years out. So let's look at the 2022 Bills draft: 1. Kaiir Elam 2. James Cook 3. Terrel Bernard 4. (Traded to move up for Elam) 5. Khalil Shakir 6. Matt Araiza 6. Christian Benford 6. Luke Tenuta 7. Baylon Spector Elam is shaping up to be one of the bigger busts in Bills history. Cook, Shakir, and Benford are home runs for where they were taken. Bernard is an adequate starter who can be a playmaker at times but also disappears for whole games. Araiza is KC's meh punter. Tenuta has been a waiver-wire guy. Spector is not good, but at least he was never cut. Would have been an A+ draft if he had hit on the first-round pick (e.g. if he had traded up for McDuffie before KC beat him to it). Otherwise, it's the Cook-Bernard-Shakir-Benford draft. Four very good starters, but no blue chippers. Better than 2021's Rousseau-Brown-Hamlin draft and arguably on par with 2020, when he traded his number one for Diggs and picked up Epenesa, Zach Moss, Gabe Davis, Bass, and Dane Jackson. Easy to spot the trend: Allen is the only blue-chip player Beane has drafted, Diggs the only free agent blue chip player (aside from 8 games from Von Miller). Good enough to be a runner up year after year after year.

What do you like about him? I'm curious. I realize I'm looking for reasons to dislike him, but I've noticed how tepid he is about acknowledging that other quarterbacks might--just might--be as good as him. Look at Allen's gracious comments about Lamar before their playoff showdown this year. With every last person with a microphone (no exceptions) praising him at every turn, and couching even modest criticisms in lavish lickspittlery, you think Mahomes could manage a few nice words about his peers besides the usual trite BS. You see what you want to see, I guess, but I see a smirking, self-satisfied punk.

Tyler Grable might end up starting at left tackle in a few years, along with SVPG at center. Bishop and Coleman will be starters next year, and Davis is already an important piece on offense. Too early to tell for the rest of the picks, but already that's not a terrible class. A lot depends on Coleman. He looked like a different player after his injury, like he lost the will to go get the ball, rendering him pretty much useless out there. If he turns it around, and even if one of the later picks--Solomon or Carter, for instance--contributes, this might end up to be a very nice draft indeed. I think Bishop will be a force.

Yeah, but the league hasn't announced yet that three of our "home" games will be in Buenos Aires, Kuala Lampur, and Ulaanbaatar, in outer Mongolia.

I've noticed the same thing. A talent-first approach might have led Beane to take Humphrey over Basham, McConkey over Coleman, and maybe even LaPorta over Kincaid, whom Beane might have taken because Allen liked him. With the 2024 class considered, Beane's overall record as a talent evaluator is not looking good at all. Maybe he needs to follow McDermott's lead and overhaul his staff. Unless the problem is not his staff but his own judgment.

Reminds me of just how snake-bit the Bills have been with injuries. They might have been among the most healthy teams overall the past five years, but the injuries to White, Milano, and Miller--arguably their three best players at the time--were body blows. The team went from one of the best defenses in the league (in points allowed and EPA) to truly mediocre. Meanwhile, the lynchpins of their defense, Poyer and Hyde, both hit the wall at the same time, and the new generation--Rousseau, Oliver, Epenesa, Bernard, Williams, Elam, and Basham, have been underwhelming. Only Benford has exceeded expectations. Bad luck? Bad talent evaluation? Or bad coaching? Maybe some combination. In any event, it won't be easy to turn it around next year. Anyway, back to Milano. Definitely keep him. He can still be a star. So can Rousseau on the right side with a powerhouse rusher on the left (not Miller). Maybe Bishop will turn out to be a force, too. And I love Taron and Bernard. The others... Let's just say this defense needs an infusion of talent. Not sure of the cap implications, but I wouldn't be grieving if Beane got at least one high draft pick for some combination of Oliver, Epenesa, and Elam. I would love to see a more talented set of defensive tackles, a monster edge, and a top cornerback. Beane has ten picks to work with, three in the first two rounds--possibly four if he can trade the three I mentioned. And he can create cap room for at least one big signing. It CAN be done, especially since the offense only needs one top player. All eyes on you, Beane.

No, my point was that Beane might want to better heed his scouts' advice on day one and two, not just on day three. It's appropriate the execs make the final calls in the draft, since there are considerations the execs know about and the scouts don't. But, as we at TBD know all too well, it's easy to fall in love with players and feel positive you're right, since, after all, you've read two draft magazines and saw a lot of highlights on YouTube. If I'm Beane, I go with the scouts unless I have very, very good reason not to.