Did the Bills really reach for T.J. Graham?

[Dragonborn10]

Apparently, he's good enough right now that Buddy just traded for the guy who was playing third string behind him. I don't recall anyone calling Wilson the greatest 3d round pick since Montana. Instead, they are saying that the early evidence suggests that the Bills should have taken him instead of Graham. Seems like a legitimate point.

What early evidence? The fact that Seattle's FO is more inept than ours and paid millions and gave up draft picks for Charie Whitehurst and Matt Flynn. Now they have a 5'10" QB and millions of dollars in salary cap space wasted on another back-up QB.

For 2012 I will take a burner at WR who can hopefully stretch the field just enough to open up the passing game, keep the SS from crowding the LOS, and maybe hit a long TD a few times. That may be all this offense needs to get us to the playoffs.

[Boludo]

i think tj graham has actually looked pretty good this preseason

 

at the the time of the pick it was pretty reachy, but i wasnt really pulling for wilson in that pick anyways

 

now i feel a little better about the pick because i think graham can contribute

 

wilson has looked good there is no denying that but preseason is preseason and lets face it its tough out there for a rookie qb and he's got a hard road ahead of him

[OldTimer1960]

I am going to need a graph to represent your data verifying your data. regardless of your age Mr. Old Timer sir.

 

Well, this doesn't completely corroborate my statements, but it is in the same general direction. We, as fans, think that draft choices should succeed at a higher rate than history suggests. http://espn.go.com/blog/afcsouth/post/_/id/22699/good-draft-hit-rates-lower-than-you-think

[Buffalo Barbarian]

And we all know that Kiper, McShay, etc are inflable. BTW how's Jevon Snead's NFL career going?

 

PTR

 

Every one had him going later , so this one of those overreactions as usual by the Bills. Do you really think he wouldn't be there two spots latter where we were supposed to draft him.

 

I'd take Graham, bc thats who we took and had rated higher.

If you wanna talk QB's for next yr, I'm thinking Geno Smith from West virginia is chans kind of guy.

 

If we pick geno smith I will be leading the Lynch-mob to Chans House.

[Thirty Year Fan]

The Russell Wilson love-fest on this board over the past 3 days is a new. So because Matt Flynn crapped the bed during the pre-season, Wilson is suddenly the most brilliant 3d round pick since Joe Montana.

 

Wilson outplayed Flynn Its that simple , hes a winner. At 5'-11" it scared most teams away (including the Bills).

[3rdand12]

Well, this doesn't completely corroborate my statements, but it is in the same general direction. We, as fans, think that draft choices should succeed at a higher rate than history suggests. http://espn.go.com/b...-than-you-think

The reality of it is a lttle harsh. Thanks for the technical link. The read got a bit deep but interesting thats for sure

[Niagara Bill]

I mean we could have had Russell Wilson? Check out this article on NFL Draft Zone and who would you have rather had?

 

http://nomorelinks....ith-t-j-graham/

Russell Wilson has not proved anything yet. Remember JP Losman!!!!!!! How many QB's have started to look OK for 5 or 6 games and then died.Colt McCoy etc. Ryan Fitz.....7 games and a new contract. Rob Johnson

The Bills may have reached for Dareus...we could have traded down 3 spots and still got him ( for that Nix should be fired I assume based on your thoughts)....give up this rediculous argument...

[WhitewalkerInPhilly]

How good Wilson is does not affect whether Graham was a reach or not. If he pans out as a starter, that makes Wilson a steal for the Seahawks. No one was expecting him to go so high, or to play as well as he's played. You have to look at each player for their own merits in relation to when they were picked. McKelvin is a disappointment for a first rounder, even though it looks like he's found a home as an entirely capable nickel corner.

 

Now, I was one of the people who was not a fan of the pick, and it's still early but there's no denying that he can stretch the field and is learning his routes at least well enough to pull off that 64 yard grab. He's definitely not completely there yet, but none of our rookies are. I would not be surprised if he makes a play for #2 WR sometime this season.

[Punch]

Every one had him going later , so this one of those overreactions as usual by the Bills. Do you really think he wouldn't be there two spots latter where we were supposed to draft him.

 

By "everyone" you mean talking heads and media draftnik blowhards--- these guys are routinely laughed at by NFL personnel men for how out of touch they are with team's actual draft boards.

 

FWIW, Scouts, Inc. (a scouting organization made up of many former NFL front office scouts and execs as well as many other pro scouts that are eventually hired away by NFL teams) had Graham rated as the 80th overall prospect and the 10th highest rated WR. The Bills picked him 69th. Clearly, they were under the impression that another team might take him--- perhaps Jacksonville.

 

The Eagles were high enough on him that they featured a pre-draft interview with him on their website--- not something you ordinarily do for guys that are expected to go in the 7th round or undrafted.

[FreakPop]

And how good is Matt Flynn really? So he showed a little in a couple of games. Kevin Kolb did also, what's he doing now? Remember Rob Johnson? He had 1 good game and J Butler traded a 1st rounder for him and then signed him for $5 million per, how did that turn out.

 

So, that a rookie R Wilson won the starting job over M Flynn has me wondering how good M Flynn really is, which in turn makes me wonder how good Wilson really is. Does make me think back to a few knee jerk reactions that some GMs have pulled in the past, that's for sure.

[jjmac]

I mean we could have had Russell Wilson? Check out this article on NFL Draft Zone and who would you have rather had?

 

http://nomorelinks....ith-t-j-graham/

 

I'm happy with TJ. Is the fact that Wilson will start and indication of his abilities or an indictment of Seattle's other QBs?

[CarolinaBill]

its apparently unheard of that a 3rd rd player will start over a 7th rd player. is preseason over yet?

[jjmac]

its apparently unheard of that a 3rd rd player will start over a 7th rd player. is preseason over yet?

 

A third-round rookie starting over a veteran.

[Captain Hindsight]

A third-round rookie starting over a veteran.

With only 2 career statrs....

[Punch]

A third-round rookie starting over a veteran.

 

Matt Flynn is a veteran in the sense that he has started only 2 more NFL games than Wilson. One thing we know about Flynn is that he's experienced with holding a clipboard.

[jjmac]

With only 2 career statrs....

 

Matt Flynn is a veteran in the sense that he has started only 2 more NFL games than Wilson. One thing we know about Flynn is that he's experienced with holding a clipboard.

 

Apparently, he also beat out TJ, or else he wouldn't be a Bill...and TJ has more than 2 starts.

Edited August 29, 2012 by jjmac

[PromoTheRobot]

 

 

Every one had him going later , so this one of those overreactions as usual by the Bills. Do you really think he wouldn't be there two spots latter where we were supposed to draft.

Assuming he'd be there isn't proof he'd be there.

 

PTR

[Punch]

Apparently, he also beat out TJ, or else he wouldn't be a Bill...and TJ has more than 2 starts.

 

Travaris Jackson has no releveance to your case that 3rd round rookie Russell Wilson beat out "veteran" Matt Flynn.

 

Nice straw man.

[jjmac]

_{My case was that he beat out Jackson. Should I have said 2 veterans? OK, fine, I'll take that hit. But he did beat out TJ, and his announcement as the starting QB came before the trade.}

Edited August 29, 2012 by jjmac

[hondo in seattle]

Here's what I find ironic:

 

Those of you banging the drum about the team "reaching" for T.J. Graham are doing so based on someone's non-NFL-front-office-personnel pre-draft rankings.

 

The same folks are blasting the Bills for not taking Russell Wilson based on...what exactly? If pre-draft rankings are good enough to lambaste the team for picking Graham too early, why doesn't the same logic apply to Wilson, who was pretty much a consensus 4-6 round pick?

 

http://www.draftinsi...et/blog/?p=5707

http://www.footballs...ospects/qb.html

http://walterfootbal...draft2012QB.php

 

Mike Mayock, who many of you are quoting in reference to Graham being a "7th round guy", didn't have Wilson among his top 100 players:

 

http://www.nfl.com/d...ospect-rankings

 

I did manage to find one site that rated Wilson a borderline 3rd rounder though:

 

http://www.nfldrafts...sxpos&order=ASC

 

Hindsight is 20-20 as they say.

 

Not only did the draft gurus in the media not rank Wilson that high, neither did most franchise scouting departments - despite all their film study, personal observation and interviews. It's not only Nix. Apparently a lot of people saw flaws in Wilson's game and I doubt his only shortcoming was stature. I don't think less of Nix if Wilson overcomes his shortcomings and succeeds in the NFL. No GM gets it right all the time - or even close.