Great Draft so far by Whaley

[bisonbrigade]

I drink the kool aid and love the Bills. So, most of the time I am very, very positive. However, when you mentioned TJ Graham I disregarded what you said.

If you noticed he is Graham is 5th on the depth chart.

[chris heff]

What did the Bills get for 5th rounder to Tampa?

[Kelly the Dog]

What did the Bills get for 5th rounder to Tampa?

a 7th this year and Tampa's 5th next year. I don't think too much of the trade, but I'm sure Whaley was just replenishing some of the picks we lost in his other trades. I also think that a couple of guys they may have wanted, like Yankey, went a couple picks before us, and since we had another 5th a couple slots down, they pulled the trigger on the deal because they didnt have two players at that spot they really, really wanted.

[chris heff]

 

a 7th this year and Tampa's 5th next year. I don't think too much of the trade, but I'm sure Whaley was just replenishing some of the picks we lost in his other trades. I also think that a couple of guys they may have wanted, like Yankey, went a couple picks before us, and since we had another 5th a couple slots down, they pulled the trigger on the deal because they didnt have two players at that spot they really, really wanted.

Thanks

[ganesh]

Love everything they have done, except putting 100% faith in EJ. I only wish they had taken a flyer on Aaron Murray or Mettenberger. It is a QB driven league and we have a shortage on quality in that area.

 

 

Mike Harrington ‏@BNHarrington 9m

As noted by @TBNSully, #Bills first four picks played on teams that were combined 44-9 last year. Used to winning. http://blogs.buffalonews.com/sully_on_sports/2014/05/bills-taking-some-real-winners.html …

+1

Edited May 10, 2014 by ganesh

[Reed83HOF]

Buffalo Bills ‏@buffalobills 5s

Whaley on trades: "I anticipated doing everything in our power to make #Bills a playoff team. I won't be afraid to be aggressive and bold"

[Buffalo Barbarian]

surprised we didn't get a DE

[RealityCheck]

I love all of the moves from the past 3 days. Is it September yet?

[26CornerBlitz]

Breakdown of Bills picks by position

 

Here’s the breakdown of Bills picks for the 2014 NFL draft.

 

Buffalo added the following numbers at these positions.

 

OL – 3 – OT Cyrus Kouandjio, G Cyril Richardson, OT Seantrel Henderson

LB – 2 – ILB Preston Brown, OLB Randell Johnson

RB – 1 – (added via trade) – Bryce Brown

CB – 1 – Ross Cockrell

WR – 1 – Sammy Watkins

[Reed83HOF]

Aaron Williams ‏@ajwilliams23 50s

Congrats to all my new teammates welcome to the tema now let's put in this work and end this drought. #OurYear #BillsMafia #SoulOfALion

[Big Turk]

Interesting that Jim Monos said a major area of focus was picking kids from winning programs that are used to winning...want kids that know what it takes to be on a winning team...I kind of like that for the time being until they start winning

[26CornerBlitz]

@buffalobills

Introducing the 2014 #BillsDraft class!

 

http://www.buffalobills.com/news/nfl-draft.html

Edited May 11, 2014 by 26CornerBlitz

[Reed83HOF]

Interesting that Jim Monos said a major area of focus was picking kids from winning programs that are used to winning...want kids that know what it takes to be on a winning team...I kind of like that for the time being until they start winning

 

Need to have the winning mindset and feeling that you can win when hit with adversity and not the way our team has been; once things go down hill we expect to lose

[SJDK]

Really impressed with the past two drafts Doug has the common sense that was absent in most drafts over the past 20 years. I think the past two drafts were great, this draft is even better actually. I'm not even iffy about any of these picks.

 

Doug W is a rockstar GM and the type of guy buffalo tends to lose (jerry butler and too many good defensive coaches to mention). Marrone is being put in a very good position to succeed and it needs to happen. This is our best chance we've had in a long time to do something.

[26CornerBlitz]

2014 NFL Draft: 2nd-year GMs go big, Bills' Whaley biggest of all

Was this the draft of the second-year general managers?

 

It just might have been.

 

When you think about teams that made big splashes, whether it be shocking trades or drafting a quarterback, and following their convictions, the 2012 class of first-time general managers have had a major impact on the 2014 draft. Oftentimes, in their first year calling the shots, a new general manager will go conservative, take that tackle or defensive lineman who is sitting there and call it a day. Year Two can be quite different, and that was evidenced this weekend at Radio City Music Hall as the draft played out.

[WhitewalkerInPhilly]

I'll admit, I think they gave up a ton for Sammy Watkins, and I don't like that, but there is plenty to love about everything else.

 

For all my misgivings about how they got Watkins, he seems like a very good bet that he can play. Trading Stevie (while I love the guy and wish him the best of luck), removes any potential d*ck measuring contests about who is the #1 WR. It's Watkins.

 

I love Cyrus as a RT upgrade, and with the hopeful future nickname of Kujo. Spiller loves his runs to the outside, and this looks like his specialty.

 

I really love the pick of Ross Cockrell. I can see him possibly being our starting FS this year, or giving us the flexibility to move Corey Graham there.

 

I honestly thought Cyril Richardson would go in the third, so getting him in the 5th seems like a steal. Overall, the O-line looks completely revamped.

 

Not sure about our 7th round guys, but they're typically depth anyway.

 

During the last giants Super Bowl run, I was shocked at the size of Manninham, Nicks and Cruz. I just expected they we all super tall based on how big they played.

 

Turns out they were all 6 ft. Because they can catch away from their bodies, particularly nicks, they were huge targets.

 

If Watkins can do this too, which I expect, woods has shown flashes, and certainly Williams is the biggerer and longer of the 3.... Is reasonable to expect the bills WR corp to present much bigger targets for EJ this year.

 

Perhaps I should also include Mike Williams here, since we did spend a 6th round draft pick on him.

 

I can say that from what I have seen, Williams can almost certainly do so. I've posted this highlight reel from 2012, his best year, previously but I went back and took another look:

 

Not only does he catch the ball away from his body, he uses every inch of a 36.5" vertical leap to do so (compared to Watkins' 34")

 

Yeah. With a 6th we took a veteran with measureables strikingly similar (slightly bigger, slightly slower (~.1s 40 time)) to Sammy Watkins.

Edited May 11, 2014 by Whitewalker Merriman

[nucci]

I'll admit, I think they gave up a ton for Sammy Watkins, and I don't like that, but there is plenty to love about everything else.

 

For all my misgivings about how they got Watkins, he seems like a very good bet that he can play. Trading Stevie (while I love the guy and wish him the best of luck), removes any potential d*ck measuring contests about who is the #1 WR. It's Watkins.

 

I love Cyrus as a RT upgrade, and with the hopeful future nickname of Kujo. Spiller loves his runs to the outside, and this looks like his specialty.

 

I really love the pick of Ross Cockrell. I can see him possibly being our starting FS this year, or giving us the flexibility to move Corey Graham there.

 

I honestly thought Cyril Richardson would go in the third, so getting him in the 5th seems like a steal. Overall, the O-line looks completely revamped.

 

Not sure about our 7th round guys, but they're typically depth anyway.

 

 

 

Perhaps I should also include Mike Williams here, since we did spend a 6th round draft pick on him.

 

I can say that from what I have seen, Williams can almost certainly do so. I've posted this highlight reel from 2012, his best year, previously but I went back and took another look:

 

Not only does he catch the ball away from his body, he uses every inch of a 36.5" vertical leap to do so (compared to Watkins' 34")

 

Yeah. With a 6th we took a veteran with measureables strikingly similar (slightly bigger, slightly slower (~.1s 40 time)) to Sammy Watkins.

Good post. With all the trades it looks like we gave up next years No.1 for Watkins. I know some with argue with me but I'm only concerned with who we acquire and not what we give up. Watkins could and should be a star player.

[juno999]

This is probably very ageist, but having a young guy like Whaley seems to correlate to being a lot more active with trades. Always seemed like nix and Marv were slow to even consider a trade. In his first draft, Whaley has made 5 trades (through round 5).

A better way to put it, Whaley was aggressive and willing to take calculated risks whereas Nix was almost too conservative. Marv took some gambles ( Whitner, and free agent signings of Langston Walker and another guy (help)) that were outright bombs. Marv was in over his head and perhaps Nix too. We'll see about Whaley but he was up at the plate swinging.

[GunnerBill]

I don't think Buddy was in over his head, it was just he was following the old team transformation template. The days when you started drafting solid players and 4-5 years down the line you started winning are gone really. Teams turn around much faster these days and Whaley knows he has this year and maybe next year at best to get this team winning. He is going to make moves.