26CornerBlitz Posted May 4, 2015 Posted May 4, 2015 2015 Draft Grade: Bills NFL Media's Lance Zierlein reviews the 2015 NFL Draft and assesses a final grade for the Buffalo Bills .
K D Posted May 4, 2015 Posted May 4, 2015 Hey! Good to have you back diggz!! I'll admit, I was screaming at the television when they picked Darby. I really wanted AJ Cann at 50 and thought we were going to land him. The more I hear about Darby, however, I think it might have been a smart pick as he looks to be McKelvin's eventual replacement. I think with his athletic prowess, and his press coverage ability, Rex and Donnie Henderson can make him into a stud CB. I don't always agree with the personnel moves, but different than prior regimes, I actually trust Whaley and crew to make the right personnel decisions. First time I have felt this way in a long time.I agree. If Darby is going to be a player then he's on the best team for it. I think we have the best defensive back coaches in the NFL.
John Cocktosten Posted May 4, 2015 Posted May 4, 2015 (edited) This is my favorite time of the year. -The Bills draft poorly again -The "Draft Gurus" are honest -Bills fans are outraged at the poor draft grades proclaiming that "these people are dumb" -The Bills miss the playoffs again -Rinse,wash, repeat Edited May 4, 2015 by John Cocktosten
GunnerBill Posted May 4, 2015 Posted May 4, 2015 Nor should they. That would be like judging the deal I got for my car based on what the guy I bought it from did with the money I paid him. I disagree with you on the Watkins trade as you know... but I agree on this. The question on the Watkins trade is purely is the kid an elite talent (I believe he is) and what is your view on the price paid. In the end the price was a #9 a #19 and a 4th round pick. If he ends up being one of the great receivers in the league for the next 8-10 years then as far as I am concerned it was worth the price. I think what the Browns did with the picks and how well people picked after Sammy Watkins did and how well the guy we might have ended up with did are all an irrelevance. This is my favorite time of the year. -The Bills draft poorly again -The "Draft Gurus" are honest -Bills fans are outraged at the poor draft grades proclaiming that "these people are dumb" -The Bills miss the playoffs again -Rinse,wash, repeat The Bills have been drafting well for the last 4 or 5 years. I don't know how people think we have gone from a 4-12 team to a 9-7 team with all these "poor" drafts we are supposed to have had.
bigK14094 Posted May 4, 2015 Posted May 4, 2015 Didn't they draft Janeane Garofalo last year? Yup, he is the current understudy
C.Biscuit97 Posted May 4, 2015 Posted May 4, 2015 Draft grades a day after the draft are always a great idea and mean a lot.
26CornerBlitz Posted May 4, 2015 Posted May 4, 2015 Draft grades a day after the draft are always a great idea and mean a lot. NFL teams should immediately cut any draft choice that pundits and/or fans don't approve of.
C.Biscuit97 Posted May 4, 2015 Posted May 4, 2015 NFL teams should immediately cut any draft choice that pundits and/or fans don't approve of. We shoudl just crown the SB champs as the team that had the best combo FA and draft grades. Screw the season. It would be much easier.
Cash Posted May 4, 2015 Posted May 4, 2015 One of the things I like to look at with draft picks is, "if he's good, who does he replace?" And when I say replace, I mean something along the lines of replace in terms of playing time. With Darby as an example: if he wins a starting CB job, he won't be replacing Ron Brooks or Ross Cockrell, he'll be replacing McKelvin, with Brooks and Cockrell staying at the bottom of the depth chart. Is that an upgrade? Probably not this year, but probably yes in 2016 and beyond. I didn't particularly like that pick, but (if he's good), I get it. CB is always somewhat of a need, and most rookie CBs struggle, so you're looking at him as a starter in 2016. He's part insurance against Gilmore not re-signing, but mostly an attempt to maintain McKelvin's production for a few more years at a much cheaper price. Not sure where Graham fits in, but not too worried about it. For Miller, it looks pretty good, because he was picked at a real position of need. If he's awesome, he replaces one of our mediocre starters. If he's just good, he replaces Cyril Richardson or whoever the last OG on the roster would otherwise be. If Miller develops, he could be a starter in 2016 or 2017. I like this pick! With Karlos, it's fairly murky. A lot depends on how many backs they keep. There's a strong argument for 4 even without considering Karlos. If he makes the team outright, a case could be made for any of the 3 non-Shady backs being cut instead. Boobie is probably the guy who is closest to Karlos in terms of size, running style, and special teams play, but I'm with most others as thinking Brown is probably the likeliest cut. We shall see, but regardless, if Karlos makes the team, a pretty good player gets cut. I don't like that, because there's still some pretty bad players on the team at the back end of the roster. Steward has basically no chance to start or play a significant role on defense without injuries coming in to play. And we don't have a lot of backup LBs on the offseason roster, and the ones we do are similar pedigree-wise to Steward: 7th round picks and (veteran) UDFAs. Add another guy to the mix, and hope for the best. Good pick. O'Leary has a great chance to unseat Gray or Gragg as the #2 or #3 TE, and could be in line for a lot of playing time accordingly. A definite need pick, and if it pans out, he'll be upgrading one of the weakest "guys who actually play a lot" on our team. Love it. Our 7th-rounder has basically no chance to make the team, but there's really no such thing as a bad 7th-round pick, and he could be a good practice squad addition. Presuming Harvin is gone next year, there could be a spot on the active roster for him.
johnwalter Posted May 4, 2015 Posted May 4, 2015 Jets A Pats B+ Dolphins B Bills C- http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000488889/article/2015-nfl-draft-final-quicksnap-grades-for-afc-east-teams I have to agree that the jets seem to have killed it. Around The NFL @AroundTheNFL 3m3 minutes ago Redskins GM McCloughan: We wanted to trade back. But all the interest was for Fowler. Once he was gone, no one wanted to trade up. makes me feel a bit better about the jets getting williams.
GunnerBill Posted May 4, 2015 Posted May 4, 2015 Around The NFL @AroundTheNFL 3m3 minutes ago Redskins GM McCloughan: We wanted to trade back. But all the interest was for Fowler. Once he was gone, no one wanted to trade up. makes me feel a bit better about the jets getting williams. It does definitely appear as though Williams was not the "can't miss" prospect for the 32 teams that he was for the pundits and experts.
YoloinOhio Posted May 4, 2015 Posted May 4, 2015 (edited) It does definitely appear as though Williams was not the "can't miss" prospect for the 32 teams that he was for the pundits and experts. I read that earlier. That Redskins GM really stuck his neck out for the Guard. He said LW was a "good player." Interesting, as they will play the Jets this year and Scherrf will possibly be responsible for blocking him. Edited May 4, 2015 by YoloinOhio
What a Tuel Posted May 4, 2015 Posted May 4, 2015 (edited) It does definitely appear as though Williams was not the "can't miss" prospect for the 32 teams that he was for the pundits and experts. There is a whole lot of draft hype and over speculation this time of year. I know some people were trying to call this WR class similar to last years. I take all of this with a grain of salt until I see the impact on the field. We will see if these WR's have as much impact as last years did. They won't. I think this extends to the other positions as well. Edited May 4, 2015 by What a Tuel
gumby Posted May 4, 2015 Posted May 4, 2015 Todd McShay was on the Mike & Mike show this morning. When asked what's next for him now that the draft is over he said the "suits" at ESPN gave him a choice between writing draft grades or doing a 2016 mock draft. He chose the mock draft because he thinks draft grades are stupid. So with that in mind I wonder how many of these draft grade articles are being forced on these writers and they have little interest in doing them. So they just put out something with little effort or insight.
26CornerBlitz Posted May 4, 2015 Posted May 4, 2015 @FOXSportsLive If you played in @theACCfootball, chances are you were selected by the #Bills. #FSLiveDraftGrades http://youtu.be/kuvy3_NjVK4
Deranged Rhino Posted May 4, 2015 Posted May 4, 2015 It does definitely appear as though Williams was not the "can't miss" prospect for the 32 teams that he was for the pundits and experts. Wait until you see him play. I have very little doubt Williams will be a good NFL player, perhaps great. It sucks he's with the Jets.
Buffalo_Stampede Posted May 4, 2015 Posted May 4, 2015 The jets defensive line is on par with the Bills now. It is nice that Brady has an automatic four games to dread on his schedule. Its not really close. Dts are even, DE/pass rushfavors Bills.
Rob's House Posted May 4, 2015 Posted May 4, 2015 I disagree with you on the Watkins trade as you know... but I agree on this. The question on the Watkins trade is purely is the kid an elite talent (I believe he is) and what is your view on the price paid. In the end the price was a #9 a #19 and a 4th round pick. If he ends up being one of the great receivers in the league for the next 8-10 years then as far as I am concerned it was worth the price. I think what the Browns did with the picks and how well people picked after Sammy Watkins did and how well the guy we might have ended up with did are all an irrelevance. I don't disagree with what you just said about judging the Watkins trade. I just disagree with using Ebron as the standard against which it is measured for principally the same reason I stated here.
billsfan89 Posted May 4, 2015 Posted May 4, 2015 (edited) Media guys love Leonard Williams, from everything that's come out, teams aren't quite as sure. Once the Jets got him at 6 they could have gone to the golf course and missed the rest of their picks and they were going to get an A. Add in they took a name value QB and its a slam dunk high grade. The Pats get the benefit of the doubt and we don't, simple as that. When they took Jordan Richards several people said they thought he'd go day 3 but it's the Pats so you have to think they know something you don't. Judging by their draft history with DBs, he's got decent odds of busting. Our draft grade was screwed from day 1 by not having the 1st. No one in the national media is going to objectively look at it and say "The Bills got Watkins for what looks like a bust in Justin Gilbert and a replacement for the Browns pro bowl center who wants to leave town ASAP". We got dinged last year for trading this first and we get double jeopardy for not having it now. National people are always going to doubt us until we shut them up on the field. The Big knock on the Watkins trade was that the Bills gave up pick 9 plus a future 1st and 4th to trade up 5 spots to take a WR in a WR rich draft. Draft pundits were saying how the Bills could have taken ODB and kept those future picks. That is however a lot of hindsight ODB shot up the draft boards late to go into the top 10 he wasn't viewed as an elite prospect like Mike Evans or Sammy his stock was more towards the late and middle first round. The elite prospects at WR were Watkins, Evans, And Kelvin Benjamin. Out of those 3 Benjamin was viewed as having character issues and the Bills were going to have to trade up for both Evans and Watkins. So a lot of the criticism of the trade is coming from a lot of hindsight. The 9th and 19th pick plus a 4th rounder was a steep price to trade up just 5 spots. But the team got a really good player to do so. If Sammy gives the team 8 great seasons no one is going to care that the price to get him was a bit steep. Edited May 4, 2015 by billsfan89
26CornerBlitz Posted May 5, 2015 Posted May 5, 2015 What they're saying: Grades and reviews for the Bills 2015 draft class NFL pundits and Bills observers weigh in after the conclusion of the 2015 NFL Draft.
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