Kiper Jr. - 'Bills draft was the WORST of all 32 teams.'

[BarleyNY]

I'm in the "You can't fully evaluate a draft for 3 years" crowd. I'm also in the "99% of the media adds nothing of substance" crowd. Those apply here. But as I sit here today, I am not a fan of this draft. I wish I was.

[Kirby Jackson]

Just to echo some of what has been said the draft grades carry less weight than ever. 15 years ago we saw much less of these prospects on TV, YouTube, Twitter and everywhere else. There is so much more out there now on the players entering and so many professional opinions in the media that vary it just gets all over. When Mel Kiper was THE voice for the draft we relied on his analysis of the prospects. Now there are so many other places that you can go and so many other opinions that you can find the draft grades are basically useless.

[Lurker]

Just to echo some of what has been said the draft grades carry less weight than ever. 15 years ago we saw much less of these prospects on TV, YouTube, Twitter and everywhere else. There is so much more out there now on the players entering and so many professional opinions in the media that vary it just gets all over. When Mel Kiper was THE voice for the draft we relied on his analysis of the prospects. Now there are so many other places that you can go and so many other opinions that you can find the draft grades are basically useless.

Agreed. But they've always been breasts on a bull, even back in the day.

 

The only guy who ever had an ounce of credibility was Joel Buchsbaum, the original draftnik...

[Chuck Wagon]

Kiper and others weighed the Watkins trade in arriving at their grades. If they knew Whaley was going to otherwise draft Ebron I'm sure the grades would be higher.

I'm fine with them dinging us not having a first, my problem is they did the same thing last year. So we fail both drafts because we traded our '16 1st? Seems like a ridiculous standard.

 

At the end of the day it's all ridiculous BS media garbage. These guy's supposedly study these draft classes year round, then produce their big boards that are often wildly different than the actual drafts, their big boards require 5 + revisions in order to get anywhere near what the actual draft ends up being and then they blow it off by saying "There's no way anyone can actually project the draft." ESPN helps perpetuate their myth by burying any past results and there's zero accountability on the work they do. At the end of the day these media experts are little more than glorified weathermen and Kiper is the Willard Scott of the bunch, a dinosaur from a bygone era ESPN trots out to flash his ridiculous hair and spit out easily google-able info he spent the previous 6 months memorizing.

[moshermw]

That we didn't take a QB is proof that Rex thinks Tyrod can also be the man. I really like this 3-way QB thing a lot. No matter who comes out on top, it will be clear that either EJ really worked hard and realized his first round potential, Cassel really still has it, or that Tyrod was really the diamond in the rough that some - including I - believe he is.

 

Who the hell is Mel Kiper anyway !?

 

Top 5 draft moment of all time.

[Kirby Jackson]

ESPN helps perpetuate their myth by burying any past results and there's zero accountability on the work they do.

This is slightly off topic but speaks to your point: http://deadspin.com/espns-chad-ford-has-been-retroactively-editing-draft-bo-1681631642

[Lurker]

Gotta love the World Wide Web...

 

http://worldnewss.net/busy-low-season-adopted-by-way-of-draft-bust/

 

Some real gems, but this is my favorite:

 

 

"...in spherical 6, with the 194th choose the Bills selected Nick O’Leary TE from Florida State. aside from Miller, no Payments draft choose has a greater shot at quick having fun with time than O’Leary. He is a tough- nosed participant at a spot the place the Bills could be utilizing a number of gamers on a mess of snaps – and it will not be sudden if O’Leary, whose upside is restricted, nonetheless emerged because the Payments’ No. 2 tight finish this 12 months."

[dayman]

Hey I'll hate on Kiper as much as the next man but let us be real ... not even Bills fans are excited about this draft. It doesn't seem to have done much for us at this point.

 

That said...the offseason as a whole may end up pretty good. We've nabbed two pretty good receiving targets, a good RB, a much needed plug-and-play OG, and better coach than we've had in a long time.

 

Good job Whaley. Draft better next year.

[nemhoff]

 

"I gave the Bills a hard time in the draft grades last year because I thought they paid far too steep a price to move up for Sammy Watkins, given how many good WRs were in that draft. Watkins is going to be just fine, but Mike Evans and Odell Beckham, Jr. could have both been taken without moving up, and that move up now factors into the grade this year, when the Bills didn't have a first-rounder and simply couldn't add the same amount of talent as other teams. I thought Ronald Darby was a reach in Round 2 at No. 50. There's a lot of natural ability with him, but I didn't have CB as nearly the biggest need, and I don't think he was the best player available, either. I'm a lot higher on the third-round selection of John Miller, a physical force in the run game, which they need to succeed to take some pressure off whoever is taking the QB snaps. (There's some buzz that Tyrod Taylor could be really pushing for that role, by the way.) Karlos Williams provides some depth at running back, but I'm not sure how much they needed it, and I might have looked at one of a number of values to be had at linebacker in that range. That said, if Rex said he needed it on defense, my guess is they would have made the move. Nick O'Leary can stick because the competes like heck and can catch the ball. I also think Buffalo got one of the bigger steals in the draft in Dez Lewis, a big-bodied speedster out of Central Arkansas who doesn't look the least bit out of place from a physical and workout standpoint next to the first-round types. The Bills didn't need an amazing draft, thanks to good roster-building outside of QB. That's a good thing."

 

-Kiper[/quote

After reading this I can't really argue that he is too far off

[Kirby Jackson]

 

 

"I gave the Bills a hard time in the draft grades last year because I thought they paid far too steep a price to move up for Sammy Watkins, given how many good WRs were in that draft. Watkins is going to be just fine, but Mike Evans and Odell Beckham, Jr. could have both been taken without moving up, and that move up now factors into the grade this year, when the Bills didn't have a first-rounder and simply couldn't add the same amount of talent as other teams. I thought Ronald Darby was a reach in Round 2 at No. 50. There's a lot of natural ability with him, but I didn't have CB as nearly the biggest need, and I don't think he was the best player available, either. I'm a lot higher on the third-round selection of John Miller, a physical force in the run game, which they need to succeed to take some pressure off whoever is taking the QB snaps. (There's some buzz that Tyrod Taylor could be really pushing for that role, by the way.) Karlos Williams provides some depth at running back, but I'm not sure how much they needed it, and I might have looked at one of a number of values to be had at linebacker in that range. That said, if Rex said he needed it on defense, my guess is they would have made the move. Nick O'Leary can stick because the competes like heck and can catch the ball. I also think Buffalo got one of the bigger steals in the draft in Dez Lewis, a big-bodied speedster out of Central Arkansas who doesn't look the least bit out of place from a physical and workout standpoint next to the first-round types. The Bills didn't need an amazing draft, thanks to good roster-building outside of QB. That's a good thing."

 

-Kiper[/quote

After reading this I can't really argue that he is too far off

Except Mike Evans wasn't on the board. You'd think that a guy whose career is the NFL Draft could recall at least the top 10 picks from the last draft -no?

[Kelly the Dog]

In other words, as I suspected, Kiper gave the Bills a crappy grade last year because of the Watkins trade, and then gave the Bills a crappy grade this year for the Watkins trade, never giving the Bills any credit for getting the best rated player in either draft.

[#34fan]

A lackluster draft with the exception of O'leary and MAYBE Miller... I had PJ Williams as the better corner in my personal estimation. Sorry, but that's what i watched on NUMEROUS Saturdays...

 

I am NO KIPER Jr. fan, but I agree that 50 was a little high for Darby.. I wished we would have done something else. -TE Maxx Williams was still on the board for crying out f___ loud! Ugh! -A weapon like that for a team that had QB and red-zone issues last year would have been awesome...

 

Using lard to style your hair is no crime.... Missing the playoffs for 16 years in a row just might be..

[Kelly the Dog]

A lackluster draft with the exception of O'leary and MAYBE Miller... I had PJ Williams as the better corner in my personal estimation. Sorry, but that's what i watched on NUMEROUS Saturdays...

 

I am NO KIPER Jr. fan, but I agree that 50 was a little high for Darby.. I wished we would have done something else. -TE Maxx Williams was still on the board for crying out f___ loud! Ugh! -A weapon like that for a team that had QB and red-zone issues last year would have been awesome...

 

Using lard to style your hair is no crime.... Missing the playoffs for 16 years in a row just might be..

Where is Maxx Williams going to play? We have Clay for 5-6 years. You going to sit Harvin? OLeary is good because he will play 10-15 snaps. You don't want your number two pick to play 15 snaps. Darby will be a starter next year and rarely come off the field on defense.

[jahnyc]

Not sure why so many posters get defensive about our draft grades if they are poor. A lot of our drafts have been average or worse over that last 12 plus years, and many times the draft experts have been right about their assessments of our drafts and our drafting.

 

The Bills seem to have good talent at a number of positions now. Is that primarily the result of good drafting or solid free agent pick-ups? It would be interesting to see statistics that show for each team the percentage of starters that are draft picks versus free agent acquisitions, and for a deeper dive, the quality of our drafted starters versus other teams.

[Dan]

A lackluster draft with the exception of O'leary and MAYBE Miller... I had PJ Williams as the better corner in my personal estimation. Sorry, but that's what i watched on NUMEROUS Saturdays...

 

I am NO KIPER Jr. fan, but I agree that 50 was a little high for Darby.. I wished we would have done something else. -TE Maxx Williams was still on the board for crying out f___ loud! Ugh! -A weapon like that for a team that had QB and red-zone issues last year would have been awesome...

 

Using lard to style your hair is no crime.... Missing the playoffs for 16 years in a row just might be..

I've never understood the argument that a player was taken a little too high. We had the #50 pick, wanted a player that probably would have been gone before our next pick. So, what are they supposed to do? Trade down... what if no one wants to trade up 10 spots?

 

None of us are in the war room. We don't know what moves they may or may not have tried to make. You can also say, they could have taken this other player. But maybe their paid, professional scouts didn't think he was a fit for our team? I respect a lot of the opinions of a lot of people here, but none of us are paid by the Bills to evaluate and rank the players in terms of best fit for the schemes our coaches want to install.

 

It seems they had their players ranked and took the guys they wanted, when they could get them. The notion that they could trade down a few spots and still get a guy is all reliant upon willing trade partners and none of us know what was pursued or not.

 

Personally, I'm completely underwhelmed by our draft. But, I suspect it was a very good draft for us because Whaley seemed to get exactly who he wanted with each pick. In a couple years, we'll know if he was right.

[John from Riverside]

A lackluster draft with the exception of O'leary and MAYBE Miller... I had PJ Williams as the better corner in my personal estimation. Sorry, but that's what i watched on NUMEROUS Saturdays...

 

I am NO KIPER Jr. fan, but I agree that 50 was a little high for Darby.. I wished we would have done something else. -TE Maxx Williams was still on the board for crying out f___ loud! Ugh! -A weapon like that for a team that had QB and red-zone issues last year would have been awesome...

 

Using lard to style your hair is no crime.... Missing the playoffs for 16 years in a row just might be..

I just got done watching the rose bowl with my son (everybody is all happy because he just found out his friend Hamani (OG) got picked up by Green Bay.

 

Marriotta wasnt even TRYING to throw at Darby.....he was throwing plenty at the other side. The few times he did throw at Darby he made a play or there was a offensive pass interference call against the WR going against Darby.

 

For the most part QBs dont even throw at Darby....this is a good thing.

 

Also.....we just brought in Clay AND they got very good value for Oleary late.......who is a very good TE. They stuck to their draft board.

[USCTrojansBillsFan]

My favorite pick was O'Leary. I trust the Bills did their due diligence on their first pick Darby, who I know nothing about.

[KingRex]

I think Kiper's big problem with the Bills draft this year was that it reflected a strategy where Kiper's bread and butter he draft ha more minor role in team building.

[IronyAbounds]

I just don't think Whaley is all that good at evaluating college talent. Everyone justifies the Watkins trade by saying Whaley wasn't going to take one of the other quality WRs anyhow, but that just reaffirms my feeling. Overall, when trades and free agents are considered, Whaley seems to have done a decent job, but calling a mediocre draft at best a mediocre draft doesn't make Kiper a goofball no matter how bad his hair may be.

[ALF]

Only time will tell. I would have taken La el Collins though , not one team even in the 7th , very curious.