Grade the 2017 Buffalo Bills draft

[D. L. Hot-Flamethrower]

A

 

Extra first rounder next year, three likely starters in key need areas, some ST help and Peterman could be a gem. I really don't know what else you would want?

Well said. We both know the answer to the question, a guaranteed Franchise QB and All Pro in every round might get some up to C-.smh

[mead107]

Who did the 2 - Fs

Who did the Ds

[bilzfancy]

B could be an A depending on who they​ draft with KCs pick next draft

[r00tabaga]

Who did the 2 - Fs

Who did the Ds

People who expected to get OJ Howard, Reuben Foster, Marshon Lattimore and a franchise QB with our first 4 picks.

[CommonCents]

People who expected to get OJ Howard, Reuben Foster, Marshon Lattimore and a franchise QB with our first 4 picks.

I gave it a D. I like the selection of White and the trade down showed some early hope that they understood that old habits need to change. They lost their minds on day 2 even when the draft board was favoring the Bills.

 

This team wasn't in a position to compete and it's still not. So, to me, that doesn't justify trading away picks to fill needs. The most pressing need always ends up being the next players the Bills must have. We have now seen this with Shaq, Rags, Zay, Dawkins.

 

To me that's a D. Poor salary cap management, poor draft strategy, poor roster. The notion that 3 guys will start is true because of the lack of competition at those positions. Whaley sounds like he is gone as soon as tomorrow, that's a start.

[r00tabaga]

I gave it a D. I like the selection of White and the trade down showed some early hope that they understood that old habits need to change. They lost their minds on day 2 even when the draft board was favoring the Bills.

 

This team wasn't in a position to compete and it's still not. So, to me, that doesn't justify trading away picks to fill needs. The most pressing need always ends up being the next players the Bills must have. We have now seen this with Shaq, Rags, Zay, Dawkins.

 

To me that's a D. Poor salary cap management, poor draft strategy, poor roster. The notion that 3 guys will start is true because of the lack of competition at those positions. Whaley sounds like he is gone as soon as tomorrow, that's a start.

I respect your opinion. Well stated but I really like what we did and the clear vision they appear to have going fwd. Edited April 30, 2017 by r00tabaga

[CommonCents]

I respect your opinion. Well stated but I really like what we did and the clear vision they appear to have going fwd.

Thanks, I don't expect everyone to agree with me. I respect your opinion as well. I'm beyond frustrated with this organization, someone asked me who rated the draft so low and I felt like I should offer an explanation for my doing.

[Green Lightning]

Well said. We both know the answer to the question, a guaranteed Franchise QB and All Pro in every round might get some up to C-.smh

Well, in the Bills universe maybe we got a FQB and the rest of the picks will go all-pro! Wow, after 52 years following this team, I can't stop dreaming.

[Yav]

This is a messed up link but the Bills were given an A

 

https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000804541/article/2017-nfl-draft-quicksnap-grades-for-all-32-teams%3FnetworkId%3D4595%26site%3D.news%26zone%3Dstory%26zoneUrl%3Durl%253Dstory%26zoneKeys%3Ds1%253Dstory%26env%3D%26pageKeyValues%3Dprtnr%253Dsnap-grades%253Bteam%253Djax%253Bteam%253Dcin%253Bteam%253Dbuf%253Bteam%253Dmia%253Bteam%253Dhou%253Bteam%253Ddal%253Bteam%253Dchi%253Bteam%253Dphi%253Bteam%253Dcar%253Bteam%253Dden%253Bteam%253Dind%253Bteam%253Darz%253Bteam%253Datl%253Bteam%253Dbal%253Bteam%253Doak%253Bteam%253Dclv%253Bteam%253Dpit%253Bteam%253Dwas%253Bteam%253Dsea%253Bteam%253Dten%253Bteam%253Ddet%253Bteam%253Dmin%253Bconf%253Dafc%253Bconf%253Dnfc%253Bdvsn%253Dacs%253Bdvsn%253Dacn%253Bdvsn%253Dace%253Bdvsn%253Dnce%253Bdvsn%253Dncn%253Bdvsn%253Dncs%253Bdvsn%253Dacw%253Bdvsn%253Dncw%253Bplyr%253Dandrew_dalton%253Bplyr%253Dtyler_eifert%253Bplyr%253Dezekiel_elliott%26p.ct%3DSnap%2BGrades%26p.adsm%3Dtrue%26p.tcm%3D%2523000%26p.bgc1m%3D%2523EAEAEA%26sr%3Damp

[Awwufelloff]

A- not sure how you can give it anything less than a B. We filled all of our needs and got a sleeper QB that will compete for the starting job.

[The Frankish Reich]

 

I give it a C

 

1- yeah they got a first rounder but if that doesn't turn into a QB next year then that player might not be as good as what they could have gotten with another second rounder and more from the Chiefs this year.

2- I'm all for taking shots on QB's but they were very pick-shy this year and the roster depth is a serious concern.

3- Maybe but doubtful and it's also not just about getting starters in early rounds.......that's where you need difference makers........it's a matchup league and I think the ceilings of those guys are a concern.

4- true

5- False

 

I think the Bills did things assbackwards this offseason.........they took a long range cap outlook in free agency........but then drafted for need NOW.

 

I suspect that in the next couple offseasons they will find themselves doing those things that undermined them for most of their existence.......drafting for need.....selecting a RB early.......and overpaying for other teams warty free agents to save McDermott's job....this draft could look pretty ugly.

 

Should have taken the chance on one of the early picked QB's.....preferably Mahomes because of upside.......but in lieu of not taking a potential franchise course changer I didn't like the trade-ups.......roster needed depth and talent.

I give this draft a B- overall.

 

As far as the players actually selected (kind of a narrow definition of how to grade a draft), I'd say that's an A-. Of the 3 top picks, you should have one solid starter, one likely significant contributor, and one possible contributor on the O line. And after that, it's a crapshoot all the time, and taking a flyer on a QB who flew under the radar a bit (bouncing from program to program) is perfectly justifiable in the Bills situation. I'm not about to start critiquing 6th and 7th round picks.

 

But there's a broader way to grade a draft, and the bolded sentence here hits the nail on the head. The broader question is, "how does this draft fit within an overall strategy of developing a playoff team roster in [blank] years?" I don't like these schizophrenic approaches to roster building. Winning teams usually don't hedge bets like this - "we'll draft for need, and fill in a few key holes in our roster, but we'll also start trying to stockpile a future high pick since realistically our competition window isn't open for a couple years." I prefer to go all-in on one or the other. And on that basis, I give this draft a D. The saving grace is the trade down to 27 to get an extra 1st next year. But I'd say it wasn't bold enough. It should have been the first blast in a major drive to accumulate high picks next year, but that strategy was immediately undone by moving up (not down) in subsequent rounds.

 

So that all adds up to my B-.

 

My specific gripes: if you were going to try to have your cake and eat it, and try to take a bold step that could just possibly launch you into serious playoff contention in 2017, I wanted O.J. Howard. That would have created huge matchup problems for defenses: Clay + Howard, plus Watkins. I have to assume they would have gone that route if they'd kept Gilmore, but I guess that just wasn't feasible. On the other hand, I'm not particularly sold on Zay Jones. Can we really say for sure that he's an upgrade over Justin Hunter, a waiver pickup? WRs whose main attribute is being tall/end zone threats, but who don't seem to have great ability to gain separation against NFL DBs, and have never shown RAC ability. I think he'll be good at that, in exactly the same way Justin Hunter was good at that. In other words, I didn't like trading up for him.

 

And on a purely fan level - nobody in this draft that will be particularly fun to watch, unless you're a real film geek who can get all excited about White's solid inside cover technique or Dion Dawkins' good balance for a big man ...

[Kelly the Dog]

I give it a B-

 

I didn't really like the trade but that can only be determined by what they do with the two firsts. I like the Jones pick a lot. We may get three starters out of it but White and Dawkins could very well be very mediocre starters. The two baby linebackers will help on special teams but we drastically need a coverage LB and just hope one of them can do it in games. Peterman I said not a favorite of mine even though he will look good and fans will overrate him.

[That's No Moon]

I gave them an F, they drafted a CB to fill a need they should have never opened. A possession WR, 3 tweeners, and a mediocre QB AND they gave up additional picks to get the possession WR and a tweener OL.

[DisplacedBillsFan]

I'm a bit salty about being forced to use a first rounder on CB after letting Gilmore go.

This has to be the opinion that confuses me the most (Not calling you out specifically), because so many people complained about what a bum and liability Gilmore was, then said Whaley better not over pay Gilmore, now everyone acts as if we handed him to the Patriots and set the team back 10 years. Confusing. The exact same thing is being said about Zay replacing Woods, and again, 99% of this board would have thrown a fit had we signed Woods to a new deal. I'm fairly confident we could win back-to-back super bowls and people would complain on this board.

Edited April 30, 2017 by DisplacedBillsFan

[That's No Moon]

This has to be the opinion that confuses me the most (Not calling you out specifically), because so many people complained about what a bum and liability Gilmore was, then said Whaley better not over pay Gilmore, now everyone acts as if we handed him to the Patriots and set the team back 10 years. Confusing. The exact same thing is being said about Zay replacing Woods, and again, 99% of this board would have thrown a fit had we signed Woods to a new deal. I'm fairly confident we could win back-to-back super bowls and people would complain on this board.

because when you do that you can never address other needs. The team had needs LAST year that didn't get addressed because we needed to fill new holes that didnt need to be there. Unless the new CB and WR are upgrades rather than just replacements there was no progress made.

[klos63]

This has to be the opinion that confuses me the most (Not calling you out specifically), because so many people complained about what a bum and liability Gilmore was, then said Whaley better not over pay Gilmore, now everyone acts as if we handed him to the Patriots and set the team back 10 years. Confusing. The exact same thing is being said about Zay replacing Woods, and again, 99% of this board would have thrown a fit had we signed Woods to a new deal. I'm fairly confident we could win back-to-back super bowls and people would complain on this board.

Some fans wanted to fire Marv after Super Bowl XXV. That's should tell you something.

[DisplacedBillsFan]

because when you do that you can never address other needs. The team had needs LAST year that didn't get addressed because we needed to fill new holes that didnt need to be there. Unless the new CB and WR are upgrades rather than just replacements there was no progress made.

It's not the MLB, you can't pay everyone, even when the cap isn't mismanaged. Again I'll emphasize that it seemed like 90% of this board would have flipped out had we resigned Gilmore and Woods and now that same 90% is complaining because we didn't.

[klos63]

because when you do that you can never address other needs. The team had needs LAST year that didn't get addressed because we needed to fill new holes that didnt need to be there. Unless the new CB and WR are upgrades rather than just replacements there was no progress made.

One of the main functions of the draft is to 'fill holes', find replacements.... we also signed a number of free agents. This is how football works. NE spent millions on Gilmore to fill a need , we used a draft pick. Takes all kinds.

[mead107]

I gave it a D. I like the selection of White and the trade down showed some early hope that they understood that old habits need to change. They lost their minds on day 2 even when the draft board was favoring the Bills.

This team wasn't in a position to compete and it's still not. So, to me, that doesn't justify trading away picks to fill needs. The most pressing need always ends up being the next players the Bills must have. We have now seen this with Shaq, Rags, Zay, Dawkins.

To me that's a D. Poor salary cap management, poor draft strategy, poor roster. The notion that 3 guys will start is true because of the lack of competition at those positions. Whaley sounds like he is gone as soon as tomorrow, that's a start.

Because we did no take your picks you give it a D. You do not take into consideration the picks we did get

Your D, way off the mark. You don't want to fill needs leaving a big void going into this season. Sorry just don't get how any one can seriously give it a D.

[r00tabaga]

I gave them an F, they drafted a CB to fill a need they should have never opened. A possession WR, 3 tweeners, and a mediocre QB AND they gave up additional picks to get the possession WR and a tweener OL.

You were asked to rate the draft so why give an F for letting Gilmore go? SMH-

You are the type of fan who would have also given an F if we DIDNT draft a CB to replace Stephon!

#cantwin