Penny-Wise? Possible McCoy heir apparent?

[YoloinOhio]

8 minutes ago, starrymessenger said:

Penny may wind up the best runner in this class. Who knows. But he's limited because his pass pro is literally nonexistent. He doesn't like it and he's not good at it. Unless he figures that out he's not a three down back at the next level. My guess is he's a second round pick.

3rd round at  best imo but i love him 

[Green Lightning]

On 12/23/2017 at 8:26 PM, John from Hemet said:

NO

 

This is the year to secure the qb.....whatever it takes...which is not going to leave room for a early RB

 

Absolutely. Don't F this draft up with a RB in round 1!

[starrymessenger]

4 minutes ago, YoloinOhio said:

3rd round at  best imo but i love him 

 

Thats where he prolly should go but I think his stock will continue to rise. I actually do think he could be the best runner in this excellent class - and he comes without a lot of tread on his tires. 

[CommonCents]

21 minutes ago, YoloinOhio said:

3rd round at  best imo but i love him 

I'd prefer him over anyone besides the top 2, both Barkley and Guice will go in the first, this kid would be a great value if he did make it to the third. 

 

 

[3rdand12]

On 12/23/2017 at 7:27 PM, Alphadawg7 said:

Could Rashaad Penny be the heir replacement to McCoy?  He’s being projected as a mid first rounder but it’s also a deep RB class.

 

So if we address the QB position by either FA (Cousins rumors) or in the draft where we didn’t need to give up both first round picks, I wonder if Bills would target him with the other first round pick we have if he was available at our pick.  

 

QB will obviously (or at least should be) addressed first and then I would probably rank DL and OL a bigger priority, but we will need to probably draft a RB this year too.  So I wonder if he would be too good to pass up in the first if we have addressed our QB situation already and still have one of our 2 first rounders.

 

Assuming we use our first pick on a QB or sign Cousins (which I still doubt we do), how would you feel about Penny as one of our first round picks to back up McCoy and eventually take over?  Personally I would be on board with this and pretty excited and then we can use rest of picks addressing the other holes.

 

 

aging Wood and Cognito will not be there. not sure who will play LT nor RT next season.
and RG is still a sore thumb for me.

*although as most O lines do when playing together as a unit over time, should improve

they have.

 

it is not enough. get the line sorted while Lesean McCoy is still killing it.

 Because our WRs can hardly catch, but they can block ; )

On 12/24/2017 at 8:41 AM, BuffaloBill said:

 

 

Ugh... the Bills better not waste another 1st round pick on a RB..... that is a strategy that is now multiple decades old..... 

what pick did Nix draft CJ Spiller ?
lets just keep that in mind for for a very long time.

 still waiting for him to go into space

 

[YoloinOhio]

 

[JohnC]

On ‎12‎/‎23‎/‎2017 at 10:07 PM, Alphadawg7 said:

 

Come on now, I very specifically stated that QB had already been satisfied in this scenario.  There is no need to say we need a QB first, thts obvious.  But there are scenarios where we won’t need to spend both our 2 first round picks to get said QB, and so I proposed that if we satisfied the QB need and were in position to also draft Penny, should we.  

 

This is what is frustrating about posting here at times, people respond without actually reading the post.  Don’t mean to call you out, many others did it as well and do it all the time, just that it’s annoying.

As you and everyone else has stated the qb issue is the first consideration. I don't like the idea of using one of our picks in the second round for a back. The second priority should be the defensive line and linebacking position. I'm hoping that the Bills keep Glenn so that our OL won't have an addition hole to the unit. Cadet is a good backup candidate and the free agent market should have some good veteran back options as backup players. 

 

Entering the offseason the Bills should have plenty of cap space to fill in some of the holes. If we can get a good interior defensive lineman then we will have more flexibility in the draft. The key issue that will determine how our draft goes is how much will the Bills have to yield in draft assets to acquire a qb, if that is the direction the Bills decide to go. If the Bills have to pay a heavy price to get a qb in the draft then I would prefer not to use an early pick for a back. 

 

One of my favorite players in this draft class is Stanford's Harrison Williams, a DT. He reminds me of Kyle Williams. Would love to get him with a lower first round pick or a second round pick if he was available. 

Edited January 6, 2018 by JohnC

[starrymessenger]

1 hour ago, YoloinOhio said:

 

This is a very good description of Penny as a runner. The writer is absolutely right in saying that Penny is a three down back because of his versatility.  As a runner he is not limited situationally. But some observers say he is not good in pass pro. That ability can factor into whether you translate as a three down back at the next level. He will be asked to work on that.

Eager to see how the brass will approach the RB issue in the upcoming draft. It is a need and given the strength of this year's class they may burn a meaningful pick on one. 

[TigerJ]

sometimes you find a superstar running back in the first round, but more than any other position, teams have found great running backs in later rounds and in the undrafted ranks.  Heck, Buffalo picked up Cadett by dumpster diving, and he looked like a winner.  Then last Sunday they played a practice squad running back (for most of the year) when McCoy went down, and he averaged nearly 6 yards per carry.  I wouldn't say you never draft a running back early, but if you have any other holes on a team, you want to address those first.

[Manther]

On 2017-12-23 at 7:27 PM, Alphadawg7 said:

Could Rashaad Penny be the heir replacement to McCoy?  He’s being projected as a mid first rounder but it’s also a deep RB class.

 

So if we address the QB position by either FA (Cousins rumors) or in the draft where we didn’t need to give up both first round picks, I wonder if Bills would target him with the other first round pick we have if he was available at our pick.  

 

QB will obviously (or at least should be) addressed first and then I would probably rank DL and OL a bigger priority, but we will need to probably draft a RB this year too.  So I wonder if he would be too good to pass up in the first if we have addressed our QB situation already and still have one of our 2 first rounders.

 

Assuming we use our first pick on a QB or sign Cousins (which I still doubt we do), how would you feel about Penny as one of our first round picks to back up McCoy and eventually take over?  Personally I would be on board with this and pretty excited and then we can use rest of picks addressing the other holes.

 

 

No RB in the first please.

 

Not for at least another two decades.

On 2017-12-28 at 4:20 PM, BillsfanAZ said:

Lets see what the Bills do in Free Agency. Lets see who hits the open market. Will NE resign both Burkehead and Lewis? Will the 49ers do anything with Hyde? I would take all three of those guys to run behind Shady. The Bills need QB, OL, DL, and LB's in this draft. 

Agree on all points!

[Alphadawg7]

On 12/28/2017 at 1:20 PM, BillsfanAZ said:

Lets see what the Bills do in Free Agency. Lets see who hits the open market. Will NE resign both Burkehead and Lewis? Will the 49ers do anything with Hyde? I would take all three of those guys to run behind Shady. The Bills need QB, OL, DL, and LB's in this draft. 

 

All very good points and don't disagree on that strategy by any means.  

 

I wasn't advocating to go RB per se, just speculating on if they are going to look for the heir apparent if we the QB position is settled while Penny is still on the board who I personally think might emerge as the best RB from this draft when careers are over.  Those types of players you described (all of which would be good adds to compliment and back up Shady) aren't really guys I think that envisioned as feature backs to take over the back field in 2019.  

 

Its more about that I am highly skeptical that Beane will keep McCoy after 2018 based on age and contract size unless McCoy's cost went down.  And with this great looking draft class at RB I think its possible Beane might look for not only a backup but a guy to replace McCoy for 2019.  

 

 

1 hour ago, starrymessenger said:

This is a very good description of Penny as a runner. The writer is absolutely right in saying that Penny is a three down back because of his versatility.  As a runner he is not limited situationally. But some observers say he is not good in pass pro. That ability can factor into whether you translate as a three down back at the next level. He will be asked to work on that.

Eager to see how the brass will approach the RB issue in the upcoming draft. It is a need and given the strength of this year's class they may burn a meaningful pick on one. 

 

Yeah, totally agree.  Its going to definitely be interesting to see how the FO addresses the need for a RB this offseason.  They could go the FA route and look for a good complimentary and back up RB to McCoy...or could go draft.  And this is a deep draft at RB, so they could also grab someone else in round 4 or lower too that could be a pretty good player.

 

For some reason, I just have this feeling Penny will be a Bill next year.

[njbuff]

I'll bet you Royce Freeman will be a Day 3 target for McBeane.

[CLTbills]

On 12/23/2017 at 7:40 PM, Wayne Arnold said:

Never draft a running back before the middle of the 3rd round. Ever.

Guys like Cadet and Murphy have shown this year that RB talent is fairly easy to find if you had to come up with a 1-year stopgap solution.

[starrymessenger]

2 hours ago, CLTbills said:

Guys like Cadet and Murphy have shown this year that RB talent is fairly easy to find if you had to come up with a 1-year stopgap solution.

 

You can certainly find a good to serviceable RB in later rounds, in FA or off the street even. There is a big difference between that kind of guy and a franchise back. The crazy thing about this year's draft is that there are a number of players that could seriously be regarded as franchise backs. Sometimes there's only one in a class. More often none. That's why it will be interesting to see how OBD will approach this class. They already have a franchise back on the roster, but for how much longer. How much importance do they attribute to the position? Do they prioritize it more than they usually would because of the talent available? As a trend picking franchise backs early is back in fashion in the NFL - Zeke, Fournette. There are so many this year they could nab one in the second, maybe even in the third.