2018 NFL Draft - Day 2 debrief

[GunnerBill]

Good morning day 3..... the second day is in the books and I am a little more cheery.  I still hate the Josh Allen pick but I think the front office has done a solid job other than that and we have lots of day 3 capital to play with.  Day 2 debrief below:

 

The Bills pick...

Loved the pick and loved the process.  The Bills still have obvious needs for depth at receiver, offensive line and cornerback.  However, the day 2 talent at all of those spots flew off the board early.  I had speculated on whether the Bills might jump back up within the 3rd if a corner or receiver started falling to within 10 or so picks of them but it never happened.  The last player I had in that cluster of potential move up guys was Michael Gallup the receiver from Colorado State and he went #81 to the Cowboys - a full 15 picks before the Bills went on the clock. I can think of previous regimes who in that position would have said "we need a receiver" and reached down the board for one.  But the golden rule is eye level and above and the Bills took a guy at a position that had not had such a run on it by snagging Harrison Phillips, DT, Stanford.  He is an excellent footbll player who will rotate in as a rookie and ultimately replace Kyle Williams. I feel a lot better about our d-line now than I did before free agency. Think we have added depth right across that unit.  Other than the unfortunate Maurice Hurst whose heart defect may stop him being drafted, Phillips was the BPA on my board at 96.

 

Other teams that did well...

I love what Pittsburgh did. I know there are a lot of Mason Rudolph haters on this board but I am not among them. I think they have their next Quarterback. For the first time there is a legitimate succession plan behind Ben. This is not picking a Landry Jones mark II or equivalent to them taking Josh Dobbs last year. This is a guy who will sit, learn, and take over.  He will be their starter when Ben hangs them up and he has a chance to be a franchise guy.  They traded up in the 3rd to select Rudolph after using their 2nd round pick on his college teammate James Washington. Another pick that makes a load of sense despite having AB and Smith-Schuster already on board. The Steelers offense is the NFL version of the Oklahoma State offense... not a huge number of players, but run them fast and from mainly spread formations with 4 and 5 wideouts (or backs split out as WRs) on the field regularly.  Washington needs some work on his route running but he has good hands and is an instincitve playmaker. After making a dog's dinner of their round 1 pick the Steelers rescued their draft last night.

 

Also love the two back to back picks Cincinnati made in the middle of the 3rd round - Sam Hubbard and Malik Jefferson. Both were 2nd rounders on my board and to get them both there at that stage of the 3rd? Incredible value and two playmakers who have a very real chance of starting as rookies .

 

Hate to say it but the evil empire got one of my sleeper picks of the whole draft who teams have suddenly woken up to it seems when they took Duke Dawson, CB, Florida at what was originally OUR 2nd round spot. I think he is a day 1 starting nickel corner in the NFL and will have a successful career as such. 

 

Let's find an NFC team to talk about for balance..... remember the mission statement of the Bears' new Head Coach Matt Nagy?  Build around Trubisky?  Well they found him two outside receivers in free agency and then last night they added a really good center in James Daniels (best in the draft in my opinion), and a nice slot receiver in Anthony Miller. If Trubisky doesn't take a step forward this year I think it is going to be on him and not his situation. 

 

So what's left for day 3?

Basically the answer is some defensive line talent early and then some offensive skill position guys once you get into the back half of round 4 - which might line up well for the Bills fingers crossed. The top 10 best available on my big board looks like this:

 

1. Maurice Hurst, DT

2. Ogbonnia Okoronkwo, DE

3. Tim Settle, DT

4. RJ McIntosh, DT

5. Josh Sweat, DE

6. DeShon Elliott, S

7. Kalen Ballage, RB

8. Jamarco Jones, OT

9. Will Clapp, C

10. Ian Thomas, TE

 

Just below that I have a little cluster of wide receivers including Deon Cain, Equanimeous St. Brown, Antonio Callaway and Marcell Ateman who are all reasonably close together. I also have a little group of running backs includin Mark Walton, John Kelly and Ito Smith around that bottom of the 4th territory as well.  I could see a couple of those names being around when the Bills pick. 

 

ENJOY DAY 3 - promises to be a busy one for the Bills!

 

 

Edited April 28, 2018 by GunnerBill

[MrEpsYtown]

I'm one of those Rudolph haters, but I appreciate your perspective on the topic. Time will tell if he's any good, but I think he will succumb to the pressure of trying to be Big Ben and being unable to physically do it. The fans will bury him. I think the next Steelers QB is whoever they draft after Rudolph fails. JMO. It's a great spot for him to develop, but not a great spot in terms of who he has to replace. Going somewhere like Cincinnati would take the pressure off. Steeler fans will be highly disappointed as he is unable to replace Ben. Hope that makes sense. 

 

I really like Hurst or McIntosh. I love adding to the defensive line. I also think Okoronkwo could play the Sam position on our defense with all of his length. I also feel like Ballage is almost a guaranteed pick for us somewhere here, and Maddox the corner somewhere. 

 

Thanks for you analysis. 

[GunnerBill]

One of my bold predicitons in the draft bolds thread a month ago was that Mason Rudolph would end up having a better NFL career than Josh Allen.  Obviously I hope I get that wrong now. 

[Hapless Bills Fan]

20 minutes ago, GunnerBill said:

One of my bold predicitons in the draft bolds thread a month ago was that Mason Rudolph would end up having a better NFL career than Josh Allen.  Obviously I hope I get that wrong now. 

 

In general of course I respect you, and in specific that's now the dumbest prediction I've ever heard!  Your prediction SUCKS!

[SoCal Deek]

Gunner

Very well written post. Quit your day job, which I’ll assume isn’t sportswriter, and start writing full time. 

Well composed.

[buffaloboyinATL]

35 minutes ago, GunnerBill said:

One of my bold predicitons in the draft bolds thread a month ago was that Mason Rudolph would end up having a better NFL career than Josh Allen.  Obviously I hope I get that wrong now. 

Oh lord, I hope you’re wrong too, or they will have to seal the top floor windows in all the tall buildings in Buffalo.

[GunnerBill]

10 minutes ago, SoCal Deek said:

Gunner

Very well written post. Quit your day job, which I’ll assume isn’t sportswriter, and start writing full time. 

Well composed.

 

Appreciate it. I was very breifly a sports journalist earlier in my career, if I could quit the day job and just write about the NFL and the draft and make a living from it that would be very tempting haha. 

[flmike]

Would love to see Josh Sweat on this team. He is a baller. Go Noles!