The Most Scathing Draft Review You’ll Find- Rotoworld’s Evan Silva Rips Into Class and McDermott’s Personnel Evaluations

[Doc]

Grading right after the draft is stupid.  If Allen hits, no one will care if they gave up 2-2nd rounders, and in fact they'll be considered geniuses for giving up so little.

[BigBuff423]

Let's also keep in mind, the Jets gave up three 2nd round picks to move from 6 to 3...Bills gave up two 2nds, to go from 12 to 7...that is a notable key to this price as well. I was not on the Allen train prior to the Draft and hoped for someone else and even more hoped the Bills would have stayed put at 12. That said, I also said I would fully support any QB the Bills Drafted and that's what I'm doing. I'm hoping Allen has a year to learn no matter how bad AJ gets so that he can be more fully confident and internally capable with the NFL information and game speed adjustment when 2019 rolls around. I also don't want him to take more than a year as I think that becomes counter productive, but a year is needed to work on the things he can't when he's the starter, ala footwork and mechanics and gaining the aforementioned adjustment to NFL speed and Offense. 

 

The price of going 12 to 7, would have hurt even more if the Bills did not nail the majority of the rest of their picks and IMHO, they did. The Edmunds, Harrison, Teller, Johnson, Neal (and don't discount Proehl)  picks were all very good to great. I'm not sure about Ray-Ray pick but even some of the UDFAs so far, Wallace, Foster, and the OL from Iowa are all equally intriguing. 

Edited April 30, 2018 by BigBuff423

[DriveFor1Outta5]

1 hour ago, Midwest1981 said:

Silva is a notoriously difficult grader, anyway, but this is a particularly scathing review. I don’t agree with all of it (though I agree 12, 53, & 56 was an exorbitant cost for 7), but I do have to say that I sure hope the Bills’ plan is to give Allen the Goff/Trubisky treatment. What I mean is giving him the superb coaching, receiving options, and line protection the Rams and Bears have made a conscious and concerted point to do the last two offseasons.

 

Right now Allen has very little of what he’ll need to succeed- and he already has some individual development; of course.

 

http://www.rotoworld.com/articles/nfl/79600/174/2018-afc-draft-grades?pg=1

I agree, I just worry that the “Goff treatment” isn’t going to happen here. Offense doesn’t appear to be highly valued by the current regime up to this point. Allen is already viewed as a project quarterback by most. With the team currently constructed as is, Allen faces a major uphill battle to become a successful QB. 

[Hapless Bills Fan]

1 hour ago, Midwest1981 said:

Silva is a notoriously difficult grader, anyway, but this is a particularly scathing review. I don’t agree with all of it (though I agree 12, 53, & 56 was an exorbitant cost for 7), but I do have to say that I sure hope the Bills’ plan is to give Allen the Goff/Trubisky treatment. What I mean is giving him the superb coaching, receiving options, and line protection the Rams and Bears have made a conscious and concerted point to do the last two offseasons.

 

Right now Allen has very little of what he’ll need to succeed- and he already has some individual development; of course.

 

http://www.rotoworld.com/articles/nfl/79600/174/2018-afc-draft-grades?pg=1

 

Well, that seems over-the-top.   Who on the Bills salted his Wheaties? 

 

I'm especially curious about this part: "Bills personnel department that has struggled since making Sean McDermott one of the NFL’s most powerful head coaches."

I "get it" that some people feel McDermott is running the show (I'm not convinced), and some of their decisions have been detrimental to the team in the short term (Dareus, Watkins) but understandable in the long term.  Overall the team at least maintained its defensive position and won 2 more games, while shedding cap from 2019 on.

 

It seems a curious take.

 

Also he's very harsh on Benjamin: "Benjamin has bad knees, doesn’t get open, and is a net-negative for an offense."  The injury recovery is a question mark, but calling a guy with two ~960 yd seasons "a net negative for an offense" seems way over the top.  As has been said of other 6'5" receivers "he's always open 2' over his head" and anyone who watched the Panthers knows that's just how Cam used him, and his low catch rate is partly all the high degree of difficulty overhead lobs he was expected to haul in.  Some of them hit his hands (drop) but he couldn't haul in.   That right there gives us a calibration standard that kind of devalues this guy's whole take.

[Doc]

1 minute ago, BigBuff423 said:

Let's also keep in mind, the Jets gave up three 2nd round picks to move from 6 to 3...Bills have up two 2nds, to go from 12 to 7...that is a notable key to this price as well. I was not on the Allen train prior to the Draft and hoped for someone else and even more hoped the Bills would have stayed put at 12. That said, I also said I would fully support any QB the Bills Drafted and that's what I'm doing. I'm hoping Allen has a year to learn no matter how bad AJ gets so that he can be more fully confident and internally capable with the NFL information and game speed adjustment when 2019 rolls around. I also don't want him to take more than a year as I think that becomes counter productive, but a year is needed to work on the things he can't when he's the starter, ala footwork and mechanics and gaining the aforementioned adjustment to NFL speed and Offense. 

 

The price of going 12 to 7, would have hurt even more if the Bills did not nail the majority of the rest of their picks and IMHO, they did. The Edmunds, Harrison, Teller, Johnson, Neal (and don't discount Proehl)  picks were all very good to great. I'm not sure about Ray-Ray pick but even some of the UDFAs so far, Wallace, Foster, and the OL from Iowa are all equally intriguing. 

 

I was against trading the 2-1sts, much less more to get a QB,.  If you told me they could get their QB with the 12th and their 2-2nds, I would have been more than fine with it.  When I learned they traded up for Allen...let's just say I'm hoping for the best.

[Hapless Bills Fan]

1 minute ago, DriveFor1Outta5 said:

I agree, I just worry that the “Goff treatment” isn’t going to happen here. Offense doesn’t appear to be highly valued by the current regime up to this point. Allen is already viewed as a project quarterback by most. With the team currently constructed as is, Allen faces a major uphill battle to become a successful QB. 

 

I share your concern.  The Bills certainly neglected OL and WR in FA and gave it only late-round attention in the draft.  So far their acquisitions on offense (some through no fault of their talent evaluation) have not bourne much fruit.  We can only hope they have a plan, that they will be scouting the cut-out-bins and remaining FA fiercely, and that some of their late-round picks and UDFA will prove out.  And that offense will be a successful focus next year.

[dave mcbride]

47 minutes ago, Ifartalot said:

What Arizona gave up to  trade up for Rosen did make it look like the Bills overpaid for Allen.

Not really. Buffalo had competition for the #7 pick up; Arizona apparently did not face competition for the #10 pick. That is because there was competition for Allen, but apparently none for Rosen. Plus the Raiders, who missed out on McGlinchey, knew their guy would be there at 15.

24 minutes ago, PromoTheRobot said:

 

You can look at it more that the Raiders undersold their pick value.

Not really. If there is no competitor, would you rather keep your #10 pick and take Miller, or trade down to #15, take Miller, and get an extra 3rd? 

Edited April 30, 2018 by dave mcbride

[Hapless Bills Fan]

20 minutes ago, Doc said:

What did this guy have to say (I'm not taking the click-bait) about the Jets, who gave up more to move from 6 to 3?

 

Said they're genius.

[Doc]

1 minute ago, Hapless Bills Fan said:

I share your concern.  The Bills certainly neglected OL and WR in FA and gave it only late-round attention in the draft.  So far their acquisitions on offense (some through no fault of their talent evaluation) have not bourne much fruit.  We can only hope they have a plan, that they will be scouting the cut-out-bins and remaining FA fiercely, and that some of their late-round picks and UDFA will prove out.  And that offense will be a successful focus next year.

 

I don't think the OL will be as bad as everyone thinks. 

[Hapless Bills Fan]

Just now, Doc said:

I don't think the OL will be as bad as everyone thinks. 

 

I hope you're right, but that depends upon a bunch of unknowable factors at this point.

[BigBuff423]

4 minutes ago, Hapless Bills Fan said:

 

I share your concern.  The Bills certainly neglected OL and WR in FA and gave it only late-round attention in the draft.  So far their acquisitions on offense (some through no fault of their talent evaluation) have not bourne much fruit.  We can only hope they have a plan, that they will be scouting the cut-out-bins and remaining FA fiercely, and that some of their late-round picks and UDFA will prove out.  And that offense will be a successful focus next year.

 

I think they realize that a "stud" WR is no good without a competent QB and that QB comes with a steep price the year in which he's taken, also I think they have more confidence in the OL than the fans do. I also think Beane hates to jump to conclusions and Zay was not good last year, but at the same time he just started to find his stride when the "trip" occurred at the Jets and he had a torn labrum for the year, which no one knew until after the year was over. Couple those things with a year in the NFL and there's a strong chance Zay has a good rebound and becomes the WR they hoped he'd become (or at least much closer to it) when they Drafted him last year. 

 

 

[Chuck Wagon]

24 minutes ago, BigBuff423 said:

Let's also keep in mind, the Jets gave up three 2nd round picks to move from 6 to 3...Bills gave up two 2nds, to go from 12 to 7...that is a notable key to this price as well. I was not on the Allen train prior to the Draft and hoped for someone else and even more hoped the Bills would have stayed put at 12. That said, I also said I would fully support any QB the Bills Drafted and that's what I'm doing. I'm hoping Allen has a year to learn no matter how bad AJ gets so that he can be more fully confident and internally capable with the NFL information and game speed adjustment when 2019 rolls around. I also don't want him to take more than a year as I think that becomes counter productive, but a year is needed to work on the things he can't when he's the starter, ala footwork and mechanics and gaining the aforementioned adjustment to NFL speed and Offense. 

 

The price of going 12 to 7, would have hurt even more if the Bills did not nail the majority of the rest of their picks and IMHO, they did. The Edmunds, Harrison, Teller, Johnson, Neal (and don't discount Proehl)  picks were all very good to great. I'm not sure about Ray-Ray pick but even some of the UDFAs so far, Wallace, Foster, and the OL from Iowa are all equally intriguing. 

 

 

We don't get one of the 4 QBs staying at 12.  Arizona trades up to take Allen, then either Miami takes Rosen or trades the pick to someone else who takes him right before us.

 

I like Darnold more than Allen.  But we traded #21 / Cordy Glenn /  #53 / #56 for Allen.  The Jets traded pick #6 /# 37 / #49 / 2019 2nd (that's likely to be early) for Darnold.   

 

 

[Big Turk]

1 hour ago, Midwest1981 said:

Silva is a notoriously difficult grader, anyway, but this is a particularly scathing review. I don’t agree with all of it (though I agree 12, 53, & 56 was an exorbitant cost for 7), but I do have to say that I sure hope the Bills’ plan is to give Allen the Goff/Trubisky treatment. What I mean is giving him the superb coaching, receiving options, and line protection the Rams and Bears have made a conscious and concerted point to do the last two offseasons.

 

Right now Allen has very little of what he’ll need to succeed- and he already has some individual development; of course.

 

http://www.rotoworld.com/articles/nfl/79600/174/2018-afc-draft-grades?pg=1

 

If they hit on Allen none of it matters. He would be worth far more than anything they could possibly give up to get him.

[HuSeYiN_NYC]

After YEARS of drafting 1st Rounders who didn't contribute to our team, taking a shot at Allen to me personally isn't a "your job is on the line" situation for Beane.

 

The guy knew we needed to draft a QB and did just that. 

 

Let's just say Allen doesn't work out. But what if Tremaine Edmunds, Phillips and Teller all turn into studs. To me that's a successful draft where you found 3 starters for at least 5 years or so til their rookie contract is up.

 

I personally believe Allen will pan out as long as they sit him for awhile and get his footwork better. Another way I look at it is, I'm pretty sure he can throw for more than 56 yards a game (yes Tyrod, i will never forget that game).

 

We still don't know about McCarron either. Maybe he can do a decent enough job that, as long as our defense is top 10, we just would need 16-20 points a game to get a W. 

 

I'm excited for the Edmunds pick, I'm excited about seeing our D-line put pressure on QBs, I'm excited about the defense as a whole unit to see how all the new additions will make us look as a defense period.

 

I will admit, there's not really much on offense to be excited about currently, but maybe we got some hidden gems in the rookie minicamp. We shall see...

[GunnerBill]

1 hour ago, PIZ said:

It won't be long and you will hear about how the Arizona Cardinals coveted Josh Allen and how they were pissed about missing out on him.  Sure they will tell their fans that Josh Rosen is the guy they coveted, but the guy they wanted was Josh Allen.  I have 0 problem with Beane using #12 and the two 2nd round picks because that is the reason he acquired those picks, so NO ONE, including the Arizona Cardinals, could match him.  He even had an extra 1st if he needed to change things up and offer a different combo.  Beane mastered this draft and got his franchise QB.

 

 

So long as Allen is good..... I think Beane's process was perfect by the way.  He played the game really well.  I think he made the wrong pick at the end of it but hey... on the positive we finally stopped punting on Quarterbacks so now I am buckled up and ready for the wild ride with Josh Allen.  Be that to a bust in Buffalo or a bust in Canton.  

[BigBuff423]

Just now, Chuck Wagon said:

 

 

We don't get one of the 4 QBs staying at 12.  Arizona trades up to take Allen, then either Miami takes Rosen or trades the pick to someone else who takes him right before us.

 

I like Darnold more than Allen.  But we traded #21 / Cordy Glenn /  #53 / #56 for Allen.  The Jets traded pick #6 /# 37 / #49 / 2019 2nd (that's likely to be early) for Darnold.   

 

 

 

I get it....I just don't like it. At this point, it's moot. So, I'm not complaining because the Bills got the guy they wanted - and to me, I'm so glad it played out this way where Rosen was available because otherwise the whine-fest that has already been terrible would be much, much worse and Beane would be skewered on this board for taking a passive approach. Now, we know that the Bills did in fact value Allen more and according to Ben Allbright, who was dead-on about the Bills and Allen, said Allen was their #1QB. Take it, fwiw, but that would make sense if they had a trade in place with the Broncos and then had to trade up with Bucs to get him. 

 

Additionally, I've mellowed on the trade because of just how well they did with the rest of the Draft. IMHO, the Bills drilled this Draft to its core. But, time will tell. 

[Chuck Wagon]

12 minutes ago, BigBuff423 said:

 

I get it....I just don't like it. At this point, it's moot. So, I'm not complaining because the Bills got the guy they wanted - and to me, I'm so glad it played out this way where Rosen was available because otherwise the whine-fest that has already been terrible would be much, much worse and Beane would be skewered on this board for taking a passive approach. Now, we know that the Bills did in fact value Allen more and according to Ben Allbright, who was dead-on about the Bills and Allen, said Allen was their #1QB. Take it, fwiw, but that would make sense if they had a trade in place with the Broncos and then had to trade up with Bucs to get him. 

 

Additionally, I've mellowed on the trade because of just how well they did with the rest of the Draft. IMHO, the Bills drilled this Draft to its core. But, time will tell. 

 

 

 

I've come around on Allen because he fits the culture of the team perfectly.  I just don't think Rosen would have been happy here, I worry he could have potentially walked away early or end up with a messy tag/FA situation down the line.  I also think people are underselling the things Allen can do well.  Ultimately I just wanted one of the big 4 QBs.  To accomplish that while also getting a strong 1st in Edmunds and not touching the 2019 picks was my dream scenario.

[Doc]

5 minutes ago, Hapless Bills Fan said:

I hope you're right, but that depends upon a bunch of unknowable factors at this point.

 

Not really.  Dawkins and Ducasse are back and Ducasse (who some have said actually played well last season) will be challenged by Miller, who should benefit from the move away from zone blocking.  Mills is back and also may benefit, and should be challenged by Newhouse, McDermott, and maybe Boettger.  Bodine started for the Bengals all of his 4 seasons there, they made the playoffs his first 2, and reportedly he didn't surrender a sack last year.  He might be challenged by Groy, although they may want Groy to play LG, and he'll be challenged by Teller, who I'm betting is the opening day starter.

[fergie's ire]

1 hour ago, The 9 Isles said:

He is a thin skinned baby that holds grudges. Who cares what that baby says? 

 

Why are we discussing Tom Brady in a Josh Allen thread?

[nucci]

1 hour ago, Magox said:

The word is that the Bills were in a bidding war at 7 with the Cardinals and that they both coveted Allen.   Whether or not you personally like Allen is besides the point and you have to throw out the draft chart if you are going after your franchise QB, specially considering that they were trying to target him at 5.   If you are going after someone at 5 and trading 2 2nds would have been a deal at that slot but now you are still targeting the same guy at 7 and now all of a sudden it's not a good "value"?  That's stupid.

 

They "overpaid" because they were about to lose him to the Cards.  If you believe that you could be getting your franchise QB and you trade away 2 2nds to get him along with a 1st rounder, I would say that is not too much to give up.

Well said