The Worst Bills Draft Picks of the 2010’s

[BillyWhiteShows]

Let’s look back to past Bills drafts and find which picks set the team back.  Below are my thoughts:

 

Sammy Watkins 2014  (R1, #4) - this move really hurt the Bills.  Sammy was good when healthy but it’s fair to say he was far from the “generational talent” Doug Whaley claimed.  A foolish trade which crippled the team.

 

EJ Manuel 2013 (R1, #16) - This was a bad pick, not because EJ turned out to be a bad QB, but because he was not projected as a Round 1 QB.  Buddy Nix’s poor management of the QB position forced him to draft a QB in a terrible QB draft.  However he didn’t have to take EJ in Round 1.  He could have waited till Round 3 or 4 and Manuel still would have been there.  Basically Nix and Whaley drafted a QB with a Round 3 grade in the 1st round.  Waste of a pick.

 

CJ Spiller 2010 (R1, #9) - CJ showed some great flashes and had 1 great year but it was not enough to live up anywhere near his top 10 selection.  Also in 2010 the Bills has Marshawn Lynch and Freddy Jackson on the roster.  There was no need to draft a RB that high.  A foolish pick by Buddy who could’ve been influenced by Ralph Wilson (who reportedly loved drafting running backs)

 

Torell Troupe (R2, #41). Terrible terrible terrible selection by Buddy.  Not only passing on homegrown Rob Gronkowski but drafting a player with injury issues who has an unproductive NFL career.

 

These are a few high picks...let’s hear your selections.

[Steve Billieve]

For me its gotta be EJ. You never know what's going to happen, but you know when you overreach.

[BillsfaninSB]

Cautionary tale for this year.   Maybin.  #11 in 2009. 

Edited April 24, 2019 by BillsfaninSB

[Steve Billieve]

There's a lot of quarterbacks we didn't draft, and its hard to believe EJ didn't play a role in that.

[Ethan in Cleveland]

Nathan Peterman. Close the thread.

[15k-#25]

Look at the 2014 draft, it was loaded. Could of had any of the following at nine, Beckham, Donald, Cooks, Mosley the list goes on. I’d say Watkins was the worst in recent history. 

 

[mannc]

17 minutes ago, Steve Billieve said:

For me its gotta be EJ. You never know what's going to happen, but you know when you overreach.

Can’t get too upset about EJ.  It was a horrible draft year and even worse for QBs.  And at least we traded down and got the guy who we traded for Shady.

[artmalibu]

 

Reggie Ragland, 2nd round pick and did not play at all, or serve as a backup.  

[mannc]

I nominate Dareus, even though he was a good player for a couple seasons, he was the third overall pick in one of the most loaded drafts of all time.  Tragic.

Edited April 24, 2019 by mannc

[BruceVilanch]

The amount of top tier talent we passed over for Sammy makes him take it for me, especially considering the trade. 

[BillsFan17]

37 minutes ago, BillsfaninSB said:

Cautionary tale for this year.   Maybin.  #11 in 2009. 

So in turn, every player that has ever busted is a cautionary tale for pretty much every archetype. Well played.

[DallasMac]

You could probably do this for every year but being a Texas alum taking Maybin over Orakpo was a miss.  Even though Orakpo never became a big star.  I really wanted Evans when we drafted Sammy and it wouldn't have cost nearly as much to trade up.  Hated the Ej pick.  Didn't really like the Cj pick because of who we currently had but if you look at that draft there really weren't a lot of good players taken.  I wanted Bulaga but the thought was you don't take a RT that high.  Dareus stings because I remember seeing Von Miller wearing a Bills hat at the Senior bowl and wanted him on the team so badly.  Unfortunately Denver made the right choice.  

[metzelaars_lives]

1 hour ago, Ethan in Portland said:

Nathan Peterman. Close the thread.

Nathan Peterman turned out to be a bad pro.  Nathan Peterman was a perfectly fine fifth round pick at the time.  The thread shall remain open.

[MJS]

EJ because we did it for all the wrong reasons. Buddy wanted to retire but publicly promised he wouldn't until he got a franchise QB. So that meant taking a QB in that draft no matter what. It turned out to be one of the worst QB drafts in many years, but they had their mind made up. So even trading down to get him, it was a big reach.

[metzelaars_lives]

Watkins was as can't miss a prospect as you will ever see.  Especially after seeing the Juilo Jones trade up work out the way it did, it made some sense at the time.  

 

Manuel was a perfectly fine pick at the time.  That was the worst draft ever (literally, not hyperbole).  They needed a QB.  You tell me who else they should've taken there.  Plus they traded back to get him and picked up another second rounder in the process.  And I nearly got run off this website for being so adamantly anti-EJ Manuel.

 

Maybin was bad but not absurd.  They should've taken Orakpo but whatever.  He was gonna go in the next couple picks regardless.

 

There are two answers: 

 

Torell Troup over Gronkowski and TJ Graham over Russell Wilson.  Both were instances where guys at positions of need who should've been drafted way earlier, magically fell right into our lap and we instead took guys who should've gone multiple rounds later.  They were both completely INSANE draft picks at the time and, suffice it to say, look even worse now.

 

Now you may close the thread.

Edited April 24, 2019 by metzelaars_lives

[mannc]

9 minutes ago, metzelaars_lives said:

Watkins was as can't miss a prospect as you will ever see.  Especially after seeing the Juilo Jones trade up work out the way it did, it made some sense at the time.  

 

Manuel was a perfectly fine pick at the time.  That was the worst draft ever (literally, not hyperbole).  They needed a QB.  You tell me who else they should've taken there.  Plus they traded back to get him and picked up another second rounder.

 

Maybin was bad but not absurd.  They should've taken Orakpo but whatever.

 

There are two answers: 

 

Torrell Troup over Gronkowski and TJ Graham over Russell Wilson.  Both were instances where guys at positions of need who should've been drafted way earlier, magically fell right into our lap and we instead took guys who should've gone multiple rounds later.  They were completely inexcusable draft picks and cost us dearly.

 

Now you may close the thread.

Agreed...close it.  Dareus deserves a mention, though.

[Albany,n.y.]

Manuel: Virtually everyone on the planet except Nix & Whaley knew the class of 2013 was the worst QB class since 2007, but instead of resisting the urge and waiting another year the dynamic duo of Nix & Whaley had to take a QB.  It doesn't matter if they got a #2 for trading down, they blew the pick by taking a QB, period.  No QB was worthy of a 1st round grade.  Ironically, Matt Barkley, our current backup was in that draft.  

[Steve Billieve]

2 hours ago, mannc said:

Can’t get too upset about EJ.  It was a horrible draft year and even worse for QBs.  And at least we traded down and got the guy who we traded for Shady.

 

I guess it all depends on where you think EJ would have realistically gotten taken if not for us.  If that's the second then maybe, but if it's the third you're just screwing yourself twice, and if its the 4th . . . then the description might offend my delicate sensibilities.

IIRC the compensation made it seem like we initiated the trade.

Edited April 24, 2019 by Steve Billieve

[metzelaars_lives]

1 hour ago, mannc said:

Agreed...close it.  Dareus deserves a mention, though.

100 out of 100 GM's would've taken Dareus there.  He was a monster prospect.  In fact, I'd venture to guess that 70 out of 100 GM's would've taken Dareus over Miller at 2.  You have to go by how much sense the pick made at the time.  For instance, Ryan Leaf was a great pick by the Chargers.  So was Mike Williams (our Mike Williams).

28 minutes ago, Steve Billieve said:

 

I guess it all depends on where you think EJ would have realistically gotten taken if not for us.  If that's the second then maybe, but if it's the third you're just screwing yourself twice, and if its the 4th . . . then the description might offend my delicate sensibilities.

IIRC the compensation made it seem like we initiated the trade.

That draft is such an outlier because it was so bad.  A guy projected to be a decent RT went first overall.  I refuse to hold it against the Bills for taking a swing there. 

[GunnerBill]

1 hour ago, metzelaars_lives said:

Nathan Peterman turned out to be a bad pro.  Nathan Peterman was a perfectly fine fifth round pick at the time.  The thread shall remain open.

 

No he wasn't. 

 

Also, to the OP I want to know how Sammy crippled the team? Yes we spent two first on him but we also went 9-7, 8-8, 7-9 in his three years then traded him for a 2nd and EJ Gaines - a move that helped us to another 9-7 and then helped us get Tremaine Edmunds who might help us win lots more games in future. 

 

Was Sammy a good use of two firsts? No. But I don't see how he crippled the team. 

39 minutes ago, Steve Billieve said:

 

I guess it all depends on where you think EJ would have realistically gotten taken if not for us.  If that's the second then maybe, but if it's the third you're just screwing yourself twice, and if its the 4th . . . then the description might offend my delicate sensibilities.

IIRC the compensation made it seem like we initiated the trade.

 

The story was Chip Kelly wanted to take him in the 2nd. We will never know of course but when you look at what a total mess Chip Kelly made when he got personnel control in Philly it is believable. 

Edited April 24, 2019 by GunnerBill