What would you consider a successful draft?

[Rockinon]

I'm less concerned with specific positions.  If the team is improved with better starters or increased depth, mission accomplished.  That's going to be hard to do if you are focused on just a couple of positions. If it just so happens that a couple of weak positions are also improved, then I'd say the draft was not just successful but damn near perfect.

[Formerly Allan in MD]

A stud running back who could play every down if necessary and a cornerback good enough to start.

[TigerJ]

It's going to change from year to year depending on the circumstances of the team.  Buffalo had been mediocre for years , prior to the Beane McDermott regime.  Under those circumstances, you hope for maybe 3 immediate starters.  I would say the average is two starters from your draft.  I'm not sure the Bills can get that this season considering the overall strength of the roster and the lack of a first round pick.   Beane will tell you that Stephon Diggs is his first round pick.  I don't disagree.  If that is true, the Bills already have one starter.  They might not get another one.   It's possible they may get one more starter.  If with their second pick they get a player who has dropped unexpectedly at RB, OT, CB or LB, that player might turn out to be a starter.  Zach Baun, if he drops, might start in Lorenzo Alexander's spot, but given Alexander often stepped out of the lineup in nickel situations, or moved to the defensive line, his role might be less than a usual starter.  If The Bills are lucky and find a real good value at offensive tackle, I could see him starting, and Cody Ford moving inside.  If the Bills pick up a running back like Dobbins, I could see him starting and Singletary moving into a complementary role.  At cornerback, there is very little consensus about ranking them after the top two.  So, if one drops whose skill set fits what McDermott wants him to do, he could end up beating out Levi Wallace/Josh Norman/ EJ Gaines.

 

However, I don't necessarily consider the draft to be a failure if instead of getting a starter, because the veterans play well, the Bills get a strong role player, who might start in the future.  For example, Trevon Diggs has great athleticism to play CB, but he's raw, having been a recent switch from WR.  You might not want him to start, but he can rotate in on occasion as he gains experience and polishes his technique.

Edited April 20, 2020 by TigerJ

[Ethan in Cleveland]

2 hours ago, Thurman#1 said:

Demanding certain positions will likely lead to disappointment. They'll go BPA, particularly early. Positions of need factor into their boards, but they won't be using checklists, nor should they. It's bad draft strategy.

 

I'd hope that maybe 3 - 4 guys would see significant time this year, as backups, platoon guys, etc. If there's a starter, that'd be great, but not so likely, injuries excepted.

 

Two to three years down the road it'd be great to see two and hopefully three guys develop into starters. I'd make that number higher if we had a first-round pick this year. But we don't.

 

 

Allen, Edmunds, Knox, Ford, and Oliver were all need picks. Beane drafts for need as he should.  

They need an Edge, OLB, RB, and competition at back-up QB and P.  My bet is Beane comes away with all those and a DB or two for depth.

[Steve Billieve]

Getting a young proven #1 receiver on a cheap contract.

[Buffalo Boy]

If we got an edge rusher, a bruising RB and another WR, all of whom made meaningful contributions this year, I would be very satisfied.

[ComradeKayAdams]

BPA!! All the way!! But if I wasn't all about the BPA, here is my roster priority list for the Bills:

 

1. north-south power RB upgrade to Gore who can sustain drives by getting those tough between-the-tackle yards and ideally have some homerun speed too.

2. young LDE to replace Lawson, with run-stopping and edge-setting just as important as pass rush ability.

3. zone CB who can fill in due to injuries.

4. ILB to back up Edmunds and play ST.

5. WR with large target radius and ideally some speed and ST potential.

6. OL because you can never have enough quality ones and because Allen must be protected at all times.

 

I can't imagine more than 6 draft picks making Buffalo's roster. It's easily among the very deepest in the league.

[Rockinon]

4 minutes ago, TigerJ said:

It's going to change from year to year depending on the circumstances of the team.  Buffalo had been mediocre for years , prior to the Beane McDermott regime.  Under those circumstances, you hope for maybe 3 immediate starters.  I would say the average is two starters from your draft.  I'm not sure the Bills can get that this season considering the overall strength of the roster and the lack of a first round pick.   Beane will tell you that Stephon Diggs is his first round pick.  I don't disagree.  If that is true, the Bills already have one starter.  They might not get another one.   It's possible they may get one more starter.  If with their second pick they get a player who has dropped unexpectedly at RB, OT, CB or LB, that player might turn out to be a starter.  Zach Baun, if he drops, might start in Lorenzo Alexander's spot, but given Alexander often stepped out of the lineup in nickel situations, or moved to the defensive line, his role might be less than a usual starter.  If The Bills are lucky and find a real good value at offensive tackle, I could see him starting, and Cody Ford moving inside.  If the Bills pick up a running back like Dobbins, I could see him starting and Singletary moving into a complementary role.  At cornerback, there is very little consensus about ranking them after the top two.  So, if one drops whose sill set fits what McDermott wants him to do, he could end up beating out Levi Wallace/Josh Norman/ EJ Gaines.

 

However, I don't necessarily consider the draft to be a failure if instead of getting a starter, because the veterans play well, the Bills get a strong role player, who might start in the future.  For example, Trevon Diggs has great athleticism to play CB, but he's raw, having been a recent switch from WR.  You might not want him to start, but he can rotate in on occasion as he gains experience and polishes his technique.

Nice post. Now to make it a completely perfect draft, you'd not only add a couple of starters, you'd add starters at positions that currently have old guys filling those roles.  The objective is to build a team that consistently is in the playoffs over the next 10 years.  DE is good example. We have 3 DEs over the age of 30. Get one that is good enough to start and add another starter or two, you've basically pulled off a hat trick.  If you did this and added 3 other starters you probably have god-like powers at your disposal.

 

Another thing that keeps teams consistently winning is knowing when to cut your losses. When contracts come up we want to keep our best players of course, but you can't pay everyone top dollar.  There isn't enough money.  Finding quality to replace older talent helps, but sometimes young studs are let go because the contract demands are too much of a drag on the rest of the team.  Consistently finding replacements in the draft is the best way to keep from losing those young studs. Tre comes to mind.  It will be interesting to see how Beane handles this draft because this is basically his most difficult one to date.  I like that he went out and got a proven talent at WR. The price was hefty so now he's really going to be under pressure with the few picks he has left to pull off that hat trick mentioned above.

[Rico]

I have a dream. I see Diggs and Brown being a great 1-2 punch at WR. I see Beasley continuing to be a great safety valve for Josh. And then I see some young WR showing a ton of promise for the future and really helping the team, kinda like an AJ Brown, kinda not like a Duke Williams.

 

My dream continues. I see Motor being a great change-of-pace back and getting a lot more playtime than last year. And I see some young bruiser with breakaway speed starting and getting the majority of the carries.

 

Everything else would just be gravy. In any event, I will defer to the genius Beane.

[Formerly Allan in MD]

37 minutes ago, Steve Billieve said:

Getting a young proven #1 receiver on a cheap contract.

We need a proven #1 receiver?  Where ya been?

[auburnbillsbacker]

A trade for Alvin Kamara.

[OldTimer1960]

1 hour ago, RealKayAdams said:

BPA!! All the way!! But if I wasn't all about the BPA, here is my roster priority list for the Bills:

 

1. north-south power RB upgrade to Gore who can sustain drives by getting those tough between-the-tackle yards and ideally have some homerun speed too.

2. young LDE to replace Lawson, with run-stopping and edge-setting just as important as pass rush ability.

3. zone CB who can fill in due to injuries.

4. ILB to back up Edmunds and play ST.

5. WR with large target radius and ideally some speed and ST potential.

6. OL because you can never have enough quality ones and because Allen must be protected at all times.

 

I can't imagine more than 6 draft picks making Buffalo's roster. It's easily among the very deepest in the league.

I think it will be very surprising if more than 4 picks make the roster.  The Bills’ roster is the best that it has been in a long time, they are picking in the back 1/3 of each round and 3 of their 7 picks are in round 6-7 where you are just hoping to find someone who can play.

Their two 6th rounders and 7th rounders together are not worth a lot of trade value.  In my opinion, those are best bundled in trade to move up in 4th or 5th round for someone who has a chance to make the roster and play some.  If they don’t use those picks to trade up, then hopefully deal them for picks next year - those trades for future picks usually garner returns a round higher than the current year pick.  If they could flip the two 6ths for 2 5ths next year, it would be a coup.

Edited April 19, 2020 by OldTimer1960

[maryland-bills-fan]

5 hours ago, Steve Billieve said:

Getting a young proven #1 receiver on a cheap contract.

To sit on the bench for 3 years

 

7 hours ago, JESSEFEFFER said:

I'd laugh too except the joke is on us now.

You know of course that Joe Biden is a decorated Marine veteran.

[Mark Vader]

10 hours ago, Ethan in Portland said:

A DE, OLB, RB, and a P

And trading away a couple picks for higher picks next year

I don't see how this possible. The majority of our picks are on the lower end of each round. No real value to get higher pick in next year's draft.

[Steve Billieve]

5 hours ago, Formerly Allan in MD said:

We need a proven #1 receiver?  Where ya been?

it was a joke since we traded most of this drafts capital on such receiver

[JESSEFEFFER]

1 hour ago, maryland-bills-fan said:

To sit on the bench for 3 years

 

You know of course that Joe Biden is a decorated Marine veteran.

 

Jim Webb is and he got no run in either party.  

5 hours ago, OldTimer1960 said:

I think it will be very surprising if more than 4 picks make the roster.  The Bills’ roster is the best that it has been in a long time, they are picking in the back 1/3 of each round and 3 of their 7 picks are in round 6-7 where you are just hoping to find someone who can play.

Their two 6th rounders and 7th rounders together are not worth a lot of trade value.  In my opinion, those are best bundled in trade to move up in 4th or 5th round for someone who has a chance to make the roster and play some.  If they don’t use those picks to trade up, then hopefully deal them for picks next year - those trades for future picks usually garner returns a round higher than the current year pick.  If they could flip the two 6ths for 2 5ths next year, it would be a coup.

Or take the bpa, best punter available.  Probably a good chance to be better than Bojo or so I am told.

[flmike]

Still could use a RT... Just sayin'

 

[Estro]

With no 1st round pick, I think you've done a good job if you cone out of this draft with 2 starters by the 2021 season.

 

If you cone away with 3 starters by the '21 season you've hit a homerun.

 

And while I don't think its in Brandon Beavers DNA to do so, I think tgd greatest chance to find 2 or 3 starters in this years draft is to trade down in the 2nd and snag another mid round pick for doing so.

 

I just think the players round 2 through 4 are all very similar.  Id rather have 3 3rd round picjs then a 2 & a 3.....if that makes sense.  

Edited April 20, 2020 by Estro

[Augie]

I expect to win a Super Bowl in this draft. I learned that from Rex.  

 

2 minutes ago, Estro said:

With no 1st round pick, I think you've done a good job if you cone out of this draft with 2 starters by the 2021 season.

 

If you cone away with 3 starters by the '21 season you've hit a homerun.

 

Our first round pick is named Diggs. I’m calling it now, I think he can play!  

 

If we get a good RB and DE and some DB who contributes, I call it a win. 

[CapeBreton]

I will not complain about a single draft pick, we have crushed the last three drafts so we should all trust them. 
 

I just hope we don’t draft a late round QB, that seems like it would be a waste.