GunnerBill Posted April 27, 2020 Posted April 27, 2020 Sorry I am a day late on this folks. I felt like I needed a rest after the draft and focussed on other things for the most part yesterday. But here is my debrief of day 3. The Bills picks... No trades! The Bills stood pat with their 5 picks on day 3, although Brandon Beane in his very frank post draft presser admitted they came close to trading twice.... once to go up and once to move down. As for the players they picked.... Gabriel Davis is a guy that just produces. He isn't going to blow you away with testing numbers and he is still a developmental type player at the NFL level but he is a guy who throughout his college career just found a way to make plays. I liken him in a sense to Tee Higgins who we know the Bills looked very closely at for the 22nd pick before trading for Stefon Diggs. He isn't quite as talented as Higgins but similar style of player, a downfield, vertical threat who high points the football and catches everything that hits his hands. He also played special teams in college and as a guy who will likely be a backup / rotational player early on offense I am convinced he has a big role to play on the Bills special teams units. He was the #12 BPA by my board when the Bills selected him. Then the big shock to us all... a Quarterback! I think Jake Fromm is a career backup at the NFL level and people might question why he was selected here, but I am from the school that says even when you have a Quarterback you never stop picking Quarterbacks. I had a late 4th / early 5th on Fromm and I can understand the feeling that the value was too good to pass on for a guy who plays the game's most important position. I know nothing about the kicker..... @Blokestradamus is the Brit who loves kickers.... and I wouldn't want to rob him of that crown. I will just say if you are drafting a guy in the 6th round he better have at least a 50/50 shot of winning the job. I think privately that is the wish of Beane and McDermott. They would save $2.5m against the cap from cutting Hauschka and their nervousness late last season about him trying anything over 50 yards is telling. I am not as high on Isaiah Hodgins as some here but he is a smooth route runner (I worry about some who is so smooth and still struggles to separate) and he is a redzone weapon but I'm not sure how much value he gives them before the redzone. My instinct is he could fill the roll Justin Hunter filled that year (was it with Rex?) where he basically only caught touchdowns. And finally Dane Jackson. You should pick a corner somewhere in the draft every year in my view and while I didn't fully evaluate Jackson I have seen enough of him to think he is good value in the 7th round. It is strange you kind of become attached to the names on your board... so when a pick is announced that is not on your board it sort of washes over you. Therefore I just expected Jackson had gone and it was a pleasant surprise when his name was called. He can play outside despite not being the biggest but he would be a sticky slot guy as well. I reckon he will do a bit of both for the Bills. He has a shot to make the 53. My overall conclusion from the 7 picks the Bills made is we got: 2 guys who play significant rotational snaps as rookies and could end up long term as starters (Epenesa and Moss); 1 guy who is a developmental player that will backup but be a special team demon in year 1 (Davis); 1 guy who could be a long term backup at the game's most important position (Fromm); and 3 guys who despite being picked in the final two rounds have a better than 50/50 shot of cracking the final roster (Bass, Hodgins and Jackson). The UDFAs The relatively small UDFA class of 8 guys is probably testament to the fact this is seen as a hard roster to crack. Trey Adams was the guy of these most expected to be drafted and has the most name value but with Dawkins, Ford, Williams and Nsekhe ahead of him he has a hard job to make the team. Reggie Gilliam the H back, hybrid full back or tight end is probably the guy with the best long term prognosis, especially as Patrick DiMarco is a free agent after the 2020 season, but even he faces an uphill struggle to make the roster this year. Other noteable moves I had Baltimore and Indy as the big winners through two days and they both continued to draft sensibly, but I absolutely loved the Cowboys draft overall. They got a playmaker in the 1st round, they upgraded at corner in round two and then rounds three through 5 they stole value with Gallimore, Biadasz and Anae. They ended up with FIVE of my top 32 graded players in this draft. As more of their stars get paid it is even more vital Dallas drafts well. This was a home run. The Vikings were the other big day 3 winners in my mind. Troy Dye was a sensational value pick and James Lynch isn't a physical prototype but he is non-stop hustle and Mike Zimmer will find a way to use that. The other pickup that caught my eye was Tyler Johnson going to the Buccs. He is a reliable, dependable and highly productive receiver coming out of Minnesota who will be a good NFL big slot. Put him in that offense with Brady under centre, Gronk, Godwin and Evans around him? He could put up big numbers even as a rookie. And then there were EIGHT... Just like last year I ended up with 8 guys I'd graded as draftable (out of a total of 144 in the end this year) who went undrafted. Here is where they ended up as UDFAs (and yes, it appears Joe Douglas and Brett Veach stole my draft board!!): 1. Darryl Williams, C, Mississippi State - KANSAS CITY CHIEFS (he will make the roster - book it) 2. Hunter Bryant, TE, Washington - DETROIT LIONS 3. Bryce Huff, DE, Memphis - NEW YORK JETS 4. Yasir Durant, OT, Missouri - KANSAS CITY CHIEFS 5. Lamar Jackson, CB, Nebraska - NEW YORK JETS 6. Raequan Williams, DT, Michigan State - PHILADELPHIA EAGLES 7. Trey Adams, OT, Washington - BUFFALO BILLS 8. Shyheim Carter, S, Alabama - NEW YORK JETS There were also three other guys I mentioned in my "sleepers" post a couple of weeks back who I hadn't watched enough of to fully evaluate and put on the board but who I liked as late round picks - James Morgan, the Florida International QB who was drafted by (you guessed it!) the New York Jets, Adrian Killins a lightening fast scat back out of UCF who signed as an UDFA with the Eagles and Juwan Johnson a big, but unrefined, physical receiver out of Oregon who joined the Saints as an UDFA and if he can stay healthy I think will crack that 53. Good luck to all of those guys in their respective camps - even the ones in Gang Green - because they all deserve a shot at playing in this league. And that, ladies and gentlemen...... is a wrap. Until next year! ☺️ 4 1
yungmack Posted April 27, 2020 Posted April 27, 2020 Nice analysis. I'm much higher on Hodgins than you are but who knows, eh?
John from Riverside Posted April 27, 2020 Posted April 27, 2020 This is the lowest we have drafted in a while because.....well now we are good Still found a way to improve the team especially offensively. Regarding the WR's....I think it is more then a big deal that we just didnt have any size to throw to in the red zone last year (Duke starts at 3 quarter mark of the year and immediately scores a touchdown) To me this is a extremely big deal
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