Bills 2021 Draft - Overall Assessment

[John from Riverside]

2 minutes ago, Turk71 said:

B-  Hopefully I'll think it is a lot better in a couple years. Basically every pick is a project. I'm not sure if any of them contribute much this year. The DEs will rotate in for some opportunities I'm sure, but that's about it. 

Actually, they did not address the run blocking issues at all. Who among the draft picks will contribute this year?  Doyle's weakness is poor run blocking. Brown is also a better pass protector than run blocker. The Bills tackles were fine last year anyway and these new tackles are not for this year, they were drafted for their freaky potential down the road. 

  The Doyle choice is the real puzzler to me. Another project tackle like the one you just took the pick before. There was good talent still available and I very highly doubt he was BPA on anyone's board at that moment. I'm not saying they made a bad choice, just puzzling. These guys are far from infallible but they definitely deserve the benefit of the doubt after what they've accomplished so far. I am cautiously optimistic.

  This could turn out to be an amazing draft, obviously only time will tell.

The starting unit from last year didnt even play together because of injury......lets start there.

 

Better pass blocker's then run blockers?   Shouldnt that be what we are looking for given the amount of pass we do vs run?

 

Brown is gonna suprise I think....that guy has great feet and is incred strong

[Aussie Joe]

3 minutes ago, delirious said:

My only disappointment from this draft is that we're so far heading into 2021 season with Star and Harrison Phillips at 1 tech. I wish they would have spent 1 pick on a big 1 tech. 

 

Assuming they must be confident that Star’s return to the team will be seamless..

 

[loveorhatembillsfan4life]

20 minutes ago, Meatloaf63 said:

We had a top 3 offense and the defense let us down in the AFC Championship so what are you talking about?

I think Beane did what he needed to do this draft on the defensive side of the Ball. I’m excited to see what the new guys bring to the table.

 

This is a big year for Knox and Devin. Despite being a top three offense is it the lack of a home run hitter in the backfield that is asking Josh to throw 40 plus times a game. I’m sure there is some correlation between our Wr being so beat up by the final game and the amount of throwing.  Josh carried a lot in his shoulders this season. He was pretty much our running threat. 
 

I realize tight ends just don’t turn into stars so I’ll give him this year. But Knox needs to become a better blocker asap and a reliable outlet for Josh.

 

To me these two areas are the remaining question marks and could dictate how this season plays out. 
 

Lets hope improved line blocking helps out with some of this! 

Edited May 1, 2021 by loveorhatembillsfan4life

[Rk_Bills86]

I think this has to be penciled in as a B- on initial viewing. When we revisit this in 3 years we'll know if it was an A or D in reality.

 

At the end of the day - the draft shows that we have utter confidence in our ability to coach up talent and are looking ahead to eventually have replacements for aging starters. It's also super hard to gauge this draft since it's the first time we didn't have a glaring hole.

 

2 DE's to hopefully replace aging vets.

3 OL's to be heir apparent and frankly you can't teach size.

1 CB to add to our competition, and frankly the Bills have been good at finding starter talent in later rounds here.

1 S because we're having our starters begin to age out.

1 WR that's a speed/return option in an already crowded position room

 

Did I want other players? Sure. Recent draft history says I should probably trust these picks and coaching up by the team.

[NewEra]

5 minutes ago, SCBills said:

I don’t know if I’m considered a complainer, but I think the ones of us who may/may not fall into that category are simply saying why this draft is a B, and not an A.   
 

The C or lower graders seem to be few and far in-between.  
 

I gave us a B, with a retroactive grading clause that if drafting 2 DE’s knocks Addison off this team, it’s a revised A. 
 

I just would’ve loved Elijah Moore AND Marquez Stevenson.  Etienne wasn’t available and after Pitts, there were no Tight End upgrades.  Diggs-Moore-Beasley-Sanders-Davis-Stevenson would’ve been disgusting, and our WR room would be set for years with Stevenson as WR6/KR/PR. 

It would cost us 3.5M MORE on the cap if we cut him.  There should be zero chance we cut him considering our current cap situation.

 

I’m with you though.....I think he stinks and wish he were cut

Edited May 1, 2021 by NewEra

[WideNine]

2 minutes ago, SCBills said:

I don’t know if I’m considered a complainer, but I think the ones of us who may/may not fall into that category are simply saying why this draft is a B, and not an A.   
 

The C or lower graders seem to be few and far in-between.  
 

I gave us a B, with a retroactive grading clause that if drafting 2 DE’s knocks Addison off this team, it’s a revised A. 
 

I just would’ve loved Elijah Moore AND Marquez Stevenson.  Etienne wasn’t available and after Pitts, there were no Tight End upgrades.  Diggs-Moore-Beasley-Sanders-Davis-Stevenson would’ve been disgusting, and our WR room would be set for years with Stevenson as WR6/KR/PR. 

 

That's where I am at.

 

Not chicken little with the sky is falling, but thinking that if 3-4 of these picks contribute it is a solid draft. 

 

Perhaps we are getting spoiled looking for team needs that can get us over post-season obstacles. I can remember when the only mantra was what do we have to do and what players do we have to bring in to get past NE. 

 

Not quite ready for indiscriminate ball-washing, but hard not to thank the good Lord for the FO we now have.

 

 

 

 

[Doc]

4 minutes ago, NewEra said:

It would cost us 3.5M MORE on the cap if we cut him.  There should be zero chance we cut him considering our current cap situation.

 

I’m with you though.....I think he stinks and wish he were cut

 

Not if it's done after June 1st.  But if they cut him, it will have been a mistake not to do it before adjusting his contract. 

Edited May 1, 2021 by Doc

[Logic]

6 minutes ago, delirious said:

My only disappointment from this draft is that we're so far heading into 2021 season with Star and Harrison Phillips at 1 tech. I wish they would have spent 1 pick on a big 1 tech. 

 

I agree here.

Clearly, they feel Star and Harry can do the job this year. I'm not sure I agree. Star's been away from football for a year and is getting older, and Harry didn't show enough last year to make me feel confident that he'll be appreciably better this year.

If there's only one thing I would have added to this draft, it would have been a legit 1T prospect.

[ghostwriter]

1 minute ago, NewEra said:

And what about next year?  This draft is all about the future.  Every player we drafted will be a back up this year.  What’s the difference if it’s a backup 1T?  Our other 1Ts stink

Well, even the top 1Ts didn’t go till much later in the draft. Keep in mind that we have two on the roster already. Is Ed Oliver not the future? We have Star for two more years, Horrible Harry came on strong towards the end of the year. I think we keep an extra end this year and focus on pass rush. Josh will put up points, pass rush matters more.

[stinky finger]

1 hour ago, Process said:

I should add, singing Sherman and/or trading for Ertz would make me feel better about what they did in the draft.

 

Well - of course. The draft is just part of team building. 

[Ta111]

33 minutes ago, nucci said:

How old are you? I'm not criticizing you or this draft and you can't know how the players will turn out but I've been around a long time and seen more exciting drafts

You are confusing “exciting” with competent. 

[Rigotz]

C

 

I love the idea of drafting Defensive Ends and anyone who can effect the QB. However, this was the wrong draft to do it. There was less talent this year at DE than any other draft I can remember.

 

I love the idea of drafting O-Line to protect Josh.

However, we have a Left Tackle and Right Tackle locked in for the next several years already. Sure, maybe Darryl gets optioned out after 1 year, but is that really a better move than finding a way to replace Morse? He’s just as expensive. How about a better LG or RG? I would think those are certainly weaker positions both short term and long term.

 

We got decent value for the picks, which keeps this as a C, but we could have done so much more this year.

[NewEra]

3 minutes ago, Doc said:

 

Not if it's done after June 1st.  But if they cut him, it will have been a mistake not to do it before adjusting his contract. 

Thanks for correcting me.  Any idea how much, if any, we save by cutting him post June 1?

[WideNine]

1 minute ago, Victory Formation said:

Well, even the top 1Ts didn’t go till much later in the draft. Keep in mind that we have two on the roster already. Is Ed Oliver not the future? We have Star for two more years, Horrible Harry came on strong towards the end of the year. I think we keep an extra end this year and focus on pass rush. Josh will put up points, pass rush matters more.

 

We missed not having a pick in the 4th, but considering that is when the bulk of the 1T prospects went, one could argue that the class itself was pretty weak.

 

If we roll with Star in the rotation with what we have we will still be better than last year. I will be pleased as punch if we "pants" NE again and show improvement against the run and stopping TE's. I am excited to see how some of these trees we drafted start to develop.

 

 

 

 

[Warcodered]

11 minutes ago, Turk71 said:

B-  Hopefully I'll think it is a lot better in a couple years. Basically every pick is a project. I'm not sure if any of them contribute much this year. The DEs will rotate in for some opportunities I'm sure, but that's about it. 

Actually, they did not address the run blocking issues at all. Who among the draft picks will contribute this year?  Doyle's weakness is poor run blocking. Brown is also a better pass protector than run blocker. The Bills tackles were fine last year anyway and these new tackles are not for this year, they were drafted for their freaky potential down the road. 

  The Doyle choice is the real puzzler to me. Another project tackle like the one you just took the pick before. There was good talent still available and I very highly doubt he was BPA on anyone's board at that moment. I'm not saying they made a bad choice, just puzzling. These guys are far from infallible but they definitely deserve the benefit of the doubt after what they've accomplished so far. I am cautiously optimistic.

  This could turn out to be an amazing draft, obviously only time will tell.

Wasn't one of those OTs from a primarily run scheme that would need more experience pass blocking?

[loveorhatembillsfan4life]

When do they exercise Josh’s option? I saw a bunch done today with other teams.. 

[GreggTX]

I like the focus on the trenches, but no CB until round 6 doesn't begin to address the problem there. I just hope Beane has another move up his sleeve. We are in very serious trouble if Trae'Davious goes down. As our CB2, Wallace is well below average for a starting NFL CB and it's downhill from there. I don't know that I expect this rookie class to do much for us for another year or so.

[Turk71]

11 minutes ago, John from Riverside said:

The starting unit from last year didnt even play together because of injury......lets start there.

 

Better pass blocker's then run blockers?   Shouldnt that be what we are looking for given the amount of pass we do vs run?

 

Brown is gonna suprise I think....that guy has great feet and is incred strong

I agree. You said they addressed the lack of run blocking twice over(an obvious reference to the 2 draftees I assumed) I'm merely pointing out that those new guys will most likely not be helping the run game this year. The Bills run blocking was bottom of the league and I think it's mostly wishful thinking to think it will improve significantly with the same personnel. If they stay healthy and play as a unit they will improve but at some point you have to improve the talent level. I'm hoping for the best but I'm not gonna kid myself that the line got better for this year. That's been the wish every year and every year it continues to be a weakness.

 A lot can happen between now and September and maybe it all clicks by then. If these DEs both become good pros that alone would make this a good draft. Go Bills!

[Rocket94]

I especially like the picks of Rousseau and Basham. The Bills are reinforcing the DL with young and talented players to keep this process going, and they are nice counter moves to a suddenly improved AFCE. I believe that Espenesa will be heard from as well. 

[Doc]

4 minutes ago, NewEra said:

Thanks for correcting me.  Any idea how much, if any, we save by cutting him post June 1?

 

Actually it would cost just $500K to cut him pre-June 1st.  It would save $1.4M after.