No starters from the draft? Not exactly true.

[TC in St. Louis]

I hear a lot about how the Bills are building for the future, and that nobody from this year will start.  I agree with the first half of that.  However, I do believe that you'll see Rousseau and Basham on the field as part of the rotation.  They're super talented athletes that excelled playing college football.  They'll play.  They're about 10 years younger than Addison and Hughes.  I also thought that Epenesa had some pretty good plays last year, and expect them to find his correct weight and put him in quite a bit.  

 

I believe that Stevenson will be our kick returner.  However, in college he was a punt catcher like Chris Watson.  He had four punt catches for zero yards. 

 

I heard some dude on a podcast criticizing the Bills for taking Brown and Doyle because they played for smaller schools.  In the next breath he suggested they should have taken Meinerz.....from a Division III school....and he didn't play at all last year.  Look at their tape.  Doesn't matter where they played.  They knocked guys on their butt.  That's what good linemen do.  They are great athletes.

 

I wanted them to draft Wildgoose because 1) Love the name.  2)  Badgers fan.  

 

I also believe that the kid from Pitt will play a lot.

 

What do I know?  Not much more or less than anybody on this board.  Still a fan of Rondale Moore.  

[BigAl2526]

I don't expect any starters right away on offense or defense from this draft.  That doesn't particularly bother me.  Had a top 5 corner dropped to Buffalo in round 1, that was really the only shot at an immediate starter.  It is more a sign of the strength of the roster than of poor drafting.  As you point out, there are immediate special team starters.  Stevenson is all but penciled in as our return specialist. The defensive ends are all about finding future starters, though I wouldn't be at all surprised to see "Boogie" Basham starting at left defensive end before the end of the season.  Rousseau will get plenty of reps in rotation with Jerry Hughes.  

[scuba guy]

As others have said bean is looking to the future and not doing stop gaps like the bills of old used to do. 

Sign your own guys to longer deals 

Be true to your draft

Develop your draft guys with great coaching and help from your core older guys the coach likes to keep around.

 

A brotherhood will get out into the league fast enough and free agents will ask to come here because:

 

A) we got your back 

B) we would like to be a  contender for years to come.

 

F) yes on paper the other teams look to have gotten better but train them right and in years to come who will have the better team

[BigAl2526]

Charles Davis from the NFL Network said he talked with five offensive line coaches, and every one of them named Brown as the rookie offensive lineman they wanted to coach.  He has the most athletic profile for an offensive tackle in the last two decades.  I think he's close to a guarantee to start for Buffalo as soon as the salary of Dawkins or Williams becomes a liability for Buffalo.  I could see Beane trading either one of them for a second round pick and more in a year or two so Brown can start.

[T master]

I think Basham could be put into the rotation sooner than Rosseau just because he has a lot more playing time & Rosseau opted out last year so they may want to bring him up to speed as far as on the field a bit slower .

 

I have also heard that Brown is the kind of guy that if he gets on the field he will be hard to take him back off because he is a quick learner for one & he's just a really good player so i think some of those that were resigned this year could be in for a rude awakening if these young guys get a chance .

 

I think Addison could be a casualty due to the youth movement and i can't wait to see how the O line turns out it should be a very interesting preseason !! 

[Hapless Bills Fan]

40 minutes ago, TC in St. Louis said:

I hear a lot about how the Bills are building for the future, and that nobody from this year will start.  I agree with the first half of that.  However, I do believe that you'll see Rousseau and Basham on the field as part of the rotation.  They're super talented athletes that excelled playing college football.  They'll play.  They're about 10 years younger than Addison and Hughes.  I also thought that Epenesa had some pretty good plays last year, and expect them to find his correct weight and put him in quite a bit.  

 

I believe that Stevenson will be our kick returner.  However, in college he was a punt catcher like Chris Watson.  He had four punt catches for zero yards. 

 

I heard some dude on a podcast criticizing the Bills for taking Brown and Doyle because they played for smaller schools.  In the next breath he suggested they should have taken Meinerz.....from a Division III school....and he didn't play at all last year.  Look at their tape.  Doesn't matter where they played.  They knocked guys on their butt.  That's what good linemen do.  They are great athletes.

 

I wanted them to draft Wildgoose because 1) Love the name.  2)  Badgers fan.  

 

I also believe that the kid from Pitt will play a lot.

 

What do I know?  Not much more or less than anybody on this board.  Still a fan of Rondale Moore.  

 

Good post, but just to point out...."no starters" and your first para are not contradictory.  I believe you're right that we'll see Rousseau and Basham on the field this season if they "get" the defense...but they won't be the starters.

 

People are nuts on podcasts and stuff.  You called it...."why did they draft those small school guys because small school DI guys....no wait, they should have drafted this other smaller school DIII guy!"

 

We'll see about the kid from Pitt ..... replacing Dean Marlowe as our backup safety is one of our gaps.  But "a lot"?  Poyer and Hyde have been (knock wood) quite durable.  Where do you see him playing a lot?

[TC in St. Louis]

28 minutes ago, Hapless Bills Fan said:

 

Good post, but just to point out...."no starters" and your first para are not contradictory.  I believe you're right that we'll see Rousseau and Basham on the field this season if they "get" the defense...but they won't be the starters.

 

People are nuts on podcasts and stuff.  You called it...."why did they draft those small school guys because small school DI guys....no wait, they should have drafted this other smaller school DIII guy!"

 

We'll see about the kid from Pitt ..... replacing Dean Marlowe as our backup safety is one of our gaps.  But "a lot"?  Poyer and Hyde have been (knock wood) quite durable.  Where do you see him playing a lot?

I see him taking over the Marlowe role.  Backup safety; third guy in.  Also, I think he'll play special teams.  Apparently he is a good tackler.  

[BillsVet]

It's not revolutionary for teams that are good to use the draft for what Buffalo did this year.  Identify players with high reward potential who'll likely be in a rotation.

 

What's not going to work is using the draft for need or, when your roster is thin at multiple positions, going BPA with an eye on those rookies starting.

 

I'd rather be in the first scenario.  The second is what (poorly) rebuilding clubs do year in year out...kinda like Buffalo circa 2005-2016.

[Einstein's Dog]

They don't need starters for this to be a successful draft.  From an economic standpoint good rotational Dlineman have been running the Bills around $8 mill apiece (T Murphy/Jefferson/Addison/Butler).  Getting rookie contracts in for those expenses makes a lot of sense.

 

Compare that to Najee.  Heard on the telecast that at his draft position he was getting something around $3m which put him at the 19th highest paid RB.  That's not much of a value.  You think Pitt would have known better, I think they are trending downward now.

[Mat68]

I think Rousseau starts.  Too big and talented not to imo.  

[TheFunPolice]

Beane made a good point on WGR this morning...

 

Guys rotate in all the time, so these rookies are going to see playing time if they make the roster. Especially the swing tackle. He's almost certainly going to see some action, especially in a 17 game regular season. DE's are constantly rotating. CBs always get dinged up a bit. 

 

Even if they don't start, they will play and contribute meaningful snaps to the team this year. 

[Saxum]

1 hour ago, Hapless Bills Fan said:

We'll see about the kid from Pitt ..... replacing Dean Marlowe as our backup safety is one of our gaps.  But "a lot"?  Poyer and Hyde have been (knock wood) quite durable.  Where do you see him playing a lot?

 

Dean Marlowe had 4 starts and 2 interceptions with 22% of snaps on defense and 48% of snaps on special teams.  

Very significant impact which will not be replaced with a rookie.

I think like Zo Bills will need to replace with multiple players and hopefully more successfully.

[BillsFan130]

11 minutes ago, Mat68 said:

I think Rousseau starts.  Too big and talented not to imo.  

He's pretty raw though.

 

Maybe at the end of the year if all things go really well, but Even then I think that's a bit optimistic.

 

I think he will have the espenasa role from last year

[Inigo Montoya]

2 hours ago, TC in St. Louis said:

I hear a lot about how the Bills are building for the future, and that nobody from this year will start.  I agree with the first half of that.  However, I do believe that you'll see Rousseau and Basham on the field as part of the rotation.  They're super talented athletes that excelled playing college football.  They'll play.  They're about 10 years younger than Addison and Hughes.  I also thought that Epenesa had some pretty good plays last year, and expect them to find his correct weight and put him in quite a bit.  

 

I believe that Stevenson will be our kick returner.  However, in college he was a punt catcher like Chris Watson.  He had four punt catches for zero yards. 

 

I heard some dude on a podcast criticizing the Bills for taking Brown and Doyle because they played for smaller schools.  In the next breath he suggested they should have taken Meinerz.....from a Division III school....and he didn't play at all last year.  Look at their tape.  Doesn't matter where they played.  They knocked guys on their butt.  That's what good linemen do.  They are great athletes.

 

I wanted them to draft Wildgoose because 1) Love the name.  2)  Badgers fan.  

 

I also believe that the kid from Pitt will play a lot.

 

What do I know?  Not much more or less than anybody on this board.  Still a fan of Rondale Moore.  

 

I think Rousseau and Boogie will both get some play from the start too.  Epenesa didn't get on the field initially last season but I think a big part of that was the lack of a preseason for him to learn his role.  This year's camp and preseason may not be completely back to normal, but they should be much better than last years.  

 

I'm excited to see what Boogie and Oliver can do lined up on either side of Star this season.  If we can get push up the middle that should make the entire defense better.

[Mr. WEO]

Some of these guys may start later in the season as injury replacements. Otherwise some snaps perhaps in a rotation in game.  

[Mat68]

19 minutes ago, BillsFan130 said:

He's pretty raw though.

 

Maybe at the end of the year if all things go really well, but Even then I think that's a bit optimistic.

 

I think he will have the espenasa role from last year

They need size upfront.  I think Mcdermott like him and will do what they have done with all of his first rd picks.  Allen, Edmunds, Oliver all raw but played.

[Ethan in Cleveland]

Starters is meaningless on the DL. Its a rotation. The rookies should get plenty of snaps.

[JimmyNoodles]

I would expect the Rouseau and Basham to get snaps in rotation.  They'll probably build toward the end of the year.  If by playoff time, they show some serious rush abilities, this years draft will be a resounding success.  Until then, I really like Epenesa as the guy who will make an impact in the sack department during the regular season.  He has good technique and just needs continuing reps at his new weight.  Hopefully Hughes won't fall off a cliff with production and Oliver can step up.  If all the stars align we could be pretty good on d-line.  If not, we'll have to wait one more offseason to get a stud pass rusher.      

[Miyagi-Do Karate]

3 hours ago, Mat68 said:

I think Rousseau starts.  Too big and talented not to imo.  

i agree. The whole “he is raw” thing is going to be overblown. They specifically liked him because of his instincts of getting to the QB. I think that goes a long way to getting on the field and getting snaps. 

[mushypeaches]

Every year, I become a bigger fan of Beane's team building strategy

 

Free Agency is to plug immediate holes and find plug & play starters and high snap count rotation players

 

Draft is for development, depth, and future backfills

 

Obviously there are some exceptions, especially in the first round of the draft, but this is exactly how you build a sustainable, competitive roster.

 

Once you begin to "need" the draft to find multiple starters each year, it means that your current talent isn't performing or you're top-heavy vs the cap

 

I enjoy not being in that boat any longer