Matt Araiza and the Draft

[RyanC883]

Just now, Mr. WEO said:

Punter won’t change anything 

 

better field position, offense has to drive longer to score.   Gives the D, esp the playmaking  secondary more time to make a play. 

[jkeerie]

7 minutes ago, LABILLBACKER said:

We basically lost the Steeler game because of Haack. And in week 17 Haack had punts of 28, 22 & 7, while the Jets punter averaged 50 yards. This Araiza kid is supposed to be pretty amazing. I realize you can use the argument that our offense is so good, do we really need a great punter?  A 4th might be a little rich but if he's there in the early 5th, I'd grab him.  We're moving on from Haack and you can train Araiza to hold Bass's kicks.  If Bass got hurt, Araiza can also kick fgs. 

Oh I agree we need a solid punter.  I just wouldn't draft one with a midround pick.  

[Motor26]

Take a punter in round 6 or 7. There will be good ones available.

[ControllerOfPlanetX]

Draft 3 punters and let them battle it out in training camp....competition is a good thing.

[LABILLBACKER]

16 minutes ago, jkeerie said:

Oh I agree we need a solid punter.  I just wouldn't draft one with a midround pick.  

How many 5th round picks actually even make the team. This guy could be a 10 year Moorman type investment. 

[Turbo44]

GA guy might be the better prospect. Do what we did with our PK, invest one of our 6’s in a punter 

[BillsShredder83]

I'm willing to separate with up to a 5th IFFFF Beane is convinced he'd be a 10-15yr guy of winning field position. We easily could've lost 2 to 3 games based on punting. A 5th is a lotto pick, nice to have but I'll take the sure thing if it's there. If we need the extra pick we can always find a way to get it back, but it's house $ when you have a roster this well built

Edited March 3, 2022 by BillsShredder83

[jkeerie]

12 minutes ago, LABILLBACKER said:

How many 5th round picks actually even make the team. This guy could be a 10 year Moorman type investment. 

Actually Beane has done well in the 5th round...Matt Milano, Siran Neal, Wyatt Teller, Tommy Doyle.  He got Bass in the 6th.

[HappyDays]

There's a supposed "generational punter" in every draft. No thanks. A 6th or a 7th on a punter, sure. People are projecting this guy to get drafted as high as the 4th. That's insane. Any team that drafts a punter in the 4th round deserves to see him utilized as much as possible.

[NewEra]

Punter?  HELL NO.   Offense and more offense.  Go for it on every 4th.  No punts 

[HomeTeam]

Thank you for sharing. First time exposed to that prospect, and what a talent he is. He has an absolute canon of a leg, can kick fieldgoals, can tackle and wait for it... he's left footed! Wow!

 

That being said, I'm in agreement with some posters here that I would not want to draft a punter/kicker before the 6th round. Especially in this draft, since it's so deep, given so many players electing to stay an extra year. 

[Ed_Formerly_of_Roch]

2 hours ago, KingBoots8 said:

So, we obviously have a few needs to address like lost teams in the draft. With where we are picking, it’ll likely be the 3rd or 4th best player in their respective position in Round 1. We have a few players on Defense who were early picks and have been rotational in our system, which I am fine with as they get acclimated to the NFL.

 

That being said, Punter is a definite need for this team. Haack certainly had some ugly punts this year, and while I don’t think we will or should address punter in round 1, it does beg the question on where we could potentially select him.

 

This isn’t just some kid with a decent leg- he’s the holder of multiple NCAA record and has an average of over 50 yards per punt. He’s a legitimate generational talent at his position, and could significantly help the special teams in pinning back our opponents. 
 

If we were to go for him, what round do you feel comfortable taking him, and so you think he will last that long?

 

I’d be totally fine in round 4 if he lasts that long, or moving a few late rounders to get back into the end of round 3

 

Hows the field goal kicker(s) done there at his school?  To me holding is just as important, infact maybe even more important than the punting part of the job.  IMO there are more missed field goals every year than there are punts returned for TD's or even longer than 30 yard returns.  With the Bills as prolific as their offense is, to me the holding part again trumps the punting part of the job.

 

Admittedly for a college punter holding is likely a difficult thing to evaluate as he may have held for 3 different kickers, some of which may not have been very good.  So was it him or the kicker?

[BADOLBILZ]

1 hour ago, JimmyNoodles said:

IMO 6th round is the earliest you look at punters/kickers unless you’re the Raiders. 

 

 

Buffalo selecting non-football player TJ Graham 69th overall and Jacksonville selecting punter Bryan Anger 70th...........with Russell Wilson still on the board(he went 75th).........might be the dumbest consecutive draft picks in NFL history.

 

 

Edited March 3, 2022 by BADOLBILZ

[CapeBreton]

2 hours ago, Riverboat Ritchie said:

 

What kind of freak is this guy? There were a few punts in there that were jaw dropping.

 

I like that he can kick field goals too, would be nice to have in a pinch. We played Carolina this year and their kicker got injured in warmup and they had nobody that could even attempt a field goal. 
 

Haack is going to be cut, I’d be happy with guy in round 5 if we don’t sign anyone else in free agency. 

[mannc]

1 hour ago, BADOLBILZ said:

 

 

Buffalo selecting non-football player TJ Graham 69th overall and Jacksonville selecting punter Bryan Anger 70th...........with Russell Wilson still on the board(he went 75th).........might be the dumbest consecutive draft picks in NFL history.

 

 

At least Anger is still in the league…I think he actually had a really good season too…more than we can say for TJ…

[BADOLBILZ]

4 minutes ago, mannc said:

At least Anger is still in the league…I think he actually had a really good season too…more than we can say for TJ…

 

 

I should HOPE that a punter picked in the 3rd round is still in the league..........even if he's with his 4th or 5th team.

 

Just an utterly idiotic series of draft picks............picking a punter in the 3rd round is effectively punting that pick. 

[LABILLBACKER]

3 hours ago, jkeerie said:

Actually Beane has done well in the 5th round...Matt Milano, Siran Neal, Wyatt Teller, Tommy Doyle.  He got Bass in the 6th.

Well this guy won't be around in the 6th so you either do it or you don't. 

[TheBrownBear]

Kid is a great athlete for a punter.  He's fast like Moorman and could be a weapon via fakes.  He kicks it an absolute mile.  And he can kick field goals in a pinch should something ever happen to Bass.  I'd be willing to use a 4th on him if that's the way our board falls.

[Thurman#1]

4 hours ago, LABILLBACKER said:

How many 5th round picks actually even make the team. This guy could be a 10 year Moorman type investment. 

 

 

Yeah, a 5th is about where I would start thinking about it. If we miss him because he goes between our 4th and 5th round picks, I shrug my shoulders and get a punter somewhere else.

 

Yeah, Haack was bad. Doesn't make it reasonable to pretend it's Araiza vs. Haack. Haack won't be here next year and there are a hell of a lot of other options than Araiza to replace him.

 

 

[Thurman#1]

6 hours ago, KingBoots8 said:

I’d be totally fine in round 4 if he lasts that long, or moving a few late rounders to get back into the end of round 3

 

 

 

We've only had two 4th round picks in the last four years.

 

They are Gabriel Davis and Taron Johnson, two guys who will be important roster members for years.

 

No way do I use a 4th.

 

 

6 hours ago, KingBoots8 said:

Normally I would agree, but for an immediate impact player I would absolutely do it. Day 1 starter. I’d rather have him than a potential PS player waiting to make a start 3/4 of the way into the season

 

No reason whatsoever to think that a 4th rounder would be "a potential PS player waiting to make a start 3/4 of the way into the season."

 

Taron Johnson saw 405 snaps his rookie year. He had 45 snaps and a pass defensed in week 3, 70 snaps a forced fumble and a QB hit in week 4, an INT in week 5 ...

 

Davis by "3/4 of the way into the season his rookie year" had 5 TDs, more than 400 yards and almost 30 catches.