Execs Unfiltered On All 32 Draft Classes

[Brand J]

New article from The Athletic, nothing groundbreaking regarding the Bills:

 

Quote

“Buffalo definitely needed someone instead of Levi Wallace to go opposite Tre’Davious White,” an exec said.

The Bills also could have been competing with the Chiefs for pass-rush help if they had not signed Von Miller to a six-year, $120 million deal in free agency. Buffalo in recent years has invested early picks in pass-rushers Greg Rousseau, A.J. Epenesa and Boogie Basham without stellar results. Kansas City used the 30th pick this year for Purdue pass-rusher George Karlaftis.

“What Buffalo did signing Von Miller was the same thing Howie Roseman did in Philly, where he said, ‘Let’s just get A.J. Brown so I don’t have to be labeled as the guy who can’t evaluate receivers,'” an exec said. “Buffalo definitely could be in better shape if those pass-rushers they drafted were better. By signing Von and not drafting pass-rushers, you are hoping one of those guys develops so you can say, ‘See, they just needed time and patience.'”

Buffalo waited until 50 picks after Baltimore selected a punter at 130 to select one of its own in San Diego State’s Matt Araiza.

“A lefty punter that can boom it in the swirling winds and inclement weather is a turnover waiting to happen up there,” an exec said.

Well, maybe except for the implication Beane doesn’t know how to evaluate the trenches. Slow news day.

Article

 

[NewEra]

Great insights 🙄 

[MiltonWaddams]

Terrible. That's a giant pile of "No ***** Sherlock!"

[eball]

I haven’t read the whole thing yet but the Baltimore stuff was interesting. In a nutshell, execs opined that Baltimore gets the benefit of the doubt but this was an odd draft with who they selected (and didn’t select).

[OldTimer1960]

39 minutes ago, JayBaller10 said:

New article from The Athletic, nothing groundbreaking regarding the Bills:

 

Well, maybe except for the implication Beane doesn’t know how to evaluate the trenches. Slow news day.

Article

 

Rousseau was picked 30th in round 1 and Epenesa and Basham were late 2nd round picks.  Shocking that they haven’t been as good as a top 10 pick DE…

[Sestak4ever]

Need to be patient with our picks, especially defensive linemen. Hughes never panned out for the Colts. We definitely benefited from their impatience.

[Paup 1995MVP]

9 minutes ago, OldTimer1960 said:

Rousseau was picked 30th in round 1 and Epenesa and Basham were late 2nd round picks.  Shocking that they haven’t been as good as a top 10 pick DE…

Lets hope at least two out of the three become solid contributors.  None of them are overly twitchy with special athletic qualities.  Although I think Rousseau has some solid upside.  Basham plays hard-for whatever that's worth.  Epenesa has looked mediocre so far.  Hopefully he figures it out in year 3.

[sirebors]

29 minutes ago, OldTimer1960 said:

Rousseau was picked 30th in round 1 and Epenesa and Basham were late 2nd round picks.  Shocking that they haven’t been as good as a top 10 pick DE…

 

There are zero Pro Bowl players that were picked after Rousseau was picked 30th and hence also zero Pro Bowl players after Basham was picked at 61.

 

There are 2 Pro Bowl players that were picked after Epenesa was picked at 54.  They are OG Jonah Jackson at 75 and WR Devin Devurnay at 92. No defensive linemen or pass rushers. 

 

Like you stated, it's not easy finding quality pass rushers out of the top 10.

[NoSaint]

17 minutes ago, sirebors said:

 

There are zero Pro Bowl players that were picked after Rousseau was picked 30th and hence also zero Pro Bowl players after Basham was picked at 61.

 

There are 2 Pro Bowl players that were picked after Epenesa was picked at 54.  They are OG Jonah Jackson at 75 and WR Devin Devurnay at 92. No defensive linemen or pass rushers. 

 

Like you stated, it's not easy finding quality pass rushers out of the top 10.

its not

 

 

but using a 1 and two 2s to is like investing the value of a pick in the teens. Having 3 guys the hope would be 1 breaks out to be a solid starter. If we added another pass rusher in the first this year it would be a viable question to ask if we aren’t evaluating the talent well if none of them broke out. 

[34-78-83]

Who's the "exec" that is literally laughing/mocking the idea that players actually develop? Esp late 1st rounders and 2nd rounders. Dude needs to shut up and look within maybe :). This is why there are perpetually poor organizations (hell ,we were one for quite some time aye?) in a league that drives everyone to the median.

[Billl]

1 hour ago, OldTimer1960 said:

Rousseau was picked 30th in round 1 and Epenesa and Basham were late 2nd round picks.  Shocking that they haven’t been as good as a top 10 pick DE…

Do you feel like they’ve lived up to their draft slots so far?

[muppy]

1 hour ago, JayBaller10 said:

New article from The Athletic, nothing groundbreaking regarding the Bills:

 

Well, maybe except for the implication Beane doesn’t know how to evaluate the trenches. Slow news day.

Article

 

yeah find ANY reason to rag on arguably the best GM in the business. So he missed on the Cody Ford pick. Is that his supposed red badge of shame that he drafted him?

 

Phooey. NO draft pick is a 100% lock. These pundits bore me.  My mom would call that picking the fly ***** out of black pepper. I'll take Him over any GM . Im sure Im preaching to the choir here....I dont ready many folks here at 2bd dogging Brandon Beane all that hard.

 

m

[SCBills]

Is Oweh a bust?  Seems weird to make that comment regarding a late 1st in Rousseau and a 2nd in Basham. 
 

If people want to make judgments about Epenesa, valid.. but it’s way too early for the other two. 

[DrDawkinstein]

12 minutes ago, Billl said:

Do you feel like they’ve lived up to their draft slots so far?

 

Pretty much, yes. Late 1st, and two Late 2nds. Epenesa gets a 1 year pass from me since he was a rookie during COVID when there were no rookie camps or OTAs. We'll see how he looks this year tho.

 

Rousseau had flashes last year and was pretty solid. I dont see many players in Boogie's range that had any big impacts of their own. Maybe the Creed Humphrey pick a lot of us wanted, but that's about the only one.

 

Bills fans need to get used to the fact that all this winning completely changes the draft for us. Picking so late basically gives us "early picks" for the next round.

 

So yeah. So far, so good. With more improvement and development expected.

[BigAl2526]

None of the defensive ends Buffalo has drafted recently have elite speed and quickness, but that's no surprise given where they have been picking, and the need to address other shortcomings.  I haven't given up on any of them, but their success is going to have to come from strength and technique rather than the aforementioned speed, quickness and bend around the edge.  I think it's just going to take a little time for those young guys to enjoy the kind of success that a Joey Bosa might have out of the gates of his pro career.

[All I Need is Hope]

Not sure you could expect much better from the 30th pick, Rousseau, as a first-year edge.

 

39 solo, 4 sacks, 1 ff, 1 interception... strong edge setter and relentless.  Agree, not overly twitchy or bendy, but impacts games.

 

 

[Billl]

1 minute ago, All I Need is Hope said:

Not sure you could expect much better from the 30th pick, Rousseau, as a first-year edge.

 

39 solo, 4 sacks, 1 ff, 1 interception... strong edge setter and relentless.  Agree, not overly twitchy or bendy, but impacts games.

 

 

I think he’s going to be a very good player for a long time.  I just don’t see it with Epenesa nor Basham, and I really liked both coming out of the draft.

[Allen2D̶i̶g̶g̶s̶TBD]

4 minutes ago, Billl said:

I think he’s going to be a very good player for a long time.  I just don’t see it with Epenesa nor Basham, and I really liked both coming out of the draft.

Epenesa has shown very little except for that one preseason rep where he absolutely destroyed the OT on his way to hit the qb.

 

I thought Basham showed some promise last year. He did manage 3 sacks in the regular season despite very little playing time (only one less that Rousseau) plus one more in the postseason. He isn't explosive, but he can be a solid part of the rotation.

[K-9]

Hack article. It’s as if they think that the books on Epenesa, Rousseau, and Basham have been written. Sorry, but you can’t judge these guys definitively before their third seasons. For crissakes, they are late first and second round picks. Was anyone expecting immediate Myles Garrett-like level of play out of them? 

[transplantbillsfan]

The analysis for all the other teams are actually interesting.  This write-up for Buffalo is so boring.