Best value picks in Bills history?

[Bob in STL]

Robert James.  UDFA 1969

 

Wall of Fame 

 

Only played a few years but was dominating with 2x All Pro and 3x Pro Bowl. 
 

He was the premier bump-and-run corner;  this style lead the league go to the 5 yard contact rule.   Many that played against him struggled getting off the line and into the pattern.   I think he was a DE in collage at Fisk.  A player that could be a force in todays game.  

[ExiledInIllinois]

5 hours ago, Mij yllek said:

Jason Peters UFA

Read my mind!

[Augie]

1 minute ago, ExiledInIllinois said:

Read my mind!

 

I did. 

 

And it scared me!  😱

 

 

[GoBills808]

46 minutes ago, eball said:

Josh Allen #7. It ain’t close. 

Yup this

[Doc]

Who was the lowest drafted HOF'er?  That's the best value pick.  For UDFA's, it's Jason Peters.  He'll be a HOF'er but most of it was with other teams.

[Albany,n.y.]

3 hours ago, JayBaller10 said:

You mean Andre Reed in the 4th. What I don’t understand (because I was too young to have any interest in football at the time) is that if the Bills were looking for WR help, why didn’t they pick Jerry Rice at #14 instead of CB Derrick Burroughs? I’ve never even heard of that guy. Granted if they picked Rice they probably wouldn’t have selected Andre Reed later, but I think most, if not all, would make that trade in a heartbeat.

Burroughs was a starter at CB before his injury.  The Bills originally had pick 7 but traded down with GB to 14.  They used the extra 2nd round pick from GB to draft WR Chris Burkett ( pick 42) after taking bust OL Mark Traynowicz at 29, with the 1st pick in the 2nd round.  

Edited August 7, 2022 by Albany,n.y.

[Rigotz]

3 pages of comments and nobody has talked about BIG PAT WILLIAMS yet.

 

Undrafted free agent, absolute brick wall. Wish we didn’t let him go to Minny because he continued to be a beast there, just like Winfield.

 

And while we’re in the drought era, can’t believe this man wasn’t mentioned yet either…. FRED JACKSON!

 

Another UDFA who embodied everything good about the team.

Edited August 7, 2022 by Rigotz

[Bob Chandler's Hands]

I love Josh but actually you expect a 7th overall pick to be quite a good player. As a divisive pick (at the time) from Wyoming, he's exceeded expectations even for that lofty draft position for sure. 

But no way in h*ll do you expect your 4th round receiver from Division 2 Kutztown to make the Hall of Fame. That's called serious excess value vs. draft position. 

(not that the college really matters in either case but it certainly adds to the story). 

 

Tom Sestak in the 16th round is probably #2. 

 

Jason Peters, Robert James, and Fred Jackson as UDFA's are amazing but that's a different list. 

[VaMilBill]

7 hours ago, LeGOATski said:

Taron Johnson, rd 4

Ed Wang, rd 5

My favorite matchup was Wang vs Maybin. Someone on here named it the “stoppable force vs the movable

object”. I found that hilarious. 

[Doc Brown]

1 hour ago, Rigotz said:

3 pages of comments and nobody has talked about BIG PAT WILLIAMS yet.

 

Undrafted free agent

I'm guessing that's why on a value picks thread.  Peters, Williams, and Freddie all were great signings.

[BillsShredder83]

Tyler Bass. I get its cool mocking drafting of kickers, but these guys lead their teams in points a lot, and the amount of game winning/losing kicks is crazy.

 

Look no further than almost every playoff game in 1st rd ending on GW/losing kicks, 2nd round was high off the top of my head as well.

[Over 29 years of fanhood]

10 hours ago, LeGOATski said:

Taron Johnson, rd 4

Ed Wang, rd 5

honorable mention to

 

Ross Cockrell Rd4

[Aussie Joe]

Couple of Whaley gems from 2016

 

Cardale Jones Round 4

Kolby Listenbee Round 6

 

Also gave up a Second and two fourths for Reggie Ragland…

 

Times have certainly changed …

 

 

 

 

[Saxum]

16 hours ago, Mij yllek said:

Jason Peters UFA

 

A UFA is not a pick.  He also came with baggage Eugene Parker.

[WhoTom]

I realize that the term "value pick" implies "performance above one's draft slot," but I'd still say Josh at #7 overall was the best value pick. Yes, one would expect a high first-rounder to perform well, but remember that he was the third QB selected and is the only one of those three to still be on the team that drafted him. And given that his presence on the team has attracted free agents like Beas, Diggs, and Miller, not to mention Josh's outstanding field performances, I'd say we've gotten, and will continue to get, amazing value from that pick.

 

 

[Doc]

10 hours ago, Rigotz said:

3 pages of comments and nobody has talked about BIG PAT WILLIAMS yet.

 

Undrafted free agent, absolute brick wall. Wish we didn’t let him go to Minny because he continued to be a beast there, just like Winfield.

 

And while we’re in the drought era, can’t believe this man wasn’t mentioned yet either…. FRED JACKSON!

 

Another UDFA who embodied everything good about the team.

Fred was mentioned, but he wasn't really an UDFA.  More like a street FA signing (thanks to Marv) after his NFLE days were over. 

[machine gun kelly]

16 hours ago, Ethan in Portland said:

With Gabe Davis looking like a solid #2 WR and taken at #128, it got me thinking about best value picks in Bills history. 

 

Andre Reed in the 4th has to be #1 but their are some other interesting names.

 

A quick scan of Bills draft history I found several good to great late round picks:

Matt Milano 5th

Stevie Johnson 7th round

Jay Riemersma 7th

Mark Maddox 9th 

Charles Rome 12th 

Marcus Patton 8th

Carlton Bailey 9th

Howard Ballard 11th 

Mark Pike 7th

 

Who am I missing?

Ethan, first cool thread.  A lot of good choices, but I have recency bias so for me it’s Milano.  We extended him as a steal at $11 mil.  Polian out of the blue a month ago on his radio show stated the Bills defense is remarkably different when Milano is or is not out there.  He stated he still follows the Bills closely and maintains contact with McD in however he can help.  The man is such a class act.

 

On a side note, I don’t how to do polls here, but this would have been a good one.  Ballard is also an amazing grab.  That man was a mountain back when Linemen were not that big.  Small vignette.  One of my jobs (Buffalo News was the main one) between high school and college was pizza delivery guy for Blasdell Pizza.  They used to keep the players back then at the McKinley Park Inn.  I delivered a sheet pizza to Ballard’s room.  I knew who he was when he opened the door, and asked who else is this for?  He said, just me.  Yes Mr Ballard.  He gave me a nice tip and signed the $5 bill tip.  I should’ve kept it, but was a poor kid and probably bought an extra case of Genmy light with my St. Francis buds.

 

Talk about a wall of a man.

[Ethan in Cleveland]

14 minutes ago, machine gun kelly said:

Ethan, first cool thread.  A lot of good choices, but I have recency bias so for me it’s Milano.  We extended him as a steal at $11 mil.  Polian out of the blue a month ago on his radio show stated the Bills defense is remarkably different when Milano is or is not out there.  He stated he still follows the Bills closely and maintains contact with McD in however he can help.  The man is such a class act.

 

On a side note, I don’t how to do polls here, but this would have been a good one.  Ballard is also an amazing grab.  That man was a mountain back when Linemen were not that big.  Small vignette.  One of my jobs (Buffalo News was the main one) between high school and college was pizza delivery guy for Blasdell Pizza.  They used to keep the players back then at the McKinley Park Inn.  I delivered a sheet pizza to Ballard’s room.  I knew who he was when he opened the door, and asked who else is this for?  He said, just me.  Yes Mr Ballard.  He gave me a nice tip and signed the $5 bill tip.  I should’ve kept it, but was a poor kid and probably bought an extra case of Genmy light with my St. Francis buds.

 

Talk about a wall of a man.

Very cool story. I don't have any outside of football interactions with Bills' players stories.  But I have several with Ohio State players before they went into NFL and a great Jim Harbaugh in Amsterdam story!

 

Full disclosure I thought about a poll but there were just too many names to list...

[Saxum]

13 hours ago, John from Riverside said:

If running back Jackson is not on the list it’s not a list

 

Fred Jackson was an UDFA from Marv Levy's college and does not go on THIS list.

[jaybee]

Although short lived, I thought Nickel Roby was a decent UFA while he was here.