Draft Ratings after 13 ??????????

[nucci]

2 hours ago, LondonBill said:

What would you fellas rate our rookies out of 10 this year after 13 games? 
 

Curious

I'm not sure!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Nephilim17]

5 minutes ago, The Jokeman said:

ST to replace Matekivich. 

Third-round pick for special teams? If correct, that's not good value in my books. Should've went o-line or outside WR that high.

[NickelCity]

Not enough questions marks for my taste.

[Ethan in Cleveland]

A little disappointed in Elam but he should be fine in the long run. 

Cook. Meh. Not super fast and doesn't run hard. Don't see 2nd round talent there but its early.

Bernard - hated the pick then and hate it now. True waste of a pick. Any WR or OL in the 3rd round would have been a better choice.

Shakir - doesn't seem quick enough to be your full time slot guy. Looks like a 4th WR that can split time inside and out.  Decent depth guy.

Benford - surprise late round gem who hopefully starts at safety next year or 2024

[boyst]

elam - 5/10- lacks basics in ability to tackle and take proper angles. has talent and conceptual grasp of game and schemes but is not playing to potential by any means

cook  - 6/10 - can't block, can't pass protect, runs poor pass routes and struggling with hands. has good speed, which is a point because it's uncoachable but for a team that passes a lot he needs to contribute on those aspects if he wants to be in the game without giving away the play.

bernard - 4/10 - shouldn't expect a rookie linebacker to hit the ground running here in this scheme

shakir - 5/10 - has potential...waiting on it while needing on it is frustrating.

Araiza - 10/10 - the dude needs to be signed.

Benford - 6.5/10 - hit the ground running in a complex scheme that he had familiarity with at Nova. Solid depth CB and contributor for a while, we hope.

Tenuta - NA

[Pasaluki]

It's too early to truly grade because the draft hinges on how good Elam is or becomes.

 

Right now I'd say the fact he isn't getting reps is a bad sign. 

 

Cook has talent as a runner but is a major liability at blocking. 

 

Bernard is just a guy. 

 

Shakir made a huge play against Kansas City and should be eating into McKenzie's snaps but... isn't

 

Araiza isn't on the team

 

Benford looks like their best pick so far.

 

Tenuta isn't on the team.

 

It's early but very few standout players who are making an early impact that's for sure. 

[Gunsgoodtime]

3 hours ago, Rigotz said:

I would rate them "too early to rate"

 

Kaiir Elam: looked good at times, but made rookie mistakes

James Cook: Looked good at times, but made rookie mistakes

Terrel Bernard: Barely played

Khalil Shakir: Barely played

Matt Araiza: Gone

Christian Benford: Probably a diamond in the rough?

Luke Tenuta: Gone

 

Not a good look honestly. Blows my mind how we have one if the best qbs in the league and we continue to spew huge draft capital and free agent money on the defense, and not protecting or giving our best asset suitable weapons.  They are terrible outside if Diggs, Morris, and Dawkins

[Brand J]

Bernard is not “slow” or unathletic. He had a high RAS score coming out, despite his tweener size. He may he playing slower than his timed speed right now because he’s not completely sure what he’s doing. Those who think too much play slower.

[ticketssince61]

The future is unknown, but to this point we have gotten almost zero benefit from the draft.

 

 

 

[Rigotz]

16 minutes ago, Gunsgoodtime said:

Not a good look honestly. Blows my mind how we have one if the best qbs in the league and we continue to spew huge draft capital and free agent money on the defense, and not protecting or giving our best asset suitable weapons.  They are terrible outside if Diggs, Morris, and Dawkins

This could just as easily be said about KC or Green Bay

[bigK14094]

I thought Tunuta signed on wi somebody elses practice squad.

[Gunsgoodtime]

7 minutes ago, Rigotz said:

This could just as easily be said about KC or Green Bay

Green Bay maybe, disagree with KC.  They tried to bring in the best online they could and used higher picks on offense than the Bills

[JGMcD2]

4 hours ago, SCBills said:

Bringing rookies along slowly is fine … but when you’re paying a QB, those rookie contracts are gold.  

Good thing the contracts are 4 (and in some cases 5 years). It doesn't HAVE to happen in their first season, especially when you have other capable veteran players in place. 

 

They're allowed to emerge over time and produce more value... 

[Alphadawg7]

4 hours ago, LondonBill said:

You’re right of course. But we all rate them before they’ve put on a shirt. It’s just a game - one of speculation. Nobody is going to actually going to review you at work for your response 

 

so far I’d go

 

elam - 7 looks fine. Not a standout first round choice yet. 

cook - 9 - a real player there 

Bernard - 4 - I want this one to work *so* much but it will take a while 

Shakir - 9 - I think he’ll be a star 

punt god - 0 - don’t rape women - also was punting so key to our game?  

benford - 8 - decent pick 

tenuta - 0 - waste when you see what an undrafted rookie did at the w/e 

 

This is not my draft grade per se, its way too early to know the draft grade on these guys.  These grades are more about balancing their draft value on draft night, potential, and contributions thus far.  

 

Elam - 7 - He has shown promise and played well when we needed him.  Injuries and return of Tre have him not playing right now, but I think that will start to change as the season continues.  

 

Cook - 7 - I almost gave him a 6, but given he is at least earning more trust from the coaches bumped him up one more point.  Still high on this kids future, but right now he is still not seeing the field fast enough.  He leaves a lot of yards on the field every week not seeing holes, cut back lanes, etc.  He is certainly improving, but he still needs to hit the hole faster and has a tendency to go down too easy.  Again, still high on him, just grading how he has performed YTD on the season.

 

Bernard - 5 - Not had a lot of opportunities, but he has done some positive things when given a chance while also still having plenty to work on.  

 

Shakir - 7.5 - I am probably one of the biggest supporters and believers in Shakir, I was very high on him going into the draft thinking he would go 2nd or 3rd round.  Getting him in the 5th was a great value, easily give that a grade of 9 just on that.  But while he has flashed in a game or two, he hasn't found a role yet on this team.  So the grade needs to reflect both his value in the 5th round and what he has shown us so far.  So I met in the middle and went with a 7.5 as I have his draft value at a 9 and on field work as a 6.  

 

Punt God - 0...N/A

 

Benford - 8.5 - I am giving him an 8.5 here because his value returned vs his draft slot has been very lopsided.  He really helped us get through a slew of injuries and helped us win games.  

 

Tenuta - 0 - He has had no value to this team that I can think of.  

 

All in all, I think its been a promising draft so far with a lot of potential still to come.  I think guys like Elam, Cook, and Shakir are going to keep growing into very good players for this team.  

[RyanC883]

4 hours ago, SCBills said:

James Cook looks like he will be the starting RB next year.   He’s good.  
 

Kaiir Elam has looked good in his moments but can’t get on the field for whatever reason.  I like his potential as CB2 opposite White moving forward into the ‘23 season. 
 

Christian Benford, whether at CB or S looks like legit depth with the upside of average - above average starter.  
 

Terrel Bernard, who knows.  Nobody understood the pick when they made it, and when they inevitably extend Edmunds, it will make even less sense.  Not sure what he is, or will be, in the future. 

Khalil Shakir shows promise that he will compete for starting slot next year.  Like Elam, he’s shown he can do some things but isn’t really utilized much. 
 

All in all… 3 strong picks for the future in Cook, Elam and Benford.  One potentially strong pick in Shakir.  One ::shrugs:: in Bernard. 
 

As of now though.. they’re not doing much of anything to help us.  
 

Bringing rookies along slowly is fine … but when you’re paying a QB, those rookie contracts are gold.  

 

I think Bernard will be the main backup for Edmunds/Milano assuming Edmunds stays.  That backup role has played a lot the past few seasons.   

 

I still don't know if we can afford him next season and Oliver, while we likely need to find OL help in FA.  

46 minutes ago, ticketssince61 said:

The future is unknown, but to this point we have gotten almost zero benefit from the draft.

 

 

 

 

surprised you didn't get flamed here, but you're not totally wrong.  We haven't had anyone make an instant impact in terms of making an "all rookie team", then again, we are deep at a lot of positions and were drafting later.  We have had a lot of contributions, however, from almost all the picks.  It just depends on how you view "benefit."  The depth from the draft (Elam, Benford) kept us afloat while 1/2 the secondary was out early in the season, so I'd say that was a big benefit.    

[Airseven]

3 hours ago, Matt_In_NH said:

Ask in two years.  Same idea….let’s evaluate the 2020 draft now.  

 

 

NFL rookies often have immediate impact. Evaluation now is fair.

 

Elam C-

Cook C+

Bernard D

Shakir C

Araiza N/A

Benford B-

Tenuta F

Spector D

[Ethan in Cleveland]

5 hours ago, boyst said:

elam - 5/10- lacks basics in ability to tackle and take proper angles. has talent and conceptual grasp of game and schemes but is not playing to potential by any means

cook  - 6/10 - can't block, can't pass protect, runs poor pass routes and struggling with hands. has good speed, which is a point because it's uncoachable but for a team that passes a lot he needs to contribute on those aspects if he wants to be in the game without giving away the play.

bernard - 4/10 - shouldn't expect a rookie linebacker to hit the ground running here in this scheme

shakir - 5/10 - has potential...waiting on it while needing on it is frustrating.

Araiza - 10/10 - the dude needs to be signed.

Benford - 6.5/10 - hit the ground running in a complex scheme that he had familiarity with at Nova. Solid depth CB and contributor for a while, we hope.

Tenuta - NA

Milano and Edmunds have started ever since they were rookies.  Bernard is just awful.  

[gjv]

From afar, Cook doesn't appear to be acclimated to the NFL. 

[Buffalo716]

6 hours ago, Bruffalo said:

Getting new players in the system involved is probably my biggest complaint about McDermott.  It takes him way too long to slot in players and it makes evaluating rookie talent almost impossible.  

 

Elam has looked decent, but have no idea what the future holds. 

 

Cook: Currently it feels like he's a wasted pick with the touch count.  He hasn't been used as the pass catching RB we thought he can be at all.  Again, I chalk this up to McD though.  It's the reason guys like Blackshear are getting snatched up while we held onto guys like Zack Moss.

 

Bernard: I hated the pick at the time, and I still don't like it.  I'm sure he's a high character guy but it's becoming so apparent that the Bills can't let go of Edmunds. 

 

Shakir: Who knows? Could be good, could be nothing.

 

Araiza: No comment.

 

Benford: Best pick considering the value.

 

Might as well stop talking about the draft after that.  

 

Blackshear averages 3.8 ypc… He isn’t some diamond in the rough.. he’s a replaceable jag

 

Singletary , cook and Hines are all better 

 

 

[boyst]

1 hour ago, Ethan in Cleveland said:

Milano and Edmunds have started ever since they were rookies.  Bernard is just awful.  

Different profile of them. We got lucky on Milano sliding. Bernard was a reach. Andre Smith and Dobson were good depth w klein