Gonna throw this out there and then duck lol. Pass rush.

[machine gun kelly]

My thought is we may be picking 31st or 32nd.  If this is the case I’m hopeful we can trade up to get a stud WR  at our first pick.  Guards after.  As long as Mitch is ok, we have our Tackles and Center.  
 

We upgrade our G’s and a WR, we also might look for depth at Safety.  D Line is more about extending a bunch of our current guys.  I like our crew.  They were the glue when we for the first time had secondary injury issues.

[Straight Hucklebuck]

27 minutes ago, Warriorspikes51 said:

 

Agreed. Sign or Trade for an impactful WR AND Draft a WR in Round 1.  

Diggs

______  Impactful WR via Sign/Trade
______  1st Round WR
Davis
Shakir
McKenzie
 

I like this approach at WR.

 

I think the team is coming to the end of the road with McKenzie, Kumerow, Crowder. 
 

I still think Davis is an important piece to the team, but I am still onboard with 1st Round WR. Skill/speed/size is a must add, in that order.

 

In a traditional team building mode, I’d think #2 TE would be a target, but Tight End in this offense is not targeted high enough to warrant top investment in another, i.e. Mike Mayer from ND for example. 
 

I think coaching is going to have to take place of more investment in the defense in high value areas.

 

Bills are going to have to get more out of Elam, Rousseau, Basham and Epenesa and Oliver. Those are all top flight assets. Coach them up, improve the off-season workout planning. 

 

But this team has been mediocre on the OLine at LG, RG, RT for years, and Morse concussion history factors in as well. 
 

Interior OLine and we’ll need better than Quesenberry and Doyle at OT. 

 

 

[TheBeaneBandit]

Don't be surprised if a DT is picked in the 3rd or 4th round to take Phillips spot and understudy for Jones. All this stuff will depend on value=need of course. You can sometimes score a DJ Reader type DT in that range who just needs a year or two of seasoning.

Edited January 12, 2023 by TheBeaneBandit

[whorlnut]

1 minute ago, TheBeaneBandit said:

Don't be surprised if a DT is picked in the 3rd or 4th round to take Phillips spot and understudy for Jones. All this stuff will depend on value=need of course. You can sometimes score a DJ Reader type DT in that range who just needs a year or two of seasoning.

I could definitely see this and wouldn’t mind as long as the offense is addressed in 1 and 2. 

[TheBeaneBandit]

Just now, whorlnut said:

I could definitely see this and wouldn’t mind as long as the offense is addressed in 1 and 2. 

Same. I'm pretty much offense in the first two rounds unless a blue chip defender had some crazy slide. But barring that it's time for an anti Aaron Rodgers approach here lol

[Peace Frog]

When we draft 32nd in the first round, I'd say the best OG or C available.  We have to protect 17 and won't find great value for an OT. Plus, OG needs an upgrade and/or 60 is one concussion away from retiring.

[MrEpsYtown]

48 minutes ago, whorlnut said:

So you would spend a first round pick on a DE to cover for Von the first half of the season?  Sorry…that philosophy seems way off to me. Meanwhile…Davis has been a huge disappointment and there isn’t anyone behind him as a boundary receiver. That’s more of a need than a fill-in DE IMO. 

 

BPA is what I am saying. And it's early but BPA is going to be a defensive player at the end of the first this year. What position that might be is debatable, but the OL isn't there and the good WR will be gone imo. To me, having little pass rush for 8 games is the poor plan. It's going to be the Tre white situation all over again. 

[Ethan in Cleveland]

No way for next year. Groot is developing nicely. 

They need WR, OL, and probably safety. And that is if Edmunds stays.

Honestly I'd be happy if they just brought back Lawson and Hughes to go with Basham, Miller, and Groot. Epenesa is gone. Maybe get a 7th round pick for him but probably not even that. They probably give Basham another year but he's closer to a bust than he is a contributor at this point. 

Another veteran pass rusher besides Hughes would be fine. But next year's draft had better be a minimum of 4 if not 6 offensive players.

[whorlnut]

3 minutes ago, MrEpsYtown said:

 

BPA is what I am saying. And it's early but BPA is going to be a defensive player at the end of the first this year. What position that might be is debatable, but the OL isn't there and the good WR will be gone imo. To me, having little pass rush for 8 games is the poor plan. It's going to be the Tre white situation all over again. 

It’s early, but you “know” BPA is going to be defense?  This is very contradicting. 

[EasternOHBillsFan]

Offensive line is THE biggest need in 2023... Mitch will probably retire and we have serviceable guys but most are BY NO MEANS suited as starters.

[whorlnut]

3 minutes ago, Ethan in Cleveland said:

No way for next year. Groot is developing nicely. 

They need WR, OL, and probably safety. And that is if Edmunds stays.

Honestly I'd be happy if they just brought back Lawson and Hughes to go with Basham, Miller, and Groot. Epenesa is gone. Maybe get a 7th round pick for him but probably not even that. They probably give Basham another year but he's closer to a bust than he is a contributor at this point. 

Another veteran pass rusher besides Hughes would be fine. But next year's draft had better be a minimum of 4 if not 6 offensive players.

Well we only have 6 picks, and I can guarantee they won’t all be spent on offense. 

[DabillsDaBillsDaBills]

7 minutes ago, John from Riverside said:

I don’t think that beane is a cross your fingers and hope type of guy

 

I would be happy with fourth round picks for guys like basham at this point

 

That's fair enough. I think this will be a very challenging offseason for Beane. With Allen's contract kicking in we're already over the 2023 cap with only 39 active roster players. 

 

We have 4 basic routes for the pass rush 

 

1) Free Agency - this would require a ton of contract restructuring to bring in a difference maker. Particularly if we keep Edmunds and/or Poyer. 

2) Draft - can we really afford to allocate more draft capital to the defense? Our offense has been neglected for years and is bad outside of Allen/Diggs. If we replace those 2 guys with league average players this would easily be a bottom 10 offense

3) Trade? - this is a tough option. We don't have extra draft capital and I don't want to trade any of our quality players. Getting mid round picks for our rotational guys isn't going to move the needle in obtaining a quality pass rusher. 

4) Stand pat and hope Von Miller returns at 100% and/or other guys currently on the roster (IE Basham, Epenesa) improve. 

 

Personally I'm leaning option 4, but it does depend on who is available at our draft picks. I'd like to see our draft picks heavily weighted towards O-Line or WR but if there's a fantastic pass rusher there we should pick that guy. I don't think anyone would complain if we draft another Groot late in the 1st.

 

[TheBeaneBandit]

21 minutes ago, Peace Frog said:

When we draft 32nd in the first round, I'd say the best OG or C available.  We have to protect 17 and won't find great value for an OT. Plus, OG needs an upgrade and/or 60 is one concussion away from retiring.

All the interior guys rated in that range are not scheme fits for the Bills. They are power scheme guys not the zone or pin and pull that the Bills favor.

[Freddie's Dead]

2 hours ago, ScottLaw said:

Line and WR… IMO another WR across from Diggs is the #1 priority. 

 

For me, OL is #1, WR is #2.

[TheBeaneBandit]

2 hours ago, whorlnut said:

Here is my argument for WR in 1. There likely will be someone there that is worth the value…if not, trade back to the top of 2 if another team wants to jump to get a player on the fifth year option. Where do a lot of the top WRs go?  Either in the first or early second round.
 

Guys like Tee Higgins, AJ Brown, Michael Thomas all went early 2. The point is…once our second round pick comes around, we might not have anyone to choose from. Early 2 seems to be the sweet spot for top offensive players that fell out of 1.  I’d hate to wait till the 60-something pick to get the leftovers at such a key position for this team. 

I like and agree with this approach 100%. Maybe with some restructuring a free agent interior lineman can be added with a development guy later in the draft.

[Bleeding Bills Blue]

1 hour ago, whorlnut said:

No option behind Edmunds?  Did you forget about the third round pick that they wasted this past draft?

 

I suppose he's an option.  I wouldn't consider it wasted - he just looked overwhelmed when inserted into the lineup.  

[BillsShredder83]

10 hours ago, special-teams said:

Von was NOT a big time player this season.  Mostly coverage sacks and not good against the run/

coverage sacks? lol wheeeeeen. not once.

not good against run? absurd

 

whos your fav team lol

[Scott7975]

There is always that BPA thing but I think this team needs to start investing its top assets into the offense.  They have some decisions to make on the D but this team needs some protection and or another top receiver for Josh.

[MrEpsYtown]

43 minutes ago, whorlnut said:

It’s early, but you “know” BPA is going to be defense?  This is very contradicting. 

likely, probably were the words I left out. Not guaranteeing anything. 

[Bleeding Bills Blue]

14 minutes ago, Scott7975 said:

There is always that BPA thing but I think this team needs to start investing its top assets into the offense.  They have some decisions to make on the D but this team needs some protection and or another top receiver for Josh.

 

Top receiver is going to cost you a trade up, which likely means a 2024 1st rounder which is a tough sell when the team is now becoming quite expensive.  Need picks to include on rookie deals. 

 

I'd rather see what it would take to trade for Godwin or DJ Moore, especially if you include davis in the return.  

 

2022 - 6 went in the first - and the next tier was watson, robinson, metchie, thornton and pickens.  Combination of low statistical production, off field issues, injuries, and slot WRs.  Shakir honestly fits decently among that group as a projection going forward.  

 

2021 - 5 went in the first  - next tier was E. Moore, R. Moore, Eskridge, Atwell, and Marshall.  St. Brown and Palmer were the best players outside round 1 and they were 3rd and 4th round picks.  

Edited January 12, 2023 by Bleeding Bills Blue