Given the 3 year rule. Analyzing the Bills 2020 draft..

[GunnerBill]

18 minutes ago, Mr Wild said:

 

Honestly its bc he was a top 55 pick

9 sacks in 3 years for a second round pick isnt ideal

 

If he had 3 seasons worth of his 2022 production we could have a conversation. He hasn't. He isn't a bust... but he was a strange pick and then project by the Bills. Picking a guy in round 2 then basically breaking his entire body and game down and seeking to rebuild him from the bottom up was an interesting and questionable approach.

[khlax3]

1 hour ago, TheyCallMeAndy said:

I honestly don’t understand the amount of hate AJE gets.

 

As the 3rd DE AJ had 6.5 sacks, 7 run stuffs, 10 QB hits, and 5 PBUs.

 

He isn’t perfect and can be inconsistent, as many young players are, but we really get a good amount of impact play from our #3 DE. 

I don’t think AJE Epenesa is great but as a 3rd or 4th DE he is fine. His first 2 years he struggled but the Bills wanted him to change his weight and how he plays so not sure how much blame you can put on him.

 

Now that he has finally got to where the bills want him he had 6.5 sacks as a backup. Guys like Jalen Phillips and Josh Allen (Jac) who many on this board say are very good both had 7 sacks as full time starters. 

[Pine Barrens Mafia]

1 hour ago, Mr Wild said:

 

Honestly its bc he was a top 55 pick

9 sacks in 3 years for a second round pick isnt ideal

What do you make of 14.5 sacks in 4 years by a top 10 pick?

[vincec]

4 hours ago, I am the egg man said:

Hindsight grading? An exercise in the finger pointing of decisions made in the past.

 

People do like doing that.

When you try and grade a draft right away people say that it's too soon to really know and when you do it later, it's an "exercise in finger pointing." So I guess just don't think about the draft at all?

[NoSaint]

5 hours ago, Don Otreply said:

Yes a good draft, Diggs who was a great acquisition was result of a trade of multiple draft picks. 
 

 

And a lot of money. 
 

it’s hard to knock his rating down but giving up a 1st plus more and paying a vet contract, maybe not a full A+? 

[GunnerBill]

1 minute ago, NoSaint said:

And a lot of money. 
 

it’s hard to knock his rating down but giving up a 1st plus more and paying a vet contract, maybe not a full A+? 

 

Personally I don't think you should grade him as part of the draft at all. He was an A+ trade. But if you want to grade it through the prism of the draft you have to take into account the cost vs the controlled cost of a rookie. 

[KingBoots8]

6 hours ago, finn said:

I'm less impressed by the Diggs trade than you. Yes, he has performed marvelously. But the Vikes took Jefferson with the pick we gave them. Now they have a younger, cheaper, arguably better player, as well as that fourth round pick we also gave up. 

 

You want an eventual starter with your second- and third-round pick. Neither Epenesa nor Moss are/were close. Davis and Hodgins were both very good (not great) picks. Dane and Bass were both great picks. 

 

Beane has built a solid team but hasn't provided enough elite players. Allen, Diggs, Miller, Milano, Hyde. That's it. With the holes the roster has, this isn't enough. 

I agree JJ is obviously amazing but we had no way of knowing he would be there at 24. Honestly the Eagles SHOULD have taken him, and maybe the likelihood of JJ being gone was part of the decision to get Diggs. Honestly that’s what Josh needed - it may be one of the most balanced trades in NFL history. JJ gets a QB with some experience to bring him into the league nicely, Josh gets a WR who knows the game and will be a good mentor and reliable anchor for a 2nd year QB. 
 

the first on Diggs got you a guaranteed baller, as opposed to the chance at a guy who had a chance (though likely) to be great.

[Dopey]

Without the benefit of hindsight, I’ve liked every draft under Beane so far. Looking forward to the next draft. 

[Fetou]

1 minute ago, Bandito said:

You also have to consider with these grades who we passed on that went on to be an awesome player in the league.

 

Oh and I'd rather have Justin Jefferson than cry baby Diggy any day

Imagining the Cheeto dust flying off of those keys as you write this just lol

[Fetou]

Just now, Bandito said:

Imagine being so triggered you provide nothing to a thread and are now blocked?

Who is the crybaby now? I'd love to see you say a word to Stefon Diggs to his face cheetofingers

[Norcalbillsfan]

I like how everyone acts like Hodgins should have been an obvious starter with the bills, now that he found success where he is the ONLY wr on the giants that's healthy.  

 

People forget he was never healthy with the bills. Never really was able to prove anything cuz he couldn't get on the feild.

[DuckyBoys]

Hodgins is an F  Bills got nothing out of him  Epenesa is a D he did squat the first 2 years could even argue F  Davis is a A give 4th round pick  Kickers?  cmon man

[SCBills]

Diggs

Davis

Bass

Jackson 

 

This Draft gave us an elite WR1, high end WR3, top end Kicker and a CB2 capable player. 
 

That’s a solid draft.  
 

Id give it a B. 
 

Agreed that if either of their Day 2 picks panned out, this would be an A 

[Mr Wild]

6 hours ago, Pine Barrens Mafia said:

What do you make of 14.5 sacks in 4 years by a top 10 pick?

 

Wish Ed did more but...

 

DT is much different then DE

In the top 50 sack leaders in the last 3 years there have never been more then 7 DTs per season, DEs average about 24 of the top 50 per season.

 

That being said he shows flashed but its hard saying he lived up to the hype of the pick.

Edited January 30, 2023 by Mr Wild

[LeGOATski]

9 hours ago, finn said:

I'm less impressed by the Diggs trade than you. Yes, he has performed marvelously. But the Vikes took Jefferson with the pick we gave them. Now they have a younger, cheaper, arguably better player, as well as that fourth round pick we also gave up. 

It doesn't matter what the Vikings did. That doesn't affect the grade. It doesn't make Diggs a lesser player. If you wanna degrade it because they also had to give up a 4th, then fine.

 

You grade based on how it turned out for the Bills. Not how it turned out for the Bills + compared to other teams.

[RyanC883]

with a QB on a rookie contract, this draft was a bust.  Diggs was an easy "pick," and as others have pointed out, getting Jefferson would have been better.  

 

AJ is what makes this a really busted draft.  No way he should have been taken there, and there were many impact players after him.  He has not helped this team win games.  

 

Another huge miss with Moss.  Drafted to be a "power back", but too small to be a power back.  Just another Bean blunder.  

 

Davis: a good pick, but he's a 3rd WR, not a 2nd.  

 

Fromm: like Hodgkins and so many other draft picks seemingly on offense, he was never developed by the coaching staff.  

 

Bass:  A great pick who is likely a top 5 kicker in the league. Can win close games for us.  

 

Hodgins:  incomplete.  Like other players on offense (Teller), the staff gave up on him, only for him to play out on another team.  

 

Jackson: loved the pick, was surprised he made it to the 7th.  A good 2nd-3rd CB.  The type of player you need to round out a D.  

3 hours ago, SCBills said:

Diggs

Davis

Bass

Jackson 

 

This Draft gave us an elite WR1, high end WR3, top end Kicker and a CB2 capable player. 
 

That’s a solid draft.  
 

Id give it a B. 
 

Agreed that if either of their Day 2 picks panned out, this would be an A 

 

that's the problem, no impact from those day 2 guys.  Like ZERO impact.  Brings it down to a C for me, IMO.  Also, AJ was so bad as a rookie, that Bean doubled-down on this poor pick next draft by over drafting Groot and Basham.  

 

So many top end OL talent that Bean missed in these two drafts.  

[JGMcD2]

9 hours ago, MrEpsYtown said:

Rd 5 - Fromm - F - A cheap long term backup for Josh? Sure its a solid idea. But they never committed to him and he was pretty bad. Wasted pick. They missed on Darnell Mooney, who has turned into an impact player on the Bears. 

Lmao. Seems like a solid way to evaluate… cherry pick 1 player drafted in the same round that has some sort of NFL success. 

[MrEpsYtown]

4 minutes ago, JGMcD2 said:

Lmao. Seems like a solid way to evaluate… cherry pick 1 player drafted in the same round that has some sort of NFL success. 

Thanks. Kinda like cherry picking one line in an entire response to make your snarky comment. Awesome contribution. 

Edited January 30, 2023 by MrEpsYtown

[JGMcD2]

16 minutes ago, MrEpsYtown said:

Thanks. Kinda like cherry picking one line in an entire response to make your snarky comment. Awesome contribution. 

No… you did it for every pick. You just picked out 2-3 guys that have done better than the player we picked and ignored the other 30 or so that didn’t… that’s just now how it works. 
 

I poured hours into an actual analysis and have kept it updated over the years. Contributed plenty on this subject. 

[Zag20]

11 hours ago, finn said:

I'm less impressed by the Diggs trade than you. Yes, he has performed marvelously. But the Vikes took Jefferson with the pick we gave them. Now they have a younger, cheaper, arguably better player, as well as that fourth round pick we also gave up. 

 

You want an eventual starter with your second- and third-round pick. Neither Epenesa nor Moss are/were close. Davis and Hodgins were both very good (not great) picks. Dane and Bass were both great picks. 

 

Beane has built a solid team but hasn't provided enough elite players. Allen, Diggs, Miller, Milano, Hyde. That's it. With the holes the roster has, this isn't enough. 

That Diggs pick for the Vikings could have easily ended up being Jaylon Raegor which would have made it a laughable win for us.