What Buffalo Bills draft choice surprised you the most on draft day?

[stuvian]

McCargo , Maybin and Manuel were bodies with no talent. 

 

2014 draft was the biggest washout

 

https://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/buf/draft.htm

 

 

[Beck Water]

7 hours ago, MrEpsYtown said:

EJ Manuel. 

 

Did that honestly surprise you though?

 

In 2013, Buddy Nix was telegraphing "we're gonna draft a QB this year" so loud that the -.. .-. .- ..-. - / .- / --.- -... was imprinted in every reporter's notebook

And there was lots of "smoke" about having had a horrid interview with Geno Smith, and a lot of stuff about how respectful and well mannered EJ was.

 

So it was not a surprise to me that we drafted a QB, or that the QB we drafted was Manuel.  I'm not saying I wanted it - just saying I wasn't surprised.

[NeverOutNick]

7 hours ago, Beck Water said:

I would have to say TJ Graham in the 2012 3rd round.

 

Russ Wilson was on the board and there had been murmurs about "can't measure the heart of a player" that Nix liked him.

It was evident at that point that the Bills really needed to draft and develop a QB.  Kirk Cousins was also on the board.  A 3rd round pick would be a totally reasonable investment in a guy who could learn behind Fitzpatrick.

 

So the Bills traded up and my pulse accelerated and I was thinking "they're gonna draft Wilson!"...."TJ WHO?"

The Bills got 31 games and 54 receptions out of Graham in 2 seasons. 

In the same 2  seasons, Russ Wilson lead the Seahawks to the Divisional Round and won a Superbowl.

Then in 2013, one of the worst QB classes ever, the Bills drafted EJ Manuel.

100% agree talk about a shot to the giblets

[Canadian Bills Fan]

Torell Troup

[The Jokeman]

5 hours ago, SoCal Deek said:

OJ Simpson….talk about a ‘reach’! 

I think you meant Al Cowlings.

[GreggTX]

Booker Moore

[TheyCallMeAndy]

I hated the EJ pick but talked myself into it.

 

I was pumped up when we drafted Shaq Lawson and Raggie Ragland. 

[chongli]

1 hour ago, JohnNord said:

Like I said, I didn’t follow the team as closely as I do now and I was younger then, but I don’t remember any reports linking McGahee to Buffalo.  
 

As far as the interest in Roethlisberger, that came out months after the draft.  It wasn’t common knowledge beforehand.  If there was talk about Buffalo wanting a QB, I wasn’t aware of it 

 

I recall there was a need and desire to draft a QB in 2004 after the Bills became disillusioned with Bledsoe. From one article:

 

https://buffalowdown.com/2020/05/29/buffalo-bills-select-linebacker-b-r-2004-nfl-draft-re-draft/

 

"The 2004 NFL Draft is known for the QB class at the top with Eli Manning, Ben Roethlisberger and Philip Rivers and the Buffalo Bills did enter this NFL Draft in need of a quarterback. However, all three were gone by the time the Bills selected at 13th overall."

[TheCockSportif]

You name it, and we've seen it.

 

The Bills were going to pick Manuel, so that doesn't surprise me.  He sucked, but it was what it was.

 

In no specific order:

 

1. Spiller
2. Whitner
3. Watkins
4. Lawson
5. Losman (not so surprised about a QB being picked, but Losman?  Oy vey.)
6. Maybin.  Holy crappy pants.  He was SO BAD.
7. McGahee
8. McCargo
9. Hardy

[MrEpsYtown]

52 minutes ago, Beck Water said:

 

Did that honestly surprise you though?

 

In 2013, Buddy Nix was telegraphing "we're gonna draft a QB this year" so loud that the -.. .-. .- ..-. - / .- / --.- -... was imprinted in every reporter's notebook

And there was lots of "smoke" about having had a horrid interview with Geno Smith, and a lot of stuff about how respectful and well mannered EJ was.

 

So it was not a surprise to me that we drafted a QB, or that the QB we drafted was Manuel.  I'm not saying I wanted it - just saying I wasn't surprised.

 

It did surprise me. That draft class was so weird and he seemed to have a lot of flaws in his game. It didn’t think he was going to be their guy. People were projecting Smith as the number 1 QB and most people were mocking Matt Barkley or Ryan Nassib in that spot. Some mocks had us taking Tavon Austin or Jonathan Cooper as well. Cordarelle Patterson was a hot one too. There were even some Mike Glennons in there. EJ wasn’t really on my radar. 

[Goin Breakdown]

Probably the wrong thread, but I keep seeing TJ graham pop up here. Was he the one who went to the jets and then laid down in the end zone to blend in on a punt?  Does anyone remember that play?

[Warriorspikes51]

When the Bills traded up 10 picks in the 1st to draft RB Bijan Robinson…with all WR’s and TE’s still on the board….after signing Damien Harris and Latavius Murray to go with James Cook and Nyheim Himes😆😂

 

 

[Manther]

10 hours ago, Alphadawg7 said:

Easily Whitner over Ngata.  Never saw that coming and was stunned when they didn’t call Ngata’s name.  
 

100% agree!  I was doing quite a bit of Draft research those years.  My friend and I who also is a huge Bills fan and was doing research at the time......we thought "you gotta Ngata" and then he was there when we picked.  Whitner's name was called, we looked at each other and said who?  Safety never seemed like a round 1 pick to us, so, we never looked at Safeties.  And, we had ZERO idea who he was and got onto the Google machine immediately. 

10 hours ago, Beck Water said:

I would have to say TJ Graham in the 2012 3rd round.

 

Russ Wilson was on the board and there had been murmurs about "can't measure the heart of a player" that Nix liked him.

It was evident at that point that the Bills really needed to draft and develop a QB.  Kirk Cousins was also on the board.  A 3rd round pick would be a totally reasonable investment in a guy who could learn behind Fitzpatrick.

 

So the Bills traded up and my pulse accelerated and I was thinking "they're gonna draft Wilson!"...."TJ WHO?"

The Bills got 31 games and 54 receptions out of Graham in 2 seasons. 

In the same 2  seasons, Russ Wilson lead the Seahawks to the Divisional Round and won a Superbowl.

Then in 2013, one of the worst QB classes ever, the Bills drafted EJ Manuel.

This was probably my 2nd WTF after Whitner.

9 hours ago, 947 said:

Maybin

 

I knew he was a bust in waiting, like everyone else. I didn't think anyone would take him in round 1, let alone us.

This is probably 3rd on my list after Whitner, then TJ Graham.  Actually, will move it up on my list since it is a top of the 1st round pick.

 

Whitner

Maybin

Graham

[Manther]

4 hours ago, TC in St. Louis said:

I'll wait on Bernard.  When he got on the field, it was due to injury and he wasn't ready.  They chose him to develop over time, and it's time now to see him develop.  Maybe he'll put on 15 pounds and get taller and become a beast.  

 

Biggest surprise for me was probably Whitner.  I freaked out.  I remember thinking they had the USC QB in their hands, and they surely could've traded down.  

 

Nobody really knows how players will turn out.  Read the pre-draft analysis on just about anybody and you might think he's gonna be great.  

I'll wait on Bernard.  When he got on the field, it was due to injury and he wasn't ready.  They chose him to develop over time, and it's time now to see him develop.  Maybe he'll put on 15 pounds and get taller and become a beast.  

 

Biggest surprise for me was probably Whitner.  I freaked out.  I remember thinking they had the USC QB in their hands, and they surely could've traded down.  

 

Nobody really knows how players will turn out.  Read the pre-draft analysis on just about anybody and you might think he's gonna be great.  

I'll wait on Bernard.  When he got on the field, it was due to injury and he wasn't ready.  They chose him to develop over time, and it's time now to see him develop.  Maybe he'll put on 15 pounds and get taller and become a beast.  

 

Biggest surprise for me was probably Whitner.  I freaked out.  I remember thinking they had the USC QB in their hands, and they surely could've traded down.  

 

Nobody really knows how players will turn out.  Read the pre-draft analysis on just about anybody and you might think he's gonna be great.  

Sorry, could not resist....

 

Nobody really knows how players will turn out.  Read the pre-draft analysis on just about anybody and you might think he's gonna be great.  

I'll wait on Bernard.  When he got on the field, it was due to injury and he wasn't ready.  They chose him to develop over time, and it's time now to see him develop.  Maybe he'll put on 15 pounds and get taller and become a beast.  

 

Biggest surprise for me was probably Whitner.  I freaked out.  I remember thinking they had the USC QB in their hands, and they surely could've traded down.  

 

Nobody really knows how players will turn out.  Read the pre-draft analysis on just about anybody and you might think he's gonna be great.  

I'll wait on Bernard.  When he got on the field, it was due to injury and he wasn't ready.  They chose him to develop over time, and it's time now to see him develop.  Maybe he'll put on 15 pounds and get taller and become a beast.  

 

Biggest surprise for me was probably Whitner.  I freaked out.  I remember thinking they had the USC QB in their hands, and they surely could've traded down. 

[akcash]

Donte Whitner

[Manther]

2 hours ago, TheyCallMeAndy said:

I hated the EJ pick but talked myself into it.

 

I was pumped up when we drafted Shaq Lawson and Raggie Ragland. 

Trading up for Reggie Ragland was extremely disappointing.  F Rex Ryan!

[Nelius]

4 hours ago, TC in St. Louis said:

I'll wait on Bernard.  When he got on the field, it was due to injury and he wasn't ready.  They chose him to develop over time, and it's time now to see him develop.  Maybe he'll put on 15 pounds and get taller and become a beast.  

 

Maybe I'm missing a joke here, but get taller? Man's gonna be 24 years old.

[chongli]

4 hours ago, Goin Breakdown said:

Probably the wrong thread, but I keep seeing TJ graham pop up here. Was he the one who went to the jets and then laid down in the end zone to blend in on a punt?  Does anyone remember that play?

 

 

[Freddie's Dead]

$hitner instead of Ngata was the worst.  Leinart and Cutler were still on the board, so you could have traded down and gotten more picks.  You had options, and chose the worst one.

 

Picking Spiller when Bulaga was there was just brutal.

 

I forgot about how bad the TJumptomakeacatch Graham pick was, especially with Russ and Captain Kirk still on the board.

 

McGahee was a joke pick.  You don't pick a guy in the first round who won't play for a year.  Donahoe's Reign of Error was a disaster.

[NeverOutNick]

I’m driving to work so this might auto correct and sound stupid but a couple of the most memorable fails I remember are taking TJ Graham over Russell Wilson when it was clear we had interest in Wilson. I remember being so distraught after that because Russell Wilson in my opinion was a better prospect than RGIII and I remember even saying that years ago he just had such a feel for the game in college even with the transfer from NC State to Wisconsin. He didn’t miss a beat and even got better. I also absolutely hated the 2004 draft miss cues of three Hall of Fame quarterbacks going early and instead of saying Welp we missed it this year. Let’s draft best player available and move on to next year‘s class. We decide to trade up for JP Losman. The 💩 icing on the 🗑️ cake was the following year. We did not have a first round pick because of the losman trade up , and you know, with every fiber of our being that Aaron Rodgers would not have fallen to the Packers because our pick would’ve been worse than theirs, and he would’ve been our franchise quarterback, and probably have won us a Super Bowl as well. But after all the misery and heartache, since the Kelly era, we as fans  have grown stronger and more loyal and now that we have Josh Allen it’s going to be that much sweeter when we finally win it all and hoist up the Lombardi trophy