Lance Zierlein: Bills should draft 2 WR in the first 3 rounds

[Beck Water]

https://www.buffalobills.com/video/nfl-total-access-should-the-bills-draft-two-receivers-in-the-first-three-rounds

Be nice if he'd explain how the Bills get a draft pick in the 3rd round.

 

Bottom line: seems nobody buys Beane's presser about how WR isn't a gaping hole for the Bills.

 

Anyway, Lance Zierlein isn't just a clickbait talking head.  He's the guy who does all the draft profiles for NFL.com, and while his grades and round projections are off, when go back and I read his actual scouting reports for strengths and weaknesses after the player has been in the league a while, I find myself nodding.

 

 

Edited April 19 by Beck Water

[SCBills]

This, obviously, makes all the sense in the world unless Beane has inside knowledge of WR’s shaking free post 6/1 with Tre’s $$ freeing up.

 

Its maddening to see some of our social media savvy Bills commentators pretend like this shouldn’t be the case. 
 

We all thought we needed an early round investment WR before we traded Diggs.  Now we’ve lost both our outside guys and unless one believes Shakir can consistently win out there, are left with literally Mack Hollins and Justin Shorter.. ideally our WR5 and WR6. 
 

We need two legitimate outside WR’s.. or at least guys who can win outside.. to just have an offense that makes any sense. 
 

[Bruffalo]

Been saying this since before the Diggs trade, now I'm screaming it. 

[Mat68]

Makes sense to me.  If the guys they deem first rders are gone trade down.  Pick up a third.  Beane has a handful of guys he likes.  Wont know until draft night how the order falls. 

[RobbRiddick]

I said this last week. And if there's no 3rd rounder come draft night, get one in the 4th

[Coach Tuesday]

Been saying it.  Find a way to come away with 2 of the top 6-8 receivers in this draft.  Plus another one later and a few more UDFAs.

[Mr. WEO]

the guy on the left?

 

[D. L. Hot-Flamethrower]

Yes! Yes! Yes! We needed a receiver before Diggs was traded. I think a guy like Tez Walker as a second WR after whomever we draft earlier is an option. We have to be active in addressing this need.

[DCofNC]

Have to agree with him.  The team obviously needed help at WR last year and that was WITH a top 10 WR already on the roster.  With Diggs gone, you can hope for Samuel to stay healthy and match 75% of that production and to have Shakir double his production and then you are theoretically almost even.   That said, you are still down the production of Davis which wasn’t great, but it’s still a pretty sizable chunk of yards and TDs.   
 

I don’t think anybody outside of Buffalo would say the Bills are in a better spot than they were at the end of last year and WR production was a major problem down the stretch. 
 

Doubling down and trying to take two guys who can play the boundaries would be a big investment, but I’d argue a necessary one. 

[Logic]

Agreed.

Even BEFORE Diggs left town, everyone in the world said "the Bills need to get more help for Josh". 

Then we shipped a 100 catch, 1,400 yard a year guy out of town, and Gabe Davis -- who, say what you want about him, scored a lot of touchdowns for this team -- is gone.

Now, when I mention double-dipping in rounds 1 and 2 at WR, I get a lot of pushback and people saying "The Bills have other needs!".

But...if the Bills needed to add a receiver BEFORE Diggs and Davis left town, they DAMNED sure need to add TWO of them now!

I understand the arguments for improving the defense, but to me, nothing trumps surrounding our franchise QB with as much weaponry as possible in terms of importance. Let's end this "Bills don't give Allen enough help" narrative once and for all. 

[gonzo1105]

5 minutes ago, Logic said:

Agreed.

Even BEFORE Diggs left town, everyone in the world said "the Bills need to get more help for Josh". 

Then we shipped a 100 catch, 1,400 yard a year guy out of town, and Gabe Davis -- who, say what you want about him, scored a lot of touchdowns for this team -- is gone.

Now, when I mention double-dipping in rounds 1 and 2 at WR, I get a lot of pushback and people saying "The Bills have other needs!".

But...if the Bills needed to add a receiver BEFORE Diggs and Davis left town, they DAMNED sure need to add TWO of them now!

I understand the arguments for improving the defense, but to me, nothing trumps surrounding our franchise QB with as much weaponry as possible in terms of importance. Let's end this "Bills don't give Allen enough help" narrative once and for all. 

I think a trade back double dip is very possible while adding another 3rd or 4th 

[Ethan in Cleveland]

Drafting two WR with first three picks is perfectly fine with me. Or using one of the picks to aquire a guy in a trade is fine as well. 

Get an edge with the other pick and a safety early on day 3. 

I'd be fine if they traded multiple day 3 picks to get back into the third round. 

There is probably only 4-5 roster spots up for grabs at this point. 6 if you add another punter.  2 WR, Edge, S, CB  and P. You can trade all the other picks away becuase they either aren't making the team or you can find a LB or CB in UDFA to play Teams. 

[stinky finger]

57 minutes ago, Bruffalo said:

Been saying this since before the Diggs trade, now I'm screaming it. 

[H2o]

5 minutes ago, Logic said:

Agreed.

Even BEFORE Diggs left town, everyone in the world said "the Bills need to get more help for Josh". 

Then we shipped a 100 catch, 1,400 yard a year guy out of town, and Gabe Davis -- who, say what you want about him, scored a lot of touchdowns for this team -- is gone.

Now, when I mention double-dipping in rounds 1 and 2 at WR, I get a lot of pushback and people saying "The Bills have other needs!".

But...if the Bills needed to add a receiver BEFORE Diggs and Davis left town, they DAMNED sure need to add TWO of them now!

I understand the arguments for improving the defense, but to me, nothing trumps surrounding our franchise QB with as much weaponry as possible in terms of importance. Let's end this "Bills don't give Allen enough help" narrative once and for all. 

I'm good with us grabbing a couple of WR's in the draft between the 1st and early 4th. Still, I think many people see us having added Samuel (who was almost as productive as Gabe was for us in the Commanders offense with Sam Howell as his QB) and think that is a help. They also think the other guys were taking away targets from Shakir, who proved to be a solid and sure-handed weapon down the stretch. 

[Ballhawk]

Quote

Be nice if he'd explain how the Bills get a draft pick in the 3rd round.

He knows about some super-duper secret appeal regarding the compensation pick? (Lol)

[Brandon]

I certainly wouldn't argue against it.  They looked like a team that needed a 1st or 2nd round investment at WR even before the season ended.  Now,  they've lost both Davis and Diggs.  Curtis Samuel gives them a few more options,  but I'd still fully support WR picks at 28 and 60.  Aside from safety,  I think the defensive needs align more with depth,  anyway,  at least for 2024,  and they have plenty of 4th and 5th round picks to address those.  

[Logic]

3 minutes ago, H2o said:

I'm good with us grabbing a couple of WR's in the draft between the 1st and early 4th. Still, I think many people see us having added Samuel (who was almost as productive as Gabe was for us in the Commanders offense with Sam Howell as his QB) and think that is a help. They also think the other guys were taking away targets from Shakir, who proved to be a solid and sure-handed weapon down the stretch. 

I like Shakir and Samuel a lot. Both of them. Probably more than most. 

But even so, the Bills WR corps is lacking a few skillsets right now.

Samuel is a guy who can play flanker, slot, and give you some gadget and jet sweep stuff or line up in the backfield. Shakir is a guy who has some degree of inside/outside versatility, but is better in the slot. Both offer good RAC.

The Bills lack a legitimate, viable X receiver (I refuse to count on much offensively from Mack Hollins). They lack size. They lack a red zone threat. They lack someone who is gonna put a bit of fear into the hearts of defenses. They lack a guy that needs to be gameplanned for or who will ever draw extra attention from defenses.

I like Shakir and Samuel (and Kincaid and Knox and Cook), but the Bills need more. They need at least two more legit dudes out there. 

[4merper4mer]

50 minutes ago, Mr. WEO said:

the guy on the left?

 

Nope

 

 

Wait.  Maybe he just went bald.  Might be him.

Edited April 19 by 4merper4mer

[H2o]

3 minutes ago, Logic said:

I like Shakir and Samuel a lot. Both of them. Probably more than most. 

But even so, the Bills WR corps is lacking a few skillsets right now.

Samuel is a guy who can play flanker, slot, and give you some gadget and jet sweep stuff or line up in the backfield. Shakir is a guy who has some degree of inside/outside versatility, but is better in the slot. Both offer good RAC.

The Bills lack a legitimate, viable X receiver (I refuse to count on much offensively from Mack Hollins). They lack size. They lack a red zone threat. They lack someone who is gonna put a bit of fear into the hearts of defenses. They lack a guy that needs to be gameplanned for or who will ever draw extra attention from defenses.

I like Shakir and Samuel (and Kincaid and Knox and Cook), but the Bills need more. They need at least two more legit dudes out there. 

I agree. I'd be good with jumping up for one of the "big 3" in MHJ, Nabers, or Odunze and letting it ride. Or I'd be good with taking Legette and then finding a way to get another guy like Tez Walker, or Malachi Corley, or Ja'Lynn Polk, or Javon Baker. Either way, they have an opportunity to at least take a shot at doing the right thing by Josh this year. One can only hope Beane has the cajones to tell McDermott to go sit in the corner while he looks out for the Franchise QB. 

[Mr. Wonderful]

1 hour ago, Mr. WEO said:

the guy on the left?

 

 

Jim Haslett?