Logic's Buffalo Bills Draft Review -- The more things change, the more they stay the same

[Warcodered]

20 hours ago, HappyDays said:

Ray Davis - This is probably the pick that has grown on me the most. I still don't like the value of a RB this high, but the player I have grown to like.

Like I'm still struggling to get where this is coming from with people, like I get it with the 1st round and to an extent the 2nd but it was the 4th round and not even a high 4th round pick, like if you wanted them to do something else I get that but I don't see how in general that's too high a spot to take a RB.

[Logic]

48 minutes ago, Warcodered said:

Like I'm still struggling to get where this is coming from with people, like I get it with the 1st round and to an extent the 2nd but it was the 4th round and not even a high 4th round pick, like if you wanted them to do something else I get that but I don't see how in general that's too high a spot to take a RB.

I can only speak for myself here, and say that I think the dropoff in talent level from 4th round running backs to 5th through 7th running back talent seems minimal. So if you're not taking a running back until day three anyway, I'd rather wait until that cluster of later picks we had, and instead use the 4th on a position that doesn't have the same kind of last-few-rounds success that RB seems to potentially offer.

So as it relates to the 2024 draft, there were guys left in the 4th that I felt would've presented better positional value.

CB TJ Tampa
S Jaden Hicks (potentially a starting level player)
WR Malik Washington
WR Jacob Cowing

...to name a few.

RBs like Kimani Vidal and Dylan Laube were still available into the 6th round. 

Basically, I feel the chance at finding a good safety or WR in the 4th and then still being able to find a capable RB2 in the 6th seems better than the chances of being able to find a good safety or WR in the 6th because we spent our 4th on a running back. Obviously, the Bills disagreed. Beane has used a 2nd, two 3rds, and a 4th on running backs in the past few seasons. Clearly he values the position more than me.

[FireChans]

2 hours ago, Warcodered said:

Like I'm still struggling to get where this is coming from with people, like I get it with the 1st round and to an extent the 2nd but it was the 4th round and not even a high 4th round pick, like if you wanted them to do something else I get that but I don't see how in general that's too high a spot to take a RB.

Damien Harris had over 2300 yards from scrimmage and 20 TD’s. He signed with the Bills last year for $1.7M.

 

Justin Shorter, a fifth round pick, has an average salary of $1M. 
 

Is a fourth round RB (who has a significant chance to not beat out Harris’ career numbers with the Bills) an economical decision when you can spend an extra 400-700k for probably a better player to fill the backup role and use the 4th rounder on a player that may end up dictating a $10-15M+contract?

 

Imo, no.

Edited May 8 by FireChans

[Nihilarian]

I really liked this draft as Beane filled so many questionable needs. I like all the talent as it looks like some hard-nosed men and some should be competing for jobs right away. Time will tell. Played like a chess master. He really, really wanted that third-round pick and still got the WR they wanted.

[Nihilarian]

On 5/7/2024 at 10:14 AM, OldTimer1960 said:

Pretty balanced and fair summary.  Like you, I’m not completely sold on Coleman- not because he ran 4.61, but because his college tape doesn’t show him getting open a lot.  Now, he is just turning 21 and he is clearly a tremendous all-around athlete, so those both point to possible significant upside.  I’m hoping that he turns out to be great, but we will have to give him a few years to see.

 

I think the balance of the Bills’ draft is promising and made sense.

 

They have picks stockpiled for next year, after that draft I think/hope that they will be right in the championship mix again.

Go back and look at that kid at the combine! Beane was happy he ran a 4.61 because he knew it would drop his stock a bit. The kid plays faster than his 40. I can't wait to see him in action. 

 

On another note, this team needed to dump Diggs as he was no longer getting it done and his playoff play was terrible the last few years. The Bills have some excellent receivers that will all get involved. Wait and see. 

 

 

[HappyDays]

4 hours ago, Warcodered said:

Like I'm still struggling to get where this is coming from with people, like I get it with the 1st round and to an extent the 2nd but it was the 4th round and not even a high 4th round pick, like if you wanted them to do something else I get that but I don't see how in general that's too high a spot to take a RB.

 

You know what makes me feel better? Imagining that we took Van Pran-Granger in the 4th and Ray Davis in the 5th. If we had done it in that order I'll admit I'd have zero complaints.

[Don Otreply]

On 4/27/2024 at 6:07 PM, Logic said:

I'll start by saying that this was far from my favorite Bills draft.

I'm usually Mr Optimistic when it comes to draft classes, but I thought this year's class was just...fine. It was like if you fed Brandon Beane's draft tendencies and the Bills' needs into ChatGPT and asked it to spit out the 2024 Bills draft class. It was completely on brand, it filled the needs we all knew the team had, and it'll probably end up producing a few average players and a couple good ones.

Ho-hum. Nobody in this class makes me stand up and say "that guy's really gonna help the Bills get over the hump and win a title". 

Onto the picks:

1. Keon Coleman - I was not a fan of this pick. For a team whose WR corps needed more speed and separation, this guy made the LEAST sense to me of all the 1st/2nd round WR prospects. Josh Allen has historically thrived with fast, shifty WRs who separate well, and has not clicked with big-bodied guys who struggle with separation. So adding Keon Coleman? It feels like "Square peg, meet round hole". He does have great athleticism and RAC ability for a man his size. He's also young to the position, having played football full time for only two seasons and being only 20 years old. I have concerns about his ability to play X in the NFL, and I'll believe that he's a better fit as a big slot until proven otherwise. Here's hoping I'm wrong about Coleman. The absolute ceiling I see for him is "Solid WR2". Not what I was hoping for in a star studded WR class and with a crying need at the position.

2. Cole Bishop - Looks like he should be just what the doctor ordered at safety for the Bills. He seems to be more Poyer than Hyde, in that he's at his best in the box and playing the run, and he packs a wallop when he tackles. He appears to have untapped man coverage potential, with Dalton Kincaid saying Bishop usually got the better of him 1-on-1 at Utah. He also has freaky speed for the position and a great mental disposition. Should be an easy fit in the Bills' scheme. At the VERY least, I expect him to contribute from day 1 as a dime 'backer, but I'll ultimately be surprised if he doesn't wind up starting at one of the two safety spots by midseason. 

3. Dewayne Carter - Good bull rusher, great motor, tons of experience, impeccable character. Seems like a 1T/3T 'tweener. Quickly apparent from his interviews that he's one of the smartest, most likable, easy to root for guys you'll ever see in the NFL. Should be a quality rotational tackle for the Bills and seems like, in time, he will provide quality leadership and a steadying presence on the D-line. May never be a big play guy, but may at least be a "dirty work" guy who allows others around him to thrive.

4. Ray Davis - Hard running inside guy with great vision, ability to get skinny, contact balance, and underrated breakaway ability. Had the most receiving TDs in 2023 of any SEC running back in 25 years. Should provide a nice change of pace to James Cook without the Bills necessarily losing anything in the pass game when he comes on the field. An older prospect, but I don't care, because he's a running back, and he won't be here past his first contract anyway. Another "likability" and leadership All-Star. Davis should provide steadiness and depth, but doesn't do anything that wows you, and I'm not sure he moves the needle much on offense.

5. Sedrick Van Pran - Tons of starting experience at Georgia. Has some traits reminiscent of Mitch Morse in terms of quickness, twitch, and ability on the move. Stop me if you've heard this one before -- lauded for his leadership. Should provide a good backup plan to Connor McGovern at center and/or provide competition at that position. It will not shock me if this guy is starting by year two. Seems like a great value at this point in the draft. One of my favorite picks.

5. Edufuan Ulofoshio - What do you want me to say? You didn't think the Bills would let a draft pass them by without selecting a late round special teams linebacker, did you? The room is starting to get a bit crowded with Milano, Bernard, Williams, Morrow, Spector, and Ulofoshio. However...the Bills lost ST stalwarts Dodsen, Matakevitch, and Neal, and needed some reinforcements there. That's what Ulo seems to be. I'll be surprised if he ever amounts to more than that, but at this point in the draft, that's what you're getting.

5. Javon Soloman - Undersized speed rusher (though he does have a great wingspan for the position) who had absolutely eye-popping production at Troy, where he out-produced Demarcus Ware and Osi Umenyoira. He can be a designated pass rusher and special teams guy and can learn from his idol Von Miller, after whom he says he models his game. Very much a boom/bust prospect, with seemingly equal potential to be the steal of the draft or an outright bust. I liked this pick a lot, and I'm betting on the former over the latter.

6. Tylan Grable - What do you want me to say? Did you think the Bills were gonna let a draft go by without taking a project offensive tackle late? I don't have much to say about this guy. He's just like Tommy Doyle or Luke Tenuta before him: a developmental tackle prospect who's a long shot to make the 53-man roster. With VanDemark and Collins already in place as backup OTs, it's hard to see this guy making the roster.

6. Daequan Hardy - Special teams guy. Standout punt returner and gunner. I usually look to Bills' late round corners with excitement, because they're usually big-bodied guys with zone eyes who only dropped due to underwhelming athleticism. Hardy does not appear to fit that mold. He appears instead to be a punt return candidate and, beyond that, I'm not sure where he'd fit in. His only hope is as a nickel, but the Bills are obviously set there with Taron Johnson.

7. Travis Clayton - At least this one's fun. A guy from the International Pathways program who has never played a down of football in his life. But he's 6'7", 301 lbs and runs a 4.79. The hope is that he turns into the next Jordan Mailata. A fun story and will be fun to track, but obviously a longshot and likely a practice squad guy at best.



Overall, it was clear that leadership, maturity, and experience were high priorities for the Bills this year. Again and again, they picked guys who were team captains and lauded for their leadership abilities. Given all the leadership that walked out the door this offseason, that certainly makes sense. Again and again, they picked guys with lots of starting experience, guys who shined at the Senior Bowl, and guys who have their heads screwed on straight. Given that they will be counting on some of these guys to contribute from day one, and given that they seem to be doing a bit of a locker room reset, this also makes sense. 

The reason that I am ultimately unexcited by this year's draft class is this: I wanted the Bills to prioritize building around Josh Allen. I wanted them to either take a swing for the fences by trading up for a star receiver, or -- failing that -- to go the Packers route and draft a handful of skill position players to surround him with. If they were unable to acquire great quality, then I hoped they would at least acquire quantity. I fear that in choosing Keon Coleman, they may have failed to achieve the "quality" goal, and in refusing to draft any other receivers, they also failed to achieve the "quantity" goal. And Ray Davis is the definition of "uninspiring" at running back. He'll be a fine depth player and grind out tough yards, I'm sure, but he doesn't move the needle much on offense. Neither Coleman nor Davis seem like they upgrade the offense. Just...status quo at best.

In a year where I felt the very TOP priority was to improve on offense, I feel the Bills failed to meaningfully do so. In an offseason where I hoped they'd make a bold move or two to try to find an elite player for this offense, they failed to try. After hearing "Josh needs more weapons" for a couple years running, he now seems to have less. The WR corps seems to have regressed, and seems to lack any true downfield explosiveness or viable deep threat. 

This draft class was not a disaster, by any means. it seems FINE. Just fine. Keon Coleman doesn't scream "Alpha WR1" to me. Ray Davis seems like an average NFL backup. Cole Bishop and Javon Soloman seem to perhaps have playmaking potential on defense. Beyond that -- meh.

When the Bills decided to go young and start a roster reset, I had hope that Beane was gonna try to do things differently, since the old way he was doing things didn't get the Bills over the hump. They've been hitting too man singles and doubles over the years and not enough home runs. Instead, he appears to be doing things exactly the same way this time around. He seems to be content to collect character/culture guys, whose ceiling is "good, solid NFL player", rather than taking any risks or big swings for potential stars. He hasn't really taken those swings, to my estimation, since the Allen/Edmunds class. THAT'S why I'm disappointed in this draft class. It seems fine, solid, steady, and logical, but it doesn't seem like it'll move the needle much.

I will move on to hoping that the post June 1st money infusion brings us a quality veteran receiver and maybe a pass rusher either via free agency or trade. Failing that, it would be hard for me to conclude anything other than that it looks like the Bills are poised to take a step back this year. 2025 looks promising in terms of cap space and draft capital, but if it's gonna continue to be "business as usual" for Brandon Beane, then I'm not sure how excited I should allow myself to get for that. 

The more things change, the more they stay the same.

Well, those shorter  “fast twitchy” receivers that we had didn’t get it done either so, do we just rinse and repeat, or try a different direction? 
 

At present it appears to be a combination of fast and big, so…., 🤞

[3rdand12]

3 hours ago, Nihilarian said:

I really liked this draft as Beane filled so many questionable needs. I like all the talent as it looks like some hard-nosed men and some should be competing for jobs right away. Time will tell. Played like a chess master. He really, really wanted that third-round pick and still got the WR they wanted.

I think the question I had at the  Draft was , why Coleman. Beane seemed to answer that in two ways

No calls happened to move into mid early first.

 And it seems Allen is a Coleman fan.

I hated it.

 But am now much more open minded that they will fit him in nicely. Spreading the ball around seems to be the mantra.

 Hope Brady excels at just that.

Not thrilled. Not overly skeptical either.

 Go Bills

[Magox]

This is just tantalizing 

 

 

[GoBills808]

31 minutes ago, Magox said:

This is just tantalizing 

 

 

refuse to  have an opinion of the kid until he straps them up but ngl i couldnt possibly disagree more w your assessment of this

 

does not look like nfl level speed or quickness at all...laborious would be my most generous description of the way hes moving here

[Ayjent]

On 4/28/2024 at 7:44 AM, Luka said:

The disrespect to Shorter in this thread is something else. He was Richardson's go to target at Florida. Shakir-like in his ability to convert big 3rd downs. Big frame guy with 4.5 speed, not unlike Coleman. Shorter was the #1 receiver coming out of high school. His big question mark is can he stay healthy. Played through or missed time with injuries every season in college. Wouldn't count on him just being a throw away prospect. 

 

Coleman wasn't my preference at receiver but all reports say he was Josh's choice at receiver so nothing else really needs to be said about the pick. I'm sure most people have seen the graphic of his 40 time paired with all of his other drill times, in which he was at the top of the charts in most of them. Not everyone is a sprinter. I'd rather have the guy that's quick out of his break at the top of a route than a guy who's quick out of the blocks.

 

It's also something to note, all the small fast guys in Buffalo haven't worked out. McKenzie was the most notable and he was a gadget guy. 

 

Coleman, Davis and Pran-Granger all have a physicality to their game and I think that was the underlying theme of this draft on offense. Get tougher. Get more physical. Your star QB can't be the only guy willing to hurdle or stiff arm a guy for a first down. 

 

 

He wasn’t Richardson’s go to guy. They really had WR by committee in terms of production and Richardson looked for Pearsall if anyone when they needed a first, but he wasn’t very effective at finding anyone when he needed to.  Richardson is a physical unicorn like Josh but injury prone and super inaccurate and erratic in the intermediate passing game.  Shorter had a decent year with Richardson at QB with a great yds/reception, but it’s really hard to evaluate a WR with a QB that struggled passing for long stretches and looked like a really bad QB when things weren’t clicking as it steamrolled. I get why the colts were enamored with AR.  He was pure excitement at times, but never consistently good. 
 

Shorter is someone I hoped the Bills would pick up and they did.  He has elite traits, but 2022 was the closest he came to putting it together and I’m hoping he provides an unexpected boost to what isn’t the most inspiring WR group. 

[NastyNateSoldiers]

On 4/28/2024 at 1:07 AM, Logic said:

I'll start by saying that this was far from my favorite Bills draft.

I'm usually Mr Optimistic when it comes to draft classes, but I thought this year's class was just...fine. It was like if you fed Brandon Beane's draft tendencies and the Bills' needs into ChatGPT and asked it to spit out the 2024 Bills draft class. It was completely on brand, it filled the needs we all knew the team had, and it'll probably end up producing a few average players and a couple good ones.

Ho-hum. Nobody in this class makes me stand up and say "that guy's really gonna help the Bills get over the hump and win a title". 

Onto the picks:

1. Keon Coleman - I was not a fan of this pick. For a team whose WR corps needed more speed and separation, this guy made the LEAST sense to me of all the 1st/2nd round WR prospects. Josh Allen has historically thrived with fast, shifty WRs who separate well, and has not clicked with big-bodied guys who struggle with separation. So adding Keon Coleman? It feels like "Square peg, meet round hole". He does have great athleticism and RAC ability for a man his size. He's also young to the position, having played football full time for only two seasons and being only 20 years old. I have concerns about his ability to play X in the NFL, and I'll believe that he's a better fit as a big slot until proven otherwise. Here's hoping I'm wrong about Coleman. The absolute ceiling I see for him is "Solid WR2". Not what I was hoping for in a star studded WR class and with a crying need at the position.

2. Cole Bishop - Looks like he should be just what the doctor ordered at safety for the Bills. He seems to be more Poyer than Hyde, in that he's at his best in the box and playing the run, and he packs a wallop when he tackles. He appears to have untapped man coverage potential, with Dalton Kincaid saying Bishop usually got the better of him 1-on-1 at Utah. He also has freaky speed for the position and a great mental disposition. Should be an easy fit in the Bills' scheme. At the VERY least, I expect him to contribute from day 1 as a dime 'backer, but I'll ultimately be surprised if he doesn't wind up starting at one of the two safety spots by midseason. 

3. Dewayne Carter - Good bull rusher, great motor, tons of experience, impeccable character. Seems like a 1T/3T 'tweener. Quickly apparent from his interviews that he's one of the smartest, most likable, easy to root for guys you'll ever see in the NFL. Should be a quality rotational tackle for the Bills and seems like, in time, he will provide quality leadership and a steadying presence on the D-line. May never be a big play guy, but may at least be a "dirty work" guy who allows others around him to thrive.

4. Ray Davis - Hard running inside guy with great vision, ability to get skinny, contact balance, and underrated breakaway ability. Had the most receiving TDs in 2023 of any SEC running back in 25 years. Should provide a nice change of pace to James Cook without the Bills necessarily losing anything in the pass game when he comes on the field. An older prospect, but I don't care, because he's a running back, and he won't be here past his first contract anyway. Another "likability" and leadership All-Star. Davis should provide steadiness and depth, but doesn't do anything that wows you, and I'm not sure he moves the needle much on offense.

5. Sedrick Van Pran - Tons of starting experience at Georgia. Has some traits reminiscent of Mitch Morse in terms of quickness, twitch, and ability on the move. Stop me if you've heard this one before -- lauded for his leadership. Should provide a good backup plan to Connor McGovern at center and/or provide competition at that position. It will not shock me if this guy is starting by year two. Seems like a great value at this point in the draft. One of my favorite picks.

5. Edufuan Ulofoshio - What do you want me to say? You didn't think the Bills would let a draft pass them by without selecting a late round special teams linebacker, did you? The room is starting to get a bit crowded with Milano, Bernard, Williams, Morrow, Spector, and Ulofoshio. However...the Bills lost ST stalwarts Dodsen, Matakevitch, and Neal, and needed some reinforcements there. That's what Ulo seems to be. I'll be surprised if he ever amounts to more than that, but at this point in the draft, that's what you're getting.

5. Javon Soloman - Undersized speed rusher (though he does have a great wingspan for the position) who had absolutely eye-popping production at Troy, where he out-produced Demarcus Ware and Osi Umenyoira. He can be a designated pass rusher and special teams guy and can learn from his idol Von Miller, after whom he says he models his game. Very much a boom/bust prospect, with seemingly equal potential to be the steal of the draft or an outright bust. I liked this pick a lot, and I'm betting on the former over the latter.

6. Tylan Grable - What do you want me to say? Did you think the Bills were gonna let a draft go by without taking a project offensive tackle late? I don't have much to say about this guy. He's just like Tommy Doyle or Luke Tenuta before him: a developmental tackle prospect who's a long shot to make the 53-man roster. With VanDemark and Collins already in place as backup OTs, it's hard to see this guy making the roster.

6. Daequan Hardy - Special teams guy. Standout punt returner and gunner. I usually look to Bills' late round corners with excitement, because they're usually big-bodied guys with zone eyes who only dropped due to underwhelming athleticism. Hardy does not appear to fit that mold. He appears instead to be a punt return candidate and, beyond that, I'm not sure where he'd fit in. His only hope is as a nickel, but the Bills are obviously set there with Taron Johnson.

7. Travis Clayton - At least this one's fun. A guy from the International Pathways program who has never played a down of football in his life. But he's 6'7", 301 lbs and runs a 4.79. The hope is that he turns into the next Jordan Mailata. A fun story and will be fun to track, but obviously a longshot and likely a practice squad guy at best.



Overall, it was clear that leadership, maturity, and experience were high priorities for the Bills this year. Again and again, they picked guys who were team captains and lauded for their leadership abilities. Given all the leadership that walked out the door this offseason, that certainly makes sense. Again and again, they picked guys with lots of starting experience, guys who shined at the Senior Bowl, and guys who have their heads screwed on straight. Given that they will be counting on some of these guys to contribute from day one, and given that they seem to be doing a bit of a locker room reset, this also makes sense. 

The reason that I am ultimately unexcited by this year's draft class is this: I wanted the Bills to prioritize building around Josh Allen. I wanted them to either take a swing for the fences by trading up for a star receiver, or -- failing that -- to go the Packers route and draft a handful of skill position players to surround him with. If they were unable to acquire great quality, then I hoped they would at least acquire quantity. I fear that in choosing Keon Coleman, they may have failed to achieve the "quality" goal, and in refusing to draft any other receivers, they also failed to achieve the "quantity" goal. And Ray Davis is the definition of "uninspiring" at running back. He'll be a fine depth player and grind out tough yards, I'm sure, but he doesn't move the needle much on offense. Neither Coleman nor Davis seem like they upgrade the offense. Just...status quo at best.

In a year where I felt the very TOP priority was to improve on offense, I feel the Bills failed to meaningfully do so. In an offseason where I hoped they'd make a bold move or two to try to find an elite player for this offense, they failed to try. After hearing "Josh needs more weapons" for a couple years running, he now seems to have less. The WR corps seems to have regressed, and seems to lack any true downfield explosiveness or viable deep threat. 

This draft class was not a disaster, by any means. it seems FINE. Just fine. Keon Coleman doesn't scream "Alpha WR1" to me. Ray Davis seems like an average NFL backup. Cole Bishop and Javon Soloman seem to perhaps have playmaking potential on defense. Beyond that -- meh.

When the Bills decided to go young and start a roster reset, I had hope that Beane was gonna try to do things differently, since the old way he was doing things didn't get the Bills over the hump. They've been hitting too man singles and doubles over the years and not enough home runs. Instead, he appears to be doing things exactly the same way this time around. He seems to be content to collect character/culture guys, whose ceiling is "good, solid NFL player", rather than taking any risks or big swings for potential stars. He hasn't really taken those swings, to my estimation, since the Allen/Edmunds class. THAT'S why I'm disappointed in this draft class. It seems fine, solid, steady, and logical, but it doesn't seem like it'll move the needle much.

I will move on to hoping that the post June 1st money infusion brings us a quality veteran receiver and maybe a pass rusher either via free agency or trade. Failing that, it would be hard for me to conclude anything other than that it looks like the Bills are poised to take a step back this year. 2025 looks promising in terms of cap space and draft capital, but if it's gonna continue to be "business as usual" for Brandon Beane, then I'm not sure how excited I should allow myself to get for that. 

The more things change, the more they stay the same.

The Bills #1 priority in the draft is BCA - Best Character Available . 

[Nihilarian]

15 hours ago, 3rdand12 said:

I think the question I had at the  Draft was , why Coleman. Beane seemed to answer that in two ways

No calls happened to move into mid early first.

 And it seems Allen is a Coleman fan.

I hated it.

 But am now much more open minded that they will fit him in nicely. Spreading the ball around seems to be the mantra.

 Hope Brady excels at just that.

Not thrilled. Not overly skeptical either.

 Go Bills

Watch this kid as it was what sold Beane. 

 

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=keon+coleman+at+combine

 

Slowest 40 in the group of WRs and fastest of all group 8 at 20 MPH, next-gen stats. He was the single fastest WR of out there catching balls...and he caught every one! 

Edited May 9 by Nihilarian

[Einstein's Dog]

22 hours ago, HappyDays said:

 

You know what makes me feel better? Imagining that we took Van Pran-Granger in the 4th and Ray Davis in the 5th. If we had done it in that order I'll admit I'd have zero complaints.

You know what makes me feel better about the draft?  Imaging it was done with the intent to trade for an impact WR after 6/1.

 

Then just drafting 1 WR makes sense, even in a deep WR draft.  Because If you got two you're just crowding up the Shakir/Samuel/Coleman mix.  

 

As for the RB in the 4th, I have no problems with that.  Get one that you like there because you may have use for him this season.  And if he pans out you can just let J Cook play out his contract and try to get a comp pick.

[Meatloaf63]

On 5/8/2024 at 8:12 AM, Logic said:

I think you're kind of overlooking the vast amount of experience and leadership and production they lost.

Jordan Poyer, Micah Hyde, and Stefon Diggs were each All-Pros. You don't typically lose three All-Pros and not miss a beat, even if two of them were a bit past their prime.

Mitch Morse was a very good center and a leader on this team, and he's gone, too.

The Bills' leading sack producer from last season, Leonard Floyd, is gone.

Between Diggs and Davis leaving, over 250 targets in the passing game were vacated. 

I'm really not sure how anyone can say with a straight face that the Bills are in a better position -- or, as you say "much better" position -- than they were last year. If you go position group for position group and ask whether they're better, worse, or the same, you won't come up with many (any?) "betters", but you'll find a few "worses".

I'm just not sure how anyone can say they look to have improved as things stand now. COULD they be better? Sure. But on paper, it sure doesn't look that way.

It’s unknown how much a leader Diggs was, he may have been more of a hindrance than a help at this point. KC has rebuilt over half their team and continues to win. Floyd produced very little the second half of the year and nothing in the playoffs. Morris was average and aging. It would be nice if Hyde could mentor this year, but this two had lost steps and missed significant time and we survived.

On 5/8/2024 at 11:26 AM, FireChans said:

Damien Harris had over 2300 yards from scrimmage and 20 TD’s. He signed with the Bills last year for $1.7M.

 

Justin Shorter, a fifth round pick, has an average salary of $1M. 
 

Is a fourth round RB (who has a significant chance to not beat out Harris’ career numbers with the Bills) an economical decision when you can spend an extra 400-700k for probably a better player to fill the backup role and use the 4th rounder on a player that may end up dictating a $10-15M+contract?

 

Imo, no.

No running back taken in the 4th is getting a 2nd high dollar contract LOL🤦‍♂️

[FireChans]

5 minutes ago, Meatloaf63 said:

It’s unknown how much a leader Diggs was, he may have been more of a hindrance than a help at this point. KC has rebuilt over half their team and continues to win. Floyd produced very little the second half of the year and nothing in the playoffs. Morris was average and aging. It would be nice if Hyde could mentor this year, but this two had lost steps and missed significant time and we survived.

No running back taken in the 4th is getting a 2nd high dollar contract LOL🤦‍♂️

Huh

[OldTimer1960]

On 5/8/2024 at 3:12 PM, Nihilarian said:

Go back and look at that kid at the combine! Beane was happy he ran a 4.61 because he knew it would drop his stock a bit. The kid plays faster than his 40. I can't wait to see him in action. 

 

On another note, this team needed to dump Diggs as he was no longer getting it done and his playoff play was terrible the last few years. The Bills have some excellent receivers that will all get involved. Wait and see. 

 

 

Agree that they had no choice but to move on from Diggs.  Fixing the cap was also important.  Note that I specifically said my lack of Coleman enthusiasm was NOT his 40 time.  My concern is his ability to get open - something he didn’t show a lot of in college.  He is young and a great all-a round athlete so upside is intriguing.  If he can become a very good route runner, he might be outstanding.  Still, not a lot of guys with his profile really excel in the league.

[Nihilarian]

29 minutes ago, OldTimer1960 said:

Agree that they had no choice but to move on from Diggs.  Fixing the cap was also important.  Note that I specifically said my lack of Coleman enthusiasm was NOT his 40 time.  My concern is his ability to get open - something he didn’t show a lot of in college.  He is young and a great all-a round athlete so upside is intriguing.  If he can become a very good route runner, he might be outstanding.  Still, not a lot of guys with his profile really excel in the league.

Works for me! Look at some of those catches!

 

 

[Rampant Buffalo]

5 hours ago, Nihilarian said:

Works for me! Look at some of those catches!

 

 

 

A little after the 2:00 mark, Coleman hurdles a defender.

 

I'm starting to have some thoughts about why Coleman is the guy Josh wanted. Hmm. Hmm.

 

 

Edited May 10 by Rampant Buffalo

[Ga boy]

17 hours ago, OldTimer1960 said:

Agree that they had no choice but to move on from Diggs.  Fixing the cap was also important.  Note that I specifically said my lack of Coleman enthusiasm was NOT his 40 time.  My concern is his ability to get open - something he didn’t show a lot of in college.  He is young and a great all-a round athlete so upside is intriguing.  If he can become a very good route runner, he might be outstanding.  Still, not a lot of guys with his profile really excel in the league.

Coleman’s upside is very interesting.  If he can use his twitchy moves like Jefferson he’ll be a difference maker.  He will be coached up on route timing.  On contested catches he’ll win most.  If JA17 can make Zay Jones look good, Keon will make us forget about Diggs.  I think he’ll be ROTY.