Myles Garrett: What would it take?

[billsfan89]

1 hour ago, FireChans said:

Given how good the Bills are at drafting?

 

Man we just have very different opinions on the strengths of this regime. They are very good at finding role players. They do not hit on stars. Josh is their only one on the roster drafted by Beane. They can still do that without first round picks (in fact that’s where we are the best at it)

 

your list is full of teams getting appreciably better 2/3 times. Of course, there are some duds. There are no guarantees with the draft either. 
 

Trading 2 firsts and losing in the Super Bowl would be the greatest year of Josh’s career thus far.

 

The Bills have since 2017 been very good at finding quality starters all over the draft. There's not many teams that finds many quality starters year after year. After drafting Josh in 2018 they have usually been landing 2-4 players that end up being average or better starters.

 

I will be the first to say that the 2019 and 2020 drafts while not bad were kind of average. Ed Oliver was a good pick but not great and then the other acquisitions who ended up being starters were Knox and Singletary solid role players. 2020 AJE is a decent starting DE but not spectacular, Gabe Davis had some decent years but never developed into a true WR2, Bass has had his ups and downs and the only other player of note was Dane who was a nice depth starter. But after a two year so/so stretch since 2021 I think the Bills drafting has been almost as good as any team. 

 

2021- Groot is a top 20 DE whose only getting better, Brown has developed into a top 5-7 RT in the league and is well worth his contract, and Hamlin has turned into a better than average starter at safety and in 2022 he was solid depth filling in longer term for Hyde. 

 

2022 the Bills found 4 quality starters in the draft. Shakir is a top 10 slot WR in the league, Cook is a top 10 RB, Benford a top 10 boundary corner in the league, and Bernard a quality linebacker with potential to be top 10 at his position. 

 

2023- The Bills found a way to get a pair of plug and play starters on offense in Torrence (who I think is one of better guards in the league) and Kincaid (who I think is a top 10 TE) while also possibly finding another starting caliber LB in Dorian Williams. 

 

2024- Early returns are solid. Keon's come in as a nice complementary offensive piece while Ray Davis and Dwyane Carter have plugged into productive rotational roles. Solomon, Bishop, and Grable also could turn into starters or role players as they have flashed promise. 

 

That's 3 very good drafts from 2021-2023 and a promising 2024. Compare that to most other teams in the league and you will see the Bills producing among the best results in the league. I get that the Bills haven't drafted a "All-Pro" star in that time period they have drafted many players in the top 10 at their position. 

[DapperCam]

We have a lot of contracts coming up…Benford, Cook, Shakir, Bernard, Rousseau…maybe Cooper, Hollins or Douglas.

 

Now that Allen has a higher cap hit I think we need our draft picks and cap space to fill in the roster.

[FireChans]

1 hour ago, billsfan89 said:

 

The Bills have since 2017 been very good at finding quality starters all over the draft. There's not many teams that finds many quality starters year after year. After drafting Josh in 2018 they have usually been landing 2-4 players that end up being average or better starters.

 

I will be the first to say that the 2019 and 2020 drafts while not bad were kind of average. Ed Oliver was a good pick but not great and then the other acquisitions who ended up being starters were Knox and Singletary solid role players. 2020 AJE is a decent starting DE but not spectacular, Gabe Davis had some decent years but never developed into a true WR2, Bass has had his ups and downs and the only other player of note was Dane who was a nice depth starter. But after a two year so/so stretch since 2021 I think the Bills drafting has been almost as good as any team. 

 

2021- Groot is a top 20 DE whose only getting better, Brown has developed into a top 5-7 RT in the league and is well worth his contract, and Hamlin has turned into a better than average starter at safety and in 2022 he was solid depth filling in longer term for Hyde. 

 

2022 the Bills found 4 quality starters in the draft. Shakir is a top 10 slot WR in the league, Cook is a top 10 RB, Benford a top 10 boundary corner in the league, and Bernard a quality linebacker with potential to be top 10 at his position. 

 

2023- The Bills found a way to get a pair of plug and play starters on offense in Torrence (who I think is one of better guards in the league) and Kincaid (who I think is a top 10 TE) while also possibly finding another starting caliber LB in Dorian Williams. 

 

2024- Early returns are solid. Keon's come in as a nice complementary offensive piece while Ray Davis and Dwyane Carter have plugged into productive rotational roles. Solomon, Bishop, and Grable also could turn into starters or role players as they have flashed promise. 

 

That's 3 very good drafts from 2021-2023 and a promising 2024. Compare that to most other teams in the league and you will see the Bills producing among the best results in the league. I get that the Bills haven't drafted a "All-Pro" star in that time period they have drafted many players in the top 10 at their position. 

I’m not saying they have been bad. I’m saying that maxing out at “quality starters” is probably partly the reason we have played in one conference championship in Josh’s career.

 

The proof is really in the pudding. We have a top 2 at least QB. We find quality starters and role players every year. We have played in one conference championship. At what point do you stop shuffling the “good players that aren’t good enough to pay top money to” deck chairs before you start star chasing?

 

We have all these guys with “potential to be top 10.” “Looking like another quality starting potentially.” How many of them will be Bills 3 years from now? 50%? Less? 
 

The reality of the NFL is that you need franchise cornerstones. QB. Pass rusher. LT. Pass catcher. CB. Everyone else is more or less interchangeable. “Solid depth” in guys like Hamlin do not move the needle. “Potential to be a starter” guys like Williams do not move the needle. Rotational backups do not move the needle.

 

When you don’t build around stars in star positions, you end up with a good team that is not quite good enough. And that’s the motto of the last 5 years of Buffalo Bills football.
 

Who do we think is more likely to step up in the playoffs and make game changing plays? All of our solid rotational depth defenders or Chris Jones? The answer is obvious.

1 hour ago, Buffalo Junction said:

Honestly, I’m not so sure that Beane has actually hit on any stars - Cook might get there - other than Allen. The only other players from the McBeane era that hit a star level were drafted before Beane got here - Tre White, Dawkins, Milano. Aside from Cook, the only guys Beane has drafted that look like they could potentially be top 5 at their position are Spencer Brown, Torrence, and Groot… and Groot looks like he’ll never be a top pass rusher without help on the D-line despite being a dominant run defender at his position. 
 

This team needs a dominant 1-tech like Dexter Lawrence or a dominant LDE like Garret, Hendrickson, etc to get guys like Oliver and Groot the 1 v 1’s they can reliably win. I agree that it’s worth some serious investment in cap and or draft capital to make that happen. As long as Allen is healthy this team isn’t going to draft in the top 20, so it’s trade, FA, or a red flag draft gamble to procure the physical talent needed there. 

I think we need to pump the brakes on OCT personally. Two months ago he was a complete liability on the line. I’m not calling him potentially top 5 OG anytime soon.

[LABILLBACKER]

The FA money must be invested on the front 4.  Starting with a pass rusher. We can get out of the Von contract with minimal damage this spring. I absolutely love the idea of signing Malcolm Koonce and extending Groot on a team friendly deal.  Keep AJE one more year as a rotational DE, but draft his replacement this April. This draft pick could challenge Solomon for depth snaps in 2026. The front 4 is key to make your back 7 better than they really are based on Sean's scheme. 

[Buffalo Junction]

On 1/6/2025 at 12:33 AM, FireChans said:

 

I think we need to pump the brakes on OCT personally. Two months ago he was a complete liability on the line. I’m not calling him potentially top 5 OG anytime soon.

Agree. I just give offensive linemen more grace in the modern NFL than other positions due to how limited their development is in college. Unless the guy was a top 20 pick I don’t expect them to be a plus starter till year three. He’s got potential…. We’ll see if he has the “want to”, drive, and injury fortune to reach it. 

[GoBills808]

a lot lol

 

like do you think the browns are sitting there asking how much it would take for josh allen