2025 NFL Draft thread - Round 1

[djp14150]

15 minutes ago, TFBillsfan said:

Wonder how aggressive they will be if they move up. 

 

I hope they are aggressive…..they have too many picks for which means a bunch will get cut and claimed.

 

they could trade their early  4th, late 5th, and early 6th and either…

 

1. get into the late 3rd round

2. attach it to their higher 2nd and move up about 10 spots in the 2nd

3. they could trade both 2nds +5th for a high 2nd ( ~10th in 2nd) and late 3rd (90 or later) 

 

 

I find this…..um…..what the…

 

people complained last year they didn’t draft for speed

 

now they do draft for speed and you c9mplain….

[Mike in Horseheads]

6 minutes ago, jahnyc said:

Interesting how the Bills keep a tight ship about who they like and draft plans.  Maybe they would have drafted one of the top DTs if available, but very few mocks had them taking Hairston.

 

Bills have a big need at DT, particularly with Ogunjobi out for the first six games and Carter disappointing last season.  Not sure any of the DTs left will be plug and play, but whoever they draft will need to be able to be at least a rotational player this season given our lack of depth.  I am not optimistic.

Carter got hurt last year, everyone forgets that

[Alphadawg7]

1 minute ago, jahnyc said:

Interesting how the Bills keep a tight ship about who they like and draft plans.  Maybe they would have drafted one of the top DTs if available, but very few mocks had them taking Hairston.

 

Bills have a big need at DT, particularly with Ogunjobi out for the first six games and Carter disappointing last season.  Not sure any of the DTs left will be plug and play, but whoever they draft will need to be able to be at least a rotational player this season given our lack of depth.  I am not optimistic.

 

Based on what I was told - which was don't expect DL in the first unless there is a big run on DBs - and what Beane said at his presser before the draft, I don't think DT/DL was ever going to be the pick.  I shared this with some people here in private, but I had some people I trust tell me the other day that Bills have secondary weighted higher than DL heading into the draft.  Beane echoed this himself almost verbatim talking about the value of a guy playing near 100% of the snaps vs a DL in how we like to rotate them being a 2 down player and seeing 40-50% snaps and the overall impact said player has based on snap counts.  

 

And @GunnerBilloriginally pointed out to me too that if you look at our predraft visits, none of the expected first DT's were players we had in.  We only met with guys like Harmon and Grant at the combine, but no documented visits or further meetings with them since.  The DT's we had in were all guys expected to be more 2nd round targets or later, and the DB's we were meeting with had more guys we would likely need to target at 30 to land.  

 

So...I think its pretty clear that secondary help was their primary target heading into the draft with our first pick.  As with any draft, how it falls could have impacted that, but everything points to they got a guy who was a primary target.  

[MikePJ76]

I wonder if they will resign Dawuane Smoot before the weekend is over.   

 

he is versatile and played well before the injury last year.  

[GunnerBill]

4 minutes ago, Alphadawg7 said:

 

Based on what I was told - which was don't expect DL in the first unless there is a big run on DBs - and what Beane said at his presser before the draft, I don't think DT/DL was ever going to be the pick.  I shared this with some people here in private, but I had some people I trust tell me the other day that Bills have secondary weighted higher than DL heading into the draft.  Beane echoed this himself almost verbatim talking about the value of a guy playing near 100% of the snaps vs a DL in how we like to rotate them being a 2 down player and seeing 40-50% snaps and the overall impact said player has based on snap counts.  

 

And @GunnerBilloriginally pointed out to me too that if you look at our predraft visits, none of the expected first DT's were players we had in.  We only met with guys like Harmon and Grant at the combine, but no documented visits or further meetings with them since.  The DT's we had in were all guys expected to be more 2nd round targets or later, and the DB's we were meeting with had more guys we would likely need to target at 30 to land.  

 

So...I think its pretty clear that secondary help was their primary target heading into the draft with our first pick.  As with any draft, how it falls could have impacted that, but everything points to they got a guy who was a primary target.  

 

Yea the Bills are not that hard to work out on this stuff. They have a method and they stick to it year after year. Makes it relatively easy to boil their first round targets down to two or three guys. Just follow the breadcrumbs.

[Let's Go Buffalo]

Good stuff!

[Maine-iac]

1 minute ago, GunnerBill said:

 

Yea the Bills are not that hard to work out on this stuff. They have a method and they stick to it year after year. Makes it relatively easy to boil their first round targets down to two or three guys. Just follow the breadcrumbs.

They've had Mukuba in for private workouts.  Think he might be a sneaky pick late 2nd?

[Mike in Horseheads]

2 minutes ago, GunnerBill said:

 

Yea the Bills are not that hard to work out on this stuff. They have a method and they stick to it year after year. Makes it relatively easy to boil their first round targets down to two or three guys. Just follow the breadcrumbs.

Looks no sleep for you tonight

[GunnerBill]

1 minute ago, Maine-iac said:

They've had Mukuba in for private workouts.  Think he might be a sneaky pick late 2nd?

 

Possibly. I have him more as a mid 3rd but if the board falls a certain way its possible. More at 62 than 56 Id say.

[CNYfan]

Starks killed.  Especially playoff adversary.

[Thrivefourfive]

1 hour ago, Ralonzo said:

 

Process guy, high character yes. Fastest guy in the class, with total fluidity to mirror and match, well I guess that's just a perk.

So that second part is what they just figured out 🤯

[Alphadawg7]

9 minutes ago, GunnerBill said:

 

Yea the Bills are not that hard to work out on this stuff. They have a method and they stick to it year after year. Makes it relatively easy to boil their first round targets down to two or three guys. Just follow the breadcrumbs.

 

Yeah I agree, I say it every year, just listen to Beane and its pretty clear what is not likely and what is more likely.  With Grant being mocked to us so much, so many people here talking about Grant, Harmon, etc...I was under the impression Bills were showing a lot of interest, but I had not checked the pre-draft visits.  

You pointed out that you didn't think they had them in and only met with them at the combine, so I went and looked, and that was correct.  And one of the safest bets in the Beane era is that our early picks will have been one of our predraft visits.  If I am not mistaken, I think maybe only one pick in the first couple rounds in the Beane era wasn't in for a pre-draft visit...you might be able to confirm that or correct that.

 

Either way, it was pretty telling seeing who they brought in, and then Beane basically verbatim stated how he was weighing secondary higher than DL based on snap counts and overall contributions because of how we rotate our DL.  

Edited yesterday at 04:51 AM by Alphadawg7

[Thrivefourfive]

4 minutes ago, Alphadawg7 said:

 

Yeah I agree, I say it every year, just listen to Beane and its pretty clear what is not likely and what is more likely.  With Grant being mocked to us so much, so many people here talking about Grant, Harmon, etc...I was under the impression Bills were showing a lot of interest, but I had not checked the pre-draft visits.  

You pointed out that you didn't think they had them in and only met with them at the combine, so I went and looked, and that was correct.  And one of the safest bets in the Beane era is that our early picks will have been one of our predraft visits.  If I am not mistaken, I think maybe only one pick in the first couple rounds in the Beane era wasn't in for a pre-draft visit...you might be able to confirm that or correct that.

 

Either way, it was pretty telling seeing who they brought in, and then Beane basically verbatim stated how he was weighing secondary higher than DL based on snap counts and overall contributions because of how we rotate our DL.  

Another factor here is that the Eagles, who just dominated through the Super Bowl with their awesome interior DTs, setup the carbon copy blueprint for the wannabes. Copy cat league = copy cat draft strategy. Unfortunately, Bills need what the Eagles just showed off like the letter D by Vanna White circa 1984.

[Maine-iac]

30 minutes ago, Alphadawg7 said:

 

Based on what I was told - which was don't expect DL in the first unless there is a big run on DBs - and what Beane said at his presser before the draft, I don't think DT/DL was ever going to be the pick.  I shared this with some people here in private, but I had some people I trust tell me the other day that Bills have secondary weighted higher than DL heading into the draft.  Beane echoed this himself almost verbatim talking about the value of a guy playing near 100% of the snaps vs a DL in how we like to rotate them being a 2 down player and seeing 40-50% snaps and the overall impact said player has based on snap counts.  

 

And @GunnerBilloriginally pointed out to me too that if you look at our predraft visits, none of the expected first DT's were players we had in.  We only met with guys like Harmon and Grant at the combine, but no documented visits or further meetings with them since.  The DT's we had in were all guys expected to be more 2nd round targets or later, and the DB's we were meeting with had more guys we would likely need to target at 30 to land.  

 

So...I think its pretty clear that secondary help was their primary target heading into the draft with our first pick.  As with any draft, how it falls could have impacted that, but everything points to they got a guy who was a primary target.  

Am I wrong in saying they met with Alfred Collins?  Maybe they'll surprise us and pick a run stopper.

 

Found it ....... it was a combine meeting.

Edited yesterday at 05:08 AM by Maine-iac

[paulmm3]

I saw Ezeiruaku mocked to us a couple times this morning and looked him up and saw a 247lb DE and I was scared because the last DE I saw come out in the 240s to the Bills was Aaron Maybin. Love the Max Hairston pick, hope the board falls right for us to get some help at DL and DE

 

Edit: I would also be up to add a safety

Edited yesterday at 05:08 AM by paulmm3

[Alphadawg7]

2 minutes ago, Maine-iac said:

Am I wrong in saying they met with Alfred Collins?  Maybe they'll surprise us and pick a run stopper.

 

Last I saw they met with him at the combine, but I don't think they met with on a visit.  But I hope he is in play at 56 or 62, that is a lot of BEEF to put next to Oliver.  

[BuffaloBillies]

11 minutes ago, Thrivefourfive said:

Another factor here is that the Eagles, who just dominated through the Super Bowl with their awesome interior DTs, setup the carbon copy blueprint for the wannabes. Copy cat league = copy cat draft strategy. Unfortunately, Bills need what the Eagles just showed off like the letter D by Vanna White circa 1984.

 

3-4 DL picks next few... all good

[gonzo1105]

21 minutes ago, Thrivefourfive said:

Another factor here is that the Eagles, who just dominated through the Super Bowl with their awesome interior DTs, setup the carbon copy blueprint for the wannabes. Copy cat league = copy cat draft strategy. Unfortunately, Bills need what the Eagles just showed off like the letter D by Vanna White circa 1984.

The Eagles also just got done double dipping with two DBs just last year to bulk up their secondary in the first and 2nd round 

[folz]

1 hour ago, K D said:

The pick is whatever, nobody would have expected that, he wasn't highly ranked and was a round 2 guy. I just have to laugh at all of the guys that are like YES I LOVE THAT PICK. You guys would love anything they do. They don't have a great round 1 record. Beane is better at the mid rounds. Not sure what the deal is with that. Not expecting this kid to play at all this year 

 

48 minutes ago, K D said:

Not a single person had him over Johnson or Amos. I prefer the Eagles way of drafting round 1 talent. Take the best guy available. Bills try and be too cute with their picks. "Bills DNA." The DNA should be get the best player on the board period.

 

Corner was a position of need. We got probably one of the top 3-5 CBs (picking 30th). We got the fastest CB in the draft. A lot of draftniks may have had other corners higher, but the Bills are drafting for their team, their scheme, etc. So, I can only assume that they felt that Hairston fit them best of the corners who were left. So why wouldn't I be on board with that. Yes, Beane has made mistakes (Elam)...but do I think that means he will screw up every 1st round or cb pick? No. He picked Benford too. And McD picked Tre White. Look, I don't scout the college players. I'm not sure if Johnson, Amos, or anyone else would be better or not (so laugh at us all you want). But Hairston is the guy they chose. He's the guy we will be rooting for over the next few years, so, yeah, I'm getting on board.

 

Doesn't mean you can't have a dissenting opinion. That's fine. Lots of people felt we should have traded down (probably couldn't find a partner), or would have preferred a different player...but it is what it is now. 

 

Also, one of the guys on ESPN pointed out that he had a shoulder injury last season that kept him out of 5 games, and when he came back from the injury, his run support was lacking a bit due to the lingering injury (he's good now, heath-wise). He said if he came out the year before, after his junior year, he wouldn't have lasted to this point in the draft---meaning he would have been a much higher 1st round draft pick. Sometimes when you are picking late, you have to go with the highest ceiling. Doesn't always work out, but I'm on board with that philosophy.

 

And as far as no one having Hairston over Amos (or Johnson), just on a quick Google search:

-CBS Sports had Johnson at 17 overall (1st cb), Hairston at 26 overall (3rd cb), and Amos at 33 overall (6th cb).

-Walter Football had Johnson the 2nd-ranked corner, Hairston as the 3rd-ranked corner, and Amos the 5th-ranked corner

-NBCSports had Johnson as the 2nd-ranked corner, Hairston as the 5th-ranked corner, and Amos as the 6th-ranked corner.

-Daniel Jeremiah had Johnson at 13 overall, Hairston at 32nd overall, and Amos at 41 overall

-NFL Mock Draft Database had Johnson at #13 overall, Hairston at #34 overall and Amos at #38 overall

-Pete Prisco had Hairston at 19 overall, Johnson at 31 overall, and Amos not in the first round

-Mel Kiper had Johnson as the #1 CB and Hairston as the #3 CB. Amos did not make his top 10 CBs.

Todd McShay had Johnson at 17, Hairston at 24, and Amos at 48.

 

So, there are 8 people at least (I stopped looking) that all had Hairston over Amos, and at least one that had Hairston above both Johnson and Amos.

 

I'm curious. Johnson was pretty high up on a lot of draft boards (generally a first-rounder, many had him in the 13-19 range). Why do you (anyone) think he slipped?

[Thrivefourfive]

7 minutes ago, gonzo1105 said:

The Eagles also just got done double dipping with two DBs just last year to bulk up their secondary in the first and 2nd round 

They did. Safe to say the Bills needs are what the Eagles have/had. It’s fine if they get there different ways But man, their advantages at all the other positions.. Devonta Smith would be a revelation on our roster. Here’s to hoping that super team implodes someway and the Bills can do enough over the next two days to build a lightning strike season.