Buffalo Bills Consensus Draft Grades

[Victory Formation]

I have been brutal on Beane in the past but credit where it’s due, I cannot give this draft anything less than an A.

 

His first four picks (Hairston, Sanders, Jackson and Walker) were all home runs and I liked the positions that he drafted after that..

 

Outside of his 2018 draft class where he took Josh Allen, this may be his best draft after that..

 

I’m going to give this an A.

 

Well done Beane, you did good..

[stevestojan]

Solid B. A weird reach in round 2 with T.J. Sanders. 

[Victory Formation]

1 minute ago, stevestojan said:

Solid B. A weird reach in round 2 with T.J. Sanders. 

I wouldn’t call Sanders a reach.. He was probably the last DT that had a top 50 grade left on the board.

 

I also love the compensation that Beane got in all of his trades. His timing was perfect, not just with Sanders but with Walker and he somehow got a 3rd out of Chicago that we used on Landon Jackson.

 

This may turn out to be a better draft than our 2022 class..

[Bills Fan of St Augustine]

I rated this draft a B. Put bodies in positions of need, but don't think any of them are can't miss. 

[Wizard]

Initial Reaction Grades

 

Note: My grades reflect my initial reaction based on what I thought the needs of the team, value of pick (including if it was a trade up and the cost), potential making the roster, improving that particular position, and who else may have been available

 

Hairston B+/A-

TJ Sanders C-C+

Jackson B+/A-

Walker C/C+

Hancock B/B+

Hawes C-/C

Strong B+/A-

Lundt C-/C

Prather C+/B-

 

I think Hairston, Sanders, and Jackson all have potential. I think the price for Sanders was just too high. I think he will be good. I would've preferred a highly rated 1T in the 2nd.

 

Walker is a project. Needs to lose about 40-50 lbs and put on 20 lbs of muscle by September to be more than #50-#53 on the roster. The right position. A bigger guy that we need. I hope I am wrong about him.

 

Hancock and Strong I think are solid depth, and I can see one of them becoming an above average starter.

 

Hawes, Lundt, and Prather are projects, but this is to be expected.

 

 

 

Edited 7 hours ago by Wizard

[NoSaint]

Here is the problem:

 

if last year was the reset, this year and next are the prime window, right?

 

I think we had a nice enough draft.

 

I don’t look at it and feel GREAT about that being the end result. Paired with our offseason it felt like just throwing volume at DL and secondary in hopes of something hitting and then running it back with the “reset year” roster

[Big Blitz]

 

[GETTOTHE50]

B-. It’s slim pickings being the perennial bottom feeders that we are, but I much rather have it that way than the other. 

[Logic]

I voted A-.

Reasons I liked it: they attacked their biggest needs (DL and CB) logically, repeatedly, and with various skillsets and body types. They drafted mostly premium athletes with impressive RAS. They spent their first four picks on guys that posted excellent production in the SEC. They leaned into the strength of this draft class (DL). They moved up twice for guys they really liked instead of sitting around and risking losing out on them.

Things I didn't like, which took it from an A to an A- for me: Regardless of correctly prioritizing the defense, I would've liked to see a receiver taken early. Day three Bills picks always feel weird to me, probably because they're taken primarily for their special teams contributions. The late round developmental offensive tackle tendency is funny, but these guys too often never see the field for the Bills. 

 

[Big Turk]

Irrelevant. We won't know for 3-4 years.

 

That being said I don't like that they completely ignored offense other than maybe a 3rd string TE and drafted 3 corners when they could have likely used a WR to help the offense.

[GASabresIUFan]

Love the first 3 picks, but other than Hawes, I didn’t see much I really like after the 3rd rd.  
 

I hate that we didn’t get a speed receiver to take the cover off the D especially with so many sitting there in the 4th rd.  Also don’t like missing on a real safety with 3/4 of our safeties on one year deals.  
 

Drafting 3 CB is a pretty big indictment on the quality of our depth beyond Johnson and Benford.  Dane Jackson and Ingram aren’t surviving camp.  
 

Grade A for the first 3 picks.  
Grade C- for the rest.  Overall a B.

Edited 7 hours ago by GASabresIUFan

[MrEpsYtown]

1 hour ago, Victory Formation said:

I have been brutal on Beane in the past but credit where it’s due, I cannot give this draft anything less than an A.

 

His first four picks (Hairston, Sanders, Jackson and Walker) were all home runs and I liked the positions that he drafted after that..

 

Outside of his 2018 draft class where he took Josh Allen, this may be his best draft after that..

 

I’m going to give this an A.

 

Well done Beane, you did good..

Agreed this is probably my favorite draft he has had, aside from Allen ofcourse. 

[MasterStrategist]

Grades are irrelevant, and just flat out bias at this point.  Nobody knows who will be a draft day steal, homerun pick, etc-- so many variables.  

 

Better vote/question, should be based on draft strategy and/or position target for each round, based on who was available- giving more weight to more premium picks.

 

I loved the strategy, and also felt the quality of players at those positions aligned well with exactly what we needed.  So from that perspective, I give Beane an "A" for the vision and execution.

[stevestojan]

11 minutes ago, MrEpsYtown said:

Agreed this is probably my favorite draft he has had, aside from Allen ofcourse. 

But did you like the Josh pick at the time? I’ll admit I did not. 
 

Which proves one thing: I don’t know jack 💩. 

[muppy]

overall it reads as if we fans here at TBD are reasonably happy with the D being addressed so heavily.

 

I am all for being fortified in our trenches and secondary. 

 

and I believe we have at least 1 ball hawk corner in the draft class.

 

Let the camp battles begin!

 

Im excited a solid B+ for me

 

 

I do enjoy seeing  our rankings in national media too. For fun.

Edited 6 hours ago by muppy

[BuffaloBillsGospel2014]

I gave it an A-, I figured we go defense heavy but I thought for sure there would be a WR there in round 2 or 3 after we traded which I was really disappointed about since if we lose WR Khalil Shakir we will be in defcon 5 , code blue at the position. I don't view Josh palmer high nor do I like the Curtis Samuel signing but I think Coleman will take another step this season and be a much better option those are just my opinions don't be so offended lol. 

 

I didn't like the T.J. Sanders pickup at first because he's more of a 3 tech than a 1 tech but knowing he has spent time at the 1 tech plus saying he is comfortable playing at 305-310 lbs makes me ease in a little. He is a very powerful man and if you watch just him, he very rarely gets pushed backwards. 

 

I love Hairston's personality, love the speed, ball hawk ability and love how he effortlessly looks like he recovers when initially getting beat. A+ pick with no beef with that.

 

I thought Deone Walker was going to be 1 of our picks in round 2 before we traded both and moved up. I loved his size at 6'7" and played this past year at 342 lbs., that is a mountain I would not want to climb my friends. I read that he had a serious bacj issue that he even played with and still managed 4.5 sacks, he said in his interview he couldn't even get out of bed some days and if anyone with a back issue (I've had a few) knows anything about them you know how it affects your entire day so to play the season with it is incredible test of will, strength and pain tolerance.

 

I absolutely hated and still hate the TE pickup, what an absolute waste of a draft pick, a blocking TE? When will this guy see the field? On short yardages? Why would he come in instead of an OL who weighs 300+? He is slower than me and is almost a non factor in the pass game. This is where you take shots at WR regardless. again imo.

 

All in all I know I whine about the WR position and this and that but nobody can deny after watching these videos or current players, former ones that want to be back that we have some really great human beings in that lockerroom, what a refreshing change from even 10 years ago this place was a straight up dumpster fire and and we were talking about which bum backup QB will take us to the promised land, now we are whining about a stud WR for our freaking MVP, life is good!

[MrEpsYtown]

1 minute ago, stevestojan said:

But did you like the Josh pick at the time? I’ll admit I did not. 
 

Which proves one thing: I don’t know jack 💩. 

I liked Rosen a lot, also liked Allen, so I wasn’t like a wrong Josh guy, but I loved the pick. I liked Darnold too. Was ok with any of the 3. But I was ready for them to pick either Josh and liked either for different reasons. 
 

I did not want Baker. Was a Baker hater. Didn’t like Jackson either and absolutely hated Mason Rudolph. 
 

And yes, none of us really know anything! That’s 100% truth. 

[LABILLBACKER]

I voice exactly what @Logic said and many others. I thought we got tremendous value with our first 5 picks. I don't know if we have a future game wrecker to put Patrick down, but these were defensive needs. Would've liked a wr in the 5th. I see Prather as a Shavers PS body. My vote was A-......

[Brandon]

We won't know the final grades for at least a couple of years,  but the preliminary grade I would give is a B+.

 

I'm not a huge fan of effectively going all in on defense,  but I can't argue with the value of the picks...Jackson,  Strong and Hancock,  in particular.   

 

The message of this draft is that they had everything they wanted and needed on offense.  That's the only way I can interpret taking a blocking TE and competition type picks at OT and WR that will struggle to make the bottom of the roster 200+ picks in.  And now,  after Carter and Bishop last year,  plus the three DL FAs this year and now this draft,  the defense has everything it needs as well.  

 

No more excuses.  This is the team they want.  

 

 

 

Edited 6 hours ago by Brandon

[JJGauna]

A-. They had a plan and moved around and selected the players they wanted to transform the defense with. Would I of liked a new WR for Josh, sure, but these guys may be way more important. We can always find a WR before the season starts.