Buffalo Bills Consensus Draft Grades

[Shaw66]

A- 

 

I'm editing my post and moving my grade to A-.  

 

People have the endless debate about whether to draft Best Player Available or Need. Beane has always said he's a BPA guy, and I believe him.  He tends to trade up when the BPA also is a need. 

 

I think the draft fell to Beane perfectly, with BPAs sitting high on his board who also were need picks.  

 

I like the like the guys they got. It seems they got good value and solid athletic ability in the mold they're looking for. And I think the Bills like the guys they got.  

 

For it to be an A from me, they would have gotten an offensive skill player in second, third, or fourth.  A credible receiver who might challenge for a spot. Prather seems like a project, if they can keep him on the practice squad.  Doubtful he gets ahead of Shavers in the project category, and Shavers has a tough road to make the 53. 

 

Still, I'm happy. 

 

And, Beane has been masterful since the playoff loss. Extending guys who needed to be extended, really solid talent, adding some quality free agent talent, with the potential for a big win with Bosa and with guys who will fit in. 

 

And now this draft. It's really an impressive job that he's done. 

Edited 14 hours ago by Shaw66

[Jimmy Harris 69]

The cornerback draft will go down in Bills’ lore as one the best ever. I said once, I’ll say it again, Tre White doesn’t make this team. Jackson and Sanders will cause disruption when they get on the field. The only thing saving Dequan Jones are the PED boys. I like this draft. Way to go McBeane!

[Ethan in Cleveland]

B becomes an A if Hairston starts immediately.

Everyone else important fills key rotations on the DL.  

 

SuperBowl or bust.  Beane gave McD more than enough parts to fix the defense in FA and the draft.  

 

[BullBuchanan]

55 minutes ago, Brandon said:

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.  

 

 

 

Their defense isn't set. They still need safeties. Hopefully Bishop becomes on of those guys. If not, they'll have to prioritize getting vets next year.

[BillsPride12]

B+(with the potential to be A or A+ if these guys pan out)

I don't have any problem with the Bills going Defense heavy in this draft and love the positions they targeted

With that said I would have taken Emmanwori at 30 or tried to trade up for Malaki Starks or possibly Tyleak Williams(trading up for Grant probably not realistic)

I am curious to see how TJ Sanders turns out at the NFL level but fingers crossed he will be more of a hit than bust.

Thought the 3rd and 4th Round picks were great for what rounds they were

[Boatdrinks]

No WR in the middle rounds turned it into a B for me. Not much substance after round 4 and last couple picks are basically throwaways so why make them. Could have used a 5th and possibly 6th to move up. Still a solid B, but could have been better. 

[BigAl2526]

I gave them a B+.  They I think they mostly got good value in their picks.  They waited too long to try and snag some speed for the WR position.  I thought they might have wanted to draft a bit of insurance in case James Cook decided to stage a holdout.  If Cook reports and plays they'll be fine at RB, but I don't think Ray Davis has the same big play ability.  Ty Johnson might be able to shoulder more of a load.  Darrynton Evans is kind of an unknown.  Honestly, I don't see Frank Gore Jr. as much more than a fringe guy with a famous name.  I also worry that Walker might not be as NFL ready as is needed.  I think they also could have added some competition at linebacker.  Oh well, they can't have everything.

[Old Coot]

3 hours ago, Big Turk said:

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

This. Most of the post-Rd 3 picks for good teams (who draft at the end of rounds) look like depth role or PS players. Some will be; others will seize their opportunity and become good starters. So let's wait and see.

[Mike in Horseheads]

If they can cut the frustrating 3rd and long conversions against in half it gets a A++

Edited 12 hours ago by Mike in Horseheads

[Steve Billieve]

4 hours ago, NoSaint said:

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

 

I don't view it that way at all.

 

We had big time problems with bad contracts and we had to do plenty of restructures just to clean house. This off-season instead of signing a bunch of big multi years we got some rentals and locked in our core with extensions.

 

Last year we had to break our team, and we did incredibly well despite it. This is the actual rebuild year where we bring in a ton of young guys let them develop and then see if we're in a position where we just need a piece or two in the off-season.

[Freddie's Dead]

I gave it a B-.  Josh got absolutely no help whatsoever.  I know we needed to rebuild the D, but 6 of 9 picks on D? And 3 CB's to boot?  A blocking TE, a project tackle, and a project WR on offense.  This WR room just isn't good enough.  Let's hope Beane has another card to play.

[GreggTX]

I didn't know F- was a thing. F+  too, for that matter.

[Warriorspikes51]

B -  overall

 

I personally wasn’t high on Maxwell or TJ

(but what do I know)

 

Landon Jackson, Deone Walker and Dorian Strong are solid value picks to me

 

if we had taken a Speed WR even in Round 5

 

I’d say A -

[hondo in seattle]

I gave it a "B."

 

I have little freaking idea if any of these kids will turn out to be valuable starters.  But Beane usually scores around a "B" so I'm guessing this draft class turns out to be a "B" as well.  

[Solomon Grundy]

3 hours ago, BigAl2526 said:

I gave them a B+.  They I think they mostly got good value in their picks.  They waited too long to try and snag some speed for the WR position.  I thought they might have wanted to draft a bit of insurance in case James Cook decided to stage a holdout.  If Cook reports and plays they'll be fine at RB, but I don't think Ray Davis has the same big play ability.  Ty Johnson might be able to shoulder more of a load.  Darrynton Evans is kind of an unknown.  Honestly, I don't see Frank Gore Jr. as much more than a fringe guy with a famous name.  I also worry that Walker might not be as NFL ready as is needed.  I think they also could have added some competition at linebacker.  Oh well, they can't have everything.

Travis Etienne may become available soon. Think he'd be a good fit?

[Shortchaz]

I can’t give it a grade because I don’t have enough information. I will say it is exactly what I wanted near the end of the season; drafting all defense. 
 

there were a lot of corners on the board

when they drafted Hairston, I.e. they got a corner high on their board. They moved up/targeted sanders, I.e. got a guy high on their board. The reaction in the room for Jackson, the pre-draft visits etc., suggests they, again, got a guy high on their board. In rd 4 they moved up, targeting walker, suggesting a guy high on their board. 
 

thats 4 guys they chose.  Couple that with the free agent signings and I’d say they overhauled the defense about as well as one could in that time frame. For better or worse they got their guys, they own this, it’s on beane/mcdermott. No excuses. 
 

Hairston and Jackson should have solid careers on paper. 
 

Player they drafted with most upside is sanders. has all the tools just needs to want it and get lucky avoiding injuries. Sky is the limit for him imo. 
 

Hancock might be a sneaky excellent pick, immediate special teamer and potential future starter(?) at safety(?). Just seems like a good utility athlete to have on the team. 

[Kirby Jackson]

I give it a B- to C+. I liked the 1st couple of days. I thought that it represented pretty good value and fill some needs. I would have been at B to B+ through Friday.
 

I didn’t love the job yesterday. Walker is huge but flawed. If his lousy 2024 was because of a back injury only, cool. I don’t suspect that though. For as big as he is, he is top heavy and plays high. It’s not a bad gamble at that point but he isn’t a lock to even make the team IMO. He’s a high ceiling low floor guy. 

 

They brought something like 11 WRs in that ran sub 4.4. McDermott and Beane both have said, they need to be able to threaten the field vertically. Yesterday was the perfect chance to do that with most of those guys still on the board. They had the ammo, and had already addressed their other 3 needs (starting caliber CB, rotational DT, and another rotational DL regardless of position). They didn’t accomplish that.

 

There were a few times that it felt like they got sniped yesterday (Tory Horton and Pooh Paul come to mind). With the amount of draft capital yesterday and lack of available roster spots, that shouldn’t have happened. They should have overpaid, if needed, to fill the remaining needs or get players that we know they liked (ie Paul). They didn’t need to preserve picks to draft a Lee Smith clone or a 3rd corner. I would have rather taken a punter for example.

 

It was an okay draft IMO. It was better at the top than as it went along which I normally don’t think of with Beane drafts. If those 3 can play it has a chance to be better than b-/c+. 🍻

[GunnerBill]

9 hours ago, stevestojan said:

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

 

Sanders was NOT a reach. 

[Ayjent]

No one really knows with these drafts but it does frustrate me that this team constantly drafts defense and then never has a playoff defense that can step up in the biggest moments.  Safety is a glaring hole that they didnt address outside of a hybrid DB to boot. They didnt add anything to an offense that needs more weapons.  Beane is a good single and double hitter but rarely hits homeruns.  Thats what this draft feels like.  Guys that will play and arent bums but arent stars.  The only player with that potential is Mad Max

[LyndonvilleBill]

I give it an A-. I Loved the overall theme and focus. Even being a Defense minded fan, I really would have liked to grab a WR say like Tessla or Thornton and believe we could have. But as I said in another post. I think they have something up their sleeve to fill that need.😉😁