DRAFTDOG.COM: Mack at #11!!!!

[Thurman#1]

I read the scouting reports to which you'd linked. They convinced me we should seriously consider taking Raji (DT) at #11 overall, if he's available. Then we should trade away our second and third round picks to get a pick somewhere in the 20s, which could then be used on Mack. If no one can block Raji--except, sort of, for Mack--it would make sense to have them both!

 

You point out that this team has a lot of holes, and that, by trading away a third round pick, we'd be filling one less hole. But I feel it's better to do a solid job of filling one hole (Mack) than a so-so job of filling two holes (the second and third round pick). That third round pick in particular may well turn out to be just another guy.

 

 

 

Edwards' Arm, I SOOOOOOOO agree with you about Raji. I was mildly interested before the Senior Bowl, but the reports there were so good, it became obvious that he would be a fantastic pickup. My only problem with this is that everyone noticed the Senior Bowl. Raji's stock really went up. Before that he was projected to be available for us. Now most everyone thinks he'll be gone in the top 10. Damn.

 

And can you imagine how much better those two, Mack and Raji, would make each other in practice? I'd love to see it, but as I said, very few people want to give up second and third-rounders, because they are the backbone of the team.

[Thurman#1]

I will say this if it came down to Pettigrew or Mack at #11 it would be Mack.

 

 

 

I agree with you there.

[Orton's Arm]

Edwards' Arm, I SOOOOOOOO agree with you about Raji. I was mildly interested before the Senior Bowl, but the reports there were so good, it became obvious that he would be a fantastic pickup. My only problem with this is that everyone noticed the Senior Bowl. Raji's stock really went up. Before that he was projected to be available for us. Now most everyone thinks he'll be gone in the top 10. Damn.

 

And can you imagine how much better those two, Mack and Raji, would make each other in practice? I'd love to see it, but as I said, very few people want to give up second and third-rounders, because they are the backbone of the team.

If I understand your position correctly, the way you'd approach our first round pick is as follows:

 

First preference: take any of five or six guys (including Raji) at #11, if any are available.

Second preference: If the five or six guys you're looking at are gone, attempt to trade down a little and take Mack somewhere in the teens.

Third preference: If no trade-down is available, take Mack at #11.

 

If that is the way your mind is working here, I'd be strongly inclined to agree. But if we manage to take one of those five or six guys at #11, I'd still feel that we'd be better off trading back into the first for Mack.

 

There's a reason why I'd rather have Mack than our second and third round picks put together. A general manager can always get his hands on Robert Royal or Melvin Fowler-level free agents for a reasonable price. Would our third round pick really provide much of an upgrade over players at that level? Some third rounders would, but those are the exception rather than the rule. If we took a TE in the third, would he really provide that big an upgrade over the players we have there already? Or would we still be talking about TE as a need position in a year or two? If we took a center in the third, could we really rely on him to block those big 3-4 nose tackles? Or would he turn out to be a guy who plays respectably most weeks, but who gets dominated whenever we face a Kris Jenkins or some other big NT?

 

One factor in my thinking is that really good football teams tend to have a nucleus of guys who play at a very high level, and who remain with the team for 10+ years. Compare the nucleus of the Bills' Super Bowl teams to our current nucleus. Back then, we had Bruce Smith, Kent Hull, Andre Reed, Jim Kelly, Thurman Thomas . . . the list goes on. This current Bills team doesn't have that kind of nucleus. That's our single biggest problem.

 

If we can come away from this draft with two additions to this team's nucleus--Raji and Mack, for example--plus some reasonably good additions on the second day of the draft, I'd be a happy man.