What we learned

[YardRat]

http://mvn.com/nfl-bills/2008/04/27/buffalo-bills-2008-draft-review-and-grade/

The Bills like center Melvin Fowler more than I do: I think Fowler is the weak link on the line. But, the Bills bypassed center prospects like Steve Justice and John Sullivan. I guess continuity up front is a good thing
No cornerback on the roster is safe: Buffalo selected three corners in the draft and now has eight on the roster. Ashton Youboty, William James, Jabari Greer and Dustin Fox may have to fight for their jobs this summer.
The Bills weren’t concerned about getting a receiving tight end: There were several good receiving tight ends out there, but Buffalo addressed other needs instead. Derek Fine can catch, but his strength is blocking. This shows faith in Robert Royal, Teyo Johnson and Courtney Anderson.
J.P. Losman is the backup: I thought Losman would be traded for a draft pick, but the team kept him and didn’t draft a quarterback. A lot of quarterbacks played games last year in the NFL, so Losman provides good insurance for Trent Edwards.
The Bills like defense: Four of the team’s top six picks went on the defensive side of the ball. Neither unit was good last year, but the defensive side was better. I think they want that side to be dominant.
The Bills want lots of running backs: Xavier Omon came out of nowhere. Now the team has four quality young backs on its roster. If one goes down, it will pay off.
Bobby April has a lot of say: After losing Josh Stamer, Mario Haggan, Coy Wire and Sam Aiken, the Bills needed to find new special teams players. They reloaded big time in the draft. Alvin Bowen and Derek Fine are going to be great special teams players. The others will also have a chance to contribute.

[John Doe]

Re: What we learned

I don't think that a late round draft pick at center would have much of a chance to make the team let alone start.

And, the Bills carried 4 running backs last season. Why didn't the writer learn from that instead of the Bills' draft?

[historypete]

Re: What we learned

I'm shocked by a few things from this draft.

1: We didn't address the interior of our O-line. I thought they would have grabbed a C in the 4th round. They must be happy with Fowler, even though he is the weak link by far on that line. They must also be happy with the depth of Preston and Chambers.

2: How many corners to we need. I slept on McKelvin and that pick makes complete sense now, especially since we grabbed Hardy. But to spend another pick on a corner at #4 didn't, especially when Red Bryant and Dre Moore were there. I'd rather have one of those guys then a rotation which includes Jason Jefferson.

3: I hope Fine turns out to be a decent TE, but he isn't a guy that can get downfield, at least that is what the scouting reports are saying. I'd rather have had Martin Rucker, someone who could use his height like Hardy will to get down the seam.

I think overall on day 2, minus the Ellis pick and Jackson pick in round 7, we miss-fired. I saw a quote in another post that Jauron said we filled all our needs on day 1 and day 2 was open. For a team that ranked 31st in both offense and defense last year, I would think we have more needs than a CB and WR. I firmly believed we needed more depth on the O-line and D-line rather than picking 2 more DBs, a small OLB and a RB we became too complacent with the idea that we had filled our needs.

[Luisito23]

Re: What we learned

So we were that much of a powerhouse that we filled our needs with 2 picks?....I think this is Dick talking out of his , but maybe that's just me....

[casdhf]

Re: What we learned

We managed to win 7 games despine being in the bottom 2 in defense and offense. Why? Special teams. I have no problem making up for the losses of Aiken, Wire, Stamer, etc. with mid round draft picks.

[TacklingDummy]

Re: What we learned

http://mvn.com/nfl-bills/2008/04/27/...iew-and-grade/

The Bills like center Melvin Fowler more than I do: I think Fowler is the weak link on the line. But, the Bills bypassed center prospects like Steve Justice and John Sullivan. I guess continuity up front is a good thing

How come the Colts drafted 3 Centers?

59th: Mike Pollak
201: Steven Justice
236: Jamey Richard

[Romes]

Re: What we learned

I'm shocked by a few things from this draft.

1: We didn't address the interior of our O-line. I thought they would have grabbed a C in the 4th round. They must be happy with Fowler, even though he is the weak link by far on that line. They must also be happy with the depth of Preston and Chambers.

2: How many corners to we need. I slept on McKelvin and that pick makes complete sense now, especially since we grabbed Hardy. But to spend another pick on a corner at #4 didn't, especially when Red Bryant and Dre Moore were there. I'd rather have one of those guys then a rotation which includes Jason Jefferson.

3: I hope Fine turns out to be a decent TE, but he isn't a guy that can get downfield, at least that is what the scouting reports are saying. I'd rather have had Martin Rucker, someone who could use his height like Hardy will to get down the seam.

I think overall on day 2, minus the Ellis pick and Jackson pick in round 7, we miss-fired. I saw a quote in another post that Jauron said we filled all our needs on day 1 and day 2 was open. For a team that ranked 31st in both offense and defense last year, I would think we have more needs than a CB and WR. I firmly believed we needed more depth on the O-line and D-line rather than picking 2 more DBs, a small OLB and a RB we became too complacent with the idea that we had filled our needs.

1. I agree

2. Team depth at DT with Stroud, Johnson, McCargo and Williams is much better than at CB where we had McGee then a long line of questionable starters. I can see why they went CB several times in this draft over drafting a DT.

3. I agree but Rucker was drafted after Ellis and before corner we would have had to trade up to get him. Then we are talking about giving up more draft picks.

[historypete]

Re: What we learned

1. I agree

2. Team depth at DT with Stroud, Johnson, McCargo and Williams is much better than at CB where we had McGee then a long line of questionable starters. I can see why they went CB several times in this draft over drafting a DT.

3. I agree but Rucker was drafted after Ellis and before corner we would have had to trade up to get him. Then we are talking about giving up more draft picks.

I thought Rucker didn't go until the 5th round?

On CB, I think we have decent depth with McKelvin, Greer (who was solid all year) James and Youboty. My feeling is more depth on D-line gives us a better pass rush up the middle with Bryant or Moore. A better pass rush will make our secondary much better. Plus, I don't know what Corner, at 5'9", is really going to bring.

[DraftBoy]

Re: What we learned

How come the Colts drafted 3 Centers?

59th: Mike Pollak
201: Steven Justice
236: Jamey Richard

I believe they only intend to leave Justice at OC they are going to move both Pollak and Richard to OG.

[jamze132]

Re: What we learned

By getting rid of Steve Fairchild, we improved our offense by 48%.

[kernowboy]

Re: What we learned

I'm shocked by a few things from this draft.

1: We didn't address the interior of our O-line. I thought they would have grabbed a C in the 4th round. They must be happy with Fowler, even though he is the weak link by far on that line. They must also be happy with the depth of Preston and Chambers.

2: How many corners to we need. I slept on McKelvin and that pick makes complete sense now, especially since we grabbed Hardy. But to spend another pick on a corner at #4 didn't, especially when Red Bryant and Dre Moore were there. I'd rather have one of those guys then a rotation which includes Jason Jefferson.

3: I hope Fine turns out to be a decent TE, but he isn't a guy that can get downfield, at least that is what the scouting reports are saying. I'd rather have had Martin Rucker, someone who could use his height like Hardy will to get down the seam.

I think overall on day 2, minus the Ellis pick and Jackson pick in round 7, we miss-fired. I saw a quote in another post that Jauron said we filled all our needs on day 1 and day 2 was open. For a team that ranked 31st in both offense and defense last year, I would think we have more needs than a CB and WR. I firmly believed we needed more depth on the O-line and D-line rather than picking 2 more DBs, a small OLB and a RB we became too complacent with the idea that we had filled our needs.

1. Bell could be a decent project a LT, but Fowler is the last year of his contract. We could have grabbed Cody Wallace in R3 or John Sullivan in R6 and brought along a center of the future plus knocked any complacency out of Fowler. Ellis was a nice pick but we could have taken Trevor Scott later and got a more relevant selection for the team.

2. McKelvin was a great pick, but Corner was taken too early and Cox in R7 was a joke. As we have seen with Caulrick, undrafted free agents can sign wherever they like and this would have been a good chance to get a QB into camp like Paul Smith or Kyle Wright.

Failing to select Dre Moore or Red Bryant is shocking. If we'd really loved Corner, we could undoubtedly have traded the limited Kyle Williams for a R5 or R6 and picked him there.

3. The selection of Fine is maybe the worst of the lot. The guy cannot block. He had decent receiving yardage on a passing team. Michael Santi taken in R6, had similar receiving yardage on a running team!!! Plus his blocking is good as he has played some fullback

For me a steal is someone predicted to go higher than where they have gone, especially if it is not the responsibility of the player but just how the draft unfolds. if we are picking athletic and reasonably intelligent players then they should be able to contribute to special teams.

No matter how well Corner, Fine, Black and Omon do, they will always be compared to those guys like Dre Moore and Owen Schmitt so unless they are exceptional, it could be considered a missed opportunity.