LifetimeBillsFan
04-26-2009, 01:56 AM
1.) The first thing that strikes me is that the Bills must think that Demetrius Bell is further along than any of the offensive tackles that they could have taken. Bell may not be ready to step in and start at LT on Opening Day, but the fact that they passed on Oher at # 11, Britten at # 23 and Loadholt and Beatty with the pick that they got from Dallas speaks volumes about how far they think that Bell has come since this time last year. I tried to let everyone know that this might be the case and that the Bills might not draft an offensive tackle on Day One prior to the draft if they liked Bell's progress and that proved to be the case. Now we will see just how far Bell has come and how fast he can progress to the point of being able to take over the starting LT job.
2.) We all knew that the Bills' offensive line was going to go through a makeover, but I must confess that I never quite saw it being this radical a makeover or anticipated that they would do it quite in this way. Still, I'm not unhappy with the picks of Wood and Levitre at all--they are both tough, mean maulers. However, IMHO the offensive line that the Bills start the season with is likely not to be the offensive line that they finish the season with and definitely will not be the same offensive line that they go into next season with. Wood, Levitre and perhaps even Bell may not start on Opening Day this year, but have a very good chance of being starters next season.
3.) A lot will depend on whether the young guys are ready to start on Opening Day or not. If they are not, the Bills could start the season with this group:
Walker/McKinney/Hangartner/Butler/Chambers
With this being the basic depth chart going into training camp and perhaps even on Opening Day:
LT: Walker/Bell/Chambers
LG: McKinney/Wood/Chambers
OC: Hangartner/McKinney/Wood
RG: Butler/Levitre/McKinney
RT: Chambers/Bell
However, by midseason and IMHO going into next offseason the starting line and depth chart could look very different:
LT: Bell/Chambers
LG: Wood/McKinney/Levitre
OC: Hangartner/Wood/McKinney
RG: Butler/Levitre/McKinney
RT: Walker/Chambers
I would not be shocked at all if the Bills were to start an offensive line that looked like this at some point if all of the young guys develop quickly:
Bell/Levitre/Wood/Butler/Walker
Butler could potentially move to RT if they wanted to start Hangartner along with Levitre and Wood inside, but I doubt that they would go that route because Walker has played pretty well for the Bills so far.
4.) The Jairus Byrd pick really threw me until I heard that the intention was to play him at safety. I think the Bills have concluded that Ko Simpson is never going to be the player that he had the potential to be before he got hurt and that, as a result, they needed to find a play-maker to replace Simpson at safety.
With Whitner having to spend so much time playing as a nickle/dime-corner the last two years, it makes sense to take a cornerback to play safety--at least he will have some experience covering WRs if the need arises. Ultimately that would allow Whitner to finally concentrate on just playing one safety position.
Byrd will not start this season--at least not right away--as IMHO the Bills will go with Scott and Whitner as their starting safeties. They will give Whitner a chance to show that he can make more plays and generate more turnovers at the FS spot this season, but I think that they realize that, while he will be a solid safety, he is not going to be a "turnover machine". The Tampa 2 defense is designed to create turnovers and needs to create turnovers to be effective.
To a certain extent, the ability to generated turnovers is an instinct or knack that some players have and others don't. Byrd has shown in college that he has that knack for creating turnovers. Pairing Byrd with Whitner once Byrd is ready to step into the starting lineup could really help the Bills to increase the number of turnovers that they generate. Bryan Scott is a solid player at SS, but, like Whitner, he really isn't a guy who creates turnovers and he is more limited than Whitner.
So, the Byrd pick could turn out to be a good one. Only time will tell though. Especially since it is unlikely that Byrd will be able to seize a starting safety job this season.
As far a taking Byrd so early in the second round goes, this might have been a reach, but with such a thin DB class--at corner and safety--it is possible that Byrd might not have made it out of the second round. Still, it is a pick that will be seriously questioned if Byrd doesn't turn out to be a pretty good player down the road.
5.) Aaron Maybin will play DE for the Bills, not OLB. He fits in the mold of a Freeney or Mathis and will fit it more after a year in a NFL conditioning program where he adds yet more muscle to his frame.
Four of the things that can't be taught at the NFL level are speed, size, quickness and attitude. Maybin may not have the fastest 40 time, but he plays very fast. He is 6'4" tall and, at 21, still can add weight properly without losing speed or quickness (at 6'1" E.Brown isn't likely to grow to be 6'4"). Maybin has tremendous quickness, which is even more important than speed at his position. And, he plays hard all of the time (something that Orakpo and Johnson didn't always do).
Maybin can add strength and weight and learn a greater repertoire of moves at the DE position--he should and will be expected to!--which are the things that he lacked. With the Bills having A.Schobel, C.Ellis, R.Denney and, for how at least, C.Kelsay, Maybin doesn't have to come in and start right away or play every down as a rookie. He has the luxury of having a year to play situationally until he gets stronger and heavier and learns how to play the run in the NFL.
In the meantime, however, Maybin has the quickness, speed and attitude to help the Bills' pass rush immediately this season--particularly if they play him opposite Schobel in passing downs.
Yes, there were/are questions about Maybin that he must answer. But, there were also questions about Orakpo and E.Brown as well. I would have been happy if the Bills had gotten any one of them at # 11, but, of the three of them, I liked Maybin just a shade more than the other two guys going in. So, I'm happy that the Bills took Maybin. Now I just hope that he will become the player that I think that he can be.
6.) I thought that this was going to be one of the more unpredictable drafts and, so far, it certainly has been.
Who would have thought that only two TEs would have been taken so far? Who would have thought that Maualuga would have lasted into Round 2, that Duke Robinson and Michael Johnson would still be on the board, that only the top three centers would have been taken so far?
IMHO there is no telling just how Day Two will shake out.
While I like the picks that the Bills made (except for the Byrd pick, which I will reserve judgement on at this point), I am disappointed that the Bills had to give up their better fourth round pick in the deal to get Levitre (who you could look at as their 3rd round pick). They still have some holes to fill and IMHO not quite enough draft picks to fill them with guys who are likely to be ready to play this season.
7.) Which leads me to my concern that they have not yet addressed the TE position.
While it is obvious from the fact that few other teams have taken TEs yet in a draft class that appeared quite deep that perhaps the TEs in this draft were overvalued by a lot of draftniks and "experts", TE is a position that the Bills cannot afford to miss out on addressing in this draft. You can't even go into training camp with the number of TEs that they have on their roster right now and there really aren't any veteran free agents still available who are likely to be able to contribute much to the passing game if the Bills should sign one. So, the Bills have to get a tight end somewhere, somehow, out of this draft. (I don't believe that the Bills will be able to get Scheffler from Denver--there was a report on PFT, I believe, that Denver was asking for a 1st round pick for Scheffler from another team that inquired about him and that's way too much to pay for him. Also, with E.Royal, they don't need Parrish.)
Even though a lot of pretty good tight end prospects are still remaining on the board, with the Bills only holding Philly's 4th round pick going into Day Two one has to wonder whether they will have a chance to get one of the better TEs still remaining on the board. If they don't, it could be a real problem for them.
Being one of those people who knows that making trades can be much harder than it seems, I never anticipate that the Bills (or any team) can make a trade before it is done. Still, unless the Bills are able to make a trade that gets them back up into the third round or higher up in the fourth round, I am very worried that they may not be able to come out of this draft with one of the TEs remaining on the board that I think can really help them.
And, that really bothers me.
8.) Finally, I know that a lot of Bills fans have identified OLB as a position that needs to be upgraded in the draft. If the Bills had more picks in this draft and it was a better LB draft class, I might be one of them.
But, I don't think that this is a particularly good LB draft class and I'm not sure that the Bills will be able to get an OLB in the fourth round of this draft who can help them any more than the OLBs that they already have on their roster. Nor am I convinced that there are any OLBs left who would be worth trading up into the third round to get (unlike the TEs).
Moreover, I think that there are still a couple of OLBs available as veteran free agents who can help the Bills, even if only temporarily for a year or two. Players like Derrick Brooks and Freddy Keiaho.
So, I won't be nearly as upset if the Bills don't come out of this draft with an OLB prospect as I will be if they do not try to address their need for a TE (multiple TEs, actually). I'd rather see the Bills have to go with Brooks or Keiaho at OLB for a season or two than be forced to go with any of the remaining vet FA tight ends. I just don't think that they have the picks that they would need to be able to address both positions adequately in the rest of the draft.
Well, those are my thoughts so far on what the Bills did on Day One of the draft and what I am looking for going into Day Two. Ideas, thoughts, comments and criticisms are always welcome.
2.) We all knew that the Bills' offensive line was going to go through a makeover, but I must confess that I never quite saw it being this radical a makeover or anticipated that they would do it quite in this way. Still, I'm not unhappy with the picks of Wood and Levitre at all--they are both tough, mean maulers. However, IMHO the offensive line that the Bills start the season with is likely not to be the offensive line that they finish the season with and definitely will not be the same offensive line that they go into next season with. Wood, Levitre and perhaps even Bell may not start on Opening Day this year, but have a very good chance of being starters next season.
3.) A lot will depend on whether the young guys are ready to start on Opening Day or not. If they are not, the Bills could start the season with this group:
Walker/McKinney/Hangartner/Butler/Chambers
With this being the basic depth chart going into training camp and perhaps even on Opening Day:
LT: Walker/Bell/Chambers
LG: McKinney/Wood/Chambers
OC: Hangartner/McKinney/Wood
RG: Butler/Levitre/McKinney
RT: Chambers/Bell
However, by midseason and IMHO going into next offseason the starting line and depth chart could look very different:
LT: Bell/Chambers
LG: Wood/McKinney/Levitre
OC: Hangartner/Wood/McKinney
RG: Butler/Levitre/McKinney
RT: Walker/Chambers
I would not be shocked at all if the Bills were to start an offensive line that looked like this at some point if all of the young guys develop quickly:
Bell/Levitre/Wood/Butler/Walker
Butler could potentially move to RT if they wanted to start Hangartner along with Levitre and Wood inside, but I doubt that they would go that route because Walker has played pretty well for the Bills so far.
4.) The Jairus Byrd pick really threw me until I heard that the intention was to play him at safety. I think the Bills have concluded that Ko Simpson is never going to be the player that he had the potential to be before he got hurt and that, as a result, they needed to find a play-maker to replace Simpson at safety.
With Whitner having to spend so much time playing as a nickle/dime-corner the last two years, it makes sense to take a cornerback to play safety--at least he will have some experience covering WRs if the need arises. Ultimately that would allow Whitner to finally concentrate on just playing one safety position.
Byrd will not start this season--at least not right away--as IMHO the Bills will go with Scott and Whitner as their starting safeties. They will give Whitner a chance to show that he can make more plays and generate more turnovers at the FS spot this season, but I think that they realize that, while he will be a solid safety, he is not going to be a "turnover machine". The Tampa 2 defense is designed to create turnovers and needs to create turnovers to be effective.
To a certain extent, the ability to generated turnovers is an instinct or knack that some players have and others don't. Byrd has shown in college that he has that knack for creating turnovers. Pairing Byrd with Whitner once Byrd is ready to step into the starting lineup could really help the Bills to increase the number of turnovers that they generate. Bryan Scott is a solid player at SS, but, like Whitner, he really isn't a guy who creates turnovers and he is more limited than Whitner.
So, the Byrd pick could turn out to be a good one. Only time will tell though. Especially since it is unlikely that Byrd will be able to seize a starting safety job this season.
As far a taking Byrd so early in the second round goes, this might have been a reach, but with such a thin DB class--at corner and safety--it is possible that Byrd might not have made it out of the second round. Still, it is a pick that will be seriously questioned if Byrd doesn't turn out to be a pretty good player down the road.
5.) Aaron Maybin will play DE for the Bills, not OLB. He fits in the mold of a Freeney or Mathis and will fit it more after a year in a NFL conditioning program where he adds yet more muscle to his frame.
Four of the things that can't be taught at the NFL level are speed, size, quickness and attitude. Maybin may not have the fastest 40 time, but he plays very fast. He is 6'4" tall and, at 21, still can add weight properly without losing speed or quickness (at 6'1" E.Brown isn't likely to grow to be 6'4"). Maybin has tremendous quickness, which is even more important than speed at his position. And, he plays hard all of the time (something that Orakpo and Johnson didn't always do).
Maybin can add strength and weight and learn a greater repertoire of moves at the DE position--he should and will be expected to!--which are the things that he lacked. With the Bills having A.Schobel, C.Ellis, R.Denney and, for how at least, C.Kelsay, Maybin doesn't have to come in and start right away or play every down as a rookie. He has the luxury of having a year to play situationally until he gets stronger and heavier and learns how to play the run in the NFL.
In the meantime, however, Maybin has the quickness, speed and attitude to help the Bills' pass rush immediately this season--particularly if they play him opposite Schobel in passing downs.
Yes, there were/are questions about Maybin that he must answer. But, there were also questions about Orakpo and E.Brown as well. I would have been happy if the Bills had gotten any one of them at # 11, but, of the three of them, I liked Maybin just a shade more than the other two guys going in. So, I'm happy that the Bills took Maybin. Now I just hope that he will become the player that I think that he can be.
6.) I thought that this was going to be one of the more unpredictable drafts and, so far, it certainly has been.
Who would have thought that only two TEs would have been taken so far? Who would have thought that Maualuga would have lasted into Round 2, that Duke Robinson and Michael Johnson would still be on the board, that only the top three centers would have been taken so far?
IMHO there is no telling just how Day Two will shake out.
While I like the picks that the Bills made (except for the Byrd pick, which I will reserve judgement on at this point), I am disappointed that the Bills had to give up their better fourth round pick in the deal to get Levitre (who you could look at as their 3rd round pick). They still have some holes to fill and IMHO not quite enough draft picks to fill them with guys who are likely to be ready to play this season.
7.) Which leads me to my concern that they have not yet addressed the TE position.
While it is obvious from the fact that few other teams have taken TEs yet in a draft class that appeared quite deep that perhaps the TEs in this draft were overvalued by a lot of draftniks and "experts", TE is a position that the Bills cannot afford to miss out on addressing in this draft. You can't even go into training camp with the number of TEs that they have on their roster right now and there really aren't any veteran free agents still available who are likely to be able to contribute much to the passing game if the Bills should sign one. So, the Bills have to get a tight end somewhere, somehow, out of this draft. (I don't believe that the Bills will be able to get Scheffler from Denver--there was a report on PFT, I believe, that Denver was asking for a 1st round pick for Scheffler from another team that inquired about him and that's way too much to pay for him. Also, with E.Royal, they don't need Parrish.)
Even though a lot of pretty good tight end prospects are still remaining on the board, with the Bills only holding Philly's 4th round pick going into Day Two one has to wonder whether they will have a chance to get one of the better TEs still remaining on the board. If they don't, it could be a real problem for them.
Being one of those people who knows that making trades can be much harder than it seems, I never anticipate that the Bills (or any team) can make a trade before it is done. Still, unless the Bills are able to make a trade that gets them back up into the third round or higher up in the fourth round, I am very worried that they may not be able to come out of this draft with one of the TEs remaining on the board that I think can really help them.
And, that really bothers me.
8.) Finally, I know that a lot of Bills fans have identified OLB as a position that needs to be upgraded in the draft. If the Bills had more picks in this draft and it was a better LB draft class, I might be one of them.
But, I don't think that this is a particularly good LB draft class and I'm not sure that the Bills will be able to get an OLB in the fourth round of this draft who can help them any more than the OLBs that they already have on their roster. Nor am I convinced that there are any OLBs left who would be worth trading up into the third round to get (unlike the TEs).
Moreover, I think that there are still a couple of OLBs available as veteran free agents who can help the Bills, even if only temporarily for a year or two. Players like Derrick Brooks and Freddy Keiaho.
So, I won't be nearly as upset if the Bills don't come out of this draft with an OLB prospect as I will be if they do not try to address their need for a TE (multiple TEs, actually). I'd rather see the Bills have to go with Brooks or Keiaho at OLB for a season or two than be forced to go with any of the remaining vet FA tight ends. I just don't think that they have the picks that they would need to be able to address both positions adequately in the rest of the draft.
Well, those are my thoughts so far on what the Bills did on Day One of the draft and what I am looking for going into Day Two. Ideas, thoughts, comments and criticisms are always welcome.