2010 Draft picks for the Bills

[trapezeus]

Last year, there was a point where only moats was a contributing member of the draft class as a round 6 pick. Which of course put a lot of us in panic mode. But it seems like this class is in make it or break it mode with us fans this year. So i just put the picks down and what i'd like to see for the draft class to be positive for us.

1. Spiller - needs to see the field much more this year. I think we will see him in 3rd down situations and getting plenty of screens. We need him to be dangerous though to help stop teams bringing the house and to start covering him. If he comes through big, he's practically thurman. if he's average, it'lll be a great step in the right direction. if he has the same year as last year for the full 2011, he's close to being a bust.

2. Troup - a bit underwhelming last year, but seems to have really worked to be better. and now that the line is better as a whole, he has the possiblity to be a great backup depth guy where we have a starter type person coming in when our starters come off. That's important for a good team to have. Hopefully he gets his mike lodish/jeff wright hat on this year.

3. Carrington - see above. People seem to think he'll have a break out season. that'd be great this year for depth and consistency for our DL

4. Easley - last year was a waste. he's shown flashes of being good and being frustratingly bad. i see a little josh reed in him from a fan's perspective. if he keeps dropping balls, we'll go crazy. but he'll probably have 1 or 2 games where he wows us. and then more than 2 games where he is invisible. he needes to stay healthy and he needs to push donald jones.

5. Wang - he came in with some expectations of being a depth guy for us long term. he's often injured and if you follow him on twitter he never seems to be able to sleep and eats all kinds of stuff. obviously you can't conclude much from this, but i just don't feel like he'll be with the team next year if he can't step in when we go through our slew of injuries and be seamless in his execution. He's a possible "not on the team 3 years after draft."

6. Moats - ST, decent last year, and ended farve...all good things to have. I would be disappointed if the bills couldn't make room for him.

6b. Batten - he got injured last year and missed all of last year. i haven't heard much on him.

7. Levi Brown - he is what he is. i'd rather have him than thigpen and having the FO pay fitz to mentor the next guy. have levi cut next year since brad smith is the 3 qb. but you know he's gone this year.

7. Kyle Calloway - no expecation. is he even on the team? Sooner or later an OT for the bills has to hit, right? why not from the last round?


Thoughts.

[DraftBoy]

1. Spiller - needs to see the field much more this year. I think we will see him in 3rd down situations and getting plenty of screens. We need him to be dangerous though to help stop teams bringing the house and to start covering him. If he comes through big, he's practically thurman. if he's average, it'lll be a great step in the right direction. if he has the same year as last year for the full 2011, he's close to being a bust.
He really needs to the field on 1st downs and let Freddy handle 3rd. Spiller is effective because he's not perdictable. He could run or pass and one 1st down you want the defense guessing. He also needs to show more toughness and fight for some more yardage.



2. Troup - a bit underwhelming last year, but seems to have really worked to be better. and now that the line is better as a whole, he has the possiblity to be a great backup depth guy where we have a starter type person coming in when our starters come off. That's important for a good team to have. Hopefully he gets his mike lodish/jeff wright hat on this year.
At this point he's a disappointment. He has never been able to command the DT and still fails to collapse the pocket. Yes he can hit the seam and split the G/C but that's not what he's supposed to do.


3. Carrington - see above. People seem to think he'll have a break out season. that'd be great this year for depth and consistency for our DL
Agreed I think he'll have a breakout year but at what position?


4. Easley - last year was a waste. he's shown flashes of being good and being frustratingly bad. i see a little josh reed in him from a fan's perspective. if he keeps dropping balls, we'll go crazy. but he'll probably have 1 or 2 games where he wows us. and then more than 2 games where he is invisible. he needes to stay healthy and he needs to push donald jones.
His drops are mind numbingly frustrating...I can't get over that for the moment no matter how much physical skill he can show off.


5. Wang - he came in with some expectations of being a depth guy for us long term. he's often injured and if you follow him on twitter he never seems to be able to sleep and eats all kinds of stuff. obviously you can't conclude much from this, but i just don't feel like he'll be with the team next year if he can't step in when we go through our slew of injuries and be seamless in his execution. He's a possible "not on the team 3 years after draft."
He's only on the roster because we don't have a better option at the moment, which speaks to our FO failures.


6. Moats - ST, decent last year, and ended farve...all good things to have. I would be disappointed if the bills couldn't make room for him.
Misused and overhyped.


6b. Batten - he got injured last year and missed all of last year. i haven't heard much on him.
Expect a good year in reserve/ST duty, could be good on occasional pass rush.


The last two are bums.

[RoscoeMagic]

Think Gailey has to find a way to utilize Spiller obviously. Also, it's not all one-sided, I think Spiller needs to learn to hit the hole, stop tripping over his own feet, and learn to block. He needs to fill the "playmaking" void left by Evans. If he reaches his potential, it opens up the entire offense.

This should be the year Troup takes a big step forward. Playing on a line with Williams and Dareus will only help.

Add Carrington on that line (or LB as he's been playing) and our young talent up front looks very promising to say the least. Both Carrington and Troup should compete for a starting spot somewhere in 2012, if they show marked improvements this season--which is expected.

I like Easley's potential. He can contribute this year for sure.

Wang is what he eats. Dog crap.

Hopefully they find a spot for Moats since he looked promising last year.

Batten too, has IMO, been looking solid this preseason. He could be a player, nice late find.

Brown can get cut again. PS him, whatever, I'm sure there's a more talented QB to groom sitting out there.

Calloway was just before the start of last year.

[TigerJ]

1. Spiller - He's going to get a lot more playing time as a "Reggie Bush with the Saints" type RB. He'll be a change the pace runner and catch quite a few passes.

2. Troup - Didn't get a lot of playing time last season since it turned out Kyle Williams can be effective as a nose tackle even though he doesn't tie up blockers in quite the way a typical 3-4 NT usually does. This was not really a reflection on Troup, but Troup did use the offseason wisely to get bigger and stronger. He's still not going to get a lot of playing time, though his minutes will go up this season. He'll be a more typical blocker occupying NT than Kyle Williams is.

3. Carrington - Seems to have some raw talent and athleticism. Got bigger and stronger in the offseason like Troup. He's going to be on the field much more as a linebacker this season. This is partially due to his unusual athleticism for a big man. I probably has more to do with the drafting of Marcell Dareus, who is going to start and play a lot at end. Edwards and Spencer Johnson are going to split time at the other end spot, so Carrington is kind of left without a spot in the front 3. He's too good to languish on the bench, so the coaching staff is switching him to get him on the field, not to mention Kelsay sucks.

4. Easley - Athletically, he is our best receiver. He has to stay healthy and prove that his occasional dropsies in the preseason were due to nervousness and youth. If he does that, he's bound to be a starter eventually.

5. Wang - Hairston is better, and Wang is going to compete with Cordaro Howard for a roster spot. Will never see the field barring injury.

6. Moats - Moats is a good player without a position. With Merriman, Batten, Carrington, and Kelsay all at OLB, Moats is not going to get a sniff there barring a slew of injuries. With Barnett, Morrison, Sheppard, Davis, and maybe White, he's not going to get a sniff at ILB either. He's in danger of being cut, and, if he makes the team, will llikely only see the field on special teams

6b. Batten - Has played pretty well against second teamers. He'll make the team and contribute when Merriman needs a breather or gets hurt.

7. Levi Brown - Looks like he is getting better when he's gotten on the field in preseason games. Probably his best hope is to snag a spot on the PS again and hope he gets another chance some time.

7. Kyle Calloway - Cut before last season. His feet were too slow for the pros.

[Ickybaluky]

It seems to me a good way to get Spiller extra snaps is to use him in the slot in spread sets. It seems to me they have done more of that this preseason, and it really plays to his abilities. He catches the ball well and is an explosive open-field athlete. They can throw quick-hitters and bubble screens using Spiller as a WR, in addition to using him as a change-of-pace guy with Jackson.

The Bills need more explosive plays on offense, which is why they drafted Spiller to begin with. That is how he should be judged, he should be producing big plays. They need to get him the ball in space as much as possible. Using him in the slot in spread sets does that, and you don't have to worry about his sucking in pass protection like you do when he is in the backfield.

[trapezeus]

so are we all kind of in agreement, that thus far, the draft is kind of meh to not very good, but everyone is on the cusp of being better and a role player. If they all pan out to be useful in their roles, it'll have been a decent draft. if 2 or three of them including spiller fail, it's still the bills failing at drafting. they need to hit on like 60% of their picks to make up for prior years.

i just hope these guys step up to the challenge this year.