Time for my Bills draft

[TigerJ]

I'm excellent at criticizing other people's mock drafts. Well, turnaround is fair play, so I thought I'd take a crack at doing a mock of my own (Bills picks only) so y'all get your chance to shoot me down. Here it is.

Round 1 – Stephon Gilmore CB
<?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" /><st1:City><st1:place>Buffalo</st1:place></st1:City> trades down to #17. <st1:City><st1:place>Buffalo</st1:place></st1:City> gets <st1:City><st1:place>Cincinnati</st1:place></st1:City>’s 3<SUP>rd</SUP> round pick and a 3<SUP>rd</SUP> in 2013. Cinncinati takes David Decastro. <st1:City><st1:place>Buffalo</st1:place></st1:City>’s dilemma at #10 is that value does not match need. At 17 <st1:City><st1:place>Buffalo</st1:place></st1:City> gets a player who fills a need. Gilmore has been rising up the charts. He’s an excellent player with very good measurables.
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Round 2 – Nick Toon WR
Toon has good, not great size. He runs good routes, has great hands and is an excellent blocker. He ran a 4.43 at his pro day. He’s a lot like Steve Johnson, only faster, and maybe not as much of a showoff. His dad was an excellent NFL WR. What’s not to like?
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Round 3a – Mychal Kendricks OLB
He lacks ideal height but runs like a cornerback, a fast cornerback. Has enough mass to play the SAM spot, enough quickness to play the WILL. If Kendricks is gone, Nigel Bradham is a possibility here.
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Round 3b – Ladarius Green TE
<st1:City><st1:place>Buffalo</st1:place></st1:City> re-signed Scott Chandler. They have some young guys with potential on the roster, both blocking types and receiving types, but they don’t have any sure things beyond <st1:City><st1:place>Chandler</st1:place></st1:City>, and <st1:City><st1:place>Chandler</st1:place></st1:City> is limited athletically. It doesn’t hurt to bring another guy into the mix.
Green needs to put on some muscle and learn how to block, but he has WR speed.
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Round 4a – Chase Minnefield CB
He’s the second CB taken by <st1:City><st1:place>Buffalo</st1:place></st1:City>. Once much more highly rated, his stock has dropped because he’s shorter than listed in college and is recovering from a knee injury. <st1:City><st1:place>Buffalo</st1:place></st1:City> could be getting a steal here.
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Round 4b – <st1:City><st1:place>Brandon</st1:place></st1:City> Mosely OT
<st1:City><st1:place>Buffalo</st1:place></st1:City> finally gets an offensive tackle. Mosely played mostly right tackle for <st1:City><st1:place>Auburn</st1:place></st1:City>. He is impressive athletically, having played both tight end in high school and defensive end in junior college. He’s raw, being relatively new to the offensive tackle position, but his long arms and athleticism means he may be able to play left tackle in the pros.
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Round 5a – BJ Coleman QB
He would probably have gone much higher had he played for a division one offensive powerhouse. Playing for the <st1:place><st1:PlaceType>University</st1:PlaceType> of <st1:PlaceName>Tennessee</st1:PlaceName></st1:place> at <st1:City><st1:place>Chattanooga</st1:place></st1:City> will tend to drop your draft stock. He’ll need time to develop, but he’ll have that behind Ryan Fitzpatrick.
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Round 5b – Frank Alexander DE
<st1:City><st1:place>Buffalo</st1:place></st1:City> could stand to develop some depth at defensive end. Alexander comes in to compete with Chris Kelsay and several others. He has enough size to compete as a backup left defensive end and enough speed to play on the right. He slid in the draft because of a heart issue, but assuming that won’t be a problem in the future means <st1:City><st1:place>Buffalo</st1:place></st1:City> gets great value here.
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Round 6 – Carmen Messina MLB
Depth behind Sheppard. Decent speed and size. Very productive in college, and technically sound. Went to <st1:State><st1:place>New Mexico</st1:place></st1:State>.
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Round 7a – Danny Coale WR
The seventh round is a good time for flyers and Coale is a flyer out of Virginia Tech. He needs to get stronger, and develop as a route runner, but he has excellent speed, and is a natural pass catcher. Probably needs to play in the slot. Added bonus: he can punt.

Round 7b – Bobby Hebert C/G
Has played both center and guard for the Baylor Bears. Could back up both positions.

I know trade downs are difficult to accomplish, and I don't know that Buffalo could pull this one off, but knowing draft need and value don't coincide very well for Buffalo at #10 overall, I thought I'd see what it might look like if they could pull it off.

[Bangarang]

I'd prefer an OT to be taken higher than the 4th.

[mysticsoto]

That mock draft sucks! :jk:

[YardRat]

BOOOOO !!!!! THAT DRAFT BLOWS !!!!!!

Actually....

Don't mind Gilmore or trading down, and we are in dire need of corners, but that's a scenario that usually doesn't play out. I'd actually probably be OK if we got stiffed with no partner and took him anyway at #10.

Need another WR, good with Toon.

I have TE Green and CB Minnefield as possibilities in my 'fit by round' mock.

Love the Hebert pick, just because I really believe we need a depth guy for the o-line that can step in at center (especially) or guard and avoid shuffling the o-line around too much in case of an injury.

[Captain gameboy]

I like your Chase Minnefield pick in the fourth.

He's a guy I'm real familiar with, and he has fallen significantly due to injury that really effected combine and pro day evaluations.

Great college performance covering guys whose names are well known.

Could be a safety switch, but a solid pick, whether special teams or CB/Safety.

[JCBills]

What's not to like with Toon?

Umm...injury history?

[CleveSteve]

1. Stephon Gilmore's postseason rise reminds me a lot of Kyle Wilson's, to the point people started to question if he was better than Joe Haden. I think if you were somehow able to convince Cincy to trade up (which I have my doubts about) then you've got to take a tackle [Martin, Reiff, or Glenn] there at 17 (unless Kirkpatrick, the real stud CB falls that far.)

2. Nick Toon in the mid-second seems like a reach, especially with the healthy WRs who should be available there. Would you rather have Toon than Jeffrey?

3a. I like the Kendricks pick... I think he can transition to OLB. Personally, I'd rather get one of the studs at OLB (David, Wagner, Z. Brown) in the second if you're looking at Nick Toon, then take Toon here.

3b. Good place to take a chance on him I think. There's been a lot of noise about him this postseason. He did look good Senior Bowl week.

4a. Good instincts, toughness, and pedigree. Sadly, completely overmatched in the red zone. Not a bad pick.

4b. Great pick if he's there. I wouldn't count on it.

5a. Totally agree.

5b. I don't know much about him. Malik Jackson of Tennessee looks like another very solid LDE candidate slotted around the 5th right now. I like Jackson in case your guy wasn't there for whatever reason or his medical didn't check out.

6. Another guy I can't comment on. Is he Brian Urlacher or Nick Speegle? I guess we'll find out.

7a. I like Danny Coale. He's a good bailout receiver for the QB. I think he's plenty tough. Seems to have his head in the game. Nice pick.

7b. I watched six Baylor games this year and their OL was pretty horrible. If Blake is draftable then I'd be pretty surprised if this guy is, too. A late round interior lineman I really like is Rokevious Watkins of South Carolina. Melvin Ingram credits his improvement in college in large part to competing with him in practice on a regular basis.

JMO on your O. :)

[Jan Reimers]

Really like your mock, Tiger. Gilmore, Toon and Kendricks fill big time needs with value picks. We get a developmental QB, too.

Might have taken a little more polished OT with the 3b pick, but Mosely might develop into something pretty good.

[TigerJ]

I'd prefer an OT to be taken higher than the 4th.

I thought about that. If Buffalo does not take one in the first (and reaching according to the opinion of many) they could get Massie in the second. If they wait, he may be gone in the third. I like Mosely's upside more than any of the other possibilities between the second round and Mosely though. Massie is not quite as raw as Mosely, but he's not real polished either. The other option might be to draft Martin after a trade down.

[Ed]

So despite having 11 picks the Bills only draft one OT and he's raw and plays RT. There's no way the Bills don't draft a legit LT that can at least compete with Hairston and provide depth.

[tampabay25690]

Great job.
I think you may be on the same page I am about the #10 pick and I think the Bills will try to either move up or move down.

Good overall job though

[mysticsoto]

1. Stephon Gilmore's postseason rise reminds me a lot of Kyle Wilson's, to the point people started to question if he was better than Joe Haden. I think if you were somehow able to convince Cincy to trade up (which I have my doubts about) then you've got to take a tackle [Martin, Reiff, or Glenn] there at 17 (unless Kirkpatrick, the real stud CB falls that far.)


I agree. If we trade down, an OT seems more likely to be our pick. I think people are forgetting that we drafted 2 young CBs last yr and I'm pretty sure they are high on them producing more this year after getting some good experience last year. I don't think CB is going to be that high on their list, though I understand it might warrant it if they went strictly BPA.

[Ed]

I agree. If we trade down, an OT seems more likely to be our pick. I think people are forgetting that we drafted 2 young CBs last yr and I'm pretty sure they are high on them producing more this year after getting some good experience last year. I don't think CB is going to be that high on their list, though I understand it might warrant it if they went strictly BPA.
Well Nix has said this off-season that they want to add a couple more CB's and Gailey has said in the past that you need to draft CB's every year because the position is important and good ones are hard to find.

With 10 picks I think the Bills will draft two CB's, one earlier and one later.

[ServoBillieves]

Do we usually have a mock draft thread? I'd rather not post a new thread and won't post it here to take away from TigerJ's, which I'd be satisfied with.

[JCBills]

Do we usually have a mock draft thread? I'd rather not post a new thread and won't post it here to take away from TigerJ's, which I'd be satisfied with.

Everyone usually posts their own mock, though Yardie and I have a joint "Player Fits" thread.

[ServoBillieves]

Eh if it's commonplace (I always forget this time of year) I'll post mine tonight during Sabres intermission.

[TigerJ]

Maybe I'll take a crack at doing a mock in a couple days where the Bills get an offensive tackle earlier.

[JCBills]

Maybe I'll take a crack at doing a mock in a couple days where the Bills get an offensive tackle earlier.

Sometimes I'll post two with different ideas behind each one. Like what they are prioritizing, or a trade back scenario and a non-trade scenario.

I think the hardest thing I'll have a time nailing will be which WR they take. I've been good at getting Bills picks right in recent years, but with so many and a new direction, this will be a tough one.

[Lone Stranger]

I believe you are on target with the first pick and you've got enough positions covered in the balance of your draft.

[Cali512]

Mosley wont make it to 4, hes the only OT projected from the late 2nd to early 4th. Someone will take him earlier knowing that theres no way at any point in the draft no one takes an OT for 32 picks

[Tatonka]

its a good looking draft, other than addressing OT a little better. i LOVE the danny cole pick, as a VT alum. he could be our welker (not just because he is white.....)

i would much rather have hill than toon though.

[Night Train]

Hey, you put your neck out there and no mock is perfect. I'd take that draft. Fills a lot of needs with solid quality.

[Bill Cody]

I would be happy with your trade down plan and the pick of Gilmore.

The draft is such a crap shoot. You grind and grind to build a good board and then teams reach and trade and do all kinds of dumb things and your guy isn't where he should be. Or he is but noone will trade with you.

We will have to get lucky to fill our various pressing needs in this draft. Sometimes you just have to gamble that you will find diamonds later in the draft on secondary needs. My general feeling is if the value is there you go defense defense (LB, CB or vice versa) on the 1st 2 picks or defense QB because QB is the holy grail and if the "right " guy is there you run up with the card. OT has to be no later than round 3. So I guess what I'm saying is I am not as excited about a WR early in the draft.

[TigerJ]

its a good looking draft, other than addressing OT a little better. i LOVE the danny cole pick, as a VT alum. he could be our welker (not just because he is white.....)

i would much rather have hill than toon though.

I would love to have Hill over Toon, but I'm almost certain Hill is going to be drafted in the bottom third of the first round.