Bills Draft Grade...

[Jersey1031]

****DAY 1 DRAFT GRADE****


I'm giving us a B-...

[The Spaz]

I was saying to myself about an hour ago the samething.

[DraftBoy]

C-

McCargo was a bad pick at the spot, Youboty brings the grade up

[Bill Brasky]

C at best.

[ICE74129]

D. The picks have some value but the first two are bad reaches. We could have had better talent on this team.

Marv showed me today they fixed on one position and freaked when the guy they wanted wasn't there. They didn't know how to handle all of the trade offers coming in with Leinart and Cutler there.

Although this is a two offseason process, this draft was vital and Marv and company screwed the pooch. Their mis handleing of the first 3 rounds gives me little hope that we land any talent in rounds 4-7 that will actually help this team

[Bill Brasky]

D. The picks have some value but the first two are bad reaches. We could have had better talent on this team.

Marv showed me today they fixed on one position and freaked when the guy they wanted wasn't there. They didn't know how to handle all of the trade offers coming in with Leinart and Cutler there.

Although this is a two offseason process, this draft was vital and Marv and company screwed the pooch. Their mis handleing of the first 3 rounds gives me little hope that we land any talent in rounds 4-7 that will actually help this team

You are coming around to the side of "logic"!

[OpIv37]

I gotta go with C-. We filled some needs, but neglected the OL and had 2 reaches in 18 picks. that's gotta be some kind of record.

[BillsFever21]

D. The picks have some value but the first two are bad reaches. We could have had better talent on this team.

Marv showed me today they fixed on one position and freaked when the guy they wanted wasn't there. They didn't know how to handle all of the trade offers coming in with Leinart and Cutler there.

Although this is a two offseason process, this draft was vital and Marv and company screwed the pooch. Their mis handleing of the first 3 rounds gives me little hope that we land any talent in rounds 4-7 that will actually help this team

Exactly. They wanted Huff and didn't have a backup plan. So instead they panicked and took Whitner.

Whitner isn't anywhere up to par with Huff but we drafted him as his equal.

[dannyek71]

D+

[LifetimeBillsFan]

Grade: B

The Bills came out of the first day of the draft with the second best safety, the third best DT and the 2nd-3rd best pure cornerback. Which is about what you might expect from a team with the # 8 pick and an extra 3rd round pick (perhaps a little less, perhaps a little more).

For those who think that the Bills reached with their first two picks: what was the drop off at the two positions that they addressed with their picks after the player that they selected?

In Whitner's case, their were 32 picks before Detroit, not coincidently, selected D.Bullocks, the next pure safety. Miami did select J.Allen, a CB/S hybrid with it's pick at # 16. Detroit and Miami were the two teams that the Bills were concerned might take Whitner if they traded down out of the # 8 spot. In McCargo's case, there were 42 picks, more than an entire round, before the next DT--incidently, the troubled Claude Wroten--was drafted (this despite the fact that the NY Giants, at the very least, were interested in drafting a DT early and made more than one pick during that interval).

Now, there are two ways of looking at this: either you can say that it means that the Bills didn't need to take those two players as highly as they did because they could have gotten them later, or you can conclude that those two were the last pure safety and the last DT that any of the GMs in the NFL thought worthy of being taken that high. (Is the glass half-empty or half-full?)

Also, there were only three taller CBs taken on Day One of this draft: the "boom-or-bust" J.Williams who may be better as a safety in the NFL; the athletically spectacular workout wonder A.Cromartie who has only started one game in college; and the equally-talented C.Griffin who has more difficult to correct technical issues to overcome to be successful in the NFL.

As I see it, the Bills have come out of the first day of the draft with three pretty good prospects at positions of need that they were looking to fill in this draft. And, that's what they should have done, given they were starting with the # 8 pick in the draft and an extra third round pick. Now, if you want to fault them for not addressing the offensive line, which is arguably their most important or second most important need, with those picks, in my opinion, that would be a fair criticism and concern.

The Bills might argue that the signing of T.Reyes at least partially addresses that need, but IMHO it would also be fair to say that that does not go far enough. And, I would agree. But, there are still a few offensive linemen unexpectedly remaining on the board--players expected to go much higher--who may yet serve to address that need on the second day of the draft. The same is true at defensive tackle, where the Bills still have a need for another player in their DT rotation.

If you look at the players that the Bills drafted to address the needs that they have thus far, they have not done badly. Could they have realistically done better? Perhaps yes, perhaps no. But, is this draft the disaster that some have portrayed it to be--I would argue that it has not been. IMHO it has been a good draft so far, not great, but not bad--although we really won't be able to truly judge how good these players are until we see them playing in a Bills uniform.

Undoubtedly, there will be some who will adamantly disagree with this view--and even accuse me of being a Levy-loving homer--and there is no way that I can ever hope to convince them otherwise: it is a question of whether you see the glass half-empty or half-full as I do....

[ZacGriffi~82]

Outstanding post LBF.

[Philagape]

C- (and Youboty raises it to that grade)

This will be either the shrewdest, most insightful, brilliant draft in the league, or it will be a blown opportunity of historic magnitude, even more than Mike Williams (I'll explain below).
Whitner and McCargo are now the saviors of the defense. We needed a killer draft to improve this team, and now it's all on their shoulders. Of course, no one can say whether or not they will live up to those expectations; they very well might. But say they're just good enough to start but have mediocre careers. Solid but not great. If they had been drafted where they were expected to be drafted, one could say, well, they did about as well as expected. But now, if they don't reach standards worthy of where they were taken, then all the blame falls on Marv and Co. We can't say "Everyone thought they were worthy of those picks" as an excuse. Only WE and very few others thought they were worthy of those picks.
At least Mike Williams was a conventional pick. Most of the experts blew it on him. Same with other high-profile busts. But if Whitner's a bust, it will be OUR bust alone.
Whitner will carry the added burden of a top-10 contract. To whom much is given, much is required.
These are certainly gutsy picks, and up to the draft I espoused the philosophy of ignoring the pundits and drafting according to your own board. Well, the Bills sure took that to the extreme. We drafted with tunnel vision and a sort of paranoia that the guys we wanted wouldn't last, even to the point of turning down trade offers that, in hindsight, would have worked.
The grade will be raised if we land a solid T or G in the fourth round, and there are a few left.

[Bmax]

C-

McCargo was a bad pick at the spot, Youboty brings the grade up


Are you kidding me ????? It was a good pickup...if we don't take mccargo who do we get in rd 2 ? No one was worthy of a 2nd rd pick at that position....i guessyou think he would be their.. well guess again....i guess the bills should of took Claude wroten ....who tested positive at the combine...Then i guess everybody would be happy...well we all knew marv was not going to touch him with a ten foot pole...

B plus grade

I wonder what other Gm's think of our draft...Gil brant has no problems with it...i'll trust his judgement over kipers and claytons....

I had mccargo pegged from buffalo for awhile...granted it was rd 2 .. but he stock was really rising lately...Trust me the kid will be a player...

I HAVE BEEN FOLLOWING THE DRAFT AND THE NFL FOR OVER 35 YEARS .. I KNOW A LITTLE ABOUT THE GAME...


Bmax

[Philagape]

if we don't take mccargo who do we get in rd 2 ?

McCargo

[Mr. Pink]

Whitner good player, coulda been taken a few picks lower and seeing denver traded up to get cutler, they woulda traded with us. Perhaps Marv didn't like the offer, or ralph didn't "understand" it. He woulda been available at 15, no question.

McCargo.....was rated as the 4th best DT in this draft with Wroten dropping like a lead balloon. Woulda probably been there in the 2nd when the Bills picked. So they unnecessarily gave up a pick to move up to get a guy that woulda been there anyways. Wow, this sounds like a Botch Davis move to get KII.

Youboty, the writing is on the wall....Clements is done here. Youboty represents excellent value at the 3rd round. While I won't go as far as some and say he's the third best corner, which is simply untrue, he is a good player.

Two reaches.....Two that ultimately cost the Bills extra picks to help the holes on the Titanic, and one good value pick.....hmmmm day 1 grade?

F+

They get the plus for the value of Youboty in RD3....But costing this franchise and team extra picks is inexcusable.

[AndreReed83]

I give a Player Grade of A.

Each player should come in and contribute this year. If not, they'll be regular contributers by next season. The defense should be a feared one again, which will make the woes on offense a little easier to stomach.

I give a Draft Grade of C-.

The draft is about trying to find a perfect blend of getting the players you want for the best value possible. Marv did the first part fine, but was non-existant in the second part, outside of getting Youboty for great value.

[Crisis]

I don't see how you grade a bunch of unknowns!