vote for the Bills draft day grade

[mysticsoto]

It would appear that many uninformed fans have graded the Bills with an 'F' as their draft grade this year. Even if you think there was a reach for the 1st 2 players we grabbed, I hardly think an 'F' details the high quality players we have added as well as the good draft value we got with picks 3-5 and undrafted Martin Nance.

Go and vote. Let's see if we can change that value. I voted for a 'B', but it would appear the next highest is 'D' - still. Vote for what you think we should get...

http://sports.espn.go.com/chat/sportsnation/story?id=2421528

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(http://sports.espn.go.com/chat/sportsnation/index)</center> http://espn.go.com/poll/images/poll36685_0.gif

[tat2dmike77]

The bills get a B

[Nublar7]

It would appear that many uninformed fans have graded the Bills with an 'F' as their draft grade this year. Even if you think there was a reach for the 1st 2 players we grabbed, I hardly think an 'F' details the high quality players we have added as well as the good draft value we got with picks 3-5 and undrafted Martin Nance.

Go and vote. Let's see if we can change that value. I voted for a 'B', but it would appear the next highest is 'D' - still. Vote for what you think we should get...

http://sports.espn.go.com/chat/sportsnation/story?id=2421528


<CENTER>
(http://sports.espn.go.com/chat/sportsnation/index)</CENTER>http://espn.go.com/poll/images/poll36685_0.gif

Just beacuse a majority of people are being truthful, it means they are uninformed? :lol:


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[Pinkerton Security]

Its very obvious that the people who vote on that thing don't know their butt from a hole in the ground. Can you seriously think that the Texans get an F when they got the best defensive prospect (physically at the very least) in the draft, a GREAT linebacker in Ryans in the 2nd round, and then 2 damn good linemen in Spencer and Winston in the 3rd!?!

Which leads me to this point: People need to stop watching ESPN all day and then think they know all there is to a draft. People get upset when the glitzy players don't get drafted by their teams, when their team is probably doing what is best. I've had about enough of these people. I am by no means saying I know what is going on AT ALL, but at least my only view of the draft is the view presented to me by the press.

[LifetimeBillsFan]

I originally gave the Bills a "B" grade on their draft, but, now that the smoke has cleared somewhat and I've had a chance to learn more about the players that they drafted, I would up that grade to a "A-minus".

I will admit that, even though I knew Whitner was on the Bills' radar screen before the draft, I was shocked that they took him at # 8. Like most Bills fans, I expected the Bills to trade down out of that spot if they were not going to take Bunkley there (I NEVER thought that they would take Leinart). I was willing to give Marv & Co. the benefit of the doubt that they knew what they were doing when they didn't trade down, but I did mark them down a little based on the fact that there was still some doubt about whether Whitner would have lasted had they traded down.

With Whitner now confirming B.Billick's comments that Baltimore would have taken him at # 13 in his press conference today and saying that he had also talked with St.Louis about going there at # 11, the notion that Whitner was a reach because the Bills could have traded down and still gotten him has pretty much been negated by the preponderance of the evidence indicating that Whitner would have been taken before the Bills could have selected him if the Bills had traded down with any of the suitors who were offering trades. Failing to get Whitner would have either forced the Bills to switch the focus of their draft to offense--which would have meant relying on lesser prospects to fill their holes on defense later in the draft--or to take an injury risk in Allen with their first pick, which would have been a "reach" or to take McCargo with that pick which would have been an even bigger "reach". Now, perhaps with Whitner off of the board, they could have managed a double tradedown in the first round that would have allowed them to take McCargo and a lesser safety and an offensive lineman without overly reaching...this possibility is what is preventing me from giving them an "A" or "A-plus" grade.

The trade-up to pick McCargo was not nearly as much of a surprise to me because, once Carpenter went to the Cowboys, I knew, from the NYC area media, that McCargo would be on their radar screens and their trade down with the Steelers only confirmed that in my mind. Being able to snatch McCargo away from the Giants seemed like a very smart move to me on the Bills' part. Still, I didn't realize how good of a move that it was until later in the draft. The more I read up on McCargo and saw the drop off at the DT position, however, the smarter that deal began to look. The cost was high, but IMHO the cost of not trading up to McCargo would have been higher.

The selections of Youboty and Simpson were "no-brainers". As much as I wanted the Bills to take an offensive lineman, with the way that they were dropping, there was no way IMHO that the Bills could have passed up those two players. To get them where the Bills did was a nice surprise: "A-plus" picks in the 3rd and 4th rounds.

I will admit that, while I had seen Williams play a few times and liked what I saw, I really wasn't that familiar with him and with all of the DTs still on the board and the Bills' weaknesses on the offensive line, I really wanted and expected the Bills to take an offensive lineman with this pick. And, I was disappointed that they did not. But, I had said in numerous posts before the draft that I thought that the Bills had to come out of this draft with two defensive tackles, so I wasn't totally shocked by the Williams pick when it happened. And, now that I have had a chance to read up on him and see some more clips of his play, I believe that they got one of the best of the remaining DTs and the best fit for their system and philosophy: after watching the Bills' defense quit at times last season, the last thing that this team needs is a young guy who will take plays off or quit on the team, Williams, unlike some of the other DTs on the board at the time, won't even be tempted to do that.

I'll admit that I didn't understand the Butler pick until I read about him and remembered that UVa ran a lot to their right side when I saw them play. Butler sounds like a similar player to Williams who plays on the offensive side of the ball--and, personally, I think those kinds of players are the ones that teams get in the late rounds who end up being successful--the Tedy Bruschi, London Fletcher, Zach Thomas types. Since most of the offensive linemen that I really wanted the Bills to take were off the board by this point, I see Butler as being an OK pick at this point. Not great, but good.

I really didn't like the Ellison pick, either, until I read some more about him, too. With Boothe off of the board, however, the only remaining offensive lineman I was hoping that the Bills would take there, though, was Matua--who every team seemed to be avoiding like the plague (which made me think that maybe there was a reason for passing on him that I didn't know)--so I wasn't totally upset. Then, I read up a bit on Ellison. And, now, I think that this may turn out to be a really good pick that late in the draft. I think Ellison has a chance to end up helping the Bills a lot more than I would expect most players taken that late in a draft to help a team.

Now, I must confess that I knew almost nothing about the Bills last two picks in the draft: Pennington and Merz. I had seen New Mexico play once in each of the last two years and Cal three times--and I hadn't been paying much attention to their offensive linemen when I did. And, initially, I couldn't find any information on Merz at all! So, while I was happy that the Bills were finally drafting offensive linemen, I wasn't at all happy that they were doing so that late in the draft with players who seemed so obscure. The only thing that made me think that these might not be totally wasted picks was that New Mexico was able to pass-block well enough to make Hank Baskett a star and good draft prospect and that the Cal line was good enough to hold its own against USC when Rodgers and Arrington were there last season. Finding out that Pennington is the son of a former NFL player who is just beginning to develop and that Merz was a walk-on who ended up being a starter, though, has made me think that, while neither of them is going to help the Bills this season, one or both might have a shot at making the practice squad as a development "project". You can't teach a player to have 36" arms or to have the kind of heart and determination that it takes to walk on to a Pac-10 team and become a starter. Neither Pennington nor Merz is same kind of prospect that Justice or Winston or Lutui are, but I don't expect 7th round draft picks to be that polished--I just hope that they are players who have the potential to develop into decent back-ups after a year or two.

While I was unhappy that the Bills did not address their needs on the offensive line at some point early in the draft, the way that I look at it, they would have had to sacrifice getting the quality of defensive players that they were able to get in order to do that--and I really like the quality of the defensive football players that they were able to get in this draft. When a team goes into a draft needing a Cover 2 safety, a 3-technique DT, a cornerback, an offensive lineman, and a 1-gap DT and is able to come out of that draft with the best pure Cover 2 safety (after the top DB in the draft is gone), the second-best 3-gap DT, a young CB who was expected to go in the late first or early second round, and a high-motor, no quit, 1-gap DT who might be third-to-fifth best at that position, I think that rates at least a "B" or a "B-plus". And, while they didn't get the offensive lineman that they may have wanted, by off-setting that by getting a free safety who was expected to go in the late first or second round to fill a roster spot that would be a major need in the next draft, I think the grade has to go higher to "B-plus" or "A-minus".

The Bills are, ultimately, going to get at least five starters out of this draft and at least one back-up, if not more, when you count in the undrafted free agents that they have signed. And, there won't be any quit in the players that make their roster. Now, it remains to be seen how good those players will be, but those five all have the potential to be average or better starters in the NFL. In my estimation, if an NFL team can come out of the draft with that many starting quality players, they have done a pretty good job overall. But, of course, that's just my opinion.

[Mr. Cynical]

A bit harsh - the players aren't bad picks, just taken at bad times and didn't address our needs. Still sticking by my D+ rating though.

[mysticsoto]

A bit harsh - the players aren't bad picks, just taken at bad times and didn't address our needs. Still sticking by my D+ rating though.

Didn't address our needs? What bigger hole was there than at DT? And we got two DTs that fit the scheme they want to implement perfectly - not to mention a perfect cover-2 safety?

No, we didn't get to address the Oline in the draft, but let's be honest, there are very few Olineman that would have started over what we have. Brick, Justice, Joseph are a few that were gone immediately. Besides the WR position, the Oline is the position that most has been addressed in the offseason. We will have 3 new starters on the line in Reyes, Fowler and well, Peters didn't start last year, so I'm considering him a new starter. So yes, the Oline has been addressed - and quite frankly, addressing it by placing a rookie on the Oline is always a risk. Preston is a good prospect and still struggled at times last year. Robert Gallery was a good prospect and has struggled the last 2 years in Oakland...just b'cse they are good draft prospects doesn't mean they have what it takes to work the Oline. Right now I prefer to have veterans who have played at the position and have experience to draw from...especially with our tenuous QB situation!