From the Spilt Milk Dept: As we crab about Lawson,

[IlluminatusUIUC]

Here's my shot at it:

1. Lawson
2. OT Jason Spriggs, Indiana
3. DT Andrew Billings, Baylor
4. LB Nick Kwiatkoski, W. Virginia
5. CB Anthony Brown, Purdue
6. LB Tyrone Holmes, Montana
7. WR Daniel Braverman WMU

Interesting, so even if we had lost at the end of the season you'd still have taken Lawson first?

FWIW, Billings and Brown would have been available at our real picks, without even the hypothetical losses.

[YardRat]

We will see about Ragland...so many reports about him being a 2-down player, as well as one who played with a loaded college club...

True, Ragland played behind one of the best defensive lines in college. Of course, with a different coaching hire, he'd now be playing behind one of the best defensive lines in the NFL instead of trying to fit in with the rest of the cluster****. Dumbass still has great personnel to run a 43, and he's just going to keep going in the wrong direction.

[swiper]

True, Ragland played behind one of the best defensive lines in college. Of course, with a different coaching hire, he'd now be playing behind one of the best defensive lines in the NFL instead of trying to fit in with the rest of the cluster****. Dumbass still has great personnel to run a 43, and he's just going to keep going in the wrong direction.

I don't disagree with you (at all here), but face it. We're all going to have to sit back and endure the next two seasons of middling football before another change will be made.

[stuckincincy]

Interesting, so even if we had lost at the end of the season you'd still have taken Lawson first?

FWIW, Billings and Brown would have been available at our real picks, without even the hypothetical losses.

I think so - he seemed to fit a need for a largish DE. The news about his surgery doesn't irk me, BTW. The FO's hyperbole about starting 3 rookies goes into the "PR stunt" file.

Billings' drop was surprising to many. On draft days, I also followed a PGH fan site (it was hilarious in the good sense. Look it up next draft) - they were salivating about Billings.

In my hypothetical, I responded to what many a poster here wanted - a big-body NT. So I would have grabbed him in the 3rd .

WR Braverman intrigued me - he got invited for "official" visits by 6 clubs. IIRC, clubs have something like 33 of those. Here's a rah-rah:

http://www.nfl.com/draft/2016/profil...man?id=2556144

[Bill Cody]

...and kvetch about Ragland being a two down player, and Washington not being a 350 lb. NT and no OT picks and a RB selection for whatever reason, how do you think their draft would have been had they NOT beat NYJ in the final week?

IIRC, when the dust settled, they lost something like 6 positions - they might have selected 13th throughout the rounds instead of 19th.

It's funny you think this is a big deal. You would have taken Lawson anyway at 13. The Bills were going for Ragland anyway in the 2nd and would have tried moving up even if they were picking 43rd. And Billings was on the board when the Bills picked in the 3rd. We can debate who the Bills took but your not making a good case for why picking earlier would have made a big difference.

[stuckincincy]

It's funny you think this is a big deal. You would have taken Lawson anyway at 13. The Bills were going for Ragland anyway in the 2nd and would have tried moving up even if they were picking 43rd. And Billings was on the board when the Bills picked in the 3rd. We can debate who the Bills took but your not making a good case for why picking earlier would have made a big difference.

In the 1st round: Lawson fell further - to 19 - than most any pre-draft prediction guessed. It seems that teams were wary about the shoulder injury rumors. For argument's sake let's say he fell to #13, and another club selected him. BUF would be SOL. If they didn't win that final game , BUF would be in that #13 spot. And get Lawson.

In the 2nd round: DAL took a flyer on LB Jaylon Smith with the #34 pick. There were 2 other LBs picked in the 2nd round...Ragland, and Kamalei Correa. BUF moved up from #49 to #41 at a cost of this year's 4th rnd (117), and a 4th rnd pick in 2017.

BAL traded their #36 to move to #38. Then BAL traded out of the #38 spot, to #42. If they wanted Ragland, they could have gotten him at their original spot. Or, as it turned out, at that #38.

Had BUF been drafting at #43 instead of #49, it's possible that they wouldn't have made the trade with CHI and lose those two picks.

Billings: Again - the folks here, the pundits and the draft gurus targeted BUF for a guy like him. Lawson dropped and BUF bit. Billings dropped and so far, the stink on him appears unfounded. Time will tell.

I think you are missing the general point - that it is better to draft higher in the order. Your options are greater. The trade value of your picks are higher. I listed my hypothetical picks, if the Bills were drafting at #13 instead of #19. I encourage you to re-do the draft yourself in that light. could you improve it.?Give it a go!

And I still don't see the desire for Ragland. When everybody and his brother says things like "two-down run stopper", I'm gone. But again, time will tell.

[Bill Cody]

In the 1st round: Lawson fell further - to 19 - than most any pre-draft prediction guessed. It seems that teams were wary about the shoulder injury rumors. For argument's sake let's say he fell to #13, and another club selected him. BUF would be SOL. If they didn't win that final game , BUF would be in that #13 spot. And get Lawson.

In the 2nd round: DAL took a flyer on LB Jaylon Smith with the #34 pick. There were 2 other LBs picked in the 2nd round...Ragland, and Kamalei Correa. BUF moved up from #49 to #41 at a cost of this year's 4th rnd (117), and a 4th rnd pick in 2017.

BAL traded their #36 to move to #38. Then BAL traded out of the #38 spot, to #42. If they wanted Ragland, they could have gotten him at their original spot. Or, as it turned out, at that #38.

Had BUF been drafting at #43 instead of #49, it's possible that they wouldn't have made the trade with CHI and lose those two picks.

Billings: Again - the folks here, the pundits and the draft gurus targeted BUF for a guy like him. Lawson dropped and BUF bit. Billings dropped and so far, the stink on him appears unfounded. Time will tell.

I think you are missing the general point - that it is better to draft higher in the order. Your options are greater. The trade value of your picks are higher. I listed my hypothetical picks, if the Bills were drafting at #13 instead of #19. I encourage you to re-do the draft yourself in that light. could you improve it.?Give it a go!

And I still don't see the desire for Ragland. When everybody and his brother says things like "two-down run stopper", I'm gone. But again, time will tell.

It's better to pick earlier sure but your case for how much better is weak based on your own mock draft. You can see that right? Guys slip in the draft every year. It's far more important to know what you're doing than where you pick and that's the real point.

[stuckincincy]

It's better to pick earlier sure but your case for how much better is weak based on your own mock draft. You can see that right? Guys slip in the draft every year. It's far more important to know what you're doing than where you pick and that's the real point.

I'm sorry you think my draft is weak, and I've said that you should give it a shot. I don't think there is but a few souls on this site that feels the Bills know what they are doing. You seem fixated on me and my scribblings, rather than on the fact that the BUF FO - for years - has exhibited as much draft acumen as a nemetode.

Cripes...even AZ and CIN eventually crawled out of the ashes of their '90's decade of jokedom.

[IlluminatusUIUC]

I'm sorry you think my draft is weak, and I've said that you should give it a shot. I don't think there is but a few souls on this site that feels the Bills know what they are doing. You seem fixated on me and my scribblings, rather than on the fact that the BUF FO - for years - has exhibited as much draft acumen as a nemetode.

Cripes...even AZ and CIN eventually crawled out of the ashes of their '90's decade of jokedom.

He's not saying your mock draft is weak, he's saying it's weak support for the claim that we should be losing games at the end of the year. I mean, look at your examples of teams that turned it around: Arizona and Cincy. Both of them drafted near the top of the NFL for years and never got anywhere, and at the moment they only have three if their own top 10 picks on their roster: Green in Cincy, Peterson and Fitz in Arizona. Arizona just dealt away Jonathan Cooper because he was a total bust and Cincy just let Andre Smith walk in free agency.

Both teams got their franchise QBs without using a first
Both teams are getting elite play from veterans the rest of the league had given up
Both teams took chances on risky players in the draft that paid off huge

Teams get successful because they draft smarter, not higher.

[Bill Cody]

I'm sorry you think my draft is weak, and I've said that you should give it a shot. I don't think there is but a few souls on this site that feels the Bills know what they are doing. You seem fixated on me and my scribblings, rather than on the fact that the BUF FO - for years - has exhibited as much draft acumen as a nemetode.

Cripes...even AZ and CIN eventually crawled out of the ashes of their '90's decade of jokedom.

lol man did you forget that this is your thread? Lighten up old timer.

(stuckincincy in ernest conversation with himself) "Damn Bills! I've been saying for MONTHS how stupid it was for the Bills to beat the Jets! Stupid Stupid Stupid"!
(answering himself) "How stupid Cincy"?
"I'll tell you just how stupid! If they had lost that game they could have had LAWSON"!
"Seriously"?
"Yup no joke. And Billings too. Totally f'n nuts"

[stuckincincy]

lol man did you forget that this is your thread? Lighten up old timer.

(stuckincincy in ernest conversation with himself) "Damn Bills! I've been saying for MONTHS how stupid it was for the Bills to beat the Jets! Stupid Stupid Stupid"!
(answering himself) "How stupid Cincy"?
"I'll tell you just how stupid! If they had lost that game they could have had LAWSON"!
"Seriously"?
"Yup no joke. And Billings too. Totally f'n nuts"

Re-read the thread title: "From the Spilt Milk Dept:" etc.

Haven't you ever learned the meaning of the term "spilt milk?"

30 posts, members realizing that the thread was about opportunities in the draft, a kicking of the tires, (another old expression). You know - everybody knows - that the Bills' FO has been far from the sharpest stick when the draft rolls around. That makes them fair game for second-guessing.

I read your posts - you normally add to this site, but you don't when you publish snide comments. Bury it and move on. Deal?