Doug Whaley Watches Over-Drafting During Draft
By Dennis Amo
The Buffalo Bills and Doug Whaley, could have taken EJ Manuel, almost a full round later in the 2013 draft. He was seen as being drafted too early in that draft as the 16th overall pick. Did Doug Whaley draft him too early or put too much stock in the next franchise quarterback and over-draft him because of pressure from outside sources and needs of the team at that point? It is quite possible.
Doug Whaley and the team do not want the same issue to happen again in this years draft, or any draft for that matter. Over-drafting or placing an unrealistic draft grade on a player strictly because of team needs and not based on performance and potential, then there is a disjustice going on to the Bills organization as well as the fans of the Buffalo Bills.
Each team does place a higher or lower value on a player based on their position and their need at the position, but it should not be the sole factor, which is what I think took place in 2013.
"Whaley said that there was a chance of the Bills adding a player from that pile [available quarterbacks in the later rounds], but that he wants to be careful not to (again?) let the team’s need at the position lead him to draft a player higher than he should come off the board.“You can make that argument,” Whaley said, via the Buffalo News. “But also our job is to put the right value on those quarterbacks and if we don’t feel that the value is that second-round pick then again we don’t want to do that because then it’s over-drafting a guy and our job, just for the Pegulas, the Bills and our fan base is to make sure we get the value out of every pick. And that’s not to say that it won’t happen but we’re always going to try to put the best value on these players, be it [Hofstra offensive lineman] Ali Marpet [or] be it a quarterback.”– PFT.com"
Doug Whaley and the Buffalo Bills could be looking at 1 of 4 quarterbacks when it comes to their turn at number 50. Bryce Petty, out of Baylor, might be at the top of their list as Rex Ryan has already gone and worked him out. Brett Hundley, UCLA, Garrett Grayson, Colorado, and Sean Mannion, Oregon State are the other 3 that could be on short list for 2nd and 3rd round quarterbacks.
With only a 2nd and 3rd round pick before the later picks come into play, the Buffalo Bills have to be on point for scouting and drafting players. They are drafting primarily for depth on their team, but those depth players also have to have the correct value as the depth of today will be the starters of tomorrow.
Next: Buffalo Bills Draft Prospects: Clive Walford
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