Buffalo Bills: Things we know this week after the NFL Draft

The Buffalo Bills went out and had quite the successful 2019 NFL Draft. This offseason success will hopefully lead to some great things in 2019.

Once upon a time the Buffalo Bills had depth allowing them to draft pretty darn close to the best available player. I will never say a selection was not out of need 100% because the players drafted seemed to always fit a hole, unless the hole was later created.

I was spellbound to roll out the Star Wars credit crawl…”a long time ago in a galaxy far far away,” but recently some critics who claim they do not read this editorial seem to spend a ton of time they have on their hands pointing out the shortcomings of others.

Constructive criticism is welcome, but keep in mind I am a local fan retired from his previous career who enjoys writing, but never claim to be the second coming of Larry Felser.

Luke 6:32- “If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them.” Matthew 5:44 -“But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.” Rather fitting. For the Bills front office silly, not for those bullies who pick on writers.

That was tossed in there pertaining to the article but relates to what McDermott and Beane deal with as many armchair GMs have all the answers. The coach and the GM humbly take constant criticism, deserved or underserved. I love a local hometown approach recently that the coach tossed out there.

McDermott showing hometown proficiency said, “It’s kind of like when you drive down the interstate there and you get close to the General Mills plant and you can smell the Cheerios. You can feel it. You can smell it. When you’re around a good football player, a guy that wants it, it’s no different in your line of work. When you’re around people that want it and are passionate about what they do, you can smell that, you can feel it.”

Sometimes the position was occupied, and the first-round selection created competition resulting in an upgrade or depth. I am ascribing the drafting of the likes of Henry Jones, Thomas Smith, Jeff Burris, Eric Moulds, Ruben Brown or John Fina-type players being selected based on rankings. Retooling during winning years on the fly, smack in middlemost of greatness, would suffice most of these players.

Some of these players were chosen well into the “almost-dynasty-years.” Others named were selected post-AFC Championship years, Buffalo still considered a winning team, retooling for more runs at the prize.

Based on reputation of management, winning and legends already on the roster, available free agents such as Ted Washington, Bryce Paup, Quinn Early, Jim Jeffcoat and Chris Spielman would enthusiastically sign with the Bills. Being able to lock up talent like this while already a winning team makes drafting even easier to draft off your rankings board as free agents could cover the needed areas.

The Bills signed James Lofton before they really got good, but he could see the pieces were falling in to place when he signed.

When free agents like London Fletcher and Takeo Spikes signed, the Bills were not far removed from being a playoff team and those players would have never guessed this great team of the 90s and late 80s would eventually turn the couple of missed postseason years they witnessed prior to signing into a couple of decades.

Drafting became tougher as the losing years progressed as top free agent signings minimized due to players wanting to be shown winning as well as the money.

I believe Mr. Clean and Mr. Beane have done a remarkable job identifying second-tier free agents and getting first-level productivity from them. They did a splendid job of making the playoffs in year one while rebuilding, trading away a lot of previous regimes big name players to build up draft capital.

This past season they really were disciplined with managing the salary cap so they could bring in help for the core that they had put in place through previous drafts. They brought in a lot of depth with key free agent signings as well as a large quantity of them producing depth.

The Bills are not at the point where every top free agent has Buffalo on their short list. They are in a much better position than they were before the current coach and GM were put in place. They won as a team when they made the playoffs as players speak very highly of the culture and the family-like environment.

What McBeane did was fill many “needs” in free agency with the cap space they created over the previous two years. The Bills headed in to the draft with the ability to draft the best players available according to their draft board or at least much closer to that than any Bills team was in position to do in many years.

I approbate the first-round selection of Ed Oliver. Trading up in the second round to grab O-Line tackle, Cody Ford, really displayed the strategy of best player available as they clearly brought in several players in free agency to protect Josh Allen. They still went for the lineman because of him being such a great talent and a value at that point of the drat.

They easily could have reached for a wide receiver if they were drafting on need. I would have liked a wide receiver, but a reach drafting a raw player with potential upside is not what the Bills are about right now, as they are ready to be competitive now. They obviously are comfortable with the wide receivers they acquired in free agency.

Devin Singletary being selected in the third round clearly shows they were drafting the best player on their board because they have a full house at the running back position. He just offered too much skill to pass on as he dropped to them which was not expected. Trading back into the third round selecting tight end Dawson Knox was potentially a brilliant move. He has all the tools to be that tight end that can be Josh Allen’s best friend.

The process we are asked to trust is entering its third season. I think they have had a plan all along and of course some setbacks, like Eric Wood retiring five years too early and Richie Incognito was a Pro Bowl guard that we had penciled in for one more season, were stumbles.

But as an overall plan, they appear to be sticking to it and made the playoffs once probably a bit surprisingly and were horrible to start last season but grew in many areas showing us a glimpse of the future as the season progressed.

Takeaways: Love your enemies?? Trust the process.

This was my positive editorial without “Negative Stanley” putting his negative spin on pretty much any topic. This writer is very satisfied with this year’s draft. “Gunter Glieben Glauten Globen.” I digress….

Things We Know About the Buffalo Bills This Week:

·Adam Schefter reported that undrafted Buffalo QB Tyree Jackson reached an agreement with the Bills with a deal including $75,000 guaranteed.

·Cornerback Cam Lewis will be another UB Bull undrafted player signing with the Bills competing for a spot on the team.

·West Virginia WR David Stills signs with the Bills.

·Iowa WR Nick Easley, an undrafted player who had a visit with the Bills, was signed by just that team.

·Kicker Chase McLaughlin of Illinois signed by Buffalo. McLaughlin kicked a school-record five field goals of 50-plus yards. He was spot on perfect at extra points hitting on 79 out of 79.

I am diligently working here in Buffalo suburbia on the love- thy- enemy ‘action item’ with efforts to love Doug Marrone. It has not been accomplished yet. Very very difficult. Like Fonzie eating liver or saying he is ssssssssorry.

Come on Marrone…can’t I love maybe Chan Gailey or Wade Phillips?  I’ll give the big Teddy Bear Wade a bear hug when he sates as a matter of fact” uh….he is not a punt returner.  He is what we call a punt catcher”.

Don’t wait around for me.  I will be here for a while. Leave a light on.