Welcome to Buffalo Sammy Watkins!

As a Bills fan I don't find overly bias, how do you feel about the trade?

 

Im gonna be laughing my ass off when the Bills finish with 5-11, get a top ten pick next year and don't have it

 

For me, I like the trade. I feel that usually, the first round is chock full of really good players with the potential to be elite. This year, I thought there were maybe 5 or 6 elite players, and the rest I wasn't really excited about. From about pick 7 to 32, you might as well just toss them all up in the air and hope that the one you landed with becomes really good. Staying at #9, there wasn't anyone I felt good about. I didnt like any of the tackles (not a fan of Lewan, plus I wouldnt have picked a tackle anyway for philosophical reasons), Mike Evans I loved but he would have been gone. I would have selected Ebron probably by default (I think he's ok, just not wild about him). I just felt the 9th spot was devoid of playmakers this year. Id rather have less picks and a star player, over more picks of average/good players.

As far as next year's pick goes, who knows. That will depend mostly on how well EJ plays. The rest of our roster is very good. If EJ plays well, we make the playoffs and the loss of the pick in the latter half of the round doesnt matter. If EJ doesnt play well, we are probably losing a top 15 pick. I like the gamble though. What I wouldnt want to happen is EJ progresses, but we were missing that playmaker on offense to put us over the top, which would waste a year. Id rather go the positive route, and hope it all comes together.

I love Sammy Watkins though. We will now have at least 5 years of an elite player in this league. I'd rather give up an extra pick or two to ensure that, versus staying put and getting just another average/solid player.

I dont understand some of these teams like Seattle who just keep trading back and back. Why would you want more 5-7 round picks? Why not have 2 0r 3 really high ones? I just dont understand that logic. Belichick used to do that all the time - collect all these extra late picks who never amounted to anything. Go get an elite player, and worry about the rest later IMO.

 

I see that as a viable strategy if you already have a really good team and are gem hunting. Seattle has that luxury, and in a draft this deep, it's not bad at all. They don't drastically need 1st round mega stars, they need depth and role players. Plus if you look at their defense, most of the best players were picked late like Sherman. The Rams have been really good about trading down as well. It landed them the #2 overall this year if I'm not mistaken. Well that's also Redskins stupidity so I can't say for sure. It's a viable strategy, though.

 

I think the trade itself was great for the Bills. Only had to give up their 1 next year is actually a very good deal. Personally, I consider the pick questionable. People can think I'm dumb with this but I just don't see the elite talent with Watkins that so many others do. I think he's a very good player, and the best WR prospect available, but I don't think he's head and shoulders above these other guys. I don't think he's even close to the talent of Calvin or Green or Julio Jones or Fitz or a number of other guys but time will tell.

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For some teams it works. For some teams it doesn't. If you hit gold with those few high picks, you'll be set, but probably without much depth. If you do what the Jets did, and Seahawks did, you build more competition, which therefore creates much better depth, players who want to play, and a much greater chance of having some solid, or even eventually great players on the cheap.

Me personally, I loved how Tanny would trade so much, and create headlines. However, most of the picks didn't work out so well, so it failed. Idzik appears to be the opposite of that, and I'll cheer it on until I see it fail.

 

I actually think the exact opposite. To me, the better team you are (like Seattle) the less you need a bunch of average players. You go for the elite ones because you can afford to sacrifice the picks since your roster is good enough that you dont need the fill-ins. However, if your roster has many holes (such as the Jaguars or Texans), you need all the picks you can get and it doesnt really make sense to move up and get one good player. Just my opinion though.

 

Watkins should be good, but the thing I don't get is, is Buffalo's draft really THAT much different if they had just stayed put and drafted Odell Beckham Jr. ??

i don't really think their is a huge enough talent gap between the two to advocate trading away next years no. 1. That's not always true, there are years where there's a big drop off in talent at a certain position, I don't think that's the case this year. I think this was just an organization desperate to make headline news more than anything and didn't step back and weigh the players

 

Is there anything about Beckham that is elite, or that he excels at? He is a good player, but I dont see any specific traits that are great about him. That is similar to guys like Robert Woods, or Stevie Johnson. Are they good? Yes. But they dont have elite size, speed, or playmaking ability. It is a waste to fill a roster of complimentary receivers when there isn't a go-to number one.

Watkins has great size (6-1, 207 lbs, and muscled up) combined with great speed, and great run after the catch ability. If you're a baseball fan, he's the equivalent of a 5 tool player. He does everything. He's big and strong, elite speed, he's good at going up and snatching the ball, and is run after catch is really unparalleled. Beckham is a good player no doubt, but he doesnt have elite anything. He's a #2 at best all day long.

And maybe Watkins never develops into that #1, but at least he has that ability and potential. Beckham doesn't, IMO.

 

I don't see how you can say it was a great trade if you don't take the player the trade was made to get is considered. They traded the #9 and what will probably be between #12 and #24 next year for Watkins.I also see him as being very good but don't think he will develop into an elite talent.

On another topic did he ever settle his drug arrest, I don't find anything on what the final disposition was.

 

I wasn't a big fan of Odell Beckham Jr.

I do like Watkins, but I wonder if Buffalo will be regretting giving up their 1st round pick for next year. Watkins himself won't turn Buffalo into a powerhouse. Also, there's still EJ Manuel, and how he will progress.

 

This is why the draft is so fascinating.

Should Buffalo have kept their picks and taken Beckham or is Watkins that much better?

No one knows and it'll be a while to see how this plays out. I think Watkins is going to be great great WR for many years--he is too strong, too fast, too fearless not to be an All Pro type guy.

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You have to look at it from a salary cap standpoint as well. You can only afford to pay so many players good money. If they all turn out to be amazing, some will definitely get lost to other teams over the years. Seahawks are stocking up on depth because they will have some difficult decisions to make in the up coming years with paying a lot of those late round picks that became really good. All credit to them, they have had lots of success in rounds 3-6, they might as well keep a good thing going. Trading down essentially forces teams to sometimes overpay for the position, and the hawks take advantage of them in that way. They just won the superbowl. They aren't hurting for a 1st round rookie standout, especially when they pick at #32. They aren't losing that much in a draft this deep.

 

He will only be as good as the QB throwing to him as is the case with every good QB in NFL history.

 

I agree with that but some players make QBs better. He can create seperation and will be very difficult to cover and contain. Manuel got a real gift there.

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Look at what happened to Larry Fitzgerald when the QB started sucking.

 

My view is that while they did give up a lot, it wasn't an RGIII or Julio Jones level sacrifice. At the same time he's not a franchise quarterback or quite at the same level as a Julio Jones/AJ Green prospect. He's a stud for sure, but I don't know if he'll be an all-pro, but we'll have to see.

The good thing about having a lot of mid-late round picks is that you can get contributing bodies that you can fill in weak spots cheaply, add depth, and take chances on guys that maybe didn't deserve to fall. As much as the superstars get the headlines, guys like Kerley, Allen, and recently Slausen are the late rounders that can make or break a team. When you can't replace guys like Wayne Hunter because you (A) don't have the cap space and (B) didn't draft any developmental players, you're going to get your quarterback killed and jeopardize your whole season.

 

I disagree with that. I don't think the Bills are a Sammy Watkins away from competing for a playoff spot. They've had a top-12 pick for 9 straight years. Watkins and Spiller now makes for a dangerous offense, but I'll believe they're a contender when I see it.

 

I wasn't suggesting that at all. They've definitely added some talent in the past few years (although loosing Byrd is definitely going to hurt), and if Manuel does pan out they can be a dangerous team. The combo of Watkins and Robert Woods is a worrysome combo IMO. I wouldn't have done the trade up but I've seen worse deals made.