It is not only the caliber of players the Bills were able to acquire in the 2017 NFL draft, but the way in which they got them that has some like GMFB’s Kyle Brandt excited about Buffalo’s future.
Buffalo Bills Insider Chris Brown provides the details. Here is his report:
Here’s the Bills news of note for Friday May 5.
1 – Bills praised for how they landed draft prospects
The Bills on the whole have been receiving good grades for their 2017 draft class. But beyond who Buffalo was able to acquire in this year’s draft was how they acquired the players they clearly coveted.
Good Morning Football’s Kyle Brandt tabbed the Bills as his under the radar pick for NFL teams that had a good draft. Here was his take.
“As a fan when you look at the draft results the Bills aren’t a team that catches your eye,” said Brandt. “They haven’t been to the playoffs in years and it’s an afterthought, but I like how they did it this year. They got three future starters I think and it’s how they got them. By trading down and trading up and being patient and not just jumping on a big name or the next big thing.
“They trade down and get Tre’Davious White the corner and that’s great they got him late (in the first). They got Zay Jones and traded up to get him and people say he was way under-drafted and a big time player. Then they get Dion Dawkins a good lineman at the end and a fifth-round quarterback in Nate Peterman. Maybe he’ll become something.”
“I love that they didn’t get (Pat) Mahomes. I believe that the Bills administration in the past or the coaches in the past used to say, ‘That’s the guy! He’s talented. He’s our savior. He’s our J.P. Losman, our Trent Edwards or our EJ Manuel. Let’s just jump on him because everybody likes him and he’s exciting and the Bills fans will embrace this guy.’ Yeah but maybe he’s not going to work out.
“Anything different that happens with the Bills right now I like. They’ve got to do something different. They have some self-awareness that the Patriots are really, really good and maybe we don’t take them out this year, but we get richer next year with extra first-round pick. Maybe we take out the Patriots in two years or three years, but this was a very un-Bills draft this year and I like the way that they did this. I’m actually encouraged about the future.”
2 – FOXSports projects Zay Jones as a rookie starter
Bills second-round pick Zay Jones had a strong pre-draft process. He took the Senior Bowl by storm, put together an NFL Combine workout that exceeded expectations and ultimately went to Buffalo with the 37th pick. Now NFL prognosticators are predicting he’ll be a day one starter for the Bills.
FOXSports.com put together a list of 10 draft picks who are “guaranteed” to be day one starters. Buffalo’s new receiver made the list. Here was FOXSports’ reasoning on picking Jones to have such an impact right away.
10 – Zay Jones, WR, Bills
The Bills let Robert Woods walk in free agency, leaving them extremely thin at wide receiver. They addressed that hole in the draft by taking Zay Jones in the second round, which was a really solid selection. He’ll play a similar role to the one Woods played, mostly working on underneath routes, gaining valuable yardage after the catch.
His quickness and shiftiness with the ball in his hands will make him difficult to keep off the field, especially with Andre Holmes being the next-best receiver. Jones does have a bit of a learning curve after primarily running routes close or behind the line of scrimmage, but the Bills are too thin at receiver to not start him.
Jones was one of just two players not taken in the first round to make the list. Green Bay CB Kevin King, who was taken with the first pick in round two, was the other.
3 – White is on Charley Casserly’s predicted All-Rookie Team
NFL.com’s Charley Casserly has put together his projected All-Rookie Team for 2017 and Buffalo’s first-round pick made his squad.
CB Tre’Davious White was selected as one of the two starting cornerbacks on Casserly’s All-Rookie team along with Marshon Lattimore. Here are Casserly’s thoughts on his choice of White.
“This was not an easy choice because there are a lot of good corners, but I like White as far as having length and ball skills,” said Casserly. “If you have ball skills you get interceptions and PBUs and that’s how you get stats and that’s how you make the All-Rookie Team. Buffalo certainly needed a corner. The other thing he can do is return punts and that will get him stats. I like this guy. The Bills got a good corner in the 20’s.”
Here is Casserly’s starting 11 for his projected 2017 All-Rookie Team.
DE Myles Garrett – Cleveland
DE Tak McKinley – Atlanta
DT Jonathan Allen – Washington
DT Solomon Thomas – San Francisco
OLB Tim Williams – Baltimore
ILB Reuben Foster – San Francisco
OLB Ryan Anderson – Washington
CB Marshon Lattimore – New Orleans
CB Tre’Davious White – Buffalo
S Jamal Adams – NY Jets
S Malik Hooker – Indianapolis