Buffalo Bills Draft Plans Take Form

The Buffalo Bills met with the media today for their 2015 Pre-draft media luncheon and it’s clear their draft plans are taking form. While information was limited, as well it should be, there was plenty of good insight as General Manager Doug Whaley, Director of Player Personnel Jim Monos and Director of College Scouting Kelvin Fisher answered questions and talked about the draft in general.

As might be expected, the lack of a first round pick was a big topic of discussion. Rather than making the process less exciting, the scouting staff sees it as an opportunity to dig deep and find those hidden draft gems.

GM Doug Whaley got the event going with his opening statement and laid the foundation for the draft discussion.

Opening statement:

Doug Whaley: Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. Thanks for coming out this afternoon. First of all I just want to say this an exciting time for us as personnel people because this is, I guess you could say, our Super Bowl for us. I know you guys will have some questions but I want to give you a heads up that we can’t get into too much detail because, as a personnel staff, our pro personnel people follow these types of press conferences for all the teams, trying to pick out certain things that they may slip and tell the media. So, it would put us at a competitive disadvantage if we get into too much detail on some of these questions, but we will give you as much as we can, like I said, without putting us behind the 8-ball in this draft process. So, with that being said, I’ll open it up

Then it was time to discuss the draft, particularly the lack of a first round selection. Everyone got an opportunity to weigh in on this issue.

Q: Is it less exciting when you don’t have a first round pick?

DW: I disagree. For us, as personnel people, it’s more exciting because when you’re picking in the top 10, which we’ve had recently, it’s pretty easy, because those types of players, anybody can see. When you don’t have that top 10 pick and you’re picking late, or even in the second round, it puts the onus on us as scouts to prove our wares. So our scouting staff has been really excited since the start of the fall scouting process

Q: Have you guys approached it any differently then, looking at maybe some of the guys a little more closely that you wouldn’t normally?

DW: No, not at all. We’ve actually set it up the same way. We’ve investigated the first-round picks, all the way to the seventh-round picks because you never know what’s going to happen. One of our mantras here is never say never. You never know when somebody may fall or some deal may come to our attention that we can move back into the first round. We have to be prepared.

Q: Doug, how do you look at that now, the possibility of a trade back into the first round? Is it contemplated on a regular basis now or would it have to fall in to your lap? How much strategy is also there to attempt to be proactive with that?

DW: We’re going to set up our board where if, we’ll put a denotation line, of guys that, if we see fall, that we think we have a chance to go up and get and we would consider it. But, I’ll tell you guys right now with the lack of ammunition, I would highly, highly doubt that we do. We’d be more prone to listen to offers to move back from 50, and pick up some more picks. But, again, like I said, I will never say never. And like Tim Murray says, it’s free to listen.

Q: Kelvin, kind of a two part question here, the value of second and third round picks, does it change for you guys, in light of how stacked your roster appears to be? Part two of that is, how NFL-ready do you think the NFL prospects are in this class, in terms of who you might have targeted in the second round?

KF: It didn’t change the process for me. I went out and looked at the second- and third- round guys and looked at them as starters. I don’t look at second- and third- round guys as backup players. My whole philosophy is when I’m out looking at guys is, I’m trying to reload our team, not rebuild. So, the second- and third- round guys and the history that I’ve been in this business, they all end up showing up playing, and some of them end up being great starters.

Q: Are you talking year one though? Year one, NFL-ready?

KF: I mean, you look at our third-rounder last year. I believe he started 16 games?

DW: Almost all of them.

KF: So, year one, yes.

Q: Do you see enough of that in this year’s class?

KF: I see, every year, the players that you target, that you really, really like in that second and third round, you have to have that philosophy of them coming in being starters. If they end up being backups, that’s great, but if they end up becoming starters, you know you did a great job with it. That has to be your philosophy going in. You don’t want to have a philosophy going in of having your second- and third- round guys being backups.

Q: When you look at the makeup of the roster and where the battles may be, if you have a healthy version of your 53, how many undrafted rookies do you think can make the team?

DW: That’s a very good question. I’d have to really sit down and look at that just numbers wise. In my opinion, just right off the bat, it’s going to be hard for not even an undrafted rookie to make it, but even our sixth and seventh round guys just because of the depth we’ve had and the numbers that are on the roster already. We’re hoping those guys can come in and compete and take a spot but if not, we want to make sure we have enough interest and they have enough skillset that we can have them on the practice squad and keep them on campus and keep them in the program, so what we want to do is have them next year make that next step and make the roster and contribute and the year after that compete for a starting job and then that’s how you can consistently compete without having the ups and downs because you have guys in your program and they know what’s expected of them on and off the field and especially in the classroom.

Q: How much of a luxury is that really? It’s been a while…a few years since this organization can say that going into the draft their later round picks might not even make it?

DW: Well, it’s exciting and that’s what you’re working for and that’s our job as personnel people to have a situation like that where late round guys are going to have trouble making it and if they do, that’s great but also to set it up where we can go anywhere we want to in the draft and that makes our job easier and it makes our chances of succeeding a lot higher.

Q: All that being said, the two answers you just gave Doug, would you be more willing to part with later picks for next year because maybe these guys you bring in just don’t make the team anyway?

DW: All options are open and again that’s why I’m saying at fifty, if some team really wants somebody moving back getting picks for this year or picks for next year again because we are getting a little top heavy, we’re going to start needing those young guys to come in and fill the bottom half of that roster because you’re going to have the haves and the have-nots and the middle class is going to start getting squeezed out but that’s what happens when you have a lot of good players and that’s what we’re trying to do.

With the lack of a first round selection, the talk also revolved around the re-tooling of the roster via free agency.

Q: With that lack of ammunition, you’re talking obviously about draft picks in the situation you’re in and how you’ve arrived at this particular point, armed with what you have going into it?

DW: Correct. With what we did in free agency, we felt very comfortable with the pieces of the puzzle we have in place and we’re at that point now where we maybe start getting top heavy. So we’re going to need the draft picks to start replenishing our roster.

Q: How have you approached free agency differently knowing that you’re not going to draft until 50^th? Does that change your free agency approach as far as what guys you might want to target, given where they fall on your board?

DW: No, our whole philosophy in acquiring players is getting the best players out there that can help us get to the championship level.

Q: Doug, you said at the combine that the goal was pretty much to get this roster retooled before the draft. Do you feel, I mean you’re never satisfied, but do you feel pretty satisfied you did that?

DW: We think we came close. There’s obviously some depth issues that we’d like to address in certain areas. If you look at it, there’s a few battles for starting positions. Now everyone’s going to try to come in and to compete. Anyone we add to this roster, we expect them to come in and compete and try to take one of those starting positions. We feel comfortable that we can go into this draft, we can look at that board, and whoever is the name at the top, we can pick and be comfortable with.

As you might imagine, the quarterbacks were a big topic of discussion and the power three had some really good perspective and insight on the discussion.

Q: You mentioned about the gap in quarterback rankings wasn’t that far for the first two. If that’s the first two, (Jameis) Winston and (Marcus) Mariota versus everybody else, can you elaborate on that and what do you mean when you’re setting that up and how many are in that group that you would consider drafting?

DW: I would say that beauty is in the eyes of the beholder. Certain systems may emphasize certain skill sets that are prevalent in one quarterback and not so much in another in that second tier of guys. So I think it all comes down to what you value in your quarterback and what you expect that quarterback to do and to be able to produce in your system.

Q: Your thoughts on the quarterback position given that state of your roster and heading into this particular draft?

DW: Well the way we looked at is, we don’t have a proven franchise quarterback. That’s obvious. But what we wanted to do is be perfect everywhere else, where that guy doesn’t have to put the game on his shoulders and be the man. We want him to be able to just make right decisions and be able to put the ball in the hands of the playmakers. And that’s what we wanted to do is get as many playmakers and as many people that can score touchdowns as possible around that position until that position takes that next step.

Given the quarterback situation in Buffalo, its no surprise that the trio fielded questions about the incoming quarterback class as well as E.J. Manuel and the possibility of the Bills drafting a quarterback as well.

Q: I guess what I’m getting at was, at one point Buddy (Nix) had talked about considering, or strongly advocating drafting a quarterback maybe every year until you find that right guy. What’s your mindset on that?

DW: It’s a definite possibility. I don’t like to corner myself into something and say we have to do this because that limits your possibilities. It kind of curtails some other options that you feel you may set yourself out of by saying that. It’s definitely something between quarterbacks and cornerbacks, since it’s a pass-heavy league, that we would definitely lean heavily to considering every year.

Q: Doug what are some of the main traits you look for when you’re evaluating quarterback?

DW: I would have to say accuracy, decision making, being able to play the game with his eyes and, that quiet confidence and leadership ability. And, being able to win. Winners.

Q: Did you learn anything from the last couple of years with EJ (Manuel) that you could apply to drafting quarterbacks in the future?

DW: I think everybody is, you take it individually. Everybody is their own case, scenario, there’s some similarities, some differences, but as human beings we’re all different. You can’t just put a blanket slate and say, “Well this guy fits all this criteria so he has to be the same.” You can say there’s some similarities, but there’s always some differences.

Q: How much time have you given to evaluating Jameis Winston and Marcus Mariota? If you had a choice, if you were picking number one this year, who would you go with?

DW: We’ve, like I said, we’ve looked at all the top guys just like we were having the number one pick. That’s how we’ll set up our board. We’ll say if we had the number one pick, we’d take this guy, and we’ll go all the way down to 50. So, that’s why when everybody asks if draft day is exciting and nerve-wracking, no. All the work is done. The work is what we’re doing the next week and what we’ve been doing up to this point. So they just peel the names as they go, and we’ll say, “Well, it’s our turn, that’s who we’re going to get.” To answer your question, that’s that competitive disadvantage.

Q: Is there a Russell Wilson-type in this draft that could come in and contend to be a starter here?

DW: There’s a possibility. We think there’s some guys out there who we think may have a chance. Will they be there where we value them? We’re not sure. That’s the thing about drafting. Everyone says, well you could have gotten this guy or that guy. You can never say for sure this guy’s going to be there unless you’re at the number one pick.

Q: Doug, or anyone who did the most work on Garrett Grayson, could you break him down a little bit?

KF: Garrett Grayson, what do you mean?

Q: Just what you saw on tape, what do you think of him?

KF: He’s a good solid quarterback. I think it’s going to take some time. He has some throws that he can make and he has some throws that he needs to work on. He does make good decisions, poised, he has some movement in the pocket. But, I think he would be a backup, coming in, and possibly be a starter at some point. But, he’s a solid player.

Q: The quarterback is the most important position. How strong an argument could you make that the Bills should use that second round pick on a quarterback just to give yourself a chance to find somebody now when the team is ready to win?

DW: You can have that argument, but also our job is to put the right value on those quarterbacks. If we don’t feel the value is that second round pick, then again, we don’t want to do that because it’s over drafting a guy and our job, for the Pegula’s, the Bills, and our fan base is to make sure we get the value out of every pick. And that’s not to say it won’t happen, but we’re always going to have to put the best value on these players, be it an Ali Marpet, be it a quarterback.

Q: Regarding physical traits of quarterbacks, we hear so much that people so much in your line of work always go back to what’s on the film for a player in their college days but Brandon Bridge, the quarterback from the Toronto area, he admitted to having terrible footwork last year but he tried hard to improve it and some say he did at the combine and again at his pro day. How much value do you guys put on what they do after their college days in the all-star game, combine, and pro day process?

JM: I think you have to factor it in. It’s another measuring tool, but you still want to go back to the tape. That’s who they are and guys do, especially quarterbacks get so scrutinized and they work so hard on that with their quarterback gurus now but at the end of the day, if you can shoot a basketball, you can shoot. If you can throw a football, you can throw.

Q: With that said, how encouraged are you about EJ (Manuel) trying to fix his mechanics?

JM: I think that just shows that he’s driven and I think that’s great on his part. He’s not where he wants to be yet and that means he’s going to try something different.

Q: Has it gotten any easier or more difficult with some of these systems to evaluate quarterbacks in college because it has changed?

KF: Oh yeah, it’s harder now to evaluate these quarterbacks just because of the spread system and just half-field reads and throw it to this guy and sometimes the percentages. Their percentages are up high, their yardages are up high just because they’re throwing five yard passes and everyone else is doing the work so yeah, it is definitely harder to evaluate and when you do see that quarterback playing in a pro-style offense, you get excited about it.

Q: It doesn’t seem to make sense that so many quarterbacks in college are being coached up by those gurus as you mention but there seems to be fewer and fewer good quarterbacks or NFL ready quarterbacks coming out in the last four to five years. How do you explain that?

JM: Well I think it’s what Doug was talking about. Their development isn’t the same as it used to be. They’re not playing traditional, how we play in the NFL, football as far the dropbacks, making reads, checks at the line…They’re looking over to the sideline to get their plays. They’re looking over after the defense sets to get their audibles. It’s just totally different than it used to be I think and I think that’s all it is, the game has changed so much at every level except ours hasn’t changed that much.

DW: And to piggy back off of that, if you look at high school, the first thing they do is get the best athlete and put them at the quarterback position, not the best quarterback so that’s what we’re running into.

There were several questions involving new head coach Rex Ryan and the role he and his coordinators had in helping set the draft board as well.

Q: Jim and Kelvin, maybe you guys can weigh in on this as well. The profile of player based on Rex (Ryan) and the systems he has in place, and obviously (Greg) Roman and everyone else, how has that influenced, in the time he got here and then the meetings you guys had, the type of player that fits what you want do?

Jim Monos: He’s made it easy on us. Whatever they do well, that’s how they’re going to use them. He’s all about what they do well, he’ll use them that way.

Q: Do you find yourself thinking, when it’s ground and pound, it has to be a different type of athlete versus a more pass-oriented scheme?

JM: Ground and pound can mean so many things. I know in your head you think it’s the big back and just straight ahead running. But, I think ground and pound is how efficient you are, productive in the running game.

Kelvin Fisher: I agree with what Jim just said. I feel the same way.

Q: What’s Rex’s role during this draft and has it changed from previous coaching staffs?

DW: No, and we always want to incorporate the coaches’ scouting process and their thoughts on players into what we’ve done. We’ve started this process all the way back last May, but we value what the coaches’ opinions are on players and especially how they see using them once they get to be Buffalo Bills. So we’ve done that with every coaching staff that we’ve been a part of.

Its a passing league so of course the discussion would not be complete without a look at the wide receivers and cornerbacks as well as some discussion on the acquisition of Charles Clay.

Q: Because the way the game is played now, Doug, do you think cornerbacks sometimes are a little over drafted because teams panic about spread offensives and guarding all those receivers so they kind of go up and grab maybe a corner who maybe might have a second or first round grade later in the first round?

DW: I’d agree with that and also once one goes, it’s just like any position, there’s a run on those positions, because again people say, “We need one,” and if you need one and if you believe in that guy, you might as well take him.

Q: What do you think about this class of corners?

JM: I think it’s good. I think the best thing about this class of corners, these guys can talk too but they all have size now. This is a big group of corners this year and that’s always fun when you’re evaluating big corners because receivers keep on getting bigger.

Q: And speaking of receivers, we all hear that this is another outstanding class of receivers, if anybody can go into depth on that, what have you seen?
KF: I think it’s similar to last year but I don’t think you’re going to have four or five guys going in the first round, but I think it’s a good group of receivers and with that being said, there will be some second and third-rounder’s that end up starting for teams.

Q: Why do you think it’s been easier for receivers to make that quicker transition, have that impact in their first year when they used to take two to three years?

DW: Just look at high school football now. It’s a pass happy game and those guys are getting tons of balls from high school, college and it’s an easier transition. When I was in high school, we’d throw the ball maybe ten times a game. Now you got high school guys throwing it thirty, forty times a game so the nuances of the position are coming easier to those guys and quicker because they’ve been playing and getting the ball thrown to them, earlier and earlier.

Q: With the money you gave Charles Clay and the fact that he’s going to play three downs for your team, does that impact or affect how you view drafting a tight end maybe earlier in the draft that you might normally this year?
DW: Not at all. From talking with Coach Roman, he’s a multiple tight end guy so the more tight ends and he said sometimes he might use four on game day being active so it would not affect us and we have some young guys that are on this squad now and we’re excited to see how they progress but if that tight end is the guy that’s sticking out there in the second or third round or whatever and we want to get him, no it’s not going to….it’s like a salesman I say; when you’re a salesman, your boss never says, “Stop selling.” Coaches never say, “Stop giving me good players.”

The trio also fielded questions concerning the linebackers and defensive linemen in the draft, the team’s depth at those positions.

Q: How about evaluating linebackers and is it easier maybe because they’re throwing so much in college and now the NFL’s throwing it a lot too.

KF: I mean, it’s easier to a point that you’re looking for something else in the run game so a lot of these linebackers sometimes have to be a little smaller to run around so it’s easier in the sense of pass coverage, but then you struggle when it comes to the run game.

Q: What do you think of the linebacker class overall? Do you see a lot of every down type players?

KF: I think the way these guys are playing in college, you do see a lot of every down players because of the pass game and like I said, stepping up, stopping the run and you see pass rushers who can possibly play linebacker because of the athleticism and everyone’s trying to get 250 pound pass rushers to rush the passer in college.

Q: Maybe the best player in this draft is not a quarterback but it’s the defensive tackle; (Leonard) Williams and a lot is said about him maybe he’ll go second overall…whatever but as a class, maybe it’s not a need for you guys but as a class, how do you assess the tackles in this draft especially knowing the standard that you have with great tackles already on this team?
KF: It’s a good class of tackles and they vary from different defensive schemes. You have guys who play in a 3-4. You have guys who play in a 4-3. You have guys who can play in both and you have some guys who can’t, but it’s a good class of defensive tackles. It’s a good class of defensive ends.

Q: You mentioned you look at the second and third round picks as starters so what does that say for a guy like Cyrus Kouandjio who didn’t get on the field and does that make you more likely to dive into offensive line?

KF: No, I still feel that he can start at this level. He was taken in the second round. I still feel like he can start at this level, but it doesn’t change what I think when I’m out looking at other lineman but I’m not going to sit here and say that there’s not a better guy out there in this draft and I’m not going to sit here and say that there is a better guy out there in this draft.

Finally, the discussion included some general thoughts on the draft overall as well as the process.

Q: What makes this a good class?
JM: Once again, it’s a good mix. You’ve got some size guys, productive guys, guys that love football. They’re all pretty smart, we’ve talked to all of them. It’s like these guys are ready to just come and play. A lot of them are ready to come and play now.

KF: And what I was saying to that is a lot of these backs this year are coming from pro-style offense and it’s easier to see that this guy’s going to come in the league and he can do these things that we want him to do whereas when we’re in the spread, a lot of times those running backs have open lanes to run in and you see…it’s there but they don’t have to use their vision. They don’t have to use their footwork. They just have to run and I think that this year, there’s more backs that come out of a pro-style type of offense. I mean, it’s probably the top ten backs in the draft that come out of a pro-style offense.

Q: When you head into Draft weekend, roughly how many players are actually on your board and how long as that been set?

DW: We did a preliminary setting of the board at our February meetings. We’ll start fine-tuning it starting tomorrow. And we’re what about…250? 200 to 250 range and again like I said, we’ll start…we’ll meet with the coaches and the scouts this week and then we’ll sit in there and start from, “Alright, we have the first pick. Boom. That guy…Alright, we have the second pick,” and again we’ll go down all the way and that’s when the real work and the angst come in when we’re sitting there and discussing with everybody. “Well why do you like this guy over that guy?”, so that’s when the real work and the like I said, the angst comes in but during draft hour, it’s pretty calm cool and collected and sometimes boring.

Q: Do you feel there’s almost too much time between the end of the college season and the regular season?
DW: Yes. No doubt about it. No doubt about it. I mean I feel sorry for you guys. You have to come up with different pieces every day and it’s just overkill and at least they moved it a week up compared to last year when we had another week so to tell you the truth, for us, we’d like the Draft right after the combine and we’d be fine with that.

Q: How much different is that Thursday night for you? You mentioned that sometimes it’s boring in the first round. Is that Thursday night, round one, going to be boring?
DW: It’s going to be exciting because we have friends across the league and we like to see what they’re doing and again you never know when that phone rings, what can happen testament to the fact of the LeSean McCoy trade. We had no idea that would happen so again I lean on Tim Murray, it’s free to listen. We’ll be by the phones if anybody wants to call, but we’ll be excited just to see how the board falls and we’re going to reshape ours after that first round and see where we’ll go from there.

Q: Would you ever entertain the idea of the NFL Draft Lottery like the NHL or the NBA?
DW: That’s a good question. I hadn’t thought about it. I kind of like the way we’re going right now. As I’ve said, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.

Q: So on that Thursday night, you likely won’t be the one picking up the phone to make that call?
DW: Correct. I’ll have to say right now, yes.

Q: Speaking of Thursday night, the schedule comes out tomorrow. Would you be excited to play New England in the opener?
DW: We’re excited just to play. With everything we’ve done this offseason, we’re excited and hopefully everybody else out there is as excited as we are just to get on the field. So I don’t care if it’s them or whoever. We’re at the point now, and what Rex is telling the team, it’s not about who we play, it’s about us. If we handle our business and play like we’re capable of playing, it doesn’t matter who is on the other side of the field.