Best and Worst Case Scenario for Bills Picks: Rounds 5-7

This prospect is getting somewhat of an underground fanbase in the draft circles of the NFL media moguls. Javon Baker is someone I covered before in my first article as someone the Buffalo Bills need to consider doubling down on. That statement stands true.

Javon is the exact prototype that Stefon Diggs was coming out of Maryland. He’s quick, agile, above average speed, route running prowess, and ideal physical build. Baker is 6’1” and 208 lbs. To put that in perspective, Stefon is 6’0” and 194 lbs. Talk about deja vu! Prototypes aren’t all that common in the NFL, some may say they are rampant, but when was the last time two players played exactly the same and had the same success? Not since Joe Montana and Tom Brady, which the league may never see their ilk ever again.

This is exactly why the Buffalo Bills should draft Javon Baker. Javon and Stefon is damn near the same name. (Not that that matters, but it’s fun to pretend.) Crisis mode is locked in for Bills fans and Javon may be the angel’s cry they need to hear for their woes to be quashed. The Bills got rid of their two top receivers in an offseason that couldn’t be more crucial to our Super Bowl window. This season needs to be an almost identical season to the Houston Texans’ home run draft last offseason. Javon Baker has a high ceiling and a surprisingly low floor, considering the depth of this year’s receiver class. He should be there in the fifth or at least the top half of the fallen stars that make up the rest of the NFL draft darlings.

WORST: Spencer Rattler, QB (South Carolina)

Once again, like Devontez Walker, some people think the Buffalo Bills should draft a backup quarterback higher than the sixth round and it should be anyone other than Joe Milton III. What the hell is wrong with you other analysts? Why do the ones get airtime think that the Bills need another young quarterback this early in Josh’s career? Josh Allen is a franchise quarterback through and through who, without question, commands this team solely atop his great white buffalo on Mount Mafia.

Spencer Rattler has been a hot topic among analysts recently. Somehow, through the grapevine, he has been linked to Buffalo without ever formally meeting with the Bills at any stage of the draft process. Rattler is a solid QB prospect for a lot of rebuilding teams, such as the Raiders and Vikings. That doesn’t mean he is the ideal prospect for every team, especially a team that is on the cusp of a Super Bowl and is revving up its gears for a chase. Adding a young QB unexpectedly, while having an already proven franchise QB, can have unforeseen consequences and add unwanted or even unnecessary narratives to a team’s dynamic. The Jordan Love-Aaron Rodgers saga in Green Bay was evidence enough of the dangers of not consulting your franchise QB, despite having problematic character issues.

So let’s just be safe and not draft one until the very last second like Brock Purdy. G’luck to ya Spencer. Safe Travels to Vegas!

BEST: Frank Gore Jr., RB (Southern Miss)

This one may seem like a reach to others, but hear me out. Frank Gore Jr. is yet another draft darling I’m quite fond of. He might be one of the best running back prospects of this class and maybe the last 3 drafts. He has everything a young Frank Gore Sr. had and more.

Coming out of The U, Gore Sr. was a monster power back without the typical size or speed of a power back of his era. Frank Gore Jr. is the same caliber of power back his father was. However, he has an added element the teams his dad played for never utilized, his pass catching prowess. Gore, James Cook, and Ty Johnson could become the ultimate dark horse running back unit in the NFL with an unprecedented skill set variety and pass catching familiarity.

The NFL is stuck in the one-two punch past. But having three fresh running backs with the varying skill sets but one underutilized ability in common for a dual threat quarterback with a monster arm is a recipe for a league takeover. The Bills need to keep stirring the pot so this meal sticks to the bones of this league. Unique offensive approaches are what drives this league into the creative forefront of the sports world! It’d be a shame to waste a perfect opportunity for league-wide chaos and a chance to take it by surprise. Franky, I need you to come with me, I got a job for ya.

WORST: Tyler Owens, S (Texas Tech)

Tyler Owens is a safety that the Buffalo Bills should look to develop for years to come… if he wasn’t so raw that it would hurt his short-term value on this team. Tyler Owens is a raw powerhouse athletic freak. With the speed of Ed Reed, the blitzing ability of Jordan Poyer, and the big body of Derrick Henry, he’s a wet dream for any general manager looking to mold an in-house breed of superstar safety.

Unfortunately, he’s much like Josh Allen coming out of Wyoming. He’s dysfunctional in terms of play style and positional awareness. He’s got good eyes but bites at the wrong moments and costs the team valuable yards in coverage. (He had a 98.6 rating when targeted in his last year at Texas Tech.) I do believe that he will get drafted in the later half of the seventh round. Or, if some team sees too much raw star power in him, they reach and get him in the fifth.

Sean McDermott & Co. know how to develop raw power stars like Josh and Gregory Rousseau. But that will come back to bite him in the ass if he takes three to five years to develop an athletic special teams ace (at worst), during a crucial juncture in our contention window. Time is not on the Bills’ side, having traded Stefon Diggs and letting go of several key players — like Jordan Poyer, Mitch Morse, and Tre’Davious White. We need to chase more polished prospects like Kitan Oladapo (Oregon State) and Jaden Hicks (Washington State). Brandon Beane can have his fun late round sniping, but hopefully not at the cost of our future.

BEST: Mohamed Kamara, EDGE (Colorado State)

Yannick Ngakoue is a man Bills Mafia should remember. In his time as an above-average NFL edge rusher, he has constantly been in the Buffalo Bills’ “will he, won’t he” pool of free agents. Though he never came to Buffalo, his presence is always felt every offseason with multiple analysts over the years confirming renewed interest on both sides. Since he’s cruising on a jet ski towards the big wave on the other side of 30, we should take this opportunity to draft his potential upgraded clone in Mohamed Kamara.

With virtually the same scouting reports and measurables, he is the perfect raw power rusher. He has enough versatility and run defending prowess to entice Brandon Beane to spend a fifth on. Every team values the kind of dominant mentality in a defensive linemen, regardless of tackle or edge. They would normally sell the farm to get one with the “Conqueror’s Spirit” that Kamara has. With the ideal build for a stand-up edge rusher, Kamara usually leans into the track pose and attacks with pure speed and power off the edge but lacks the repertoire to attack lengthier tackles who are seasoned in hand to hand combat on the edge.

Regardless of experience and obvious athletic edge on the competition, he flaunts his power over tackles, even if they are ready for his speed and powers through on 90% of his attacks with a warrior’s will to get to the quarterback. Most teams envision him as a project. But a year under the tutelage of future HOF pass rusher Von Miller, he will blossom as an every down rusher with the engine that could.

WORST: Logan Lee, DT (Iowa)

Logan Lee is a developmental piece on the defensive line that would be fine on another team. But a lot of these players in the later rounds don’t become potential stars. Trying to figure out who could do what in a very saturated league would be impossible. Remember Brock Purdy going dead last in the seventh round, becoming Mr. Irrelevant in 2022? Obviously you guys do because the NFL likes to shove it down your throats like a healthy dose of the Kelce-Swift romance. Brock Purdy is the only Mr. Irrelevant to become relevant, having taken the 49ers to the NFC Championship in his first two seasons as their starting quarterback. They even made the Super Bowl last season.

Right now, our team is in a very delicate stage of a reload. It’s been done before successfully, but it’s also been catastrophic recently for teams like the Commanders and Cardinals. Logan Lee is an undersized 5-tech DT who doesn’t have enough power to make it in the pros. A majority of his scouting reports across all media platforms say the same thing… He lacks the power and speed to be a full time 5-tech in a 3-4 scheme. His height isn’t the problem either, standing 6’5” and 281. But being a NT in a 3-4 is usually the job for someone the size of Ravens NT Michael Pierce (6’0”, 345 lbs).

Logan Lee is a pebble waiting to become a rock. The Buffalo Bills need a boulder who’s waiting to become a mountain. It’s nothing personal, of course, like with most of these new faces in the league. This league is a business and the owners view you as products. The agents are the salesmen, and the analysts and writers are the critics. It’s a “no love lost” league but, at some point, the feeling gets to you that you aren’t good enough to make it.

Overview

In this writer’s opinion, rounds six and seven are a wash in terms of speculation. (Even though Brandon Beane does some of his best work in the later rounds.) It’s impossible to predict later round players blossoming into stars. Some, like Wyatt Teller, Isaiah Hodgins, and Ray-Ray McCloud, need time to blossom somewhere else and someone like Brandon Beane couldn’t even smell their potential.

Sometimes, diamonds fall through the rough instead of sticking out for some people. But the real challenge is knowing if it’s a flash or a real explosion first. This draft isn’t a “make or break” draft for the Buffalo Bills, it’s more of a “stay in the conversation” draft. We have over $50 million in cap space next season and we get $10.7 million after June 1st (courtesy of Tre’Davious White’s release). R-E-L-A-X guys, we don’t need to think worst case just yet, but we’ll see.