Buffalo Bills 2015 Draft: Aggregating Report Card Grades from Around the Web

Love them or hate them, draft grades have become the way to analyze how teams have done in the days directly following the draft. 

After months of scouting every NFL hopeful under the moon, draft analysts dish out grades based on need, fit and value. Where some pre-draft favorites fall into bad situations and garner bad marks, others find the perfect marriage to make an instant impact at the next level.

Buffalo had very little to work with coming into the draft. We will hear much about the Sammy Watkins deal in the slides to come with last year's trade having a great impact on the grades the Bills received. The Bills did not possess first and fourth-round picks because of the trade. 

General manager Doug Whaley and head coach Rex Ryan made six picks between the second and seventh rounds with few instant contributors to show for it. At least it looks that way from first glance. 

In case you took a day off from draft mania and missed them, here are some draft grades from across the web. 

ESPN

Gail Burton/Associated Press

Mel Kiper Jr: C-

The sultan of the ESPN draft coverage gave the Bills the worst grade out of all 32 teams in 2015. He leads off his summary of the draft with a criticism of the team's trade up for Watkins during last year's first round, stating a receiver isn't worth that type of compensation.

His criticism isn't unfair on a surface level. It's that analysts leave out what the Browns took with the picks they received because it wouldn't help the convenience of the point. To each their own, I suppose: 

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I thought Ronald Darby was a reach in Round 2 at No. 50. There's a lot of natural ability with him, but I didn't have CB as nearly the biggest need, and I don't think he was the best player available, either. I'm a lot higher on the third-round selection of John Miller, a physical force in the run game, which they need to succeed to take some pressure off whoever is taking the QB snaps. Karlos Williams provides some depth at running back, but I'm not sure how much they needed it, and I might have looked at one of a number of values to be had at linebacker in that range. That said, if Rex said he needed it on defense, my guess is they would have made the move. Nick O'Leary can stick because he competes like heck and can catch the ball. I also think Buffalo got one of the bigger steals in the draft in Dez Lewis, a big-bodied speedster out of Central Arkansas who doesn't look the least bit out of place from a physical and workout standpoint next to the first-round types. The Bills didn't need an amazing draft, thanks to good roster-building outside of QB.

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I'll fully admit that I had similar initial reactions to the selections of Darby and Williams. They seemed like unnecessary picks in live time, but you can see how they will fit onto the roster past the 2015 season. It was clear that Buffalo was not willing to reach on players just because they fitted an immediate need. Instead they focused on adding the best player remaining on their board without doubling up on any positions. 

The final note from Kiper is an important one and makes the initial criticism—linked above—a little curious. Buffalo was never going to make a huge splash in the 2015 draft. 

CBS

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Pete Prisco: D

While many analysts have been "kind" enough to give the Bills a passing grade of at least a C-minus, Prisco does the team no such favors. Prisco has rarely liked Buffalo drafts over the last decade, so the harsh mark from CBS' lead writer is not much of a surprise. 

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The Bills traded their first-round pick last year to get Watkins. He's a good player, but they could have kept it and taken Odell Beckham rather than move up. The rest of this draft isn't that exciting.

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I have no issues with draft guys mentioning the Watkins trade in their analysis. The 2014 trade did have an impact on this year's draft class. Obviously. The bigger issue with this repeated analysis is when Beckham Jr. is mentioned in conjunction. Watkins was the better talent coming into the draft last year and it's too easy to play the revisionist history game, knowing what we know now about Beckham Jr. 

Prisco isn't wrong about a lack of excitement surrounding the draft, but that doesn't make the draft a bad one. When analyzing a draft, writers should take into account the current roster as well as future prospects.

Immediate impact carries far too much weight in draft grades. 

SB Nation

John Raoux/Associated Press

Dan Kadar: C+

Hey! Moving the average up a little with a fairly generous grade from one of the industry's best. SB Nation's lead draft writer takes the Watkins deal into consideration, which I won't hold against him, but he also provides solid analysis of each selection. 

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This grade takes the Sammy Watkins trade into account. Still, there's not a lot to be real excited about. Darby is a nice choice in the second round because he's a star athlete that should develop nicely in the NFL. Miller was the necessary pick the Bills had to make. Williams is a decent short-yardage back, but he has fumbling issues. It will be interesting to see how O'Leary gets used. Obviously he's someone head coach Rex Ryan will love. Lewis put together a nice week at the Senior Bowl and could be a nice late-round contributor. He's a smooth athlete with size, giving the Bills something they don't have.

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The ho-hum draft wasn't going to generate very many positive marks, but at least Kadar is thoughtful in his responses. Two points he made in the middle of the analysis were right on the money.

John Miller is as unsexy a pick as the Bills could have made in this draft, but the Louisville product fits very well into what they want to do on offense. Miller might not even be in the top 10 of athletic guards coming into the NFL this year, but his road-grading mentality gives the Bills a much-needed boost in the middle. 

Kadar saw Dezmin Lewis live during the Senior Bowl week, which gives his analysis a bit more weight. Lewis was my favorite selection of the 2015 draft because of the very things SB Nation's analyst mentioned in the excerpt above. The meat of the Bills' draft may have been uninspiring, but with work, Lewis has potential to be very good. 

Sports Illustrated

Charles Rex Arbogast/Associated Press

Chris Burke: C

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The Bills started this draft at a disadvantage, having coughed up their first-round selection to add Sammy Watkins last year. They did well at No. 50 to add a borderline round 1 talent in cornerback Ronald Darby, but it's hard to guarantee any of their other picks will make an impact. Guard John Miller (No. 81) has the clearest shot. Buffalo is thin at guard and Miller, though limited overall, fits the mauler mold Rex Ryan favors. Sixth-round tight end Nick O'Leary was productive at Florida State. Can he find any playing time with two players similar to him in style, Charles Clay and Chris Gragg, ahead of him on the depth chart?​

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The trend of having to preface a grade with an acknowledgement of the Buffalo-Cleveland trade will not end. Burke relegated the Bills back to an average grade, but he is the first writer to make reference to the fact that Ronald Darby had first-round talent. It just goes to show that there is no true consensus on players in the NFL draft. Kiper Jr. thought Darby was a reach in the second round. 

Again, Miller stays as the most liked pick by the Bills this season because of his fit in Greg Roman's offense. O'Leary gets some love from Burke as well. For the record, I believe O'Leary can do more for the Bills offense in its current state than Gragg can. Gragg is an incredible athlete and a potential mismatch against more non-athletic linebackers, but O'Leary has a bit of that grit and wiliness to him. 

Bleacher Report

Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports

Ty Schalter: C-

Bleacher Report's own, Schalter gave each NFL general manager a grade for their work throughout the draft and not just based on selections as a stand alone. Like everyone else in the draft universe, Buffalo was given negative marks in part because of the Watkins deal. 

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The Bills, who lacked a first-rounder because of the crazy Sammy Watkins trade of 2014, took one of the draft's best athletes in Ronald Darby. They didn't have much need for a corner, but new head coach Rex Ryan loves fluid athletes with great recovery speed at that spot. Darby is a mismatch against slot receivers and should challenge for an outside spot sooner rather than later.

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Schalter went on to explain the few redeeming parts of the team's draft. I do disagree with his last statement, though.

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Darby could be a great player, but the lack of a first-rounder and a dearth of urgency in either drafting for the future or meeting needs was uninspiring.

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I'd argue that everything the Bills did during the draft was for the future, and it's not as if they ignored every need they had. Buffalo had a need for a guard, and it drafted one. It had a need for a tight end and drafted one. Not to mention it needed linebacker and special teams depth. Check and check. 

The Bills' draft was not exciting because they followed their board to a tee. There was no reaching or surprise selection. If that fits into a "dearth of urgency" then I'm personally okay with that.