Terrance McGee
I’d like Fred Jackson to be considered, too. (I might value him more than Lynch because he provides return-game ability).

No, Fred Jackson is too old to be a cornerstone.

I’ll throw our promising guard-duo into the mix. Eric Wood has higher potential, but Andy Levitre performed better this season. Nonetheless, I think that these two will solidify the O-Line, which, in my opinion, is the most important unit on a nfl-team.

A long shot – but i’d like to see a bit more of nic harris at linebacker.

As much as I LOVE what I’ve seen so far in the Byrd-Man, I also have to agree on the tackling issues as well. But, as for this post, yes, I agree he’s a keeper to build on IMO. He’s very young and inexperienced, especially @ FS after converting over from being a corner @ the college level,

I still love Maybin. I know, he’s NOT done anything to warrant such a statement, but again, he’s VERY young and inexperienced as well. I love his speed as a rusher. I think once he learns how to generate some more counter-moves, he’ll improve w/ time. After-all, it’s not quite a position that one cam immedialtey move into and make an immediate impact at. I think given time, some more muscle, some more coaching, this kid is worth buiding on as well.

I like Leo too! He’s still very young & WAS getting some valuable time in the starting role up until his IR began. I think he can be a threat in the return game and seems as though he’s picking up the corner role too.

Speaking of corner, I think I’m liking Reggie more & more that I see him. He’s around the ball a lot and again is very young like the others. Experience can only enhance him at the position.

Naturally, the two new OL-men we drafted last off-season will be here for years to come. We need the stability on that OL in order for an offense to be effective.

Now just get me a QB – P L E A S E !!!

but he’s a name I would throw out there as well…………him being out has hurt a ton I think.

I don’t see where anyone is playing like a “cornerstone player” or that we can truly say, “that isn’t a position we can improve upon”.

What DATE do we need to declare him either on IR for the season, or activate him by? I know ya get the 1st 6 weeks on the PUP, and then the 3 weeks to evaluate him before making said decision, but does that have to come by this Friday? If not, then when? I’m assuming the BYE week has no bearing on this, but I could be wrong too.

Sorry for going off topic, but I would like to know just the same.

I am a really big fan of Stroud and I was very excited when the Bills got him. I know he is getting up there in age but I think he still has a good few years left.
K. Williams, I like his effort, but I would rather see him as a back up – just to think to yourself a really good tackle next to Stroud, that would be a force.
I have always liked Schobel, not because he’s fancy, but he gets stuff done – however if injuries keep cropping up he’s gotta go…
Poz you keep, not because he is amazing, but I think he can do everything well and I love his attitude and tackling.
McGee is a good corner and I think he does a decent job all around – not spetacular; but definitely allows you to look else where.
I have always liked R. Corner – I don’t think hes a corner stone; but I don’t think you need to worry about the nickel CB either.
— Then again I like all of our secondary, once Whitner gets healthy I definitely like Whitner/Byrd for safety and throwing in Scott instead of Byrd on run support would be great.
—The front 7 there are only 3 I like as starters – Poz/Stroud/Schobel

I like Evans – however I don’t like him with our QBs – you need a QB who will allow Evans to make a great catch ( he was only thrown to 2x yesterday!)
I think Levitre will be a good guard, and I definitely think Wood should be moved to C and I think that would work out well.
I am a fan of Butler at RT, but his injuries make him a liability.
Lynch dances too much for my liking and I hate to say it, but you gotta let him go.
I still don’t know what we got in Hardy, and Stevie is only a #3 WR.
Freddy I am a huge fan of – but he’s getting up there and I don’t think he could handle a full load day in day out

I think personel really depends on the coach that is brought in. There is no point of having a guy that can burn the opposing secondary (Evans) if you are never going to throw it to him…

One of the biggest things I’m looking forward to the rest of this season (which is not much) is how Whitner and Byrd play together. You can argue that Donte never really had a quality partner lining up with him in the backfield and if the hype is close to warranted on Byrd it’ll be very interesting to see how they feed off one another.

It’s tough not to argue that the latest super bowl caliber teams all relied heavily on their safeties to contribute defensively. Having a presumably top 10 duo is intriguing…if not necessary.

Were these guys important?
Troy Polamalu
Rodney Harrison (ugh)
Brian Dawkins
Adrian Wilson
Bob Sanders
Ed Reed

from wikipedia:

Moorman signed with the Buffalo Bills as a free agent during the summer of 2001. As a player for the Bills, Moorman quickly gave the Bills reliable punting skill along with an aptitude of launching long punts when needed. In his second season with the Bills, Moorman booted an 84 yard punt in a game and averaged over 43 yards per kick, despite playing most of his games in one of the most challenging climates in the NFL. Over the past several seasons, Moorman’s stellar play has seen him selected as a two time NFL All-Pro (2005,2006) and garnered a unique and passionate following among some fans who believe he is the best player on the team: Often known as “Moormanators.” Every year near Pro Bowl voting time, these fans take up a cry of “Vote Moorman, Vote Often”. This folk-hero like status has even led to some fans creating joke Madden NFL game covers with Brian on the cover. One also sees the occasional Moorman jersey at Ralph Wilson Stadium, unheard of for a punter. Commentator Chris Berman nicknamed him Brian Moorman “Tabernacle Choir”.

offense:
Marshawn Lynch/Fred Jackson – it is much harder for inexperienced lineman to run block, these guys get no holes. Imagine if they had an o-line!

James Hardy – Helloooooooooooooooo!!!!! I can’t believe you guys. Are we already forgeting that most great receivers usually have to develop until between season 3 and 5 in the league to break out?? This guy is tall, can jump and catch. A new coaching staff will love him.

Lee Evans/Stevie J/Josh Reed – These four are our future receiving corp and a new coaching staff would be crazy to worry about WR before fixing more pressing needs. Hardy was drafted to emerge as a legit starting weapon. He should. Stevie and Josh can run around underneath.

Shawn Nelson – I think he has serious super star potential if he could stay healthy

Demetrius Bell – He’ll stick around in some capacity. Hes getting better every game.

Defense:

Kyle Williams

Paul Posluszny

Kawika Mitchell – I bet a coaching staff will love his veteran presence

McKelvin/McGee/Whitner/Byrd – DONT TOUCH THE SECONDARY. ITS AMAZING!!

Then just let Schobel and Stroud finish out their careers keeping holes plugges for the new regime while they address other needs.

Heck, this list would have been shorter drawing up what we don’t have – this team is talented!! A new regime will get a new QB, a FB, a RG or RT, OLB, DE

That we’ve done this type of thread long before the next season the last couple years … :*(

That Beast Mode’s name hasn’t been brought up, which really leads me to believe that you don’t need a blue – chip RB to have success in this league, but 2-3 really good ones like Denver and New England have had over the years and NO andBaltimore seems to have this year.

I guess the challenge is to identify a cornerstone, elite player – which is very hard when the evidence you have to go on is their performance within a predominantly screwed up, dysfunctional organization.
So, I’ll throw this out : what Bills players would it be reasonable to think other teams would love to have, like to have, and wish they’d have drafted, or an interviewing Head Coach would like to develop?

Again – I’m a believer that the talent level in the NFL is pretty equal, but its a system and coaching that rises above.

Love to have:
Lee Evans, Marshawn Lynch

Like to have:
Stroud, Schobel, Pos, McGee, McKelvin

Wish we’d drafted them:
Wood, Levitre, Byrd (already mentioned, but bears mentioning again)

Too early to tell, but if I were an interviewing Coach, I’d be intrigued:
Nelson, Hardy, Maybin

Quick – name me a star on Devner’s defense….
Or Nawlins D. (and Gregg Williams coordinating that unit really upsets my stomach.)

Definitely need a good punter, considering how dreadful this offense is and how they stuggle to put a drive together. Yeah, Moorman and keep the guy selling beer’s by section B-4.

By the premise put forward, Byrd is the only guy and he could fall out by the end of the season because of his sketchy tackling. Based on his body of work to date: elite ball hawk. One of the problems with this exercise on both sides of the ball is so many players are part of a “unit” that must play well together. No where is this more true than the O line. Any of the top 3 young guys may very well develope into a first rate player but the current circumstances really hurt them. To a lesser extent, the front 7 on Dee are a “unit” and they are horrible as evidenced by the fact that the rushing defense is dead last in the NFL, worse than the Rams, Browns, Bucs and Raiders. The offensive skill positions are all highly dependent on the play of the QB. Not a lot to be said there. Finally, on the CBs, I can not really form an opinion because the scheme that is played is so soft that you just can’t get a real sense of coverage strength (read McGee.)

Guys who i think are elite right now:
Stroud
Moorman

Guys who could be elite:
Byrd
McKelvin
Maybin
D-Bell
(Maybe levitre, wood)

Second Tier: Guys who are good
Mcgee
Whitner
Williams
Schobel
Lynch
Jackson
Schouman
Wood
Levitre
Evans
Butler
Lindell
Mitchell
Reed

There are plenty of guys on this team who are good. Part of the problem is that of the guys who i think have elite talent, only 2 (Stroud and Moorman) are playing at that level (and byrd i guess). The others are still leaps and bounds from what they can be.

Another part of the problem is that our QB’s are nowhere to be found on this list.

I’ve heard some Miami/Buffalo interest.

Could we cut T.O. or is he guaranteed? Chambers used to kill us when he was with Mia.

D: Byrd, Whitner, Corner, McGee, Schobel, Poz
O: Evans, S Johnson, Nelson, Hardy, Bell, Wood, Levitre

The guys listed above would play with a broken leg if you’d let them! Everyone else is expendable!

Key players not on my list:
F Jax – Mediocre RB/old/only excels at checkdowns
Lynch – Mediocre RB/will probably get in offseason trouble, etc.
McKelvin – Overhyped/good returner, but is not a starting corner
TO – I don’t want to get bashed for putting him on my list, even though I’d like to see him retire a Bill after tearing it up with a decent QB.

Probably Byrd is as close to an “elite” player as we have. Obviously a cornerstone. He might not be a hard hitter but he directly saved a Steve Smith Touchdown when we played Carolina. And I’m not going to sweat that he got rammed by Andre Johnson probably the best and most physical WR playing the game right now.

Donte Whitner is solid player who still could turn out great. He’s played much better this season than last and has shown alot of growth. Keep in mind he was drafted very young.

Poz is another building block who may just end up being an above average linebacker but our LB core is shattered so he’s obviously important. Linebackers are the type like RBs who can be replaced.

Haven’t seen alot about Kyle Williams but he’s one of Buffalo’s most improved players, he has had games when he was fairly dominant, he’s still pretty young, and he is willing to play hurt.

Aaron Maybin too early to tell but he either needs to bulk up or he needs to be converted to Linebacker. He isn’t strong enough to be a DE. If a new coach came in and converted to a 3-4 he’d be a linebacker for sure.

There are others too like Leodis, overall this is a fairly young team, but just because they have youth on their side doesn’t mean these players are cornerstones or can ever grow into cornerstones. Look at Ray Lewis he is the cornerstone of the Ravens defense but is old.

I understand the post and it definitely garnered some responses…but I can’t help but think that it is completely useless to do this without knowing who the coach is going to be. I know, I know…we do this all year in the off-season with the mock drafts and such, but there is a huge difference. We KNOW who the coach is going to be and we have a good idea of what type of system they run, therefore making it possible to place guys in their proper positions and guage their potential better.

I started to make a list if players who could be elite, then I got to thinking about a 4-3 or 3-4…we are actually better suited to run a 3-4 RIGHT NOW, except we dont have the NT or the coach. But how do you classify Maybin? Is he going to be good as a DE or could he even be elite? What if you played him as a pass-rushing OLB? Would he have a higher ceiling playing that position than he does as an end? Poz and Mitchell are not my favorite MLBs in the league, but I think they would be a fine tandem in the middle of a 3-4. Our O-line is better suited to a pass-orientated attack, but our QB and our coach are not.

You know what I mean right, a west coast offensive coach might look at Evans and say that he isn’t big enough to run all the inside routes, while a coach with a more-down-the-field approach might see Evans as the go-to-guy in his offense. I read all the posts and their are some good (and some completely whack) opinions shown here, but it doesn’t really matter unless the coach uses the same evaluating process as we do.

I am sorry to hate on the topic for today, I guess I am just a little down and all this talk about next year, honestly, can’t come soon enough. The big thing I took from this post was

The purpose of this post is to identify the current Bills players that aren’t just worth keeping around, but are bona fide stars (or stars-in-the-making) and players around which a perennial playoff contender can be built.

A perennial playoff contender, and I don’t have to tell you, doesn’t begin with the players.

I want long-term names, not guys who may or may not stick beyond the first couple years of the new regime.

Wow. That makes for a short list in my book. I’d say:

Levitre, Wood, Byrd, Maybin, McKelvin, Williams, and maybe Butler.

The purpose of this post is to identify the current Bills players that aren’t just worth keeping around, but are bona fide stars (or stars-in-the-making) and players around which a perennial playoff contender can be built.

Lee Evans. I read the logic for and against Evans, and here’s my logic for: there are few receivers who can stretch a defense like Evans. Lots of receivers are fast; lots of receivers have talent; few receivers have both. With an upright QB that has time and the arm to get him the ball, Evans is a player that every defense in the league has to account for on every play. Steve Smith was the difference getting the Panthers to their Super Bowl. He was the explosiveness added to a run-first, defensive team. Evans could be that guy for us.

Eric Wood. Offensive line anchor. I think Wood will eventually have the same impact that Chris Snee has in New York: a physical, tone setter that makes the run game go. He also has the ability to add stability to a position that needs some. In a season or two, Wood could be the kind of guy who makes other around him better, not just taking care of his assignments. And Wood has the added versatility in that he can play center.

Andy Levitre.

Aaron Maybin. Joe Gibbs, when asked if he could have one great aspect of his team, which would it be, responded with a great pass rush. Maybin clearly has the talent and shows the effort on the field. If he can put it together, he’s the player that defenses have to account for on every play. If Maybin becomes that guy, the offenses that we play have to start shifting their pass protection to him, opening up opportunities for others. No other player really forces offenses to do that right now, with Schobel being the closest when healthy.

Jarius Byrd. Reasons above.

Evans on offense

Poz, Byrd, McGee, McKelvin (KR and CB) on defense

Other than that I love the potential of the following: Levitre, Wood, and Shawn Nelson

I guess I’m really at a lost for words right now as a Bills fan. I really thought a win yesterday would at least give me something to watch and be entertained by and an outside shot at 10 wins. Now, I just feel so depressed. But, if this OL can at least show that it progresses from Week 1 to Week 17, that is the sole biggest thing I’m looking at the rest of the way cuz neither QB are going to be around next year playing I HOPE!

I know, I know, I know. It takes time for a DE and he’s very young, etc., etc. His performance yesterday was pathetic. His reads and reactions are so bad they neutralize his natural speed. This guy has a long way to go to be average let alone elite.

None. They are all expendable. Jason Peters is already gone. From the posts above it seems the punter is the best player on the team. Pathetic!

I decided to take a different approach and look at how we compare to the teams in our division in terms of currently elite players (top 10ish at their position this year) and potentially elite players – as honestly and with as few qualifiers as possible. Feel free to debate this list as I did about an hour of research but obviously can’t know the ins and outs of all 4 teams, though I did throw everyone’s first round picks from ’08 and ’09 on here.

Buffalo
Elite: McGee, Moorman, Stroud
Potential: Byrd, Levitre, Maybin, McKelvin, Nelson, Whitner, Wood

Miami
Elite: R. Brown, Long, Porter
Potential: Henne, V. Davis

NE
Elite: Brady, Gostkowski, Light, Mankins, Merriweather, Mayo, Moss, Welker, Wilfork
Potential: Brace, Edelman

NYJ
Elite: Revis, Faneca, Jenkins, Mangold, Rhodes, Washington (KR)
Potential: Ferguson, Keller, Sanchez

I’m sure there are some other “potential” guys for the other teams, but this list to me is a pretty obvious reason why our playoff drought continues.

I like what we have in Wood, Levitre. I feel we could upgrade at center and tackle. Id like to bring in a Franchise LT and put Bell at RT. I just have questions on Bell at LT for the long run. It be interesting to see how he handled that switch.

I like all of our skill positions but QB on offense. I feel the O-lines growing pains and the QBs ineptude has been holding the WRs and RBs back. Maybe some help at TE cuz the injuries have shown a weakness there. We need a change at QB obviously.
Under a new coach let the O-line grow and improve and get a QB who can get the job done and I feel the offense could make some large strides.

Our defense is sad. Besides our DB we have no one. The D-Line is just too old across the board to look forward to the future and our linebackers lack talent(and personally the physical build) to play in the NFL. The Linebacker corps will get gutted under a new coach. Our linebackers are undersized(beside Mitchell and Poz) to fit Jaurons style. A lot of them should see the door if a new coach runs a different defense.

End on a positive note: I think our DBs are the strongest unit on the team. Ironic considering we draft 5 DB each year

and have two conclusions: Great post by Brian as well as great response by the community and, substantively, the Bills do not have a single consensus franchise cornerstone player. Unfortunately, that is probably an accurate assessment of the talent on this team.

I guess our talent was sooo great that he could not stay on our team anymore.
Another example.
Get a real GM Ralph.

I submit that you can basically subtract two or three years from Fred Jackson’s age. Jackson could easily be a Curtis Martin, because he’s a guy, having spent time on the practice squad, that doesn’t have nearly as much wear on his tires as other RBs his age. Jackson may be a cornerstone, but we can’t count on it because RB is a young man’s position in this league, no bones about it. I think Josh Reed has to be in the discussion, despite his age, because WR is a little different than RB. Josh Reed is the most consistent player on our offense for the last 10 years. There’s no reason to think he couldn’t continue to be our No. 3 possession receiver for another six or seven years, ala Ricky Proehl or Wayne Chrebet (though he may never be as productive as them).

The jury is still out on Wood and Levitre, and it will continue to be for sometime, barring a catastrophic decline in their play. These two aren’t cornerstone status, because they aren’t known commodities. After their second year it will be easier to tell which direction they are headed: a capable starter, an underachieving bust, or an outstanding player. Our defensive line sports Schobel, Williams, and Stroud as consistent talents, but only Williams can be counted on to be a cornerstone at this point. Schobel and Stroud could likely be in Buffalo for another five years, but if the right circumstances happen, it would not be shocking to see them go.

Only one linebacker who comes into discussion. Poz is probably not a cornerstone due to his nagging injuries. But he does play just as fierce with a cast and through injuries. I still need the rest of this year and maybe longer to tell for sure. Terrence McGee, Leodis McKelvin and Jairus Byrd are cornerstones. These are outstanding cover corners and an elite free safety. What’s more, these three players make plays. Future coaching staffs will have no choice but to play them every game. Whitner and Scott are merely solid players who aren’t indispensable.

Lindell and Moorman constantly get the job done, both at borderline Pro Bowl levels. Moorman makes cornerstone status because at this rate, he could punt for us until he’s 45. Lindell probably won’t have as long of a career, but he could reasonably spend almost another 10 years here.

I kind of look at this as a question of who will be our main contributors in 3 years. Of course we could hire a coach who turns things around quicker, but that’s rare. A cornerstone is someone who will be productive for many years.

Byrd is obvious. He’s been our best player on either side of the ball. Last game, I found myself rooting for/expecting Jairus to make a play more than I was on the rest of the entire defense.
Lynch – He’s the only current player an offense could be built around
Levitre/Wood – Lots of potential and they should mature together
Nelson – His athleticism is the best of any Bills TE I’ve ever seen
Whitner – I’m surprising myself with this pick, but I think his skills complement Byrd’s very well. He’s also very young still.

Beyond that, there are players who are solid, but who are not or do not have the potential to be top 10 players at their position. For example, Kyle Williams is a solid DT, but he’s not in the top 25 in the league and he probably never will. He’s played well, but if he were to go to another team, I doubt any of us would be clamoring for his return. As for Evans, Schobel, and Stroud, they’re getting on in years and won’t be around if/when the Bills become a consistent contender.

It all depends on what is considered a franchise cornerstone. You say it’s a player that is worth bringing back next year, is a (potential) star and is someone the team needs to build around. I tend to agree, especially with the last two criteria.

Let’s see if we can use a bit of deductive reasoning to determine who might actually be a franchise cornerstone. Remember, this is just my opinion!

There are a number of players who should and will return next season. I’m not going to include the players who might be back (Kelsay, TO, etc), but instead guys who are more than likely going to return unless something surprising happens. These don’t have to be starters either. There are some guys that are worth bringing back, but if it’s a question, then they aren’t franchise cornerstones anyhow. I’ll include the following in this category:

Bell, Byrd, Corner, Evans, Florence, Hangartner, N. Harris, Jackson, Sp. Johnson, St. Johnson, Lankster, Levitre, Lindell, Lynch, Maybin, McGee, Moorman, Nelson, Posluszny, Schobel, B. Scott, Stroud, Whitner, Williams, Wilson, Wood, Butler, McKelvin, Mitchell, Schouman, Hardy

There aren’t too many players that are also stars or potential stars. I’m not going to use this term too loosely and include any young guy I think might still have a chance at becoming a star. I’m going to use players who I think actually have the talent, skill and mindset to become one. I could be wrong about including some of these guys and excluding others. I’d include:

Byrd, Evans, Levitre, Lynch, Maybin, McGee, Moorman, Nelson, Schobel, Stroud, Wood, McKelvin

Finally, what players, based on age, ability and potential are guys the team needs to build an offense or defense around? Or at the very least, with them as one of the major components. This will be very subjective, but I will try to explain…I will bold the players I think are players to build around.

Byrd – Showing big play capability, something this team hasn’t had in years (decades?). He might not be the most athletic safety in the league or develop into a great run defender, but he can become the leader of our secondary with his play.

Evans – He has the skill, but never seems to put it together. I don’t think he’s a top WR in the NFL, or even a #1, but he has the ability (and now the contract) that you build around. With a much better QB, Evans would be posting much better numbers.

Levitre – I say no because his ceiling is limited. He doesn’t have the greatest physical gifts and isn’t that big for an interior lineman. He’ll be a good player for us, but not one you build a line around.

Lynch – He’s a good RB, but not great. We’ve seen how replaceable he can be and if you aren’t an absolute stud RB (Peterson, Jones-Drew, S. Jackson, etc), you aren’t someone a team builds around.

Maybin – I’d like to believe Maybin would be one, but my gut says he isn’t. Watching him play doesn’t lead me to believe he’ll ever turn into a star. He doesn’t look smooth trying to get to the QB (at least so far) and doesn’t look like a guy who will ever be much help against the run, due to size limitations. I think he’ll become a very good player, but not a star/building block. I’m hoping he can become a poor man’s John Abraham with a little more run stopping ability…

McGee – I really like McGee, but I don’t think he’s quite good enough to be considered a building block. He’s not going to get any better, so he is what he is. A good, solid #1 CB.

Moorman – I say yes only because he’s the ST captain and routinely one of the best at his position in the league. You can build a good punt unit around a top punter.

Nelson – He has a high ceiling and all the athleticism in the world. The question is whether he develops fully, and actually can stay on the field. He’s too much a work in progress to consider him a building block. You also don’t see too many offenses built around a TE.

Schobel/Stroud – No, simply because of age. Five years ago, yes. They are both in decline and are better suited to be secondary stars at this stage of their careers. You don’t build around players like this.

Wood – I say yes to Wood because his upside is greater than Levitre’s, IMO. He hasn’t had a great rookie season, but has shown flashes of dominance. His potential to anchor the OL at the center position in the future make him a guy that you could build an OL around.

McKelvin - He’s been pretty bad at CB so far in his career, but his talent is undeniable. He has a long way to go before he’s considered a great CB, but the potential is definitely there. Like Wood, he has the ability to become a star at his position. I wish it was a guarantee though.

Therefore, upon further review, I’d say the true franchise cornerstones of this team are Jairus Byrd, Lee Evans, Brian Moorman, Eric Wood and Leodis McKelvin. I wish I could say I saw more cornerstones on this roster, but I don’t. This team lacks top end talent so badly.

In these posts there seems to be a lot of different interpretations of what a cornerstone is. In my opinion, we are getting true franchise cornerstones confused with:
A.) someone who is paid like one
B.) someone who might become one

If a new coach came in they would obviously have to deal with contracts as they stand. That includes paying a lot for the limited production that some players have been showing. It also means utilizing young, cheap talent. There are players that are too good value for money to be realistically let go. However, these guys are not cornerstones.

As an excercise, imagine if every player in the NFL went into a draft, but each team was allowed to withhold 3-5 players. The catch is that they would have to pay these players the average of the top 5 wages for their position (say for a 5 year contract). Presumably you would want to keep the players that are so good you don’t want anyone else to get them. Who would we keep?

Moorman? – Probably, he has proved his worth and as Kurupt mentioned above is the sort of player you could build a special teams unit around.

Anybody else? – You might as a head coach take a gamble that some combination of Wood, Levitre, Maybin, McKelvin and Byrd are going to live up to their potential. But would it be worth it compared with the potential to draft?

I would argue that we have a number of solid, dependable players and a number with high potential, but few cornerstones. Whether those with potential are really cornerstone players will probably have to wait until the end of the season (or beyond!).

I think Dreyton Florence has played extremely well (even before Leo went down). I would like to see him as a cornerstone for this team for some years to come. Problem is, our only cornerstones on this team seem to be coming from the defensive backfield.