Buffalo Bills It's the Off-Season. Go.

[TkachukMyAho]

Walker, by a lot.

Walker: he's what you want in an X receiver. Ran faster at the combine than expected. Gets into the secondary fast and gets past coverage. Good catching radius and good hands, and wins contested catches. He's more of a one-trick-pony than people would expect, as he's basically a #2 type boundary receiver that will take coverage deep. But unlike Gabe Davis, who filled that role for the past two seasons, he's faster and has better hands. Walker bounced around a bunch of schools, so he's really raw, hasn't run a complete route tree, and needs a lot of refinement. If Beane can get back into the 3rd round, I'd look at Walker at 3 or 3-.

Coleman: a basketball player style receiver. Jumps well and has great hands. Will make highlight reel catches. He's not going to use quickness to separate, but catches balls like a forward on the interior of the lane of a basketball court: he's got someone right next to him, but he out-positions himself and uses his leaping and hands to win. Is that good enough in the NFL? These aren't bad traits, but I wouldn't take him on Day 1 or 2.

McConkey: For a while, I've compared Shakir to Diggs, which is part of the reason I thought Diggs would eventually be traded or released. McConkey is the same mold. Not huge but great hands and a very good route runner. Can play all receiver spots effectively. McConkey's timed speed is faster than Diggs or Shakir, so he could be even more of a deep threat. But does Beane want to spend a premium asset on a receiver like one he's already got in Shakir? I like McConkey, so that's a good question. He probably got a 1- to 2+ grade from most teams.

Franklin: has boundary skills without the boundary body. Fast and gets to a lot of deep balls. Impressive accelerations. Has a tough time against press coverage and has average hands. Might not be able to line up on the ball a lot, and might need to motion from inside to outside to free him up. I'm not at huge fan because he's got a lot of boundary receiver traits but a lot of boudnary receiver downside. I'd think about him at 60, but if it's between him and Worthy, I'm taking Worthy.

Worthy: sometimes a player is average at a lot but has one elite asset which vaults him into higher tiers. That's Worthy with his speed. He's not big, isn't going to win a lot of contested balls, doesn't really have the college production you'd like to see, and doesn't have elite hands. But he's got scary speed. He's got Hill-type of speed and explosiveness, and that could be enough for Beane to take him. He'd be in play at 60 if I were running the Bills.

And one extra, as I've been asked about him:

Rice: great hands and doesn't drop the football. High-points a lot of footballs and rarely lets balls into his pads. Won contested catches at the Senior Bowl. Long-strider with fantastic body control. Even though he didn't run particularly well at the combine, he gets past coverage, even when it's off coverage. Gets faster as he goes and with the ball in his hands. Average agility, which hinders his explosiveness, which translates into average separation. With that said, he gets open a lot. He's got the feet and body control to use technique more than actual timed quickness to separate, which will take time to develop. But in the NFL, there are a lot of contested catch situations because the coverage is so good. So you've got to either be able to separate by quickness, or have the hands to win footballs. Rice has the latter, and for me, he's probably got the best hands in the draft. He's a 3- player for me but he's going to be a lot better pro than what he showed in college.

Awesome stuff. Thanks for this contribution.

 

[ValJamesDuex]

 

[WeDislikeEich]

 

[Rowley Birkin]

I am an armchair scout. I don't have access to all-22. As far as scouting goes, I have access to what's on YouTube. I primarily form my opinions from reading (and listening) a variety of other opinions. Almost nobody I read or listen to has talked about Johnny Wilson. He had the highest drop rate in the country last year, and to me, from what I've seen, he doesn't have the twitch to an NFL WR. He has great long speed, but I don't think he can beat NFL corners in press man because he isn't quick or elusive at all. So, based on that, he looks more like an inline guy to me. If that's so, at his size, he's probably better off bulking up and moving to TE.

As for Ainias Smith, I honestly thought I was crazy for how much I liked him, and then EJ from Bootleg Scouting goes on a tirade about how useful he could be in the right scheme. He's basically a running back at reciever and has some of the surest hands in the draft. I don't love him early, but if you are double dipping at receiver, and miss out on the top few tiers for your Shakir/Samuel depth, you could do a lot worse than Ainias Smith in the late 4th/ early 5th. Because he's the best returner in the draft, and because of the new kickoff rule which turns kickoffs into punts, I could see Smith going way earlier than people expect. 3rd round is his ceiling, imo.

We're all armchair experts, at best. I don't think anybody here does things any differently...

Wilson has all of the uncoachable stuff. He's a very scary prospect - but i figure that his major weaknesses could be coached up. To be honest he waa a real target of mine while Diggs was still around, as I'd be more than comfortable with him as the organisational #4 or #5... Now that Diggs has gone though - i do think they need to be targeting a guy with a higher floor. And i expect Wilson to be long gone by the time I'm thinking about drafting a second WR.

I forgot to talk about Polk. He was the hardest reciever for me to slot into a type. I very nearly put him in the 1st group, because he does look like an outside reciever. But I'm just not a believer. I don't know, I'm probably wrong. I don't see anything special about him. Like I said, I'm probably wrong.

I see him as the unspectacular 'high floor' guy that IMO we should be targeting (at least by #60, #28 is obviously too early).

I actually don't love the Gabe comp for Polk. They both bring the girtty work to the table. And they're both poor separators. But other than that, not sure they're that similar. Polk doesn't have the deep speed and downfield profile Gabe has. He strikes me as more of a jack of all trades type. Brugler compares him to Josh Palmer which I like as a comp.

Brugler ranks / grades for the top WRs we've been debating lately:

View attachment 849476

Davis doesn't exactly have blazing speed either though.

There may well be better/closer comps that we are generally less familiar with. But as Bills fans... I think Davis is a fair one.

 

[Rowley Birkin]

New poll: 2024 HF Bills Big Board 19

@Rowley Birkin won't be happy as Mitchell comes off the board at #18 with a shocking 75% of the vote. Newton the overwhelming add.

New poll: 2024 HF Bills Big Board 19

1. Marvin Harrison Jr., WR, Ohio State (88%)
2. Malik Nabers, WR, LSU (83%)
3. Rome Odunze, WR, Washington (100%)
4. Joe Alt, OT, Notre Dame (38%)
4. Dallas Turner, DE, Alabama (38%)
6. Olu Fashanu, OT, Penn State (40%)
6. Laiatu Latu, DE, UCLA (40%)
8. Brian Thomas Junior, WR, LSU (40%)
9. Jackson Powers-Johnson, C, Oregon (40%)
9. Jared Verse, DE, Florida State (40%)
11. Brock Bowers, TE, Georgia (50%)
12. Cooper Dejean, DB, Iowa (50%)
13. Byron Murphy, DT, Texas (40%)
14. Taliese Fuaga, OL, Oregon (25%)
14. JC Latham, OT, Alabama (25%)
14. Terrion Arnold, CB, Alabama (25%)
14. Quinyon Mitchell, CB, Toledo (25%)
18. Adonai Mitchell, WR, Texas (75%)

Vote Fautanu, add Amarius Mims.

Mims isn't really a great day one fit, since he won't be able to play inside. But he's got potential to be the best tackle in the entire class, clear upgrade over Brown (who you have to pay after this year). He's also concensus BPA at this point.

 

[Jim Bob]

This is a great thought experiment for three different ways this could go.

I really liked the first two and was not a huge fan of the third one.

 

[Jim Bob]

Interesting, I see a gulf between them. McConkey I have a first round grade, think he profiles as a true #1, and I'd be fine with a modest tradeup for him. My only real concern is injury. Legette and Pearsall are guys I'd be fine with but not excited about at 60.

Legette is an intriguing skill set and athletic profile, but not eclipsing 20 catches until his 5th year senior season is a massive red flag. I do like that he played outside and downfield, though, so he's one of my favorites in that round 2-3 range. Pearsall is another super senior with an old breakout age. I think he's high floor, but probably slot only which doesn't really interest me with a highish pick.

FWIW Brugler ranks them McConkey WR5, 1-2 round grade; Pearsall, WR9, 2-3 round grade, Legette WR14, 3rd round grade.


I agree. I'm low on Coleman because I think he's the kind of receiver that Allen doesn't work well with. Allen's best success has always been with good separators. Coleman's worst attribute is his separation.

The one hope I would have for Legette is that his breakout really started in the Bowl Game vs Notre Dame in 2022.

Going into that game, he had 11 catches 89 yards 1 TD on the season. But, South Carolina had a new OC for that game and Legette had 7 catches 78 yards 2 TDs in that game.

And he carried that game through the 2023 season.

So, while he only has one season of production and that is a risk. At least there is a reason explanation as to what happened.

And Legette probably thanks his lucky stars every day that Satterfield left South Carolina to go to Nebraska with Rhule getting hired there.

 

[billsandsabres]

This is a great thought experiment for three different ways this could go.

I really liked the first two and was not a huge fan of the third one.

joe marino is my hands down best content creator for the bills. #1. he has a subtext group that i joined last year and i highly recommend it.

 

[Jim Bob]

joe marino is my hands down best content creator for the bills. #1. he has a subtext group that i joined last year and i highly recommend it.

The Discord channel is so good. Especially the film clips that Joe posts there.

 

[Jim Bob]

Tom Brady says Josh Allen will be next NFL QB to win his first Super Bowl (video)

Tom Brady says Josh Allen will be next NFL QB to win his first Super Bowl (video):

billswire.usatoday.com

 

[Jim Bob]

Lying season is in full effect.

 

[SundherDome]

Lying season is in full effect.

The reality of it is, and Beane even said this, there are only about 3 people (himself included) that know where they are heading. The draft is such a revenue generator for the media and people are sinking their teeth into it.

 

[Husko]

Vote Fautanu, add Amarius Mims.

Mims isn't really a great day one fit, since he won't be able to play inside. But he's got potential to be the best tackle in the entire class, clear upgrade over Brown (who you have to pay after this year). He's also concensus BPA at this point.

I wouldn't complain about taking Mims in the first, but I don't think there's anything clear about him being an upgrade over Brown, but there's no denying the talent and potential are there. Why do you say he can't play inside?

As for consensus BPA? Perhaps, but I think it's close. I think almost everyone in our poll is justifiable at this point. But you may be right about him sticking out relative to the other add options.

 

[Husko]

Please vote before the weekend lull!

2024 HF Bills Big Board 19

Vote for who you would want the Bills to select.

forms.gle

 

[Husko]

New poll: 2024 HF Bills Big Board 20

Newton gets the win with 40% of the vote. Darius Robinson added.

New poll: 2024 HF Bills Big Board 20

1. Marvin Harrison Jr., WR, Ohio State (88%)
2. Malik Nabers, WR, LSU (83%)
3. Rome Odunze, WR, Washington (100%)
4. Joe Alt, OT, Notre Dame (38%)
4. Dallas Turner, DE, Alabama (38%)
6. Olu Fashanu, OT, Penn State (40%)
6. Laiatu Latu, DE, UCLA (40%)
8. Brian Thomas Junior, WR, LSU (40%)
9. Jackson Powers-Johnson, C, Oregon (40%)
9. Jared Verse, DE, Florida State (40%)
11. Brock Bowers, TE, Georgia (50%)
12. Cooper Dejean, DB, Iowa (50%)
13. Byron Murphy, DT, Texas (40%)
14. Taliese Fuaga, OL, Oregon (25%)
14. JC Latham, OT, Alabama (25%)
14. Terrion Arnold, CB, Alabama (25%)
14. Quinyon Mitchell, CB, Toledo (25%)
18. Adonai Mitchell, WR, Texas (75%)
19. Johnny Newton, DT, Illinois (40%)

2024 HF Bills Big Board 20

Vote for who you would want the Bills to select.

forms.gle

 

[Husko]

Fascinating prospect that I just learned about that I bet is squarely on the Bills board:

Kamari Lassiter, CB, Georgia
Pros: Excellent tape, very smart and instinctive, was a very good college corner.
Cons: Horrible testing. 4.64 40 which is horrendous for a corner. Average frame, too, which isn't what you want for a slow corner.

Yes, testing isn't everything. But there's only been 2 corners ever to have pro success with a 40 times over 4.6. But who those corners are is incredibly illuminating: Josh Norman and Levi Wallace. And who did they both have success with?

Lassiter's tape says day 2 but his testing says undrafted (like both Norman and Wallace). Could he be our next Benford/Wallace/Jackson?

 

[ValJamesDuex]

L. Collins contract is 1/1.75M btw. much better than what was originally reported.

La'el Collins | NFL | Spotrac.com

La'el Collins contract and salary cap details, full contract breakdowns, salaries, signing bonus, roster bonus, dead money, and valuations.

www.spotrac.com

 

[Husko]

L. Collins contract is 1/1.75M btw. much better than what was originally reported.

La'el Collins | NFL | Spotrac.com

La'el Collins contract and salary cap details, full contract breakdowns, salaries, signing bonus, roster bonus, dead money, and valuations.

www.spotrac.com

So much for the “HES THE STARTING LG NOW” discourse. Great deal

 

[Rowley Birkin]

I wouldn't complain about taking Mims in the first, but I don't think there's anything clear about him being an upgrade over Brown, but there's no denying the talent and potential are there. Why do you say he can't play inside?

As for consensus BPA? Perhaps, but I think it's close. I think almost everyone in our poll is justifiable at this point. But you may be right about him sticking out relative to the other add options.

Upgrade over Brown if he hits his potential.

He doesn't project to play inside, at all. Completely wrong body type.

Fascinating prospect that I just learned about that I bet is squarely on the Bills board:

Kamari Lassiter, CB, Georgia
Pros: Excellent tape, very smart and instinctive, was a very good college corner.
Cons: Horrible testing. 4.64 40 which is horrendous for a corner. Average frame, too, which isn't what you want for a slow corner.

Yes, testing isn't everything. But there's only been 2 corners ever to have pro success with a 40 times over 4.6. But who those corners are is incredibly illuminating: Josh Norman and Levi Wallace. And who did they both have success with?

Lassiter's tape says day 2 but his testing says undrafted (like both Norman and Wallace). Could he be our next Benford/Wallace/Jackson?

The concensus seems to have him around the round 2, maybe round 3 range. It's too early to consider taking a corner IMO.

 

[ValJamesDuex]

Aiyuk Watch or noise ?

 

[buffa dud]

That's a stupid move to make, and I'm getting irritated at just how hyper-focused Bills' fans have become on the WR position as a whole. To the point I can't even listen to WGR anymore.

This team can win without Justin Jefferson or Ja'marr Chase or Tyreek Hill or Devante Adams, and they can lose with them. What they can't do is win with $80 million dollars tied up in two players on the same side of the ball. It takes organizational depth, which is the one thing the Bills, the Ravens, the Eagles, etc. all had in common prior to The Cap doing Cap things.

Trading a cost-controlled first-round draft pick in an incredibly deep wide-receiver class, for a wide-receiver on the wrong side of an ELC, that's a sure-fire way to continue chipping away at a core that has already been stripped to its core.

 

[Husko]

Upgrade over Brown if he hits his potential.

He doesn't project to play inside, at all. Completely wrong body type.


The concensus seems to have him around the round 2, maybe round 3 range. It's too early to consider taking a corner IMO.

I’ll be eager to see if that consensus ends up true. I wonder what the highest a corner with that bad a of a 40 has ever been drafted

 

[Sabreality]

That's a stupid move to make, and I'm getting irritated at just how hyper-focused Bills' fans have become on the WR position as a whole. To the point I can't even listen to WGR anymore.

This team can win without Justin Jefferson or Ja'marr Chase or Tyreek Hill or Devante Adams, and they can lose with them. What they can't do is win with $80 million dollars tied up in two players on the same side of the ball. It takes organizational depth, which is the one thing the Bills, the Ravens, the Eagles, etc. all had in common prior to The Cap doing Cap things.

Trading a cost-controlled first-round draft pick in an incredibly deep wide-receiver class, for a wide-receiver on the wrong side of an ELC, that's a sure-fire way to continue chipping away at a core that has already been stripped to its core.

amen, there's that same group of fans who will have a shitfit if they don't go WR in rnd 1, in a deep WR draft, I know a lot of us here are openminded to a lot of pick scenarios and will wait to view the whole draft. But its everyones an expert season.

 

[yahhockey]

I don't have much faith in reports about the Bills targeting any specific players for trades or draft selections. Beane runs a tight ship. Rarely are reports accurate about those type of moves and if they are correct it may be more about if enough stories are written eventually one or two of them are correct even if there are no sources with direct knowledge of the move beforehand.

 

[Husko]

I don't have much faith in reports about the Bills targeting any specific players for trades or draft selections. Beane runs a tight ship. Rarely are reports accurate about those type of moves and if they are correct it may be more about if enough stories are written eventually one or two of them are correct even if there are no sources with direct knowledge of the move beforehand.

Yeah you can’t trust much as this point in the process