Rochester Democrat and Chronicle

‘The Thurman Thomas Family Foundation has provided scholarships for disadvantaged students and sponsored youth football camps across the Erie County region. Shortly after Saturday’s fatal shooting of 10 people inside an East Buffalo Tops, the Foundation announced plans to donate an initial $10,000 and to raise more money to help the families and community.’

‘“He’s here to punt the ball, right?” coach Sean McDermott said before the first practice session began when he was asked about Araiza. “I appreciate where you’re trying to go with that and building these big expectations. One day at a time. He hasn’t even punted yet at all, so let’s just hope he gets out there and gets his shoes tied right, which I’m sure he will, and has a good first practice here.”’

‘And so it is that the Buffalo Bills are now one of the darlings for the coveted prime-time, national TV windows on the NFL schedule.’

‘The Bills game will be on ESPN and the Vikings-Eagles will be on ABC which doesn’t make much sense seeing as the Bills-Titans game – with its recent history not to mention the viability of both teams – would seem more worthy of the ABC audience.’

‘So, beyond Elam, Cook and Araiza, the Bills would love it if third-round linebacker Terrel Bernard, fifth-round wide receiver Khalil Shakir, sixth-round cornerback Christian Benford, sixth-round offensive lineman Luke Tenuta, and seventh-round linebacker Baylon Spector prove worthy of selection.’

‘“Obviously, he’s a guy who’s shown that he’s one of the best in the league,” Shakir said when asked about how excited he is to get the chance to play with Allen. “He can do it all from a quarterback standpoint. I’m just excited to get up there, get to work, earn his respect, first of all, and just make sure that I go ahead and leave a good first impression.”’

‘But trying to judge a draft as soon as it ends is akin to proclaiming a basketball game is over two minutes after it starts. It’s a foolhardy exercise because we simply don’t know enough about any of the players to determine who killed it and who didn’t.’

‘Araiza started becoming a media star during 2021, his only season as the Aztecs full-time punter. Once he started booming 80-yard punts – of which there were two – people began to take notice and that’s when the nickname was born.’

‘“We feel like he’s kind of a wide receiver in his own way,” Beane said. “Obviously we didn’t get (J.D.) McKissick through that scenario in free agency and this was a guy that really stood out to us with the ball in his hands. You can split him out, he can run routes similar to a receiver, obviously he’s a good guy to hand the ball to in the backfield.”‘

‘Bernard is undersized at 6-foot and 224 pounds, but what he lacks in bulk he makes up for with speed as he ran 4.59 at his pro day.’

‘“We had had a good grade on Kaiir and we were down to one player in the first round on our board, and so at that point, it just made sense,” Beane said of making the trade. “Not sure what those teams would have taken, but there was a lot of trade action going on, too, so you don’t have to look at just what they might take, you got to look at the teams behind them. So it just felt like it was within striking distance.”’

‘Abram Elam allowed Kaiir to play sports such as baseball, basketball, swimming and track, but he did not let him start in with football until he was in the seventh grade, though his late start didn’t hinder him.’

‘Sure, Sean McDermott and Brandon Beane admitted last week that waiting to pick No. 25 overall in the first round of the NFL Draft Thursday night will test their patience – just as it did picking 30th last year – and they’ll cringe every time a rival team takes a quality player in front of them.’

‘“It just proves that the government rules,” he said. “We had no say because the people in government, politicians — they’re going to do whatever is best for them. … We should at least have a say.”’

‘Edmunds has been a good player, often very good, but there are many observers who believe he has never lived up to his status as the No. 16 overall pick in 2018, that he has reached his ceiling and further investment would not be prudent.’