LEBills

believe this is it

Nice work putting time into scouting the class. I’m a Troy Franklin truther (my WR4) so your rankings got a good grade from me right there haha. I know you went 30 deep so as not to miss the next Puka, but your rankings don’t have that - why is he there? - type of surprise rank (definitely not criticizing). This is probably an easier question to answer after the draft when we know where a player will be playing, but if you had to take a swing on picking the next Puka who would it be? If I had to guess, it will be McMillan or Roman Wilson. Both have some untapped potential due to injuries and the offense they were in.

Could we see a Terrence Marshall type of injury slide for him?

So far those are all that have been reported though Beane said they have used all 30

Idk, Bills are pretty conservative when it comes to guys with injuries BTJ having that reported shoulder injury may take him off the board I went with Worthy, I could see a scenario where they try to get ahead of the Dolphins to get him. overall think trading up is not a good idea for a WR

Nothing directly Bills related today https://walterfootball.com/nfl-hot-press-2024-nfl-draft-week-rumors-wednesday.php

With the 17th pick in the 2024 NFL draft the Jacksonville Jaguars select Wide Receiver AD Mitchell, WR, Texas. The Jaguars get caught up in the AFC South arms race, hoping to make the Texans division title an aberration. Back in March, Peterson stated “When you think of some of the young quarterbacks and teams are playing in more 11 personnel nowadays, and having three guys. It’s important that you have those guys. Our division, the AFC South, got better in a hurry just at the quarterback position. You look at some of the teams that we have to face in Tennessee and Indy, they all have pretty good receiver rooms. So, can never have enough.” The surprise here is going with AD over BTJ or Worthy. Jacksonville wants a bigger bodied boundary receiver to go on the opposite side from Gabe Davis. With Gabe Davis’s….inconsistencies, the Jags want a more savvy route runner with consistent hands as a compliment. Mitchell is an excellent route runner for his frame and is able to be a threat in the deep and intermediate areas of the field. He also sports a low drop rate though playing with the human overthrow Quinn Ewers. BTJ, though talented, has had his fair share of drops (about 8% for his career) and route running is limited to vertical routes and stems off those verticals. AD is the more complete player right now for us. The Jaguars have heard the recent concerns over type 1 diabetes and personality. However, we attribute that smoke to the time of the season. BTJ with his reported shoulder injury is not necessarily clean there either. Finally, on the Establish the run Podcast, Schefter was asked who he thought would go earlier than projected and the answer was….AD Mithchell. The Bungles and @Kirby Jackson are now on the clock

Did he though? His best games came against the a freshman corner at UNC, a backup corner and safety at Georgia, Furman, 1-7 in SEC play MSU, 3-5 Florida, Jacksonville State, 0-8 Vanderbilt. His best game was probably against 3-5 Kentucky when he went one on one against Andru Phillips who is a good player. He is pretty good downfield when he can be more physical than the other player and push off or jump over them. He takes a lot of steps to turn those vertical routes and transition them into a comeback or dig. He also is pretty good at running crossers. Watching all of his targets really disappointed me. He was not good at screens or end arounds, regularly getting tackles one on one by everyone including players from Furman, etc. He didn’t run his agilities and you can see why as him getting tackled one on one looks to be from him not being able to dodge players laterally or run through tacklers at his feet. He is very fast when he gets a runway to run a straight line For a five year player, his route running is so under developed which makes you wonder how long it will take him to develop effective counters to corners that take away his verticals. Watching Nate Wiggins mirror him and Legette not having any counter was disappointing. To me, he is a one dimensional player at the moment. You can send him vertical or have him run a crosser but that is not a first round player. Even those hoping he could be the second coming of DK: he is smaller, slower and does not stack vertically like DK did. I think he is a later day 2 guy based on taking a shot on measurables def not day 1, imo.

I spoke too soon, according to Pelissero the Bills did not have him for a 30, but did have a private workout with him https://www.nfl.com/news/2024-nfl-draft-four-potential-surprise-first-rounders

Hey this fan wants him at least!

Does not seem Legette came to Buffalo for a visit. On an interview with the Draft Network he said he had 14 visits and listed 13. He also confirmed in another interview he went to Carolina as well. https://thedraftnetwork.com/2024/04/22/xavier-legette-nfl-draft-networking-interview

there are more rumors for other teams too https://walterfootball.com/nfl-hot-press-2024-nfl-draft-week-rumors-tuesday.php

There have been rumblings on Twitter that he will be a late first round pick Thursday

What do you think of Lovett as a late round 1 tech?

Jax, Cinnci, rams

Yea this year is one of the most mysterious as we only have about 17 of the top 30 visits accounted for. Beane said we used all 30 so they are keeping this close to the vest. He would be a good selection at a later point in the draft.

I wouldn’t be surprised if a scout was being friendly and hyping him up saying we want you if you’re there at 33. Came across to me as him just answering the question honestly rather than angling for a higher pick, he has said elsewhere that being with the Panthers would let his family see him play. Hoping they take him so Beane isn’t tempted if we trade back.

If Arizona moves back and misses out on MHJ for just a third and a fourth, all 3 fans will get into a Fiat Pop and run Gannon and Co out of town imo. They may move back, but I think it would have to be a much bigger haul.

Javon Baker, Tez Walker, Brenden Rice

Two more all targets - Legette and Baker

Thank you, Beane actually addressed this in his post draft presser last year because he was asked about Kincaid and Torrence being older. He basically said that you like it if the guys are younger but that you are just looking for good football players in the end of the day. If I had to guess the more refined Pearsall fits what the Bills will look for more than Legette, though I am much lower on Legette than other Bills fans so it may be my bias. Yea definitely not saying this is what I would do as I’m not particularly high on Isaac, Kinchens or Pearsall. But for better and worse Beane usually doesn’t do what I want him to do lol. I do think it makes sense they like players they have connections with. I know if I got a job applicant who gave a reference of someone I knew and trust, I’d feel more comfortable I was getting a good employee if that reference gave a good recommendation. Haha yeaaaa, I feel the same way (tho technically it’s Beane not McD as far as I know). Why not invite Kirby Smart to your next BBQ instead Brandon? tho I guess Howie Roseman already has that market cornered.

Both are right. It is a small sample to draw conclusions from but with the NFL draft that is almost always the case. And I don’t think Beane veered off his board to select a player from a preferred school. But @NewEra is right too. I think if they have several players graded similarly, they may be preferential to the players who played for a coach they trust. An ESPN article from 2014(!) outlines McDermott being a part of a “little circle” with Aranda and Diaz… https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/11069344/rich-rodriguez-dan-mullen-james-franklin-discuss-coaches-customary-exchange-ideas Since then McDermott has publicly said how much he respects Aranda And Beane said in last year post day 2 press conference that he spent some time with Billy Napier (1:35 in) So in addition to the drafting of players from those programs in the past, it is pretty on record that they have relationships with those people for better and worse.