LEBills

Matt Bergeron said on this podcast that he had a top 30 visit with the Bills. Starts about the 10 minute mark That brings the pre draft visitor count to 25 One other thing of note, Greg Cosell on OBL said he is hearing Bergeron is viewed as a guard by most teams he has heard from.

With the 15th pick of the 2023 Virgil mock draft (version 3.0), the New York Jets select: Darnell Wright, OT, Tennessee Not gonna lie, we are feeling goooood today. Maybe it’s just the contact high, but more likely it’s that we just basically traded Corey Coleman and a first round pick for Aaron Rodgers. The pick swap did sting a bit as we knew that would likely cost us the top OTs. But we move on by selecting the next best Tackle in the draft. Currently our tackles are the perennially injured Mechi Becton and AARP Duane Brown. We expect Wright to be the starting RT this year and have Brown/Becton handle the left side. @Kirby Jackson and the Washington Commanders are on the clock @Virgil

@Chaos

Greg Cosell made a joke on OBL that nothing gets by him if it is a buffet. Lots of concerns about weight and motivation going forward according to Cosell who rarely says anything negative about a player

@aristocrat is up now

There is always a first time for anything, but Josh Downs didn’t have any top 30 visits . The Bills have always had their first pick in for a top 30 visit during the McBeane era. To me it’s pretty unlikely he is the Bils pick at 27. Good player tho.

I personally would take the risk and take him if he is there because he can function as a big slot and is excellent against zone so he isn’t limited to a TE2 role. Ive just been watching the draft for so long, there are always a few guys with injuries that slip past where all of us non-insiders expect. Even Gronk was a second rounder and I think Kincaid may fall there too. Additionally, I’m not sure the Bills will think of him as more than a TE2 which in most offenses is a role player. Will be happy to be wrong but we will see in a few days.

Jets, Ravens, thanks virgil!

I hope so but the main positions on offense for upgrade are WR and RT and I’m not sure the Bills will feel the value is there at 27. Foe defense, the positions are much more in line with the projected value at 27. LB, DT, DE. Plus, McDermott is calling plays now and I feel like he is going to want every position stacked to his liking. And McDermott has a big say in who the Bills draft as we have seen. I hope we go offense for all of the first three rounds and more, but I am doubtful.

We will find out soon. I hope but am doubtful they will go offense early and often this year

Kinda of the point, first round O talent the Bills are looking at and have a chance of being available to them is limited. Pretty good chance we will trade down or go defense at 27.

I think you are overvaluing the Bills interest in TE. They seem to be targeting more the 2-4th round guys with who they have interviewed and worked out. Kincaid, though “cleared,” also had a back fracture which I think is going to drop him further than people expect. I think it would go more like Zay Flowers, Jordan Addison, Darnell Wright, Joe Tippman, Matthew Bergeron at 27 if they HAD to go offense at 27. Based on the pre draft visits/workouts we are aware of.

With the 57th pick in the 2023 NFL Draft the New York Football Giants select Cedrick Tillman, WR, Tennessee The blabbermouth GM kind of tipped his hand up thread but we love Tillman in Daboll’s offense. Despite our current receiver room, we do want some players that can play outside and see a spitting image of Gabe Davis to continue recreating the offense that flourished in Buffalo. If Tillman can avoid injuries we think a player with his college experience can step in and immediately produce. @Virgil and the cowgirls are now on the clock

Yea unfortunately Ole Miss doesn’t do their WRs many favors. Not a big fan of his hands and like you said he gets himself into too many contested situations because he is an inconsistent route runner. In that range I think Cedric Tillman is infinitely better. He reminds me so much of Gabe Davis coming out of that UCF offense Heupel brought to Tennessee.

Unfortunately, I think they are going to go early enough that the risk will outweigh the reward on both. Wilson is good but not great in the reps he played in college and his injuries are a major concern yet he may still go day 2. Mingo has played 4 years but missed a small amount of time with injuries throughout and was in Ole Miss weird offense with bad quarterbacks at times. They would basically have him be a pseudo tight end several snaps per game to block. I don’t see the physicality or yac of Deebo or Brown with Mingo. Unfortunately I think he will be drafted round 2 and he will struggle to live up to expectations. Hope I’m wrong for his sake.

He had a Jones fracture in his foot in 2020 and an undisclosed injury ended his season this year. Just couldn’t stay on the field in college.

Offense Jalin Hyatt WR UT Jordan Addison WR USC Jaxon Smith Njigba WR OSU Tank Dell WR Houston Zay Flowers WR BC Justin Shorter WR Florida Luke Schoonmaker TE Michigan Darnell Washington TE Georgia Luke Musgrave TE Oregon St Joe Tippman C Wisconsin Ocyrus Torrence OL Florida Darnell Wright OT Tennessee Matt Bergeron OT Syracuse Kendra Miller RB TCU Zach Charbonnet RB UCLA Defense Gervon Dexter DL Florida Mazi Smith DL Michigan Zacch Pickens DL South Carolina Jacquelin Roy DL LSU Will Mcdonald EDGE ISU Byron Young EDGE Tennessee Marte Mapu S/LB Sac St Jordan Battle S Alabama “Quan” Martin CB/S Illinois Deonte Banks CB Maryland These are all the visits I have found and should be the most up to date at this point. EDIT: Removing Drew Sanders, Trenton Simpson and Brian Branch for now. Without them that is 25 reported visits.

I have not seen anything to confirm Harrison yet. Kromer ran the OL drills at the pro day is what I read for Bergeron. Bergeron and any other SU player would not count against the top 30 visits so likely they met with all of them (Bergeron, Garrett Williams, Sean Tucker) but nothing has been verified. Now that we know that the Bills met with Drew Sanders, I think he is likely the first pick if I had to bet (and barring an unexpected player falling like Flowers or Addison). I don’t think Jordan Reid has a source in the Bills, I just think he is a smart guy that knows how the Bills draft as he had Elam as a fit last year. He originally thought it would be Flowers but now thinks it is Sanders since Flowers will go too high. Question now is whether the Bills can trade back or if they will take him at 27. This latter info I got from a podcast he was recently on with some Bills reporters. Skip to 13 minutes in for Reid’s interview https://spectrumlocalnews.com/nys/buffalo/news/2023/04/19/espns-reid-tries-to-keep-bills-prediction-streak-going?cid=id-app15_m-share_s-web_cmp-app_launch_august2020_c-producer_posts_po-organic

According to Jordan Reid of ESPN both Trenton Simpson and Drew Sanders have both visited the Bills. https://sports.yahoo.com/2023-nfl-draft-espn-names-123513399.html This would bring the total known pre draft visits to 25.

Too unrealistic, Bill would never draft someone for Mac to throw to. Give them Hendon Hooker

I’m not sure Flowers makes it past the Pats but Chiefs showing some unorthodox interest in him

Nice find, that makes 23 visits. Agreed he is a good player.

I’m glad he is realizing this, now it’s his job to follow through on the field. Its Beane and McDermotts job to get him a RT that can block, a WR that can catch the ball when Diggs is covered and a RB that can get short yardage (maybe Harris if he stays healthy). If they do that for him, Josh won’t feel like he has to be Superman every play.

I don’t think the Bills are going to draft him for a multitude of reasons though you are right they should probably consider it in this class. He is not a player who is going to threaten the edge but he is a player that can play defensive end. Early in his career he will excel against the run. He is fast laterally to get around blockers and strong enough to hold up at the point. He is also a destroyer of pulling guards as he beats the puller into the backfield he is so fast. A good defensive coordinator will put him on many many stunts each game. That is where he had his most pass rushing success in college as it really lets his speed and power shine. He has a long way to go to be a consistent pass rusher from 3tech or edge. He is a project and I don’t think he will ever be a dominant DLineman but it is a weak class and he has the physical ability to be a good player. Could definitely see him in KC at 31 as they love the bigger defensive ends that can move inside on passing downs and he grew up in KC.

Bills also had Deonte Banks CB from Maryland https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2023/04/19/deonte-banks-closes-out-pre-draft-visits-with-bills/amp/ Today is the last day for pre-draft visits if I read things right. What is interesting is guys like Josh Downs and Calijah Kancey had 0 top 30 visits this cycle. Maybe those two are going to go a lot later than initially thought. Both are very talented but very small for their position.