BillsFanForever19

Mock Draft Simulators are essentially useless until the rankings are updated to reflect Combine performances.

Agreed. I don't think the answer is "these guys can't do it, we need all new guys" like he makes it out to be. Josh is just as guilty of being just off with an overthrow or underthrow just as much as guys not tracking it or dropping it. So often I see him just launch the thing with full strength behind the throw, very quickly. Often because the blocking isn't quite there. Anytime that happens, I know it's not going to be caught as soon as he releases it. In the case of not doing it enough as he mentioned, that can also just be a gameplay design. New WR's aren't going to guarantee that we're going to throw it deep more or hit them more either. Everyone likes to point to the Diggs drop. Yes, it was bad and yes, it was the last thing we saw so it sticks in our mind. But he comes down with that WAY more often than he doesn't. I refuse to believe that all of a sudden, he's just toast and can't catch anymore. ... bit of a side tangent rant - but these kind of discussions inevitably turn to "the drop" and in his case, why a 1st Round WR or even a 1st and a 3rd is simply not enough.

What has you saying "he wasn't #1"? Adonai Mitchell in 2023 - 55 receptions for 845 yards and 11 TDs Xavier Worthy in 2023 - 75 receptions for 1,014 yards and 5 TDs If you want to say he wasn't a true Outside WR that just stayed on the boundary, that's fair. I do have concerns with only being used 60% of the time on the Outside, in conjunction with his diminutive build. However, considering he just proved to be the fastest timed WR EVER - I'm now more willing to take the risk. But when it comes to usage, he was the #1.

Missed the RB's earlier and am watching the replay now. Disappointed that Braelon Allen didn't run today. He's looking like a man amongst boys in that group. Would be the perfect compliment to Cook, but I doubt he'll be available at a point where we can consider a RB.

The thing that put him higher to me was that, even though he was a light frame of 195 lbs. - he was 6'3" and had elite speed. Then he came to the Combine and he's actually 6'1", weighs 176 lbs, and runs a 4.41. Then he hit the field for drills and was sloppy. Dropping balls, falling down, doing zig zags in the gauntlet. He was kind of all over the place as far as predictions of where he'll fall. With many on the board much higher on him than prognosticators. Seems to me after today, the ones that had him as a mid 2nd Round guy were more accurate than posters who had him as WR5.

Franklin's stock dropped terribly in my eyes today. He weighed in less than expected. He ran slower than expected. He measured shorter in height than expected. He looked rough in drills. Run that straight line, Troy:

One of the last 4 guys on the list will be a Buffalo Bill and it's very exciting. Here's how I have it after today: Marvin Harrison Jr. - Ohio State Malik Nabers - LSU Rome Odunze - Washington Brian Thomas Jr. - LSU Xavier Worthy - Texas Xavier Legette - South Carolina Adonai Mitchell - Texas

Yeah, you easily can. Chase when extended will stay on his Rookie number for two more years. Big money will come later in the contract with bonus money up front. Cinci's cap situation is the following for the next 3 seasons: 2024 - 52m under the cap (including the 21.8 tag on Higgins already on the books, that will get lowered) 2025 - 155.5m under the cap 2026 - 354m under the cap You pay Higgins big up front and Chase bigger after his Rookie deal. They're in great shape financially and having two #1 WR's to pair with Burrow is as monumental to their success in previous years than anything else on the team. They have the money to keep them both and still build a team around them and that's what they're doing. That's why they Franchised Higgins.

Cardinals and Giants will take two of the top 3 guys. The Bucs will either retain Evans which will remove them from the conversation as the cost will be so great, they'll need to use their 1st on another position. If they don't retain him, he'll go to another team which will remove them from the conversation. Cincinnati just Franchised Higgins. There's no way they're going to pay him, pay Chase, AND Draft a WR in Round 1 with the holes they have to fill. Houston has Nico Collins and Tank Dell, as well as finally being able to get Metchie back and ready to roll. They aren't going with another young WR. Here's a solid post @GunnerBill made on this situation: As great as the WR's looked, there's teams who's needs are far greater at QB, OT, DE, DT, and CB and a large number of extremely talented players at those positions as well. There's guys like Mike Evans who teams are going to sign in FA. Many mock Drafts had us as the spot for the 4th WR off the board. Mostly all had us as the spot for at least the 5th WR. Maybe we have to move up a little bit for the 5th. But I don't think it's a scenario that's impossible. Worst case scenario? We have to "settle" for an Adonai Mitchell or Xavier Legette. Long story short, if Xavier Worthy has pushed his way up to WR4 - it's a really good thing for us.

There's an extremely small chance that we can't get one of Brian Thomas Jr., Xavier Worthy, Adonai Mitchell, or Xavier Legette. 7 WR's aren't going to go off the board between 1 and when we pick. There's far too many talented players at other positions and teams that have WR covered and need other things.

That's wonderful for them. But neither fit what we're looking for.

If you look at the teams between when the top 3 go off the board and where we're picking - there's not a lot of teams you can see logically going WR. I'm not saying Thomas is going to be pushed to 28 specifically. I am saying that if he does go from 4th WR off the board to 5th - that he comes within striking distance of a smaller Trade Up now.

Ian Rapport just said he talked to an exec who said that they think Xavier Worthy could be the 4th WR off the board after his run. In that scenario, it could push Brian Thomas Jr. to within striking range for us as WR5 - which would be huge!

He's not going anywhere. Beane volunteered without asking yesterday that "I know everyone (in the media) worries about Stef Diggs but he's going to be here and we're happy to have him and are hopefully going to add weapons to him" Thanks for the update!

The good news here is it's pretty much a guarantee that we'll get one of Brian Thomas Jr., AD Mitchell, Xavier Legette, or Xavier Worthy and there's reason to be excited about all of them.

My general feeling of the Combine today is Brian Thomas Jr. solidified his stock, Xavier Worthy, AD Mitchell, and Xavier Legette improved to greatly improved their stock, Troy Franklin and Keon Coleman hurt their stock.

I get it. Especially from an agent standpoint, as I mentioned. Doesn't make it any less disappointing to not see how he compares to the other guys in the class in a shared environment. I understand it, but you still want to see it. I'm sure GM's are probably the same way. Expected him to be shut down, but would have rather seen a whole show.

Because like I said, the Combine records are littered with Track stars that didn't translate to the next level. I want to see that he can do things at the same level where it counts compared to everyone else. If he were to drop a ball or wasn't the best gauntlet of the bunch, not the end of the world. It's not going to drop him. Just show you can do the drills at a solid level. Straight line speed is great. But I want to see he's a complete WR and a guy with competitiveness. If you're good at it, you should have no reason not to do it. It would raise him even more if he did. On one hand, I get it from an Agent standpoint. He still has his Pro Day to show these things. But that's a completely controlled environment and lacks the comparison to the rest of the class. Just disappointing to see.

Wow. They corrected it to 4.21, the fastest time ever. Congrats to that young man! But is he not running anything on the field and calling it a day now? I don't like that.

My dude, I think you're really setting yourself up for disappointment with the non-stop 28 AND 60 posts. We usually fill 2 starting holes in Round 1 and Round 2. And with the amount of money we don't have this year and the amount of holes we have, it's more likely than ever this year. Between Diggs, Round 1 WR, Kincaid, Shakir, and Knox - the next WR we take is looking at theoretically at best - 5th in targets and reps. The kind of reps that player would have isn't something you spend a 2nd on. Meanwhile the odds that we'll need a Starter at another position like DE, DT, S or at least a DE or DT that would be 3rd in rotation who would be seeing the field FAR more is almost a given. I do think we'll double down later. But if you're going to get upset if we only take 1 at 28 - probably best to prepare yourself for that now.

Now 4.22. That's even faster than I expected. Wow. Will be interested to see his field drills to ensure he's more than just a track star and has the fundamentals. If you look at the Top 40 times of all time at the Combine - it's not exactly a who's who of NFL stars. My concerns with size and college usage still remain. However, with Franklin not coming close as I expected - if he can show he has the requisite skills, I may think about looking past some of those things.

We always probably were going to have to, honestly, at least a few picks. Fun to see him sitting there at 28 in mocks - but I never saw that as much of a possibility.

That's still less than 3/4 of the time on the Outside in the College level. There are guys who are thought of as Outside guys that have to switch to the Slot at the Pro Level. At 5'11 with a 36" vertical, 185 pounds soaking wet, and less than 75% usage on the Outside at the College level - it's *at best* a projection to say you can stick him on the boundary 90% or more in the NFL and that it's going to work out best for him.

He's a Slot. Plain and simple. His success comes from working the middle of the field. You're nerfing him sticking him on the Outside. We did it in emergency situations last season and the results weren't nearly the same as when he was in the Slot. Fans see success out of the slot and assume that he can be #2 Outside. It's incorrect.

Our roster is littered with Slot guys or guys you can put on the Boundary part time or in an emergency. It's a problem we had when Davis went down. We didn't have 1 solid option to stick on the Outside opposite Diggs. Everyone wants to make Shakir an Outside guy, but Shakir isn't much of a factor there. His success comes from working the middle of the field. When we split him out Wide, we're nerfing him. We're desperately lacking on the Outside. It's all aboard the Thomas, Legette, Mitchell train in Round 1.