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RD 3, Pick #69: WR TJ Graham - NC State


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And from everything I've read about Stevie Johnson, he excels in this offense because it doesn't require the precision in route running that some others do which accomodates the unothodox way he gets into and out of breaks. This guy is a matchup nightmare in the slot, Even if you just run him straight up the seam. We had nobody on the team with killer speed on the outside - I don't need the guy to do everything today. Run fast, scare safeties, break long runs off missed tackles. We have plenty of tall physical guys, need someone scary to free up space for the other guys. Think of it this way, even if he only runs 9 routes we reacquired Lee Evans for a 3rd round pick and still have the 4th we got for Evans in our pocket to take Bobby Massie or whomever else you had a hard-on for.

 

Looks like a descent chance to be great slot reciever, but who is our #2 receiver still?

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Just in case some of you did not here the Presser...When asked if Graham was a slot WR Gailey was pretty emphatic that he was going to play outside...So all this talk about the slot/returns...According to the HC/Offensive Guru...He's not going to be a slot guy, and they may hold off on the returns too... B-)

 

On if Graham is an outside or slot receiver:

Chan Gailey: "Outside guy. The speed, he’s 5’11” and something, close to 6’. He can run by most everybody, I mean the guy can fly, and like Buddy said he can catch. He’s got some return ability, don’t know if we’ll do that right off the bat, we’ll let him work at receiver more than anything and try to become proficient there."

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Great fit. A WR who can run past anyone and a QB who can't throw it deep. Should have taken a LB and solidified that front 7. Sean Spence would have been great...at least the Steelers thought so a couple of picks later. :wallbash:

Outside doesn't mean deep throw. Idea is to get him ball on quick out and let him run by guys, like he did on some of the highlights. Not much emphasis on route running. If he hits a few big ones it will make the defense play softer off the line. Creating space for other guys underneath.

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Outside doesn't mean deep throw. Idea is to get him ball on quick out and let him run by guys, like he did on some of the highlights. Not much emphasis on route running. If he hits a few big ones it will make the defense play softer off the line. Creating space for other guys underneath.

 

 

Beleive he has allot to learn to be a starting outside receiver. He could turn out to be a steve smith type just going up and getting anything near him, but i dont see it, and havent heard anything on him that make me think he is polished route runner at all. The scout that i know said they likes him as a development reciever, but would probably take 2-3 years to learn to run routes and become the reciever he could be, but that that once does, could be very special reciever. Catches with hands well and is very quick out of breaks.

 

That is why i think is a slot reciever at first, cause is quick and would be great with slants and slot type routes till get tree down solid, if what he told me is accurate.

Edited by rstencel
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Great fit. A WR who can run past anyone and a QB who can't throw it deep. Should have taken a LB and solidified that front 7. Sean Spence would have been great...at least the Steelers thought so a couple of picks later. :wallbash:

perhaps he won't be good. I have no way of knowing. But if he indeed has speed and can get open, the fact that Fitz may not be able to get the ball to him should not stop us from selecting him. The above is a shortcoming of Fitz and a team is not built around working around limitations. While I understand that we need to have players that fit together, it is highly likely the Bills may eventually move away from Fitz to a stronger armed and more accurate QB. Or it is also likely that the extra time he will get now with Glenn may help him set better and improve his mid to long range completion percent.

While I too am surprised by this pick, I can tell that the FO's intentions were good.

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Here's some more perspective:

http://www.cnnsi.com/football/nfl/draft-2012/breakdowns/by_position/WR.html

 

The draft order of the receivers starts to get a bit more unpredictable as outside the first handful of picks. If you look at the grades on that chart, you're talking a tenth of a point between 10 guys. Which means nothing.

 

I really thought they were targeting Brian Quick since it was odd for them to use one of their 30 pre-draft interviews on a guy that was projected as a 2nd to 3rd round pick AND was the only other WR aside from Blackmon they interviewed. The Rams took him much earlier than most people thought. According to this chart, there were 6 more Top 10 graded WRs available when they opted for Quick. Perhaps the Bills were targeting him and didn't want to let another guy they'd graded highly get away. Sure, it was unlikely - but what's a 7th rounder to make sure you're not redoing your 3rd day plan?

Edited by disco
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