Pre-Combine Receiver Rankings

[Doc Brown]

The WR free agent class is horrible so Beane is going to either have to get creative with a trade or spend a 1st or 2nd round pick on a WR.  I'm not pinnning my hopes on a CFL player. even though he is intriguing.  I know more teams wants to trade back than trade up, but maybe we can get a team to give up a 2nd round pick to move back in the 1st and draft OL, WR, and TE with our top three picks.

[Magox]

Great work!  And I dont claim to be an expert but I know when I see a NFL future stud and Arabella is going to be special in this league.

[CSBill]

I think we go for the TE from Iowa, the best bet for a top-tier pass catcher.

[FeelingOnYouboty]

Great work @elijah

 

Stuff like this is why this board is great

[DCOrange]

2 hours ago, CSBill said:

I think we go for the TE from Iowa, the best bet for a top-tier pass catcher.

 

Which one? They have two that are expected to be potential 1st or 2nd round picks this year. I'm guessing you mean Fant?

[DCOrange]

My current rankings pre Senior Bowl/pre Combine:

 

1. DK Metcalf - I just think his physical tools make him a worthy gamble amongst a class of good but not spectacular prospects
2. Deebo Samuel - I concur with the scouting report in the OP; love pretty much everything about Deebo. I think people are underrating him a bit due to his size, but he's as good beating press coverage as anyone in this draft class. To me, he's someone that can line up anywhere on offense and be good at it.
3. N'Keal Harry - Can't help but love the body control and YAC ability that he shows for a guy his size. He has the speed question to answer at the combine and I come away disappointed with how he deals with press coverage, but he's another good prospect IMO.
4. Tyre Brady - I love him. To me, he might have the best hands in the draft and he shows great body control along with it. Has pretty good athleticism as well. The Senior Bowl will be a big opportunity for him to prove himself but I think he's been slept on big time this year.
5. Riley Ridley/Kelvin Harmon - Both appear to be good well-rounded receivers. Ridley is a bit more explosive IMO but I think Harmon is better at the catch point.

Edited January 8, 2019 by DCOrange

[FeelingOnYouboty]

16 hours ago, dakrider said:

I like this guy - 7.) Hakeem Butler (Iowa State) - 7.5 

He was catching everything in that bowl game against Wash. St.

 

He's starting to become my choice at #9 if we go WR. Moving even past Metcalf.

[PromoTheRobot]

16 hours ago, EasternOHBillsFan said:

I know you did one hell of a job with these observations, but when the Bills signed Duke Williams, that is a batsignal that we are definitely NOT drafting a WR in the first round.

 

The entire league watched the Colts drastically improve their offensive line in ONE YEAR, and so we are drafting an offensive lineman, IMO. I applaud the move.

 

Are you going to do with with the  OLine prospects?

 

Not going WR in Round 1 is likely true but not because of the Duke Williams signing.

[GunnerBill]

18 hours ago, BuffaloHokie13 said:

Nice work! Pretty different than my current rankings, but I always enjoy the differing perspectives on draft prospects!

 

Same. Great work. Always like someone who shows their working out. Don't share all those takes (and there are some guys there I haven't looked at yet) but sterling effort. 

8 minutes ago, PromoTheRobot said:

 

Not going WR in Round 1 is likely true but not because of the Duke Williams signing.

 

Agreed. 

[transient]

So would Cornelius Bennett get a 0-5.9 grade?

[C.Biscuit97]

I want at least 2 guys.  I’m a big fan of Harry, Whiteside,  Butler, Stills, and Johnson.

 

now just imagine instead of trading up for Zay, we kept the pick and just took JuJu or Cooper. ?

[MrEpsYtown]

Great work. I think we are in agreement that many of these guys are interesting in their own way, and absolutely none of them are worth #9 overall. 

[CEN-CAL17]

7 hours ago, CSBill said:

I think we go for the TE from Iowa, the best bet for a top-tier pass catcher.

Fant or Hockenson? I’d bet Hockenson gets drafted before Fant. Hockenson is all around TE, big (bigger and taller than Fant), athletic, great hands, can block. Reminds me of a quicker Gronk.

 

If TJ declares he’ll go round 1, first TE off the board.

 

He was the Mackey award winner for best TE in the country and his upside is huge.

Edited January 8, 2019 by 1ZAYDAY1

[NewEra]

Amazing write up.  Thanks for sharing.

 

were going to draft one of these guys.  Who will it be and is he the best fit.

 

Robert Foster, Zay Jones and Isiah McKenzie are current 1-3 and the addition of Duke Williams, I think we may have 4 WRs that can contribute.  The prior 3 have great to good speed and Duke brings in a big body.  Can he catch Josh’s allen passes?  That will determine his fate imo.  That leaves room for 1-2 more WRs. Likely one in the draft and hopefully a free agent vet that can help these young kids develop while also being a clutch target that JA can depend on.

 

I’ve been diving into some RB prospect game tape the last couple weeks.  WRs and TEs next.

[elijah]

17 minutes ago, NewEra said:

 

I’ve been diving into some RB prospect game tape the last couple weeks

I think this is the next position I’m going to get into

[Alphadawg7]

Can certainly appreciate the work and detail...however, my list definitely differs quite a lot and many list I have seen do too.  And I am sure those lists, my list, and your list will obviously all change a lot too once we get into the combine and stuff though.  

 

One notable shock for me though on your list was how far down you have Metcalf.  I just cant see Metcalf going any later than the 2nd round unless his combine is terrible or something concerning comes up with his neck.  A strong combine IMO will make him a pretty strong candidate for not only the first round (where I expect him to go), but also the first WR taken.  Brown was another I was surprised you had so far down the list too.  But then again, I am no pro scout either

[Prickly Pete]

Plenty of guys listed that would improve the WRCorp. So I ain't worried.

 

I trust the Bills to find a guy that will help. I'm not gonna wring my hands over it.

 

I like K'Neal Harry's style of play, and can picture him on the Bills.

[MJS]

21 hours ago, EasternOHBillsFan said:

I know you did one hell of a job with these observations, but when the Bills signed Duke Williams, that is a batsignal that we are definitely NOT drafting a WR in the first round.

 

The entire league watched the Colts drastically improve their offensive line in ONE YEAR, and so we are drafting an offensive lineman, IMO. I applaud the move.

 

Are you going to do with with the  OLine prospects?

 

That's all moot until we see how free agency shakes out. Our offensive line needs could largely be addressed by the draft (probably not, but it is perhaps possible).

 

The idea is to go into the draft without glaring needs so that you can draft BPA. Don't be surprised if that BPA is a defensive lineman at 9.

 

Hopefully we can trade down, but I don't see that happening.

[Prickly Pete]

33 minutes ago, NewEra said:

Can he catch Josh’s allen passes? .....

 

 

Likely one in the draft and hopefully a free agent vet that can help these young kids develop while also being a clutch target that JA can depend on.

 

These are big factors. Guys that don't consistently catch with their hands just won't do. Allen bounces balls off guy's chests. 

 

And being good in the clutch. Gotta be able to play under pressure.

4 minutes ago, MJS said:

 

That's all moot until we see how free agency shakes out. Our offensive line needs could largely be addressed by the draft (probably not, but it is perhaps possible).

 

The idea is to go into the draft without glaring needs so that you can draft BPA. Don't be surprised if that BPA is a defensive lineman at 9.

 

Hopefully we can trade down, but I don't see that happening.

That was a  "look at me post" by Easternhills. He is trying to sidetrack the discussion. Best ignored. Other threads for that.

 

 

 

 

Edited January 8, 2019 by OJ Tom

[ChanticleerBillsFan]

10 minutes ago, OJ Tom said:

Plenty of guys listed that would improve the WRCorp. So I ain't worried.

 

I trust the Bills to find a guy that will help. I'm not gonna wring my hands over it.

 

I like K'Neal Harry's style of play, and can picture him on the Bills.

Agreed, I like N’keal, Metcalf, Deebo then Marquise Brown. 

[Chicken Boo]

17 hours ago, elijah said:

Not that he couldn’t get mentioned in the top 15, I just haven’t seen his tape yet so I wasn’t going to make an uneducated report on him. 

 

We’ll revisit this in late April. Metcalf won’t hold up at the top through the whole process, he may not be as low as 12, but he won’t be a first rounder. 

 

He’s had serious injury issues along with poor hands and an extremely limited route tree. 

 

Poor hands?

[ndirish1978]

Looks like you put a lot of work into this, so thanks!

[elijah]

13 minutes ago, Chicken Boo said:

 

Poor hands?

From the tape I watched, I saw a lot of concentration drops from him. He looks down field before he has the ball often and it leads to drops.  His hands are pretty subpar, nothing more than average at best. 

 

Also, the people noticing the work and saying thanks for it, I’ve been trying to give you ‘cheers’ or ‘thanks’ on your posts but I don’t think I’m able too with the new member groups, thank you anyways though! 

Edited January 8, 2019 by elijah

[SoCal Deek]

Let’s just do this right and build an offensive line! 

[starrymessenger]

52 minutes ago, OJ Tom said:

Plenty of guys listed that would improve the WRCorp. So I ain't worried.

 

I trust the Bills to find a guy that will help. I'm not gonna wring my hands over it.

 

I like K'Neal Harry's style of play, and can picture him on the Bills.

 

I like Harry too but I've been asking myself whether if Duke works out these two guys would more or less be candidates to fill the same role in this WR corps. I saw some of Duke's Edmonton games last year and he looked to me to have some YAC ability. Not to say that Duke is the prospect Harry is but if they like him the Bills might go in a different direction re skillset to round out their complement of receivers. Or maybe not. Not a lot of time for them to make these assessments but maybe their interest in Duke suggests they are thinking of going in a different direction in the draft. I guess time will tell.

[Prickly Pete]

17 minutes ago, SoCal Deek said:

Let’s just do this right and build an offensive line! 

 

All the guy did was post some evaluations of the top WR's. There are plenty of other threads discussing O-line, and who/what position should be taken where.

 

Why not just let this discussion develop without shouting in about the O-line?

Edited January 8, 2019 by OJ Tom

[elijah]

2 hours ago, MrEpsYtown said:

Great work. I think we are in agreement that many of these guys are interesting in their own way, and absolutely none of them are worth #9 overall. 

If we’re going receiver first round the most value would be to trade down to the mid 20’s and take the front offices preference of the remaining of Deebo, Harry and Harmon 

 

Other than that scenario, we should stay put and take a couple of these guys on day two and day three. 

 

Lots of depth in this class but no stars. 

[SoCal Deek]

3 minutes ago, OJ Tom said:

 

All the guy did was some evaluations of the top WR's, there are plenty of other threads discussing O-line, and who should be taken where.

 

Why not just let this discussion develop without shouting in about the O-line?

Or we could have a thread about middle round receivers and focus on the O Line in round one and two. 

[Prickly Pete]

3 minutes ago, SoCal Deek said:

Or we could have a thread about middle round receivers and focus on the O Line in round one and two. 

 

Go ahead and start that thread!

 

I'm blocking these kind of fools. Fail.

 

Edited January 8, 2019 by OJ Tom

[starrymessenger]

1 hour ago, NewEra said:

Amazing write up.  Thanks for sharing.

 

were going to draft one of these guys.  Who will it be and is he the best fit.

 

Robert Foster, Zay Jones and Isiah McKenzie are current 1-3 and the addition of Duke Williams, I think we may have 4 WRs that can contribute.  The prior 3 have great to good speed and Duke brings in a big body.  Can he catch Josh’s allen passes?  That will determine his fate imo.  That leaves room for 1-2 more WRs. Likely one in the draft and hopefully a free agent vet that can help these young kids develop while also being a clutch target that JA can depend on.

 

I’ve been diving into some RB prospect game tape the last couple weeks.  WRs and TEs next.

 

Agree the ability to catch Allen's ball is a very important, though of course not the only consideration. To me Foster has a habit of trapping the ball into his body. While this is fine w/respect to certain types of throws (eg over the shoulder basket catches - that incidentally Fosterhas shown he can accomplish) it can be problematic obviously on slants and crosses and other important routes. So I suspect this is something RF is working on. 

As for Duke I am less concerned. He has strong hands and uses them to catch the ball. One caveat though is that his Edmonton QB is known for throwing a receiver friendly ball. Not sure we can say the same about Josh at this stage in his development. 

[Prickly Pete]

15 minutes ago, starrymessenger said:

 

I like Harry too but I've been asking myself whether if Duke works out these two guys would more or less be candidates to fill the same role in this WR corps. I saw some of Duke's Edmonton games last year and he looked to me to have some YAC ability. Not to say that Duke is the prospect Harry is but if they like him the Bills might go in a different direction re skillset to round out their complement of receivers. Or maybe not. Not a lot of time for them to make these assessments but maybe their interest in Duke suggests they are thinking of going in a different direction in the draft. I guess time will tell.

 

I hope Duke works out, but it's a long shot. I doubt they are counting on him, and would consider it gravy. 

[starrymessenger]

8 minutes ago, OJ Tom said:

 

I hope Duke works out, but it's a long shot. I doubt they are counting on him, and would consider it gravy. 

 

There are actually a number of players on NFL rosters & practice squads, including WRs with CFL playing experience. Hard to compare the WRs because they have different skillsets (eg I think Dontrelle Inman runs a sub 4.4 forty if memory serves. Duke will never do that). 

My thinking is that Williams may well pleasantly surprise.

[Prickly Pete]

6 minutes ago, starrymessenger said:

 

There are actually a number of players on NFL rosters & practice squads, including WRs with CFL playing experience. Hard to compare the WRs because they have different skillsets (eg I think Dontrelle Inman runs a sub 4.4 forty if memory serves. Duke will never do that). 

My thinking is that Williams may well pleasantly surprise.

 

I think he will make the team, but I'm talking about making a major contribution. 

[starrymessenger]

3 minutes ago, OJ Tom said:

 

I think he will make the team, but I'm talking about making a major contribution. 

 

Agree. If he winds up being a reliable contributor it will take awhile. He's not going to be a day one difference maker.

[Chicken Boo]

1 hour ago, elijah said:

From the tape I watched, I saw a lot of concentration drops from him. He looks down field before he has the ball often and it leads to drops.  His hands are pretty subpar, nothing more than average at best.

 

If I was a thread bumper, this one would be at the top of my list.

 

I question your evaluating.

[EasternOHBillsFan]

18 hours ago, MJS said:

The idea is to go into the draft without glaring needs so that you can draft BPA. Don't be surprised if that BPA is a defensive lineman at 9.

 

We have too many holes on offense for that... I don't like it at all, ESPECIALLY if we draft the immature Oliver. I am NOT a fan of the defense first approach... the NFL has changed. 

[DCOrange]

19 hours ago, NewEra said:

Amazing write up.  Thanks for sharing.

 

were going to draft one of these guys.  Who will it be and is he the best fit.

 

Robert Foster, Zay Jones and Isiah McKenzie are current 1-3 and the addition of Duke Williams, I think we may have 4 WRs that can contribute.  The prior 3 have great to good speed and Duke brings in a big body.  Can he catch Josh’s allen passes?  That will determine his fate imo.  That leaves room for 1-2 more WRs. Likely one in the draft and hopefully a free agent vet that can help these young kids develop while also being a clutch target that JA can depend on.

 

I’ve been diving into some RB prospect game tape the last couple weeks.  WRs and TEs next.

 

Just for context because I was curious about this myself: for the past few years, Buffalo has gone into training camp with at least 12 WRs on their roster (obviously this is before cutting guys). Buffalo currently has 8 under contract for next season (I would guess they bring all of them into training camp but I guess we don't know that for sure), so at minimum, we have room for probably at least 4 more WRs to sign this offseason between free agency, the draft, and UDFA.

[billspro]

The talent in this draft at WR does not match up well with our draft position. I think we see the Bills add dline in round 1, OL in round 2, and TE in round 3. This seems to be a much stronger TE class than WR class. I wouldn’t mind adding a WR like Anthony Johnson in round 4 or 5.

 

I think the Bills address WR in free agency. I am hoping for John Brown and Adam Humphries. 

[MJS]

1 hour ago, EasternOHBillsFan said:

 

We have too many holes on offense for that... I don't like it at all, ESPECIALLY if we draft the immature Oliver. I am NOT a fan of the defense first approach... the NFL has changed. 

 

We have holes now, but after free agency that will be different. Have patience, young grasshopper.

[EasternOHBillsFan]

1 hour ago, MJS said:

 

We have holes now, but after free agency that will be different. Have patience, young grasshopper.

 

The only issue I have is that #9 overall pick. Drafting Oliver or another defensive player is just wasting a prime pick we could use for our offensive line.