Tee Higgins was tired so he chose not to participate

[whatdrought]

2 minutes ago, inaugural balls said:

 

I hear you.

 

To be clear, I don't necessarily have an issue with him more so the perception of those evaluators keeping tabs and weighing all info gathered. Potential fodder to lower his stock.

 

 

 

Yeah, and it probably does come into the mind of the actual decision makers... But the reality is, the NFL went out of their way to make a circus out of the Combine this year (even more than normal) and a lot of Players and their reps were very gunshy about submitting to it. I think that, depeding on behind the scenes factors that we don't know, that could have been the right choice. 

 

I still prefer most other WR's over Higgins, but that's more my Clemson bias and my hesitation about WR's from big schools with great teams around them and great QB's throwing them the ball (see also, Justin Jefferson). 

[1st Ammendment NoMas]

3 hours ago, Teddy KGB said:

this is fake news.    He scored on and end around and also a long bomb which was called back over bogus flag in that game 

Hardly Fake news.  He had 3 REC for 52 yards.  Five other players on the field had more.  Chase 9/221 2TD, Jefferson 9/106 even Ross and Galloway had more yds.  Do you really want your #1 pick, your stud posting those numbers in big games. He had the chance to up his game in the college playoffs and fell flat.  

Against OSU in the semi-final he was even worse. 4 REC 33 yards- 0 TD. Once again Ross has 6 catches and Etienne 98 yds receiving.  Higgins made no impact in the two biggest games of the year when the competition was at its best. I want my guys rising up when the occasion calls for it, not disappearing.  He got blanketed both games and couldn't make plays. Ross outplayed him most of the year, sans a few scrub matches where he boosted his numbers.

 

I say no to Higgins. But I do trust if Beaner picks him, he sees something worth developing. 

 

  

[stinky finger]

2 hours ago, YoloinOhio said:

How is game day comparable? Has he ever done this on game day? No. He got pulled from the fiesta bowl with concussion symptoms and fought to come back in the 2nd half. They took his helmet from him in the 1st half. He doesn’t need to fight through anything to do combine drills. It’s not even remotely the same thing imo. Combine drills show character? I’m confused. 

 

He could be tough as nails. Sounds like it from your post here.

 

Again, I was just talking perception and how this might slot him differently.

 

Or, it's entirely possible I'm way off.

[Mickey]

2 hours ago, CEN-CAL17 said:

I like Tee Higgins. Some might say he’s not even the best WR on Clemsons roster. He did get dinged up from time to time...

 

My assumption is he will measure 6’4” 210, run a high 4.4, maybe 4.5. I doubt his 3 cone will be sub 7. Vert probably around 35-36.... Career at Clemson was roughly 130 receptions 2400 yds. Not bad for just over 2 years.

 

I like Mims and Jefferson better. Mims ran 4.38, fastest 3 cone in the combine with a ridiculous 6.66. 38” vert. Career stats nearly 200 receptions and 3000 yds 28 TDs.

 

Its gonna be a tough decision. Depending on how Higgins does, I think Juedy, Lamb, Ruggs, Mims, Jefferson, Shenault and Higgins have a great shot at going round 1. That’s 7 WRs. I think over under sits at 6.

 

 

 

Mims is one of the guys that most grabs my attention on film. I like that he is a multiple sport guy, track and basketball. 

[BarleyNY]

2 hours ago, BobChalmers said:

 

How about, "he doesn't care about his new job enough to show up for the big interview day?"

 

Maybe if his mommy offered him another toy he'd show?

 

 

I’m not saying that I’m all on board with Higgins.  I’m not.  His speed and injury history are definitely concerns.  But criticism like the above is just juvenile BS.

[BobChalmers]

3 hours ago, YoloinOhio said:

He did interview... this is getting kind of extreme. Deandre Hopkins trashed a hotel room at the combine and he turned out pretty good. If teams are concerned he chose to do drills on pro day instead then they will dig deeper, but it’s not going to determine how good of a player he becomes. Some guys want to focus on football and not the combine drills. Totally different prep. 

 

"Interview" was an analogy - when you're a draft candidate the whole event is the equivalent of an interview.

 

He didn't say he's working on football - he's claiming he's still tired from playing football - SIX WEEKS AGO - how is "Some guys want to focus on football and not the combine drills." remotely relevant here?

27 minutes ago, BarleyNY said:

I’m not saying that I’m all on board with Higgins.  I’m not.  His speed and injury history are definitely concerns.  But criticism like the above is just juvenile BS.

 

How so?  it's related to a true story about how he had to be bribed (with toys) to play football in the first place.  At some point the evidence starts to add up that he's not that interested in the game.  Not a certainty, but I'd be worried as hell drafting somebody with multiple incidents along a common theme.

Edited March 2, 2020 by BobChalmers

[BringBackFergy]

Not sure if anyone said this, but I believe Clemson’s pro day is one of many scheduled mid March. Part of the reason to run at the combine is to allow scouts to watch in person because they may be at another school’s pro day when Clemson has theirs. Just food for thought. 

[purple haze]

9 hours ago, Lurker said:

 

Answer me this.   If you were interviewing a kid about to graduate from the Harvard or Wharton MBA program for a management trainee job and he said, "sorry I'm late, I had to grab some lunch because I missed breakfast" or "I had to call another recruiter back about a text they just sent me," would you still consider hiring them?

 

Football temperament and squad personality are intangible, yet important things.  You hear McBeane talk about them all the time.

 

  “We’ve got a tremendous culture and a tremendous locker room. It’s really about a transformational type of culture and locker room as opposed to transactional."

 

   "McDermott has been preaching a team-first culture since he arrived in 2017. After three seasons, he now has a handful of players who have both embraced that message and produced in a big way on the field in helping the Bills earn two playoff berths in three years."

 

The combine is an interview process, both in terms of gauging the players' personalities AND their ability to perform in a competitive setting.   Kids who don't rise to the challenge -- when so many others do -- are a big red flag for me.   And I suspect a lot of other NFL personnel would think like this as well... 

 

 

The analogy doesn't fit.  Two different industries with different norms.  Chase Young also didn't do on-field drills.  He's still going top 5: 1. Because his tape dictates that and 2. He will compete at the pro day and possibly in private workouts with teams drafting in the top 5.

 

To me, you and others are making a big deal out of Higgins because the Bills need a WR and Higgins is a possibility,  and you all wanted to see him perform now, now, now.  I get it.  But 1.  He will perform at pro day and private workouts, 2. Watch his game tape (that's what will carry more weight, and 3.  What teams gather from interviews, medical checks are more important than the combine drills.  And Higgins did those things.

 

 

[CEN-CAL17]

1 hour ago, Mickey said:

 

Mims is one of the guys that most grabs my attention on film. I like that he is a multiple sport guy, track and basketball. 

As of right now, pick 22 I have Mims and Jefferson.  

[wppete]

He’s not a competitor. A lot of stud receivers this year that are tough and compete, that’s what a Buffalo Bill is. Denzel Mims all day over Tee Higgins. 

[Dopey]

4 hours ago, Lurker said:

 

Nearly a dozen LSU kids took part in the combine, as did most of his Clemson teammates who were invited.    So how come Tee is so special?    

 

Another way to look at it is that the combine is analogous to a bowl game.    Players should show up and want to compete against the very best.    Not skip the "game" because they think it'll cost them money.    That's why you have pro days, so you can add data points (in addition to the combine) for teams to evaluate.    If a kid's that worried that it'll cost him $$$ because he only had 4-5 weeks to prepare, he's likely going to be the kind of mercenary, "transactional" NFL player that McDermott rails against.

 

Seems to me you have the equivalent "I like this guy so I don't see any warts" bias you accuse me of having against him.    I think character and competitiveness matter in player selection.    This is just another check mark as to why I don't want him as a Bill at #22...

 

 

They're not competing against anyone.

[wppete]

[Julio Hopkins]

4 hours ago, Lurker said:

 

This is my last post on this, but I think the combine does show character.   

 

Sure, it's about test scores.   But it's also about how players go about the testing.  How do they interact with one another?     Do they want to excel?    Do they want to beat their competition?   Do they take a chance and put themselves on the line?    Or do they say I'm not good enough today, check back in a few weeks when I'm in a familiar and comfortable setting and can bring my binky with me?

 

Players can choose to compete or they can choose to sit.    Sure, there are plenty of examples of guys who DNP'd the combine and had careers in the NFL.     But I think the Bills need competitors, not transactional players...

 

God, if only the college football players played games before hand to give scouts that exact information.  

[Nester]

No thanks to super soft players

[BarleyNY]

2 hours ago, BobChalmers said:

 

How so?  it's related to a true story about how he had to be bribed (with toys) to play football in the first place.  At some point the evidence starts to add up that he's not that interested in the game.  Not a certainty, but I'd be worried as hell drafting somebody with multiple incidents along a common theme.

Yes, don’t draft a guy because when he was 6 or 7 years old he wanted to play with Hot Wheels cars and not sports.  Seems like pretty iron clad logic there.  Now judging by your juvenile comments in your previous post you might not have changed a lot since then, but most of us did in the years between 6 and 21.

 

Care to tell us about all the incidents along that common theme?  Was when he realized his blocking was lacking and he busted his hump to become an good blocker?  Or in HS when he saw his team in need of a CB so he told his coach he wanted to learn to play it - and became a lockdown there?

 

Again, legit reasons for concern with him at 22, but you’re ignoring those for this crap. 

[without a drought]

I also skipped the workouts at the combine.

 

I don't think it will have any effect on my draft status 

[Buffalo716]

27 minutes ago, without a drought said:

I also skipped the workouts at the combine.

 

I don't think it will have any effect on my draft status 

Not at all

 

Still a possible camp invite.. or priority hot dog vendor it's a toss up

[GunnerBill]

12 hours ago, CEN-CAL17 said:

As of right now, pick 22 I have Mims and Jefferson.  

 

I wouldn't take either at #22. I can at least see the potential with Mims though to me he is raw to be in that first round conversation. I am the opposite of Jefferson. Jefferson to me is who he is. An effective, relatively polished big slot guy. High floor, but low ceiling. No way I would take him in the first he is the guy I am set against as a first round pick. 

12 hours ago, wppete said:

He’s not a competitor. A lot of stud receivers this year that are tough and compete, that’s what a Buffalo Bill is. Denzel Mims all day over Tee Higgins. 

 

He is. 

[Starr Almighty]

On 3/1/2020 at 5:07 PM, White Linen said:

He said "he had a long season and only had 4-5 weeks to prepare for this compared to the other guys who had two months or a month."

 

 

My math may be off here but aren't 4-5 weeks = to a month?

[YoloinOhio]

26 minutes ago, Starr Almighty said:

My math may be off here but aren't 4-5 weeks = to a month?

He said two months, not one month

 

 

On 3/1/2020 at 6:13 PM, Bakin said:

Please tell me this was his actual quote so I can drop him out of top 3 round consideration. 

It was a made up quote for some reason. This is what he said

 

“We had a long season and I only had four or five weeks to prepare for this, and I feel like that's not enough time to compared to all these other guys who had two months," Higgins told Colleen Wolfe and Andrew Hawkins as part of NFL Media's Scouting Combine Today.