List of draft players Bills have met with

[Hapless Bills Fan]

On 3/9/2022 at 7:13 AM, OldTimer1960 said:

Do you mean that they think there are only 100 or so draft-worthy prospects or do they exclude many early prospects because they are going to be gone early, aren’t scheme fits, don’t play priority position for current draft,…?

 

I can’t imagine them basically only having a top 100 board and flying blind after 3rd round.

 

They don't exclude anyone based on "will be gone early" because you never know what the teams ahead of you will do, and sometimes players slide.

 

I doubt they exclude talent as "not priority this draft", either.

 

But they grade all the prospects they have enough info on.  There will be some they don't have enough info to grade.   Some guys won't get a grade because they feel they would not be a "character" or "process" fit, or because of injury red flags, or because simply not a scheme fit.

 

I dunno how many guys are on the Bills board, but the point is it covers players they grade for every round, but those players are a selected subset of all the players who declared.

 

Disclaimer: my understanding.

[GunnerBill]

5 minutes ago, Hapless Bills Fan said:

I dunno how many guys are on the Bills board, but the point is it covers players they grade for every round, but those players are a selected subset of all the players who declared.

 

Disclaimer: my understanding.

 

It would be interesting to know. The way they operate and some of the things Beane has said in previous years lead me to believe they are a relatively small board team. Maybe not New England small (they regulalry have fewer than 100 players on theirs) but on the smaller side. In that 100-150 range rather than 150-200. 

 

They will also have a bunch of guys who they do not have on the draft board but they already have marked as UDFA guys - sometimes because there is something off-field or injury wise that they are not willing to risk a draft resource on, but as an UDFA it is worth a punt. The big tackle from Washington a couple of years ago was an example of that. He was off the board for injury reasons but as an UDFA they were willing to take a shot. Tyrel Dodson may have been another with some of the off-field stuff. I definitely thought his tape was draftable. 

[MAJBobby]

On 4/8/2022 at 7:53 PM, gonzo1105 said:

 

2nd tier CB prob round 2 

I got a Mid 2nd round grade on him. 

[TheyCallMeAndy]

So some bad news:

 

The 2020 pre draft tracker, the Bills drafted no one.

 

2021 was just Jack Anderson.

 

These leaks really don’t narrow down anything. 

[YoloinOhio]

 

[intimidatortj]

On 3/9/2022 at 8:13 AM, OldTimer1960 said:

Do you mean that they think there are only 100 or so draft-worthy prospects or do they exclude many early prospects because they are going to be gone early, aren’t scheme fits, don’t play priority position for current draft,…?

 

I can’t imagine them basically only having a top 100 board and flying blind after 3rd round.

 

 

There are about 270 players drafted.

 

You could get by with a board of 125 players or so.    Your list will include guys you think will get drafted in each of the rounds, so you are not flying blind after the 3rd round.    You might have 15 players per round you have on your board.

 

I wouldn't advise that approach though.   

On 4/4/2022 at 7:58 PM, LEBills said:

Singletary has had his moments. 
 

Moss, Chris Ivory, Frank Gore, TJ Yeldon, Matt Breida have been forgettable additions. Granted we have not spent a ton of capital on RBs in his era. 
 

Spiller to me would not be a very good pick, my concern being that he has fumbled 8 times on 615 touches over 3 years. The rest of his game is not special, kind of average all around imo.

 

 

I am a no to Spiller.

 

I like Ken Walker (and he doesn't like being called Kenneth.  He likes Ken).

FYI  Ken Walker has fumbled Zero times in college.   

[Sierra Foothills]

18 hours ago, Shake_My_Head said:

 

He also met with them at the combine.    Slated to go right around their #25 pick, so someone certainly to keep an eye on.    However, the scouting reports I've seen say he's a better fit in man than zone schemes.

 

Maybe but I'd rather take a guy who's good one on one and try to convert him to zone than visa versa. And I love Booth.

 

7 hours ago, Pete said:

 

 

 Buffalo Bills

Malik Willis - QB Liberty

 

Cam Jurgens - C/G Nebraska

Logan Bruss - C/G Wisconsin
Zion Johnson - C/G Boston College
Lecitus Smith - G Virginia Tech
Dohnovan West - C/G Arizona State
Kenyon Green - C/G Texas A&M

Scott Rhyan-IOL

Nicholas Petiti-Frere -OT

 

Max Borghi - RB Washington State
Rachaad White - RB Arizona State

Isiah Spiller-RB

James Cook-RB Bufalo

 

Cade Otton - TE Washington

Isaiah Likely TE

 

Jameson Williams- WR Bama
Treylon Burks - WR Arkansas
Garrett Wilson - WR OSU
Chris Olave - WR OSU
John Metchie III - WR Bama

Cole Turner WR

 

Jordan Davis - DT Georgia
Perrion Winfrey - DT Oklahoma
Phidarian Mathis - DT Bama

Arnold Ebiketie - DE

 

Brandon Smith - LB PSU
Darrian Beavers - LB Cincinnati

D'Marco Jackson LB

 

Josh Thompson - CB Texas (Senior Bowl)
Roger McCreary - CB Auburn
Trent McDuffie - CB - Washington
Kaiir Elam - CB Florida
Kyler Gordon - CB Washington
Andrew Booth - CB Clemson

Roger McCreary - CB Auburn

Martin Emerson CB

 

Jaquan Brisker - S - PSU

Kyle Hamilton- S

Lewis Cines-S

Nick Cross-  S

 

Matt Araiza -  P San Diego State

 

First of all thank you for updating the list. Also it sure seems that the visits by position reflect what all of us believe are the Bills' biggest needs.

 

4 hours ago, whorlnut said:

I’ve seen a scouting report that states he doesn’t have good recovery speed. That means once he’s burnt, he stays burnt. Not exactly something that makes me feel warm and fuzzy with receivers like waddle and hill in the division. 

 

Have you watched any of the video on Booth or have you only read about him? 

 

3 hours ago, TheyCallMeAndy said:

So some bad news:

 

The 2020 pre draft tracker, the Bills drafted no one.

 

2021 was just Jack Anderson.

 

These leaks really don’t narrow down anything. 

 

Well, that's interesting.

[HappyDays]

Cover1 is tracking all of their top 30 visits, virtual meetings, combine meetings, and private workouts:

 

https://www.cover1.net/nfl-draft/2022-bills-pre-draft-visits/

[716er]

Lots of TE visits... there is a lot of talk about drafting a safety/linebacker to replace Edmunds/Poyer to save some coin, but not much talk about drafting another TE in case they can't make it work with Knox after this season.

 

I think they'll draft one.

[GunnerBill]

18 hours ago, TheyCallMeAndy said:

So some bad news:

 

The 2020 pre draft tracker, the Bills drafted no one.

 

2021 was just Jack Anderson.

 

These leaks really don’t narrow down anything. 

 

The last two years can be thrown out. Because there were no in person visits. So it was just different levels of guys they zoomed. 

[HappyDays]

6 minutes ago, 716er said:

Lots of TE visits... there is a lot of talk about drafting a safety/linebacker to replace Edmunds/Poyer to save some coin, but not much talk about drafting another TE in case they can't make it work with Knox after this season.

 

I think they'll draft one.

 

Yeah I think they'll draft one and roster 3 TEs this year. No guarantees Knox is back next year.

[BigAl2526]

On 4/9/2022 at 5:39 AM, Shake_My_Head said:

 

This guy's intriguing.  Sounds like a clone of Levi Wallace.

 

Per Dane Brugler (The Athletic):

 

SUMMARY: A three-year starter at Mississippi State, Emerson was the left cornerback in defensive coordinator Zach Arnett’s man-and-zone scheme. Despite a mediocre college résumé (never earned All-SEC honors and logged only one interception), he was consistently one of the top coverage players in the SEC during the last two seasons.

 

Emerson is a good-sized athlete with the length (33 1/2" arms!), toughness and coverage awareness that will translate well to the next level. While he can jam and be disruptive from press, he lacks ideal pedal fluidity and change of direction in man coverage, struggling to make up the lost steps when overaggressive. Overall, Emerson lacks quick-twitch athleticism and functional play strength, but he shows a natural feel for spacing and disruption in zone coverage. He has NFL starting potential, ideally suited in a Cover-2 or Cover-3 scheme.

 

GRADE: 5th Round

 

 

Levi Wallace is 6' weighed under 180 and ran a 4.63 40.  Emerson is 6'2" 200 lbs and runs a 4.53.  They are nowhere close to being clones.  What Wallace has going for him his football smarts and his technique.  We'll see how Emerson is in those areas, but clones?  No way!

[716er]

22 minutes ago, HappyDays said:

 

Yeah I think they'll draft one and roster 3 TEs this year. No guarantees Knox is back next year.

 

Agreed. Don't get me wrong - I hope Knox is back, but they need some insurance with potential there on a rookie deal. Would also be nice to give Josh two very good to great TEs.

Edited April 10, 2022 by 716er

[Shake_My_Head]

33 minutes ago, BigAl2526 said:

Levi Wallace is 6' weighed under 180 and ran a 4.63 40.  Emerson is 6'2" 200 lbs and runs a 4.53.  They are nowhere close to being clones.  What Wallace has going for him his football smarts and his technique.  We'll see how Emerson is in those areas, but clones?  No way!

I was referring to the way Wallace plays, not measurables.    Emerson appears to be a similar 'grit and savvy' type of player, better equiped to play a zone rather than man scheme. 

[BigAl2526]

6 hours ago, Shake_My_Head said:

I was referring to the way Wallace plays, not measurables.    Emerson appears to be a similar 'grit and savvy' type of player, better equiped to play a zone rather than man scheme. 

Well, if Emerson has all of Wallace's "grit and savvy," he should end up being a better player on the strength of his superior measurables.  The consensus slotting as a second round value would seem to affirm that, given that Wallace was a UDFA.

[HappyDays]

 

[Warcodered]

 

[BearNorth]

Just saying - McBeane got real lucky with Wallace...his 52 starts are the most by an undrafted defensive back since 2011.

 

[YoloinOhio]

26 minutes ago, BearNorth said:

Just saying - McBeane got real lucky with Wallace...his 52 starts are the most by an undrafted defensive back since 2011.

 

There is some luck involved, but can also attribute to good scouting and good coaching/player development 

[LEBills]

54 minutes ago, Warcodered said:

 

I would genuinely be surprised if he didn’t wind up a Bill. McDermott loves the small school, toolsy later round CBs. Josh Norman, James Bradberry, Taron Johnson, Siran Neal

[HappyDays]

 

[gonzo1105]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On 4/9/2022 at 5:37 PM, gonzo1105 said:

As for the top 30 guys that have been confirmed: 

 

RB James Cook Georgia 

OT Nicholas Petite-Frere Ohio State

TE Cade Otten Washington

RB Isaiah Spiller Texas A&M

TE Isaiah Likely Coastal Carolina

SAF Nick Cross Maryland 

SAF Lewis Cine Georgia 

CB Andrew Booth Clemson

CB Martin Emerson Miss State

OL Sean Rhyan UCLA 

RB Kevin Marks Buffalo(Doesn’t count)

 

10 out of 30. Yes theirs private meetings, workouts etc but that doesn’t mean they were brought in to a 30 visit

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Add WR John Metchie Alabama and Guard Dylan Parham Memphis 

[HappyDays]

 

[BADOLBILZ]

1 hour ago, gonzo1105 said:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Add WR John Metchie Alabama and Guard Dylan Parham Memphis 

 

 

I really like Parham. 

 

Shorter so he gets good leverage inside but also has excellent arm length for an interior OL to help in pass pro...........has a lot of starts under his belt in college and is a good athlete so he should have the quick feet to excel if they decide they must run a lot of outside zone.

[DCofNC]

On 4/4/2022 at 10:15 PM, Richard Noggin said:

 

Where's the wisdom in this particular move? Dumping salary to create a gaping roster hole at a premium position doesn't make much sense in a "window" year. So they'd have to use whatever draft assets they acquired to replace Dawkins. And that's no sure thing. 

You always have to have an eye on the future, if you trust your scouting department, an awful lot of guys drafted well past the first round have been good enough to play LT as a rookie.  Money can be moved, but there is a limit to that, so locking a valuable position to a rookie deal is a big thing.  Not saying I would, but I wouldn’t be shocked either.

[sirebors]

On 3/23/2022 at 8:23 PM, Warcodered said:

Unrelated but still draft related I guess just cool if nothing else.

 

 

 

He's got hops 🐇🐇🐇🐰🐰🐰

 

[glazeduck]

15 hours ago, HappyDays said:

 

The Browns looking at RBs, after resigning D'Ernest Johnson, is really interesting. Probably signals they're open -- if not VERY open -- to moving Kareem Hunt...

[YoloinOhio]

 

[GunnerBill]

On 4/12/2022 at 1:35 AM, BADOLBILZ said:

 

 

I really like Parham. 

 

Shorter so he gets good leverage inside but also has excellent arm length for an interior OL to help in pass pro...........has a lot of starts under his belt in college and is a good athlete so he should have the quick feet to excel if they decide they must run a lot of outside zone.

 

I really like him too. He seemed to be a bit of a sleeper early on but people have caught up to him now. I do think probably more of a zone blocker and a pass protector than a fit for a team that just wants to run straight ahead and blow the opposition off the ball, but he's gonna be a good pro. 

[DJB]

41 minutes ago, YoloinOhio said:

 

 

[No_Matter_What]

On 4/10/2022 at 1:59 AM, GunnerBill said:

 

It would be interesting to know. The way they operate and some of the things Beane has said in previous years lead me to believe they are a relatively small board team. Maybe not New England small (they regulalry have fewer than 100 players on theirs) but on the smaller side. In that 100-150 range rather than 150-200. 

 

They will also have a bunch of guys who they do not have on the draft board but they already have marked as UDFA guys - sometimes because there is something off-field or injury wise that they are not willing to risk a draft resource on, but as an UDFA it is worth a punt. The big tackle from Washington a couple of years ago was an example of that. He was off the board for injury reasons but as an UDFA they were willing to take a shot. Tyrel Dodson may have been another with some of the off-field stuff. I definitely thought his tape was draftable. 

This sounds really strange to me.

 

I can understand that some teams take some players completely out of their boards due to off-field issues or injury concerns. But that has to be some small number of players. How it is then possible to have less than 150 or even less than 100 players on the board? What are the reasons for taking a player completely of a teams board?

 

I understand that there are scheme issues for example, so if a CB excels in man defense team like Bills may downgrade him a round or two. But it doesn't make sense to delete him off the board completely. 

 

To be more specific - can you look at last years draft at tell me which players selected in first 2 rounds possibly weren't on Bills board at all? Or on Patriots board for that matter? Or make the same thing with this year's top 60 players. For example, I remember you saying that Lindenbaum is very scheme specific guy. But do you think it really means he is not on some teams board? Like a team does not take him even in 4th round if he is somehow available?

 

I always thought that all teams have draft boards consisting of 200+ players.

 

[machine gun kelly]

I just wish we got to see the board after the draft.  It will never happen, but would be fun.

[GunnerBill]

6 minutes ago, No_Matter_What said:

This sounds really strange to me.

 

I can understand that some teams take some players completely out of their boards due to off-field issues or injury concerns. But that has to be some small number of players. How it is then possible to have less than 150 or even less than 100 players on the board? What are the reasons for taking a player completely of a teams board?

 

I understand that there are scheme issues for example, so if a CB excels in man defense team like Bills may downgrade him a round or two. But it doesn't make sense to delete him off the board completely. 

 

To be more specific - can you look at last years draft at tell me which players selected in first 2 rounds possibly weren't on Bills board at all? Or on Patriots board for that matter? Or make the same thing with this year's top 60 players. For example, I remember you saying that Lindenbaum is very scheme specific guy. But do you think it really means he is not on some teams board? Like a team does not take him even in 4th round if he is somehow available?

 

I always thought that all teams have draft boards consisting of 200+ players.

 

 

It depends on level of the scheme mismatch and how established some of the schemes are. The Patriots have been running basically varieties of the same stuff for 20 years. They know exactly what they are looking for an what they value. They would be very confident saying "yea okay this guy is a good player but he isn't for us." The Bills are now going into year 6 of this regime. They have had the same DC for 6 years, the same OC for the previous 4 and have now promoted from within to replace him. Again I have to believe that they are comfortable passing on guys who might be good players for someone else but don't fit their profile. I might be made to look really silly on this but if 4 of the consensus top 5 receivers are gone when the Bills pick and Drake London is the one left I'd still expect them to pass. Not because they don't think Drake can play. But because since the middle of 2018 when they cut Kelvin Benjamin and Andre Holmes and signed McKenzie and brought Foster up from the PS they have demonstrated time and again they value separation over contested catch ability at receiver. He is a guy I suspect the Bills are content to "miss" on if he turns into a stud. I am skeptical he would be on their board. 

 

As for last year's draft the one I said all the way through the process would not be on their board was Asante Samuel. Can't play in zone coverage and actually when the Chargers tried him in some off coverage in zone concepts last year he struggled. I think that was evident on his college tape and if I spotted it you bet Brandon Beane and Sean McDermott did too. Azeez Ojalari was another. He is an outside rusher in a 3-4 defense. Not big enough or stout enough to play defensive end in a 4-3 and not good enough in space to play as a base 4-3 linebacker (even if the Bills played a 4-3, which they rarely do). And then there were 6 Quarterbacks who went in the first two rounds and I bet none of them were on the Bills board either. Like I am not saying they don't have a grade on Trevor Lawrence somewhere on their system. They will have done the work. But there is no point putting him on the board. He is going #1 overall and the Bills have their Quarterback. If suddenly Trevor Lawrence slid to round 3 would the Bills scouts have been ringing around the league going "WTF is going on?" and then maybe Beane thinks "man Trevor Lawrence is round 3 I can't afford not to, I'll make that back in a trade." But the reality is that was never happening so I'd doubt very much that any of those 6 QBs were on their board. That is just off the top of my head and I have got rid of 8 of the top 64 players take already. 

[No_Matter_What]

5 minutes ago, GunnerBill said:

 

It depends on level of the scheme mismatch and how established some of the schemes are. The Patriots have been running basically varieties of the same stuff for 20 years. They know exactly what they are looking for an what they value. They would be very confident saying "yea okay this guy is a good player but he isn't for us." The Bills are now going into year 6 of this regime. They have had the same DC for 6 years, the same OC for the previous 4 and have now promoted from within to replace him. Again I have to believe that they are comfortable passing on guys who might be good players for someone else but don't fit their profile. I might be made to look really silly on this but if 4 of the consensus top 5 receivers are gone when the Bills pick and Drake London is the one left I'd still expect them to pass. Not because they don't think Drake can play. But because since the middle of 2018 when they cut Kelvin Benjamin and Andre Holmes and signed McKenzie and brought Foster up from the PS they have demonstrated time and again they value separation over contested catch ability at receiver. He is a guy I suspect the Bills are content to "miss" on if he turns into a stud. I am skeptical he would be on their board. 

 

As for last year's draft the one I said all the way through the process would not be on their board was Asante Samuel. Can't play in zone coverage and actually when the Chargers tried him in some off coverage in zone concepts last year he struggled. I think that was evident on his college tape and if I spotted it you bet Brandon Beane and Sean McDermott did too. Azeez Ojalari was another. He is an outside rusher in a 3-4 defense. Not big enough or stout enough to play defensive end in a 4-3 and not good enough in space to play as a base 4-3 linebacker (even if the Bills played a 4-3, which they rarely do). And then there were 6 Quarterbacks who went in the first two rounds and I bet none of them were on the Bills board either. Like I am not saying they don't have a grade on Trevor Lawrence somewhere on their system. They will have done the work. But there is no point putting him on the board. He is going #1 overall and the Bills have their Quarterback. If suddenly Trevor Lawrence slid to round 3 would the Bills scouts have been ringing around the league going "WTF is going on?" and then maybe Beane thinks "man Trevor Lawrence is round 3 I can't afford not to, I'll make that back in a trade." But the reality is that was never happening so I'd doubt very much that any of those 6 QBs were on their board. That is just off the top of my head and I have got rid of 8 of the top 64 players take already. 

Thanks for the comprehensive answer.

 

QBs are very specific so thats easy to understand. The key to my question is then really how they treat guy like London/Samuel/Olujari you describe. I understand that they might not be fits or they don't have value for Bills, but I always thought that they are kept somewhere on the board just in case they slip too much and their talents just become too much to pass on.

 

But in reality you are probably right and since something like that doesn't happen and guys just don't slip 2-3 full rounds, it is probably not worth to even think about them being included in the board.

 

However, even with your reasoning, I still find it crazy if Belichick really has less than 100 players on his board

 

When I think about it this could possibly be one of the reasons why Metcalf fell so far. I guess from some reason he just wasn't on many teams' board.

[GunnerBill]

3 minutes ago, No_Matter_What said:

Thanks for the comprehensive answer.

 

QBs are very specific so thats easy to understand. The key to my question is then really how they treat guy like London/Samuel/Olujari you describe. I understand that they might not be fits or they don't have value for Bills, but I always thought that they are kept somewhere on the board just in case they slip too much and their talents just become too much to pass on.

 

But in reality you are probably right and since something like that doesn't happen and guys just don't slip 2-3 full rounds, it is probably not worth to even think about them being included in the board.

 

However, even with your reasoning, I still find it crazy if Belichick really has less than 100 players on his board

 

When I think about it this could possibly be one of the reasons why Metcalf fell so far. I guess from some reason he just wasn't on many teams' board.

 

Metcalf had injury and effort question marks as well as the fact he is not a scheme fit in a lot of schemes. I said it the other day and I stick by it, if he had been drafted by a Shanahan style WCO we would be talking about him now as a bust. He went to the perfect place - Seattle. Who even before he got there were consistently among the league leaders on deep balls throw - especially go routes and fades. 

[BobbyC81]

On 4/9/2022 at 9:23 PM, Sierra Foothills said:

 

Maybe but I'd rather take a guy who's good one on one and try to convert him to zone than visa versa. And I love Booth.

 

 

First of all thank you for updating the list. Also it sure seems that the visits by position reflect what all of us believe are the Bills' biggest needs.

 

 

Have you watched any of the video on Booth or have you only read about him? 

 

 

Well, that's interesting.

I don’t understand meeting with Willis, though.

[GunnerBill]

2 minutes ago, BobbyC81 said:

I don’t understand meeting with Willis, though.

 

Could be any number of reasons. One that I would absolutely not exclude is Beane doing a favour to Joe Schoen. Willis has met with the Giants but he will have been on his best behaviour with the Giants. They have a top 5 pick and don't have their Quarterback. I would not rule out at all that Beane brought him in to see if the kid still comes and behaves like a professional and engages meaningfully with a team who are not going to draft him. It is a bit conspiratorial but that sort of stuff goes on sometimes and Beane and Schoen are very tight. I'd like to see the Giants' full meetings list and see if there might be someone there who could be the other end of that deal. 

[YoloinOhio]

1 hour ago, GunnerBill said:

 

Could be any number of reasons. One that I would absolutely not exclude is Beane doing a favour to Joe Schoen. Willis has met with the Giants but he will have been on his best behaviour with the Giants. They have a top 5 pick and don't have their Quarterback. I would not rule out at all that Beane brought him in to see if the kid still comes and behaves like a professional and engages meaningfully with a team who are not going to draft him. It is a bit conspiratorial but that sort of stuff goes on sometimes and Beane and Schoen are very tight. I'd like to see the Giants' full meetings list and see if there might be someone there who could be the other end of that deal. 

Found it interesting that the giants brought in Breece Hall. Unless they are trading Barkley it makes no sense… or that’s the big switcheroo with Beane

[CapeBreton]

 

I've seen this guy ranked as the top TE in the draft by some analysts. He didn't test great but tape looks really good. Bills seem to be meeting with lots of TEs this year.

[intimidatortj]

On 4/5/2022 at 1:39 PM, njbuff said:

 

I wonder if the Bills are in on Kenneth Walker and Breece Hall?

 

We can all scream to the high heavens if we want either of these guys, but it's obviously most important what McBeane thinks of them.

 

Also remember that Singletary is a UFA next season and they may want their RB on the roster already going into next season.

 

So, how much of a priority is the RB position going into the 2022 draft?

 

It appears by Beane's actions, the Bills are looking at a number of RB prospects.  Including Breece Hall.   I really think it is to be prepared if one of the top guys falls to pick 57.   If Beane thinks Ken Walker Jr is an upgrade to Motor, then I could see him drafting him.   

 

But I don't see him forcing it.  Singletary was half decent in December and January.  If another player/position presents itself at pick 57 that is rated higher than the RB, Beane will go BPA.

 

 

Edited April 14, 2022 by intimidatortj