RD 5, Pick 150: WR Justin Shorter, Florida

[Coach Tuesday]

6 minutes ago, MrEpsYtown said:

Sh

 

Someone made a point somewhere about big guys and agility drills. Both Shorter’s 3 cone and shuttle are bad scores but actually better than DK Metcalf. DK has Shorter easily beat in the 40, but that’s why Shorter is a 5th round pick. Shorter’s short shuttle is better than Tee Higgins as well. Almost every measure of Shorter’s is better than Higgins and I think that is a good comp. Plus Shorter has 15 lbs on him. Those scores have not affected Higgins’ career.
 

Big guys like Mike Williams, DJ Chark, Equanimous St. Brown and Chase Claypool skipped those drills. 
 

I think those numbers are super important especially for a slot guy, but in this case for a 5th rounder with upside, it doesn’t really bother me. If he had the great 3 cone and a better 40 he would have been a first round pick. 

Higgins is the comp I made upthread - that’s his ceiling, I think.

[Augie]

2 minutes ago, newcam2012 said:

Looks like he's on steroids. Reminds me of David Boston. 

 

It doesn’t seem to exhaust you. Quite remarkable, I must say. 

[MrEpsYtown]

3 minutes ago, Coach Tuesday said:

Higgins is the comp I made upthread - that’s his ceiling, I think.

Makes a ton of sense. Good call

[Warriorspikes51]

Josh Gordon minus the weed.
 

Gordon actually ran a 4.52 40.

 

He played at a faster game speed in his prime years with Browns

 

 

[Maine-iac]

9 minutes ago, Coach Tuesday said:

Higgins is the comp I made upthread - that’s his ceiling, I think.

Speaking of Higgins that is why the Bengals took that kid from Princeton because they will have a hard time paying Higgins pretty soon.  I was really hoping we'd take Iosivas but given the time we spent with Shorter they must really like what they've seen.

[MrEpsYtown]

6 minutes ago, Warriorspikes51 said:

Josh Gordon minus the weed.
 

Gordon actually ran a 4.52 40.

 

He played at a faster game speed in his prime years with Browns

 

 

He’s another guy who skipped the agility drills. But a strong comp as well. 

4 minutes ago, Maine-iac said:

Speaking of Higgins that is why the Bengals took that kid from Princeton because they will have a hard time paying Higgins pretty soon.  I was really hoping we'd take Iosivas but given the time we spent with Shorter they must really like what they've seen.

Yeah once they pay Burrow they will probably have to move on from Higgins, Boyd. That’s probably why they drafted Charlie Jones as well. Logan Wilson will

be a free agent as well and Myles Murphy probably replaces Trey Hendrickson after this season. 

[Maine-iac]

5 minutes ago, Warriorspikes51 said:

Josh Gordon minus the weed.
 

Gordon actually ran a 4.52 40.

 

He played at a faster game speed in his prime years with Browns

 

 

You don't have to be super twitchy to run a good slant.  Gordon was a beast.  He even flashed with the Pats before he got caught again.

[John from Riverside]

4 hours ago, Coach Tuesday said:

Higgins is the comp I made upthread - that’s his ceiling, I think.

I can live with that

[SCBills]

11 hours ago, Coach Tuesday said:

Higgins is the comp I made upthread - that’s his ceiling, I think.

Agreed.  
 

Higgins 6’4 218 4.54

 

Shorter 6’4 229 4.55

 

I’m not saying Shorter will definitely become that, but one guy played on a program in transition, with Anthony Richardson.   The other guy played at Clemson, with Trevor Lawrence. 

[Buffalo_Stampede]

My favorite part about this pick is it shows it doesn’t matter what WR and what round, people will have unrealistic expectations for the WR

 

I don’t know why WRs do that to people. 

[Bruffalo]

He has a shot to make the team as a 4 phase special teamer.  If he does make the roster I doubt we see him taking many (or any) offensive snaps.

 

This is basically a super athletic Jake Kumerow on a rookie contract.  Lots of upside, but it's gonna be hard for him to see the field. 

[Sammy Watkins' Rib]

19 minutes ago, Buffalo_Stampede said:

My favorite part about this pick is it shows it doesn’t matter what WR and what round, people will have unrealistic expectations for the WR

 

I don’t know why WRs do that to people. 

if this guy was 6’0” 195 I don’t think we would have the hopeful expectations we do. A lot of it has to do with his physical attributes.

[Buffalo_Stampede]

4 minutes ago, Sammy Watkins' Rib said:

if this guy was 6’0” 195 I don’t think we would have the hopeful expectations we do. A lot of it has to do with his physical attributes.

How big is Shakir?

[ddaryl]

8 minutes ago, Buffalo_Stampede said:

How big is Shakir?

 

6.0' 190lbs

[Shaw66]

16 minutes ago, Sammy Watkins' Rib said:

if this guy was 6’0” 195 I don’t think we would have the hopeful expectations we do. A lot of it has to do with his physical attributes.

It's fun to dream but really, no one should be getting too excited about Shorter's prospects.   He isn't some unknown talent who's lived his life on a farm in Mongolia, where a roving Bills scout discovered him.   There ae 31 other teams who knew how big Shorter is and how fast he can run.  Everyone's evaluated him, and no one concluded that he's the next DK Metcalf or Higgins or Moulds.  

 

For me, Shorter is just like anyone else the Bills draft in later rounds:   I hope he makes it, and I hope he proves to be better than anyone expected, but I'll get excited when he does. 

[mannc]

10 minutes ago, Shaw66 said:

It's fun to dream but really, no one should be getting too excited about Shorter's prospects.   He isn't some unknown talent who's lived his life on a farm in Mongolia, where a roving Bills scout discovered him.   There ae 31 other teams who knew how big Shorter is and how fast he can run.  Everyone's evaluated him, and no one concluded that he's the next DK Metcalf or Higgins or Moulds.  

 

For me, Shorter is just like anyone else the Bills draft in later rounds:   I hope he makes it, and I hope he proves to be better than anyone expected, but I'll get excited when he does. 

Thanks a lot.

[MrEpsYtown]

14 minutes ago, Shaw66 said:

It's fun to dream but really, no one should be getting too excited about Shorter's prospects.   He isn't some unknown talent who's lived his life on a farm in Mongolia, where a roving Bills scout discovered him.   There ae 31 other teams who knew how big Shorter is and how fast he can run.  Everyone's evaluated him, and no one concluded that he's the next DK Metcalf or Higgins or Moulds.  

 

For me, Shorter is just like anyone else the Bills draft in later rounds:   I hope he makes it, and I hope he proves to be better than anyone expected, but I'll get excited when he does. 

Shaw isn’t this kind of true of all late round draft picks for all teams? That’s part of the fun of the draft is that you can dream on guys. That’s why we are fans. Shorter brings things to the table you can’t teach, and for whatever reason the Bills really like him, perhaps more than other teams. That’s just the way it is. 

He’s here now, he is ours, and we are going to root for him to succeed. 

Edited May 1, 2023 by MrEpsYtown

[SCBills]

14 minutes ago, Shaw66 said:

It's fun to dream but really, no one should be getting too excited about Shorter's prospects.   He isn't some unknown talent who's lived his life on a farm in Mongolia, where a roving Bills scout discovered him.   There ae 31 other teams who knew how big Shorter is and how fast he can run.  Everyone's evaluated him, and no one concluded that he's the next DK Metcalf or Higgins or Moulds.  

 

For me, Shorter is just like anyone else the Bills draft in later rounds:   I hope he makes it, and I hope he proves to be better than anyone expected, but I'll get excited when he does. 

 

Oh, for sure.. I don't expect much from him this year aside from depth and special teams. 

 

That being said, our WR1 was a 5th Round Pick.  

 

Florida fans would tell you that their offense was a mess for the past few years, aside from the Trask/Pitts year.  Shorter has dealt with erratic QB play and injuries.  

 

I'm just glad we have a true outside WR to develop behind Diggs and Davis this year.   If he becomes a WR2 type or better, great... if he washes out of the league, so be it. 

[Sammy Watkins' Rib]

51 minutes ago, Buffalo_Stampede said:

How big is Shakir?

I see your point. Some people were pretty optimistic for Shakir last year. Coming in as a possible replacement for Beasley.

 

I know, for myself, had we drafted another 6 foot 190 pound wide receiver I would not be all that hopeful. It would just be another rinse and repeat draft pick. I like that this guy actually has elite size.

38 minutes ago, Shaw66 said:

It's fun to dream but really, no one should be getting too excited about Shorter's prospects.   He isn't some unknown talent who's lived his life on a farm in Mongolia, where a roving Bills scout discovered him.   There ae 31 other teams who knew how big Shorter is and how fast he can run.  Everyone's evaluated him, and no one concluded that he's the next DK Metcalf or Higgins or Moulds.  

 

For me, Shorter is just like anyone else the Bills draft in later rounds:   I hope he makes it, and I hope he proves to be better than anyone expected, but I'll get excited when he does. 

we should hope be helpful that he’ll have spot moments this year. Davis was a fourth round pick and only selected 22 spots ahead of shorter.
 

Due to injuries Davis got a decent amount of playing time his rookie year. And Davis was even one of the heroes in the bills first playoff victory in 25 years.

[Shaw66]

4 minutes ago, SCBills said:

 

Oh, for sure.. I don't expect much from him this year aside from depth and special teams. 

 

That being said, our WR1 was a 5th Round Pick.  

 

Florida fans would tell you that their offense was a mess for the past few years, aside from the Trask/Pitts year.  Shorter has dealt with erratic QB play and injuries.  

 

I'm just glad we have a true outside WR to develop behind Diggs and Davis this year.   If he becomes a WR2 type or better, great... if he washes out of the league, so be it. 

Exactly.   It's sort of what I said a day or two ago, something that I often forget:  the guys you take in the back half of the draft, and the undrafted rookies you sign, are development projects.  Teams project a future for these guys, acquire them, then work with them for two or three years to make them contributors.   Along the way, they have walk the practice squad tight rope, activating and deactivating guys, taking the risk that players will leave for lesser teams willing to put them on the 53 before the Bills are willing to do it.   And, occasionally, a guy like Milano shows and demonstrates from the beginning that he needs to be on the field.  And you get some guys like Shakir, who flashes some good things, and gets to play, but also shows he needs time to grow.  

 

And this is all different than it used to be for the Bills.   It's not hard to remember ten years ago, when we were trying to convince ourselves that these fifth and sixth rounders were going to be the plug that would fit into one hole or another.  The Bills don't go into the draft with a lot of holes anymore, so we don't have to count on those guys to step in have 800 yards in receptions as a rookies, or 90 tackles, or whatever.  And that's why these days, the Bills can draft Kincaid and Torrence and we can all relax knowing it was a good draft regardless of how they did in the later rounds.   That isn't completely true, of course, because, you have to get a decent yield out of those development guys, but you don't NEED them to make your upcoming season.