2024 WR Draft Class

[Dr. Who]

9 minutes ago, LEBills said:

Troy Franklin (WR4 imo) has a private workout with the Bills, per Tony Pauline:

 

https://www.sportskeeda.com/nfl/news-insider-notes-2024-ucla-wisconsin-oregon-pro-day-braelon-allen-missing-troy-franklin-shines

He had a disastrous Combine, and smaller than publicized. Maybe he persuades with a good workout.

Round 2 for me at this point.

[LEBills]

1 minute ago, Dr. Who said:

He had a disastrous Combine, and smaller than publicized. Maybe he persuades with a good workout.

Round 2 for me at this point.

supposedly sick at or just before, I’ll take his great season over the combine performance

[Dr. Who]

18 minutes ago, LEBills said:

supposedly sick at or just before, I’ll take his great season over the combine performance

Interesting, I had not heard that. It might work out for us, then.

[Warriorspikes51]

 

[mannc]

20 minutes ago, Dr. Who said:

Interesting, I had not heard that. It might work out for us, then.

I have to believe Franklin's film is as good as anyone's outside the top 3 guys...and it's not like he ran slow at the combine.  4.41 ain't bad...

[Warriorspikes51]

if Franklin was genuinely sick, maybe he does have 4.3 speed. It sure looks like it on highlights

[Dr. Who]

2 minutes ago, Warriorspikes51 said:

if Franklin was genuinely sick, maybe he does have 4.3 speed. It sure looks like it on highlights

Dammit, be quiet man. It's our secret.

[LEBills]

24 minutes ago, mannc said:

I have to believe Franklin's film is as good as anyone's outside the top 3 guys...and it's not like he ran slow at the combine.  4.41 ain't bad...

Just an example of how consistently explosive Franklin was on top of his huge yardage. He had a 30+ yard reception in 12 of 13 games. That 13th game he was hurt in the second quarter and gutted out the rest of that Pac12 championship game. Nabers and Odunze were tied for second at 10 games a piece. He also had 7 games with a 40+ yard receptions which was more than Nabers and tied with Odunze in 2 less games. 

 

Aka he’s a beast

Edited March 17 by LEBills

[Dunkirk Donski]

Are we signing Ertz this year?

[mannc]

22 minutes ago, LEBills said:

Just an example of how consistently explosive Franklin was on top of his huge yardage. He had a 30+ yard reception in 12 of 13 games. That 13th game he was hurt in the second quarter and gutted out the rest of that Pac12 championship game. Nabers and Odunze were tied for second at 10 games a piece. He also had 7 games with a 40+ yard receptions which was more than Nabers and tied with Odunze in 2 less games. 

 

Aka he’s a beast

If you watch the tape, Franklin’s constantly running away from defensive backs, even when they have the angle on him…he has another gear.

[JaCrispy]

6 hours ago, OldTimer1960 said:

Worthy will be a dangerous weapon, but at 165lbs he is too small for a 1st round pick, in my opinion.

I hear ya…I’m just afraid we will all regret it when the Chiefs take him at 32, and we all have to relive “Tyreek Hill” and Patrick Mahomes again…

[Richard Noggin]

On 3/14/2024 at 1:31 PM, Brian Higgins hair said:

Want to win in this game? Want Josh to set the NFL on fire?
Then, we need a monster WR who wins contested catches in this draft. I would go Rome. 

 We learned a lot from the Sammy Watkins episode, and also from the Julio Jones trade up..

It’s always a flip of a coin, but that’s why Beane makes the big bucks and at this point, we have to gamble. 
 

 

 

 

.

 

So then we did NOT learn a lot from the Sammy Watkins episode? I'm confused.

[Turk71]

It makes sense to me that Franklin was sick before the combine. I was surprised by his weight, expected at least 185. Was also surprised he wasn't faster than 4.41, which is plenty fast but he looks faster than that on the field.

 Living in Eugene, the wife and I have seen practically every game of his career. We met at the U of O when she was a hurdler on the track team and still live in Eugene over half of the year.  He has an incredible instinct for getting open, finding the soft spot in zones, and especially on extended plays. When he has the ball in his hands he has video game speed, leaving fast cbs in the dust. I was disappointed in his combine but if he was sick it might be a blessing. I would be happy if the Bills got him.

[The Jokeman]

3 hours ago, mannc said:

I have to believe Franklin's film is as good as anyone's outside the top 3 guys...and it's not like he ran slow at the combine.  4.41 ain't bad...

His forty wasn't bad but his 10 yard split was dead last amongst all WRs at 1.61 His 3 cone and 20 yard was below the median. https://www.oregonlive.com/ducks/2024/03/how-oregons-troy-franklin-performed-at-nfl-scouting-combine.html

[mannc]

13 minutes ago, The Jokeman said:

His forty wasn't bad but his 10 yard split was dead last amongst all WRs at 1.61 His 3 cone and 20 yard was below the median. https://www.oregonlive.com/ducks/2024/03/how-oregons-troy-franklin-performed-at-nfl-scouting-combine.html

A good 40 time even with a terrible 10-yard split supports the idea that Franklin's got "another gear"...right? 

[90sBills]

1 hour ago, JaCrispy said:

I hear ya…I’m just afraid we will all regret it when the Chiefs take him at 32, and we all have to relive “Tyreek Hill” and Patrick Mahomes again…

Would they take Worthy now that they’ve signed Hollywood? They have similar attributes. 

[JohnBonhamRocks]

1 hour ago, JaCrispy said:

I hear ya…I’m just afraid we will all regret it when the Chiefs take him at 32, and we all have to relive “Tyreek Hill” and Patrick Mahomes again…

Worthy is at least my WR4. People sleeping on him big time. And not because his 40 time.

[NeverOutNick]

4 hours ago, mannc said:

I have to believe Franklin's film is as good as anyone's outside the top 3 guys...and it's not like he ran slow at the combine.  4.41 ain't bad...

I still love Franklin I don’t hold a poor combine showing against him. He looked great in college 

[alg]

If he was sick enough to lose 10 lbs, he would have never worked out.

 

This is b#llshit agent-speak - rewriting history.

[Mat68]

Mitchell has really intrigued me.  Size and speed you would say is ideal.  Worthy was the guy though.  Thats what I come back to.  165 is light but not by much compared to Desean Jackson or Devonta Smith.  Worthy was the more productive player his entire career.  I like the idea of still going WR round 1.  Like the value at WR at 28 and I think there will be value at 60 for Dline.  Whether at edge or DT.  

 

[Buffalo_Stampede]

I honestly thought Franklin would test amazing. His tape shows everything. I thought he was a top 20 player on tape and his testing would confirm that.

 

Maybe the Bills got lucky he tested poorly?

[OldTimer1960]

12 hours ago, JohnBonhamRocks said:

Not sure if true, but some including I think cover1 have speculated he was 165 lbs just so he could try to break the record 40 yard dash time and will likely play closer to 175 lbs.

I can certainly believe that. 

[OldTimer1960]

12 hours ago, Dr. Who said:

He had a disastrous Combine, and smaller than publicized. Maybe he persuades with a good workout.

Round 2 for me at this point.

Yes, his Combine performance was bad.  His gauntlet was poor, but what caught my attention more was seeing him fall 2x on cuts while running routes against air.  I know that his tape was better than that, but the combination of that and being only 175lbs is a concern.  I would not touch him at 28, but maybe late 2nd.  Still, where would a 6’2” 175lb WR who is mainly a straight line route runner play?

[mannc]

Chris Simms just put out his WR draft rankings...had MHJ at 4 and Roman Wilson at 5.  His WR rankings have been very good...Not saying he's right or wrong in this case, but this points to the fact that this is a very deep class and there isn't much separating the guys at the top.

Edited March 18 by mannc

[Donuts and Doritos]

 

 

[Mat68]

17 minutes ago, mannc said:

Chris Simms just put out his WR draft rankings...had MHJ at 4 and Roman Wilson at 5.  His WR rankings have been very good...Not saying he's right or wrong in this case, but this points to the fact that this is a very deep class and there isn't much separating the guys at the top.

I appreciate his own takes and avoidance of group think.  I find it funny he posts this and multiple “Gurus” tweet people in the NFL have Nabers over Harrison.  

10 hours ago, OldTimer1960 said:

Yes, his Combine performance was bad.  His gauntlet was poor, but what caught my attention more was seeing him fall 2x on cuts while running routes against air.  I know that his tape was better than that, but the combination of that and being only 175lbs is a concern.  I would not touch him at 28, but maybe late 2nd.  Still, where would a 6’2” 175lb WR who is mainly a straight line route runner play?

Enough questions to remove him from first rd imo.  60 for sure. There will be a very good wr at 60.  

[Warriorspikes51]

If Marvin Harrison Jr or Malik Nabers is available at 6, you'd think Beane at least makes a call to see what Joe Schoen would do a deal for 

If it's within reason, do we really consider it?

28, 60, 134,  2025 1st, 3rd ?    

Edited March 18 by Warriorspikes51

[Buffalo716]

3 minutes ago, Warriorspikes51 said:

If Marvin Harrison Jr or Malik Nabers is available at 6, you'd think Beane at least makes a call to see what Joe Schoen would do a deal for 

If it's within reason, do we really consider it?

28, 60, 134,  2025 1st, 3rd ?    

Absolutely not lol

 

[Mat68]

4 minutes ago, Warriorspikes51 said:

If Marvin Harrison Jr or Malik Nabers is available at 6, you'd think Beane at least makes a call to see what Joe Schoen would do a deal for 

If it's within reason, do we really consider it?

28, 60, 134,  2025 1st, 3rd ?    

I think that is too much for a wr.  Too little depth to mortgage that much.  That should be 3 starters or future starters for a wr.

[Buffalo_Stampede]

6 minutes ago, Mat68 said:

I think that is too much for a wr.  Too little depth to mortgage that much.  That should be 3 starters or future starters for a wr.

But if you look at it in cap #’s you’re saving about $20 million per year by having your WR1 on a rookie deal. You can move on from Diggs after next year. 
 

So no first but you have a lot more cap to fill the roster.

 

In a perfect world they hit at 28 on a future WR1 but it gets harder.

[mannc]

16 minutes ago, Warriorspikes51 said:

If Marvin Harrison Jr or Malik Nabers is available at 6, you'd think Beane at least makes a call to see what Joe Schoen would do a deal for 

If it's within reason, do we really consider it?

28, 60, 134,  2025 1st, 3rd ?    

Maybe we could just trade Diggs for that pick…

[Mat68]

2 minutes ago, Buffalo_Stampede said:

But if you look at it in cap #’s you’re saving about $20 million per year by having your WR1 on a rookie deal. You can move on from Diggs after next year. 
 

So no first but you have a lot more cap to fill the roster.

 

In a perfect world they hit at 28 on a future WR1 but it gets harder.

Still can by staying at 28, 60 next year 1st or 3rd.  They very well could draft a wr at any of those top picks that takes over for Diggs.  That wr plus 2 or 3 other starters is more important than 1 player slightly better in college. 

[Buffalo_Stampede]

2 minutes ago, Mat68 said:

Still can by staying at 28, 60 next year 1st or 3rd.  They very well could draft a wr at any of those top picks that takes over for Diggs.  That wr plus 2 or 3 other starters is more important than 1 player slightly better in college. 

Right. They can. But trading up is for a guy you believe 100% will be your WR1.

 

 

[wppete]

46 minutes ago, Donuts and Doritos said:

 

 

I agree with him about Nabers. He is the top WR in this draft. Phenomenal WR. 

[Mat68]

Its never that simple.  Last time Buffalo traded up for a Wr it was a bad decision.  Class is too deep imo.  

[Turk71]

11 hours ago, OldTimer1960 said:

  I would not touch him at 28, but maybe late 2nd.  Still, where would a 6’2” 175lb WR who is mainly a straight line route runner play?

Mainly a straight line route runner?

That doesn't describe Franklin at all, not even close.

He's a very nuanced route runner with deceptive breaks that keep CBs guessing. Also he is already back to 183 lbs at his pro day. His pro playing weight will be between 185-190 imo.

This is from NFL DraftBuzz:

'Franklin shows precision in his route running, smoothly transitioning from vertical stems to breaks, which puts constant pressure on defenders.

As a versatile playmaker, he excels both on the outside and in the slot, consistently delivering explosive plays for his team.

In terms of man coverage, Franklin dominates, often forcing opposing defenses to resort to two-high coverages to contain his threat.

Become a fantastic high pointer - displays exceptional body control along the sideline, making challenging catches appear effortless.

Troy Franklin embodies the archetype of a downfield burner in the NFL. His game is centered around elite speed, particularly when he kicks into high gear down the field. Franklin's top-end speed allows him to outrun defenders with ease once he gains a step, making him a legitimate deep threat. What sets him apart is his ability to combine this speed with nuanced route-running. He consistently keeps defensive backs guessing with a variety of releases and creates separation and opportunities for money plays.'

  This is not me advocating for him at 28. I'd be happy with one of Thomas, Mitchell, or Franklin

 

Edited March 18 by Turk71

[Augie]

1 hour ago, Warriorspikes51 said:

If Marvin Harrison Jr or Malik Nabers is available at 6, you'd think Beane at least makes a call to see what Joe Schoen would do a deal for 

If it's within reason, do we really consider it?

28, 60, 134,  2025 1st, 3rd ?    

 

Did you watch the MHJ segment in the Chris Simms clip above? That is sounding BEYOND rich for him. But what do I know? I watched some MHJ in college and saw a man among boys, but I’m not sure he’s wrong. 

[strive_for_five_guy]

21 hours ago, mannc said:

Chris Simms just put out his WR draft rankings...had MHJ at 4 and Roman Wilson at 5.  His WR rankings have been very good...Not saying he's right or wrong in this case, but this points to the fact that this is a very deep class and there isn't much separating the guys at the top.

Weird, the video he’s got MHJ at 3, Odunze at 4?

 

But yeah, even outside his top 5, there’s like 5-7 other WR prospects with decent upside.

 

I’d love it one of the studs slips into the teens, and Beane finds a way for us to trade into there, even if it means having traded Diggs and a couple other picks.  If we hold onto Diggs, still want Beane to take a flier on one of the better rated prospects.  Need to get faster, younger and cheaper at WR position.

[gonzo1105]

21 hours ago, mannc said:

Chris Simms just put out his WR draft rankings...had MHJ at 4 and Roman Wilson at 5.  His WR rankings have been very good...Not saying he's right or wrong in this case, but this points to the fact that this is a very deep class and there isn't much separating the guys at the top.

Roman Wilson isn’t talked about enough here as a possibility if they got WR in round 1 

[mannc]

49 minutes ago, strive_for_five_guy said:

Weird, the video he’s got MHJ at 3, Odunze at 4?

 

But yeah, even outside his top 5, there’s like 5-7 other WR prospects with decent upside.

 

I’d love it one of the studs slips into the teens, and Beane finds a way for us to trade into there, even if it means having traded Diggs and a couple other picks.  If we hold onto Diggs, still want Beane to take a flier on one of the better rated prospects.  Need to get faster, younger and cheaper at WR position.

My mistake...he had Harrison at 3 and Odunze at 4.  

 

What was surprising about Simms's analysis is that he feels that Harrison should be picked no higher than 8 or 9--and definitely not top-5--and he does not see Odunze as a top-10 pick, more of a mid first round guy.  He's not predicting that, just talking about where he thinks these guys should go...and when it comes to the lower rated options, he put Franklin in the 40-55 range and Worthy in the fourth round.  He was not high on Mitchell, either...thinks he is a late round 2 guy.  He predicted 4 or 5 guys to go in round 1.   

Edited March 19 by mannc