So Keith Jennings is what drives the pick of TJ Parker

[PoundingDog]

A Clemson backup receiver who was drafted by Jimmy Johnson (Cowboys 1989) to play TE, pretty much a fringe player but somehow managed a 9 years in NFL going from team to team. Coached under Dabo Swinney at Clemson but decided to going into scouting. Interned with the Bills 2017 and hired by Beane in 2018 and promoted to area scout in 2024. 

 

Parker is not on Bills 30 visit list, but sounded like he's tight with Keith, gettind advices from him. Beane said we have some insight -- I imagine back in 2023/2024, Keith probably started to whisper to the Bills staff of this dude at Clemson and followed thru to this year. I hope he provided Beane a good reason why Parker's number dropped significantly in 2025 season. To me, people started to pay more attention to him and his production suffered.    

[NORWOODS FOOT]

Good find. I mean who knows, but this could be a piece of the puzzle.

[Alphadawg7]

Not sure why people need to find a “reason” when he was ranked as high as 4th at edge and ahead of a lot of guys people here wanted us to take at 26 before we even traded down.  Many of the top analysts had him ranked around 27th overall too.  
 

I mean people outside Buffalo seem to think highly of the pick and that we got good value trading back 3 times first and picking up a lot of value that turned into a very strong mid round draft.  

[MJS]

Beane seems to like the players who fall from grace their last college year. He took Deone Walker last year. He had the same story, although his drop in production was injury related. Parker seems to have suffered because of overall Clemson struggles, as there were a number of players who seemed to do worse than expected for that team.

 

It's not a bad strategy, though. If you are always picking toward the end of the round, you can find players who obviously have the upside and then try to fix them and get them back to their previous form, then you have a top talent if it works. Even Igbinosun has a lot of the measurables and talent that you want. He just has a couple of fatal flaws that if they can fix, he could be really good.

[Pecker]

We seem to have “a type” and only draft certain positions high.  I think it worked to some degree but now that we are on the cusp, it’s really hurting and holding us back 

[CoudyBills]

7 hours ago, ***** said:

We seem to have “a type” and only draft certain positions high.  I think it worked to some degree but now that we are on the cusp, it’s really hurting and holding us back 

Agreed.  That damned McDermott and his drafting.

[BearNorth]

10 hours ago, MJS said:

 He just has a couple of fatal flaws that if they can fix, he could be really good.

seem to recall we had a franchise quarterback who was far from flawless when we drafted him.  Hoping for the same here.

[Kirby Jackson]

11 hours ago, Alphadawg7 said:

Not sure why people need to find a “reason” when he was ranked as high as 4th at edge and ahead of a lot of guys people here wanted us to take at 26 before we even traded down.  Many of the top analysts had him ranked around 27th overall too.  
 

I mean people outside Buffalo seem to think highly of the pick and that we got good value trading back 3 times first and picking up a lot of value that turned into a very strong mid round draft.  

Right?!? A year ago, he was looked at as a top 10 pick pretty universally. This isn’t like finding Mike Jasper.

 

Now maybe they had some intel like, “don’t worry about the 2025 numbers. There were some other things at play. He will be fine.” I don’t think that they needed much more than that based on their scouting and tape.

[NoSaint]

11 hours ago, Alphadawg7 said:

Not sure why people need to find a “reason” when he was ranked as high as 4th at edge and ahead of a lot of guys people here wanted us to take at 26 before we even traded down.  Many of the top analysts had him ranked around 27th overall too.  
 

I mean people outside Buffalo seem to think highly of the pick and that we got good value trading back 3 times first and picking up a lot of value that turned into a very strong mid round draft.  

it’s ptsd dating back to Chris Kelsey - we’ve never come to accept that day 2 edges are inportant but rarely game wreckers. And a lot of them do flop in between the lunchpail guys you get for a couple contracts  

[GunnerBill]

Yea as others have said it is not like TJ was some huge reach. I wasn't as high on him as some but he would have gone in the next 10 picks if the Bills passed. Guaranteed. 

 

That said it wouldn't surprise me if Jennings played a part. Most NFL teams value intel - witness the Cowboys having Malachi Lawrence's position coach from UCF on staff - and Beane since he has been here has relied on intel and the black book as much as pure evaluations. His relationship with Shane Beamer was referenced in the Kilgore pick too, we know Dave Aranda has vouched for guys we have drafted before. And Beane is great at that side of the business - the relationships and networks part.

[Haslett_Stomp]

I don't really follow college football and had never heard of Parker before Friday.  There is a guy at my local drinking establishment who went to Clemson and follows them religiously.  I asked him about Parker.  He said the Bills got a steal, that Parker's skillset has been compared by some to Aaron Donald.  Without being prompted, he said Parker had a down year in 2025 but that it wasn't surprising because the entire team had a down year this year.  FWIW...

Edited April 26 by Haslett_Stomp

[Kirby Jackson]

1 hour ago, NoSaint said:

it’s ptsd dating back to Chris Kelsey - we’ve never come to accept that day 2 edges are inportant but rarely game wreckers. And a lot of them do flop in between the lunchpail guys you get for a couple contracts  

Epenesa to Basham

[colin]

15 hours ago, MJS said:

Beane seems to like the players who fall from grace their last college year. He took Deone Walker last year. He had the same story, although his drop in production was injury related. Parker seems to have suffered because of overall Clemson struggles, as there were a number of players who seemed to do worse than expected for that team.

 

It's not a bad strategy, though. If you are always picking toward the end of the round, you can find players who obviously have the upside and then try to fix them and get them back to their previous form, then you have a top talent if it works. Even Igbinosun has a lot of the measurables and talent that you want. He just has a couple of fatal flaws that if they can fix, he could be really good.

 

There are a few patterns 

Productive guys at a "value" which coincides with the exact pattern you described above (also, Spencer Brown didn't play in his last year of school due to covid shutting the program).

 

He loves length on the edge, like to a fault it would seems. 

 

Size height weight speed.  Loves a high ras guy.  Every pick except the 2nd round corner measured limit rsa.

 

Also, I think the biggest theme these past two seasons is speed on d.  We had tre who was not fast and then got hurt so very slow, our two smart safeties who were high level players for a couple years but were not high end athletes, we had levi years he slug at other corner, and t Johnson who was never a high end athlete.  That lack of speed stuck out ***** a sore thumb in the playoffs.

 

Now our best CB is a bit slow, but is big and physical in benford.  Max and the corners we drafted this year are all fast fast fast.  Cole is a mega ras guy, and our newly signed guys are all plus athletes.

 

 

[gjv]

I think we drafted a young Bradley Chubb. 

[Shake_My_Head]

On 4/25/2026 at 7:54 PM, PoundingDog said:

I hope he provided Beane a good reason why Parker's number dropped significantly in 2025 season. To me, people started to pay more attention to him and his production suffered.    

 

"Following a disappointing 7-6 season in 2024, Clemson overhauled its defensive coaching staff by parting ways with defensive coordinator Wes Goodwin and hiring former Penn State DC and Indiana head coach Tom Allen. Allen's arrival signifies a shift towards a more aggressive, high-intensity, and versatile defensive philosophy designed to fix inconsistencies in the secondary and return the unit to a dominant, top-tier level. 

 

Key Changes in Philosophy and Personnel

 

Aggressive Mentality: Allen is known for an intense, attacking style, a departure from the previous scheme, aiming to produce more turnovers and create a spark that was missing.

 

Increased Flexibility: The defense is expected to utilize more hybrid packages, including 3-3-5 and 5-2-4 alignments, allowing for better adaptability against modern offenses.

 

Disguise and Pressure: The new approach emphasizes better communication in the back end, improved disguise, and varied pressure packages."

 

 

https://www.tigernet.com/clemson-forum/thread/clemsons-2026-staff-overhaul-what-changed-who-arrived-and-what-it-means-2508402

 

The decrease in Parker's sacks seems to be aligned with a philosophy of relying more on disguised blitzes and pressure from different sub-packages, rather than just the DEs, than the year before. 

 

Front Structure

* Goodwin (2024)

- Preferred 4‑2‑5 with minimal deviation
- DL alignment predictable
- Linebackers rarely walked out or rotated

* Allen (2025)

- Multiple fronts: 3‑3‑5, 4‑2‑5, 5‑2‑4
- Frequent movement and stemmed fronts
- LBs and hybrids used interchangeably

 

 

[NeverOutNick]

54 minutes ago, gjv said:

I think we drafted a young Bradley Chubb. 

I hope so. I also hope Howell isn’t a young Von Miller…

[PoundingDog]

4 minutes ago, Shake_My_Head said:

Front Structure

* Goodwin (2024)

- Preferred 4‑2‑5 with minimal deviation
- DL alignment predictable
- Linebackers rarely walked out or rotated

* Allen (2025)

- Multiple fronts: 3‑3‑5, 4‑2‑5, 5‑2‑4
- Frequent movement and stemmed fronts
- LBs and hybrids used interchangeably

That's why a lot of people, including Greg Cosell, said they think Parker fits better with 4-3. Wonder what Parker lined up in the 3-3-5 and 5-2-4 at Clemson.       The Bills said he's going to be an OLB. In 3-3-5, I'd imagine the Bills would put the best pass rushers in the front 3, and that would be Chubb, Oliver , and Rousseau (or Walker if he took another step this season).  

2 minutes ago, NeverOutNick said:

I hope so. I also hope Howell isn’t a young Von Miller…

Exactly what I was thinking. Chubb went 5th overall in a star studded draft and went fairly well in his career. Parker went 35th overall in a weak draft. What is not lo like?

[NoSaint]

16 minutes ago, PoundingDog said:

That's why a lot of people, including Greg Cosell, said they think Parker fits better with 4-3. Wonder what Parker lined up in the 3-3-5 and 5-2-4 at Clemson.       The Bills said he's going to be an OLB. In 3-3-5, I'd imagine the Bills would put the best pass rushers in the front 3, and that would be Chubb, Oliver , and Rousseau (or Walker if he took another step this season).  

Exactly what I was thinking. Chubb went 5th overall in a star studded draft and went fairly well in his career. Parker went 35th overall in a weak draft. What is not lo like?

 

it’s tricky- if Parker came out a year ago you might’ve been clamoring for a trade up to get him

 

I get that we rarely get lucky with these guys but maybe in the volume play this is actually the guy

 

i have the same concerns but until we see the scheme, and his role, we are just running through nervous energy on this guy 

[SoTier]

23 hours ago, MJS said:

Beane seems to like the players who fall from grace their last college year. He took Deone Walker last year. He had the same story, although his drop in production was injury related. Parker seems to have suffered because of overall Clemson struggles, as there were a number of players who seemed to do worse than expected for that team.

 

It's not a bad strategy, though. If you are always picking toward the end of the round, you can find players who obviously have the upside and then try to fix them and get them back to their previous form, then you have a top talent if it works. Even Igbinosun has a lot of the measurables and talent that you want. He just has a couple of fatal flaws that if they can fix, he could be really good.

 

Josh Allen also fits in that mold; he had a much more productive 2016 season than his 2017 collegiate season.

[BobbyC81]

15 hours ago, NoSaint said:

it’s ptsd dating back to Chris Kelsey - we’ve never come to accept that day 2 edges are inportant but rarely game wreckers. And a lot of them do flop in between the lunchpail guys you get for a couple contracts  

“high motor”.