CJPearl2 Posted April 13, 2008 Share Posted April 13, 2008 I don't mean this sarcastically. Four months ago he was on nobody's radar and now he's a top 11 pick? Can he really be a top WR in the league? Is there something that set's him apart from a stud DE or CB? In a league where many of the star receivers are non-first round picks, why do we need to reach with our top pick? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SouthTownBills51 Posted April 13, 2008 Share Posted April 13, 2008 Just speculating here..maybe because of his potential? maybe it is because he wasn't on anybody's radar that makes him a mystery? but I do agree that he would be a bit of reach at 11..especially with more polished kids with better credentials on the board. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Posted April 13, 2008 Share Posted April 13, 2008 Is there something that set's him apart from a stud CB? A couple steps? Thomas is the most explosive WR in this draft and has the potential to be a star NFL WR for years to come. He ripped last year at Michigan State and absolutely blew up at the combine. His upside is greater then any other WR in this draft IMO. I like Sweed and Doucet too- but Thomas is the best. He will not make it out of the top 20, and possibly not out of the top 10. To call him a reach is preposterous. If we do not take him- someone will. He is a lock to be the first WR off the board IMO. Which stud DE or CB did you have in mind? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oneonta Buffalo Fan Posted April 14, 2008 Share Posted April 14, 2008 Potential and he plays in COLD WEATHER! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CJPearl2 Posted April 14, 2008 Author Share Posted April 14, 2008 A couple steps? Thomas is the most explosive WR in this draft and has the potential to be a star NFL WR for years to come. He ripped last year at Michigan State and absolutely blew up at the combine. His upside is greater then any other WR in this draft IMO. I like Sweed and Doucet too- but Thomas is the best. He will not make it out of the top 20, and possibly not out of the top 10. To call him a reach is preposterous. If we do not take him- someone will. He is a lock to be the first WR off the board IMO. Which stud DE or CB did you have in mind? I personally love Harvey and Talib. With Harvey as my choice for our pick at 11. I feel our DEs are possible the weakest part of our team - but maybe Stroud will change that - I hope so. I really don't know much about Thomas. And felt most of his big games were against sub-par teams. Not to mention how horrible the Big Ten (except for OSU) was last year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fewell733 Posted April 14, 2008 Share Posted April 14, 2008 undeniable measureables and production (though only a year's worth - JuCo transfer, then not much action last year) plus no off field baggage or injury problems Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brandon Posted April 14, 2008 Share Posted April 14, 2008 If he'd done anything as a sophomore, I think we'd be talking about Devin Thomas as a top 10 lock. Looking past the combine numbers, don't forget that the guy posted 2,600 all purpose yards this season. He also had a very good freshman year at a JUCO school. While the one-year-wonder stuff scares me, I'd also point out that Thomas played under a different coaching staff in '06. It may be that they simply did not know how to use him, didn't recognize how good he was, or were just too stubborn to bench the guys they had on the field at the time. In any case, if I were the Bills, I'd be going straight to the Michigan State coaching staff to find out exactly what the problem was. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UpstateSwagger Posted April 14, 2008 Share Posted April 14, 2008 A couple steps? Thomas is the most explosive WR in this draft and has the potential to be a star NFL WR for years to come. He ripped last year at Michigan State and absolutely blew up at the combine. His upside is greater then any other WR in this draft IMO. I like Sweed and Doucet too- but Thomas is the best. He will not make it out of the top 20, and possibly not out of the top 10. To call him a reach is preposterous. If we do not take him- someone will. He is a lock to be the first WR off the board IMO. Which stud DE or CB did you have in mind? His upside could be very high I agree but I think Sweed has just as much or even more because of his size, work ethic etc.. If you really want to have a discussion of who has the most UPSIDE in this draft than the conversation, for me, starts and stops at James Hardy. Off-the-field incidents aside he is physically the most gifted out of this crop of receivers, and probably almost any other crop as well. Look at the kids intangibles; unreal. He has incredible coordination and leaping abilities; look at the kid's potential even basketball wise; he was a contributor at Indiana. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stinky finger Posted April 14, 2008 Share Posted April 14, 2008 If we do not take him- someone will. That's a fair assumption. Should we pass on him, and make no bones, we should, he drops well into the teens. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sisyphean Bills Posted April 14, 2008 Share Posted April 14, 2008 Mike Mamula Reprise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stewy23 Posted April 14, 2008 Share Posted April 14, 2008 It worries me that this kid only has 1 college season to bank on. He's got great potential and his size/strength/speed are up to snuff by NFL standards. It's a very weak WR class this season, that's why he's being called the top wideout "al of a sudden." He's the only guy who hasn't hurt himself, so he wins the #1 wideout prospect status. Here's what NFL scouts draft boards look like right now: #1 Devin Thomas - hasn't F-ed up yet #2 Limas Sweed - wrist injury #3 DeSean Jackson - too small #4 James Hardy - Off the field issues #5 Malcolm Kelly - slow 40 #6 Mario Manningham - complete idiot Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
N.Y. Orangeman Posted April 14, 2008 Share Posted April 14, 2008 I don't mean this sarcastically. Four months ago he was on nobody's radar and now he's a top 11 pick? Can he really be a top WR in the league? Is there something that set's him apart from a stud DE or CB? In a league where many of the star receivers are non-first round picks, why do we need to reach with our top pick? I think there is more to this than meets the eye. 3/4 Pro Bowl starter last year were 1st round picks, with 2 backups being selected in the first and Chad Johnson having been selected #36. Six out of the top ten receivers by yards were drafted in the first round, while 7 out of the top 11 (due to a tie) receivers/Dallas Clark by TDs were drafted in the first round. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Hindsight Posted April 14, 2008 Share Posted April 14, 2008 It worries me that this kid only has 1 college season to bank on. He's got great potential and his size/strength/speed are up to snuff by NFL standards. It's a very weak WR class this season, that's why he's being called the top wideout "al of a sudden." He's the only guy who hasn't hurt himself, so he wins the #1 wideout prospect status. Here's what NFL scouts draft boards look like right now: #1 Devin Thomas - hasn't F-ed up yet #2 Limas Sweed - wrist injury #3 DeSean Jackson - too small #4 James Hardy - Off the field issues #5 Malcolm Kelly - slow 40 #6 Mario Manningham - complete idiot You should do this with our QBs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pyrite Gal Posted April 14, 2008 Share Posted April 14, 2008 It worries me that this kid only has 1 college season to bank on. He's got great potential and his size/strength/speed are up to snuff by NFL standards. It's a very weak WR class this season, that's why he's being called the top wideout "al of a sudden." He's the only guy who hasn't hurt himself, so he wins the #1 wideout prospect status. Here's what NFL scouts draft boards look like right now: #1 Devin Thomas - hasn't F-ed up yet #2 Limas Sweed - wrist injury #3 DeSean Jackson - too small #4 James Hardy - Off the field issues #5 Malcolm Kelly - slow 40 #6 Mario Manningham - complete idiot The sense I get from hearing a number of draft rants is that its more complicated than simply declaring this a weak WR draft. If you are looking for a top 5 or top 10 draft talent to be your WR it is a very weak class. However, if you are looking for a talent at WR who will probably get a late first or second round pick this is actually a fairly deep class. This actually works to the Bills favor as we are not looking for a talent who will be our franchise #1 WR for years to come (though that would be nice but while possible in this crapshoot called the draft where Tom Brady is found in the 6th you cannot bank on that and reality is what one should bank on). We are looking for someone to be our #2. Banking on a crapshoot for immediate return is already a hard thing. Even if you find a Pro Bowl quality WR talent like an Eric Moulds it can easily be 3 years before he hits his stride. My sense is that what the Bills want to do is to trade down in the hopes of first only having to spend a low first round choice for the low first round talent at best we will get for WR and also to get a second first day choice to dip into what appears to be a fairly robust pool of second tier WR talents. The odds are that any WR we get is going to be a disappointment in his first year. The intelligent thing to do seems to be to get a couple of first day choice we can spend on WR with the plans that one of these two will work out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
obie_wan Posted April 14, 2008 Share Posted April 14, 2008 Potential and he plays in COLD WEATHER! if you define COLD as under 50 but he is taller than 6 ft - so he must be good but not as good as those guys over 6 '4" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stl Bills Posted April 14, 2008 Share Posted April 14, 2008 Mike Mamula Reprise. Yeah except look at what he did on the field last year in additon to what he did at the combine. I've seen Sweed, Kelly and J. Nelson play a lot as I watch a lot of Big 12 football being a Mizzou fan.......D. Thomas is way better than Limas Sweed IMO. I don't care what Kelly ran I'd still much rather have him in Rd 2 than sweed at 11. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beerball Posted April 14, 2008 Share Posted April 14, 2008 Potential and he plays in COLD WEATHER! Do we know anything about his hand size? Is he a glove man? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
obie_wan Posted April 14, 2008 Share Posted April 14, 2008 Do we know anything about his hand size? Is he a glove man? no one knows because the outdoor college season ends at Thanksgiing just because it snows in Michigan in January does not mean that Thomas played any snow or cold weather games in Nov. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
berndogg Posted April 14, 2008 Share Posted April 14, 2008 The one year thing doesn't bother me that much. I think that WR more than any other position depends so much on other factors (type of offense, qb that can get you the ball, seeing a lot of double coverage, etc.), that this is a position where potential and physical skills are just as important in evaluating as college stats are. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BEAST MODE BABY! Posted April 14, 2008 Share Posted April 14, 2008 Didn't Barry Sanders warm the bench for Thurman? Barry came "out of nowhere" his Senior year (didn't start until the 4th game IIRC) and he seems to have done alright. Of course, I picked the best RB ever as my example Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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