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This is my last post on this, but I think the combine does show character. Sure, it's about test scores. But it's also about how players go about the testing. How do they interact with one another? Do they want to excel? Do they want to beat their competition? Do they take a chance and put themselves on the line? Or do they say I'm not good enough today, check back in a few weeks when I'm in a familiar and comfortable setting and can bring my binky with me? Players can choose to compete or they can choose to sit. Sure, there are plenty of examples of guys who DNP'd the combine and had careers in the NFL. But I think the Bills need competitors, not transactional players...

I'm talking about MY requirements for being a Bill. I want players who compete. Full stop. It doesn't mean others won't have different opinions of Higgins or Chaisson or Delpit. Chase Young has nothing to prove, unlike Higgens. I doubt it'll change Tee's draft slot much, particularly with the teams that get player evaluations wrong year after year (the Jets, Dolphins, Redskins, etc. say hello). But I also can't see it helping his "profile" with teams that place a high regard on character and competitiveness, like the Bills. I'm not a Shenault fan, but I give him a lot of credit for running, knowing it could potentially hurt him. That attitude is probably why his Colorado teammates supposedly loved him so much. It's the type of football temperament that I (and likely McBeane as well) want to build a team around, even if I don't think Viska's worth a late first pick either...

Sorry, they serve Corona beer there. Way too risky...

I don't recall anyone other than the Skipper ever entrusting Gilligan with anything. If anything, the castaways should have a beef with management...

Nearly a dozen LSU kids took part in the combine, as did most of his Clemson teammates who were invited. So how come Tee is so special? Another way to look at it is that the combine is analogous to a bowl game. Players should show up and want to compete against the very best. Not skip the "game" because they think it'll cost them money. That's why you have pro days, so you can add data points (in addition to the combine) for teams to evaluate. If a kid's that worried that it'll cost him $$$ because he only had 4-5 weeks to prepare, he's likely going to be the kind of mercenary, "transactional" NFL player that McDermott rails against. Seems to me you have the equivalent "I like this guy so I don't see any warts" bias you accuse me of having against him. I think character and competitiveness matter in player selection. This is just another check mark as to why I don't want him as a Bill at #22...

Channel 4 has a website with a sports section? LOL! Sully's clicks might be even less than they were at the Niagara Gazette...

Answer me this. If you were interviewing a kid about to graduate from the Harvard or Wharton MBA program for a management trainee job and he said, "sorry I'm late, I had to grab some lunch because I missed breakfast" or "I had to call another recruiter back about a text they just sent me," would you still consider hiring them? Football temperament and squad personality are intangible, yet important things. You hear McBeane talk about them all the time. “We’ve got a tremendous culture and a tremendous locker room. It’s really about a transformational type of culture and locker room as opposed to transactional." "McDermott has been preaching a team-first culture since he arrived in 2017. After three seasons, he now has a handful of players who have both embraced that message and produced in a big way on the field in helping the Bills earn two playoff berths in three years." The combine is an interview process, both in terms of gauging the players' personalities AND their ability to perform in a competitive setting. Kids who don't rise to the challenge -- when so many others do -- are a big red flag for me. And I suspect a lot of other NFL personnel would think like this as well...

There are things you don't say, however. Maybe I'm old school, but saying "I only had four or five weeks to prepare for this, and I feel like that's not enough time...I just feel like I need to be more prepared to run the 40 and all the other drills" is a cop out "me first" move. Burrow can say it becase A.) he's going number one, no matter what, and B.) he's going number one, no matter what. Oh, and C.) he's going number one,no matter what. Tee Higgins? He's not going where he thinks he's going...

I know McBeane value players who are competitive and not 'me first,' which is what Higgins is basically saying. He must not have an agent as I'm sure they would have told him this would be perceived negatively from a "football character" perspective...

This will definitely drop him into round 2. The question is, does it drop him from the Bills board at #54...

Life is short...and you'll never get back all the time you wasted on TSW.

Tag and trade. Mike Brown is too cheap to pay him and wants to get something / anything for him. I'd offer a mid-round pick and see if he bites, although I'm not sure Green has much left in the tank...

Well, I was thinking in terms of locker room distraction...

That would be one hell of draft...

Well, that probably crossed him off McD's list of "process" types...

To me, this is how you run a draft. Find the guys you want, then find ways to get them. To just live with the crap shoot of the normal draft slot selection process seems too passive, in many ways. If you have to 'settle' for a player after missing out on who you really wanted, you're already behind...

I can't see that. If they're going to have bad quarterbacking (which they would with Dalton), better to have it with a younger player who can grow rather than a old guy who can only go further downhill. OTOH, it would be great to watch the Patriots fans perform seppuku everytime Andy throws a pick or fails to convert a third down...

Metcalf is a MUCH better athlete than Higgins. That lack of athleticism--in a WR class chock full of it--is one of the biggest negatives I have with him at #22 (along with some route inflexibility/explosion limitations). Pick 40 to 56 is another matter, however, as that would be a better value slot for him. I think he'll slide into Round 2, given how strong this overall draft class is. If the Bills like him enough, trading up to the first half of round 2 to get him would be OK. Just not at #22...

I've never been a fan of Bulaga, particularly at a UFA price tag. Rogers makes his line look better than they are, IMO...

Couldn't sleep so I watched a replay of the second half of the Alabama-Auburn "Iron Bowl" game on ESPN. Came away disapointed in Ruggs and especially Jeudy. The Tide's best WRs--by far--were Jaylen Waddle and Davonta Smith. I didn't like Ruggs release against press coverage. And even though he ended up with 6 catches for 99 yards, including a 3-yard TD, he didn't seem to be much of a factor when the game was on the line--and wasn't even on the field in many critical situations. Jeudy was invisible, with 5 catches for just 26 yards... https://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/boxscores/2019-11-30-auburn.html

Agree on all points. They have to solve the goaltending problem for next year. Hutton's got one more year on his contract, but I want his ass out of Buffalo as soon as possible. Jack's still their most effective forward, even at 80%. I don't know if sitting him does anything other than tell the team that management has given up...

"Catch radius" and "Allen's innaccuracy" seem to be the national narative around the Bills WR needs. Good thing it doesn't appear to be Beane's...

Neither is being slightly above average. 4-12 teams can't afford to take chances with draft capital. 10-6 teams on the rise can - and should...