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Do you think the Raiders at 12 and Colts at 13 will pass on a WR? I personally don't, so if the Bills really covet Lamb or Jeudy, they'd have to jump ahead of them -- which would be pretty costly to move up that far. They might go up to 17 with Dallas if Ruggs was still there, but that's it on the offensive side. I'd like to see them maybe go to 15 with Denver and take Epenesa, with Denver still getting Shenault at 22...

It may all be moot on Shenault as he seems to be rising up mock draft boards right now. Jay Skurski's mock in today's Snooze ( https://buffalonews.com/2020/02/07/buffalo-bills-nfl-mock-draft-chaisson-skurski/ ) has him coming off the board at 15 to the Broncos, to give Drew Lock some help. Jay's got the Raiders taking Lamb at 12 and Jeudy going to the Colts at 13, as both teams need WR help. I've seen this in other mocks as well. I know this kind of stuff is written in cool whip this time of year, but it makes me think the guy Skurski mocks to the Bills -- K'Lavon Chaisson from LSU -- may well be where our first round pick goes. I can't see Beane trading up to the top 10 to jump ahead of the Raiders or Colts for one of the elite WRs. More than likely, the run on WRs will push good defensive players down and they'll get the benefit of that. And then snag a WR in round 2 or even round 3...

Actually, it was just 14 catches with the ball in the air 10+ yards, per PFF. The highlight packages on Youtube make it seem like he was running deep routes all the time, however...

Yeah. But think of the fun TSW had tracking Pegula's jet the day Charles was brought to town. Great memories...

Sully wishes! The Amherst Bee's circulation is about 27,000 while the Gazette's is 10,500...

Agreed. And I'd go back beyond Donahoe to Polian. IMO, TD was a funky GM from a player personnel / team architect point of view. The biggest head slap I ever had with him was a quote he made about not ever talking to Mike Williams before when they took him at pick #4 in 2002. How can a GM not even meet with a prospective #4 pick to kick the tires and see what his personality was like? It was malpractice IMO. Big Mike clearly didn't love the game of football and a lot could have been learned about that if they had done their DD properly. There were many other odd things TD did that made me think he was a paper tiger, even with his Steeler pedigree...

No offense, but I don't want to allocate pick #22 to upgrade our WR4... The only way Shenault makes sense to me is if they fill the need at WR1 with either a free agent or trade. Then they could let Viska play a 'rover' type role as the X, Y and Z positions would be already settled. For example, if they trade for AJ Green or some other vet, then yes, a wildcard guy like Shenault would be an exciting addition. But if Viska has to be that WR1, I'd like to go another direction with the pick...

Lol! I agree, but it was too juicy a target, relative to Poyer's one bad game. He might also have been referring to the Ravens game, where one breakdown was the critical difference maker...

Or Tre' in the second half...

Most of Beane's comments were things he's said before, but I found his remarks about McD's 'buddies' to be something new and kind of eye-opening. It's the first time I can recall him deviating from the "joined at the hip" partnership they've promoted when it comes to team building. I like that Beane's clearly the sheriff in town and sort of keeping McD from getting too comfortable or over-loaded with his 'type' of guys (i.e., humble, God-fearing over-achieving underdogs)...

I don't know if there are any drag racing fans here, but I've been one for a long , long time. It's amazing, but if you watch enough of it, you can get a sense of the minute time differences involved--measured in the tenths and even hundredths of a second--with the naked eye. I suspect that scouts and other NFL personnel types can also do the same with players....

More like: "Prime time advertising spots sell for how much over morning ones? Wow! I didn't know that!"

The money shot: "We can all anticipate that the Buffalo Bills will be cutting some substantial checks this offseason, to the tune of $50M+ at a minimum, but I believe a greater portion of that — potentially over half of the available cap space — will need to be allotted for upcoming extensions of franchise-pillar players whose deals don’t expire until after the 2020 season."

Abso-f'n-loutely correct...

I don't think he'll go up that high (for Lamb or Jeudy, presumably). But I could see him getting into the teens for Ruggs or--on the other side of the ball--Epenesa. Almost every mock I see over the last few days has Buffalo sitting at 22 and picking Tee Higgins. I just can't see Beane taking that safe / expected route this year. If they can't go up for a specific target, I'd rather go down and collect an extra 2nd or 3rd. There are plenty of good players in that range of the draft that could really help the Bills this year...

More fuel for the fire: Pro Football Focus WR rankings as of January 31 3. LAVISKA SHENAULT JR., COLORADO Draft Board Rank: 15th Shenault is still more of an offensive weapon than a wide receiver, but he's one deadly weapon, nonetheless. As a true sophomore, he caught 87 passes for 1,019 yards and broke 29 tackles on the year. The combination of his size at 220 pounds and likely sub-4.4 explosiveness is unmatched at the receiver position in the draft class. The worrisome thing is that it so far hasn't translated to downfield production. Even before his injury-plagued 2019 season, Shenault only had 22 of his 87 catches come on targets 10-plus yards downfield (and only 14 this past season), while both Lamb and Jeudy have had more in each of the past two seasons. However, you just can't teach his physical tools, and all you have to do is find a way to get him the ball for good things to happen.

Just for the record: Larry Fitzgerald (taken 3rd overall in 2004) Receiving Rushing Scrimmage Year School Conf Class Pos G Rec Yds Avg TD Att Yds Avg TD Plays Yds Avg TD Career Pitt 161 2677 16.6 34 1 7 7.0 0 162 2684 16.6 34 *2002 Pitt Big East FR WR 13 69 1005 14.6 12 69 1005 14.6 12 *2003 Pitt Big East SO WR 13 92 1672 18.2 22 1 7 7.0 0 93 1679 18.1 22 BTW, that 4.63 time for Fitzgerald is incorrect--he ran a 4.48 at the combine according to Pro Football Reference. Laviska Shenault Jr. Receiving Rushing Scrimmage Year School Conf Class Pos G Rec Yds Avg TD Att Yds Avg TD Plays Yds Avg TD Career Colorado 149 1943 13.0 10 42 280 6.7 7 191 2223 11.6 17 2017 Colorado Pac-12 FR WR 7 7 168 24.0 0 2 4 2.0 0 9 172 19.1 0 2018 Colorado Pac-12 SO WR 9 86 1011 11.8 6 17 115 6.8 5 103 1126 10.9 11 2019 Colorado Pac-12 JR WR 11 56 764 13.6 4 23 161 7.0 2 79 925 11.7 6

The sound of one hand clapping...

No question. Throw in the TE situation and they essentially played all year with one arm tied behind their backs. But my hope is that they draft WRs with short(er) development curves, rather than x-factor guys like Shenault who still have much to learn about the position. The Bills no longer have the luxury of being an up and coming team--they have to take that step to being a playoff team that executes like one from opening day. Not many fans are going to be happy with a 9-7 or 8-8 season, but "hey, we drafted a lot of potential that will be good in 2021 or 2022." I suspect McBeane know that and I'm hopeful they set their draft board for rounds 1-2 accordingly...

I agree with that. I like Samuel and think he has a great future with a strong supporting cast on a playoff caliber team. The same way Metcalf is set up in Seattle. But IMO, Debo would just be "a promising rookie with untapped potential" in Jacksonville or Charlotte, meaning I doubt many posters would be taking about him as a type of player the Bills need.

I hope this is what they're thinking of again this year. Be very aggressive at the top of the round for a guy they've specifically targeted. If they have a conviction about a player, make it happen rather than wait and hope for the best...

This isn't on you, but I always get a chuckle when I see highlight packages that feature opponents like New Mexico State, Southern Mississippi, Arkansas or Tennessee. Not really fair competition for the Alabama's of the world who can field 10-12 NFLers (many of them first rounders) year after year against future stock brokers and used car salesmen. IMO, that's why its so hard to evaluate many of these draft prospects, where the hit rate on how they'll do against NFL competition is only about 60-40. It takes multiple, multiple data points and evaluations--and then a whole lot of luck... I like Ruggs and would be happy to have him, however!

My point is that if he went to a non-playoff team with a meh QB, would we even be having this conversation. I doubt it...

So, it wasn't an impossible burger...

I think he's out of football now...