nucci Posted April 28, 2012 Posted April 28, 2012 (edited) ill take the 'hopeful, but question the pick until graham shows me something' approach. which by the way may not be this year as nix/gailey don't tend to play offensive rookies much - look at spiller who was picked #9. i won't fall in love with the pick just to avoid being called a troll. to all those posters who reflexive have blind trust in gailey/nix/bills management and automatically criticize posters who question this pick - there are veteran posters on this board who have correctly disagreed with bills management on past picks (see maybin, mckelvin, mccargo) - so i wouldn't throw the 'troll' label around too loosely and lastly, no has brought up that perhaps nix was suckered into trading up for this guy. there are rumors that someone was interested in taking graham before the bills 3rd rounder, forcing nix to trade a 7th. but just as nix spread the rumor that glenn wasn't a LOT to cause him the drop, some other team out there may be laughing how they got the bills to trade away a pick by dropping misinformation. Suckered in to giving up one of the two 7th round picks we have? Really? Edited April 28, 2012 by nucci
ofiba Posted April 28, 2012 Posted April 28, 2012 Whenever I draft in Madden and didn't scout any of the players still available I just sort the list by speed and draft a burner. They pan out all the time for me.
Jack Straw Posted April 28, 2012 Posted April 28, 2012 (edited) Looking at the interview on BB.com with Buddy and Chan, it seems like TJ was really "Chan's guy." Also hilarious when they ask Buddy if he considered trading up in the 2nd, and he goes something like "Well we did it in the third, gave up a 7th rounder...we're riverboat gamblers!" Edited April 28, 2012 by Jack Straw
ColdBlueNorth Posted April 28, 2012 Posted April 28, 2012 I just think that a missing element to our passing game was not a tall possession-type receiver (we have a few of those), but rather the Evans factor of being able to stretch the field with speed. From all accounts this was the fastest receiver with hands, a bit raw but Gailey knows that safeties were sitting on our routes because we did not have a true deep threat to stretch the field in the vertical. Do I think he panicked a bit to grab him....maybe, but it was a key element missing from his offense and with Chan taking the backseat to a lot of defensive personnel upgrades the last 2 years, Buddy just made sure he got his man. I am sure they received good intel that another team was going to "reach" for the kid later in that round before they got to the fourth. I am alright with this pick.
BuffaloBill Posted April 28, 2012 Posted April 28, 2012 I just think that a missing element to our passing game was not a tall possession-type receiver (we have a few of those), but rather the Evans factor of being able to stretch the field with speed. From all accounts this was the fastest receiver with hands, a bit raw but Gailey knows that safeties were sitting on our routes because we did not have a true deep threat to stretch the field in the vertical. Do I think he panicked a bit to grab him....maybe, but it was a key element missing from his offense and with Chan taking the backseat to a lot of defensive personnel upgrades the last 2 years, Buddy just made sure he got his man. I am sure they received good intel that another team was going to "reach" for the kid later in that round before they got to the fourth. I am alright with this pick. I agree with your points. The Bills need a sped receiver and one that Chan is comfortable with. Lee Evans was never "that guy" for Chan. I also give Gailey a lot of credit. He has taken a bunch of no-name receivers and has made them very effective. The Bills can move the ball and score points. If the D plays up to its potential this team will take a major step forward.
Kelly the Dog Posted April 28, 2012 Posted April 28, 2012 I just think that a missing element to our passing game was not a tall possession-type receiver (we have a few of those), but rather the Evans factor of being able to stretch the field with speed. From all accounts this was the fastest receiver with hands, a bit raw but Gailey knows that safeties were sitting on our routes because we did not have a true deep threat to stretch the field in the vertical. Do I think he panicked a bit to grab him....maybe, but it was a key element missing from his offense and with Chan taking the backseat to a lot of defensive personnel upgrades the last 2 years, Buddy just made sure he got his man. I am sure they received good intel that another team was going to "reach" for the kid later in that round before they got to the fourth. I am alright with this pick. Exactly. Not knowing anything about him before we drafted him, I just assumed he would be the Roscoe guy, but now it is pretty clear he will be the Evans guy. I have been saying all along that all we need out of our #2 is to be a THREAT. He doesn't have to dominate. He just has to keep defenses honest and stretch the field. That is what Meachem was going to do which is why they went after him so hard. I would have loved Blackmon or Floyd, but that's because those two could be stars. But if you're not going for that level player, all the #2 needs to do is be a viable option out of 5 possible options on any given play, stretch the field, and make teams pay if they forget about him. Another funny thing to me is that people are all calling Graham a little guy and a smurf and Roscoe, etc. Graham is 5'11" and change and 188 pounds. Stephon Gilmore, whom everyone calls "a big corner", and exactly the guy who would be playing against Graham, is 6'0" 190.
dogma+ Posted April 28, 2012 Posted April 28, 2012 I don't care for the pick, but as your lawyer I advise you not to judge WR's on just numbers because they're so dependent on the rest of the offense doing its job well. Yeah, you're probably right.
Lurker Posted April 28, 2012 Posted April 28, 2012 (edited) 12 fumbles scares me a bit. Yes, that's a concern. Smaller guys with small hands like Steve Smith have to learn how to protect the ball. It's something that they can develop, however, much like Smith did. Edited April 28, 2012 by Lurker
Miyagi-Do Karate Posted April 28, 2012 Posted April 28, 2012 Yes, that's a concern. Smaller guys with small hands like Steve Smith have to learn how to protect the ball. It's something that they can develop, however, much like Smith did. funny you should mention steve smith; it seems like graham compares to him from a size standpoint.
Lurker Posted April 28, 2012 Posted April 28, 2012 funny you should mention steve smith; it seems like graham compares to him from a size standpoint. Yeah. Not quite the same frame, though. Smith was more the fireplug, while Graham looks more Lee Evan-ish. Hopefully he can grow into a Smith-like body...
Miyagi-Do Karate Posted April 28, 2012 Posted April 28, 2012 Yeah. Not quite the same frame, though. Smith was more the fireplug, while Graham looks more Lee Evan-ish. Hopefully he can grow into a Smith-like body... I'm trying to think back on Steve Smith's development. When he was a pro-bowl returner as a rookie, I feel like he wasn't as built as he later became. A couple of off-seasons in the NFL did the trick. Maybe same for Graham. Regardless, the comparisons to Roscoe are unfounded. Graham looks like he has the body frame to be a legit outside receiver.
eball Posted April 28, 2012 Posted April 28, 2012 I'm not even going to read through 21 pages because I'm sure 95% of it is the same old schitt -- since Kiper, McShay, and Mayock didn't have him going that high, it must be a reach and horrible pick. Well, I watched a bit of Graham, being a Tar Heel fan and seeing a lot of ACC games, and after four weeks this season it looked like he was going to shatter every record known to man. Graham is NOT a smurf, or a waterbug...he's an absolute speed demon who will stretch the field. I don't know the details as to why his production tapered off later, but he turned it on again in their bowl game. If Chan wanted this guy for the offense, it's a good thing. His presence WILL open up the secondary. He's also not the prototypical "track guy" who can't catch. He has hands. And oh by the way, the nfl.com profile did indicate he "could be selected as high as the 3rd round."
Awwufelloff Posted April 28, 2012 Posted April 28, 2012 (edited) I've read reports that TJ Graham's 4.41 time reported at the combine is inaccurate. It was Graham's slower time. He ran a 4.41 and a 4.29, which gives him a 4.35 (fastest combine WR time this year was 4.36). These reports jive with Graham's training and prep -- he expected to run a sub 4.3 time. It also makes picking him in the 3rd round much more sensible. The Bills just did their homework on his speed. What's interesting there is not the 0.06 second correction so much as the 4.29 low. That's elite NFL speed, the sort that you need to burn NFL corners. Only a handful of NFL receivers have that sort of speed. Graham's got it, and now the Bills do too. I believe we'll also be one of two teams with multiple players on offense with sub 4.3 speed, the Raiders being the other. We got the fastest WR in the draft folks. Edited April 28, 2012 by Awwufelloff
NickelCity Posted April 29, 2012 Posted April 29, 2012 youtube.com/watch?v=1NvgLkuEtkA I mean, he's not a "tall" receiver...but isn't he 5'11"? Maybe even a hair taller?
jjmac Posted April 29, 2012 Posted April 29, 2012 Post your reaction here... Love it. Some much needed speed.
eball Posted April 29, 2012 Posted April 29, 2012 Just a joke. I don't know anything about this guy... For future reference, jokes are usually funnier if they contain some sort of relevance to the subject matter at hand. Just sayin'...
JoeF Posted April 29, 2012 Posted April 29, 2012 Figured I would bring this up...not really relevant to TJ's football skills--but TJ's dad is Trevor Graham the Track Coach of BALCO fame. TJ was raised to be a sprinter and has been around athletes like Marion Jones, Tim Montgomery, etc. all his life. Trevor was a world class sprinter from Jamaica. Trevor has done his best to shield TJ from the scandals which have enveloped him. There is really no point here. I know Trevor a bit from a past life -- and while I don't agree at all with his cheating and supplying athletes with PEDs -- Trevor has helped raise a good kid in TJ. TJ has never taken talent for granted even though he was blessed and easily could have accomplished things like a 100M/200m State championship without working hard. TJ works with his dad almost every day now and after having a distant relationship for a while the two now are closer than they have ever been. Dad has been humbled a bit by his experiences the last decade and TJ will work like heck to succeed--that's the biggest thing father gave son.
agardin Posted April 29, 2012 Posted April 29, 2012 I've read reports that TJ Graham's 4.41 time reported at the combine is inaccurate. It was Graham's slower time. He ran a 4.41 and a 4.29, which gives him a 4.35 (fastest combine WR time this year was 4.36). These reports jive with Graham's training and prep -- he expected to run a sub 4.3 time. It also makes picking him in the 3rd round much more sensible. The Bills just did their homework on his speed. What's interesting there is not the 0.06 second correction so much as the 4.29 low. That's elite NFL speed, the sort that you need to burn NFL corners. Only a handful of NFL receivers have that sort of speed. Graham's got it, and now the Bills do too. I believe we'll also be one of two teams with multiple players on offense with sub 4.3 speed, the Raiders being the other. We got the fastest WR in the draft folks. I thought the same thing, they were talking about Graham's speed and while 4.41 is not slow it would not make Graham an outlier. Numbers in the low 4.3s do. I know that doesn't translate directly into football skill but if you are drafting a pure speed-- numbers to the sideline guy-- it is helpful is he is a true burner
Recommended Posts