Ethan in Cleveland Posted March 29, 2019 Posted March 29, 2019 (edited) I don't believe the Bills have ever had an athletically superior tight end. I would see Fant as great complement to Kroft (who I don't think much of at all) and Fisher(assuming he even makes the roster). Bills TE play has been so underwhelming for decades if not the entire history of the franchise. Hockenson is probably a better talent than Kroft but the skill set is too similar and the explosiveness is not the same as Fant. I would like to see Beane drop down a few spots maybe even with more than one trade and take Fant around 15 -18. I think he could create mismatches all over the field. For the record, I think the best chance to trade down is if there is an early run on QBs and Miami or Denver gets nervous they will be shut out. That said, if there is an early run on QBs I see the Bills staying at 9 and taking an elite defender. Edited March 29, 2019 by Ethan in Portland 2
Ethan in Cleveland Posted March 29, 2019 Author Posted March 29, 2019 6 minutes ago, WMDman said: Id only take Fant in the second I've yet to see a mock where he has fallen out of the first round. But guys fall all the time for no reason. Would be great to get Oliver and Fant. Generational draft like 2018. 2
YoloinOhio Posted March 29, 2019 Posted March 29, 2019 (edited) I like Fant but would not take him in the 1st. He doesn’t have great hands and I think he’s significantly less pro-ready than Hockenson. He’s a better athlete and faster but he’s not stepping in immediately ready to block at the Pro level. He has a lot of room to grow, and Nate Stanley struggled to throw the ball downfield consistently so i think he could be better utilized at the next level. He reminds me of Ebron. Which means he could go in the 1st, but i wouldn’t do it. He also had a bad day the one game Beane watched him live vs PSU. Fumbled and missed a huge assignment that led to an INT to lose game. He he has more “elite” traits than Hock but lacks polish - both are round 2 prospects imo who will go in 1st. he could be the Bills version of Edmunds - very high Ceiling but somewhat of a project. If so, your scenario could certainly play out. Edited March 29, 2019 by YoloinOhio 1
thenorthremembers Posted March 29, 2019 Posted March 29, 2019 Haven't watched much film on him, but from what I've seen he is a good off the line receiving tight end. But if I am drafting a tight end in the first two rounds I want a player who can be on the field on running downs as well. Hock is probably the best all around tight end in the draft, but I still say his blocking is more desire than technique. There are instances where he looks like he blocking while on ice skates. Irv Smith is a great blocker, but he has suspect hands. Again, I like Fant as a wideout just not sure he will a complete tight end in the league. 1
YoloinOhio Posted March 29, 2019 Posted March 29, 2019 Just now, thenorthremembers said: Haven't watched much film on him, but from what I've seen he is a good off the line receiving tight end. But if I am drafting a tight end in the first two rounds I want a player who can be on the field on running downs as well. Hock is probably the best all around tight end in the draft, but I still say his blocking is more desire than technique. There are instances where he looks like he blocking while on ice skates. Irv Smith is a great blocker, but he has suspect hands. Again, I like Fant as a wideout just not sure he will a complete tight end in the league. Fant generally has his frame in the right area when blocking, so he shows potential there. But he’s not very big and depending on the matchup was unable to block the bigger, savvy defender. Fwiw this is the game the Bills watched live: 1
thenorthremembers Posted March 29, 2019 Posted March 29, 2019 1 minute ago, YoloinOhio said: Fant generally has his frame in the right area when blocking, so he shows potential there. But he’s not very big and depending on the matchup was unable to block the bigger, savvy defender. Thank you for that. I've watched a few games, but it seems like he was splitting out wide most of the time. Didn't get to see him block the way I saw Hock. Oddly enough I came away not all that impressed with Hock's blocking. Like I said, he is tenacious, but I was confused because people were talking about what a great blocker he was. Was much more impressed with Irv Smith. The guy is a complete mack truck when it comes to blocking. But then I watched him drop multiple passes in the three games I took in.
Augie Posted March 29, 2019 Posted March 29, 2019 (edited) The beauty of filling so many holes in FA is.....we can wait to see which players fall and draft BPA. We don’t have to reach. Guys will fall, let’s see who it is and go for value. We will probably trade back, AND trade up, but do it for the guys you most believe in! . Edited March 29, 2019 by Augie 3
freddyjj Posted March 29, 2019 Posted March 29, 2019 Hockenson or Sternberger are my two favorites but don't see OBD using a #1 on TE unless it is a trade into back of Rd 1 to grab their targeted guy., 1
dpberr Posted March 29, 2019 Posted March 29, 2019 In the battle of Iowa TEs, you really do have to decide between the superior athlete (Fant) and the superior football player (Hockenson). Personally, if I had to choose, I'd go with Hockenson because I think he will pick up the complexity of the plays, routes, blocking assignments, etc. faster than Fant will due to being the more experienced, well rounded football player. Hockenson won't have the hesitation Fant likely will trying to figure it all out. I think the athlete vs. player question at TE is readily apparent when you look at an Eric Ebron vs. George Kittle. Ebron is a superior athlete to Kittle but Kittle already knew how to run routes and catch passes when he entered the league. Ebron had to learn how to do that at a professional level "in" the league.
YoloinOhio Posted March 29, 2019 Posted March 29, 2019 (edited) 6 minutes ago, thenorthremembers said: Thank you for that. I've watched a few games, but it seems like he was splitting out wide most of the time. Didn't get to see him block the way I saw Hock. Oddly enough I came away not all that impressed with Hock's blocking. Like I said, he is tenacious, but I was confused because people were talking about what a great blocker he was. Was much more impressed with Irv Smith. The guy is a complete mack truck when it comes to blocking. But then I watched him drop multiple passes in the three games I took in. I do trust Daboll on the TE selection. Not only was he a NFL TE coach but he coached Irv Smith and coached against Sternberger, Mauta and Knox. Edited March 29, 2019 by YoloinOhio 2 1
Jay_Fixit Posted March 29, 2019 Posted March 29, 2019 I think Fant is a modern Eric Ebron. Lots of sizzle, but the steak is missing. I don’t like receivers with average hands. It usually doesn’t work out well. Especially with a QB who throws lasers. 2
BillsFan1988 Posted March 29, 2019 Posted March 29, 2019 16 minutes ago, thenorthremembers said: Haven't watched much film on him, but from what I've seen he is a good off the line receiving tight end. But if I am drafting a tight end in the first two rounds I want a player who can be on the field on running downs as well. Hock is probably the best all around tight end in the draft, but I still say his blocking is more desire than technique. There are instances where he looks like he blocking while on ice skates. Irv Smith is a great blocker, but he has suspect hands. Again, I like Fant as a wideout just not sure he will a complete tight end in the league. He does seem to lose balance at times but when his technique is right he can be a punisher . I've seen him pancake guys. Did u see the Iowa vs Mississippi state game he pancakes Sweat a couple of times.
YoloinOhio Posted March 29, 2019 Posted March 29, 2019 2 minutes ago, Jay_Fixit said: I think Fant is a modern Eric Ebron. Lots of sizzle, but the steak is missing. I don’t like receivers with average hands. It usually doesn’t work out well. Especially with a QB who throws lasers. He can be a body catcher but I did see him adjust to some poorly thrown balls. It’s hard to evaluate pass catchers in college sometimes because the offensive scheme is sometimes Limited due to QB
DCbillsfan Posted March 29, 2019 Posted March 29, 2019 (edited) 19 minutes ago, Augie said: The beauty of filling so many holes n FA is.....we can wait to see which players fall and draft BPA. We don’t have to reach. Guys will fall, let’s see who it is and go for value. We will probably trade back, AND trade up, but do it for the guys you most believe in! If the Bills stay at 9, I really want the Bills to draft a guy who is "plug and play" in the first round. Hopefully that is part of their definition of BPA. Edited March 29, 2019 by DCbillsfan
RyanC883 Posted March 29, 2019 Posted March 29, 2019 17 minutes ago, YoloinOhio said: I do trust Daboll on the TE selection. Not only was he a NFL TE coach but he coached Irv Smith and coached against Sternberger, Mauta and Knox. I could see Irv Smith being the guy. Are there any other TE's from Bama that may go UDFA. Perhaps a Foster type TE??!! 12 minutes ago, Jay_Fixit said: I think Fant is a modern Eric Ebron. Lots of sizzle, but the steak is missing. I don’t like receivers with average hands. It usually doesn’t work out well. Especially with a QB who throws lasers. agree with everything here. Esp. the hands comment. Not taking a 1st or 2nd round pick on an "athlete" at WR or TE with "questionable" hands.
Logic Posted March 29, 2019 Posted March 29, 2019 49 minutes ago, Ethan in Portland said: I don't believe the Bills have ever had an athletically superior tight end. You must have missed the Shawn Nelson era! 2 1
YoloinOhio Posted March 29, 2019 Posted March 29, 2019 2 minutes ago, RyanC883 said: I could see Irv Smith being the guy. Are there any other TE's from Bama that may go UDFA. Perhaps a Foster type TE??!! agree with everything here. Esp. the hands comment. Not taking a 1st or 2nd round pick on an "athlete" at WR or TE with "questionable" hands. None at TE but G Ross Pierschbacher is under the radar and someone I think I could see them taking 1
Da webster guy Posted March 29, 2019 Posted March 29, 2019 Well, both these Iowa guys are probably going to go in the first round, which has to be a record that might never get broken again. Two TE's from the same team NFL 1st rounders. Pretty wild. Hock seems like a perfect McD guy. Busts his ass, plays to the whistle, humble etc. The question is, how much is that Patriots2 game sticking in Beane's mind when we sat there and hopelessly gave up 6 ypc and nearly 300 yards to Sony Michel and co. When you can't stop the run even when you know it's coming, it's embarrassing to everyone in the organization and the fans. I know I can't get over that game, and remember thinking we had better fix this in the draft or it's gonna keep happening. With that in mind, does a TE in the first make sense with some major run stoppers on the board? I want a stud TE too, but I look at guys like OJ Howard (went 19th) and Ebron (10th overall) and can't help but wonder how many games these guys have won for their teams. Would they burn a 1st rounder on them again in a re draft? I think Daboll will be the key here. For some reason I see him preferring four pure receivers out there and a blocking TE on empty sets, which he seemed to use more and more as the season went on, vs a receiving TE and 3 WR's. In that case I think Beaner will lean a little toward DL in the first and I'm convinced he's taking OT Risner in the 2nd. (I've never made a single draft prediction correctly tho. Leave that to Astro.)
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