Rd 6 pick 185 (6): CB Christian Benford, Villanova

[dollars 2 donuts]

1 hour ago, The Dean said:

 

🤣

 

Or the equally popular, "I've never heard of him. Reach!" 

😂

 

Yeah, Dean, but the steal of the draft.  He was much higher on a number of other boards.  We'll be able to coach him up.

 

🤣

[BigAl2526]

The posts about Benford being slow are interesting to me.  He timed 4.52 in the 40 at his pro day.  That is significantly better than Levi Wallace and better than Dane Jackson.  It's comparable to what Kyler Gordon did in the 40 at the combine, and Gordon went in the second round.   It's pretty well known that a lot of young prospects get coaching specifically for the combine and pro day testing.  Benford, being a small school guy who didn't get invited to the combine, is far less likely to have been coached up for the running that he did at his pro day, than say Kyler Gordon.

 

The Bills are getting somewhat faster at the position.  Of course, Elam is pretty fast at 4.39 replacing Wallace who was 4.6+.  Nick McCloud on their practice squad last year is still with the Bills, is their fastest CB with a 4.37 40.  He's also got decent size at 6' and 193 lbs.  If he can get his deficiencies coached up, the Bills secondary is looking up.

Edited May 2, 2022 by BigAl2526

[Matt_In_NH]

28 minutes ago, BigAl2526 said:

is far less likely to have been coached up for the running that he did at his pro day

I dont agree with this, small schools know the 40 yard time is important.  The guy has an agent and coaches who know about the NFL.  I would bet he was coached up a lot heading into that pro day for his 40 yard dash.......

[Miyagi-Do Karate]

38 minutes ago, BigAl2526 said:

The posts about Benford being slow are interesting to me.  He timed 4.52 in the 40 at his pro day.  That is significantly better than Levi Wallace and better than Dane Jackson.  It's comparable to what Kyler Godon did in the 40 at the combine, and Gordon went in the second round.   It's pretty well known that a lot of young prospects get coaching specifically for the combine and pro day testing.  Benford, being a small school guy who didn't get invited to the combine, is far less likely to have been coached up for the running that he did at his pro day, than say Kyler Gordon.

 

The Bills are getting somewhat faster at the position.  Of course, Elam is pretty fast at 4.39 replacing Wallace who was 4.6+.  Nick McCloud on their practice squad last year is still with the Bills, is their fastest CB with a 4.37 40.  He's also got decent size at 6' and 193 lbs.  If he can get his deficiencies coached up, the Bills secondary is looking up.

great post.

 

BTW, you know which other small school corner ran a 4.5 40 for us? Terrance McGee. He worked out pretty well. 

[Buffalosouth]

Nothing wrong with depth/competition/cost control at CB. His ball skills are pretty good and he has decent speed with a big frame. Let him cook on special teams, get coached up and let him get his opportunities. Late round picks are found money if they hit so let's find out.

[FilthyBeast]

With guys taken at this stage of the draft you can't really argue it was a good or bad pick and best case we find another Dane Jackson type of player here.

 

Also if this guy looks good in camp he's going to have to make the active roster or he'll just get poached off the practice squad like Wildgoose and some of the other late round guys we took last year.

[Richard Noggin]

9 hours ago, 13 Second Prevent Defense said:

I dont agree with this, small schools know the 40 yard time is important.  The guy has an agent and coaches who know about the NFL.  I would bet he was coached up a lot heading into that pro day for his 40 yard dash.......

Of course you're correct that draftable prospects coming out of the lower ranks of college football still have access to pre-draft thinking and training. They know what bigger school, higher-rated guys are doing to prepare for the process and who they've signed with to get them there. But they don't always/usually have agents/orgs as willing to financially stake them at the same pre-draft investment level as those more sought-after prospects. The high-end training camps and schools cost beaucoup bucks many day 3 and UDFA guys can't so easily afford/finance. Gotta first run a cost/benefit-analysis of what a few hundredths off the 40 would net for a typical late-round prospect upon signing...

[Just Joshin']

11 hours ago, Buffalosouth said:

Nothing wrong with depth/competition/cost control at CB. His ball skills are pretty good and he has decent speed with a big frame. Let him cook on special teams, get coached up and let him get his opportunities. Late round picks are found money if they hit so let's find out.

he plays gunner on ST....cut Jones, use Benford as gunner.

[Buffalosouth]

3 hours ago, Just Joshin' said:

he plays gunner on ST....cut Jones, use Benford as gunner.

I also don't see jones being around much longer.

[MrEpsYtown]

1 minute ago, Buffalosouth said:

I also don't see jones being around much longer.

 

3 hours ago, Just Joshin' said:

he plays gunner on ST....cut Jones, use Benford as gunner.

I think they really like Jones. He is a “Matthew Slater” level special teamer, except his dad wasn’t a famous NFL Hall of Famer so no one cares. Having guys like Jones around is pretty valuable. Something has  to give in the running back room, but I am not sure Jones is the one who is a goner. 

[hemma]

Jairus Byrd was a CB coming out of school with a body build/write up description that was very similar to Benford.

Converted to Safety and got 9 ints and 11 pbu in his rookie season.  A couple of those ints into were flukey, but nevertheless, pretty impressive.

 

Byrd ran a 4.68.

Ed Reed ran a 4.57.

 

In 37 games Benford had 46 pbu along with 14 ints.

I’m not sure where they’ll put him but I think he’s going to make some big plays.  Definitely not a throwaway pick.

 

[MrEpsYtown]

I have to say that this pick is really growing on me. I really didn't know much about the guy, but he has some very cool traits. This may be our next safety honestly. 

[BuffaloRebound]

7 hours ago, Richard Noggin said:

Of course you're correct that draftable prospects coming out of the lower ranks of college football still have access to pre-draft thinking and training. They know what bigger school, higher-rated guys are doing to prepare for the process and who they've signed with to get them there. But they don't always/usually have agents/orgs as willing to financially stake them at the same pre-draft investment level as those more sought-after prospects. The high-end training camps and schools cost beaucoup bucks many day 3 and UDFA guys can't so easily afford/finance. Gotta first run a cost/benefit-analysis of what a few hundredths off the 40 would net for a typical late-round prospect upon signing...

Villanova isn’t your typical small school football program because the basketball program is elite and the other sports benefit from that especially from a strength and conditioning aspect.  Where a kid like Benford will benefit is that Nova football players aren’t pampered and are treated like normal students in terms of academic workload.  Now that football is his profession, he can be 100% focused on football like the kids at LSU and Alabama have been the last 4-5 years.  

[Buffalosouth]

6 hours ago, MrEpsYtown said:

 

I think they really like Jones. He is a “Matthew Slater” level special teamer, except his dad wasn’t a famous NFL Hall of Famer so no one cares. Having guys like Jones around is pretty valuable. Something has  to give in the running back room, but I am not sure Jones is the one who is a goner. 

I could see them moving on from Moss with Cook Motor and Johnson in there. The stuff with Jones for me come with them wanting to get cheaper younger and faster. He has been a special teams constant for McBeane the whole time though.

[Bill from NYC]

5 hours ago, BuffaloRebound said:

Villanova isn’t your typical small school football program because the basketball program is elite and the other sports benefit from that especially from a strength and conditioning aspect.  Where a kid like Benford will benefit is that Nova football players aren’t pampered and are treated like normal students in terms of academic workload.  Now that football is his profession, he can be 100% focused on football like the kids at LSU and Alabama have been the last 4-5 years.  

Ok, that explains the dozens of players racing out of Villanova. Now I get it.

Villanova

YearRoundPickPlayerNameTeamPosition

202266185Christian BenfordBillsDB

201722759Tanoh KpassagnonChiefsDE

 718236Brad SeatonTitansT

201121749Benjamin IjalanaColtsT

2008641207Matt SherryBengalsTE

200232691Brian WestbrookEaglesRB

[DCofNC]

Sounds like a possible safety conversion, might be another Poyer Type from the sounds.

[Richard Noggin]

On 5/3/2022 at 1:23 PM, Buffalosouth said:

I could see them moving on from Moss with Cook Motor and Johnson in there. The stuff with Jones for me come with them wanting to get cheaper younger and faster. He has been a special teams constant for McBeane the whole time though.

 

I would counter with a depth chart of Motor, Cook, and Moss (has real bounce back potential in a Kromer zone scheme). Hopefully Jones can be replaced by Benford, as floated in this thread, or someone else. Would really benefit the team if that gunner job is won by someone who is also a promising part of a position pipeline. 

[Putin]

On 4/30/2022 at 3:02 PM, Brennan Huff said:

Beane hasn’t been perfect in his drafting for his career but I will still take his evaluation of players over some random Internet GMs who don’t know who this guy is. I have no idea who he is either but I love this pick…

Are you sure about that ?

[mannc]

On 5/3/2022 at 2:13 PM, Bill from NYC said:

Ok, that explains the dozens of players racing out of Villanova. Now I get it.

Villanova

YearRoundPickPlayerNameTeamPosition

202266185Christian BenfordBillsDB

201722759Tanoh KpassagnonChiefsDE

 718236Brad SeatonTitansT

201121749Benjamin IjalanaColtsT

2008641207Matt SherryBengalsTE

200232691Brian WestbrookEaglesRB

Don’t forget Howie Long!

[BuffaloRebound]

15 minutes ago, mannc said:

Don’t forget Howie Long!

And more recently Ray Vetrone, Ross Vetrone, Brian Finneran, Westbrook, Austin Calitro, Ijalana, Darrell Young, Kpassagnon.  Hopefully, Benford is their next guy who sticks in the League.