Can we predict this weeks draft based on McBeane’s history?

[LEBills]

We now have 7 drafts in the books where McDermott has been involved in the draft and 6 with Beane. In those 7 years, the Bills have drafted 7 players from three different coaching trees which may provide a hint to targets in the 2024 draft:

 

Billy Napier (Florida Gators)

O’Cyrus Torrence - 2023 second round

Justin Shorter - 2023 fifth round

Kaiir Elam - 2022 first round

 

Dave Aranda (LSU and Baylor)

Terrel Bernard - 2022 third round

Tre White - 2017 first round

 

Manny Diaz (Miami and Penn State)

Greg Rousseau - 2021 first round

Jaquan Johnson - 2019 sixth round

 

2024 Draftable players from these coaches include -

Billy Napier:

Ricky Pearsall, WR, projected Day 2 - Pearsall transferred in Napiers first year at Florida from ASU. Put up excellent Senior Bowl and Combine performances and is getting a lot of hype as a top 50 player in the draft.

 

Dave Aranda:

Gabe Hall, DT, projected Day 3 - Hall is a tall, long DT. Rushes high do to his height and may be best as a 3-4 end. 2 time entrant in Dane Bruglers Freaks list.

 

Manny Diaz:

Kamren kinchens, S, Day 2 - Kinchens is a productive, ball hawking safety that started as a true Freshman in 2021. He recently tested poorly at the combine. 

 

James Williams, S/LB, Day 3 - A 6’4’’ safety who is better coming downhill and may need a change of position in the NFL

 

Leonard Taylor, DT, Day 3 - all hype and talent with very little production

(All three Hurricanes were recruited to Miami for Diaz’s final year in 2021 and all played as Freshmen.)

 

Chop Robinson, DE, Round 1 - Explosive pass rusher that is learning to translate traits into production 

 

Adisa Isaac, DE, Round 2-3 - The more productive of the PSU edge defenders.

 

Kalen king, CB, Day 3 - once thought to be the next star college corner, his play has tapered off and measurables are only average. Move to safety possible.

 

Johnny Dixon, CB, Day 3 - small aggressive corner who likely will be a nickel cornerback in the NFL

 

Curtis Jacobs LB, Day 3- a leader at Penn State, a bigger linebacker more suited against the run

 

Any Buffalo Bills?

 

Highest chance (imo):

1.) Kamren Kinchens - I think Kinchens is the most likely to match need and draft range. Kinchens really disappointed at the combine but just prior to Kinchens testing Beane was quoted as saying ‘“I think instincts are really big at safety. If you’re telling me, ‘you can have an athletic guy that’s a 4.3 (in the forty yard dash), 4.4 safety but he doesn’t have instincts,’ I’ll take the 4.6 guy with instincts, ball skills, and a little less range.”’ Kinchens has 11 interceptions in his past 2 collegiate years. We also just hired Jahmile Addae as our CB coach after he was Kinchens DB coach for the past two years. 

 

2.) Adissa Isaac  - Isaac fits the body type the Bills tend to like with long arms. He was a team captain this year and led the team in sacks in 2023.  Also reported to be a good character player who does a lot for the special needs community of which all of his siblings belong. Bills were reported to have met with Isaac at his Pro Day where he had an excellent performance according to reports. PSU is considered a local school for the Bills and so if they do bring him in it does not count against the top 30 visits.

 

https://www.sportskeeda.com/nfl/news-notes-2024-ucla-penn-state-pro-days-edge-rushers-shine-laiatu-latu-leads-way

 

3.) Ricky Pearsall - If the Bills do decide not to go WR at 28, Pearsall may be in play at 60. Though he did play in the slot about 60% of the time, McBeane may see a good WR4 candidate that can learn all the WR positions. In last years post draft conference, Beane joked about how he should get an office at UofF due to the amount of Florida players they picked up in the last two drafts.

 

Final Thoughts:

Though the Bills have drafted from these coaching trees pretty consistently, it does not happen every year (2018, 2020) so it may not happen this year. Also missing that third round pick may make it difficult for the Bills to have a chance at some of the prospects listed as many could be gone between pick 60 and 128. And the Bills have predominantly selected from these coaching trees in the first three rounds (5 of 7 pick).

 

I do think it goes to show the Bills willingness to take chances on guys that may not exactly fit their past schemes (Elam, Torrence), or didn’t test too well (Rousseau, Johnson, Benford, Tre) when these players are tied to coaching staffs they trust.

 

[DJB]

Good work and solid post!

 

Im also of the mindset for a while that if Kichens is there at 60 he’s the pick

[LEBills]

41 minutes ago, DJB said:

Good work and solid post!

 

Im also of the mindset for a while that if Kichens is there at 60 he’s the pick

Preciate it. I did a similarly spirited post last year trying to predict our first rounder and whiffed big time lol but I think this has more evidence behind it. I’ve had this post typed up and waiting to go for a few weeks to see if more 30 visits got reported but they seem to have stalled out. Was waiting to see if any of these guys came for a visit since our 2nd rounders in 23 and 22 did.

 

There were some rumors around the combine from Charlie Campbell that the Bills like Kinchens. His combine was not good and he does show up a bit soft on tape. But I do think he is the type of FS replacement for Hyde they would like. 

[Paup 1995MVP]

1 hour ago, LEBills said:

We now have 7 drafts in the books where McDermott has been involved in the draft and 6 with Beane. In those 7 years, the Bills have drafted 7 players from three different coaching trees which may provide a hint to targets in the 2024 draft:

 

Billy Napier (Florida Gators)

O’Cyrus Torrence - 2023 second round

Justin Shorter - 2023 fifth round

Kaiir Elam - 2022 first round

 

Dave Aranda (LSU and Baylor)

Terrel Bernard - 2022 third round

Tre White - 2017 first round

 

Manny Diaz (Miami and Penn State)

Greg Rousseau - 2021 first round

Jaquan Johnson - 2019 sixth round

 

2024 Draftable players from these coaches include -

Billy Napier:

Ricky Pearsall, WR, projected Day 2 - Pearsall transferred in Napiers first year at Florida from ASU. Put up excellent Senior Bowl and Combine performances and is getting a lot of hype as a top 50 player in the draft.

 

Dave Aranda:

Gabe Hall, DT, projected Day 3 - Hall is a tall, long DT. Rushes high do to his height and may be best as a 3-4 end. 2 time entrant in Dane Bruglers Freaks list.

 

Manny Diaz:

Kamren kinchens, S, Day 2 - Kinchens is a productive, ball hawking safety that started as a true Freshman in 2021. He recently tested poorly at the combine. 

 

James Williams, S/LB, Day 3 - A 6’4’’ safety who is better coming downhill and may need a change of position in the NFL

 

Leonard Taylor, DT, Day 3 - all hype and talent with very little production

(All three Hurricanes were recruited to Miami for Diaz’s final year in 2021 and all played as Freshmen.)

 

Chop Robinson, DE, Round 1 - Explosive pass rusher that is learning to translate traits into production 

 

Adisa Isaac, DE, Round 2-3 - The more productive of the PSU edge defenders.

 

Kalen king, CB, Day 3 - once thought to be the next star college corner, his play has tapered off and measurables are only average. Move to safety possible.

 

Johnny Dixon, CB, Day 3 - small aggressive corner who likely will be a nickel cornerback in the NFL

 

Curtis Jacobs LB, Day 3- a leader at Penn State, a bigger linebacker more suited against the run

 

Any Buffalo Bills?

 

Highest chance (imo):

1.) Kamren Kinchens - I think Kinchens is the most likely to match need and draft range. Kinchens really disappointed at the combine but just prior to Kinchens testing Beane was quoted as saying ‘“I think instincts are really big at safety. If you’re telling me, ‘you can have an athletic guy that’s a 4.3 (in the forty yard dash), 4.4 safety but he doesn’t have instincts,’ I’ll take the 4.6 guy with instincts, ball skills, and a little less range.”’ Kinchens has 11 interceptions in his past 2 collegiate years. We also just hired Jahmile Addae as our CB coach after he was Kinchens DB coach for the past two years. 

 

2.) Adissa Isaac  - Isaac fits the body type the Bills tend to like with long arms. He was a team captain this year and led the team in sacks in 2023.  Also reported to be a good character player who does a lot for the special needs community of which all of his siblings belong. Bills were reported to have met with Isaac at his Pro Day where he had an excellent performance according to reports. PSU is considered a local school for the Bills and so if they do bring him in it does not count against the top 30 visits.

 

https://www.sportskeeda.com/nfl/news-notes-2024-ucla-penn-state-pro-days-edge-rushers-shine-laiatu-latu-leads-way

 

3.) Ricky Pearsall - If the Bills do decide not to go WR at 28, Pearsall may be in play at 60. Though he did play in the slot about 60% of the time, McBeane may see a good WR4 candidate that can learn all the WR positions. In last years post draft conference, Beane joked about how he should get an office at UofF due to the amount of Florida players they picked up in the last two drafts.

 

Final Thoughts:

Though the Bills have drafted from these coaching trees pretty consistently, it does not happen every year (2018, 2020) so it may not happen this year. Also missing that third round pick may make it difficult for the Bills to have a chance at some of the prospects listed as many could be gone between pick 60 and 128. And the Bills have predominantly selected from these coaching trees in the first three rounds (5 of 7 pick).

 

I do think it goes to show the Bills willingness to take chances on guys that may not exactly fit their past schemes (Elam, Torrence), or didn’t test too well (Rousseau, Johnson, Benford, Tre) when these players are tied to coaching staffs they trust.

 

Billy Napier is in over his head as an SEC coach.  The Gators have been lousy under him.  He was a bad hire.  Dan Mullen wasn’t fantastic.  But he was a lot better then Napier. 

[GASabresIUFan]

I think you are reading too much into his history.  If we were in Philly and saw 3 Tide players and 6 Bulldawgs drafted early, then I think you'd be on to something.  However, he has taken 15 players in the 1st 3 rounds and from 13 different school. Florida (Elam & Torrence) and Utah (Moss & Kincaid) have two top 3 rounds picks during Beane's tenure. Maybe those Gators are why we can't win the big game?

 

I don't think he cares what school a kid played at as long as he fits the criteria he and the scouts set for that pick and he is the BPA on his draft board.

[NewEra]

2 hours ago, GASabresIUFan said:

I think you are reading too much into his history.  If we were in Philly and saw 3 Tide players and 6 Bulldawgs drafted early, then I think you'd be on to something.  However, he has taken 15 players in the 1st 3 rounds and from 13 different school. Florida (Elam & Torrence) and Utah (Moss & Kincaid) have two top 3 rounds picks during Beane's tenure. Maybe those Gators are why we can't win the big game?

 

I don't think he cares what school a kid played at as long as he fits the criteria he and the scouts set for that pick and he is the BPA on his draft board.

I think you’re missing the point here.  It’s not that Beane/McD care about the school they play for.  They care about the insight they are getting from their college coaches.  College coaches that can vouch for players fitting the criteria he and the scouts set for the pick.  They don’t have to go off a couple interviews and what they hope to be true.  They can go off what these coaches already know to be true.  

[Beck Water]

4 hours ago, LEBills said:

We now have 7 drafts in the books where McDermott has been involved in the draft and 6 with Beane. In those 7 years, the Bills have drafted 7 players from three different coaching trees which may provide a hint to targets in the 2024 draft:

 

Billy Napier (Florida Gators)

O’Cyrus Torrence - 2023 second round

Justin Shorter - 2023 fifth round

Kaiir Elam - 2022 first round

 

Dave Aranda (LSU and Baylor)

Terrel Bernard - 2022 third round

Tre White - 2017 first round

 

This is obviously a huge body of work.  Props for that.

 

I would like to respectfully suggest to McDermott and Beane that hitting on 1 out of 3 from the Florida Gators of recent years might indicate the need to fish from a different pond

 

I know next to nothing about college ball, but I like the idea of a DT who made someone's "freaks list".

Edited April 20 by Beck Water

[Don Otreply]

Of course we can,

[NoSaint]

1 hour ago, NewEra said:

I think you’re missing the point here.  It’s not that Beane/McD care about the school they play for.  They care about the insight they are getting from their college coaches.  College coaches that can vouch for players fitting the criteria he and the scouts set for the pick.  They don’t have to go off a couple interviews and what they hope to be true.  They can go off what these coaches already know to be true.  

but I think his point is that it is a slim sampling compared to 6 from the school 

[GASabresIUFan]

2 hours ago, NewEra said:

I think you’re missing the point here.  It’s not that Beane/McD care about the school they play for.  They care about the insight they are getting from their college coaches.  College coaches that can vouch for players fitting the criteria he and the scouts set for the pick.  They don’t have to go off a couple interviews and what they hope to be true.  They can go off what these coaches already know to be true.  

I'm sure they talk to as many people as they can to get info on the players they are interested in, but, again, unlike Philly, there is no discernable pattern in their drafting.  There is no bias to the SEC, ACC or BIG 10.  There is no bias for any one particular school.  Take Florida for example.  Torrence was a Napier guy, but Shorter and Elam were Dan Mullen players.  Elam never played for Napier (Napier's 1st season was 2022 and Elam was already a Bill).  Shorter played for both coaches after transferring from Penn St.  

 

There also doesn't seem to be bias against any smaller programs.  In fact, many of our best players or value draft picks come from historically smaller programs like Taron Johnson (Weber St), Josh Allen (Wyoming), Benford (Villanova), Brown (N. Iowa), Davis (C. Fla), and D Williams (Tulane).

 

 

Edited April 21 by GASabresIUFan

[LEBills]

1 hour ago, NewEra said:

I think you’re missing the point here.  It’s not that Beane/McD care about the school they play for.  They care about the insight they are getting from their college coaches.  College coaches that can vouch for players fitting the criteria he and the scouts set for the pick.  They don’t have to go off a couple interviews and what they hope to be true.  They can go off what these coaches already know to be true.  

 

47 minutes ago, NoSaint said:

but I think his point is that it is a slim sampling compared to 6 from the school 

Both are right. It is a small sample to draw conclusions from but with the NFL draft that is almost always the case. And I don’t think Beane veered off his board to select a player from a preferred school.

 

But @NewEra is right too. I think if they have several players graded similarly, they may be preferential to the players who played for a coach they trust. An ESPN article from 2014(!) outlines McDermott being a part of a “little circle” with Aranda and Diaz…
 

Quote

Every coach has his networks. Penn State defensive coordinator Bob Shoop's "little circle" consists of Aranda, Louisiana Tech defensive coordinator Manny Diaz and Carolina Panthers defensive coordinator Sean McDermott. Sometimes they'll each study an area -- third-down defense, spread quarterback run -- and then discuss them as a group.

"Everybody's trying to find a better way to defend the spread," Shoop said. "Dave and Manny see it at the college level, and Sean sees [Panthers quarterback Cam Newton] every day."

 

https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/11069344/rich-rodriguez-dan-mullen-james-franklin-discuss-coaches-customary-exchange-ideas

 

Since then McDermott has publicly said how much he respects Aranda

And Beane said in last year post day 2 press conference that he spent some time with Billy Napier (1:35 in)

 

So in addition to the drafting of players from those programs in the past, it is pretty on record that they have relationships with those people for better and worse. 

[Mikie2times]

11 minutes ago, LEBills said:

 

Both are right. It is a small sample to draw conclusions from but with the NFL draft that is almost always the case. And I don’t think Beane veered off his board to select a player from a preferred school.

 

But @NewEra is right too. I think if they have several players graded similarly, they may be preferential to the players who played for a coach they trust. An ESPN article from 2014(!) outlines McDermott being a part of a “little circle” with Aranda and Diaz…
 

https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/11069344/rich-rodriguez-dan-mullen-james-franklin-discuss-coaches-customary-exchange-ideas

 

Since then McDermott has publicly said how much he respects Aranda

And Beane said in last year post day 2 press conference that he spent some time with Billy Napier (1:35 in)

 

So in addition to the drafting of players from those programs in the past, it is pretty on record that they have relationships with those people for better and worse. 

I would rather have McConkey over Pearsall but either one would be nice. Kitchens seems right up our alley. Super underrated with that 40 but look at Poyer and Hyde. Not exactly burners. 

Edited April 21 by Mikie2times

[DeepPass]

5 hours ago, GASabresIUFan said:

I think you are reading too much into his history.  If we were in Philly and saw 3 Tide players and 6 Bulldawgs drafted early, then I think you'd be on to something.  However, he has taken 15 players in the 1st 3 rounds and from 13 different school. Florida (Elam & Torrence) and Utah (Moss & Kincaid) have two top 3 rounds picks during Beane's tenure. Maybe those Gators are why we can't win the big game?

 

I don't think he cares what school a kid played at as long as he fits the criteria he and the scouts set for that pick and he is the BPA on his draft board.

My thoughts also

[NewEra]

@LEBills @GASabresIUFan

 

my point solely has to do with drafting players that they have additional insight on from trusted coaches.  McD did it with Zay Jones too.  It’s has nothing to do with being from particular schools.  Rather knowing (or employing coaches) that have experience with the player.  There’s obviously more to it than that- but when the situation arises it could come into play.  

[GASabresIUFan]

1 minute ago, NewEra said:

@LEBills @GASabresIUFan

 

my point solely has to do with drafting players that they have additional insight on from trusted coaches.  McD did it with Zay Jones too.  It’s has nothing to do with being from particular schools.  Rather knowing (or employing coaches) that have experience with the player.  There’s obviously more to it than that- but when the situation arises it could come into play.  

We all know this happens.  Belacheat spent years visiting UGA and Bama practices and talking to Smart and Sabban.  There is no question that McBeane has relationships with certain coaches, but I still don't see them overweighting any particular team's players because of it.  To me it looks like at best a tiebreaker on guys they have similar grades on.  It also looks like some of these college coaches have lead the Bills astray, after all we took Shorter over Wicks and Nacua.

[MrEpsYtown]

Pearsall makes a ton of sense in that second wave. He is versatile, runs pretty good routes, catches everything and can get open deep. 
 

I said in a post somewhere that I think, again just my opinion, based on what Beane was saying its Worthy, Franklin, McConkey and maybe Leggette as guys who fit what he described he wants. In the next batch it’s really Pearsall who makes the most sense imo. 

[Big Blitz]

8 hours ago, LEBills said:

We now have 7 drafts in the books where McDermott has been involved in the draft and 6 with Beane. In those 7 years, the Bills have drafted 7 players from three different coaching trees which may provide a hint to targets in the 2024 draft:

 

Billy Napier (Florida Gators)

O’Cyrus Torrence - 2023 second round

Justin Shorter - 2023 fifth round

Kaiir Elam - 2022 first round

 

Dave Aranda (LSU and Baylor)

Terrel Bernard - 2022 third round

Tre White - 2017 first round

 

Manny Diaz (Miami and Penn State)

Greg Rousseau - 2021 first round

Jaquan Johnson - 2019 sixth round

 

2024 Draftable players from these coaches include -

Billy Napier:

Ricky Pearsall, WR, projected Day 2 - Pearsall transferred in Napiers first year at Florida from ASU. Put up excellent Senior Bowl and Combine performances and is getting a lot of hype as a top 50 player in the draft.

 

Dave Aranda:

Gabe Hall, DT, projected Day 3 - Hall is a tall, long DT. Rushes high do to his height and may be best as a 3-4 end. 2 time entrant in Dane Bruglers Freaks list.

 

Manny Diaz:

Kamren kinchens, S, Day 2 - Kinchens is a productive, ball hawking safety that started as a true Freshman in 2021. He recently tested poorly at the combine. 

 

James Williams, S/LB, Day 3 - A 6’4’’ safety who is better coming downhill and may need a change of position in the NFL

 

Leonard Taylor, DT, Day 3 - all hype and talent with very little production

(All three Hurricanes were recruited to Miami for Diaz’s final year in 2021 and all played as Freshmen.)

 

Chop Robinson, DE, Round 1 - Explosive pass rusher that is learning to translate traits into production 

 

Adisa Isaac, DE, Round 2-3 - The more productive of the PSU edge defenders.

 

Kalen king, CB, Day 3 - once thought to be the next star college corner, his play has tapered off and measurables are only average. Move to safety possible.

 

Johnny Dixon, CB, Day 3 - small aggressive corner who likely will be a nickel cornerback in the NFL

 

Curtis Jacobs LB, Day 3- a leader at Penn State, a bigger linebacker more suited against the run

 

Any Buffalo Bills?

 

Highest chance (imo):

1.) Kamren Kinchens - I think Kinchens is the most likely to match need and draft range. Kinchens really disappointed at the combine but just prior to Kinchens testing Beane was quoted as saying ‘“I think instincts are really big at safety. If you’re telling me, ‘you can have an athletic guy that’s a 4.3 (in the forty yard dash), 4.4 safety but he doesn’t have instincts,’ I’ll take the 4.6 guy with instincts, ball skills, and a little less range.”’ Kinchens has 11 interceptions in his past 2 collegiate years. We also just hired Jahmile Addae as our CB coach after he was Kinchens DB coach for the past two years. 

 

2.) Adissa Isaac  - Isaac fits the body type the Bills tend to like with long arms. He was a team captain this year and led the team in sacks in 2023.  Also reported to be a good character player who does a lot for the special needs community of which all of his siblings belong. Bills were reported to have met with Isaac at his Pro Day where he had an excellent performance according to reports. PSU is considered a local school for the Bills and so if they do bring him in it does not count against the top 30 visits.

 

https://www.sportskeeda.com/nfl/news-notes-2024-ucla-penn-state-pro-days-edge-rushers-shine-laiatu-latu-leads-way

 

3.) Ricky Pearsall - If the Bills do decide not to go WR at 28, Pearsall may be in play at 60. Though he did play in the slot about 60% of the time, McBeane may see a good WR4 candidate that can learn all the WR positions. In last years post draft conference, Beane joked about how he should get an office at UofF due to the amount of Florida players they picked up in the last two drafts.

 

Final Thoughts:

Though the Bills have drafted from these coaching trees pretty consistently, it does not happen every year (2018, 2020) so it may not happen this year. Also missing that third round pick may make it difficult for the Bills to have a chance at some of the prospects listed as many could be gone between pick 60 and 128. And the Bills have predominantly selected from these coaching trees in the first three rounds (5 of 7 pick).

 

I do think it goes to show the Bills willingness to take chances on guys that may not exactly fit their past schemes (Elam, Torrence), or didn’t test too well (Rousseau, Johnson, Benford, Tre) when these players are tied to coaching staffs they trust.

 

 

This is fantastic.  And I couldn’t agree more.  
 

Only thing I’m wondering is how much the age matters to them.  
 

I love Pearsall.  But he’s going to be 24 in September.  
 

Legette - love him.  But he’s going to be 23.  
 

Not sure how much they consider this - I do think it depends on position.  
 

Kincaid was 22/23.  But so was Antonio Gates.  TEs traditionally need time tho.  
 

The age at WR I definitely think they consider it.  

[MrEpsYtown]

2 hours ago, Big Blitz said:

 

This is fantastic.  And I couldn’t agree more.  
 

Only thing I’m wondering is how much the age matters to them.  
 

I love Pearsall.  But he’s going to be 24 in September.  
 

Legette - love him.  But he’s going to be 23.  
 

Not sure how much they consider this - I do think it depends on position.  
 

Kincaid was 22/23.  But so was Antonio Gates.  TEs traditionally need time tho.  
 

The age at WR I definitely think they consider it.  

I think this is a really good point. I think on some level age is a factor, but this is a win now team so older prospects don’t bother me as much as they usually would. Pearsall has some savvy and complexity to his game that makes him a guy who can step in right away. At the same time he might have limited upside from what he is right now. On the other hand, Leggette is more raw for an older prospect. But to me, with this roster I think you just want day 1 contributors who are hired, cheap guns for the next 4 years. 
 

I want my first round pick to be a younger guy because he is hopefully an impact player who will be around for 5 plus a second contract. That’s just my 2 cents on the topic. 

[papazoid]

11 hours ago, LEBills said:

We now have 7 drafts in the books where McDermott has been involved in the draft and 6 with Beane. In those 7 years, the Bills have drafted 7 players from three different coaching trees which may provide a hint to targets in the 2024 draft:

 

Billy Napier (Florida Gators)

O’Cyrus Torrence - 2023 second round

Justin Shorter - 2023 fifth round

Kaiir Elam - 2022 first round

 

Dave Aranda (LSU and Baylor)

Terrel Bernard - 2022 third round

Tre White - 2017 first round

 

Manny Diaz (Miami and Penn State)

Greg Rousseau - 2021 first round

Jaquan Johnson - 2019 sixth round

 

2024 Draftable players from these coaches include -

Billy Napier:

Ricky Pearsall, WR, projected Day 2 - Pearsall transferred in Napiers first year at Florida from ASU. Put up excellent Senior Bowl and Combine performances and is getting a lot of hype as a top 50 player in the draft.

 

Dave Aranda:

Gabe Hall, DT, projected Day 3 - Hall is a tall, long DT. Rushes high do to his height and may be best as a 3-4 end. 2 time entrant in Dane Bruglers Freaks list.

 

Manny Diaz:

Kamren kinchens, S, Day 2 - Kinchens is a productive, ball hawking safety that started as a true Freshman in 2021. He recently tested poorly at the combine. 

 

James Williams, S/LB, Day 3 - A 6’4’’ safety who is better coming downhill and may need a change of position in the NFL

 

Leonard Taylor, DT, Day 3 - all hype and talent with very little production

(All three Hurricanes were recruited to Miami for Diaz’s final year in 2021 and all played as Freshmen.)

 

Chop Robinson, DE, Round 1 - Explosive pass rusher that is learning to translate traits into production 

 

Adisa Isaac, DE, Round 2-3 - The more productive of the PSU edge defenders.

 

Kalen king, CB, Day 3 - once thought to be the next star college corner, his play has tapered off and measurables are only average. Move to safety possible.

 

Johnny Dixon, CB, Day 3 - small aggressive corner who likely will be a nickel cornerback in the NFL

 

Curtis Jacobs LB, Day 3- a leader at Penn State, a bigger linebacker more suited against the run

 

Any Buffalo Bills?

 

Highest chance (imo):

1.) Kamren Kinchens - I think Kinchens is the most likely to match need and draft range. Kinchens really disappointed at the combine but just prior to Kinchens testing Beane was quoted as saying ‘“I think instincts are really big at safety. If you’re telling me, ‘you can have an athletic guy that’s a 4.3 (in the forty yard dash), 4.4 safety but he doesn’t have instincts,’ I’ll take the 4.6 guy with instincts, ball skills, and a little less range.”’ Kinchens has 11 interceptions in his past 2 collegiate years. We also just hired Jahmile Addae as our CB coach after he was Kinchens DB coach for the past two years. 

 

2.) Adissa Isaac  - Isaac fits the body type the Bills tend to like with long arms. He was a team captain this year and led the team in sacks in 2023.  Also reported to be a good character player who does a lot for the special needs community of which all of his siblings belong. Bills were reported to have met with Isaac at his Pro Day where he had an excellent performance according to reports. PSU is considered a local school for the Bills and so if they do bring him in it does not count against the top 30 visits.

 

https://www.sportskeeda.com/nfl/news-notes-2024-ucla-penn-state-pro-days-edge-rushers-shine-laiatu-latu-leads-way

 

3.) Ricky Pearsall - If the Bills do decide not to go WR at 28, Pearsall may be in play at 60. Though he did play in the slot about 60% of the time, McBeane may see a good WR4 candidate that can learn all the WR positions. In last years post draft conference, Beane joked about how he should get an office at UofF due to the amount of Florida players they picked up in the last two drafts.

 

Final Thoughts:

Though the Bills have drafted from these coaching trees pretty consistently, it does not happen every year (2018, 2020) so it may not happen this year. Also missing that third round pick may make it difficult for the Bills to have a chance at some of the prospects listed as many could be gone between pick 60 and 128. And the Bills have predominantly selected from these coaching trees in the first three rounds (5 of 7 pick).

 

I do think it goes to show the Bills willingness to take chances on guys that may not exactly fit their past schemes (Elam, Torrence), or didn’t test too well (Rousseau, Johnson, Benford, Tre) when these players are tied to coaching staffs they trust.

 

 

bravo.....well done

[NewEra]

8 hours ago, NewEra said:

@LEBills @GASabresIUFan

 

There’s obviously more to it than that- but when the situation arises it could come into play.  

 

7 hours ago, GASabresIUFan said:

We all know this happens.  Belacheat spent years visiting UGA and Bama practices and talking to Smart and Sabban.  There is no question that McBeane has relationships with certain coaches, but I still don't see them overweighting any particular team's players because of it.  To me it looks like at best a tiebreaker on guys they have similar grades on.  It also looks like some of these college coaches have lead the Bills astray, after all we took Shorter over Wicks and Nacua.

like I said. 

Edited April 21 by NewEra