Ladd McConkey

[SoonerBillsFan]

32 minutes ago, 3rdand12 said:

You were the one who wanted to draft him I suppose ?   jk

Was he available really ? On the Bills radar at least ?

I did. I pounded the table repeatedly and I was told, right here, he wouldn't be a good outside WR.

[Magox]

4 minutes ago, 3rdand12 said:

I for sure cannot evaluate college nor even try. So stuff You and folks like you shape my opinion.

 Could Bills have drafted him ?
Feel at this point Bills easily could have done better than Coleman (sorry kid stillluvya)

 Hindsight for sure

Would he fit with Josh ?

Yes, the Bills could have had him.  The thinking by many was that he was wasn’t a true boundary receiver that was better suited for the slot and since we already have Shakir it didn’t make sense to get another slot guy.

 

Where those people got it wrong was that he was a better receiver than any other by the time the Bills traded away their pick and that Ladd could play any receiver spot and thrive.   He was a boundary receiver in college, he was uncoverable  1 v 1.

 

Doesn’t matter now, I like Keon and he was trending nicely until his injury.  Hope he works hard this off season and gets in lots of time with Josh so that they can build some chemistry.

[Breakout Squad]

7 minutes ago, SoonerBillsFan said:

I did. I pounded the table repeatedly and I was told, right here, he wouldn't be a good outside WR.

He’s a slot WR

[Alphadawg7]

I had BTJ and Ladd as the clear next best WR's after the big 3 of MHJ, Nabers, and Odunze.  I loved Ladd and was actually terrified he was going to land in KC, and quite frankly was both relieved and surprised when they took Worthy instead.

 

But as much as I loved Ladd, he felt redundant here after signing Samuel and having Shakir emerging.  Bills were needing a guy on the outside and also needing some size and toughness in our WR room.  So I never felt Ladd was the fit they were looking for and didn't expect us to draft him.

 

I did however believe we would have traded up for BTJ if he reached 20 or lower and I was actually expecting a trade announcement from about pick 18 on even.  When he got as close as he did and we didn't make a trade up to get him, I was a bit surprised as I thought he would be the only guy we would go up for realistically.  

 

I don't at all fault us for passing on Ladd, but I do think it was a mistake to not go up and get BTJ.  Who knows, maybe Beane tried but was rebuffed, but at least nothing came out about us going up and the way Beane spoke post draft he just talked about trading back and made no mention of trying to make a small move up for anyone.  

[Cubanmist]

This is why I believe that whichever scout is giving Beane the 411 on WRs, DEs, DTs, and maybe TEs needs to be fired. We have drafted ***** ever since he has joined the organization.

[Buffalo716]

21 hours ago, Cubanmist said:

This is why I believe that whichever scout is giving Beane the 411 on WRs, DEs, DTs, and maybe TEs needs to be fired. We have drafted ***** ever since he has joined the organization.

There's not one scout who does that LOL 

 

NFL teams don't employ 35 area scouts..

 

The Buffalo Bills have had 5-7 area scouts plus the National scout and director of college scouting and assistant plus some blesto guys and some others so probably around 12-14 people on the road at points and that's considered a  pretty good size scouting group.. teams like Cincinnati have ran with 4-5 total people in their scouting department... Bills probably have realistically 15 to 20

 

We have a handful of area scouts.. a director of college scouting , assistant director of college scouting, a few blesto for underclassman and probably a national scout .. they used to release it they don't anymore

 

NFL teams don't have 20 scouts for 20 positions

Edited February 13 by Buffalo716

[aristocrat]

11 minutes ago, Cubanmist said:

This is why I believe that whichever scout is giving Beane the 411 on WRs, DEs, DTs, and maybe TEs needs to be fired. We have drafted ***** ever since he has joined the organization.

Each scout has an area they cover. We have a guy living in charlotte who scouts the southeast area of the country and guys living in other areas that scout those areas. They bring their analysis to the table and arrange their info. I know the guy who used to scout for the bills who lived in charlotte but he’s on the titans now. He said they hired a friend of his in Charlotte to replace him.
 

 It was nice for a few years when I would text him in the war room and it was funny cause he’d say if you mentioned anything on social media we are no longer friends. 

[Buffalo716]

2 minutes ago, aristocrat said:

Each scout has an area they cover. We have a guy living in charlotte who scouts the southeast area of the country and guys living in other areas that scout those areas. They bring their analysis to the table and arrange their info. I know the guy who used to scout for the bills who lived in charlotte but he’s on the titans now. He said they hired a friend of his in Charlotte to replace him.
 

 It was nice for a few years when I would text him in the war room and it was funny cause he’d say if you mentioned anything on social media we are no longer friends. 

Yeah and we only have like four area scouts.. so they're not scouting one position.. they're going to three games a week scouting teams and their draft prospects

 

Compiling the data to the national scout or the director who will then break it down further and make a board

Edited February 13 by Buffalo716

[ChronicAndKnuckles]

On 12/1/2024 at 5:00 PM, OldTimer1960 said:

I know that McConkey is more of a slot receiver when the Bills were looking for a bigger boundary WR, but man McConkey is playing well.  9 for 117 in just today’s game.  Watching his route running in the pre-draft process had me mesmerized by his cutting ability.  I’ve been wrong on draft prospects plenty, so I’m not claiming to be some draft genius, but I really liked him.

Good call. I thought it was just another TBD Caucasian WR obsession, but I’ll give credit where it’s due. He’s a legit #1, IDC where he lines up. The only guy to show up in the playoffs for them

[st pete gogolak]

I’ve been saying, with 20/20 hindsight, we should have moved up to grab BTJ before JAX picked him.  Then I went back and looked at first round selections.  Go ahead and tell me who would dealt with us. Rams? They picked Verse. Eagles? They picked Mitchell. Steelers? Maybe.  Looking at it again, we probably would have had to offer a significant overpay (#1 plus 2025 #1?) to move up enough to grab him.  

[Cubanmist]

1 hour ago, Buffalo716 said:

There's not one scout who does that LOL 

 

NFL teams don't employ 35 scouts..

 

The Buffalo Bills have 7-8 guys on the road and that's considered a large scouting group.. teamss like Cincinnati have ran with three scouts sometimes four 

 

We have a handful of area scouts.. a director of college scouting , assistant director of college scouting, a few blesto for underclassman and maybe a national scout 

 

NFL teams don't have 20 scouts for 20 positions

Even worse. That tells me that Beane has to reevaluate his scouting staff. 

[Buffalo716]

12 minutes ago, Cubanmist said:

Even worse. That tells me that Beane has to reevaluate his scouting staff. 

Is it? Or is it the same scouting staff that was able to find Matt milano's, and Dane Jackson's, and Christian Benfords and Levi Wallace 

 

Late round picks that have gotten second contracts from NFL teams and some even big contracts coming up for Benford

 

McDermott's a secondary guy so it's not a shock he was looking for guys that fit his coverage scheme.. maybe they need to focus on the front 4 more.. I've been scouting high school and college players for a long time 

 

I know a bills scout.. I don't think they're bad at their job... Maybe beane has been giving them the wrong defensive lineman type to look at.. tweener type guys like boogie bashem.. when they should have been looking for dominant one techniques, to pair around oliver, and better 5 techs

 

And then drafting for positional need has also hurt us.. a good team like the Bills should go in to the draft taking the 6 7 best possible players.. not drafting a corner because we're weak at it.. or moving down because we're not sure and not getting enough in return

 

I like beane.. he's been the best GM rounds 5 6 7... He's pretty good in the mid rounds.. we need to hit in the top two rounds more

Edited February 13 by Buffalo716

[Aussie Joe]

1 hour ago, st pete gogolak said:

I’ve been saying, with 20/20 hindsight, we should have moved up to grab BTJ before JAX picked him.  Then I went back and looked at first round selections.  Go ahead and tell me who would dealt with us. Rams? They picked Verse. Eagles? They picked Mitchell. Steelers? Maybe.  Looking at it again, we probably would have had to offer a significant overpay (#1 plus 2025 #1?) to move up enough to grab him.  

I made the same argument myself about a week ago to those asking why the Bills didn’t trade up for BTJ,,

 

The response I got was the Bills should have “overpaid” to force through the trade ….its such an easy argument to make a full season removed from the draft ..,

 

There were others saying pre draft that the Bills should have given up multiple firsts and seconds to move into the Top 10 to trade for Odunze…. They haven’t been back to give us an update on that hypothetical trade …

 

 

Edited February 13 by Aussie Joe

[Alphadawg7]

1 hour ago, Aussie Joe said:

I made the same argument myself about a week ago to those asking why the Bills didn’t trade up for BTJ,,

 

The response I got was the Bills should have “overpaid” to force through the trade ….its such an easy argument to make a full season removed from the draft ..,

 

There were others saying pre draft that the Bills should have given up multiple firsts and seconds to move into the Top 10 to trade for Odunze…. They haven’t been back to give us an update on that hypothetical trade …

 

 

It’s like when we drafted Kincaid, I know for a fact from someone within the Chargers that Buffalo called to try and trade up with them.  Chargers declined and had no interest in trading back as they were set in their guy.  And it’s believed to have been to go get Addison.

 

Just because one team wants to move up doesn’t mean the other team wants to move down.  It’s like people around here have no concept of that when they play the “what if” or hindsight “should have” games.  

[Buffalo_Stampede]

3 hours ago, Alphadawg7 said:

It’s like when we drafted Kincaid, I know for a fact from someone within the Chargers that Buffalo called to try and trade up with them.  Chargers declined and had no interest in trading back as they were set in their guy.  And it’s believed to have been to go get Addison.

 

Just because one team wants to move up doesn’t mean the other team wants to move down.  It’s like people around here have no concept of that when they play the “what if” or hindsight “should have” games.  

I wonder if the Bills could’ve traded out of the 1st that year.

 

It also doesn’t help that we changed offenses. Kincaid was supposed to play that Beasley role in the Daboll/Dorsey offense. 

That was a bad pick. I bet they wish they had that one back.

 

Edited February 13 by Buffalo_Stampede

[BigDingus]

7 hours ago, Buffalo716 said:

There's not one scout who does that LOL 

 

NFL teams don't employ 35 scouts..

 

The Buffalo Bills have 7-8 guys on the road and that's considered a large scouting group.. teamss like Cincinnati have ran with three scouts sometimes four 

 

We have a handful of area scouts.. a director of college scouting , assistant director of college scouting, a few blesto for underclassman and maybe a national scout 

 

NFL teams don't have 20 scouts for 20 positions

 

Maybe they should.

 

Given how many college players there are, there's no chance these guys can watch tape & give full evaluations on everyone. And even though people would say it doesn't happen, I think some scouts definitely rely on media & "expert" discussions to influence their player grades.

 

I don't think the Bills are like that, though. They take a lot of guys that don't seem to be on people's radar in the later rounds of the draft.

[oldmanfan]

Every single team in the league can play the “we should have drafted this guy” game.  How many teams wish they would have moved way up to get Josh?  How many for Cook?  Shakir?  And so on.

 

I agree Beane has not found as many stars in the upper rounds as I’d like.  But you also have to let some guys play.  So many keep saying Kincaid and Coleman are busts.  Not true.  Kincaid had a great rookie year and was hurt a lot of his second year. Coleman was showing good progress -remember him going up high to get that one TD in the end zone?  That’s why they drafted him.  But he got hurt too, and did not come back strong (and was called out by Beane on that). 
 

Beane’s  picks on D have yielded some solid linemen in Oliver and Rousseau, even Epinesa has his moments.  But these guys each need to step in up another notch.  The only true bust I’ve seen is Elam.

[Pete]

They say we passed on Ladd because he’s a slot WR.  But Ladd has shake and bake, and can separate.  We pass on Ladd, and draft Keon, who can’t play X, and can’t separate.  This is madness

[Doc Brown]

7 hours ago, Aussie Joe said:

There were others saying pre draft that the Bills should have given up multiple firsts and seconds to move into the Top 10 to trade for Odunze…. They haven’t been back to give us an update on that hypothetical trade …

Go back and find the people begging to trade up for Brian Thomas Jr. once he fell past 16.  I kept waiting for a trade to pop up on ESPN's bottom line.  Oh well, I guess if Coleman works out it will be a pleasant surprise.

[GunnerBill]

10 hours ago, Magox said:

Yes, the Bills could have had him.  The thinking by many was that he was wasn’t a true boundary receiver that was better suited for the slot and since we already have Shakir it didn’t make sense to get another slot guy.

 

Where those people got it wrong was that he was a better receiver than any other by the time the Bills traded away their pick and that Ladd could play any receiver spot and thrive.   He was a boundary receiver in college, he was uncoverable  1 v 1.

 

Doesn’t matter now, I like Keon and he was trending nicely until his injury.  Hope he works hard this off season and gets in lots of time with Josh so that they can build some chemistry.

 

888 of his 1149 yards this year came inside vs slot corners, safeties or linebackers. Of those a staggering 451 yards came on 28 receptions from 31 targets when matched up on a linebacker. Ever likely his man coverage win % is so high. He is running routes against linebackers. It's a mismatch. 

 

Ladd can play on the boundary. He isn't Khalil Shakir who can't. He just isn't special on the boundary. He played 30% out there (and had about 23% of his production out there). The place where he is special is in the slot where you can use him as a mismatch piece against safeties, nickels and linebackers. 

 

I am not a hater on Ladd McConkey. I had a solid grade on him, I was definitely higher on him than I was on Keon Coleman put it that way. But anyone who thinks the Bills drafting him would have solved their boundary receiver issue is barking so far up the wrong tree they might as well be a cat.