Wide Receiver Train Full Speed Ahead- CHOO CHOO!

[Buffalo716]

4 minutes ago, GunnerBill said:

 

I am not, I did say above I think his ball tracking is excellent. I just don't think he runs routes very well. And route running translates - especially if you wanna play outside. I see the ceiling but there is a lot of development needed IMO to tidy up what he is now. The floor scares me. 

But he has a high floor at the slot.. it's not like he's a bust if he couldn't play the z 

 

Just from a physical gift standpoint he'll be able to be a good slot receiver and create separation within 5 10-15 yards 

 

Now is Egbuka a more precise route runner, for sure... I see him being like Bob woods, who I think was severely underrated his entire career

Edited Thursday at 11:53 PM by Buffalo716

[LEBills]

My personal 2025 WR rankings:
 

#18 Keandre Lambert Smith WR Auburn (Rd 4-5)

- Penn State transfer

-Uncle is former legion of boomer Kam Chancellor

 

What does he do on tape?

Speed

- 1:21 he has legit eat dust speed. Give him a runway like that and he won’t be caught

- 1:33 comebacks are on the table as corners have to respect being best over the top

- 1:44 and if you do try to cut off the shorter routes he will take the top off

 

Length gives him a good catch radius

- :26 re-establishes himself in bounds and catches a ball thrown out of bounds

- :56 one handed grab on ball thrown well in front of him

- 4:18 goes around the back of the defenders head to pull in the ball

- 4:26 finishes the drive with a defender draped all over him

 

Weaknesses:

- He gets pushed around a lot in his routes with DBs often taking him to the sideline

- Body catches the ball

 

Conclusion:

Wiry outside receiver with deep speed to burn. Took him transferring to a more vertical passing offense at Auburn to breakout after showing flashes during limited production at PSU. Though he has a lot of tools to work with, I think his play strength is not quite where it needs to be to avoid getting controlled by NFL DBs. Starting his career as a backup and going through an NFL training regimen will be good for him. I think he could develop into a multi year starter like Robbie Anderson now Robbie Chosen.

[Richard Noggin]

Great thread. Got some of our top board scouts engaged in reasonable and informed debate, another amateur scout methodically introducing me to WR prospects I'd STILL never heard of, like Lambert Smith in the post above. Keep it coming...

 

[Mat68]

Jaylin Noel this is guy I want.  

 

 

Edited Friday at 02:56 PM by Mat68

[BCAS Baritone]

https://www.nbcsports.com/nfl/isaiah-bond/00000195-d929-d2c1-abd7-dfff41770000/news

 

Quote

NBC Houston’s Aaron Wilson reports that an NFL team assigned Texas WR Isaiah Bond a first-round draft grade after Bond ran a 4.34-second 40-yard dash at Texas’ Pro Day.

Wilson also reports that the Bills have scheduled three separate meetings with Bond, including a Thursday dinner, a private Friday workout and a trip to the Bills’ facility in Orchard Park. Bond is also scheduled to meet with the Browns and Packers, and will participate in the Falcons’ local prospect day. The Bills traded back five spots in the 2024 NFL draft, allowing the Chiefs to take the speedy Xavier Worthy, while the Bills later drafted Keon Coleman. Worthy caught 30 more passes than Coleman last year, and the Bills are still searching for a speedy perimeter receiver. Perhaps, Bond is their man.

 

[HappyDays]

27 minutes ago, Mat68 said:

Jaylin Noel this is guy I want.  

 

 

 

The speed jumps off the screen but it's hard to see his fit in our offense. Strikes me as a slot only and that will make it hard to get on the field here.

[Mat68]

2 minutes ago, HappyDays said:

 

The speed jumps off the screen but it's hard to see his fit in our offense. Strikes me as a slot only and that will make it hard to get on the field here.

I dont agree.  His speed and explosiveness allows him to play outside. Buffalo needs deep speed.  Having a complete route tree with the ability to play slot is a plus.  Shakir and him almost interchangeable at z and slot.  

[HappyDays]

5 minutes ago, Mat68 said:

I dont agree.  His speed and explosiveness allows him to play outside. Buffalo needs deep speed.  Having a complete route tree with the ability to play slot is a plus.  Shakir and him almost interchangeable at z and slot.  

 

We've had this conversation about Shakir. It's really difficult if not impossible to make a living outside with sub-30" arms. Maybe Noel will be the one in a million but you have to draft based on a reasonable projection and for him that projection puts him in the slot. We just paid $15M AAV for Shakir to man that position so personally I'm not interested in spending a high pick on the same role.

[BillsShredder83]

On 3/25/2025 at 12:06 PM, FireChans said:

I already looked.

 

a lot of them were reaches. James Williams in particular. 
 

I have come around to @GunnerBill’s philosophy that you should always be considering picking at least one CB every year because keeping a talent pipeline in that group is super important. But not necessarily in the first,

 

My FireChans patented “Official draft strategy” is as follows.

 

QB/EDGE/WR/OT/CB/pass rush in round 1 exclusively. Obviously if you have a QB, you don’t need one there. 

 

1 WR in rounds 2-4 every year you can

 

1 CB in rounds 2-4 every year you can

 

No pick higher than a 3rd on running backs ever.

 

Everything else BPA

This is a great philosophy.  G2 disagree with the RB in the 3rd though.  Its a non-issue for us at #30, but if Jeanty is sitting there, I'm 100% sprinting to podium, taking him, and unloading Cook to recoup draft capital + save $$.  

 

No 2nd contracts on RB is a good theory for 95% of Backs.  The board has been over the exceptions, high level dual-threat guys who catch the ball a ton. CMC. Saquan. I understand the argument on Cook, but im not doing $15m and especially not more than 1-2 years.

 

I just think if your strategy is no 2nd contract, you g2 be willing to take a  truly superior talent IF IT PRESENTS ITSELF.  Especially at the end of rd 1 or rd2.  Im not taking any back in the top half of rd1 though.  Its not 2015, RB's are effective AF in the NFL right now. Build line first, but if you can polish the run game off with gnarly back, im doing it.

[Mat68]

1 hour ago, HappyDays said:

 

We've had this conversation about Shakir. It's really difficult if not impossible to make a living outside with sub-30" arms. Maybe Noel will be the one in a million but you have to draft based on a reasonable projection and for him that projection puts him in the slot. We just paid $15M AAV for Shakir to man that position so personally I'm not interested in spending a high pick on the same role.

As a full time X you’re right.  As a Z and slot he will fine.  Imo he fills a hole at deep threat.  Also, offers way more everywhere else.  

[FireChans]

49 minutes ago, BillsShredder83 said:

This is a great philosophy.  G2 disagree with the RB in the 3rd though.  Its a non-issue for us at #30, but if Jeanty is sitting there, I'm 100% sprinting to podium, taking him, and unloading Cook to recoup draft capital + save $$.  

 

No 2nd contracts on RB is a good theory for 95% of Backs.  The board has been over the exceptions, high level dual-threat guys who catch the ball a ton. CMC. Saquan. I understand the argument on Cook, but im not doing $15m and especially not more than 1-2 years.

 

I just think if your strategy is no 2nd contract, you g2 be willing to take a  truly superior talent IF IT PRESENTS ITSELF.  Especially at the end of rd 1 or rd2.  Im not taking any back in the top half of rd1 though.  Its not 2015, RB's are effective AF in the NFL right now. Build line first, but if you can polish the run game off with gnarly back, im doing it.

It’s funny you bring up 2015.

 

The point about RBs is not that you can’t get someone special. It’s that they are just bad investments. 
 

There have been a lot of special backs since 2015. But they rise and fall so fast. 
 

The rule i have is that is based on ROI. If this guy is a perennial ProBowl or fringe annual AP type player, does he ever leave the building? QB, EDGE, WR, OT, CB the answer is approaching 100% no. 
 

Put another way, James Cook is a very nice player. If he was an equivalent very nice EDGE or WR, he’d already have a $120M contract rather than debating if he should be traded now or not. 
 

That’s the point. Your draft picks are investments and your investments should have the highest upside whenever possible. When talking about generational running backs there are maybe 3 right now, all drafted 7+ years ago, all playing for different teams than the ones that drafted them. Thats bad business and bad investments. 
 

CMC wasn’t even the first RB off the board in his draft. Neither was Henry. 
 

There’s really no way to justify taking dudes like that in the first or second round as a practice. It’s talking yourself into exceptions that cause dumb teams like the Giants into taking Saquon over Josh or Lamar or even Darnold. 

[HappyDays]

2 hours ago, Mat68 said:

As a full time X you’re right.  As a Z and slot he will fine.  Imo he fills a hole at deep threat.  Also, offers way more everywhere else.  

 

The deep threat I'm looking for needs to be able to play outside and get around press. I don't see Noel doing that in the NFL.

 

Kyle Williams remains the only true vertical threat that I'm interested in in this class. Admittedly he may have a difficult time dealing with physical coverage especially early on but the release package is great and he's shown an ability to separate downfield and outside. His frame can still fill out some too compared to Noel who's small size and length gives him a hard ceiling.

[BillsShredder83]

On 3/25/2025 at 6:06 AM, machine gun kelly said:

Im with the Old Timer for one reason.  Taking a WR this year wil be a reach as it’s not a strong class.  However it is a strong DT class and there are talented CB’s.  DE may be tough, but agreed it is a need.  I just don’t want another Epenesa.  He’s ok, but not an impact guy.  So we have 3 picks in the first 2 rounds.  That needs to address CB, DT, and DE.   If we get a WR in rd 4, ok.  It probably wouldn’t hurt if we go after a safety after, and my guess is we should pick up a K and developmental QB without 2 6th rd. picks.

The only way to make need match value (aka BPA):

 

A. Sheer f'n luck

B. Trading up

C. Regular Trade

 

"A" for a WR ould be dope, but very unlikely.  "B" & "C" make the most sense.  I dunno that theres value in trading up in the 1st round, but maybe they see something I don't.  So maybe in day 2 or later.

 

C - may be a good option.  I'm not looking for a Julio Jones in his prime type trade, but if somebody ends up deeper at the position than needed, and we can make a draft day trade, my panties would be soaked.  WTF did AJ Brown go for 2-3 years ago?  I remember thinking it wasn't nuts, and hard to argue Eagles didn't win that trade.  Now, who?? Noooo clue.

[LEBills]

9 minutes ago, HappyDays said:

 

The deep threat I'm looking for needs to be able to play outside and get around press. I don't see Noel doing that in the NFL.

 

Kyle Williams remains the only true vertical threat that I'm interested in in this class. Admittedly he may have a difficult time dealing with physical coverage especially early on but the release package is great and he's shown an ability to separate downfield and outside. His frame can still fill out some too compared to Noel who's small size and length gives him a hard ceiling.

Kyle Williams wingspan is even smaller than Noel’s. In fact Williams, Noel and Tai Felton all have wingspans smaller than 155 pound, 29 and 7/8 inch arm length Tez Johnson.

 

Don’t think any of them are going to be close to majority outside WRs in the NFL.

[HappyDays]

1 hour ago, LEBills said:

Kyle Williams wingspan is even smaller than Noel’s. In fact Williams, Noel and Tai Felton all have wingspans smaller than 155 pound, 29 and 7/8 inch arm length Tez Johnson.

 

Don’t think any of them are going to be close to majority outside WRs in the NFL.

 

Yeah that's fair, I have more faith in Williams because at least he is over 30" arms and his release is very very good. To me he just looks more like a natural Z than Noel does. It's possible he will be relegated to just a slot role but there is upside to be an outside WR IMO. Also we're talking about 2nd rounder with Noel vs 4th rounder for Williams, so the risk is mitigated.

[SoonerBillsFan]

17 hours ago, Richard Noggin said:

Great thread. Got some of our top board scouts engaged in reasonable and informed debate, another amateur scout methodically introducing me to WR prospects I'd STILL never heard of, like Lambert Smith in the post above. Keep it coming...

 

Agreed, great stuff guys. Thank you. 

[BillsShredder83]

On 3/25/2025 at 9:37 AM, Kirby Jackson said:

We disagree here. McDermott needs a better D. There’s nothing worse than Josh off the field with the game on the line. Give me Josh Allen with elite wr and the game on the line vs. Sean McDermott with an elite DT and the game on the line. 

Fair and don’t disagree with any of those (part of why I’m in the camp of signing Cook).

100% this.  WR on this team is the only position that can provide an absolute Hiroshima of synergy!!

1 + 1 = 10

 

Go get Josh an elite #1 again. I dont really care what it takes if its the right guy. So frustrating to have not done it last year, but I get crap happens.  We just can not enter another season without a #1 WR.  We have a high end #2. Then, with development realistically we could have a few guys worthy of being a true #3.

 

Turn every stone for a trade for a veteran stud.  Or identify a stud in the draft, go up and get him.  Work the phones and take a gamble to trade up mid-way now..... and draft day make another move to go get your guy.  I know that sounds crazy, but put an AJ Brown on this team.  We got atleast 1 chip, pushing for #2 this year.

 

We saw the type of defense it took to stop Mahomes.  We are not 1 or even 2 drafts away from having that kinda defense.  Anything less that 2024 PHI defense isnt winning you a chip.  Josh having a true #1, has us win that AFCCG buy 2 touchdowns.  We stay out of the 3rd and longs. Make Spagnola dedicate serious resources outside the hashes.

 

We have no outside threat.  So they stack the box, and hover over the middle.... then were forced to run the ball into run prevent type defense... and throw the ball to middle of field.  IT PLAYS INTO THEIR HAND.  Go get a #1

 

1 + 1 = 10

[LEBills]

#17 Pat Bryant WR Illinois (Rd 4-5)

- Recruited to Illinois by Lovie Smith

- Top 5 in class in both man and zone yards per route run

 

What does he do on film?

 

Physicality

- 5:16 hand fights with the CB to the catch point and then decisively rips the ball down

- 7:12 he isn’t going to run away from every defender but will lower his shoulder if he can’t

- 7:40 knocks over two attempted tacklers

- 7:54 violently runs through the DB sending him flying

- 13:55 stiff arms the defender into another defender, sending him flying

 

Not his strength, but there is some manipulation of CBs

- 5:29 attacks the outside shoulder to flip the CB, then gets upfield to the inside

- 11:35 makes the same move in reverse and takes the catch for a long touchdown

- 12:16 had the CB thinking 2 different routes were coming before finally getting upfield for the big gain

- 16:32 gets the CB to bite on the curl then beats him for a long completion

 

Weaknesses:

- Pushed off a lot to create separation downfield at the catch point

- Stiff athlete leaves some plays unmade

- Most of his production came against the worst teams on his schedule

 

Conclusion:

Romeo Doubs with more juice. A “sacrificial X” who can make teams account for the position but does not have the speed to draw extra coverage. His worst statistical games this year were against all the better teams Illinois faced and the games where his QB struggled the most. To me he is a cog in an offense, but not a playmaker that you can run your offense through to get an offense moving. Fun player to watch and someone who will have a long career in the NFL

[nosejob]

2 hours ago, LEBills said:

Kyle Williams wingspan is even smaller than Noel’s. In fact Williams, Noel and Tai Felton all have wingspans smaller than 155 pound, 29 and 7/8 inch arm length Tez Johnson.

 

Don’t think any of them are going to be close to majority outside WRs in the NFL.

This made DeSean Jackson come to mind.

[BillsShredder83]

On 3/25/2025 at 10:15 AM, Pete said:

DT and CB are deep.  We still have picks 56, 62, 109, 132, 169, 170, 173, 177, 206.  I would use every pick for Defense, and use picks to move up in rounds targeting Defensive prospects rated high on Bills draft boards.  That is a lot of help for our Defense, and should help calm your Chiefs anxiety.

 

Not to mention, Bills were highest scoring team last year.  Add in Golden and Palmer, and a healthy Samuels.  Also, a healthy Kincaid, and a second season for Keon.  With our loaded WR, Josh will win every track meet.

Regular season stats mean nothing.  We left a lot of points on the bone in AFCCG.  Its easier to predict "buying" points, than it is to pay to stop them.

 

You think if we went defense on every pick the next 2 years, we're gunna be in the vicinity of Eagles defense?  Cause thats the defense its gunna take to win on that side of the ball with McDermott vs Reid.

 

Im not saying ignore defense, or even go light on defense.  First priority needs to be getting Josh a true #1, however you have to do that, doesnt matter.  We have a chit ton of extra picks, and all of next years.  IDENTIFY THE WR YOU WANT, GO GET HIM.... THEEEEEN USE EVERY PICK ON DEFENSE AFTER THAT IF YOU WANT!!

 

Get me a stud #1, and then im stoked to draft a badarse DT.  CB.  DE.  Go BPA at DT, CB, DE with every pick after. Wonderful.  I'll be stoked to see the defense improve, but until we get Josh a guy who can decide hes going to be open despite whatever coverage is coming his way... our seasons will continue to end in heartbreaking close games.  Year, after, year.