NFL Combine Thread: 3 (RB's, QB's & WR's)

[Alphadawg7]

6 hours ago, GunnerBill said:

 

He is a better prospect than Gabe. I think you can do a bit more in the middle of the field with Higgins and his hands are better. But I don't think he is a guy who is gonna be open within 2 seconds on many plays so in that sense, similar.

 

And for this team, we have Shakir, Samuel, and our RB's who can fill those roles, so Higgins would still be a nice compliment here and he is someone I expect will be high in our Draft Rooms WR grades.  I would prefer this Higgins over opening the vault of the other FA Tee Higgins personally.  

[DJB]

1 hour ago, GunnerBill said:

 

That first one isn't really a release win it is a nice route against off coverage. I think he is a good route runner, smooth, fluid. It's the suddenness I think he lacks a bit. It causes him problems in releasing when pressed and at the top of the route in his cuts to my eyes it allows defenders back into the play at times. 

 

I like Higgins and I think he helped himself this weekend. He is a 2nd round grade on my board. But those are the elements on his film that stop him grading even higher for me. I certainly don't agree with "best release package in the class". That is just not what my eyes tell me.

I agree he’s not “best in class “ but he certainly might amongst all the big WR’s

 

He has a tantalizing skill set reminiscent of Tee Higgins but faster. Hands, catch radius , footwork is good and now we have that speed at that size 

 

He’s a quality round 2 player in my opinion 

[Alphadawg7]

On 3/1/2025 at 2:13 PM, jkeerie said:

I love how Kurt Warner puts down the QBs with big arms...aka Josh Allen.  "It's unnecessary".  Jealous much?

 

Haha, well to be fair I think Kurt is probably referencing how often guys get over drafted because teams fall in love with a physical gift...such as a big arm...when its not a prerequisite to be a great QB.  I mean many of the best QB's in history didn't have "big arms" including QB's who have cases for GOAT like Brady and Montana.

[GunnerBill]

7 minutes ago, DJB said:

I agree he’s not “best in class “ but he certainly might amongst all the big WR’s

 

He has a tantalizing skill set reminiscent of Tee Higgins but faster. Hands, catch radius , footwork is good and now we have that speed at that size 

 

He’s a quality round 2 player in my opinion 

 

Yea he will be either my WR5 or WR6. He is a round 2 guy. But there are still some negatives on the film and all I was doing was saying what I think those are.

[Buffalo716]

11 minutes ago, Alphadawg7 said:

 

Haha, well to be fair I think Kurt is probably referencing how often guys get over drafted because teams fall in love with a physical gift...such as a big arm...when its not a prerequisite to be a great QB.  I mean many of the best QB's in history didn't have "big arms" including QB's who have cases for GOAT like Brady and Montana.

Tom Brady while he might not have a Josh Allen arm, is severely underrated while it comes to pure arm strength 

 

The dude has been clocked throwing 60 MPH footballs.. his juice in the intermediate game has always been really good... By the time he filled in his frame at 27 he had a big arm 

 

I mean he's thrown a football like 70 plus yards in the air in the super bowl the last play to Randy Moss to try and win.. the ball was in the air literally like 70 yards 

 

Probably the farthest football ever thrown in game

Edited Monday at 12:02 AM by Buffalo716

[3rdand12]

2 hours ago, DJB said:

Gabe Davis could only run in a straight line. Higgins has good wiggle

 

Im confused by some of your analysis of him Gunner 

 

 

Not much like Gabe at all  Thanks

[Kelly to Allen]

Man DJ Giddens from Kansas State reminds me so much of Fred Jackson. 

[ColoradoBills]

4 hours ago, Maine-iac said:

If you are just looking to take the top off defenses take a swing on Thornton on day 3.  That size and speed combo at the very least gives us something different than what most of our roster is made up of.  I don't know about an every down guy but if you are making a late swing on a deep threat guy he had a 40 yard catch in 7 out of the 10 games he played.  I personally don't care if we don't focus on having some fast outside guy.  I'd rather have a technician who's quick more than fast but day 3 I don't care if they take some swings outside the box.

 

It was interesting to hear how little experience he has.  No one really knows what his ceiling is.

[Solomon Grundy]

This is the guy the Bills need in their offense!!

[Maine-iac]

23 minutes ago, Solomon Grundy said:

This is the guy the Bills need in their offense!!

I like everything I saw in that video.  It would be nice to have someone who had the option of just running away from people.  An actual "if he's even he's leaving" type of weapon.  At 6'5" you still have the option of a jump ball but truth is if he's single covered he could probably out run a few people.  In the video he runs some speed outs, he finds the QB in the scramble drill, a lot to like really. 

[ColoradoBills]

Just now, Maine-iac said:

I like everything I saw in that video.  It would be nice to have someone who had the option of just running away from people.  An actual "if he's even he's leaving" type of weapon.  At 6'5" you still have the option of a jump ball but truth is if he's single covered he could probably out run a few people.  In the video he runs some speed outs, he finds the QB in the scramble drill, a lot to like really. 

 

Something that caught my ears when I heard that yesterday.

[Nephilim17]

51 minutes ago, Solomon Grundy said:

This is the guy the Bills need in their offense!!

Wow. Fastest 40 time EVER for a guy over 6'3" and he's 6'5". Would love to add that size and speed to our offense. The tape (yes, it's highlights) shows he can do hitches, comebacks, digs, posts, go routes. I hope the Bills brass likes him or some other guy with real wheels. Give Josh a bona fide vertical threat while he's in his prime.

Edited Monday at 02:29 AM by Nephilim17

[KOKBILLS]

1 hour ago, Solomon Grundy said:

This is the guy the Bills need in their offense!!

 

I've been telling my Nephew about him since before the season and all year I'm like... "Why is he not playing more?" It drove me crazy... I have literally scoured the internet to try to figure out why. I can't find anything. He said in his Combine interview he put the team 1st this year and things really turned around for him. I'm not sure what that meant, but again I can't find anything about him being a bad character guy, or anything like that... He did have some minor injuries.

 

I realize they don't run many routes at Tennessee so every time I see a Tennessee WR I pause. But Thornton is prototype physical in just about every way. And he's made big plays at Oregon and Tennessee... It's not like his production was bad last year, and that QB is still young, but you look at the guy and wonder why he's not going for 1200 yds and 15 TD's?... How they did not manage to get him the ball more is a mystery to me. The other thing I would say is he's not really a YAC guy. Most of the time when DB's play way off (and they do a lot...they are well aware of his speed) they were able to come up and bring him down after a modest gain. But he's not bad at all against press. He has some tools there. And he's just flat out fast. It's natural and it's sudden... A 1.51 10 yard split at almost 6-5 is pretty good...As a physical package only, I'm not going to say anything beyond that because I feel like there HAS to be something we don't know... But as a purely physical package he is exactly what the Bills need because if he's on the field teams HAVE to respect his ability to get deep FAST...

 

I absolutely love the idea of Thornton and if I knew he would be there in the 4th Rd I would just wait on WR... I like his upside that much... But he's a project in every sense of the word... And I don't know how well the Bills will be able to manage that while trying to win a SB. I'd like to see them try though. 

[RyanC883]

On 3/1/2025 at 4:11 PM, KOKBILLS said:

Elic Ayomanor (4.44) really helped himself today... He's a good player...

 

wouldn’t mind trading up in 2nd for him. 

[LEBills]

24 minutes ago, KOKBILLS said:

 

I've been telling my Nephew about him since before the season and all year I'm like... "Why is he not playing more?" It drove me crazy... I have literally scoured the internet to try to figure out why. I can't find anything. He said in his Combine interview he put the team 1st this year and things really turned around for him. I'm not sure what that meant, but again I can't find anything about him being a bad character guy, or anything like that... He did have some minor injuries.

 

I realize they don't run many routes at Tennessee so every time I see a Tennessee WR I pause. But Thornton is prototype physical in just about every way. And he's made big plays at Oregon and Tennessee... It's not like his production was bad last year, and that QB is still young, but you look at the guy and wonder why he's not going for 1200 yds and 15 TD's?... How they did not manage to get him the ball more is a mystery to me. The other thing I would say is he's not really a YAC guy. Most of the time when DB's play way off (and they do a lot...they are well aware of his speed) they were able to come up and bring him down after a modest gain. But he's not bad at all against press. He has some tools there. And he's just flat out fast. It's natural and it's sudden... A 1.51 10 yard split at almost 6-5 is pretty good...As a physical package only, I'm not going to say anything beyond that because I feel like there HAS to be something we don't know... But as a purely physical package he is exactly what the Bills need because if he's on the field teams HAVE to respect his ability to get deep FAST...

 

I absolutely love the idea of Thornton and if I knew he would be there in the 4th Rd I would just wait on WR... I like his upside that much... But he's a project in every sense of the word... And I don't know how well the Bills will be able to manage that while trying to win a SB. I'd like to see them try though. 

The thing to keep in mind with Thornton’s production is that the Vols had more running yards than passing yards this year. The most catches by a WR were 39 this year. Donte’s production was more a result of the Vols leaning on there running game and a talented defense with a young QB. 

I’m not going to try and tell anyone that he is a very polished receiver and the routes he ran were basic. But the Heupel offense has produced X-receivers that have had success in the NFL. Recently with Cedric Tillman and Gabe Davis - both who ran 4.54 40s. The more high profile disappointment has been Jalin Hyatt but he operated more off the line on stacked releases than Thornton or the others have.

 

One reason he may be a good fit for the Bills is he is a very productive low volume receiver - leading college football in ypc - and the Bills passing game has morphed into an offense where most passing targets are lower volume. 
 

Im not sure where Thornton will wind up going, I would be excited if we drafted him round 3 (with a trade up) or beyond. The good news is for a team in desperate need for WRs with both size and speed that can play on the boundary, there are a lot of players that fit that bill from round 2 and on this year. Hopefully we take advantage and draft a couple barring some impressive FA signing.

[Maine-iac]

37 minutes ago, KOKBILLS said:

 

I've been telling my Nephew about him since before the season and all year I'm like... "Why is he not playing more?" It drove me crazy... I have literally scoured the internet to try to figure out why. I can't find anything. He said in his Combine interview he put the team 1st this year and things really turned around for him. I'm not sure what that meant, but again I can't find anything about him being a bad character guy, or anything like that... He did have some minor injuries.

 

I realize they don't run many routes at Tennessee so every time I see a Tennessee WR I pause. But Thornton is prototype physical in just about every way. And he's made big plays at Oregon and Tennessee... It's not like his production was bad last year, and that QB is still young, but you look at the guy and wonder why he's not going for 1200 yds and 15 TD's?... How they did not manage to get him the ball more is a mystery to me. The other thing I would say is he's not really a YAC guy. Most of the time when DB's play way off (and they do a lot...they are well aware of his speed) they were able to come up and bring him down after a modest gain. But he's not bad at all against press. He has some tools there. And he's just flat out fast. It's natural and it's sudden... A 1.51 10 yard split at almost 6-5 is pretty good...As a physical package only, I'm not going to say anything beyond that because I feel like there HAS to be something we don't know... But as a purely physical package he is exactly what the Bills need because if he's on the field teams HAVE to respect his ability to get deep FAST...

 

I absolutely love the idea of Thornton and if I knew he would be there in the 4th Rd I would just wait on WR... I like his upside that much... But he's a project in every sense of the word... And I don't know how well the Bills will be able to manage that while trying to win a SB. I'd like to see them try though. 

Two words ............ Alvin Harper.  Size, speed, and of course Tennessee all made me think of Alvin Harper.  

[Maine-iac]

5 minutes ago, LEBills said:

The thing to keep in mind with Thornton’s production is that the Vols had more running yards than passing yards this year. The most catches by a WR were 39 this year. Donte’s production was more a result of the Vols leaning on there running game and a talented defense with a young QB. 

I’m not going to try and tell anyone that he is a very polished receiver and the routes he ran were basic. But the Heupel offense has produced X-receivers that have had success in the NFL. Recently with Cedric Tillman and Gabe Davis - both who ran 4.54 40s. The more high profile disappointment has been Jalin Hyatt but he operated more off the line on stacked releases than Thornton or the others have.

 

One reason he may be a good fit for the Bills is he is a very productive low volume receiver - leading college football in ypc - and the Bills passing game has morphed into an offense where most passing targets are lower volume. 
 

Im not sure where Thornton will wind up going, I would be excited if we drafted him round 3 (with a trade up) or beyond. The good news is for a team in desperate need for WRs with both size and speed that can play on the boundary, there are a lot of players that fit that bill from round 2 and on this year. Hopefully we take advantage and draft a couple barring some impressive FA signing.

Honestly we're kind of looking for one trick ponies outside.  If he can run block and get behind or outrun a defender in man coverage he could get a few balls thrown his way.  Given the situations we throw outside in he might only see 2 or 3 catches but they could be big catches.

[BobbyC81]

On 3/1/2025 at 1:50 PM, GunnerBill said:

 

I have said repeatedly I think Golden is really fast. I have been kinda on my own on that hill 😅

Also remember that Curtis Samuel ran a 4.31.   There’s also being able to use that speed effectively as an NFL WR.

[GunnerBill]

15 minutes ago, BobbyC81 said:

Also remember that Curtis Samuel ran a 4.31.   There’s also being able to use that speed effectively as an NFL WR.

 

Golden is a lot better player than Samuel.

[YoloinOhio]

18 hours ago, Low Positive said:

Just heard a Jaxson Dart Interview. I get major Zach Wilson vibes. 

My 16 year old daughter knows who he is and that’s all I need to know. He’s a tik tok star bc he cheated on his insta Thot girlfriend apparently. Everything I know about him I learned against my will. Also anyone named Jaxson isn’t getting that extra yard on 4th and 2. 

Edited Monday at 02:02 PM by YoloinOhio