2011 NFL Combines: Players on the Buffalo Bills' Radar
When C.J. Spiller attended the NFL Scouting Combines in 2010, little did he know that he would wind up being a member of the Buffalo Bills a few months later. This year, the Bills go to the NFL Scouting Combines with a solid handle on the senior players that participated in the Senior Bowl game. Now it is time for the Bills scouting department to go to work on the underclassmen.
The Bills and the Cincinnati Bengals come in to the Combines with the best knowledge of the players already, due to coaching the North and South teams in the Senior Bowl. It is my belief however, that when you add in the first-hand knowledge of former college head coaches Chan Gailey and Dave Wannstedt to the mix, the Bills have the greatest insight of college talent of any NFL organization. Now the question becomes what do they do with all that knowledge?
We will look at the underclassmen as well as other seniors that were not part of the Senior Bowl game. These are the players that the Bills will be focusing a good deal of their time on, as they continue to sort through who represents the best value at each position of need. I don't think they will ignore the players they coached at the Senior Bowl, but rather do a little more fine tuning and a bit more probing with them.
Coming in to the Combines, the current Bills organization positional needs that appear to be the main priorities are at: Quarterback, Offensive Line, Tight End, Defensive Line, Linebacker and Secondary. This article will focus primarily on those key positions.
Quarterbacks
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Quarterbacks Overview:
Cam Newton, Auburn -- the Heisman Trophy winner is planning to throw, run and do all QB related drills this week at the Combines. He did not allow any NFL scouts to attend his recent media-only workout in San Diego. The Combine work he does, and how he handles himself under the scrutiny of all the interviews and intense "Q and A" sessions, will likely go a long way towards him landing in the top 5, or not.
We have to include the new quote from the star of "Team Newton" in an interview he did with Peter King of Sports Illustrated: "I see myself not only as a football player, but an entertainer and icon". Rest assured the Bills will be checking the icon out thoroughly.
Ryan Mallett - Arkansas -- Some questions about decision making process need to be analyzed in addition to checking out his accuracy. Big kid but not fast like a Cam Newton or Colin Kaepernick.
Blaine Gabbert - Missouri -- Is supposedly sitting out the throwing drills. Rumors are swirling that he has an injury that he is hiding and will wait for his pro day to throw in front of scouts. Stock dropping.
Pat Devlin - Delaware -- Played in the East vs West game (Shrine Bowl) but did next to nothing in the game. The Bills will do their due diligence on him, but right now seems to be lower option.
Reminder - The Bills already have a pretty solid book on all the Senior Bowl QB's including: Christian Ponder, Colin Kaepernick, Andy Dalton, Jake Locker, Greg McElroy and Ricky Stanzi.
Offensive Linemen
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Offensive Linemen Overview
The most important linemen for the Bills to get to know is USC's Tyron Smith. He is the only top-level linemen that was an underclassmen that declared for the draft. Since Smith did not appear in any All-Star games, this will be the Bills first chance to get to know him really well. They also have his Pro Day at USC, but if he goes in the first round as projected, the only way the Bills draft him is if they trade down, or trade up from the second round. That is why you take the time to meet everybody.
All of the other top linemen appeared in the Senior Bowl. The other names that could pop up in the later rounds, that the Bills need to do their due diligence include:
Tackles: Marcus Cannon (TCU), Orlando Franklin (Miami-FL), Chris Hairston (Clemson), Ben Ijalana (Villanova), Jarriel King (South Carolina), and Will Rackley (Lehigh). Draft Day Three tackles include: David Arkin (S.W. Missouri State) and Jah Reid (Central Florida).
Guards: Andrew Jackson (Fresno St.), Stefen Wisniewski (Penn St.) and Caleb Schlauderaff (Utah).
The Buffalo Bills saw the vast majority of cream of the crop linemen at the Senior Bowl already. Most of the top linemen appeared in Mobile, Alabama. The Bills scouting staff may have the need for some brief follow up questions, in addition to tracking their 40 times and seeing what they do in the weight room.
Those 19 lineman were: Clint Boling, James Brewer, Gabe Carimi, James Carpenter, Anthony Castonzo, Brandon Fusco, Marcus Gilbert, Rodney Hudson, Jake Kirkpatrick, Kevin Kowalski, DeMarcus Love, John Moffitt, Kristofer O'Dowd, Jason Pinkston, Stephen Schilling, Derek Sherrod, Nate Solder, Danny Watkins and Lee Ziemba.
Tight Ends
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Tight Ends Overview
Similar to the offensive tackles, the vast majority of what is considered to be the cream of the crops in tight ends were players that the Bills already know very well due to their appearance in the Senior Bowl game. The player that is going to physically checked out by the Bills doctors will be Notre Dame tight end Kyle Rudolph. Rudolph underwent surgery to repair his hamstring injury, and so the Bills will want to see how far along he is in his recovery.
There was a newly added tight end to the Combines list, Weslye Saunders from South Carolina. He is projected to be a sixth or seventh round type of player, but one the Bills will probably visit with anyway.
Other tight ends for the Bills to meet include: Charlie Gantt (Michigan St.), Cameron Graham (Louisville), Robert Housler (Florida Athletic) and Zack Pianalto (North Carolina).
The top three tight ends that the Bills already know from the Senior Bowl game are Luke Stocker (Tennessee), D.J. Williams (Arkansas) and Lance Kendricks (Wisconsin). Other tight ends that appeared were Lee Smith, Mike McNeill and Preston Dial.
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Running Backs and Wide Receivers
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Running Backs and Wide Receivers Overview
Although it is possible that the Bills will do the unthinkable and draft Georgia wide receiver A.J. Green, their does not appear to be a pressing need for the Bills to draft either a wide receiver or a running back, based on the current roster and with the players that are expected to return next year.
I also want to address that if the Bills ultimately decide that they want to market Lee Evans to the rest of the league, and find a reasonable offer in return (draft picks), then all of a sudden A.J. Green might be time very well invested. The other factor is that the better the Bills know Green, the more they can appreciate the sense of urgency that teams may want to trade up in to the Bills spot at number three overall.
I am not naive to the fact that Fred Jackson will be turning 31, and think the Bills will look for another back in the 2012 draft as a result. I just don't see the Bills drafting any running backs this year. I could be wrong. For those Owen Marecic fans that think we can use him at fullback, I will include him in the linebacker slide.
Defensive Linemen
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Defensive Linemen Overview
If there is any one position that the Bills scouts and Buddy Nix will be spending the most time at the combines, it will be with defensive linemen. There is an abundance of talented players down in the trenches and the Bills are in dire need of quality big men across the board. The Bills need to be more physically dominating at the line of scrimmage, so evaluating these players accurately is critical.
This is an exceptionally deep draft class for defensive linemen, and since so many of them are underclassmen, this is a great time for the Bills to get to know every one of them.
Let's start with the underclassmen: Nick Fairley (Auburn), Da'Quan Bowers (Clemson), Marcell Dareus (Alabama), Cortey Liuget (Illinios), Robert Quinn (North Carolina), Jurrell Casey (USC), Aldon Smith (Missouri), Lawrence Guy (Arizona St.), Muhammad Wilkerson (Temple), and J.J. Watt (Wisconsin).
The senior linemen that were not involved in the Senior Bowl game: Cameron Heyward (Ohio State), Adrian Clayborn (Iowa), Drake Nevis (LSU), Stephen Paea (Oregon State), Kenrick Ellis (Hampton), Jerrell Powe (Mississippi), Kentrell Lockett (Mississippi), Cliff Matthews (South Carolina), Marvin Austin (No. Carolina), Dontay Moch (Nevada), Jabaal Sheard (Pittsburgh), Greg Romeus (Pittsburgh) and Karl Klug (Iowa).
Paea was invited to Senior Bowl but got hurt at the start of the week, so not sure how up on him the Bills are right now.
Senior Bowl linemen that the Bills know well already: Sam Acho, Pierre Allen, Allen Bailey, Christian Ballard, Jeremy Beal, Sione Fua, Jarvis Jenkins, Cameron Jordan, Ryan Kerrigan, Terrell McClain, Pernell McPhee, Chris Neild, Brooks Reed, Phil Taylor, Cedrick Thornton and Ian Williams.
Linebackers
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Linebackers Overview
Buddy Nix has stated that the Buffalo Bills will need to get bigger at the inside linebackers position. The only problem is that this is not a deep linebacker class, so Nix may have to go to free agency to find the ideal size he wants to plug in.
The head and shoulders best linebacker in the draft is Von Miller (Texas A&M). The Bills got a chance to work with him during the Senior Bowl, and already feel that they have a strong handle on him. The other linebackers that the Bills will be checking out at the Combines are:
Akeem Ayers (UCLA), Justin Houston (Georgia), Martez Wilson (Illinois), Bruce Carter, (North Carolina), Quan Sturdivant (North Carolina), Elijah Joseph (Temple), Greg Lloyd (Connecticut) and Orie Lemon (Oklahoma St.).
The linebackers that the Bills know from the Senior Bowl experience are: Josh Bynes, Nate Irving, Colin McCarthy, Von Miller, Kelvin Sheppard, Chris White, K.J. Wright, Mason Foster, Mark Herzlich, Ross Homan, Greg Jones, Casey Matthews, Lawrence Wilson, and last but not least, Owen Marecic.
When you compare the depth of this page to that of the defensive linemen, you appreciate that this draft class will not be that great to fit the Bills needs at upgrading their linebacker corps.
Defensive Secondary
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Defensive Secondary Overview
This page could be greatly impacted by what decision ex-Colts free agent safety Bob Sanders makes after he completes his tour of NFL teams that have expressed a degree of interest in him. If Sanders does come to terms with the Bills, who he visited with Tuesday, February 22, the need to spend a high round draft pick on a safety becomes much less of a priority.
Of course, we also recognize that Sanders does get hurt often, so maybe a safety is drafted in day three as opposed to day two. At least the Bills will know where Sanders stands as the March 3rd deadline for the CBA expiring, which will be well before the draft. When it is all said and done, I expect the Bills will have drafted both a safety as well as a cornerback.
Here are the secondary members that I believe the Bills will be most focused on:
Patrick Peterson (pictured - LSU), Prince Amukamara (Nebraska), Jimmy Smith (Colorado), Aaron Williams (Texas), Rahim Moore (UCLA), Robert Sands (West Virginia), Jerrad Tarrant (Georgia Tech), Deunta Williams (North Carolina), Brandon Burton (Utah), Rashad Carmichael (Virginia Tech), Chimdi Chekwa (Ohio State), Ras-I Dowling (Virginia), Brandon Harris (Miami-FL), Davon House (New Mexico State), Chylkie Brown (Texas), Chris Culliver (South Carolina), Brandon Hogan (West Virginia), Chris Rucker (Michigan State), Devon Torrence (Ohio State) and finally, Josh Thomas from U. of Buffalo.
The defensive secondary that the Bills personnel already know well from the Senior Bowl include: Jalil Brown, Kendric Burney, Quinton Carter, Eric Hagg, Jaiquawn Jarrett, Joe Lefeged, Da'Norris Searcy, Richard Sherman, Curtis Brown, Zac Etheridge, Marcus Gilchrist, DeAndre McDaniel, Johnny Patrick, DeMarcus Van Dyke, and Shareece Wright.
Expect Some Craziness At Combines
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After running through each of these slides, I counted 73 new players for the Bills to try to get as much information as they can on, which means Buddy Nix and crew will be very busy at Indianapolis. For the seniors that are among the group of 73 names, the Bills have already met with quite a few over the course of their senior season. But the NCAA prevents the pro teams from interfacing with the underclassmen, so that is why this is such a critical time for all the underclassmen that declared for the draft.
For people like Bills rookie wide receiver Marcus Easley (pictured), the Combines offer teams a chance to really get to know players that didn't have the typical three or four years of high production at their position in college ball. Easley is a fine example of why you meet as many players as you can and turn over every rock and stone to see what is underneath.
The competition for all 32 NFL teams to get critical one-on-one time makes things pretty crazy. Teams pull players in to an empty room, quiz him up and down, and then instruct him not to mention that he met with the team to anyone else. You can only imagine some of the shenanigans that go on. At least we are not dealing with the crazy stuff that went on prior to the merger of the NFL and the AFL.
Thankfully, the Bills are really far along with the other 76 names from the Senior Bowl game that played in positions of need. That really lightens the load considerably, and really allows the talent evaluators to focus on the underclassmen and the remaining seniors that did not make the trip to Mobile, Alabama.
We will be watching the interviews and workouts on the NFL Network and reporting back to Bills fans on various observations throughout the Combine sessions.
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