Bills visit with TE Jermichael Finley, and do not meet with WR Malcolm Kelly

[DraftBoy]

This is posted in the Scouting Zone thread about Team Interviews but since there is only 20 or so people who frequent that zone, I figured Id share this little nugget that nobody else would normally know unless you read the treasures that get posted there. So here you go, we have met with TE Jermichael Finley;


Bills | Team contacts Je. Finley
Thu, 21 Feb 2008 17:29:33 -0800

University of Texas TE Jermichael Finley said during his NFL Scouting Combine interview that the Buffalo Bills have contacted him.

More goodies in the Scouting Zone.....

[DraftBoy]

And because I like you guys, you get this added bonus!

NFL | Je. Finley measures in at NFL Scouting Combine
Thu, 21 Feb 2008 17:28:54 -0800

University of Texas TE Jermichael Finley measured in at the 2008 NFL Scouting Combine with a height of 6-foot-4 and a weight of 243 pounds. His agent is Major Adams. He is planning to take part in all drills. When asked to characterize his blocking, Finely said: "I can grade it. I grade it a C. It's not good at all. But I'm going to work my butt off to make it great."

Kid seems to have great character!

[Tatonka]

i dont care about character.. i want skill.. i want a guy that can own people not guys that need to work their butt off to improve their c grade.

[DraftBoy]

i dont care about character.. i want skill.. i want a guy that can own people not guys that need to work their butt off to improve their c grade.

You know this guy is considered one of the most athletic TE's in the draft, coming in at 6'4, 243. He may have the fastest 40 time of all the TE's. How many times have we heard that we have enough blocking TE's, that we need an athletic pass catching TE, well thats exactly what Finley is, but now you are saying you dont like him because he's not the best blocker and he wants to work to improve his game?

[Meathead]

im no expert but ive always thought guys that cant block well must always have bad character

i view it like not being able to play defense in hockey, which i know a lot about. its not frikken rocket science, anybody can do it if they want to. sure some guys are going to be better than others but the only way you cant become at least 'good' at defense is because you dont care enough to study, work, and try hard to do it

how frikken complicated can blocking be. theres gotta be a jillion coaches who will spend as much time with you as you want to learn the techniques. but if all you care about it the glory of catching passes and plowing white girls then youre probably going to stay a c- forever

[Bmax]

He is very raw .. only 20 years old....Has a child so he needed to come out to support his family... I would love to get him in rd 3 .. In two years this guy could be special...



Bmax

[TigerJ]

There are several factors that might come into play in determining how good a blocker a TE might be. First, what kind of offense did he play in and what role did he play in that offense. Some offenses rarely use the TE in the passing game. His primary job is to be an extra inline blocker. In other offenses the TE is almost always out in a pass pattern and never does anything more than a little chip block on his way out in the pattern. If you don't do it, you're not going to be very good at it. You have to remember that NFL teams pay millions of dollars to pass rushers to make athletic 6'6" 330 giants look silly. They do it with a variety of moves, but they also use strength in a bull rush. If a 270 lb defensive end can bullrush a 330 lb tackle, I can't imagine it's going to be easy for a 240 lb TE to slow him down much. So if you're not taking time to learn the technique because that's not how your college coach is using you, I can't imagine it's going to be easy when you get to the pros. Another factor is size. Michael Gaines is 280 lbs. I would expect him to be a better blocker than a 243 lb Jermichael Finley going up against say Julius Pepper. I would guess Finley will attempt to gain some weight and get into a lifting program to put on some muscle. Depending on his frame, he might be able to add 10-20 lbs of muscle without sacrificing quickness and speed. Some colleges are better than others at getting their athletes into a good weight training program. The bottom line is I don't put too much stock in the suggestion that blocking is easy and lack of ability is a character flaw. That said, there are some hotdogs who think so highly of their own talent and so little of the team concept that they don't work on blocking and don't try very hard in games.

[TigerJ]

He's shorter than advertised, but apparently has put on a little weight since playing. He was listed at something like 237.

[kernowboy]

Interesting but I still reckon John Carlson of Notre Dame might be our best bet - a better blocker and maybe whilst not as athletic, big enough and fast enough.

[DraftBoy]

Im just happy they are talking to somebody

[YardRat]

but if all you care about it the glory of catching passes and plowing white girls then youre probably going to stay a c- forever

Thus the reason why none of us ever made it to the big leagues.<!-- / message --><!-- sig -->

[colin]

meh

any tight end who can run and catch is a bigger asset than a poor man's tackle.

polian had a really good thing about this.

basically, a great pass catching TE will get LBs and someone else worried about him on passing downs, which opens up running lanes when you are 2 TE and single back. also if the TE can be the 3rd or 4th option but still be a player, then you end up with lots of 3rd down conversions.

metz in buff, walls in carolina, pollard and now clarke in indy -- i'll go with a pass catching threat over a good blocker every damn time and twice on sunday.

he only really needs to block on an outside run to his side, other than that he does his job getting the LB back on his heels

[Bills Juggernaut]

Interesting but I still reckon John Carlson of Notre Dame might be our best bet - a better blocker and maybe whilst not as athletic, big enough and fast enough.

Have you ever seen Carlson play?

I'm a big ND fan and he was a horrible blocker.

He's got good hands and decent speed, but his blocking skills are horrid.

[bigbub2352]

Martellus Bennett rd 2, i am gonna keep sayin it until he is drafted by someone else in the late 1st rd and i cry

I am more than happy they are looking at TE, we need it HUGE need

[Bert102176]

I absolutely agree, nice post



meh

any tight end who can run and catch is a bigger asset than a poor man's tackle.

polian had a really good thing about this.

basically, a great pass catching TE will get LBs and someone else worried about him on passing downs, which opens up running lanes when you are 2 TE and single back. also if the TE can be the 3rd or 4th option but still be a player, then you end up with lots of 3rd down conversions.

metz in buff, walls in carolina, pollard and now clarke in indy -- i'll go with a pass catching threat over a good blocker every damn time and twice on sunday.

he only really needs to block on an outside run to his side, other than that he does his job getting the LB back on his heels

[Bert102176]

I really like the fact that the kid admits his blocking stinks and that he want's to change that

[capitolneal]

He is Travis Henry all over again 4 kids four different women, yeah he went early cause he could'nt afford to stay at UT, does that defy character?

[DraftBoy]

He is Travis Henry all over again 4 kids four different women, yeah he went early cause he could'nt afford to stay at UT, does that defy character?


Where do you see that he has 4 children with 4 women?

He left UT early to care for his family

[patmoran2006]

Four kids with four different woman? This TE kid?

[DraftBoy]

The guy is married and has kids;


Ultimately, this was more a family decision than a football decision. Finley has a wife and kids, and from that perspective, it makes sense that he wants to make a living. But from a football perspective, he would have been much better off getting another year of college under his belt.

It's not cool to just throw accusations out and not have a link to back it up with, so lets keep that to a minimum please

[DraftBoy]

Today

Posted By: John Murphy | Time: 1:11 PM ET | Link

We just spoke with Oklahoma WR Malcolm Kelly and he confirmed he will not run or work out this week at the draft combine. Kelly is projected by many to be the man the Bills select with their first round pick, 11th overall. But he suffered a quad muscle bruise in the Fiesta Bowl and he's still not ready to run. Even though he may fit the profile the Bills are looking for, Kelly told us he did not interview with Buffalo's brain trust here at the combine. It remains to be seen whether that's an indication of the Bills interest. Kelly left Oklahoma after his junior year, and he left as the Sooner's second all-time leader in reception yards with 2, 285. He caught 21 touchdown passes with Oklahoma.

[DraftBoy]

So the combine continues to turn

[DraftBoy]

This is my guy this draft San Diego QB Josh Johnson, would absolutely love to see him come here!

Today

Posted By: John Murphy | Time: 2:32 PM ET | Link

We just had a chance to speak with Quarterback Josh Johnson in the media room. He's projected as a third rounder after a productive career at Division 1AA San Diego. Obviously scouts will wonder about the quality of competition he faced at USD, but Bills QB Coach Alex Van Pelt singled out Johnson as one of the QB prospects he likes. Johnson has a major Bills connection as well. Marshawn Lynch is his first cousin, and the pair grew up together in Oakland. In addition, Johnson was Lynch's QB in high school, at Oakland Tech. Johnson told us today he's been briefed over and over by Lynch as to what to expect this week at the combine. Even though he's never seen Lynch play with the Bills, Johnson says they remain close.

[Meathead]

It's not cool to just throw accusations out and not have a link to back it up with, so lets keep that to a minimum please
i heard you have tiny gonads

[DraftBoy]

i heard you have tiny gonads


Tell your sister Ill be over after work, thanks! :up:

[X-Era]

This is posted in the Scouting Zone thread about Team Interviews but since there is only 20 or so people who frequent that zone, I figured Id share this little nugget that nobody else would normally know unless you read the treasures that get posted there. So here you go, we have met with TE Jermichael Finley;


Bills | Team contacts Je. Finley
Thu, 21 Feb 2008 17:29:33 -0800

University of Texas TE Jermichael Finley said during his NFL Scouting Combine interview that the Buffalo Bills have contacted him.

More goodies in the Scouting Zone.....

Means little to nothing, they didnt "reportedly" meet with McGahee either

[DraftBoy]

Means little to nothing, they didnt "reportedly" meet with McGahee either


Seriously you guys are killing me here

[X-Era]

Seriously you guys are killing me here
OK, be killed.

No one knew of the pre draft visit that McGahee made to OBD, it came out AFTER the draft.

This stuff doesnt matter that much.

I dont buy into the smoke screen crap that much, because the Bills tend to shoot from the hip. Last year, Ralph told us they want to get better on the o-line, and thats what they did in day one of FA.

Not sure, but I know from this site that few if any had us taking Whitner either.

I take the "who were talking too" and who we arent stuff with a grain of salt. Thats just me.

Remember teh o-lineman that we were supposedly enamored with last year or the year before, Manuel or something like that, we didnt get him.

I will give you a few more Bunkley, and Ngata

[LifetimeBillsFan]

I think that I was probably the only one on this site who predicted that the Bills would take Whitner--although I must admit that I really thought that he would be their second pick that year, not the first (I must also confess to hedging on saying whether he would be first or second when I read his 40 time--because I thought that, if the Bills were enamoured enough to take him with their first pick, they would trade down to do so, rather than taking him at # 8).

Since the departure of Tom Donahoe, however, I think that the Bills have actually been quite up-front about the areas of the team that they have felt need to be upgraded and that has held up in some of the moves that they have made, particularly in free agency, in the last two offseasons.

Where I think that they have, rightfully, not been quite as forth-coming has been in revealing what specific players they may be targeting. And, I say "rightfully" in describing their lack of total candor in this regard because I don't think that it is wise (and I think most NFL FOs agree with me on this) to be so open about which players your team is targeting that you telegraph exactly what your team is going to attempt to do and allow other teams to preempt those moves.

What I've seen the Bills do is throw out a bunch of names, particularly names of guys that everyone thinks that they are or should be interested in and, then, drop in the names of a few of the guys that they actually may be interested in.

I don't know exactly what they are looking to hear when they talk to the players that they actually talk to, but I do think, based on what they have donw or not done, that there are certain things that they definitely want to hear from those players. And, I do think that those discussions play a role in whether they end up making a play for a player or not.

However, I don't think that the mere fact that they have talked to or not talked to a player prior to the draft necessarily means that they will or won't draft that player: while they talked with D.Wright, they only had a minimal conversation with M.Lynch and didn't speak at all with T.Edwards before last year's draft; their conversation with Whitner apparently played a big role in their decision to select him (along with his 40 time), but, according to what I read, they talked much more with McCargo's coaches and only had a minimal discussion with him the year before; etc.

With the draft picks, I think that a lot depends on how the draft shapes up and who is still available when the Bills are on the board: some players that they may have talked to and been interested in may no longer be available when the Bills were considering taking that player or, as was the case with Edwards and Simpson, a player that they never thought would be available might still be on the board when they are up.

So, I agree that you have to take the interviews and info about who the Bills may have talked to with a considerable grain of salt. But, at the same time, I would file that name and definitely mark down that position as being one that the Bills will be looking at come Draft Day.

[VeggieMan14]

Jermichael Finley just looked real good in that thing they just did where they were running up the line catching.