swiper
04-13-2013, 07:15 AM
It happened at a breakneck pace, but the Buffalo Bills got their last three pre-draft visits in at One Bills Drive Friday as they played host to a quarterback, fullback/tight end and linebacker. Arkansas QB Tyler Wilson, Harvard FB Kyle Juszczyk and SMU LB Ja’Gared Davis were all in Orchard Park to meet coaches and tour the club’s training facility.
These last three prospects put the Bills at the allowable limit of 30 draft eligible player visits. What’s most impressive is they did it in the span of 10 days from April 2nd to April 12th.
Wilson (6’2” 215) is one of a handful of quarterbacks that Buffalo has kept a close eye on through the pre-draft process. The Bills scouting department has met with the Razorbacks signal caller at the Senior Bowl, the NFL Combine and now here at the team facility.
“We had a meeting,” said Wilson of his interview with the Bills at the Combine. “It went very, very good. The entire staff was in there, and I thought it went really well. They put me on the video, we had some touchdown passes in there, I thought it was a good meeting.”
Early on the in scouting process Bills GM Buddy Nix admitted he had some concerns about Wilson’s arm strength, but the quarterback changed Nix’s mind at the Senior Bowl.
“My thinking from watching him at the school was that his arm wasn’t that strong,” said Nix back in late January. “But the two days I’ve watched him here, he’s got a live arm. He’s got plenty of arm.”
Wilson did not have quite the season in 2012 that he did in his junior year at Arkansas. Most of the problems he ran into were out of his control. His head coach was dismissed by the school and he lost his top three receiving targets to the NFL heading into this past season. Add in a suspect offensive line and it put Wilson in a tough position to succeed.
“It was tough at points. A lot of distractions at the time,” said Wilson. “You have to hone yourself in and continue to come in and work every single day and try to turn that into a positive. I think I can use that as an advantage moving forward, going through a little adversity, and handling myself through it.”
In 2012 Wilson didn’t reach the statistical heights of his junior season when he threw for over 3,600 yards with 24 touchdowns and just six interceptions, but his numbers were certainly respectable (3,387 yards, 62.1% comp., 21 TDs, 13 INTs).
“With Tyler, my thinking was he got kind of beat up during the year,” said Nix. “They didn’t have great protection for him. He took a lot of licks.”
Wilson believes all that pressure he experienced in the pocket helped his game.
“I think that’s naturally one of my skills, throwing from a number of different positions under some pressure,” he said. “I think my technique could use some fine tuning in an optimal setting, and that’s really what I’m working on right now. Tightening up that release, quickening it up a little bit, as well as fine tuning it and making sure I’m very accurate when I do so.”
http://www.buffalobills.com/news/article-2/QB-Wilson-FB-Juszczyk-LB-Davis-cap-pre-draft-visits/47fc604d-260f-48a5-b263-4bbd68cd4ea2
Had a good junior season. Had tumultuous senior season. Still had a 62% completion percentage.
http://draftbreakdown.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/Tyler-Wilson.jpg
<iframe height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/q5-CieEqe-Y" frameBorder="0" width="560" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
These last three prospects put the Bills at the allowable limit of 30 draft eligible player visits. What’s most impressive is they did it in the span of 10 days from April 2nd to April 12th.
Wilson (6’2” 215) is one of a handful of quarterbacks that Buffalo has kept a close eye on through the pre-draft process. The Bills scouting department has met with the Razorbacks signal caller at the Senior Bowl, the NFL Combine and now here at the team facility.
“We had a meeting,” said Wilson of his interview with the Bills at the Combine. “It went very, very good. The entire staff was in there, and I thought it went really well. They put me on the video, we had some touchdown passes in there, I thought it was a good meeting.”
Early on the in scouting process Bills GM Buddy Nix admitted he had some concerns about Wilson’s arm strength, but the quarterback changed Nix’s mind at the Senior Bowl.
“My thinking from watching him at the school was that his arm wasn’t that strong,” said Nix back in late January. “But the two days I’ve watched him here, he’s got a live arm. He’s got plenty of arm.”
Wilson did not have quite the season in 2012 that he did in his junior year at Arkansas. Most of the problems he ran into were out of his control. His head coach was dismissed by the school and he lost his top three receiving targets to the NFL heading into this past season. Add in a suspect offensive line and it put Wilson in a tough position to succeed.
“It was tough at points. A lot of distractions at the time,” said Wilson. “You have to hone yourself in and continue to come in and work every single day and try to turn that into a positive. I think I can use that as an advantage moving forward, going through a little adversity, and handling myself through it.”
In 2012 Wilson didn’t reach the statistical heights of his junior season when he threw for over 3,600 yards with 24 touchdowns and just six interceptions, but his numbers were certainly respectable (3,387 yards, 62.1% comp., 21 TDs, 13 INTs).
“With Tyler, my thinking was he got kind of beat up during the year,” said Nix. “They didn’t have great protection for him. He took a lot of licks.”
Wilson believes all that pressure he experienced in the pocket helped his game.
“I think that’s naturally one of my skills, throwing from a number of different positions under some pressure,” he said. “I think my technique could use some fine tuning in an optimal setting, and that’s really what I’m working on right now. Tightening up that release, quickening it up a little bit, as well as fine tuning it and making sure I’m very accurate when I do so.”
http://www.buffalobills.com/news/article-2/QB-Wilson-FB-Juszczyk-LB-Davis-cap-pre-draft-visits/47fc604d-260f-48a5-b263-4bbd68cd4ea2
Had a good junior season. Had tumultuous senior season. Still had a 62% completion percentage.
http://draftbreakdown.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/Tyler-Wilson.jpg
<iframe height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/q5-CieEqe-Y" frameBorder="0" width="560" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>