VCU hoops star belongs on Bills' radar

[YardRat]

http://buffalonews.com/2017/03/20/bucky-gleasons-power-take-vcu-hoops-star-belongs-bills-radar/

Alie-Cox played football his freshman year in high school before transferring to a private school that didn't have a team. He turned his focus to basketball and evolved into a bruising 6-7, 250-pound forward at Virginia Commonwealth. He made life difficult for the Bonnies before his basketball career ended in the NCAA Tournament.

This dude is a beast with all the qualities you see in NFL tight ends: agility, speed, great hands, leaping ability and a very strong base. Given his size and athleticism, he would be a mismatch for most linebackers and defensive backs.

[OpIv37]

It seems like every couple of years, someone has the idea of converting a basketball forward to a football TE. The only time it worked (that I'm aware of) is Antonio Gates.

It can't hurt to bring him in as a UDFA if he's interested but it's not worth a draft pick.

[Night Train]

If the Bills don't bring him in, Bucky will trash the team for months. He enjoys reading himself more than reporting, IMO.

[Cali512]

It seems like every couple of years, someone has the idea of converting a basketball forward to a football TE. The only time it worked (that I'm aware of) is Antonio Gates.

It can't hurt to bring him in as a UDFA if he's interested but it's not worth a draft pick.


Tony Gonzales and Graham too I think

[Mr. Miyagi]

WTF are they talking about? Is the guy declaring himself eligible for NFL draft? Or is someone just randomly picking a basketball player?

[Cali512]

Actually your right. Gonzales played both in college and Graham had 4 yrs of basketball and only one of football. But Gates is the only one who never played college football, as would this guy

[SpikedLemonade]

http://buffalonews.com/2017/03/20/bucky-gleasons-power-take-vcu-hoops-star-belongs-bills-radar/

Alie-Cox played football his freshman year in high school before transferring to a private school that didn't have a team. He turned his focus to basketball and evolved into a bruising 6-7, 250-pound forward at Virginia Commonwealth. He made life difficult for the Bonnies before his basketball career ended in the NCAA Tournament.

This dude is a beast with all the qualities you see in NFL tight ends: agility, speed, great hands, leaping ability and a very strong base. Given his size and athleticism, he would be a mismatch for most linebackers and defensive backs.


How many TEs do we need so TT can ignore them up the middle because he is too short to see them?

[YardRat]

How many TEs do we need so TT can ignore them up the middle because he is too short to see them?

Twice as many as fullbacks, so I would say somewhere between four and six.

[YardRat]

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000796724/article/mo-aliecox-training-for-switch-from-basketball-to-nfl

Virginia Commonwealth basketball player Mo Alie-Cox is the latest college hoops player looking to make a career in the NFL rather than the NBA. And of course, he'll try to do it as a tight end.

Alie-Cox (6-foot-7, 250 pounds) averaged 9.5 points and 4.2 rebounds per game at VCU this year as a fifth-year senior. The power forward-turned-tight end has informed NFL clubs he will work out for scouts on April 11, according to NFL Network's Mike Garafolo (https://twitter.com/MikeGarafolo/status/847832599779315712). Some of the NFL's top tight ends came from a basketball background, including Jimmy Graham (http://www.nfl.com/player/jimmygraham/497236/profile), Julius Thomas (http://www.nfl.com/player/juliusthomas/2495353/profile) and Antonio Gates (http://www.nfl.com/player/antoniogates/2505299/profile).
A more recent example for Alie-Cox's path is Rico Gathers (http://www.nfl.com/player/ricogathers/2556375/profile), who made the same transition a year ago. Gathers played basketball at Baylor, went through football training after the season and drew 24 NFL clubs for a pre-draft workout (http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000655622/article/reps-from-24-nfl-teams-to-attend-pro-day-of-baylor-hoops-star). He was drafted by the Dallas Cowboys (http://www.nfl.com/teams/dallascowboys/profile?team=DAL) in the sixth round and is developing on the club's practice squad.

[Buddo]

How many TEs do we need so TT can ignore them up the middle because he is too short to see them?

With the size of this guy, he might be visible anywhere - just sayin'. ;)

[TigerJ]

It seems like every couple of years, someone has the idea of converting a basketball forward to a football TE. The only time it worked (that I'm aware of) is Antonio Gates.

It can't hurt to bring him in as a UDFA if he's interested but it's not worth a draft pick.The notion of converting BB players to tight is discussed annually. It has as much merit as drafting the latest European soccer player or Australian rugby star or signing a star in the CFL. There are not enough "sure things" to keep NFL teams happy, so they're always going to be looking outside the box at fringe ideas and prospects. Once in a while one produces in the NFL.

[Novacane]

It seems like every couple of years, someone has the idea of converting a basketball forward to a football TE. The only time it worked (that I'm aware of) is Antonio Gates.

It can't hurt to bring him in as a UDFA if he's interested but it's not worth a draft pick.


Keith McKeller was pretty good for us. The K Gun was actually named for him.