Buffalo Bills Rumors: Eric Ebron, Sammy Watkins, Odell Beckham Jr.
Sammy Watkins (2) reacts after scoring a touchdown. Robert Mayer-USA TODAY Sports
The Buffalo Bills shipped out a sixth-round pick to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in order to acquire talented No. 2 wide receiver Mike Williams, but they are still looking to add some more pass-catching help for second-year signal-caller E.J. Manuel. Odell Beckham Jr., Eric Ebron, and Sammy Watkins are three familiar faces in Bills-related rumors, and now WGR 55o’s Joe Buscaglia has a report featuring all three of these high-end weapons on offense.
Per league sources close to Buscaglia, the Bills are “very serious” about drafting Beckham Jr. with the ninth overall pick in the 2014 NFL Draft, and it’s becoming clearer that OBJ is a valuable commodity for teams in this year’s draft. There’s plenty of talk that his stock is rising, and there’s a chance he could be taken ahead of Texas A&M’s Mike Evans.
Buscaglia reports that the Bills aren’t aggressively looking to acquire a top three pick in order to draft Greg Robinson or Jadeveon Clowney, which makes plenty of sense. Doug Whaley is aggressive, but it wouldn’t make much sense to pay a king’s ransom to make that kind of a move. The well-connected Buscaglia, however, reports that the Bills could trade up for Watkins if he falls to four or five, though I wonder if the Detroit Lions would give them a run for their money in that situation. The Bills really like Watkins, but I think it makes much more sense for the Bills to stay put at 9. Odell Beckham Jr. isn’t much worse than Watkins, the Bills wouldn’t have to trade up for him, and the gap in their quality isn’t worth the trade price.
According to a source close to Buscaglia, the Bills will draft Beckham Jr. or UNC’s “joker” tight end Eric Ebron at #9, unless if Watkins, Robinson, or Jake Matthews slip to their pick. That isn’t inconceivable, but it’s unlikely. I think Beckham Jr. is a more consistent and better player than Ebron, but Ebron is an uber-athletic TE who can create many mis-matches. Plus, the Bills have more talent at WR than TE, and adding a guy like Ebron at TE would add another layer to the Bills offense.