Buffalo Bills 2018 Position Battles: The battle at wide receiver
Ray-Ray McCloud, Rookie
(5-foot-10, 180 pounds)
Contract: 4 year – $2.6 Million
Career Notes:
Sixth-round pick (187th overall) in the 2018 NFL Draft out of Clemson.
Returned punts and kicks in college (1 Punt Return TD).
Career Stats- 127 Receptions, 1226 Receiving Yards, 4 TDs.
Analysis:
I want to preface my comments by saying I believe Ray-Ray McCloud is a talented player. During his time at Clemson, he showed the ability to break a game open with his speed and agility. He often ran gadget plays to perfection and helped make Clemson’s offense a scoring machine.
I did not believe he was a draftable receiver talent during the 2018 NFL Draft. As a receiver, he lacked the polish route tree that you’d look for in a draft pick and his size was a concern. He went ahead of several solid receiving prospects which makes me think the Bills have a special plan in place for him.
He was drafted as a return specialist. Although the production is lacking (only one return TD), he was a broken tackle away from scoring several times. He has the vision you look for in an NFL return man, so he could fill that hole right away.
He is not going to come in day one and dominate. He rarely dominated at the college level. The Bills need to make him a specialist for the time being, while he learns how to become a WR at the NFL level.