Buffalo Bills: How important is NFL Combine to Brandon Beane?

Below Average

Gabriel Davis (38th Percentile)

The Bills fourth round pick in the 2020 draft, Davis wasn’t a combine darling by any means, showing out as average in many drills with really only one drill that showed a potential weakness. In a recent clip from Buffalo Bills: Embedded, Beane can be seen to actually be rooting for a slower 40-yard dash from Davis.

At 6’2″ and near 210 pounds Davis is a big body receiver who you wouldn’t expect to test like the track stars who shine in the combine. One drill Davis struggled with is the short shuttle which he finished second to last (4th Percentile).

This is what you see in Davis, his stop and start ability leaves some to be desired, and he’s not a great accelerator but is fast once he gets up to top speed. This didn’t worry the Buffalo Bills because Davis will most likely be used as a vertical weapon and not underneath.

Ray Ray McCloud (38th Percentile)

McCloud was primarily a returner during his time at Clemson and never put up numbers, he had average speed which should be concerning for a kick-returner but it didn’t seem to deter Beane (4.53 40 yard-dash). This is a pick you would like to see Beane lean more on the NFL Combine and take a player who might of posted somewhere in the 4.4s. Other than the dash McCloud showed below average in basically the rest of the NFL Combine and there was nothing about him that popped off the sheet.

Jaquan Johnson (36th Percentile)

Johnson showed very poorly in both the 40 yard-dash and Broad Jump finishing in the 13th and 16th percentile respectively. Beane hasn’t been afraid of taking players who run slower 40’s than the field.

The Buffalo Bills saw a player that was a four-year senior at Miami who produced 8 interceptions over a successful career there. It appears Beane has a threshold that has to be met in order to draft a player. He likes players who have a proven track record in college like Johnson and he would draft those players any day over players just based on traits or testing.

Taron Johnson (35th Percentile)

Surprising enough, Taron Johnson actually holds the fastest 40 yard-dash time during Beane’s three drafts at a 4.50. One place though where Johnson stood out was at the bench press where he put up 17 reps which is very impressive for a small corner, it placed him in the 82nd percentile among all cornerbacks.

Johnson did struggle in the broad jump (7th Percentile) and three-cone (5th Percentile). The Buffalo Bills didn’t consider those deficiencies that he showed important enough to not select him. They probably gained some sense of what Johnson could be from the NFl Combine, knowing he had enough speed for the NFL, and that he was physical enough to play slot corner which is where he still plays for the Bills.