51 replies to this topic

[Astrobot]

Whitney Mercilus has talked to the Bears, Chargers, and Bills.

Per Chris Brown, "Illinois DE Whitney Mercilus is a pass rusher that’s been forecast to go in the bottom half of round one at the earliest. According to the pass rusher the Bills were one of a handful of teams that spent a lot of time with him here at the NFL Combine.

“I met with the Bears, the Chargers, also the Bills,” said Mercilus. ”They showed interest… a lot of interest.”

The knock on Mercilus is he didn’t have a breakout season until this past year at Illinois with an impressive 14.5 sacks and 8 forced fumbles. He’s got pure pass rushing ability, and chalks his one year of production up to “still learning the game.” It’s unlikely he’d be an option for Buffalo in round two as he’s expected to test very well here at the Combine in what is a year without a ton of top flight pass rushing talent at the top of the draft board."

Edited by Astrobot, 25 February 2012 - 02:01 PM.

[RuntheDamnBall]

Love the name, worried about the single good season in the Big 10 and big games against cupcakes.

Talk me off the ledge, Astro.

[Patience]

I would be satisfied with moving down in the first round and selecting Mercilus with the pick.

Easier said than done, though.

[Johnny Hammersticks]

Yeah, put me in "camp skeptical."  The 2011 tape on him looks pretty good....good size, quick off the snap, arsenal of pass rush moves, seems to hold up pretty well vs. the run.  The whole one year wonder thing has me scratching my head though.  I mean, where was the guy in his freshman and sophomore seasons?  I also am skeptical that he put up those huge sack numbers against weak competition.  

Not saying he isn't worth a long look for the #10 pick in the draft, but I have my concerns.  I am glad that team rep's are spending a lot of time getting to know this kid.

[Steve O]

RuntheDamnBall, on 25 February 2012 - 02:13 PM, said:

Love the name, worried about the single good season in the Big 10 and big games against cupcakes.

Talk me off the ledge, Astro.

Pretty consistent stats all season long, one 3 sack game,two games with none, other than that at least one sack per game. Not like he had a few games with big numbers against cupcakes, in fact South Dakota state was one of the no sack games. Love the 8 forced fumbles. He's a junior so still time to grow.

http://espn.go.com/c...hitney-mercilus

[DrDareustein]

Do not want. Ingram or Upshaw, imo. If both of them are gone, it means an OT or WR fell, so grab them. This team isnt in the position to draft for potential.

[biggerdaddynj]

Patience, on 25 February 2012 - 02:40 PM, said:

I would be satisfied with moving down in the first round and selecting Mercilus with the pick.

Easier said than done, though.

TRADE DOWN = smart move!!!
For what it's worth, the Giants took a risk in '10 on a pure pass rushing DE (who coincidentally also happened to be Haitian) and it turned out pretty well (sure, he was a couple inches taller and could do more than a dozen backflips!).  Maybe it's time for a risk to pan out in our favor!!  Let's see how M. Mercilus works out...

[Coach Tuesday]

biggerdaddynj, on 25 February 2012 - 04:08 PM, said:

TRADE DOWN = smart move!!!
For what it's worth, the Giants took a risk in '10 on a pure pass rushing DE (who coincidentally also happened to be Haitian) and it turned out pretty well (sure, he was a couple inches taller and could do more than a dozen backflips!).  Maybe it's time for a risk to pan out in our favor!!  Let's see how M. Mercilus works out...

Exactly.  JPP was a one-year wonder if I recall correctly.

[RyanC883]

I'd have no problem as long as we don't take him at 10, or take him in the second round if Curry is available.  One year wonders of the Big 10 are not ideal.

Steve O, on 25 February 2012 - 03:47 PM, said:

Pretty consistent stats all season long, one 3 sack game,two games with none, other than that at least one sack per game. Not like he had a few games with big numbers against cupcakes, in fact South Dakota state was one of the no sack games. Love the 8 forced fumbles. He's a junior so still time to grow.

http://espn.go.com/c...hitney-mercilus

The consistent stats are good to see.   I like him.  I just don't like him at 10, and like Curry more.

[swnybillsfan]

Patience, on 25 February 2012 - 02:40 PM, said:

I would be satisfied with moving down in the first round and selecting Mercilus with the pick.

Easier said than done, though.

this would be my best case scenerio. i don't know much about this kid, but the only negative i am hearing from anywhere is one year wonder. by what i have been reading, this kid has a good work ethic, good motor, he's a good teammate, has power, speed, agility, and a few moves in the arsenal. and if we could pick him up as well as grab another pick...then i like it.

[OldTimer1960]

I'm thinking more that they would consider trading up from the 2nd round into the back end of the
1st to get him there.  I don't think they will find any suitors for the 10th pick in order to trade down.
Once you get past Luck, RG3, Claiborne, Kalil and maybe Blackmon, I don't think there is anybody
in the draft that would get a team excited enough to want to move up to 10 and I don't know if
Mercilus is good enough to consider taking at the 10th position.

From what I can see on videos, Mercilus has incredible movement skills.  He appears to have a fluidity of
movement and ability to stay on balance that reminds me a little of how Bruce Smith moved.  Now I
DID NOT say that he is Bruce Smith.  The big question is if he has what appears to be such great
athleticism, then why did he do nothing until his Junior year.  It isn't like he was playing behind
big-time stars at Illinois.

Edited by OldTimer1960, 25 February 2012 - 06:16 PM.

[atlbillsfan1975]

Get a DE from The SEC. Leaning towards Ingram.
Sorry but do not want a guy from the Big Ten. Buddy knows the south like the back of his hand. I trust him when it comes to getting the skinny on any kid coming out of the south.

[#34fan]

biggerdaddynj, on 25 February 2012 - 04:08 PM, said:

TRADE DOWN = smart move!!!
For what it's worth, the Giants took a risk in '10 on a pure pass rushing DE (who coincidentally also happened to be Haitian) and it turned out pretty well (sure, he was a couple inches taller and could do more than a dozen backflips!).  Maybe it's time for a risk to pan out in our favor!!  Let's see how M. Mercilus works out...

The Haitian-american athlete is really starting to make noise in the NFL. JPP, Elvis Dumervil, Jacques Cesaire. Athletically speaking, that island nation seems blessed.      

-Socio-economically, not so much.

[DC Tom]

#34fan, on 25 February 2012 - 08:14 PM, said:

The Haitian-american athlete is really starting to make noise in the NFL. JPP, Elvis Dumervil, Jacques Cesaire. Athletically speaking, that island nation seems blessed.      

-Socio-economically, not so much.

A long, rich history of running from and defending themselves against the Tonton Macoute.

[fakeeyed]

Wasn't Maybin a one year wonder too?

[Bflojohn]

The trade down possibilities exist people! Trent Richardson is the first consideration, because he could fall to #10. Additionally, this slot is the last one for a OLT like Reiff, Martin or Adams. I have been thinking that the Bengals with numbers 17 and 21 would be a good partner, as they would probably covet Trent Richardson, and the trade chart says that Buffalo's 1st and 2nd gets the deal done. The Cardinals are also a likely trade partner for one of the tackles.

[San Jose Bills Fan]

OldTimer1960, on 25 February 2012 - 06:09 PM, said:

I'm thinking more that they would consider trading up from the 2nd round into the back end of the
1st to get him there.  I don't think they will find any suitors for the 10th pick in order to trade down.
Once you get past Luck, RG3, Claiborne, Kalil and maybe Blackmon, I don't think there is anybody
in the draft that would get a team excited enough to want to move up to 10 and I don't know if
Mercilus is good enough to consider taking at the 10th position.

From what I can see on videos, Mercilus has incredible movement skills.  He appears to have a fluidity of
movement and ability to stay on balance that reminds me a little of how Bruce Smith moved.  Now I
DID NOT say that he is Bruce Smith.  The big question is if he has what appears to be such great
athleticism, then why did he do nothing until his Junior year.  It isn't like he was playing behind
big-time stars at Illinois.

Great post.

I'm also not generally seeing where the Bills pick at #10 would be desirable to a team looking to trade up.

It could happen but it doesn't seem likely right now… not seeing the motivations but it's early yet.

But back to your point, with our extra 4th and 5th I could see the Bills having the ammo to move back up and take a low first rounder.

#34fan, on 25 February 2012 - 08:14 PM, said:

The Haitian-american athlete is really starting to make noise in the NFL. JPP, Elvis Dumervil, Jacques Cesaire. Athletically speaking, that island nation seems blessed.      

-Socio-economically, not so much.

I always thought it was strange that Haiti and The Dominican Republic share the same island and one nation is fairly prosperous and the other one is the poorest nation in the Americas.

I believe this fact says a lot about the governance of nations but I haven't studied either nation too deeply.

[SelmonSmith6378]

I still want upshaw.

[San Jose Bills Fan]

edit: Also as far as Buddy said, I'm not that concerned about "one-year wonder" status in-and-of itself.

As he suggested you have to dig down deeper and come up with reasons why this is the case.

Has anyone here followed his career and is able to shed some insight as to why he didn't play much his first two years?

Isn't it entirely possible that the kid is simply a late bloomer and maybe had a growth spurt or grew into his body or something like that?

My main concern on Mercilus is that I haven't found much video on him yet and so far the video I've seen isn't terribly impressive.

That said it's way early and I haven't drawn a final conclusion about the guy.

[NastyNateSoldiers]

[quote name='atlbillsfan1975' timestamp='1330213099' post='2389309']
Get a DE from The SEC. Leaning towards Ingram.
Sorry but do not want a guy from the Big Ten. Buddy knows the south like the back of his hand. I trust him when it comes to getting the skinny on any kid coming out of the south.
[/quote
The best DE`s and OLB pass rushers in the NFL are from the Big 10 and Big 12 respectfully. the SEC has basically no talent at these positions playing in today`s NFL. If u don`t believe me do some research.