San Francisco Chronicle - (Sunday)
Receivers remain popular in second round
The Buffalo Bills got their wide receiver on Friday night.
So did the Los Angeles Chargers.
After trading down twice and out of the first round, the Bills opened Day 2 of the NFL draft by selecting Florida State’s Keon Coleman to give Josh Allen another playmaker and help replace Stefon Diggs.
“He has everything pretty much you want in a quarterback,” Coleman said of Allen. “I’ll love to play with him.”
The Chargers, who chose Notre Dame left tackle Joe Alt over wideouts Malik Nabers and Rome Odunze with the fifth overall pick, traded up to take Georgia’s Ladd McConkey at No. 34. Justin Herbert will be counting on him to fill the void following the departures of Keenan Allen and Mike Williams.
“Just watching his game, it comes easy to him,” McConkey said of Herbert. “He can make any and every throw. Excited to get out there, get in rhythm with him, show him what I can do and gain his trust.”
Seven wide receivers went Thursday night, tying a record for most in the first round. Four more went in the second.
After Atlanta moved up to take Clemson defensive lineman Ruke Orhorhoro and Washington took Illinois defensive tackle Jer’Zhan Newton, New England chose Washington’s Ja’Lynn Polk to make it 10 wide receivers in the top 37.
The Bills raised plenty of eyebrows in trading the 28th pick to AFC rival Kansas City, which took wideout Xavier Worthy. Buffalo then dealt the 32nd pick to Carolina and watched the Panthers take wideout Xavier Legette.
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But the Bills added a thirdrounder and more draft capital and still ended up with a receiver in Coleman, who had 50 receptions, 658 receiving yards and 11 receiving touchdowns last season. Coleman, however, ran a disappointing 4.61-second 40-yard dash at the scouting combine.
“I don’t think I’ve ever been caught from behind,” Coleman said. “I don’t think I’ve ever had the chance to not be able to run by somebody. More so than that, I don’t think there was ever just one DB that just sat when I was running at them. So that pretty much tells you all you need to know. Guys that are saying that about the speed aren’t the guys that are on the field. Your opinions, they’re opinions for a reason. It is what it is.”
The Chargers swapped picks with the Patriots to get McConkey, who is a polished receiver with deceptive speed.
“That is just a little bit extra motivation,” McConkey said of Los Angeles trading up to get him.
“They want me, they came up and got me, so I’m going to give everything that I have to them and make sure that it is worth it.”
Adonai Mitchell from Texas became the 11th wide receiver taken when the Colts selected him at No. 52. The most receivers drafted in the first two rounds is 13 in 2020.
The Titans took a chance on Texas defensive tackle T’Vondre Sweat with the 38th pick after he was arrested for driving while intoxicated. Sweat visited Tennessee after the incident and new coach Brian Callahan said the team would do its homework on players with character concerns.
“There’s a ton of time invested into making sure that we get whatever those issues might be, ironed out and whether they’re real issues that have to be dealt with or they’re things that maybe aren’t as detrimental as the perception might be,” Callahan said.