Although information on private workouts is sometimes hard to get and reported with less accuracy than top-30 pre-draft visits, Mike Garafolo went beyond the public team visits to reveal that Buffalo Bills wide receiver Jalen McMillan had worked out in private.
In the midst of a very talented receiver class, McMillan is generally predicted to be a Day 2 draft pick. As such, the Bills may consider selecting him in Rounds 2 or 3 on Friday night.
The former Washington Huskies wide receiver’s measurements from this year’s NFL Scouting Combine were 6’1″ and 197 pounds. In addition to his 37″ vertical and 10’7″ broad leap, he also had times of 4.47 seconds in the 40-yard sprint, 1.53 seconds in the 10-yard split, 6.94 seconds in the 3-cone drill, and 4.18 seconds in the 20-yard shuttle.
McMillan caught 164 passes for 2,143 yards and 17 touchdowns in his four seasons at Washington. He also attempted six passes for 46 yards and one touchdown on the ground. A standout season for McMillan was 2022, when he caught 79 passes for 1,098 yards and nine touchdowns.
Jalen McMillan is a strong and skilled wide receiver who has proven he has what it takes to pull off a difficult catch in crunch time. Having a hand size of 10″, he might offer a dependable alternative between the sticks on any given play, but he also has the ability to induce sleep in defenders en route to a deep play or three each game.
If McMillan is selected and starts, a lot of draft experts and NFL pundits think he would live off the spot in the league. The Bills may need to consider how many slot-savvy receivers there are in light of that theory. It feels like a pretty congested roster when you take second-year tight end Dalton Kincaid’s potential as a non-traditional weapon out of the slot into consideration.
The Bills are lacking in both boundary receiver roles in terms of proven NFL skills. After Gabe Davis left for the Jacksonville Jaguars in the first week of free agency, they decided not to pursue him. A few weeks later, they concluded it was time to split ways with Stefon Diggs.
Some have speculated that Buffalo would eventually have positionless wide receivers, which would account for the guys they have sought in the offseason and the 2023 holdovers.
If this is the case, the Buffalo Bills’ preferred approach might be to add quality in large quantities, such as Jalen McMillan. That is, assuming they don’t sign a new wide receiver to complement quarterback Josh Allen.
Leave a Reply