Extra Points: Bills, Falcons, Saints, 2018 Draft Class

Some assorted notes from around the NFL…

• Bills general manager Brandon Beane continues to grow his front office. According to Jay Skurski of The Buffalo News, the team has hired former Dolphins general manager Dennis Hickey as their Senior College Scout. Prior to his gig with Miami, Beane spent almost 20 years with the Buccaneers. The Bills also re-hired three former scouts and Curtis Rukavina, the former Director of Player Personnel for the Toronto Argonauts.
• The 2018 running back class “could be special,” says Bleacher Report’s Matt Miller. The writer specifically points to Penn State’s Saquon Barkley, with one executive saying the upcoming junior could be the best running back prospect of the past decade. Miller also points to LSU’s Derrius Guice and Ohio State’s Mike Weber among those who are primed for big 2017 seasons.
• Saints undrafted rookie Justin Thomas served as the starting quarterback for Georgia Tech throughout his college career, but he’s been forced to make a position change in the NFL. Thomas originally auditioned for the Saints as a defensive back, but the team switched him to wideout at the beginning of the multi-day tryout, and the rookie ultimately earned a spot on the team. Predictably, Thomas would be willing to play any position if it meant he’d stick around for the regular season. “Of course, I would like to play quarterback, but at the same time, I’m a realist,” Thomas told Josh Katzenstein of NOLA.com. “I didn’t want to lessen my opportunities, so I was open to anything.”
• The Falcons let go of defensive line coach Bryan Cox back in February, and the former Pro Bowler believes his firing was attributed to his “incident” during the 2016 Combine when he reportedly shoved a Cardinals scout. “You go from your unit playing really well in the Super Bowl and sacking the quarterback five times and having [nine] quarterback hits . . . and [three] days later you get fired,” Cox told Joseph Person of the Charlotte Observer (via Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk.com). “I wasn’t given an answer to why I was fired. I was left to go back and kind of play stuff over. And the only thing I can come up with is the Combine incident that kind of led to it.”