The Bills continued to add quality undrafted talent, signing three more college free agents on Monday. Buffalo inked East Carolina OL Sean Allen, Youngstown State WR Donald Jones and Weber State OL Kyle Mutcher.
Allen is a two-year starter at East Carolina playing mostly center with a handful of starts at guard. With 30 career starts under his belt, Allen earned 2nd Team All-Conference USA honors as a junior and 1st Team honors in 2009.
"He's strong, tough and smart," said Bills scout Tom Roth. "He's more of a hold the point type center and he can bend and pick up the bull rush. He's a good player. His game is all power. Going up against the big DTs in our division that's a good quality to have."
Allen should offer Buffalo a prospect with some interior position flexibility.
"He could play both center and guard which will help his value for making the team," said Roth. "He can do both because of his strength."
Youngstown State wideout Donald Jones was a junior college transfer, but quickly earned respect upon joining the Penguins roster as he was named team captain his senior season. Jones set the school's single-season receptions record with 77 catches for 790 yards and six touchdowns in just 11 games.
Roth compares Jones to Buffalo's fourth-round pick Marcus Easley.
"He's similar to Easley," said Roth. "He's not as fast on film, but he ran a 4.49 at the combine and he's very strong. He has strong hands, strong blocker. I couldn't believe he didn't get drafted. He's tough after the catch. He's not a juke guy, but he's a strong player after the catch to break tackles. He also has that special teams mentality."
A Senior Bowl invite, Jones (6'0" 214) was a third-team All-American and earned 1st Team All-Missouri Valley Conference honors in 2009.
Weber State's Kyle Mutcher was on several NFL draft watch lists as a premier small school prospect, especially after earning Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) 1st Team All-American honors. Mutcher was also named to the AFCA Football Championship Subdivision Coaches' All-America Team in 2009.
What hurt Mutcher's draft stock was the fact that he played with a foot injury for most of his senior season. It prevented him from conducting pre-draft workouts for NFL clubs.
"It was going to require surgery, but he ended up playing on it the whole year anyway and ended up breaking that foot late in the year against Cal Poly," said Bills scout Brad Forsyth. "It speaks to his toughness and pain tolerance. He put the team first where he could've gone ahead and gotten the surgery and be ready for the spring."
"You give the kid a lot of credit for his toughness and wanting to play through that injury," said Bills scout Rashaan Curry. "He got hurt in the first or second game and it's an injury that would put most people out for the year. If you're one of those players that put yourself first instead of the team, you would've shut it down and taken off. This guy lined up and played through as much as he could, giving his all to the program."
Forsyth believes Mutcher's most impressive game tape was as a junior in 2008 when he was healthy.
"Back in '08 you saw more of that quickness that he has," said Forsyth. "He was the quarterback of the offensive line. Has all the intangibles, smart and tough guy. Good athlete, good quickness, good effort player. He's a guy that beats you more with quickness and technique than strength and power."
"His play temperament is what sets him apart," said Curry. "He competes. For a small school guy like him you want to see him play above his level and produce in such a way that he stands out and for an offensive lineman that's tough to do. He played at a different speed than the rest. He finished plays and that's what stands out about him."
Mutcher helped lead Weber State to their first Big Sky conference title in 40 years in 2008.
Buffalo now has a total of 13 college free agents under contract.
