Here's the Bills news of note for May 9th.
1 - Wood and company recruiting BarnidgeNFL clubs host players at their facilities on free agent visits to try to convince them to sign with them. It never hurts when a player on the roster can provide some words of encouragement too. That was the role played by Bills C Eric Wood when it came to free agent TE Gary Barnidge.
Barnidge, who made a free agent visit to One Bills Drive last week, met up with Wood at the Kentucky Derby this past weekend. Barnidge was part of a 12-person party organized by Wood for the weekend at Churchill Downs.
Wood has a history with Barnidge after they played for three seasons together at Louisville.
"Gary took a free agent visit here last week and he's a buddy of mine," said Wood in an appearance on the John Murphy Show. "He was in a big group with us at the track. We were recruiting him.
Wood also had teammates Ryan Groy, Richie Incognito and Colton Schmidt with him in Lexington for the weekend and they weren't shy about selling Buffalo on the free agent tight end.
"We definitely want Gary. He's a talented player. I played college ball with him. He was one of my roommates at Louisville. Me and Gary go way back. We were putting the heat on him. I think he's got a couple of more visits. He's got Carolina, which was a former employer of his and Jacksonville, which is home for him. So hopefully the Bills can pull it off. We were recruiting him though."
Barnidge was a fifth-round pick in the 2008 draft class. Wood went in the first round a year later.
**2 - Undrafted WR Shorts has some quality metrics
**One of Buffalo's undrafted rookies has some notable advanced metrics for a non-drafted prospect. According to ProFootballFocus, Bills WR Dakiel Shorts was one of the top 25 slot receivers in the draft class.
His slot receiver ranking was a byproduct of his production and other metrics. On 88 targets, Shorts had 61 receptions and just four drops. Those figures helped him rank 23rd in slot receiving.
For reference Bills second-round pick Zay Jones ranked 7th in the slot receiver category.
Shorts lined up in the slot for the Mountaineers just over 92 percent of his college snaps. He additionally ranked 41st among all college receivers in drop rate with just four on 67 catchable targets.
3 - Milano pegged as Bills best late round pickFOXSports.com put together a list of the best late round pick or undrafted signing by each NFL club. When it came to the Bills they went with Boston College LB Matt Milano.
Buffalo Bills: Matt Milano, LB, Boston College (Round 5, No. 163)
- Buffalo was believed to be a possible landing spot for Haason Reddick or Reuben Foster in Round 1, so the linebackers the Bills took later deserve a little more attention by default. Milano (6' 0", 223) isn't an elite athlete, but he reads the ball well and flies toward the action. Don't be surprised if he's picking up significant snaps as a rookie.*
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