This article is part of a series that looks at each NFL team’s recent draft history, with the hope of extracting information about the way they think and the type of players they value.
In the interest of relevance, the analysis is limited to the first three rounds of the past five drafts, since that’s where most impact players are taken.
This entry will focus on the Buffalo Bills.
Draft History
In the past five years, the Bills have taken the following players in the early rounds (their positions and the rounds in which they were drafted are listed next to their names):
2006: Donte Whitner, S (1)
John McCargo, DT (1)
Ashton Youboty, CB (3)
2007: Marshawn Lynch, RB (1)
Paul Posluszny, LB (2)
Trent Edwards, QB (3)
2008: Leodis McKelvin, CB (1)
James Hardy, WR (2)
Chris Ellis, DE (3)
2009: Aaron Maybin, DE (1)
Eric Wood, C (1)
Jairus Byrd, S (2)
Andy Levitre, G (2)
2010: C.J. Spiller, RB (1)
Torell Troup, DT (2)
Alex Carrington, DE (3)
Breakdown by Position
Here are the number of players the Bills have drafted at each position:
Defensive end: 3
Cornerback: 2
Defensive tackle: 2
Running back: 2
Safety: 2
Center: 1
Guard: 1
Linebacker: 1
Quarterback: 1
Wide receiver: 1
Impact
Jairus Byrd is an outstanding safety and Donte Whitner is a solid complement.
Marshawn Lynch played extremely well for stretches but ultimately failed to sustain that production and was eventually shipped off to Seattle.
Paul Posluszny is a tremendous inside linebacker and field leader.
Leodis McKelvin has done a great job as a kick returner, but he’s been inconsistent as a cornerback.
Eric Wood is a solid interior lineman.
C.J. Spiller is a very talented running back, but he was buried on the depth chart as a rookie. However, he did manage to contribute as a special teams player as well.
Trends
Buffalo has expended many high draft picks to fix its defensive front, unfortunately, those picks haven’t really panned out and the Bills continue to struggle against the run. Ironically, they managed to find Pro Bowl nose tackle, Kyle Williams, in the fifth round.
They’ve also spent four picks on defensive backs, and those have turned out much better. Specifically, safety Jairus Byrd has been a terrific ballhawk, roaming the middle of the field. Their secondary is easily the strongest part of Buffalo’s defense.
Buffalo has taken two offensive linemen, but both played on the interior. Their negligence of the tackle position has doomed their passing game, as their quarterbacks have been constantly under pressure.
The Bills have also spent two first-round picks on running backs. They clearly value the position greatly and want to keep stockpiling talent there, even if it’s not their greatest area of need. That was certainly true last year when they surprised many people by taking C.J. Spiller.
2011 Outlook
As their 4-12 record indicates, the Bills have a host of needs to address. Luckily, they have the third overall pick in the draft and top-four picks in the next two rounds as well.
The most important position for the Bills to address is quarterback. While Ryan Fitzpatrick did a great job last year, picking up the pieces from the dreaded Trent Edwards era, he has limited upside and Buffalo needs a long-term franchise quarterback.
However, this QB class is shaky, and there are strong indications that Cam Newton (Auburn) will be taken with the first overall pick by the Panthers. In that case, the Bills will have to decide if they like Blaine Gabbert (Missouri) enough to take him with the third pick, or if they’d rather wait.
If they choose the latter, they should have some decent options at QB in the second round with the likes of Colin Kaepernick (Nevada), Christian Ponder (Florida State) and Andy Dalton (TCU).
If Buffalo doesn’t go with a quarterback in the first, they almost certainly have to take Von Miller (Texas A&M), the best pure pass rusher in the class.
Buffalo has an extremely poor pass rush and drafting Aaron Maybin two years ago has done nothing to solve the problem. Considering the rarity of 3-4 pass-rushing linebackers coming out of college (most 3-4 OLBs in the NFL are converted DEs), it would be very hard to pass up Miller.
Upgrading at offensive tackle is also of paramount importance for the Bills. The ideal scenario for Buffalo would be for Nate Solder (Colorado) to fall to them in the second round. If that doesn’t happen, they could explore options like James Brewer (Indiana) and Jason Pinkston (Pittsburgh).
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