Nobody Circles The Wagons, Like The Buffalo Bills

The third pick in this year's NFL Draft goes to the Buffalo Bills, a team that on paper appears to be not good at all, but somehow could have easily been drafting outside the top 10. They had narrow defeats to the likes of the Dolphins, Patriots, Ravens, Chiefs, Bears and Steelers. With all of their downfalls and lack of talent, the Bills were still somehow seven plays away from potentially being 11-5. A bit of a stretch? Probably. But those are six games against five teams that made the playoffs where they lost by eight points or less. So the question for the Bills in this spot is, what position, what player, what talent do we need to change those plays into positives and achieve maybe an 8-8 record at least?

Again you have to look at the positions where the Bills seem to be at a point where it is not sensible waste a pick on when the talent pool is so rich in what they need to start a full team that can win football games. On the offensive side of the ball you look at the running back position, where they had a near 1,000 yard rusher in Fred Jackson, and picked C.J. Spiller last year with the ninth overall selection. They should be all set there, as well as at wide receiver, where Stevie Johnson was able to emerge last year along with rookie David Nelson, and where new options for Lee Evans may make him as valuable as he once was. The interior of the offensive line seems to be a group that is growing and maturing as they will be entering their third season with players Eric Wood and Andy Levitre.

On defense they have players that are making names for themselves, but also there are holes that are becoming glaringly obvious. The middle of the defense had a solid year last year, and along with the players that are available that does not seem like a spot where they should be looking. Kyle Williams made it to his first Pro Bowl, and then Akin Ayodele and Paul Posluszny combined for 257 tackles at the linebacker spot. Jairus Byrd took a step back in terms of interceptions in 2010 from his rookie season, but he was also able to nearly double his tackles, force three fumbles and score a touchdown. Then the question marks begin, are these cornerbacks that you can have faith in? Terrence McGee is getting older, and then Reggie Corner and Leodis McKelvin are young and still should be given time to improve as they could develop.

What they do need is help at the tackle spot on their offensive line, but at this point in the draft, with the players that are available, going to that position would not be taking advantage of their draft slot. So then you switch to the most important position on the field, quarterback. The question for the Bills front office is do we have a quarterback in Ryan Fitzpatrick that we can win with, grow with, start the new era of our franchise with? While this may not be the answer, given the quarterbacks that are in the draft, I think they may be able to go there in the second round, if they really seem it fit to get a quarterback this year.

Where they should be looking though is to the defensive side of the ball here, just simply because of the talent that is available to them, talent they can build a defense around, and build on. They need help at the outside linebacker position, that is for sure, and a guy like Von Miller would be a perfect solution to that problem. Problem is for the Bills is that they also need a pass rusher on the outside, and a guy like Da'Quan Bowers would also be a guy that the Bills could take at this pick and be content with their selection. The best talent in the draft though is still on the board in Patrick Peterson, and with the questions that they have at corner and then at safety adjacent to Byrd, that might be the way to go because of that impact he could have on their whole defense for the next 10-15 years.

At this spot I think the Bills should go with Von Miller because of their ability to make plays in the middle with Williams, Ayodele, Posluszny, and Byrd having Miller will improve their ability to both stop the run, and rush the quarterback of the edge the way that Bowers might do. If they stay in the 3-4 primarily this pick would be the best for them to make here.

Predictions as of today for this pick:

Me: Von Miller, OLB, Texas A&M
Mel Kiper: Marcell Dareus, DT, Alabama
Todd McShay: Blaine Gabbert, QB, Missouri
NewNFLDraft.com: Marcell Dareus, DT, Alabama