2009 NFL Draft Team Needs: Buffalo Bills
By Editorial Staff
The Bills have several major areas of concern heading into the 2009 – 2010 season, and most of those can be handled by smart drafting this year. To start out with, trading away Jason Peters got rid of one headache, but opened up a bigger hole on the offensive line. If the Bills are going to give Trent Edwards enough time to use his new offensive weapons, then they are going to have to go after the OT position early in the draft, in order to get a quality impact player. Picking up a first round pick for Peters allows the Bills time to maybe focus on the offensive line for the first pick, and solidifying another position later on.
The second area the Bills really need to focus on at the draft table is defensive end. If the Bills are going to win this year, they have to get better at the pass rush. While the pool at great DEs is not extremely deep, the Bills should be able to use their late first round draft pick (the one from Philly) in order to shore up this position. You may no longer see an Orakpo or Brown that late in the draft, but the Bills have depth at wide reciever (they have been shopping Parrish) – and could move up on draft day to take their guy if need be.
The final area I think the Bills need to address is that of tight end. They need to find themselves a gem in the draft, a guy who can help open up the play book a little. A pass catching tight end will really help round out an offense that is set to explode. While many will argue that the arrival of T.O. in Buffalo makes this draft pick a waste, Owens is only in Buffalo for one year, even if your tight end doesn’t get many touches because of the Evans and Owens show – you will have him on the roster with some experience next year when Owens moves out.
With the 11th overall pick, I like the Bills taking William Beatty from Connecticut. The Bills have made a great deal about character guys this year with the arrest of three of their starters. I think this is going to be the reason they pass on Andre Smith and his work ethic. With the 28th overall pick received in the Jason Peters trade, the Bills have to focus should be able to grab a good DE. Orakpo, Brown, Jackson, and possibly Maybin will all be off the board at this point, so taking Robert Ayers from Tennessee. Ayers does not have the elite level pass rushing that the Bills need, so they either run the risk of him being the best DE available at 28th, or try and move up to avoid keeping that hole open. Waiting for the 42nd overall pick to grab a TE seems risky, but since your going to have a year to groom the TE because of TO being around, James Casey from South Carolina seems to be the pick here. Casey played a multitude of positions, and can be groomed to do just about anything. Having a year to work him into a quality tight end opens up possibilities.