This 2012 NFL mock draft will focus on the Buffalo Bills, a team that that I believe now holds the longest playoff drought in the National Football League with the Lions apperance in the playoffs this past season. The Bills struggles are directly linked to the lack of a franchise quarterback they have been able to acquire. They seem content moving forward with Ryan Fitzpatrick, but they have some needs. I”m also making a new 2012 NFL Mock draft for the Buffalo Bills because the team is switching to 43 defense reportedly despite spending the last two years and drafts adding talent for a 34 defense which makes the last two years moot. The bright side is the Bills have some natural fits up front in the 43 defense.
Buffalo Rumblings broke down the move here, there are a few players who benefit from this move. First is Chris Kelsay who was completely out of place in the 34 defense where he had to play in too much space, even though the Bills love him, he’s an average every-down player to begin with and will get back to being average in the 43.
Kyle Williams, Marcel Dareus, and Torrel Troup are in a good position to make a lot more plays as 43 Defensive tackles.
At LDE Chris Kelsay is ok and Alex Carrington might benefit, he did not play well as a 34 DE and the Bills tried him standing up as a 34 OLB, but I think 43 LDE could be a position he thrives at and hopefully pushes Kelsay out of the starting rotation.
Where the team is weak now is at DE where they have 34 OLB conversion types manning the position: Shawn Merriman, Arthur Moats, and some guy named Kyle Moore. They do not have a 43 RDE.
The point is in the 34 defense the Bills still couldn’t stop the run and did not have good pass rushers. Now they might stop the run a little better actually with size up front, but they still can’t rush the passer. The players who are now more out of position are the linebackers. I thought Kelvin Sheppard was an ideal 34 linebacker, he’ll man the middle in the 43, the Bills will move Barnett to the Weakside and will play Danny Batten at the Strongside. The Bills need better linebackers now, especially at Strongside and maybe MLB.
I’m going to use Draftek’s big board to create value.
1st round: Riley Reiff, T, Iowa Hawkeyes
I’ve spent all this time writing about the new defensive scheme the Bills will deploy, but I should also mention that Profootball Weekly quoted Buddy Nix as saying “We’ll add a pass rusher if we can”. The Bills Chan Gailey and Buddy Nix don’t mince words, or try to hide their agenda. They talked about adding a guy to catch the ball out of the backfield prior to drafting C.J. Spiller, they talked about improving their run defense before drafting Dareus, and now they have mentioned OT. I think if they like a tackle here in the first round that’s the pick.
2nd Round: Stephon Gilmore CB South Carolina (Alshon Jefferey WR South Carolina)
I’m not a big fan of their WR corps and I think it needs serious upgrades even if Steve Johnson is resigned which remains to be seen. Based on drafttek’s big board WR Alshon Jefferey might be available and if he is that would be a coup (I’ve put him in parenthesis). He will not be available in my opinion. Which is why I’ve gone to one of my favorite players cornerback Stephon Gilmore. I thin Gilmore can do everything on the field, he covers well, he can tackle well, he can make plays on the football. The Bills like to draft defensive backs early and might need to, Drayton Flornece is nothing special and they have to try to find a way to stop the Patriots which they have not been able to do.
I am taking Gilmore here only because the value to me is terrific.
3rd Round: Chandler Jones, DE, Syracuse
Jones is a long athletic defensive end with a lot of upside, which is they kind of defensive end the Bills need. I like a couple of other players at defensive end as well for a 43 team, I really like Andre Branch, but I think he can go in the first round. I like Cam Johnson if he’s available in the third round, but I think early second round is too high, but here in the third round Jones is fine value and provides the Bills with a natural fit at defensive end.
4th Round: Brock Osweiler, QB, Arizona State
I find it highly unlikely Osweiler is available in the fourth round, but if he is the Bills should run up to the podium. Osweiler has a ton of upside and I think if Osweiler is available in the third round the Bills should take him. I was actually looking for WR value here, but couldn’t pass up on Osweiler.
4th Round: Jarius Wright, WR, Arkansas (Josh Robinson, CB)
Wright adds an infusion of speed the Bills offense was missing last year on the outside. Wright is undersized, but makes a lot of plays all over the field. Wright is more of a natural fit at the slot WR than David Nelson the Bills have used. The Bills have to find a quality WR at some point in this draft, and if they can do that early they should.
If they were able to get a player like Alshon Jefferey in the 2nd round they could look cornerback here.
5th Round: Julian Miller, DE, West Virginia
It is absolutely vital to have good defensive ends in a 43 defense which the Bills are currently lacking. They are going to have some tough decisions to make with players who are converts, but flashed like Arthur Moats and Danny Batten. Do they have the talent to make the switch to the 43 defense.
6th round: Chris Galippo, LB, USC
The one position I think the Bills will address earlier is Strongside linebacker, though there’s a good chance they try to do that through free agency (maybe a Manny Lawson type if he’s not resigned by the Bengals) because the Bills don’t have a strong side linebacker on the roster right now. I think the strength of this LB class though for 43 defensive teams is in the middle, so free agency might be the way to go for the Bills.
7th round: Derek Dennis, G, Temple.
Another player I think could go much higher than here so you can pass up this kind of value late in the draft.
What do you think Bills fans?
With the switch to a 43 defense what is the direction you want the Bills to go, or the direction you think the Bills will go in the 2012 NFL draft
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