Bills nonetheless Don't possess a Left Tackle

Who moved for the mind for the NFL course throughout the draft? uncover with FanHouse's team-by-team 2009 Draft Grades.

The Buffalo Bills seemed destined to acquire a pass-rusher for the 1st evening for the NFL Draft, and their 11th all round choose was a brilliant place for that: with Tyson Jackson, Everette Brown and Aaron Maybin all available, the Bills weren't going to possess a trouble there.

Then they traded Jason Peters for the Eagles for the 28th all round pick, a fourth-rounder in 2009 as well as a sixth-rounder in 2010. although the offer -- especially with Peters unhappy in Buffalo -- made some sense, it even now produced a whole new build of concerns when it comes to Buffalo addressing the draft.

luckily for them, Maybin's store began plummeting principal up for the draft and there is a massive swimming pool of potentially studly left tackles, which consists of Jason Smith, Eugene Monroe, Andre Smith and Michael Oher. one seemed very likely to pile up all the way in which to 11.

Then something weird happened: the Bills made an earlier trigger-pull on Maybin at 11 and grabbed Eric Wood, a center, at 28 ideal after the Ravens jumped as considerably as 23 and snared Oher. certainly they realized what was going to happen.

because having Russ Brandon all of a sudden pause ideal after picking Wood and go, "Oh, #%^$, we obtained that choose for Peters didn't we????" will be considered a very, really awkward scenario.

Draft Picks
1.11 (11) - Maybin, DE, Penn State
1.28 (28) - Wood, C, Louisville
2.10 (42) - Jairus Byrd, CB, Oregon
2.19 (51) - Andrew Levitre, G, Oregon State
4.21 (121) - Shawn Nelson, TE, Southern Miss
5.11 (147) - Nic Harris, LB, Oklahoma
6.10 (183) - Cary Harris, CB, USC
7.11 (220) - Ellis Lankster, CB, West Virginia

Of course, that fictional situation I described above is just that: fictional. Because, when you can see, the Bills didn't draft a left tackle at all. Their picks weren't bad, every se, however the trouble is, they even now don't possess a left tackle like Peters for the team, and they certainly didn't maximize the worth that arrives with two 1st round picks once they made their choices this year.

Grade: B-. And, getting a result, they didn't consider total advantage for the inherent worth in creating a really, really powerful OT class. Maybin and Wood could wind up getting exceptional (and Wood can play C or G, and versatility for the collection is something Buffalo needs) but they have been equally reaches on the area the Bills took them, which rings eerily comparable to John McCargo a few many years back.

Grabbing Levitre throughout the center for the 2nd round was a steal, and Nelson is going to be an eventual enhancement over Robert Royal. But there's no way the Bills, who signed Terrell Owens to a one-year offer below the presumption of contending in 2009, might get something higher than a mid-to-low B dependent on their inability to rating a alternative at tackle.