Reviewing the draft: Buffalo Bills

After an off-season which saw the general manager fired and the resignation of the head coach, the Bills hoped they were headed in the right direction. Former head coach Marv Levy was brought in with the hopes of recapturing past glory. In the end it may not have been a good move.

The team loved Donte Whitner and targeted him from the beginning.  After trying unsuccessfully to move down in the first frame, the team heavily reached and grabbed Whitner with pick number eight. Word on the draft floor after the selection was Buffalo did not have anyone in its' war room with the ability to put together a deal to trade down, though several teams wanted to move into the eight slot. The Bills later gave away early selection in rounds two and three for an additional pick in the first frame. They again reached and took John McCargo. While both Whitner and McCargo are solid prospects each was chosen a good 15 choices earlier then they should have. Ashton Youboty was good value in round three as was Ko Simpson a frame later. Each offers good upside but need a great deal of development. Kyle Williams was terrific value in round five and nicely fits the Bills defensive system. Aaron Merz could be a sleeper in round seven.

Under former general manager Tom Donuhoe the Bills made solid draft day trades. Not so this year. Giving up the 42^nd and 73^rd picks of the draft for selection number 26 was a steep price for a team with plenty of needs.

Rd	Sel#	Player	Pos.	School
1	8	Whitner, Donte	SS	Ohio State
1	26	McCargo, John	DT	North Carolina State
3	70	Youboty, Ashton	CB	Ohio State
4	105	Simpson, Ko	FS	South Carolina
5	134	Williams, Kyle	DT	Louisiana State
5	143	Butler, Brad	OT	Virginia
6	178	Ellison, Keith	OLB	Oregon State
7	216	Pennington, Terrance	OT	New Mexico
7	248	Merz, Aaron	G	California