My take on the day 3 picks and grade for the Bills Draft
By author
Well the draft is over. The picks are in and the Bills did fairly well for themselves. Not bad Buddy Nix. I am going to give you each prospect from day 3 with my opinion on them and where i see them helping the team most. I have to admit now I am a pretty big Sanders, Brooks, and Carder fan. Well lets get into it!
Nigel Bradham, FSU- This kid is as physical as they come at the linebacker position. he ran in the 4.5’s at the combine! He is big and fast and very well could take Kirk Morrison’s starting spot if Kirk doesn’t bring his A game.
Ron Brooks, LSU- I was a huge Ron Brooks fan as he was coming out of LSU and after his combine performance I thought for sure some team would draft him in the late second round. Sure he has 4.3 speed and can leap buildings with a single jump but not only is he one of the TOP athlete’s coming out of college but he can play a little corner back. He has all the talent to succeed at a high level. When he played he wasn’t “ah, he’s ok”. He was “WOW that kid doesn’t start?” material. You have to keep in mind thought that he was playing behind the best corner the country and probably the best athlete in college football today – THE HONEYBADGER (Who doesn’t love saying that name?) and Morris Claiborne. Between Gimore, Williams, Brooks, and Rodgers the Bills are 4 deep with good (I said good not above average or average) talent. The Bills have put themselves in a very nice position heading into the rest of the off season and future
.
Zebrie Sanders, FSU- I love this kid. A ton of starts an quality ones at that. All the potential in the world and as smart mentally as they come. Zebrie fell only because of a weight issue that lead to a unforgettable Senior Bowl. In college football you only have 2 platforms where EVERY coach, GM, and scout see you live and they are the Senior Bowl and the Scouting combine. If you tank one of those less people are going to pay attention to you at your pro day and the stock dropping has started. I have no doubt with good coaching (which the Bills have at the offensive line positions) that Zebrie will be the starting right tackle in a couple years. I give it two years and you will see him on the field in more than just a swing tackle capacity.
Tank Carder, TCU- This kid would have been a 2nd round pick had it not been for some injuries. One of them, A broken finger lead to some tackling issues this past season. He still went on to have a very successful season. Kelvin Sheppard my boy, You have some competition. We all know that he is a athletically gifted player but what you don’t know is how competitive this guy is. Great pick for the Bills that fits a position of need and they got more value than the 5th round selection they took him at usually provides.
Mark Asper, Oregon- He is a mountain of a man. He will be one of the biggest center’s in the NFL. The Bills took him for his versatility. He will play center mostly but practice at both guard positions as well. He is very smart and after starting 3 years at Oregon he has shown he can stay healthy. Another good value pick.
John Potter, Western Michigan- A kicker! are you serious? The Bills drafted a kicker! Especially after just paying Rian Lindell an extension! Calm down folks, this could turn out to be a very smart move. The NFL is trying to eliminate the kickoff. some (most) of the owners just simply want the ball put at the 20 and start the offensive drive. Thus to help save injury they moved the yardage up for kickoff’s before last season to basically start the process in my opinion. What Potter gives you is strategy. We all know that Gaily LOVES a good gimic and strategy. Potter has Hercule’s leg. The kid can boot the ball out of the endzone at will. By doing this our Special teams really only has to play on punts. The players stay fresh and there is less chance of injury. That alone after all the injury troubles this team has face over recent years is worth a late 7th round pick. Any way we can keep our players on the field and out of the trainers room I am all for.
After looking at the draft in whole for the Bills I give it a grade of B+. It could have been an A but I am still trying to figure why they gave away a pick for a player that they could have taken probably with that selection in the seventh round. It was a good Draft and Buddy Nix was right when he said “we got bigger and faster”.