Does a Surprise Await us at Ten?
By Andrew Satta
As it turns out, my
personal
school life has actually improved because of this Draft.
You know when you are trying not to think about something because it will make the time craaaawl by so you look to fill the time by doing work. Or cleaning your apartment. Or playing people from Poland in Chess. Seinfeld reruns. Going ahead and doing homework you would have otherwise saved for the weekend. You get the idea.
I’ve now read every mock draft, every possible trade scenario, every player bio, etc. Still, Thursday night is crawling towards me. Luckily I have a meeting at work that I’m getting out of early so that I can be there with you in spirit as the names are read. I’ve made four forms of a Mock Draft, and with a gun to my head, I have NO idea what Buffalo is going to do. I think if they make the pick at 10, it will be one of two players- Stephen Gilmore or Luke Keuchly. I’ll bet you a dollar.
I won’t match your raise of a nickel though.
I am watching what I hope is a smokescreen of Buffalo talking up Mark Barron of Alabama. Mark is probably going to be an excellent Safety, but thats one of our deepest positions. He would be the CJ Spiller pick of the Defense. I think they are talking him up because they really want the Jets, Cowboy, or Eagles to trade up for him. That tells me that they aren’t in love with anyone at #10, which is extremely likely. A slightly less terrifying option is Ryan Tannehill. I think that pick actually makes sense, and I’ll begrudge it because I trust Chan Gailey’s ability to scout a QB. Tannehill is raw, but could become very good, if he’s in the right system and has time to sit and learn. His ceiling is higher than Fitzpatrick’s, and Buffalo could be the team he needs. With all of the holes on Offense though, I’d label this as a reach. Still… Gailey might think he’s the guy for Tannehill.
He did afterall say he knew Cam Newton would be a star, even said he would have taken him, and I believe him.
My dream scenario, and this is something that does not have much traction, and a LOT has to happen, but there is a rumor that Matt Kalil could fall a little bit. Buffalo would float to the podium to hand this pick in if this happened. It is all very unlikely, but hey- this IS the NFL Draft we’re speaking off. You will recall that Aaron Rogers was supposed to be the TOP pick and he fell into the 20’s. Would I rather the Bills not get cute and just take the best player available at #10? If my option was that or one of the smokescreen surprise players, then yes absolutely.
If I were Buffalo, I’d go for the Jugular and get Keuchly. You would tell teams they had better come prepared on offense, because our Front 7 is the best in the NFL. Keuchly can play anywhere and he is a 3-down back. That is rare and very valuable. It’s like a QB having Vick’s running ability. Essential? No, but hey; if you got it its a great weapon to have. If Buffalo spends half a dozen picks on Defense like they did last year, that could be one of the best Defenses we’ve seen in Buffalo in years.
One thing I doubt very much that you will see is a trade UP on Buffalo’s part. Gailey has stated he hates doing it, and that at least is no smokescreen. He is more of a pick hoarder, and that is just fine with me. But if I’ve made one thing very clear, its that as long as the pick is good, I don’t care WHO Buffalo takes.
See ya tomorrow night!
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