Buffalo Bills: Entire 2013 NFL Draft Class Leaves This Offseason

After everything that unfolded this offseason, I was surprised to see that the entire 2013 NFL Draft class for the Buffalo Bills is now gone.

The 2013 NFL Draft was one that brought a lot of hope for the Buffalo Bills. With new head coach Doug Marrone and Ralph Wilson entering his final year as the Bills’ owner, it was the start of a new era — both short term and long term.

So far, neither have turned out very well. The Pegulas have yet to bring the team to the playoffs, Marrone got up and left without saying anything and to make it all worse — all 8 of their draft picks in 2013 are now playing elsewhere.

Taking a closer look at that, 6 of those 8 draft picks were still on the team last season, which makes it even more disappointing that they all left the same year. Let’s look deeper at the 2013 draft class that is no longer with the team and what went wrong with them.

It was the year that Ryan Fitzpatrick refused to take a pay cut and was released, meaning the team was looking for a new quarterback. In order to do that, they made a couple of trades to help them out.

The first move they made was trading their seventh round selection in the 2013 Draft to the Seattle Seahawks, which gave Buffalo Tarvaris Jackson. To help through the draft, the Bills also traded their first round (8th overall) and third round (71st overall) to the St. Louis Rams. In exchange, the Buffalo Bills received the Rams’ first round (16th overall), second round (46th overall), third round (78th overall) and seventh round (222nd overall) selections.

In the end, the Buffalo Bills had 8 picks in the 2013 NFL Draft and had a variety of needs, including quarterback, wide receiver, defensive back and linebacker.

Here’s a full list of who the Buffalo Bills drafted in 2013:

E.J. Manuel – First Round, 16th Overall (from STL)
Robert Woods – Second Round, 41st Overall
Kiko Alonso – Second Round, 48th Overall (from STL)
Marquise Goodwin – Third Round, 78th Overall (from STL)
Duke Williams – Fourth Round, 105th Overall
Jonathan Meeks – Fifth Round, 143rd Overall
Dustin Hopkins – Sixth Round, 177th Overall
Chris Gragg – Seventh Round, 222nd Overall (from STL)

Looking at that list, obviously none of them are on the roster anymore. Two of them were gone long ago, while the other six just left this offseason — as I pointed out earlier.

E.J. Manuel was drafted to be the starting quarterback, but never lived up to that expectation. In fact, he didn’t even cut it to be the backup quarterback and has moved on to be the Oakland Raiders’ backup QB. He left this offseason.

Robert Woods also left this offseason, joining the LA Rams. It’s funny because their the ones who gave Buffalo half of their NFL draft class in 2013 — it’s a small world. Woods was a great compliment to Sammy Watkins, when the two were on the field together. Unfortunately, that was a rare sighting and the Buffalo Bills let him walk.

Drafting Kiko Alonso was actually the best thing to happen out of this NFL draft. Not only did he give the Bills a solid rookie season, but he ended up being on the other end of the trade that brought LeSean McCoy to Buffalo — was has been quite the pickup for the Bills. That trade happened in 2015. Alonso spent one year with Philly and last season with Miami, signing a contract extension this offseason.

MUST READ: LeSean McCoy Was the 4th RB Taken in the 2009 Draft

Marquise Goodwin was a depth player for the receiving corps and jumped into the No. 3 role this past season. Unfortunately, injuries hurt his 2016 campaign, much like they have hurt his career as a whole. Goodwin joined the San Francisco 49ers this offseason and will likely land a similar role.

Duke Williams was drafted to backup Aaron Williams at strong safety. He was released in mid-November and signed with the Indianapolis Colts on December 12th. He recorded one interception in his three years with Buffalo, adding one forced fumble and 3 fumble recoveries. He is still with the Colts.

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Jonathan Meeks was recently released by the team this offseason. With the additions of Micah Hyde and Jordan Poyer, the Buffalo Bills thought it best to start new with the defensive backs. Meeks was also drafted to backup Aaron Williams, who was also cut this offseason — along with fellow starter Corey Graham. Meeks is still a free agent this offseason.

Dustin Hopkins is currently the starting kicker for the Washington Redskins — the team that Zach Brown joined this offseason. He was a teammate of E.J. Manuel in college. He replaced Rian Lindell in his rookie season, but sustained a groin injury. That’s when the Dan Carpenter era began, which also fell this offseason when the team released him. Hopkins made 34/42 field goals last season with the Redskins, adding 36/39 from extra point.

I really think Chris Gragg would’ve been a productive tight end for the Buffalo Bills, but injury caused him to miss the entire 2016 season. Although the Bills notified him that he would be a member of the team in 2017, he remains a free agent. He had a strong preseason last year and showed chemistry with Tyrod Taylor and Cardale Jones.

With that, they’re all gone. The Buffalo Bills now have a different quarterback, kicker, tight end, linebacker, safeties and wide receivers. Time flies, huh?

Let’s look closer at the LeSean McCoy-Kiko Alonso trade, which has seen some beef surface over the past week.

Next: LeSean McCoy Calls Kiko Alonso's New Contract 'Garbage'

Which player do you wish you could have back, if any at all? Leave your thoughts below!

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