The Buffalo Bills owned the third pick in the 2011 NFL Draft and went with a player who had crazy hype at the time in Marcell Dareus. The Alabama product was strongly considered to be the second best player in the draft behind Cam Newton but shockingly, the Broncos took Von Miller instead and the Bills didn't hesitate to take Dareus with the next pick.
Now, let it be known that Dareus wasn't a bad player by any means. He spent the first seven years of his career in Buffalo before closing out his nine-year NFL career with a two and a half-year stint in Jacksonville. Dareus was a decent player but many would argue that he didn't live up to his third overall pick status.
That's why it's never surprising to see the Bills go in a different direction in redrafts, which are quite popular to roll out this time of year. In PFF's latest redraft, they revisited the 2011 NFL Draft and had the Bills going with a different guy with the third pick. If the Bills could have a mulligan here, PFF argued that they should have taken J.J. Watt, who originally went 11th overall to the Texans and will undoubtedly be in the Hall of Fame someday.
"Watt is one of a few no-doubt Hall of Famers from the 2011 class. He played 12 seasons and earned five first-team All-Pro nods and three Defensive Player of the Year awards. From 2012 to 2022, he recorded an 86.0-plus PFF overall grade in all but one season — 2016, when he played only 157 snaps due to injury. He is one of the greatest defensive players in NFL history."
PFF redraft gives Bills fans a brutal look at what they could’ve had
There's no doubt that Watt would have been an incredible addition to the Bills defense, even with how bad some of those early 2010s teams were. In the first three years after the 2011 draft, the Bills finished in the bottom half of the NFL in points allowed. While Watt might not have outright changed the course of history for the Bills, his 20.5 sacks in 2012 could have certainly bumped up the stock of the Bills defense.
Watt recorded 20.5 sacks in two separate seasons doing so in 2012 and again in 2014. He had double-digit sacks from 2012 to 2015 and was always a player that opposing offenses were terrified of. Simply put -- He'd have been beloved in Buffalo and might have helped them win a few more games.
It is worth noting that Dareus did end up getting drafted in the first round in this redraft, ending up at 19th to the Giants. PFF noted while he had no business going third overall, he was still a good player. This comment, however, really hit hard. "His best work always came in run defense, but he never developed into a standout pass rusher."
Considering Watt ended up becoming a legendary pass rusher and knowing the Bills could have had him, yeah, that hurts. But at the same time, it could have been a whole lot worse.