Bills options in the 2009 draft offensive line

by Steve

The nightmare of all nightmares is a distinct possibility on Saturday the 25th. The Bills could actually use one of their two first round picks to draft an OT at either 11 or 28. Worse than that, they could in some bizarreo logic actually leverage the 28th pick into a higher pick than 11 and MOVE up to draft one. If that happens, this blog will unofficially shut down. Why trade a top 5 talent for an unproven rookie with no experience and little financial savings. It would make zero sense. Either way here are the options..

Jason Smith OT

Dude had a standout combine and is quite possibly worthy of the #1 over all pick ala Jake Long. The Bills would have to move into the top 5 AND get lucky to get this pimp.

Eugene Monroe OT

Potential top 6 or 7 pick. He made a lot of money by getting out of the way of the train wreck that is Andre Smith. The Virginia product certainly won't last past Green Bay at nine and will be off the board sooner.

Michael Oher OT
People were fawning all over this dude outta Ole Miss last year. He didn't have a great year but is still projected to be a top 15 pick at worst. The Bills could potentially be targeting this dude anywhere from 8 to 15. It is a stretch to think he'll go in the top 10 because he probably isn't the second best tackle available and the idea that three tackles would go before eleven is highly unlikely. Maybe teams are hating Orakpo and Maybin pushing Oher up, but he still isn't worth the eleventh over all for the Bills. They need defense and defense wins championships. Look at any sports book you want, the best defensive teams have the best odds of winning, period point blank.

Andre Smith OT Alabama
Talk about a rock sinking to the bottom of the ocean. Dude goes a little schizo at the combine, runs with his shirt off, and is suddenly a talentless hack. He went from arguably the best OT talent in the draft to maybe third best and according to Walterfootball 6th best! Could he be Mike Williams? Yes. But could he be Walter Jones.. why not he has the size and skill set just needs the motivation, and if he falls he'll have less money which would then result in more motivation.

This draft is so stacked with Offensive Tackle talent it would be more than asinine to trade up into the top 10 to grab any one of these guys. In fact, drafting any of them at all is stupid. One of the top four will probably drop pushing players like Eben Britton or William Beatty (both late first/early second projected) available. Football betting is like a past time of mine. One of these dudes will be there at 42 IFFF the Bills are even looking OT that soon. Hopefully they are not. P.S. McShay has five OTs going in round one, and Britton is gone at, yup you guessed it, #28.

My "dark horse" is Alex Mack, the center from Cal. This would fill an OBVIOUS need for the Bills and set them up with a strong foundation to build around in the middle of a weakened o-line. McShay thinks he'll be there for the Bills in the second round, I'm not as optimistic. The real decision might be between Mack and the other stand out Center, Max Unger outta Oregon, although there is some chatter about him being a guard in the NFL.

Bottomline Mack or Unger @ 28, no o-line any sooner, and most preferred would be one of those two falling to the Bills at 42.