If the Bills' scouting and coaching staff thought that we was clearly a step above the next 3, and the future face of the franchise, it was the right time to take him. By pick 41 Jacksonville, Oakland, Arizona, the Jets, and the Titans all could concieveably take a QB. If they thought he was special, it's likely they thought others would covet him too, and he'd be in the top 2 on others' boards. If we had swapped with SF, would one of those teams have been willing to do a Minnesota-type move to move back before 31?... we'll never know.
We didn't have the ammo to come back into the first without sacrificing next year's 1st in my opinion. With our holes, there's no way we would have given up a deal like what Minnesota did.