Brandon

Raji. Its likely that he goes late in the top 10, but if he's there and the Bills pass, I'm not going to be happy. He's the best defender in this draft, IMO.

Without getting into all of that player's issues, that, IMO, would be among the stupidest things they could possibly do. Of course, that's also why the Bills front office will probably do it.

I'd take Raji, no question about it. Pettigrew and Orakpo are pretty much tied as my 2nd choice.

Agreed. Look at the play at 2:55 in the following video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xSBZxg3rEZE That guy is obviously sssslllllooooowwwwwww.

The injury concerns are killing his draft stock.

I suppose it could happen, but I don't think its very likely. I think there's about a 99% chance that Pettigrew is on the board at 11, so the Bills shouldn't have to worry too much about it. But if, IF that were to happen, I would choose Tyson Jackson.

Ignore the rankings and look at the grades. The difference between Maclin at #8 and Raji at 26 is the same as the gap between Raji at 26 and Donald Brown at 27. The difference doesn't amount to a hill of beans. That said, they do have a character flag on his grade, so that may be part of it.

Nah, I wouldn't. I screwed it up and completely left him off. This is one reason why I posted it a bit early, to see if I made any big mistakes. That was a BIG one. That said, on second look, I don't think it'll impact player availability at 11 to any great degree. It'll probably just kick Oher out of the top 10 and I think the Bills would likely pass on him for Orakpo.

Heh, oops. Well, you can throw this mock draft out. I completely overlooked him and certainly, he's a top 10 pick as well.

I normally wait until the night before or the morning of the draft to post one, but at this point, I don't see it changing given the top 10 picks. So, here it is, so everyone can see how badly I missed it once Saturday afternoon rolls around. 1) Detroit - QB Matt Stafford 2) St.Louis - OT Jason Smith 3) Kansas City - OLB Aaron Curry 4) Seattle - QB Mark Sanchez 5) Cleveland - WR Michael Crabtree 6) Cincinnatti - OT Eugene Moore 7) Oakland - WR Jeremy Maclin 8) Jacksonville - DT BJ Raji 9) Green Bay - DE Tyson Jackson 10) San Francisco - OT Andre Smith EDIT: Yeah, I screwed up and left Moore off the first time. As long as he doesn't go before pick #6, and I don't think he would, its just bumps the remaining OTs down a notch, including Oher out of the top 10. 1) DE Brian Orakpo, Texas I think they'd prefer if Raji fell to this spot, but that's unlikely to happen. They're left with a choice largely between a DE and TE, and honestly, I have little faith in their willingness to upgrade the latter with a premium pick. With the top four OTs gone, they'll draft the best DE on their board with this pick, even if it isn't necessarily Orakpo. EDIT: correcting the earlier screwup, I think Oher will probably be available here. I do feel the Bills would pass on either he or Andre Smith in favor of Orakpo, so it doesn't change much as far as the Bills are concerned. 1) OLB James Laurinaitis, Ohio State Yes, he's a collegiate MLB, but I think that he's very much like Posluszny. Both can play either, IMO, and perhaps are better suited outside than inside. This would be a good, safe pick following the always-dangerous pick of a DE earlier in the round. Laurinaitis would almost certainly become a solid, if unspectacular NFL starter. One note: if the Bills are going to throw a curveball in this draft, this is where it will happen. Two possibilities : WR Brian Robiskie and CB Darius Butler. 2) OG Duke Robinson, Oklahoma Looking over the lists of OL the Bills have visited with, they seem to be looking for a physical run blockers for the interior OL spots rather than athletic pass blockers. It looks like they're trying to find a guy who can be what they thought they were getting with Derrick Dockery. There are a number of ways that they could go in that regard, Robinson, Levitre, Eric Wood, etc, but R2 is probably where they'll do it. They might also consider Boston College DT Ron Brace at this position, which would be a little high for a guy who isn't a perfect fit for their defense, but they have such problems holding the LOS on running downs and short yardage, in particular, that they may strongly consider it. 3) TE Chase Coffman, Missouri Finally, the Bills decide to add a TE prospect. If they're not going to draft Pettigrew, R3 is probably where this position has the most value. Because of his injury, Coffman is a very difficult player to get a read on. I think this is on the upper end of the range where he might go and he could slip as far as round 5. Regardless of whether its Coffman, Beckum or Ingram, this is likely where they'll fill this need. 4) OT Xavier Fulton, Illinois The wait to add an OT would be a highly controversial one, but I fully expect it to happen this weekend. I think they like what they have and merely wish to add some competition. The good news? There are some fairly nice OT prospects slated to go in the middle rounds. 4) DT Vance Walker, Georgia Tech As I said earlier, I think that in an ideal world, the Bills would add a DT much earlier, but this is a piss poor draft for DTs. If they miss out on Raji, they're better off waiting a while and just adding some much needed depth. 5) FS Curtis Taylor, LSU 6) TE Jared Bronson, Central Washington 7) OLB Robert Francois, Boston College

I really don't care about the school's history, unless they have a long history of producing flops at a specific position. I'd be a little apprehensive about selecting a Florida State DE or a Tennessee WR at 11, for example. Otherwise, from an overall standpoint, every school is going to produce a few high round NFL busts. As for Orakpo, he's like any other prospect. The Bills front office just needs to listen to what the scouts say about him and go from there.

Actually, I can believe this to an extent. The Bills weren't shy about praising Bell even before this trade happened. I think they really do like him a lot. I'd be surprised if they don't add some competition at OT, but I think its unlikely that it'll be in the form of a 1st round pick.

I agree. That whole draft was a disaster at a time when several of their best players from the Super Bowl era were on the way out. The painfully average drafts that followed over the next few years didn't help.

The reason I think it might happen is because Owens is essentially just a one-year rental. When he's gone, they're right back where they started. It won't happen if they take Pettigrew, but if the Bills miss out on him and aren't happy with the remaining TEs, they might go after the next best thing, which is the best possession receiver they can find. And to be honest, the apparent attempt at clearing a WR spot off the roster by trading Parrish raises my suspicions about their interest in the position. I don't have one in the mock draft I'm working on as a prediction, but I do think its an outside possibility, but only at 28 or possibly 42. The guy has to be better than what they have behind Evans and Owens in order to do it, and as I said before, a few things have to go wrong in terms of players available at other positions.

I don't know if they're surprises, but here are a few predictions: 1) Unless the Bills want to draft Eben Britton at 11, they won't use that pick on an OT. Four OTs will go in the top 10. 2) Tyson Jackson will go no later than #9 to Green Bay 3) The Bills will select an interior OL higher than an OT. 4) The Bills will not select a TE before R3, at least (I *always miss* on the TE prediction; I hope that's true again this year). 5) This isn't so much a prediction, as it requires a few things to go wrong for the Bills, but if the chips fall right (wrong?) the Bills will strongly consider taking a WR at 28. Don't be stunned to hear a name such as Brian Robiskie called at this pick if they aren't happy with their choices along the lines or at LB.

That's a reasonable question, but on draft day, I think it'll be irrelevant. I believe all four of those OTs are going to go in the top 10.

The defensive line is easily in worse shape. Its quite possible that they don't have a single starting caliber DE on the roster at this point, plus, Kyle Williams is adequate at best at DT and the depth at that position is virtually non-existent. They've got problems on the OL, too, but that group isn't entirely hopeless. Don't get me wrong, I'm not advocating going with what they already have, but the Bills have fielded worse OLs on opening day during this decade than the one they currently have.

http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/draft/prospectrankings I've been using their profiles the most as of late.

I don't disagree, but if the Bills plan on adding a DE with one of their 1st round picks, they probably believe that someone has to go to make room, both from a salary standpoint and in order to accomodate the 53 man roster limit. As such, it makes sense to get a draft pick for one of them if possible instead of being forced to cut him later this summer.

That's quite possibly true, but at the same time, the trade value of a fairly ordinary DE who is only a few months shy of 30 isn't going to be high.

A 4th for Kelsay would indeed be a steal. A conditional 3rd would be grand theft.

Brown Orakpo Jackson None of the rest are worth the 11th pick, IMO, and I have reservations about selecting any of the above three with that pick.

Hopefully, he's smart enough to realize that his hometown is in Texas, not Arkansas.

As compared to what? Look around the league. Its filled with miserable players at that position. Kelsay's not a starter, but he's better than an awful lot of backup DEs that you'll find. I doubt they'd get much out of him, mind you. Probably a 6th or 7th round pick, which is better than the likely alternative of cutting him to make room on the roster for a draft pick or two.

$3M isn't really that bad for a decent DE. For a team that needs some depth at the cost of a later pick, he wouldn't be a bad addition.