2009 Is Make or Break For Front Office
The Buffalo Bills front office has been bashed in the media now for a while. With the way the draft went down this is make or break for the front office.
According to Chris Brown of the Buffalo Bills website former National Football League quarterback, now ESPN analyst, stated that the Bills had the best draft of all 32 teams, because he believes the Bills selected a lot of players that will help them win football games right away.
Of the Bills eight draft picks the first six have chances at starting right away, or playing major roles on the team.
What made the draft great for the Bills is that they also thought outside of the box when it came to positions of need.
The Bills addressed their linebacker need in the fifth round by taking Nick Harris who was a safety in college. However, the Bills beleive he will be better suited at linebacker, since he is 6′2 and 238 pounds already.
Just his physical stature gives him an advantage over current starter Keith Ellison. Ellison is just 6′0 and 229 pounds, which makes him dissapear at times.
The Bills believed that they needed a player at the free safety position that would provide turnovers. They got that in Jarius Byrd who playerd his entire career at cornerback in college.
The pick is a solid pick, because Bills defensive coordinator Perry Fewell has known Byrd since high school when he was an assistant coach for the Saint Louis Rams. Fewell has been following his career since, which means he knows what he is exactly getting in Byrd.
The steal of the draft for the Bills came in the fourth round when the Bills selected tight end Shawn Nelson.
Nelson was rated as a round two talent by many draft experts. Everyone in Bills country should be estatic about Nelson as he is the verticle threat Bills fans been looking for as he ran a 40 yard dash in 4.56 seconds in the spring.
Nelson is both a polished route runner, but is considered a bit raw on run blocking. However, according to Brown’s blog Nelson states that he is working hard at it and improving all the time.
What makes Nelson an exceptional route runner is that he was converted to tight end from wide receiver. Also, Nelson was the main weapon for Southern Mississippi’s passing attack, which means he was doubled team all the time, but still made plays despite this.
If this draft class does not come in right away and contribure it will be a huge dissapointment. If that happens it is house cleaning time for the front office.