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The Buffalo Bills have a spot at wide receiver that desperately needs filling this offseason. They failed to sign a quality free-agent wide out, so it now comes down to filling the need in the upcoming draft...

2008 NFL Draft: Buffalo Bills Face Tough Decision

by Jake Widlowski (Analyst)

18

4,357 reads

Sports

March 20, 2008


The Buffalo Bills have a spot at wide receiver that desperately needs filling this offseason. They failed to sign a quality free-agent wide out, so it now comes down to filling the need in the upcoming draft.

The Bills are in luck, because top-notch wide receivers will be easy to come by.

Buffalo will likely have their choice of receiver, considering the 10 teams ahead of them will most likely pick a different position player. Many experts believe that the Bills will be the first team to draft a wide receiver.

If the Bills select a wide receiver with their first round pick, they would most likely select Malcolm Kelly, Limas Sweed, Devin Thomas, or Mario Manningham. Kelly and Thomas have both told the media that they have a visit planned to meet with the Bills organization before draft day.

However, with such a deep wide receiving class entering the draft, the Bills could possibly skip taking a wide out in the first round all together.

Another position that Buffalo desperately needs to fill is cornerback. They lost free-agent cornerback Jason Webster to the Patriots earlier this month. He was a veteran player who added a lot to the team.

Buffalo also released CB Kiwaukee Thomas. The Bills currently only have four cornerbacks under contract: Dustin Fox, Jabari Greer, Terrence McGee, and Ashton Youboty.

The wisest move for the Bills would be to grab an elite cornerback with their first pick instead of a wide receiver. According to an ESPN.com mock draft, the Bills are projected to pick up Leodis McKelvin from Troy University.

McKelvin’s stats are pretty impressive. This past season he had 60 tackles, caused three fumbles, and intercepted two passes, leading the Troy Trojans to an 8-4 record. He also ran a 4.38 in his 40-yard dash in the NFL combine.

If the Bills pass on wide receiver in the first round, they could possibly land another receiver, such as Indiana’s James Hardy, in the second round.

The Buffalo Bills will have many options come draft day. Hopefully the organization will make the wise move and the Bills will benefit from this draft for years to come.

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18 comments Last one added about 1 year ago — Leave a Comment

  1. ...

    I have been saying this for a month now. Take a CB in the first, and then take Hardy. You're right the draft class is deep with talented WR, but not so much with CB's. Good article!

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    They have 5 CB's under contract, I can't really determine their motive until I know how much William James is being paid... If they did fork over a lot of money for him, they must see him as starter potential and probably drafting a WR, if not then maybe they will look to fortify the CB position- I bet if he stays healthy, he will have a great year... So how many corners is a healthy number?

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    If the Bills did draft wide out first, one would assume that their second pick would be DB. Could be a multi positional DB that has seen time at both Strong Safety( Fewell has made it known that he would like to move Whitner to free) and CB. JMO...

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    Any decision the Buffalo Bills always seem to be tough

    I'll simplify it for you....when your turn to draft comes - take the best guy

    It seems to work for a lot of other teams, so why not try it?

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    I BET YOU ANYTHING THAT THEY WILL TRADE DOWN SOME ONE IS GOING TO CALL AND THEY WILL ADD MORE PICKS. WATCH DRAFT DAY YOU HEAR IT HEAR FIRST

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    no, taking the best guy is not the way to go, if glen dorsey is there were not taking him after signing two free agent DT. we should go wr (kelly, sweed, mich. st. guy), te (keller, davis), fb (schmidt), de (best left for depth), qb (ainge, back up for when jp leaves), special teams players after

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    I would not be unhappy if we took Ellis if he is there because you just cannot have enough stud DTs.
    I would love it if they took Sweed or a DT but it is the 2nd and 3rd rounds where I believe we draft our future stars.
    Give me Dustin Keller in the 2nd and convert the 6'2" 248 lb TE to WR and finally use Josh reed as trade bait. He is big, fast @ 4.5 40 speed and makes a great slot WR that punishes defenders.
    He would be our new Eric moulds just bigger and even stronger. He is scary!!!!!!!!!!

    In the 3rd I want chris johnson (surprise!!!!!!!!!) @ RB and lets use his 4.24 speed wisely when spelling Lynch. Speed kills and this kid has plenty of it.
    Trade Josh Reed and JP if it means landing great players.

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    I would not be unhappy if we took Ellis if he is there because you just cannot have enough stud DTs.
    I would love it if they took Sweed or a DT but it is the 2nd and 3rd rounds where I believe we draft our future stars.
    Give me Dustin Keller in the 2nd and convert the 6'2" 248 lb TE to WR and finally use Josh reed as trade bait. He is big, fast @ 4.5 40 speed and makes a great slot WR that punishes defenders.
    He would be our new Eric moulds just bigger and even stronger. He is scary!!!!!!!!!!

    In the 3rd I want chris johnson (surprise!!!!!!!!!) @ RB and lets use his 4.24 speed wisely when spelling Lynch. Speed kills and this kid has plenty of it.
    Trade Josh Reed and JP if it means landing great players.

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    trenton

    are you kidding me take a running back in the third rouns a position of strenght that was addressed in last years draft. simply clueless. the first 3 roundsshould be in any order,WR,TE,CB period

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    "They lost free-agent cornerback Jason Webster to the Patriots earlier this month. He was a veteran player who added a lot to the team."

    Jason WHO??? Ohhh the player that added NOTHING to the team this year, I'm sure we'll miss his "veteran" leadership.

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      Yeah true he didn't do much this year because he got injured early. but if he didn't get injured and before he got hurt he was a key corner for us.

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    It's hard to quantify how key of a corner he would have been...he didn't show too much before he got injured (granted that wasn't a very long time frame). For this author to say that he added a lot to the Bills is ridiculous, he had the potential to add something, but he added nothing.

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    If the Bills draft a WR in the 1st and a DB in the 2nd, they may still look closely for veterans who are cut from other teams. If you want instant impact, I say take a WR in the 1st round because even a first round corner will get torched until they learn the position at a pro level. It's not glamorous, but I'd go corner, WR, then best talent.

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    im not a bills fan but here goes with there 1st rd pick i think they should get a wr they need someone to take pressure off lee evans they could go the wr with size route and draft malcolm kelly or devin thomas(devin thomas would be my choice) or could go with someone similar to evans and draft desean jackson who also gives an added kr threat to the equation any of those 3 wr would be a fine addition in the 2nd round maybe a te like john carlson or dustin keller or a cb like brandon flowers would fit nicely you could even get a cb such as antoine cason from arizona that could slip to rd 3 so there are options

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    here is another option maybe not the most viable but still its an option, why not try to trade for adam"pacman"jones now i know what your thinking and i agree he is a trouble making a_ _ but if you could get him for say a 3rd rd pick then why not give it a shot if he did straighten his act up he would be a great addition and save you a draft pick that you would have had to use on a cb. then you could use ur 2nd rd pick on an olb like maybe xavier adbi or ali highsmith to team with posluszny just imagine a lb core with the toughness of posluszny returning from injury and the speed and athletisim of a lb like xavier adbi or ali highsmith

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    also i think you should sign a fre agent backup qb and use jp losman as trade bait since trent edwards played so well and looks like the qb for the forseeable future

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  1. ...

    gotta go corner first. then get thomas or Hardy in the second

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  • About the Author Jake Widlowski (analyst)

    • 17 articles written
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