Top 5 Moments In Buffalo Bills Recent Draft History

(Photo by Rick Stewart/Getty Images)

As every NFL fan can attest, the NFL draft is a two month frenzy of media coverage, mock drafts, and constant analysis.  So-called experts and personnel from each team put numerous prospects through many exercises in order to select the "right fit".  As we have learned this is anything but perfect and in particular Bills fans have experienced the "can't miss" who has missed (Mike Williams, 2002 #4 overall), the injured superstars (Willis McGahee, 2003 #23 1st Round), and the head shakers (Donte Whitner, 2006 #8 overall).These are recent year examples of the "imperfect science" that is the NFL Draft.

The top 5 Buffalo Bills storylines from my NFL Draft lifetime (1996 -2008) are as follows:

5) Music City "Forward Pass" followed by the worst draft of the decade (2000).  Erik Flowers was supposed to be the DE the Bills needed to take the "leap".  Flowers flamed out quite quickly and the rest of the draft did nothing to help the franchise move forward.

4) Bills shock the draft world and take a rehabbing Willis McGahee (2003).  Willis McGahee was arguably the best running back in all of College Football in 2002 with the University of Miami Hurricanes.  McGahee was injured catching a pass in the Fiesta Bowl and suffered a gruesome knee injury.  He would of been top five, prior to the injury.  The Bills gambled that he would return healthy, by going against the grain and using their first round pick on a player who would be inactive for an entire season.

3) Buffalo takes "sure thing" tackle Mike Williams with the 4th overall pick.  Williams was considered to be a fixture on the o-line of the Bills for years to come.  With his massive size and big time playing experience at Texas this was considered a safe bet.  Boy was everyone wrong; Williams played three injury-plagued, ineffective years before he was released.  He has since bounced around, unable to catch on with another NFL franchise.

2) Buffalo again shocks the draft world and picks Ohio State safety Donte Whitner with the 8th overall pick (2006).  Buffalo is on the clock with the 8th pick in the draft and Matt Leinart is still on the board and supposedly coveted by numerous teams.  The possibility to trade down and collect more picks or even land a franchise quarterback is sitting in front of them.  Instead they reach for Whitner who was projected as a late first rounder on many boards.  Don't get me wrong, Whitner has been a nice player but nothing that they had to reach and use the 8th overall pick on.

1) 2007 yields a new crop of stars.  The Bills struck it rich this year as they took Marshawn Lynch with their first round pick as their starting running back. The second round yielded their starting middle linebacker and current defensive leader in Paul Posluszny, and most importantly (at the recommendation of the late Bill Walsh) chose their starting quarterback Trent Edwards.  All three have been terrific thus far and look to build on their progress and take their games to the next level.

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