Buffalo Bills Have Four Options With Their First Pick: What Will They Do?

Note - As of draft day, Bills fans have voted 472 times. Almost a three-way tie for first

a) 28.8 % said to draft the best left tackle on the board

b) 28. 4 % said to trade down in the first round and acquire more picks

c) 26.1 % said to draft the franchise quarterback

d) 16.7 % said the team will make a surprise pick and go in a different direction

When Buddy Nix, Chan Gailey, and Tom Modrak sit down at One Bills Drive on Thursday, April 22, they will be anxiously watching to see what players come off the big draft board with the first eight picks.

Once those initial eight players have been announced, the Bills will do one of the four following options:

1) Draft their highest ranking left tackle still available on the board

2) Draft a franchise quarterback

3) Surprise everybody and go in a completely different direction

4) Trade down in the first round and acquire additional picks in the draft.

What is the likelihood of each option?

Out of the four scenarios, I still believe the most realistic to my way of thinking are number one and number four. I am of the opinion that the Bills will draft their quarterback of the future after the first round has played out. Going in a different direction is always possible, and I raised that possibility in the event that somebody falls in the Bills lap that they weren't expecting would still be there.

So, who will be the highest ranking left tackle still available when the Bills turn comes up? In the Bleacher Report Featured Columnist Mock Draft, Chris Trapasso and I made a joint decision to take Bryan Bulaga with the Bills first pick. The other elite tackles were already gone, and we reasoned that fixing the problems with the offensive line took precedence over picking a quarterback that would get hammered.

That article appeared months ago, but since then all of the NFL experts out there have been using a fine tooth comb to pick apart every aspect of a prospect's game, including that of Bryan Bulaga.

For an example, here is something I just came across from Don Banks at SI.com:

"I left him in my No. 6 slot to Seattle for now, but there are some NFL personnel men who believe Iowa offensive tackle Bryan Bulaga is the most overrated prospect in this year's draft and say he could be the second coming of Robert Gallery once he gets to the league."

Bulaga makes some scouts nervous because he has short arms and was also beaten like a rented mule last season by some of the best pass-rushers in this year's draft (see Graham, Brandon). He could still go as high as No. 5 to Kansas City, but there are clearly pockets of doubters when it comes to the ex-Hawkeye.

"It'll shock you when I say this, but I know some people have him graded out as a third-round pick,'' one league personnel man told me this week. "A lot of pass rushers beat him badly last year. And if you watch that film, and add in that his arms are shorter than you'd like a tackle to have, how high can you take him? I know he's well-coached and has (Iowa coach) Kirk Ferentz's stamp on him, but there are some questions about him and he's falling a bit in some people's eyes.''

Now I am not an advocate of believing everything you read, but the assessment above does give me pause for concern with respect to the Bills taking Bulaga with the first pick.

If Bulaga is truly falling down on draft boards, then the Bills should consider trading down in the first round and picking him up later. Heck, they could then take the extra pick they acquire in the deal and trade it to Baltimore and pick up Jared Gaither. Then you have both tackles accounted for and you still have a second round pick to land a nose tackle or QB.

For what it is worth, USC tackle Charles Brown is rumored to be heading up draft boards, and Pete Carroll may want to use Seattle's second pick in the first round (No. 15) to pick up his former player. Bruce Campbell is said to be falling down out of the first round due to being too raw of a player—more of a developmental kind of pick.

So, as we all wait by the big screen awaiting word as to what the Buddy Nix regime will do, I will ask the Bills fans to go ahead and vote for which of the four options you believe will happen. Stay tuned, as this draft will be very key to the Bills' short term and long term future.