Draft Picks 2010: Buffalo and Oakland Throw First Round of Draft for a Loop

The first seven picks of the NFL draft were not that surprising to my way of thinking, although I was slightly surprised that Trent Williams and Russell Okung were not switched in the order they went.

No trades had materialized yet and there was an air of anticipation when Al Davis and the Oakland Raiders were on the clock.

Would Davis come up with another head-scratcher or would it be a solid choice?

I was surprised to hear Rolando McClain's name called, recalling how many teams were rumored to be after McClain. That choice started to stir the pot.

The Buffalo Bills were then up with the ninth selection. They had three clear choices that were sitting there for them: tackle Bryan Bulaga, nose tackle Dan Williams, and quarterback Jimmy Clausen.

There could be a case made for any of the three options—or the fourth option—announcing that the Bills had traded down in the first round.

Then came the announcement of running back C.J. Spiller and my jaw just about hit the floor. Bills general manager Buddy Nix had warned that they heard what all of the experts claimed the team needed, but that he was going to be sure to draft a good player.

But Spiller? He had never really been linked to the Bills in any mock draft.

The pick makes sense from the standpoint that Chan Gailey is an offensive-minded coach and he wants to add weapons to the Bills team to make them a more dynamic offensive unit.

As much as this was a surprise pick, it also caused a tizzy of deals to shortly follow, as a number of teams were sent scurrying as the Bills' pick threw a number of their plans into the shredder.

Had the Bills managed to trade down like we had been advocating, they would have been pleased to see that Bryan Bulaga lasted until the 23rd pick to Green Bay, while Dan Williams lasted to the 26th pick to Arizona.

For the teams that were counting on drafting Spiller, the Bills sent them back to the drawing board. A flurry of trades soon followed the Bills' choice, but we will never know how many of them were caused by the Bills' selection of Spiller.

I imagine that some teams might have panicked to think that following McClain and Spiller, their guy may not be there after all, so they started to trade up to make sure they got their guy.

Now the Bills will have to go back to the draft board and figure out who they can still land to assume the left tackle and/or nose tackle slots. Maybe they land Mount Cody, Brian Price, Bruce Campbell, or Charles Brown. Jimmy Clausen is still out there as well.

The legacy of Buddy Nix and Chan Gailey has begun with the selection of C. J. Spiller. The new duo running the Bills has shown that they can be unpredictable and will do whatever it takes to make the Bills a competitive and exciting team.

Rounds two through seven promise more of the same, so stay tuned.