2011 Buffalo Bills: Which Pitt Panthers Will Follow Dave Wannstedt To Buffalo?
Today starts the Bills' two-week process of setting up the draft board at One Bills Drive. The entire Buffalo Bills scouting department is on hand, led by general manager Buddy Nix and his head of college scouting Tom Modrak.
They will be reviewing all of their scouts' files and notes, watching tape and trying to rank everyone on the board so that they have a better idea on which players they want to target at the combines in Indianapolis.
Thinking about the people who have the most knowledge of potential draft selections, I couldn't help but think that Nix and company will be coming to Dave Wannstedt for first-hand knowledge and impressions. There are at least four Pittsburgh Panthers who expect to be drafted, plus many other Big East players who Wannstedt coached against.
So, would it be a surprise if any of the Panthers wind up being drafted by Buffalo? What about players who are on the fringe of being drafted or come in as an undrafted rookie free agent? Let's take a look at five Panthers players and determine if they could be a potential fit or not.
Defensive End Jabaal Sheard
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Jabaal Sheard is one of the more decorated Panthers. He was voted as the Big East Defensive Player of the Year and is a defensive end who may need to make an adjustment to outside linebacker in the NFL due to his smaller stature.
Sheard is 6'2 1/2" and weighs 252 pounds. Don't let his size fool you; he is as disruptive a player as you could hope to find. Look at what he accomplished this past season:
Fifty-two tackles, nine sacks, 14.5 tackles for a loss, four forced fumbles, 15 QB hurries, four pass break-ups and one fumble recovery. That is a playmaker, and the Bills need to get as many playmakers on their roster as possible.
Sheard utilizes his strength, quickness and speed to his advantage. He hustles, leads by example and is someone the Bills would probably consider to add some depth to their outside linebacking group. Put him up in competition with Aaron Maybin, and see which player comes out on top.
Defensive End Greg Romeus
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Greg Romeus is another defensive end from Pittsburgh who was voted as Co-Defensive Player of the Year in the Big East in 2009. Romeus' senior year was not what he envisioned, as he was only able to play in two games for the entire season due to injuries.
His sophomore to junior years give you an idea of how disruptive he can be. His combined statistics over those two seasons are 94 tackles, 27 tackles for loss, 15.5 sacks, eight pass break-ups, one interception, four forced fumbles, two fumble recoveries and for good measure, three blocked kicks.
Romeus is physically larger than Sheard, as he is 6'5" and weighs 265 pounds. He is strong, reasonably quick and is good in pursuit. He doesn't give up the edge, and that is something that the Bills need to see from their defensive ends.
Based on how Romeus' senior year turned out, it is conceivable that his draft stock will fall to the later rounds, where the Bills could find a bargain.
Wide Receiver Jon Baldwin
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Jon Baldwin is the highest rated of the Pittsburgh Panthers coming in to the draft, according to the grades assessed at Scouts Inc. The fact that Baldwin is a wide receiver makes it questionable that he would be a fit for the current Bills roster, given that they have a surplus of talented wide receivers.
Baldwin is a big receiver, going 6'4 5/8" and weighs 224. That is a nice sized target to throw to. He came up with a monster year in 2009 with 1,111 receiving yards. That number dropped to 822 last season, but still demonstrates that he is a very productive receiver.
He has good hands and speed, but will need to learn how to separate better from tight coverage. He will probably go somewhere in the first three rounds, but is a long shot for this Bills team as we previously discussed.
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Tackle Jason Pinkston
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Jason Pinkston is another Panther who figures to be drafted in April. The senior tackle was an All-Big East selection for the past two years and played in the Senior Bowl game. He is a 6'4", 305-pound specimen. His arms are 34 1/2" long, which is one of the key components for determining how effective a tackle can be.
Pinkston is ranked among the top 10 tackles who are available for the draft. If the Bills use the first two picks for defensive players, it will be interesting to see if the first Bills pick for offense turns out to be a QB, a tackle or a tight end. If it is a tackle, nobody knows Pinkston better than Dave Wannstedt, so if the Bills draft him, you know that Wannstedt gave him a thumbs-up.
Safety Dominic DeCicco
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It appears that safety Dom DeCicco is big, but how big? One source listed him at 6'2 1/2" while another source listed him at 6'4". He weighs 224 pounds. Again, the size factor is something that Dave Wannstedt could easily put to bed.
DeCicco was named to the All-Big East team as a safety, even though he played outside linebacker. If he has the talent and skills to transition into an NFL safety, he could be a potential seventh round pick, or even come on board as an undrafted rookie free agent.
It is conceivable that there are other Panthers under the radar that Dave Wannstedt will call to the Bills' attention. We should know how many Panthers followed Coach Wannstedt in about two-and-a-half months from now.
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