Derek Fine Will Be the Key to Buffalo Bills First Round Pick

Many draft experts are already starting their mock drafts and have the Buffalo Bills taking a tight end with their pick in the first round.  However, they are forgetting one thing—the Bills drafted a tight end in last year's draft.

The Bills, in the fourth round of the 2008 National Football League draft, took Derek Fine. They thought highly of him to the point that when Fine was injured in the preseason and missed the first six games of the season, the Bills kept him on the active roster instead of putting him on injured reserve or the physically unable to perform list.

According to Scout.com, Fine was a solid pass-catching tight end in his senior year of college as he caught 46 passes for 394 yards.  He showed a flash of that last year in his second game in week nine against the New York Jets, catching four passes for 43 yards, with one of those passes being for his only touchdown of the year.

Also, Fine showed that the scouting report of him being a well-rounded tight end was true.  He showed that in the running game, as he was an integral part with his excellent blocking.

What the Bills think of Fine will affect the upcoming draft.  If they think that he is becoming what they thought he was going to be out of college, then they will most likely give him the starting tight end position.

That most likely will mean the Bills will draft defense at either linebacker or defensive line.  The need of linebacker depends on whether they bring back outside linebacker Angelo Crowell, which is a possibility as Crowell stated in an interview that he has no hard feelings and he wants  to stay with the team.

In the end, the only way the Bills are going to get a better tight end than Fine is if they trade for Kansas City tight end Tony Gonzalez.