2011 Buffalo Bills: The Bills Have More Holes Than Draft Picks Will Fix

In less than seven weeks, the Buffalo Bills will be fully entrenched in the 2011 NFL Draft in New York City. While we await word on what progress is being made on the new Collective Bargaining Agreement, between the NFLPA and the NFL, the prevailing thought is that the only way the Bills can fix their weaknesses is through the draft.

Without a new CBA in place, the Bills can't talk to any free agents. When the draft is over on day three, April 30th, the team won't even be allowed to talk to any of the free agents that failed to get drafted, because a CBA would have to be in place for the Bills to be able to contact them and sign them to a contract.

One would like to believe that a CBA will be done at some point, and then the Bills will go about conducting business as normal. They will try to resign Paul Posluszny and Donte Whitner to contracts, and bring in veteran free agents to fill in the blanks that they weren't able to address at the draft.

But I am confident that this will be one of the best drafts the Bills have conducted in the past decade. The reason for my belief is due to the depth of knowledge the Bills have about this specific draft class. You start with Chan Gailey's college coaching background and then you add Dave Wanstedt's right on top of that.

You look at the all of the information that the Bills acquired first-hand at the Senior Bowl by coaching the South team. When you add up those reasons combined with the depth of talent for this draft class, you realize that the Bills are primed to have  a great draft. I know full well that some of the prior drafts have been anemic. That is in the past. Buddy Nix can't be held accountable for that.  

At least we have learned that the prospects of an 18 game schedule in 2011 has been pulled off of the table in negotiations this week. That is a good thing for a team that has precious little depth to begin with. Trying to suit up for 18 games in a season would just be asking for trouble.

Let's face the facts, this is a team that has more holes than they have draft picks. Let's take a look at the holes in detail, to see what can reasonably be done:

Defense

Defensive End: After the release of Marcus Stroud, the Bills have a glaring need for a starting defensive end. Luckily, the 2011 draft class is exceptionally deep for defensive ends. Up to nine ends may go in the first round alone. Normally the first round sees around four defensive ends being drafted per year. If they don't get one in the first round, then it is very possible that Stephen Paea or Cam Heyward may still be available in round two.

Defensive Tackle: The Bills are blessed to have Kyle Williams, and they also have Torell Troup. When they go to the 4-3 look, they still greater depth to be able to rotate quality people in and out of the lineup. The depth along the defensive line needs an upgrade. Drafting Marcell Dareus in the first round addresses a number of needs all at once.

Outside Linebacker: Between Chris Kelsay, Arthur Moats and Shawne Merriman, the Bills would like to think that they have the outside linebacker covered. This is predicated on the belief that Merriman will be fully recovered. If he isn't, this is a potential red flag area. Moats showed promise late last year, buwill have to be able to show he can play for an entire season.Von Miller or Dontay Moch are a couple examples of an upgrade available via the draft.

Inside Linebacker: Buddy Nix has been clear that he needs to see bigger, more physical inside linebackers than the Bills have now, which boils down to Paul Posluszny and Andra Davis. Martez Wilson appears to be the best option at the draft, and should be there on the board at pick number 34.

Cornerbacks: Between Terrence McGee and Leodis McKelvin you would like to think you have a strong duo of starting cornerbacks on the roster already. But the reality is that McGee has a hard time suiting up every week and is not getting any younger. Patrick Peterson may be very tempting for the Bills to draft with their first choice. The other option is to bring back Drayton Florence for another stint, but that is depending on if the CBA is completed in a reasonable time frame.

Safeties: Jairus Byrd should be poised for a better year in 2011. Who will start next to him? The Bills did tender Donte Whitner, but there is no guarantee that they will come to an agreement. Whitner is believed to have outlandish salary demands. If the Bills aren't able to draft another starting caliber safety, the other job may very well go to George Wilson, who the Bills signed a new deal with recently.

Offense

Quarterback: Ryan Fitzpatrick is set to be the Bills starter in 2011. The team and fans would like to believe that he will have an even better year than he did last year. With another year of experience under his belt, more confidence in his returning wideouts, and another year behind the maturing offensive line, there are reasons for optimism. However, the only player behind Fitzpatrick is Levi Brown, who is very raw. If Fitzpatrick ever got injured, the Bills would be in dire straights.

On top of that, Fitzpatrick is only signed to the end of the 2011 season, at which point he will become a free agent. Nobody knows what the new CBA will look like, so Fitzpatrick may want to test the free agent waters to see what his market worth is, if he comes off another big year. That is why it is incumbent on the Bills to come up with a solid QB of the future in the draft. The draft class offers options ranging from Christian Ponder, Andy Dalton, Colin Kaepernick, Ryan Mallett to Jake Locker.

The Bills would be better off going with one of the above options, rather than spending the overall third pick on Cam Newton or Blaine Gabbert. The team needs to stop the run first and foremost, so drafting somebody that will help them be more physical on the line of scrimmage is mandatory.

Wide Receiver: Although there are some very talented wide receivers in this draft, the Bills should feel confident that they have a very talented group that is returning to the team. Don't forget about Marcus Easley, as the U. of Connecticut product might add an exciting dimension to the team if he is all the way back from his injury. If the new CBA happens prior to the draft. the Bills could explore trading Lee Evans for draft picks. If you trade away Evans, then I could see them drafting another receiver.

Offensive Line: The way things stand now, it appears that the Bills are going to start Erik Pears at right tackle. Not sure how appealing that truly is, so am hoping that they will address that position by bringing in at least one quality tackle through the draft to challenge Pears in camp. If Eric Wood rotates to center as is rumored, then you have the players that were brought in during the 2010 season to compete for that job. Examples would be Kraig Urbik, Chad Rinehart and Cordaro Howard.

That still leaves the question of depth. Ed Wang didn't get much exposure as a rookie due to his injuries. Demetrius Bell should be further along from his rehab, as should Eric Wood. So, improving the depth and trying to get an upgrade in talent level should be part of the Bills brain trust focus. Fitzpatrick was left to scramble for his life far too often in 2010. This also is the reason that Gailey needs to have a mobile quarterback on the roster. Ryan Mallett may set new sack records if he is the Bills QB.

Tight End: This is another major hole. Shawn Nelson has proven to be unreliable. Jonathan Stupar was not tendered. There are some decent tight ends in the draft, although they are not thought to be the complete player that can both block and be a solid route running, good hands receiver.

One more example of a great player that could be at number 34 is Notre Dame tight end Kyle Rudolph. The problem is that the Bills only have one pick at number 34, but a number of players that would look great for their team right there.

So, what will Buddy Nix do? It appears that he is set against trading down for now. Not saying that he won't but it sure appears that he is dead set on using that third overall pick and will not be swayed by phone calls trying to vault in to the Bills position.

Bills fans would be wise to keep in the forefront of their mind that this is just year two of the rebuilding effort that was originally thought to take three to four years to complete. Rome wasn't built in a day, and neither will the Buffalo Bills. They will address a number of their holes but not all of them. The sooner that Bills fans come to that realization, the better for all of us.

We still belief and we are still patient. But threatening to jump ship and desert the team based on this draft, means that you are not understanding what the big picture is all about. Feel free to leave any comments you wish to about this overview.