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The Bills, the Offensive Line, and the Draft

Looking at the Bills offensive line from last year and seeing who is left on the roster, it becomes pretty obvious that the Bills could very well take as many as 3 offensive linemen in the upcoming NFL draft. Last year the Bills had nine offensive linemen on the roster, Jason Peters, Jason Whittle, Derrick Dockery, Melvin Fowler, Duke Preston, Brad Butler, Kirk Chambers, Demetrius Bell, and Langston Walker. So far the Bills have subtracted Dockery, Fowler, Preston and Whittle. They have also added Geoff Hangartner and Seth McKinney. That leaves two open roster spots, and that leaves Jason Peters. Unless they are planning on doing anything other than paying Peters the ridiculous salary that he is demanding, than they will need to find a third lineman to replace him on the roster.

Fortunately for the Bills the upcoming draft is loaded with offensive lineman, especially at Tackle. There could be as many as 12 Tackles taken before the third round is over. Everybody knows the big names like Jason and Andre Smith, Eben Britton, Eugene Monroe, and Michael Oher, others include:

Phil Loadholt from Oklahoma, Jamon Meredith from South Carolina, Gerald Cadogan from Penn State, Troy Kropog from Tulane, Fenuki Tupou from Oregon, Xavier Fulton from Illinois, and T.J. Lang from Eastern Michigan.

The Center and Guard positions are pretty staked also but not as much in the higher rounds. We all know the names like Alex Mack, Max Unger, Duke Robinson and Herman Johnson, but there are some good looking prospects that could be had later that would make a lot of sense for the Bills.

The BYU trio:

There are three players in this draft from BYU that are monstrous inside players; Guard Ray Feinga (6' 4"- 337), Guard Travis Bright (6' 5" - 316), and Center Dallas Reynolds (6' 5" - 328) all helped form a massive offensive line for BYU and helped them finish 16th in the country in offense. Reynolds isn't just a center though; he can play guard and tackle as well. In all likelihood none of these guys will go higher than the 4th round, but could be steals later in the draft.

The PSU trio:

I already mentioned Gerald Cadogan the tackle from Penn State that could go in the second round, but there are two other PSU lineman to keep an eye on. Rich Ohrnberger and A.Q. Shipley could be late round gems themselves. Shipley is reliable (started the final 39 games of his career) and was an All-American second teamer. Shipley also scored a 40 on the Wonderlic test, but his draft stock is being hurt by the "short arms" label. Orhnberger was an ALL-American third teamer.

Other names to keep an eye on:

- C.J. Davis, guard, Pittsburgh - has started 42 consecutive games, has played some center, and was an All Big East first teamer.

- Roland Martin, guard, Michigan State is one heck of a fisherman.

- Cecil Newton, center, Tennessee State - A four year starter on one of the nation's best rushing teams.

There are some good lineman in this draft, some of whom could start, or at least play significant roles for their teams pretty early in their careers. Regardless of how the Jason Peters saga plays out, given the depth of the offensive line prospects in the draft I would be shocked if the Bills didn't draft at least three of them.

Just another great fan opinion shared on the pages of BuffaloRumblings.com.