April 21, 2001: Buffalo Bills Take Three Studs In Three Picks

by MattRichWarren on Apr 21, 2011 6:30 PM EDT in Buffalo Bills History

Former Buffalo Bills general manager Tom Donahoe is much-maligned around there parts, and for good reason. He took a playoff team and turned them into a cellar-dweller in just a few short years. But he had a great day 10 years ago today, going three-for-three with his first three selections in the 2001 NFL Draft and adding five contributors overall.

In the first round, Donahoe took Nate Clements No. 21 overall after trading down from No. 14. Clements paired with fellow Buckeye Antoine Winfield and later Terrence McGee to provide formidable duos in the defensive backfield. Clements started 91 games for Buffalo, recording 23 interceptions and 87 passes defended. He also laid the wood on 353 tackles while earning a Pro Bowl nod in 2004.

The second round saw Donahoe select the second-greatest pass rusher in team history when he plucked Aaron Schobel from TCU with the No. 46 overall selection. Brian went through Schobel's career accomplishments yesterday, and when they are juxtaposed with Clements' success it makes them even more remarkable.

Continuing the trend in the third round, the Bills selected Tennessee running back Travis Henry 58th overall with their second pick in the second round. The Bills traded down from No. 51 to this spot with the Denver Broncos, picking up an extra fourth-round pick. They still added a three-year starter in the bruising running back Henry, who rushed for 3,849 yards in Buffalo (starting 48 games) before losing the job to Willis McGahee. He made one Pro Bowl before being traded in 2005.

That would have been a successful day back when three rounds were on the first day of the NFL Draft, but the Bills had two picks left on April 21. With their original pick at No. 76 overall they took DT Ron Edwards, who started 25 games and recorded seven sacks as a Bill while adding 54 tackles. With a compensatory pick at the end of the round, Buffalo chose Jonas Jennings, who started 52 games on Buffalo's offensive line from 2001-2004.

The next day, April 22, didn't go as well for Buffalo, adding the likes of Brandon Spoon and Marques Sullivan, but this date 10 years ago was one of the top overall drafts in team history. I place it behind 1985 as the second-greatest in team history.

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Thanks for the post MRW!

And then after this draft, Donahoe destroyed the team.
Very sad.

"There is not a loser in this room." Marv Levy.

by SERGEANT MAJOR THOR on Apr 21, 2011 6:41 PM EDT reply actions

That was a very solid draft..............

The score dictated they pass

by norcaliangelsfan on Apr 21, 2011 6:52 PM EDT reply actions

Wish we never lost Henry was a little ball of muscle that was tough to bring down.

Harooo

by Robot Nixon on Apr 21, 2011 6:55 PM EDT reply actions

I loved watching Travis run, and remember being confused when we got McGahee.

"Slowly all the roles we act out become our identity. And in the end we are what we pretend to be." - Jerry Cantrell.

by stetzwebs on Apr 21, 2011 8:00 PM EDT up reply actions

He was money in the 4th quarter. Time after time, he would break a long run, often for a score. Things couldn’t have gone better for the Bills in parting ways with him.

In the year two thousaaaaaaand.
In the year two thousAAAAAAND!

by TheAfghanTwilight on Apr 22, 2011 9:23 AM EDT up reply actions

Loved watch Henry run.

Tough, powerful with surprise speed.

Didnt he play with a broken leg once?

Lets Go Buff a lo!!!

by bflo on Apr 21, 2011 6:56 PM EDT reply actions

The answer is yes on the Broken Leg

He broke the fibia which is essentially the obsolete leg bone, I think he also had broken ribs at the time. This dude was a tough SOB

by SPCtacular1 on Apr 21, 2011 7:49 PM EDT reply actions

Torn Rib cartlidge actually

yeah he played with a flack jacket for a few games whilst recovering.

The Buffalo Bills - Drafting for size, speed and destruction since 2011.

by Will G on Apr 21, 2011 11:04 PM EDT up reply actions

The two lower leg bones are the TIBIA (larger, forward) and the FIBULA (smaller, lateral to the tibia). Fibula is connected at both ends to the TIBIA.

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With pick #244 the Buffalo Bills select Michael Jasper (6'4" 395 lbs) Bethel University.

by Buffalo for Eternity on Apr 21, 2011 11:25 PM EDT up reply actions

So the leg bone’s connected to the leg bone? :-)

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by WhyBillsWhy on Apr 22, 2011 9:46 AM EDT up reply actions

Hahaha. I like it.

Yes. Funny how that old “bones jingle” only covers a dozen or so of the 206 bones in the human body.

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With pick #244 the Buffalo Bills select Michael Jasper (6'4" 395 lbs) Bethel University.

by Buffalo for Eternity on Apr 22, 2011 2:37 PM EDT up reply actions

83 and 87

These were two pretty good drafts as well. In fact I think they have to be rated amongst the best.
‘83 buffalo drafted Jim Kelly. In my opinion, if Buffalo drafted all players that failed to make the team and Kelly in the same year it still would have been a great draft. In fact they did draft a lot of scrubs in that draft. Tony Hunter being one of them. But one other star from that draft was Darryl Talley.
In ’87 Buffalo had a really excellent draft. In the first round they took Shane Conlan, Then in the second they took Nate Odomes. Two players that were keys in Buffalo’s defense in the four super bowls. Also that year Buffalo picked Howard Ballard, Keith McKeller, Leon Seals and Jamie Mueller. Also in ’87 Buffalo managed to trade for Cornelius Bennett. This really seems like the draft that put Buffalo over the top and turned them form being a pretty good team to a Super Bowl team.

by Gr8fulnfa on Apr 21, 2011 9:28 PM EDT reply actions

A few more give 2001 a run for its money for 2nd best

1979: Jerry Butler, Smerlas, Haslett, Nixon, (Cousineau)
1976: Mario Clark, Ken Jones, Joe Devlin, Ben Williams
1973: Paul Seymour, Joe DeLamielleure, Joe Ferguson, Jeff Yeates
1971: JD Hill, Bruce Jarvis, Jim Braxton, Donnie Green, Bob Chandler
1964: Carl Eller, Butch Byrd, Paul Warfield, Pete Gogolak, Joe O’Donnell, Hagood Clark (if they’d all actually played for the Bills, that might be the best ever)
1961: Norm Snead, Stew Barber, Al Bemiller, Ken Rice, Billy Shaw (those last 4 being 4/5’s of an entire starting offensive line)

Of course, back in the AFL days they were only competing with 7 other teams, so they essentially had 4 first round picks compared to today’s 32 team league.

by Gino Parilli on Apr 21, 2011 10:08 PM EDT reply actions

1979 is so good.

You can't have CHANGE without CHAN.
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by MattRichWarren on Apr 22, 2011 5:28 AM EDT up reply actions

I’d add in 1969 simply because of Simpson. Sure, he might have struggled a bit early on. Sure, he’s got that other stuff marring his image to most. One thing is true: He was a beast, and a beacon of light on some bad teams. He was a household name for the right reasons, and compared favorably to some of the game’s most storied running backs.

In the year two thousaaaaaaand.
In the year two thousAAAAAAND!

by TheAfghanTwilight on Apr 22, 2011 9:39 AM EDT up reply actions

We did.....

We did have a few good drafts didn’t we? 8 good drafts since 1970….

We are due…..overdue…..

We need a draft like the one’s above next week!

By sheer dumb luck we are due.

I mentioned this in a post the other day, but I’m sayin’ it again….Donahoe’s 1st draft was fantastic then he hired Tom Modrak and was fired soon after, coinsidence?

gobills!

PodunkO - The great post ender!

by podunkowego on Apr 21, 2011 10:41 PM EDT reply actions

Yet someone is still in the picture. Goofy!

In the year two thousaaaaaaand.
In the year two thousAAAAAAND!

by TheAfghanTwilight on Apr 22, 2011 9:41 AM EDT up reply actions

wow

we had a GM who was open to trading too ! Shows the value of trading down when you get it tight – you end up with an Aaron Schobel or Travis Henry for Free !

The Buffalo Bills - Drafting for size, speed and destruction since 2011.

by Will G on Apr 21, 2011 11:05 PM EDT reply actions

Didn’t we end up trading away Clements, Henry, and Jennings though? Off hand I can’t remember what picks we got for them but we obviously didn’t draft the same talent with those picks as we gave up.

by Morningw00d on Apr 21, 2011 11:57 PM EDT up reply actions

Clements left in free agency to sign the largest contract by a defensive player in NFL history; I think the Bills picked up a compensatory pick but it may have been offset. I don’t think the Bills would have given him an $80 million contract though.
Henry was traded to Tennessee for a 3rd round pick (Youboty).
Jennings signed with the 49ers as well (7 years/$36 mil) but suffered a number of injuries and played in just 23 games over four years; only once more than 5 games in a season.

by Krenn on Apr 22, 2011 12:21 AM EDT up reply actions

Nope

Clements played out his contract and left, Jennings got injured too often his last 2 seasons and was let go. Henry was traded shortly before getting suspended.

Not sure how your reply relates to the fact we traded down in 2001 and got a great draft day out of it !

How you draft and what happens to players who leave 5 years later are really not related topics.

The Buffalo Bills - Drafting for size, speed and destruction since 2011.

by Will G on Apr 22, 2011 6:13 AM EDT up reply actions

I mentioned that in my email to Brian, too.

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by MattRichWarren on Apr 22, 2011 5:29 AM EDT up reply actions

Maybe we'll all get surprised

and Buddy will wheel and deal like there’s no tomorrow this draft.

Doubt it – but it would make my day if we could manage something similar to that 2001 haul.

The Buffalo Bills - Drafting for size, speed and destruction since 2011.

by Will G on Apr 22, 2011 6:14 AM EDT up reply actions

For Free?

How so? We couldve picked those guys at the spots we were at. And we essentially did nothing with the extra picks.

Hopefully if that were to happen again, we would be able to come upon some better prospects in the later rounds.

Shun the non Billievers!

by Superduff on Apr 22, 2011 8:53 AM EDT up reply actions

And we essentially did nothing with the extra picks.

Every team is going to miss. The more picks you have, the better chance to hit.

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by MattRichWarren on Apr 22, 2011 10:21 AM EDT up reply actions

Does not compute.

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by twoeightnine on Apr 22, 2011 11:52 AM EDT up reply actions

Superduff notes we did nothing with the extra picks. But the odds say that the more picks you have the better off you will be in the long run. So the Bills, at the very least, shortened their odds.

Would you rather have a 1/3 shot to make it work or a 1/5?

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by MattRichWarren on Apr 22, 2011 12:04 PM EDT up reply actions