An astute reader recently pointed out to me that whenever we focus on Buffalo Bills draft classes of yesteryear, we tend to focus solely on what that class has or has not accomplished collectively. The further back we go into the team's draft annals, the more sense it makes to attack the issue from that angle - but it doesn't help us get a gauge of more recent draft classes.

This reader suggested that we take a look at the Bills' picks from the 2010 NFL Draft with the idea of evaluating the class not on what they've done to date - which we already know is very little - but on what each player needs to do to improve himself on the field, and to become a contributor for this team.

It's an interesting concept, and one that the NFL lockout affords us the time to explore. This also ties in with the Bills re-watch we've been conducting over the last several weeks, as most of these players have made appearances in those breakdowns. Everything, as usual, is after the jump.

Continue reading this post »

This is the final installment of our series taking a look around the internet to see what people said about the newest Buffalo Bills before they were drafted. We conclude the series by looking at the information about the Bills undrafted free agents. Only eight are official as of press time but we'll look at the rest of the reported class as well.

Previous Installments: Spiller; Troup and Carringon; Easley and Wang; Moats, Batten, Brown, and Calloway

Antonio Coleman, OLB, Auburn
2010 NFL Draft: Outside linebackers - Mocking The Draft
"Coleman is very similar is body and playing ability to former Purdue star Anthony Spencer. He's strictly a rush linebacker at the next level. He came on last season with 10.5 tackles for loss and six sacks." 18th OLB

Auburn's Antonio Coleman ready to make the most of his label as an NFL 'tweener' | al.com
"The reigning SEC sacks leader went unselected in last weekend's NFL draft and ultimately accepted a free-agent invitation from the Buffalo Bills."

WalterFootball.com: 2010 NFL Draft: 3-4 Rush Linebacker Rankings
Coleman was ranked higher (11) than Arthur Moats (14). "An All-SEC First Team member, Antonio Coleman collected 16.5 TFL and 10 sacks as a senior. Will play in the Senior Bowl."

Continue reading this post »

This is part four of our multi-part series taking a look around the internet to see what people said about the newest Buffalo Bills before they were drafted. We continue the series with sixth-round selections LB Arthur Moats and LB Danny Batten and seventh-round picks QB Levi Brown and OT Kyle Calloway. Previous Installments: C.J. Spiller; Torell Troup and Alex Carrington; Marcus Easley and Ed Wang.

Where applicable, I have copied part of the report summaries and provided a link. I've also included quotes from Bills staff members on each player.

Arthur Moats
Arthur Moats, James Madison, NFL Draft - CBSSports.com - NFLDraftScout.com
"The 2009 Buck Buchanan Award winner (best defender in the FCS) and Colonial Athletic Association Defensive Player of the Year is another undersized defensive end looking to transition to linebacker at the next level. His athleticism and quickness during the Texas vs. the Nation All-Star Challenge and good marks in agility testing at the Scouting Combine showed scouts he could hold his own against prospects from larger schools." Much more...

WalterFootball.com: 2010 NFL Draft: Defensive End Rankings
"Projected as a nickel rusher in the NFL, Danny Batten notched 17 TFL and nine sacks as a senior." Batten was the 19th ranked DE.

WalterFootball.com: 2010 NFL Draft: 3-4 Rush Linebacker Rankings
Arthur Moats was the 14th ranked 3-4 OLB. "A Division 1-AA First Team All-American, Arthur Moats recorded 23.5 TFL and 11 sacks as a senior."

Continue reading this post »

This is part three of our multi-part series taking a look around the internet to see what people said about the newest Buffalo Bills before they were drafted. We continue the series with fourth-round selection WR Marcus Easley and fifth-round selection OT Ed Wang. Previous Installments: C.J. Spiller, Torell Troup and Alex Carrington

Where applicable, I have copied part of the report summaries and provided a link. I've also included quotes from Bills staff members on each player.

Marcus Easley
WalterFootball.com: 2010 NFL Draft: Wide Receiver Rankings
"With barely any playing experience, Marcus Easley is a bit of a project. But he's undoubtedly physically gifted; at 6-3, 210, Easley ran a 4.46 and notched a 10-3 broad jump on Sunday. He's a mid-round guy with a lot of upside." 14th ranked WR.

Continue reading this post »

The greatest asset of SB Nation is the interconnectedness of the 250+ blogs on the network. SB Nation has blogs for each NFL team, and we use those tools frequently. The network is also home to over 70 college football blogs, and also boasts one site devoted entirely to the NFL's Annual Selection Meeting - Mocking the Draft. The editor of Mocking the Draft, Mocking Dan, and I recently discussed the Buffalo Bills' haul over the weekend. Here are his thoughts:

On Bills first-round pick C.J. Spiller:

C.J. Spiller was the most electric player in the draft. He's a playmaker on offense and special teams and he's a threat to score every time he touches the ball. Now, as far as he being a good value for Buffalo, that will be up to them. He's not really a gamble player. What they get out of Spiller is dependent on how much they get him the ball. With Marshawn Lynch and Fred Jackson, he may not get enough run attempts to warrant a top 10 pick.  Best case: Chris Johnson. Worst case: Leon Washington.

Continue reading this post »

This is part two of our multi-part series taking a look around the internet to see what people said about the newest Buffalo Bills before they were drafted. We continue the series with second-round selection NT Torell Troup and third-round selection DE Alex Carrington. Part 1 - C.J. Spiller

Where applicable, I have copied part of the report summaries and provided a link. I've also included quotes from Bills staff members on each player.

Day Two Recap Press Conference (11:49) - BuffaloBills.com
GM Buddy Nix and V.P. of College Scouting assess day two of the draft and the selections of Torell Troup and Alex Carrington.

Continue reading this post »

The Buffalo Bills surprised media experts everywhere when they selected Clemson running back C.J. Spiller in the first round of the 2010 NFL Draft, but at least one NFL team predicted that would happen.

Our Dallas Cowboys blog, Blogging the Boys, has a leaked picture of Dallas' draft board from over draft weekend. Jerry Jones and company did, in general, a horrible job of mocking correct player to team, but they obviously had a very good idea of the general vicinity at which players would be selected. (Until, that is, Jacksonville destroyed everyone's board by taking Tyson Alualu.)

Dallas only got two of their Top 9 mock picks correct: they had Sam Bradford going to St. Louis, and C.J. Spiller to Buffalo. After the jump, you can find the leaked photo that BtB shared with the world.

Continue reading this post »

Applying grades to any NFL Draft completed within the past three years is a joke. Less than 48 hours removed from the close of 2010 NFL Draft festivities, it's ridiculous to try to gauge exactly how a team's weekend in went in terms of the amount of talent imported. No one knows how these players' respective careers will turn out.

Instead, we're going to take a slightly different approach to grading the Buffalo Bills' draft. Rather than make bold predictions about the team's future prospects and the possible career outcomes of these athletes, we'll scale it back a bit and grade each new Bill based purely on the type of utility that the team will get out of them as a rookie. It's a slightly different tactic, but at least it's tangible to what will happen in 2010, whereas your normal, run-of-the-mill draft grade has no utility whatsoever.

RB C.J. Spiller. I'm not sure the Bills' new coaching staff will be comfortable giving Spiller more than 15-18 touches per game as a rookie, particularly with Fred Jackson and Marshawn Lynch on the roster. Chan Gailey will need to be creative in the way he uses Spiller, not only to mask the rookie's deficiencies (running between the tackles, pass protection), but to maximize his ability to make game-breaking plays. He'll run, catch, return kicks and punts, and you may even see him operate the Wildcat a time or two. Immediate Impact Grade: A-

Continue reading this post »