Still roughly five weeks away from the 2011 NFL Draft, the Buffalo Bills continue to be widely linked to the two top quarterback prospects, Auburn's Cam Newton and Missouri's Blaine Gabbert. Bills head coach Chan Gailey openly praised the physical skill sets of both of those players from the NFL owners meetings on Tuesday, but his most telling comment pertained to the philosophy of drafting a quarterback.
"Any time you have the opportunity to get a guy to take you to the Super Bowl for 10 or 12 years, you’ve got to take a long, hard look at the thing if you believe that," Gailey told Pete Prisco. "You’ve got to believe that in your heart of hearts and you’ve got to make that thing happen. And if you don’t, where we sit right now is we’ve got Ryan who we really believe in and trust. Our team believes in him. We think we can win a bunch of football games with Ryan Fitzpatrick. I think we can win a championship with him. It’s going to take getting some other components, but I think we can."
That's the fundamental truth of Buffalo's draft position right now. If the Bills are convinced that there's a franchise quarterback available - and by "the Bills," it's important to note that means both Gailey and GM Buddy Nix - they'll take him. Case closed. If there's any doubt, or a discrepancy in opinion between the two men, they'll almost certainly seek consensus at a different position. The Bills need a franchise quarterback, but they're smart enough not to take a risk on a guy they don't universally believe in.