Many Rumblers have been calling for the Bills to add a WR in the up coming draft. Not only add a WR but quite possibly use their top pick on one. I strongly believe two things in regards to that line of thinking:
1) As I said in the mock draft that I posted, look at what the Bills have at WR on the current roster : Steve Johnson, Marcus Easley. Derek Hagan, Ruvell Martin, David Nelson, David Clowney, Kamar Aiken, Donald Jones and Naaman Roosevelt. And that isn't even counting Brad Smith. After Johnson there really is just a ton of experienced depth players. If the Bills do not add a WR early then there really isn't any point in doing so. Do you really see anybody who will be on the board at say round 3 or so that can beat out 3 of these guys for a roster spot? The Bills need a guy that can start opposite Johnson from day one. If that guy isn't there then there is no sense drafting one at all in my opinion. Sure a late round guy could go on the practice squad, but at that point you know he isn't going to be a major contributor anyway unless you get riddled with injuries. My guess is that the Bills do not draft a WR early and Derek Hagan starts as the #2 guy, but as we all know Chan will spread out the opposing defense and play a lot of 3 and 4 WR sets, so guys like Nelson, Jones, and Easley will all see lots of playing time.
2) A good pass catching TE will do more for this offense then any WR you could take in this draft. If the Bills could get their hands on a guy like Fleener or Allen, putting a guy like that on the line in the red zone on the opposite side of Chandler will really give the Bills some clout. Both of those guys not only have the pass catching talent to go up and get the football, but they are more then adequate at blocking. Chandler is an average at best TE in the NFL. a dynamic athlete at the position could really open up this offense that quite frankly is pretty open to begin with. Look at what Gronkowski and Hernandez do for New England. The Bills could really use a guy who can come close to what either of those two are. Both Fleener and Allen have the ability to grow into that kind of player.
Lets also not forget that college WRs sometimes have a hard time adjusting to the physical play of NFL cornerbacks. I know that for every example of a guy that struggled to transition you could give me an example of a guy who came out flying from the get go. but realistically it is at best 50 - 50 as to how good any rookie WR the Bills could draft early will adapt to the NFL. Simply being drafted that high doesn't mean the problem is solved for the Bills. Should that scare them away? No. But historically TE's have an easier time adjusting to the NFL then WR's do. Just something to chew on.
I strongly believe that if there is a WR on the board that the Bills love and think can start from day one, then yes by all means draft that guy. But quite frankly I think they would be better served looking elsewhere in round one and going after one of the top two TEs after that. What say you?
