clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

Filed under:

2012 NFL Draft Results: Buffalo Bills Trade Up, Select WR T.J. Graham

Getty Images

With the No. 69 overall pick in the 2012 NFL Draft, the Buffalo Bills have selected North Carolina State wide receiver T.J. Graham. They did so after moving up two spots in a trade with the Washington Redskins; they surrendered their seventh-round pick - No. 217 overall - to do so.

The 5'11", 188-pound Graham, a senior, is a slot-type receiver noted for outstanding lateral explosion and quickness as well as blazing speed. He's coming off a senior season in which he reeled in 46 passes for 757 yards and seven touchdowns. The former track star runs a 4.41-second 40-yard dash and has the speed to stretch the field vertically that the team needed. He is also an electrifying kick and punt returner, to put it lightly.

This pick may be a bit of an unknown to Bills fans, but he's the type of athletic receiver with run-after-catch ability that can really do some damage in Chan Gailey's spread-style, boundary-to-boundary passing attack. He lacks polish, however, and may not be able to contribute right away. Bills GM Buddy Nix said in January that the team needed a quicker guy like Roscoe Parrish to effectively run Gailey's offense, and he's gotten his man in Graham, whose speed could make him an outside option as well - and given up a seventh-round pick to do so.

Buffalo does not have any more picks scheduled for today, but they've still got six more to make tomorrow - including two picks each in the fourth and fifth rounds.