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Bills Draft Picks 2012: Fan Approval Ratings For Each Player

By Brian Galliford
Feb 24, 2012; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Florida State Seminoles offensive lineman Zebrie Sanders speaks at a press conference during the NFL Combine at Lucas Oil Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brian Spurlock-US PRESSWIRE
Feb 24, 2012; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Florida State Seminoles offensive lineman Zebrie Sanders speaks at a press conference during the NFL Combine at Lucas Oil Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brian Spurlock-US PRESSWIRE

Zebrie Sanders gave it his level best, but in the end, not even Marcell Dareus could catch the immortal Shawn Nelson.

That sentence is absurd, right? If something reads that insane, we must be talking about pick-by-pick fan approval ratings for the Buffalo Bills in the 2012 NFL Draft! We've been keeping track of fan approval for each pick made by the Bills for the last four years, and to this date, nobody has beaten the 98 percent rating Nelson - who is out of the league - pulled in 2009.

Still, it's interesting that this year's draft class featured four of the six most popular draft choices in the history of Buffalo Rumblings (Sanders, Cordy Glenn, Tank Carder and Nigel Bradham) and the two highest-approved defensive backs in the history of the blog by a considerable margin (Stephon Gilmore and Ron Brooks). It also featured two of only seven picks that drew lower than a 50 percent approval rating (T.J. Graham and John Potter), but thankfully, neither of those two gentlemen were as instantaneously widely despised as poor Jairus Byrd, who is now one of the most underrated safeties in the NFL.

Head on in after the jump for the full list! And while we did cover the 2007 and 2008 drafts here, we didn't have the technical functionality to run by-pick polls in those years, so only the last four drafts are included. Enjoy!

Year Rd # Player Pos College Approval
2009 4 121 Shawn Nelson TE Southern Mississippi 98 percent
2011 1 3 Marcell Dareus DT Alabama 96 percent
2012 5 144 Zebrie Sanders OT Florida State 94 percent
2012 2 41 Cordy Glenn OT Georgia 92 percent
2012 5 147 Tank Carder LB TCU 91 percent
2012 4 105 Nigel Bradham LB Florida State 89 percent
2010 7 216 Kyle Calloway OT Iowa 88 percent
2009 1 28 Eric Wood OC Louisville 83 percent
2010 5 140 Ed Wang OT Virginia Tech 83 percent
2009 5 147 Nic Harris LB Oklahoma 82 percent
2011 4 122 Chris Hairston OT Clemson 81 percent
2012 1 10 Stephon Gilmore CB South Carolina 77 percent
2010 6 178 Arthur Moats LB James Madison 77 percent
2011 6 179 Chris White LB Mississippi State 77 percent
2009 2 51 Andy Levitre OG Oregon State 76 percent
2010 6 192 Danny Batten DE South Dakota State 76 percent
2011 7 245 Michael Jasper OG Bethel (TN) 75 percent
2012 4 124 Ron Brooks CB LSU 71 percent
2010 7 209 Levi Brown QB Troy 71 percent
2011 5 133 Johnny White RB North Carolina 68 percent
2011 3 68 Kelvin Sheppard LB LSU 66 percent
2010 3 72 Alex Carrington DT Arkansas State 65 percent
2009 1 11 Aaron Maybin DE Penn State 64 percent
2011 2 34 Aaron Williams CB Texas 63 percent
2012 6 178 Mark Asper OG Oregon 62 percent
2011 4 100 Da'Norris Searcy SS North Carolina 59 percent
2011 7 206 Justin Rogers CB Richmond 59 percent
2010 1 9 C.J. Spiller RB Clemson 56 percent
2012 3 69 T.J. Graham WR North Carolina State 49 percent
2009 6 183 Cary Harris CB USC 48 percent
2010 2 41 Torell Troup DT Central Florida 46 percent
2010 4 107 Marcus Easley WR Connecticut 44 percent
2009 7 220 Ellis Lankster CB West Virginia 42 percent
2012 7 251 John Potter PK Western Michigan 42 percent
2009 2 42 Jairus Byrd FS Oregon 23 percent

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