Count new Buffalo Bills offensive coordinator Brian Daboll among the team’s staff that has a say of which prospects the Bills will select in April’s draft. Speaking at the NFL scouting combine on Wednesday, head coach Sean McDermott told the media that Daboll will “be heavily involved” in determining which offensive players the Bills will draft. McDermott says Daboll will specifically have input on which players he believes will fit his offensive approach.
Off the bat, it might seem easy to dismiss McDermott’s comments; this seems like a pretty logical way to treat your offensive coordinator. But it’s important to note that not every coordinator is treated this way, especially one like Daboll who was out of the NFL last season and hasn’t been an OC at the pro level since 2012. Heck, there are even times when the input of well-respected coaches isn’t even really considered. Remember Mike Shanahan and Washington in 2012? When the team traded away a king’s ransom to draft Robert Griffin III second overall, a quarterback, as Griffin tells it, Shanahan “never wanted”. We can throw former Tennessee Titans coach Jeff Fisher in here too in relation to Vince Young.
So with that said, it’s pretty interesting to hear McDermott say that Daboll will play such a big role in the draft after just joining the team a little over a month ago. Daboll may not have been an NFL coordinator recently, but he certainly has the pedigree holding the same title last year at Alabama during their successful national championship run, and of course with the Kansas City Chiefs (2012), Miami Dolphins (’11) and Cleveland Browns (’10) as well.