The first five picks of the 2011 NFL Draft went pretty much according to plan. The Carolina Panthers selected Cam Newton first, to the delight of just about every Bills fan, and the following picks fell into order.

After Denver selected Von Miller second overall, the Bills were left with a fairly easy decision. They selected Marcell Dareus, the massive and agile DT from Alabama.

Dareus addresses a handful of needs for Buffalo. Chiefly, their inability to stop the run. I’ll leave the rest of the explanation up to Mark Gaughan, he has quotes and an in-look at the selection. Continue reading →

My love for pro football has seriously fallen off in recent years. It is a great game, but the NFL has become a business, not a sport. The No Fun League moniker certainly crops up a lot and it is hard to like the players when they all act like jerks. All the time.

However, free agency and the draft always peak my interest. Of course, the looming lockout/work stoppage put the kaibosh on free agency. The draft will go on. Why? I’m not quite sure, but it doesn’t matter and I am still looking forward to tuning in. The big question in tornado alley Buffalo is, who do the Bills select with the third overall selection?

Leave it to Buffalo to bottom out in a year with such a weak class at the top of the draft. Still, there are a few options available at the third pick. They have a plethora of needs starting at QB right on through DT. Outside linebacker and offensive tackle are also huge weak points for this team. However, they can’t address every need in the first round, only the most glaring one.

I see five players that the Bills could take a serious look at with the third selection. Marcell Dareus, Blaine Gabbert, Von Miller, Cam Newton and Patrick Peterson. Of those five, I wouldn’t touch Newton. He comes across as a huge phony, a cheater and a jerk. I think he will be a cancer to any locker room he gets put into. Miller and Dareus (even Nick Fairley) address immediate needs on defense. They are highly skilled and would be effective for a defense that desperately needs help. Gabbert and Peterson are pretty much safety valves for me, based on who is picked at one and two. Here is my breakdown of the prospects in the order I would take them:

Von Miller -OLB, Texas A&M

Von Miller would be my choice if I were the Bills. He is a bit undersized at 6’2″ 246 pounds, but he has a solid body of work in a competitive conference. Miller is a edge rusher who can play in both the 3-4 and the 4-3.  He has the style and skill that Aaron Maybin was supposed to bring. Buffalo has had a pretty horrific pass rush over the past few years, Miller would help fill that void and hopefully bump Chris Kelsay to a three point stance all the time. He is exaclty what the Bills need and there is no reason why he shouldn’t be available for the third pick. That is also why I chose him as a correspondent with the original, DC based, Two in the Box.

Continue reading →