Buffalo Bills 2014 NFL Draft Grades

Posted By Chris Ransom

Buffalo Bills: Sammy Watkins, WR, Clemson

Buffalo Bills Day 1 Draft Grade: (C+) Buffalo got a receiver that can put Stevie Johnson in his place with Sammy Watkins. Watkins is a complete receiver that will become best friends with Manuel.

Why did Buffalo give Cleveland a 2015 first-round pick to obtain him? It’s almost like Kevin Costner trolled Buffalo on Draft Day because the Draft Day movie is about the Browns. Originally it was going to be about the Bills. Talk about NFL Draft irony. Buffalo didn’t just surrender the Draft Day movie rights to Cleveland. They also gave the Browns an additional first-round pick next year.

Basically, the Bills are on a 2-year plan where they rebuild in 2016 if things do not work out at quarterback with E.J. Manuel. Maybe the Bills will end up with Penn State quarterback Christian Hackenberg. Hackenberg was a five star recruit in the class of 2013 that started right away as a freshman. You have to think he will declare for the 2016 NFL Draft if he makes good choices off the field. Penn State will not be bowl eligible until 2016 so Hackenberg could declare. What Christian does without HC Bill’O Brien in 2014 will dictate whether he is worthy of the top pick or just another Penn State quarterback.

Buffalo Bills 2014 Day 2 Picks

Team	Round	Overall Pick	Player	Position	College
	Round 2	44th Overall Pick	Cyrus Kouandjio	RT
	Round 3	73rd Overall Pick	Preston Brown	MLB

Buffalo Bills Day 2 Draft Grade: (A-) Cyrus Kouandjio will thrive as a run blocking right tackle. He has no business playing left tackle because his footwork stinks along with the fact that he struggled as a pass blocker down the stretch. Forgot to mention Kouandjio’s forgettable 2014 NFL Combine spectacle. Unfortunately Cyrus was that awful, but at least he will serve as an upgrade over the overpaid Erik Pears at RT.

Preston Brown is a high character guy that no mock draft expert knew about. Yet people question this organization for spending a day 2 pick on a middle linebacker when Buffalo added Brandon Spikes in Free Agency. Brown had 84 tackles in 2011 as a sophomore. He posted a career high 109 tackles as a junior in 2012. His 98 tackles, career high 5 sacks, and 14 tackles for a loss really stood out during the Cardinals 2013 campaign. The 6-foot-2 and 260-pound middle linebacker has three years of starting experience as a MIKE linebacker. Brown reminds me of Kiko Alonso. If Spikes fails to deliver, following his glory days in New England, there is an outside chance that Preston Brown could take Spikes job. That situation is unlikely to occur. Still, I’m not dismissing the potential success this pick may bring.

Buffalo Bills Day 3 Draft Picks Slideshow

Buffalo Bills Day 3 Draft Grade: (C) Buffalo drafted for need and may have obtained some steals. Duke cornerback Ross Cockrell has a chance to compete with Corey Graham for the starting nickel cornerback job. Most of these prospects are listed as third-stringers with Cyril Richardson as a third string left guard and Seantrel Henderson as a third string right tackle. I had Henderson listed a late first-round guy so clearly there is something about Henderson that repulses NFL Scouts if he fell to Round 7 of the 2014 NFL Draft. I’ll go out on a limb and say that only half of these guys make the Bills final roster.