Bills Add Defensive Depth In Draft

For a team that finished last season 4 & 12 the Buffalo Bills obviously have a lot of holes to fill.  And with one of the most pourous defensive units in the league it's no wonder the Bills concentrated heavily on defense.  Seven of their nine total picks over the three days of the draft were defensive players.  Their top pick, third overall, is a great one.  Marcell Dareus can play any position along the defensive line.  Playing against some high profile competition while playing at Alabama Dareus showed he's a versatile player, being able to stop the run and rush the passer.  He fills one of the Bills critical needs. 

With their second pick the Bills selected cornerback Aaron Williams out of Texas who many experts had going in the first round.  He's a tall defensive back who plays a strong, physical game.

And with their third pick the Bills took an inside linebacker who they coached at the Senior Bowl.  Coach Chan Gailey says he watched 250-pound Kelvin Sheppard make plays all over the field even though some scouts had said he was limited in his movement from sideline to sideline.  Gailey says he saw just the opposite.

Probably the most curious pick was running back Johnny White out of North Carolina (5'10", 209 pounds) .   Some observations say he's the most underrated running back in the draft.  But running back was not one of the Bills needs.  How about a tight end here instead?  The Bills brass said they were looking for a tight end but when their pick came in each round the best player was not a tight end.

The only other offensive player the Bills took was tackle Chris Hairston from Clemson.

In all, the Bills finished the draft with two defensive linemen, two linebackers, three defensive backs, a running back and an offensive tackle.  Coach Chan Gailey says the went with the best players on the board that they needed to improve their football team.