2009 NFL draft one year later: Buffalo Bills

The 2009 Buffalo Bills drat class produced a pro bowler, and two starters along the offensive line. That is a high quality draft no matter which way we chose to dissect it. One year ago I said that the Bills may have reached a bit to select Jairus Byrd however that move seems to have worked out, since he made the pro bowl in his rookie year. They had a plan for their 2009 draft, and it seemed to work out quite well. I haven’t even mentioned Aaron Maybin who lost a good part of his maturation to the NFL game by singing his deal so late. All in all it was a pretty good draft class for the Bills.

A quick look at their 2009 draft class:

•Round One (11)- Aaron Maybin DE •Round One (28)- Eric Wood C/G •Round Two (42)- Jairus Byrd CB •Round Two (51)- Andy Levitre G •Round Four (121)- Shawn Nelson TE •Round Five (147)- Nic Harris LB •Round Six (183)- Cary Harris DB •Round Seven (220)- Ellis Lankster DB

So we covered Maybin and Byrd, but Wood started 10 games at RG before breaking his leg, Levitre started every game at LG. Nelson caught 17 passes for 156 yards, Nic Harris played in 15 games, Cary Harris got two picks, and Lankster played in 10 games. This is a draft class that produced in year one, and still have a ton of upside. In the end we have to give it a solid B+, with a lot of room for that grade to improve.

This draft class got GM Russ Brandon promoted to CEO, and they have hired 70 year old Buddy Nix to be the new general manger after trying to hire one of the big names that were job hunting this off-season. I sincerely hope that Brandon will have a lot of input into who the Bills draft in 2010, and that they can truly rebuild this once proud franchise.