The Buffalo Bills are looking to build on last season’s 9-7 record and make the playoffs under new head coach Rex Ryan. Buffalo feels they’re only a player or two away from getting over that hump, and they’re looking to find a few impact players in the draft – even though Buffalo doesn’t have a first round pick. However, drafting the wrong player could send them in the wrong direction. Here are the players they need to avoid in the draft:
WR Devin Funchess, Michigan
Funchess projects somewhere in the second round on most NFL draft pundits’ boards, but we’re not sold on Buffalo drafting him even in the third round if he somehow dropped. While he has the size to create mismatches, his lacks the build, hands, and finishing grit that a true top-flight NFL receiver needs to succeed on this level. He might put it all together, but right now there’s a lot of sizzle and not so much steak with the former Michigan Wolverine.
ILB Paul Dawson, TCU Horned Frogs
Dawson’s huge 2014 campaign for the TCU Horned Frogs has some draft pundits projecting him in the late 2nd round. However, despite Dawson’s impressive motor as a relatively undersized inside linebacker (and the Bills’ likely plan to find an ILB somewhere in the first half of the draft), he’s carrying some off-the-field baggage (a failed drug test for non-prescribed Adderall in his sophomore season) with him to the next level. Couple that with rumblings and rumors of unrest surrounding Dawson in the Horned Frogs’ locker room, and the Bills may be wise to look elsewhere.
WR Dorial Green-Beckham, Missouri/Oklahoma
Dorial Green-Beckham has as much talent as any receiver in the draft, and at 6’6″, could provide the team with a big red zone target. However, numerous off-field issues – including burglary and assault charges – caused him to transfer from Mizzou to Oklahoma and raise giant red flags Buffalo doesn’t want to deal with, even though they need a big receiver.
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