Bills can choose from high quantity of quality tackles

By Anthony Bialy  |   Monday, April 20, 2009  |  Comments( 113 )

Buffalo Bills
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There are not only a great number of offensive tackles the Buffalo Bills could draft early this weekend; there are a great number of questions about those prospects, too. Many of the top blockers in a draft loaded with them will bring baggage to their NFL homes. Yet, the team still enjoys plentiful options if it plans to replace the discarded Jason Peters with a highly chosen rookie. That’s true even if some obvious contenders appear flawed.

The last thing the Bills need is an athletic but raw converted tight end protecting Trent Edwards, and Baylor's Jason Smith provokes déjà vu. The Baylor man may not share Peters’ melodramatic propensities, but he is similarly a project who will need refinement. He’s a hard worker and physically talented to an unfair point. Still, the question is whether the Bills are willing to let him develop from a shover into a blocker; that’s if he even lasts through the first 10 picks.

Meanwhile, the most talented tackle may be the most problematic individual. Andre Smith of Alabama has been unfortunately busy since Dec. 29, 2008, the day he missed the Sugar Bowl thanks to suspension. Since then, he left the combine without telling anyone, put on a wretched show at his university’s pro day, and fired his agent. He was phenomenal for the Crimson Tide, particularly as a run blocker, but physical skill isn’t everything or even most of everything. Even if he fell to the Bills, they should let him keep falling; they just dealt away a different kind of superhuman head case.

On a less dramatic scale, Michael Oher is a gifted athlete who has reportedly not used his gifts well. The Mississippi man is quick for someone with his tremendous power, but he’s a sluggish pupil: Scouting reports have griped about his ability to use his head. Drafting him might mean dealing with an unfavorable balance between physical and mental strength.

Connecticut’s William Beatty is the opposite sort of blocker, namely someone not equipped with overwhelming strength who nonetheless already exhibits polished technique. He’d be starting his new job knowing what he’s doing, which is of course a huge plus for someone manning a tremendously cerebral position. As for his middling power, that’s why NFL teams build weight rooms.

Conversely, Eugene Monroe owns the necessary quickness, but the Virginia product’s wavering intensity is a disquieting concern. While scouted as a safe early choice, he’d have to learn consistent passion as a pro. There’s a fear that he may coast on technical proficiency, although that may be adequate for someone with his talent.

Despite the varying respective downsides, there are enough possibilities that the Bills could pass on candidates they don’t care for and still get first-round value. That’s true whether they’re looking for a left tackle to replace Peters or a right tackle to replace the leftward-shifting Langston Walker. They also may wait to spend a pick on a tackle at 28th, not in the 11th slot, and still grab a worthwhile lineman like Arizona tackle Eben Britton.

Best, they don’t need to take one of the two Smiths to get a promising selection. Buffalo picked a good year to sever ties with a talented brat of a tackle.
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