2012 NFL Draft Preview: Buffalo Bills

Riley Reiff at the NFL Combine/AP Images

Evaluating the Bills’ options with the tenth overall pick in this year’s draft.

By Joe Diglio


After an impressive 5-2 start, the Buffalo Bills let the wheels fall off its 2011 season, losing eight of its final nine games to finish an unimpressive 6-10. Tied with the Miami Dolphins and Carolina Panthers for the eighth-worst record in the league, the Bills lost out against the two due to a better strength of schedule, leaving them with the tenth overall pick in the first round.


What will they do? All signs point to Riley Reiff, a left tackle out of Iowa. This is a sensible pick; the Bills need a solid tackle to protect the backside of Ryan Fitzpatrick, whom the team agreed to play long term during the season. However many scouts question whether Reiff can make it at the next level. He should offer decent pass protection, but his run blocking is definitely his strong suit. That doesn’t bode well for Fitzpatrick, who probably doesn’t want his Harvard brain shaking violently in his skull.

Last week, though, the team threw a wrench into the equation when they hosted two first round prospects: USC tackle Matt Kalil and Alabama cornerback Dre Kirkpatrick. Kalil has the potential to be a franchise left tackle, but he’s expected to be taken by the time the Bills draft. Drafting Kirkpatrick would fill a need at cornerback as well; however picking him at the ten spot would be a reach.

What these moves could mean is that the Bills are interested in looking at trade offers. The Cleveland Browns, who have the fourth overall pick, have already expressed interest in moving down. Buffalo could make a deal with them to get Kalil, but he might even be gone by then, since many predict the Minnesota Vikings will take him with the third overall pick.

On the other hand, trading down seems more plausible. There will surely be a few teams willing to trade up for a top ten pick, and the Bills could use such a move to get additional picks to fill other needs, such as corner and wide receiver.

New Looks on Defense for Buffalo and Miami

Andy Lyons/Getty Images

The Bills and Dolphins both try to transition smoothly from 3-4 to 4-3 defenses.

By Joe Diglio

This coming season, two AFC East teams will be changing things up on defense. Just as the New England Patriots did this past year, the Buffalo Bills and Miami Dolphins both plan to switch to 4-3 defenses next season. These changes both come with new faces at defensive coordinator; in Buffalo, it’s former Miami head coach, Dave Wannstedt, and in Miami, it’s Kevin Coyle.


As for Buffalo, this is a fresh start for a defense that was 30th in points against last year, giving up 27.1 per game. The new look will allow veteran defensive tackle Kyle Williams to play alongside fellow interior lineman Marcell Dareus, the third overall pick from last year’s draft. This should shore up their run defense, which was 28th in the league last year. However, the Bills still need an outside pass rush presence from either the defensive end or outsider linebacker positions. The organization has stated that they plan to be more aggressive this year in free agency than in years past, which they must be if they hope to fill the void. They finished dead last with just 23 sacks last year, a problem they must address.


On the other hand, the change with the Dolphins comes as a bit of a surprise, considering that the defense has performed reasonably well. Will they be able to maintain their toughness against the run? Miami was third in run defense this past season, but with the expected loss of free agent nose tackle Paul Soliai, they could end up looking much softer in the middle this year. Defensive end Kendall Langford is also likely to walk away, so the Dolphins will be looking for a complement to linebacker Cameron Wake, one of the NFL’s premier pass rushers. If they don’t find anyone, they will be faced with a weakened pass rush that will only expose their subpar secondary.