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While there are plenty of reasons to be excited in Buffalo, there are also major question marks about the Jets’ Week One opponent.
You could make the argument their biggest problem, the last couple of years, has been instability at left tackle.
They got didn’t want to meet Jason Peters contract demands, so they traded him to Philadelphia for a first round pick.
The problem is they never replaced him appropriately.
And if you have a right-handed quarterback, and you don’t have an answer at left tackle, you’ve got problems.
And it’s still unclear if the Bills have an answer at the position. They think they do in second round pick Cordy Glenn out of Georgia.
Glenn bounced all over the line during his career in Athens because of his versatility, and left tackle was one of the stops, but not all scouts are convinced he’s an NFL left tackle.
“He bends at the waist too often and lacks the football intelligence desired to match up with NFL pass rushers,” said Nolan Nawrocki of PFW. “Questions about his competitiveness, work ethic and discipline pushed him down to the second round and make this selection risky.
Nolan thinks he should play guard.
“He has sheer mass and anchor strength to function inside, especially in a system that places an emphasis on getting rid of the ball quickly,” said Nawrocki.
The Bills think he can play left tackle. Expect Rex Ryan and Mike Pettine to target him in Week One with a lot of overloading on that side.
Speaking of the Bills draft, this was not the only early pick that was questioned. GM Buddy Nix took some heat for the selections around the second-rounder.
You could make a very strong argument that the Bills reached for South Carolina cornerback Stephen Gilmore with the 10th pick of the draft.
I’m definitely of that opinion.
What I think elevated his stock in this draft was there were a lot of knuckleheads at his position, and Gilmore is a classy, smart kid who has his act together.
But quite honestly, he probably was more of a late first round selection, not a 10th overall pick.
His hips are a little stiff, his instincts are so-so and he’s inconsistent.
Expect Tony Sparano to go after him early and often in Week One.
And then in the third round, the consensus is the Bills reached for North Carolina State wide receiver T.J. Graham.
There is no questioning his world class speed. He’s consistently clocked in the low 4.3’s, but he flags the football too much. He had 12 career fumbles in college. Not only is he a fumbler, but he dropped too many passes. His small hands might have a lot to do with both of these issues.
He’s also only 185 pounds, so durability could also be a concern.
So when you look at the Bills first three picks, they lead to a lot of questions – was Gilmore a reach, is Glenn a left tackle, and can Graham improve his hands?
The Graham pick isn’t really the issue here. At the very least, he help them as a returner.
But it’s so important that Gilmore emerge as a #1 corner, and Glenn as a bonafide left tackle, and if those things don’t happen, the Bills could have some big problems this year. Those positions are so important in the NFL these days.
July 4, 2012
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