4) The Bills select Patrick Peterson: I know there is a large number of fans who would probably boo the crap out of this pick, like Philly fans did when McNabb was selected. “Oh, gees! Another stupid defensive back!?” Yes, the Bills have a thing with selecting players for the secondary, as they have selected 8 defensive backs in the first round since 1991. However, the biggest difference between Peterson and someone like James Williams or Thomas Smith, is that everyone is hyping the crap out of this guy. No one, and I repeat, NO ONE has said one bad thing about Peterson. By my count, a lot of these experts have said that Peterson is the safest pick in the draft. I don’t know about you guys, but safe wouldn’t be a bad thing for a Bills scouting department that has had their fair shakes of flops.
He would be a play-maker on a Bills defense that needs a number of them. Look, would you trade a first round pick for Troy Polamalu and Darrelle Revis? I sure as hell would. If Peterson is as good as advertised, he could be that shutdown corner, with a slash of physicality. He’s played in the best conference in college football and shut down the likes of Julio Jones and AJ Green. In a division where the Bills play against the Pats and mark my words, Randy Moss will be a Jet by the time the lockout is over, the team needs guys who can help shut down the passing game.
(BTW, make sure you check out my Q&A about Patrick Peterson.)
Right now, the Bills secondary is as overrated as they come. Don’t believe me? Ask Tom Brady, who threw for 6 touchdowns last year against them. I’ve always said, teams elect to run on the Bills because it’s the easier route. However, if teams elect to go after the Bills secondary, look out. Joe Flacco, Tom Brady Matt Ryan have eaten up the Bills secondary over the last two years, because their teams elected to pass on the Bills defense. Even though the Bills secondary ranked 3rd in passing defense, they gave up 6.9 yards a completion (16th ranked) and 28 touchdowns (Tied for 6th most). Also, what shouldn’t get lost in the shuffle is that the Bills have a lot of questions regarding the current secondary. Whitner is all but gone, Florence is going to get like 4-5 million a year and I doubt the Bills will match that, Terrence McGee always gets hurt and Leodis McKelvin is hit or miss. I assure you, the secondary needs to get fixed at some point.
The only red flag I’d throw up is that the Bills normally use the money ball philosophy when it comes to drafting corners in the first round and then letting them walk after their rookie years. James Williams (who sucked), Thomas Smith, Jeff Burris, and Antoine Winfield never received a 2nd contract from the Bills. Nate Clements was franchised after his rookie deal expired, but then he was let go a year later. Even though it’s not official, Whitner won’t be seeing a 2nd contract from the Bills and unless Leodis McKelvin becomes a legit corner, he won’t see a new deal. Some of these guys, probably should have received a new contract, but the deals that these corners sign these days are ridiculous. Bottom line: If they draft Peterson and he turns out well, the Bills better not let him leave 4-5 years from now.
In the end, I like Peterson a lot. I know he doesn’t seem like a sexy pick, but if he’s as good as the experts say he is, we should be happy to select him. Don’t ever discredit players in the secondary, Charles Woodson and Polamalu were key in helping their teams make it to the Super Bowl. Next to Tom Brady, Ty Law was probably the best player on the Pats defense during their Super Bowl Years. Think Bob Saunders didn’t have anything to do with the Colts winning the Super Bowl? Go back to the 49ers, when they had Ronnie Lott. Deion Sanders with Dallas helped. Of course, these teams had great QBs, but I don’t think those passers would discredit their secondary, do you?
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