If you had told Terry and Kim Pegula that their first order of business heading into their first off-season as NFL franchise owners would be looking for a new head coach, they'd probably think you were on something. After all, their newly inherited Buffalo Bills had just finished up a 9-7 season, the first winning campaign since 2004. They fell short of the playoffs once again, and in doing so kept in tact the NFL's least desirable record (most consecutive seasons without a playoff appearance) but there were things to be optimistic about.
Despite divisive coach Doug Marrone leading the way, the Bills leaned on a strong defense which featured three Pro Bowlers and another who probably should've been awarded the same honor. First round rookie receiver Sammy Watkins provided plenty of excitement on offense even though the quarterback situation didn't get any clearer and the offensive line struggled to get the ground game going.
But, as it went, on New Years Eve of 2014, Doug Marrone announced his resignation from the Bills by enacting an "opt out" clause in his contract which allowed him to step down as Buffalo's head coach while still collecting his full $4 million salary. And so the Pegula's would indeed enter their first NFL off-season searching for his replacement.
Several different theories have since emerged regarding Marrone's exit. Initially, it was believed Marrone attempted to negotiate contract extensions for his assistants and one for himself as well. Marrone was told that the contracts would stay as they were with the opportunity to discuss extensions after 2015. Then there was the abrupt departure of quarterback Kyle Orton who had been signed a week before the regular season and wound up starting twelve games for the Bills when 2013 first round selection EJ Manuel got off to a rocky start in the first quarter of the season. Bills decision makers were assuming that Orton would return for 2015, presumably in the starting role, but on locker clean out day, Orton quietly informed his superiors of his decision to retire, departed One Bills Drive and hasn't been heard from since.
Whatever the reason that led to Doug Marrone's departure, the first NFL off-season headed up by the Pegula family would begin with them searching for his immediate replacement. With team president Russ Brandon and general manager Doug Whaley in tow, the group embarked on an interview circuit that had them meeting with twelve different candidates overall. Officially, the group met with the following candidates: Seahawks offensive coordinator (OC) Darrell Bevell, Seahawks defensive coordinator (DC) Dan Quinn, former Washington head coach Mike Shanahan, his son and then Browns OC Kyle Shanahan, Broncos OC Adam Gase, Chargers OC Frank Reich, their own DC in Jim Schwartz, Lions DC Teryl Austin, former 49ers OC Greg Roman, former Jets head coach Rex Ryan, former Cardinals DC Todd Bowles and Bengals OC Hue Jackson.
As the search progressed a little over a week, articles from all over started speculating about who would be a good fit for the Bills. Early on, Frank Reich was seen as a viable candidate. He was, after all, the former beloved Bills backup QB who engineered the greatest comeback in NFL history back in 1993. Or perhaps the Bills would finally land Mike Shanahan, who had been offered the Bills' head coaching job in 2010 but declined it in lieu of accepting the same offer from Washington.
While all the speculation was taking place, the Pegula's, Brandon and Whaley were in the midst of hiring a name who had barely been linked to the Bills at all. According to most reports, Rex Ryan, coming off a tumultuous six-year tilt with the New York Jets, was likely to accept the head coaching job from the Atlanta Falcons. And if that fell through, ESPN had an on-air role waiting for him. So it was a bit of a surprise when, on January 12, 2015, the Bills announced that Rex Ryan had been hired as the 17th head coach in franchise history.
After two years of watching tedious, irritable and sometimes confusing press conferences with Doug Marrone, the Bills opted to go in an entirely different direction in choosing Ryan, known for his engaging personality and unabashed claims that came during many a media session with him. But once the dust settled, it became much more clear why Ryan was a perfect choice for the Bills. Ryan would inherit a defense that finished fourth overall in the league in 2014 and was loaded with more star players than perhaps any of Ryan's previous units. Couple that with Ryan's offensive philosophy of leaning on a power run game and it was easy to see why his vision so easily coincided with Doug Whaley's. With the question marks at quarterback, Whaley knew the team would need a strong rushing attack to ease some of the burden on their inexperienced QB group, at this point consisting of only EJ Manuel and 2013 undrafted free agent Jeff Tuel. Ryan, unlike some other candidates the Bills interviewed, was undaunted by the quarterback situation and jumped on board with a chance to create something special with Buffalo's highly talented defense.
Ryan quickly filled out his staff by bringing with him many of the assistants he had in New York, including defensive coordinator Dennis Thurman and quarterbacks coach David Lee. Ryan appointed Greg Roman as his offensive coordinator. Roman had spent the previous four seasons in San Francisco where his group never finished below eighth in rushing.
One of Ryan's first big decisions as head coach was the acquiring of guard Richie Incognito, the former Rams and Dolphins lineman who had been out of football since October 2013 after being suspended for his role in a bullying scandal that happened within the Dolphins' locker room. Incognito had a checkered history before that, having been dismissed from the Rams in 2009 for constant on-field mishaps. He would finish that '09 season as a member of the Bills, oddly enough, and then he headed to Miami where he seemed to revive his career as he was voted to the Pro Bowl in 2012. Ryan expressed that he wanted to add some toughness to the Bills o-line and along with Whaley, Brandon and the Pegula's, they felt Incognito had put his issues behind him and was ready to focus on football once again.
After Incognito's acquisition was sealed up in early February, Whaley and his team turned their attention to defensive end Jerry Hughes. The former TCU product who had been drafted in the first round by the Colts in 2010, had joined the Bills via trade in 2013 and quickly became one of Buffalo's top performers, putting up back-to-back 10 sack seasons. For years, fans have had to endure the disappointment in seeing some of their favorite players walk out the door for a bigger contract elsewhere. But, this was a new Bills organization, one that saw the value of keeping together perhaps the NFL's best front four, and just before the free agency period officially kicked off, the Bills announced that they had resigned Hughes to a five year deal worth $45 million. The unrelenting quartet of Mario Williams, Kyle Williams, Marcell Dareus and Jerry Hughes would indeed remain intact.
A day later, as Ryan, Whaley and Brandon were taking a moment to celebrate and relax a bit on Terry Pegula's yacht in Boca Raton, Florida, Whaley received a phone call. Upon answering he discovered that it was a representative from the Philadelphia Eagles and they were gauging Buffalo's interest about a possible trade. Much to their surprise, the Eagles were interested in trading their All-Pro running back LeSean McCoy. At first, Philly wanted draft picks, but after trading away their 2015 first and fourth round picks to jump up five spots in order to take Sammy Watkins last year, the Bills were without enough ammo to orchestrate such a trade. Then Whaley asked a favor of the Eagles, take a look at Buffalo's roster and get back to them, and they did. About thirty minutes later, a blockbuster trade was flooding the airwaves and Twitterverse as it was announced Buffalo had acquired LeSean McCoy in exchange for linebacker Kiko Alonso, who was still rehabilitating a torn ACL suffered during an off-season workout last July that forced him to miss all of 2014. Alonso had taken the league by storm in his rookie year, piling up over 130 tackles and picking off four passes, but his absence during 2014 lessened the sting of seeing him depart Buffalo to go play in Philly for his former college coach Chip Kelly. The Bills, with the instability surrounding the quarterback position, knew adding McCoy would be the new focal point in their run-oriented offense that struggled for much of 2014. McCoy was shocked to learn of the trade and appears to still harbor a bit of disdain towards Kelly, but he appears ready to start the next chapter of his career with Buffalo.
Shortly after the McCoy trade, yet another trade was announced, this one involving a quarterback. With only EJ Manuel and Jeff Tuel on the roster, the Bills knew they needed to add to the position and on March 10 they exchanged a 2015 fifth round pick and a 2016 seventh round pick for Minnesota Vikings QB Matt Cassel as well as Minnesota's 2015 sixth round choice. Cassel, a ten year veteran, immediately became the topic of discussion around Buffalo as media and fans alike considered him the front-runner to land Buffalo's starting QB gig.
Following these two trades, Whaley and company embarked on a flurry of off-season activity and within a few days they had signed fullback Jerome Felton who had spent the last few seasons in Minnesota. They awarded a new contract to wide receiver Marcus Easley, perhaps their most important special teams player. Jarius Wynn was resigned to a two year deal after proving his worth as a solid reserve in 2014. And then the quarterback situation got even more interesting when Buffalo signed Tyrod Taylor, the former backup to Baltimore Ravens franchise QB Joe Flacco. Ryan would later elaborate that he had tried to trade for Taylor while still head coach of the Jets, but the deal fell through. While Taylor has had minimal time playing in the NFL, he brings an exciting level of athleticism and appears poised to make a push for a starting job after learning the ropes behind Flacco for the previous four seasons.
Next, the Bills were reported to be hosting a player that had just finished playing under Ryan back in New York. The player? Highly talented but somewhat troubled wide receiver Percy Harvin, who had been traded from the Seahawks to the Jets and decided that he wanted to continue working with Ryan after spending just six weeks with him in NYC. Harvin has battled injuries throughout his career and has had issues inside the locker room with teammates but his talent is undeniable. His speed and versatility alongside Sammy Watkins and Robert Woods now gave Buffalo a formidable group of receivers.
The Bills would wrap up their busy free agency period by acquiring former Dolphins tight end Charles Clay, who was on the top of Buffalo's off-season wishlist. The Dolphins placed the transition tag on Clay which meant that they would have the option to match any contract offered to him by any team. Some tedious days went by as Buffalo constructed a deal they were sure couldn't be matched by Miami, given the fact that they had just sold the farm for defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh. Miami had up to a week to match Buffalo's offer, but a day after the contract was submitted, Miami declined to match and Charles Clay became the Bills' new starting tight end. Clay was viewed as a high priority free agent as he fits Greg Roman's offensive scheme very well. With Clay's versatility to line up out wide, on the line or in the backfield, Roman can create several mismatches and force defenses to "pick their poison" between Clay, Harvin, Watkins and McCoy.
Buffalo would round out their free agent frenzy by bringing back defensive end Alex Carrington who had originally been drafted by the Bills in 2010. Carrington was said to be excelling in the defensive scheme of 2013 (very similar to Ryan's) so the move made sense and at the least provides depth along the defensive line which was lacking up until this point. Also brought in to compete for a spot was fullback John Connor, who started his career with Ryan and the Jets a few years ago. It seems improbable for Connor to make the roster given the deal that Jerome Felton signed but Ryan is adamant about creating competition at every level.
As for departing players, the trade for McCoy signaled the end of running back CJ Spiller's time in Buffalo. Drafted ninth overall in 2010, Spiller enjoyed one season of big time productivity in 2012 but the rest of his time was marred by injury and ineffectiveness in Doug Marrone's power run scheme. Also leaving Buffalo were both tight ends Scott Chandler and Lee Smith, safety Da'Norris Searcy, offensive linemen Erik Pears and Chris Hairston, special teams ace Larry Dean and middle linebacker Brandon Spikes.
Without a first round pick in the 2015 draft, Buffalo had to wait until the second night to begin adding young talent to their roster. With the 50th overall pick in the second round, the Bills selected Florida State cornerback Ronald Darby, a speedy yet undersized corner with solid cover skills but also with a need to develop better ball skills. While cornerback wasn't the most pressing need on Buffalo's roster, it made sense with the amount of pressure placed on defensive backs in Ryan's defense. It also provides the Bills with insurance for the future if they are unable to agree on a contract extension with Stephon Gilmore, their top pick from 2012.
In the third round the Bills added Louisville guard John Miller, a powerful road grading lineman with plenty of upside. After finishing second in overall rushing in 2013, Buffalo regressed on the ground and finished near the bottom of the league in 2014, forcing Whaley and his group to make the offensive line a priority. Ryan has stated he intends to find the best five lineman out of a group consisting of the aforementioned Miller and Incognito, veteran center Eric Wood, swing guard and back-up center Kraig Urbik, left tackle Cordy Glenn, right tackle Seantrel Henderson and reserve players like Cyrus Kouandjio (2014 second round pick) and Cyril Richardson (2014 fifth round draft choice). Ryan will leave the line up to the capable hands of Aaron Kromer, widely viewed as one of the NFL's better offensive line coaches.
In the fifth round Buffalo selected another Florida State player, this time running back Karlos Williams, which adds to an already crowded Bills backfield featuring McCoy, the ageless Fred Jackson, Anthony Dixon and McCoy's backup from Philadelphia, Bryce Brown. Williams brings an excellent combination of size and speed but is still learning the position after spending his first two years at FSU playing linebacker and safety. That experience will serve him well, however, as he should find his way onto the field quickly in a special teams role. Williams' arrival could force out either Jackson, Dixon or Brown but we'll have to wait until training camp and pre-season to see how that battle plays out.
The sixth round brought Buffalo two new players as they added Clemson linebacker Tony Steward, a formerly highly touted recruit who suffered two ACL injuries. Steward seems to have been acquired for his special teams play, something he excelled at while at Clemson, but if he's able to return to the five-star form he once held coming out of high school, he could be a late round steal. Following Steward was the third Florida State player taken by Buffalo in this draft, and that was tight end Nick O'Leary. The 2014 John Mackey award winner for the nation's best college tight end won't wow anyone with his physical stature or athleticism but he's a hard-nosed old school player who has a knack for getting open and coming through it clutch situations. O'Leary could be the perfect complimentary piece to Charles Clay and will battle for playing time with tight ends Chris Gragg and MarQuies Gray this summer.
Lastly in the seventh round the Bills added some size to their wide receiver group by selecting small school standout Dezmin Lewis from Central Arkansas. At 6'4" Lewis is currently the tallest receiver on the team. He doesn't have elite speed or athleticism but his talent for high pointing the ball and his potential to become a red zone threat was enough for Buffalo to take a flier on him towards the end of the draft.
It has been a whirlwind of an off-season for the Buffalo Bills, but excitement is in the air and the Bills seem poised to finally snap their fifteen year streak of missing the playoffs. As a Bills fan, this is one of the most thrilling and intriguing off-seasons in recent memory. On paper it looks great. A brilliant defensive mind at head coach with a stacked defense and an offense packed with talent at the skill positions. An experienced coaching staff that appears genuinely eager to work with their players. But we've been down this road before, and championships aren't won in the off-season. Ryan and Whaley will have to prove all the big moves this year were worth it and put a winning product on the field. Regardless, the hopes are higher than they've been in a long time. The season can't come soon enough.
Despite divisive coach Doug Marrone leading the way, the Bills leaned on a strong defense which featured three Pro Bowlers and another who probably should've been awarded the same honor. First round rookie receiver Sammy Watkins provided plenty of excitement on offense even though the quarterback situation didn't get any clearer and the offensive line struggled to get the ground game going.
But, as it went, on New Years Eve of 2014, Doug Marrone announced his resignation from the Bills by enacting an "opt out" clause in his contract which allowed him to step down as Buffalo's head coach while still collecting his full $4 million salary. And so the Pegula's would indeed enter their first NFL off-season searching for his replacement.
Several different theories have since emerged regarding Marrone's exit. Initially, it was believed Marrone attempted to negotiate contract extensions for his assistants and one for himself as well. Marrone was told that the contracts would stay as they were with the opportunity to discuss extensions after 2015. Then there was the abrupt departure of quarterback Kyle Orton who had been signed a week before the regular season and wound up starting twelve games for the Bills when 2013 first round selection EJ Manuel got off to a rocky start in the first quarter of the season. Bills decision makers were assuming that Orton would return for 2015, presumably in the starting role, but on locker clean out day, Orton quietly informed his superiors of his decision to retire, departed One Bills Drive and hasn't been heard from since.
Whatever the reason that led to Doug Marrone's departure, the first NFL off-season headed up by the Pegula family would begin with them searching for his immediate replacement. With team president Russ Brandon and general manager Doug Whaley in tow, the group embarked on an interview circuit that had them meeting with twelve different candidates overall. Officially, the group met with the following candidates: Seahawks offensive coordinator (OC) Darrell Bevell, Seahawks defensive coordinator (DC) Dan Quinn, former Washington head coach Mike Shanahan, his son and then Browns OC Kyle Shanahan, Broncos OC Adam Gase, Chargers OC Frank Reich, their own DC in Jim Schwartz, Lions DC Teryl Austin, former 49ers OC Greg Roman, former Jets head coach Rex Ryan, former Cardinals DC Todd Bowles and Bengals OC Hue Jackson.
As the search progressed a little over a week, articles from all over started speculating about who would be a good fit for the Bills. Early on, Frank Reich was seen as a viable candidate. He was, after all, the former beloved Bills backup QB who engineered the greatest comeback in NFL history back in 1993. Or perhaps the Bills would finally land Mike Shanahan, who had been offered the Bills' head coaching job in 2010 but declined it in lieu of accepting the same offer from Washington.
While all the speculation was taking place, the Pegula's, Brandon and Whaley were in the midst of hiring a name who had barely been linked to the Bills at all. According to most reports, Rex Ryan, coming off a tumultuous six-year tilt with the New York Jets, was likely to accept the head coaching job from the Atlanta Falcons. And if that fell through, ESPN had an on-air role waiting for him. So it was a bit of a surprise when, on January 12, 2015, the Bills announced that Rex Ryan had been hired as the 17th head coach in franchise history.
After two years of watching tedious, irritable and sometimes confusing press conferences with Doug Marrone, the Bills opted to go in an entirely different direction in choosing Ryan, known for his engaging personality and unabashed claims that came during many a media session with him. But once the dust settled, it became much more clear why Ryan was a perfect choice for the Bills. Ryan would inherit a defense that finished fourth overall in the league in 2014 and was loaded with more star players than perhaps any of Ryan's previous units. Couple that with Ryan's offensive philosophy of leaning on a power run game and it was easy to see why his vision so easily coincided with Doug Whaley's. With the question marks at quarterback, Whaley knew the team would need a strong rushing attack to ease some of the burden on their inexperienced QB group, at this point consisting of only EJ Manuel and 2013 undrafted free agent Jeff Tuel. Ryan, unlike some other candidates the Bills interviewed, was undaunted by the quarterback situation and jumped on board with a chance to create something special with Buffalo's highly talented defense.
Ryan quickly filled out his staff by bringing with him many of the assistants he had in New York, including defensive coordinator Dennis Thurman and quarterbacks coach David Lee. Ryan appointed Greg Roman as his offensive coordinator. Roman had spent the previous four seasons in San Francisco where his group never finished below eighth in rushing.
One of Ryan's first big decisions as head coach was the acquiring of guard Richie Incognito, the former Rams and Dolphins lineman who had been out of football since October 2013 after being suspended for his role in a bullying scandal that happened within the Dolphins' locker room. Incognito had a checkered history before that, having been dismissed from the Rams in 2009 for constant on-field mishaps. He would finish that '09 season as a member of the Bills, oddly enough, and then he headed to Miami where he seemed to revive his career as he was voted to the Pro Bowl in 2012. Ryan expressed that he wanted to add some toughness to the Bills o-line and along with Whaley, Brandon and the Pegula's, they felt Incognito had put his issues behind him and was ready to focus on football once again.
After Incognito's acquisition was sealed up in early February, Whaley and his team turned their attention to defensive end Jerry Hughes. The former TCU product who had been drafted in the first round by the Colts in 2010, had joined the Bills via trade in 2013 and quickly became one of Buffalo's top performers, putting up back-to-back 10 sack seasons. For years, fans have had to endure the disappointment in seeing some of their favorite players walk out the door for a bigger contract elsewhere. But, this was a new Bills organization, one that saw the value of keeping together perhaps the NFL's best front four, and just before the free agency period officially kicked off, the Bills announced that they had resigned Hughes to a five year deal worth $45 million. The unrelenting quartet of Mario Williams, Kyle Williams, Marcell Dareus and Jerry Hughes would indeed remain intact.
A day later, as Ryan, Whaley and Brandon were taking a moment to celebrate and relax a bit on Terry Pegula's yacht in Boca Raton, Florida, Whaley received a phone call. Upon answering he discovered that it was a representative from the Philadelphia Eagles and they were gauging Buffalo's interest about a possible trade. Much to their surprise, the Eagles were interested in trading their All-Pro running back LeSean McCoy. At first, Philly wanted draft picks, but after trading away their 2015 first and fourth round picks to jump up five spots in order to take Sammy Watkins last year, the Bills were without enough ammo to orchestrate such a trade. Then Whaley asked a favor of the Eagles, take a look at Buffalo's roster and get back to them, and they did. About thirty minutes later, a blockbuster trade was flooding the airwaves and Twitterverse as it was announced Buffalo had acquired LeSean McCoy in exchange for linebacker Kiko Alonso, who was still rehabilitating a torn ACL suffered during an off-season workout last July that forced him to miss all of 2014. Alonso had taken the league by storm in his rookie year, piling up over 130 tackles and picking off four passes, but his absence during 2014 lessened the sting of seeing him depart Buffalo to go play in Philly for his former college coach Chip Kelly. The Bills, with the instability surrounding the quarterback position, knew adding McCoy would be the new focal point in their run-oriented offense that struggled for much of 2014. McCoy was shocked to learn of the trade and appears to still harbor a bit of disdain towards Kelly, but he appears ready to start the next chapter of his career with Buffalo.
Shortly after the McCoy trade, yet another trade was announced, this one involving a quarterback. With only EJ Manuel and Jeff Tuel on the roster, the Bills knew they needed to add to the position and on March 10 they exchanged a 2015 fifth round pick and a 2016 seventh round pick for Minnesota Vikings QB Matt Cassel as well as Minnesota's 2015 sixth round choice. Cassel, a ten year veteran, immediately became the topic of discussion around Buffalo as media and fans alike considered him the front-runner to land Buffalo's starting QB gig.
Following these two trades, Whaley and company embarked on a flurry of off-season activity and within a few days they had signed fullback Jerome Felton who had spent the last few seasons in Minnesota. They awarded a new contract to wide receiver Marcus Easley, perhaps their most important special teams player. Jarius Wynn was resigned to a two year deal after proving his worth as a solid reserve in 2014. And then the quarterback situation got even more interesting when Buffalo signed Tyrod Taylor, the former backup to Baltimore Ravens franchise QB Joe Flacco. Ryan would later elaborate that he had tried to trade for Taylor while still head coach of the Jets, but the deal fell through. While Taylor has had minimal time playing in the NFL, he brings an exciting level of athleticism and appears poised to make a push for a starting job after learning the ropes behind Flacco for the previous four seasons.
Next, the Bills were reported to be hosting a player that had just finished playing under Ryan back in New York. The player? Highly talented but somewhat troubled wide receiver Percy Harvin, who had been traded from the Seahawks to the Jets and decided that he wanted to continue working with Ryan after spending just six weeks with him in NYC. Harvin has battled injuries throughout his career and has had issues inside the locker room with teammates but his talent is undeniable. His speed and versatility alongside Sammy Watkins and Robert Woods now gave Buffalo a formidable group of receivers.
The Bills would wrap up their busy free agency period by acquiring former Dolphins tight end Charles Clay, who was on the top of Buffalo's off-season wishlist. The Dolphins placed the transition tag on Clay which meant that they would have the option to match any contract offered to him by any team. Some tedious days went by as Buffalo constructed a deal they were sure couldn't be matched by Miami, given the fact that they had just sold the farm for defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh. Miami had up to a week to match Buffalo's offer, but a day after the contract was submitted, Miami declined to match and Charles Clay became the Bills' new starting tight end. Clay was viewed as a high priority free agent as he fits Greg Roman's offensive scheme very well. With Clay's versatility to line up out wide, on the line or in the backfield, Roman can create several mismatches and force defenses to "pick their poison" between Clay, Harvin, Watkins and McCoy.
Buffalo would round out their free agent frenzy by bringing back defensive end Alex Carrington who had originally been drafted by the Bills in 2010. Carrington was said to be excelling in the defensive scheme of 2013 (very similar to Ryan's) so the move made sense and at the least provides depth along the defensive line which was lacking up until this point. Also brought in to compete for a spot was fullback John Connor, who started his career with Ryan and the Jets a few years ago. It seems improbable for Connor to make the roster given the deal that Jerome Felton signed but Ryan is adamant about creating competition at every level.
As for departing players, the trade for McCoy signaled the end of running back CJ Spiller's time in Buffalo. Drafted ninth overall in 2010, Spiller enjoyed one season of big time productivity in 2012 but the rest of his time was marred by injury and ineffectiveness in Doug Marrone's power run scheme. Also leaving Buffalo were both tight ends Scott Chandler and Lee Smith, safety Da'Norris Searcy, offensive linemen Erik Pears and Chris Hairston, special teams ace Larry Dean and middle linebacker Brandon Spikes.
Without a first round pick in the 2015 draft, Buffalo had to wait until the second night to begin adding young talent to their roster. With the 50th overall pick in the second round, the Bills selected Florida State cornerback Ronald Darby, a speedy yet undersized corner with solid cover skills but also with a need to develop better ball skills. While cornerback wasn't the most pressing need on Buffalo's roster, it made sense with the amount of pressure placed on defensive backs in Ryan's defense. It also provides the Bills with insurance for the future if they are unable to agree on a contract extension with Stephon Gilmore, their top pick from 2012.
In the third round the Bills added Louisville guard John Miller, a powerful road grading lineman with plenty of upside. After finishing second in overall rushing in 2013, Buffalo regressed on the ground and finished near the bottom of the league in 2014, forcing Whaley and his group to make the offensive line a priority. Ryan has stated he intends to find the best five lineman out of a group consisting of the aforementioned Miller and Incognito, veteran center Eric Wood, swing guard and back-up center Kraig Urbik, left tackle Cordy Glenn, right tackle Seantrel Henderson and reserve players like Cyrus Kouandjio (2014 second round pick) and Cyril Richardson (2014 fifth round draft choice). Ryan will leave the line up to the capable hands of Aaron Kromer, widely viewed as one of the NFL's better offensive line coaches.
In the fifth round Buffalo selected another Florida State player, this time running back Karlos Williams, which adds to an already crowded Bills backfield featuring McCoy, the ageless Fred Jackson, Anthony Dixon and McCoy's backup from Philadelphia, Bryce Brown. Williams brings an excellent combination of size and speed but is still learning the position after spending his first two years at FSU playing linebacker and safety. That experience will serve him well, however, as he should find his way onto the field quickly in a special teams role. Williams' arrival could force out either Jackson, Dixon or Brown but we'll have to wait until training camp and pre-season to see how that battle plays out.
The sixth round brought Buffalo two new players as they added Clemson linebacker Tony Steward, a formerly highly touted recruit who suffered two ACL injuries. Steward seems to have been acquired for his special teams play, something he excelled at while at Clemson, but if he's able to return to the five-star form he once held coming out of high school, he could be a late round steal. Following Steward was the third Florida State player taken by Buffalo in this draft, and that was tight end Nick O'Leary. The 2014 John Mackey award winner for the nation's best college tight end won't wow anyone with his physical stature or athleticism but he's a hard-nosed old school player who has a knack for getting open and coming through it clutch situations. O'Leary could be the perfect complimentary piece to Charles Clay and will battle for playing time with tight ends Chris Gragg and MarQuies Gray this summer.
Lastly in the seventh round the Bills added some size to their wide receiver group by selecting small school standout Dezmin Lewis from Central Arkansas. At 6'4" Lewis is currently the tallest receiver on the team. He doesn't have elite speed or athleticism but his talent for high pointing the ball and his potential to become a red zone threat was enough for Buffalo to take a flier on him towards the end of the draft.
It has been a whirlwind of an off-season for the Buffalo Bills, but excitement is in the air and the Bills seem poised to finally snap their fifteen year streak of missing the playoffs. As a Bills fan, this is one of the most thrilling and intriguing off-seasons in recent memory. On paper it looks great. A brilliant defensive mind at head coach with a stacked defense and an offense packed with talent at the skill positions. An experienced coaching staff that appears genuinely eager to work with their players. But we've been down this road before, and championships aren't won in the off-season. Ryan and Whaley will have to prove all the big moves this year were worth it and put a winning product on the field. Regardless, the hopes are higher than they've been in a long time. The season can't come soon enough.