Bills in line for top 10 draft pick
If season ended now they’d select ninth
Published: December 23, 2009, 12:30 am
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The Buffalo Bills are in position for a rare “reward” when the NFL Draft comes in April.
The team is in line for a top 10 pick, something that has come along just twice in the past 10 years, despite the team failing to reach the postseason in the same time frame.
There are three other teams — the Bears, Seahawks and Raiders — tied with the Bills at 5-9, which is the seventh- worst record in the league.
The tiebreaker for deciding draft order is strength of schedule. Teams with easier schedules pick sooner.
That’s bad news for the Bills, who have the 14-0 Colts left to play. Here’s the current strength of schedule for the teams at 5-9: Seahawks .469, Bears .487, Bills .513, Raiders .517.
That means the current draft order would have the Bills picking ninth. Those numbers include the records of the final two opponents yet to be played for each team. However, the numbers could change, since the records of all the teams in the league will change the final two weeks.
Here are the remaining opponents for the teams jockeying with the Bills for draft position: Redskins (Cowboys, at San Diego) Raiders (at Cleveland, Baltimore), Bears (Minnesota, at Detroit) and Seahawks (at Green Bay, Tennessee). Oakland’s upset Sunday over the Broncos helped the Bills leapfrog the Raiders, who dropped to 10th.
There are currently six teams with records worse than the Bills. They are: St. Louis (1-13), Tampa Bay and Detroit (2-12), Kansas City and Cleveland (3-11) and Washington (4-10).
The two times the Bills have picked in the top 10 this decade have not yielded the desired results. The selection of left tackle Mike Williams fourth overall in 2000 will go down as an all-time bust and one of former General Manager Tom Donahoe’s biggest blunders. The selection of safety Donte Whitner eighth overall in 2006, while nowhere near the level of Williams, has also been a disappointment.
While fans have turned their attention toward mock drafts, the Bills are left to deal with the disappointment of again missing out on the playoffs.
“To come up short like we did — I really
don’t know,” said cornerback Terrence McGee, himself dealing with the frustration of a shoulder injury that will cost him the final two games. “It’s very disappointing. We just have to try and go out and win these next two games to build for next year.”
•••
McGee was placed on injured reserve Tuesday. The team signed quarterback Gibran Hamdan to take his place on the 53- man roster. Hamdan’s signing was necessary because backup Trent Edwards will miss the rest of the season with a high ankle sprain.
Hamdan, who was with the Bills for the past two seasons before being released Nov. 19, has more knowledge of the offensive system than Brian Brohm, who replaced him.
The status of starter Ryan Fitzpatrick, who also hurt his ankle against the Patriots, will be updated today by interim coach Perry Fewell.
In three seasons with the Bills, Hamdan has never appeared in a regular-season game.
e-mail: jskurski@buffnews.com
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