"If you can't find an offensive lineman in this draft, you might never do it," said Gil

Brandt, the NFL.com analyst and longtime former Dallas general manager.

"I think the talent there is good," Bills General Manager Buddy Nix said of the tackle

position. "I think the big guys in this draft is the strong point — on both sides of the

ball."



The Bills are paying close attention to offensive tackle prospects due to the fact the

position was a disaster for the team last season and right tackle Brad Butler, a starter

entering last year, retired this month.

"The retirement of Brad Butler puts us in a position of need maybe even more so than we

were," Bills coach Chan Gailey said. "It's something we'll have to address in either free

agency or the draft or both. That's where we are right now."



The draft class includes four tackles who could be taken among the top 10 picks —

Oklahoma State's Russell Okung, Rutgers' Anthony Davis, Oklahoma's Trent Williams and Iowa's

Bryan Bulaga. Maryland's Bruce Campbell also is likely to be a first-round pick, and Southern

Cal's Charles Brown could get into the first round, too.

It figures to be the best year for offensive tackles in the first round since 2008, when

eight were taken. Three OTs went in the first round last year and in 2007.

How those top four are rated depends on whom you ask.

Okung, 6-foot-5 and 307 pounds, has an ideal frame and is as athletic as Denver's Ryan

Clady, an '08 top pick who had immediate NFL success. He's exceptionally strong, too. At the

NFL Scouting Combine on Saturday, he bench-pressed 225 pounds 38 times, second-best among

offensive linemen.

"Russell Okung had a year that didn't start out great," ESPN's Mel Kiper said. "But in

October, Okung was starting to get back to the way he played as a junior. He has that nasty

streak, long arms. He has a lot of talent."



Davis, 6-5 and 323, might have the best potential, but he's coming out of college a year

early and tended to play to the level of his competition in college.

"Anthony Davis is enormously gifted," Kiper said. "He's a little inconsistent from game to

game, even from series to series sometimes. He had a great week in October against Greg

Romeus, the defensive end from Pitt. He's big, athletic, with great feet. He could be as good

as [Seattle All-Pro] Walter Jones. When Walter Jones came out of Florida State, you looked at

him and had a similar evaluation."



Williams, 6-4 and 315, played 51 games for the Sooners. He was a right tackle his

first three years and left tackle as a senior. Some scouts have suggested he's better off on

the right side. But Williams was dinged up early in his senior season and has the tools to

handle the left side in the NFL. He sees himself as a left tackle.

"The Lord blessed me; I didn't have any great injuries, just a bunch of nagging injuries,"

Williams said Friday. "But when I got healthy, I think I produced well. It was kind of tough

sledding at the beginning of the season with a lot of nagging injuries."



Bulaga, 6-5 and 314, might not be as elite an athlete as the other top prospects, but he's

tough and polished. He's coming out a year early. He played 30 games, missing a few due to a

thyroid problem early last season. (It's not a concern, scouts say.) Iowa has a good

reputation for developing technique-sound offensive linemen.

"He is the kind of kid that would fit perfectly in Buffalo," said Mike Mayock of the NFL

Network. "You're talking about a cold-weather kid that's tough. He's technique proficient."



There is some debate on whether Bulaga would be better at right tackle. That's what Kiper

thinks. There also is speculation Bulaga could go as high as No. 5 to Kansas City, because

Chiefs GM Scott Pioli has ties to Ferentz.

"Bulaga has the most variation on grades with people I trust," said Charley Casserly, NFL

Network analyst and former Redskins and Texans GM.

Beside Buffalo and Kansas City, teams at the top of the draft that could use a tackle

include Washington (No. 4), Seattle (No. 6) and Oakland (No. 8).

Maryland's Campbell, 6-6 and 314, arguably is the most gifted athlete among the top tackle

prospects. He underwent brain surgery as a prep sophomore because his body was growing too

fast for his bones. But he has grown into his frame now. He has 36-inch arms and ran

the fastest 40-yard dash time (4.78) seconds at his position (the average for an offensive

lineman is 5.30). One problem is he's coming out after his junior year and made only 17

starts. There's some question about how well he bends his knees in pass protection.

"He didn't always play like a first-round pick," Kiper said. "I think his physical gifts

and potential will put him in the late first-round area. People will say if he had gone back

he'd have been a top 10 pick next year."