Ed Oliver as a Bill?

Ed Oliver as a Bill?

    As a Bills fan, of course, I think I know best. Forget about the management, coaches, and players who’ve been around the game much longer than I have, no one knows more about what the Bills need than I do. Of course, they need to draft an offensive lineman…or a wide receiver…or a tight end.

    You see the problem there? Of course, I don’t know which move would best benefit the team. What I do know is defense wins championships, or it certainly did in the last Super Bowl. Buffalo’s defense is already elite but it took a major blow when Kyle Williams announced his retirement at the end of this season.

    The question now is who will replace Kyle Williams, if anyone? Most would expect the position to go to either Jordan or Harrison Phillips, with Star Lotulelei at the left defensive tackle and while Harrison Phillips wasn’t quite there as far as conditioning, there’s no doubt all three can be game breakers.

    Now, I don’t expect the Bills to draft a defensive player with the ninth overall pick. Like seemingly everyone else I know, I’m expecting them to go with an offensive lineman, tight end or a wide receiver. Alas, there is one circumstance in which the Bills would be fools to pass it up and that’s if Ed Oliver if still available at the number nine.

    In all likelihood, Oliver will be gone by the time the Bills are up to select but you never know. The injury to Oliver and the image of him getting into it with his coach at Houston has hurt his draft stock but NFL teams are still willing to take risks. In the past, Buffalo’s had success when selecting risky players and if Oliver’s available, I think they should go for him.

    Someone like Oliver could give the Bills D-Line a presence that even Kyle Williams couldn’t give. From the looks of it, Oliver has the athleticism and god given talent that someone like Williams didn’t possess. Of course, Williams was widely celebrated for his hard work and leadership. It remains to be seen if Oliver can fill the void in that regard if the Bills are lucky enough to have him available.

    It was Peter Schrager of NFL.com who put the idea in my head. He also has the Cardinals selecting Kyler Murray at number one, which will no doubt lead to heated discussions but regardless, the Bills would be fools to pass up on Oliver. It’s bad enough they traded away the Patty Mahomes pick. Maybe the selection of Oliver will ease that pain a bit.

    It’s like I said though, I’m not an employee of the Bills and I don’t make the decisions. Last season, our defense was ranked second in the league but you wouldn’t believe that based on our 6-10 record. Our defense holds almost no responsibility for that. In fact, they’re the reason those games weren’t worse.

    Although, if I can be frank, I think a group of preschoolers could’ve made better draft decisions than the Bills managers have during the last couple of years. I hope we don’t select another running back. We’ve drafted enough of those. My hopes would be for an offensive lineman, a tight end, a receiver or anyone who will help the Bills not just make the playoffs but to do something as well.

    Our offense needs more attention than the defense does. To this, there is no debate. You can’t win in the NFL when you’re averaging 16.8 points a game so the Bills will need to amp that up. What I am saying is this, there have been plenty of impactful offensive players that were drafted beyond the first round and should Edward Oliver be there for the taking…

…I don’t want to be a broken record.

-By: Thomas P. Braun Jr.