The Bills Best and Worst 2nd Round Picks in My Lifetime by @seancorleone

The moment we’ve all been waiting for is finally here. The 2015 NFL Draft will kick off tonight,  and by this time Monday the new rookie class for your Buffalo Bills will be official. Once Tampa Bay officially goes on the clock, all the mock drafts go out the window, and we can finally discard any hot take we had about those rising up and falling from draft boards throughout the league.

Given that the Bills do not have a first round pick this year, I figured that it might be a good time to revisit some of the best and worst 2^nd round picks the Bills have made in my lifetime. Note that I am not including players like Aaron Williams, Cordy Glenn, Robert Woods, or Cyrus Kouandjio given the fact that they still have plenty of time to prove their worth in this league. I’ve always found making lists like this challenging, but I decided to give it a whirl. Feel free to comment or rip me apart on Twitter for failing to mention anyone below.

My 5 Best 2^nd Round Picks For The Bills

1. Thurman Thomas – RB – Oklahoma State – Pick #40 – Class of 1988 –  This pretty much goes without saying, and the topic of Thurman being drafted in the second round has been discussed thoroughly this past month by various NFL writers. My take on Thurman is simple; He is Buffalo Bills royalty. Throughout his career Thomas amassed over 16,000 yards from scrimmage to go with his 88 career touchdowns. Aside from Thurman ranking 9^th all time in yards from scrimmage and 35^th in touchdowns, the runningback from Oklahoma State was a 2 time first team all pro, the 1991 NFL MVP, and of course a first ballot hall of famer.

2. Darryl Talley – LB – West Virginia – Pick #39 – Class of 1983 – Along with Thurman Thomas, Darryl Talley was one of my favorite players growing up. His ferocious style and relentless effort was key to the success of the Buffalo Bills defenses during their glory years. Whenever Talley was on the field, there was no question that he was going to give his all and leave everything he had out on the gridiron. When it was all said and done, Talley finished first all-time in franchise history in tackles. Unfortunately these days, Darryl’s health may be declining due to his endless dedication to this franchise of ours, but in true Buffalo fashion, the fans have been there for him in his time of need just as he was for us on Sundays. Darryl was our general, and certainly one of the best 2^nd round picks the Bills have made in my lifetime, if not ever.

3. Aaron Schobel – DE – TCU – Pick #46 – Class of 2001 – Aaron Schobel might be one of the most underappreciated players we have seen in recent years. Unfortunately for Schobel, he played for the Buffalo Bills during a time when they just weren’t very good at all. Schobel was one of the bright spots year in and year out for Buffalo Bills fans, and at times it was very hard to get people to realize how good he was during his tenure in Buffalo. Schobel finished his career 2^nd on the Bills all-time list in sacks and 3^rd all time in Bills history in forced fumbles. Things would be much different in terms of how we see Schobel if those teams were competitive. His exit from the game was not ideal, but I personally was happy to see him retire a Bill instead of him signing elsewhere.

4. Phil Hansen – DE – North Dakota State – Pick #54 – Class of 1991 – Phil Hansen was another member of some great Buffalo Bills defenses, and certainly holds a place on this list. Hansen’s 61.5 career sacks ranks 3^rd all time in Buffalo Bills history. Hansen is also 6^th all time in Bills history in tackles. The only other defensive lineman to make the top 10 in this category was none other than Bruce Smith himself. Hansen surely benefited from playing opposite one of the best defensive ends this game has ever seen, but we can’t ever discount his importance to this team during his career.

5. Nate Odomes – DB – Wisconsin – Pick #29 – Class of 1987 – In today’s day and age, pick 29 is a first round pick, so I’m sort of cheating here I suppose. Regardless, Odomes makes my list because he just always seemed to make a big play for the Bills when they needed it (see the Comeback game in 1993). Speaking of 1993, that season was definitely the best of Odomes’ career as he finished tied for the league lead in interceptions with 9 on the year. Odomes’ 26 career interceptions currently ranks him 5^th all time in Buffalo Bills history.

Honorable mentions – Jairus Byrd, Carwell Gardner

My 5 Worst 2^nd Round Picks For The Bills

1. James Hardy – WR – Indiana – Pick #41 – Class of 2008 – Remember how excited everyone was about the wide receivers in the 2008 draft? Despite a plethora of hype regarding some of these players leading up to the draft, not a single receiver was selected in the first round of the 2008 draft, but once the 2^nd round hit they were being drafted in bunches as 10 WRs were selected in round 2. Of those selected was James Hardy, drafted by the Bills at pick 41. I’m going to be honest and state that I was never thrilled with this pick from the beginning, but just like any player the Bills bring in, I was willing to try. To me Hardy just seemed one dimensional and it was his size alone that drew us all in. In the end, Hardy’s career did not amount to much. During his time in the league, Hardy caught a total of 10 passes for 96 yards and 2 touchdowns. Also, in case you’re keeping track, DeSean Jackson was drafted 8 picks later.

2. Torell Troup – DT – Central Florida – Pick #41 – Class of 2010 – I’m not going to lie, I don’t feel great about including Troup on this list, but it had to be done. I feel bad given the fact that much of Troup’s failure to amount to anything had to do with his inability to remain healthy, but the Bills dropped the ball with this pick in many ways. Not only was the pick of Troup a massive reach, but the Bills passed up on Buffalo native Rob Gronkowski here when TE was a position of need. Gronk was then selected with the very next pick by the New England Patriots and he’s been killing the Bills ever since. In the end, Troup dressed for a total of 21 games during his time in Buffalo and finished his career with 17 tackles.

3. Todd Collins – QB – Michigan – Pick #45 – Class of 1995 – Collins is just another name on an exhaustive list of QBs who just didn’t work out for the Bills, and I honestly can’t say much about this guy other than what you see here. Collins finished his career with an 11-10 record, and his career stats are basically what a decent QB in today’s game will put up in a single season. At the time of this pick the Bills knew they needed to find a replacement for Jim Kelly as his time was coming to an end. Guess what? Todd Collins wasn’t the guy. We still haven’t found that guy, actually. Maybe this year at pick #50? *ducks*

4. Bucky Brooks – DB – North Carolina – Pick #48 – Class of 1994 – I hate to do this to Bucky because he does a good job these days covering the NFL, and you can tell on occasion that he still has a soft spot in his heart for the team that drafted him in the 2^nd round of the 1994 draft. Unfortunately however, Bucky didn’t really amount to much in the NFL. The Bills drafted him early in April of 1994 and he was off the team 2 years later. The Bills essentially threw this pick in the garbage.

5. James Patton – DL – Texas – Pick #55 – Class of 1992 – James Patton was drafted towards the end of round 2 in 1992 and all the Bills got out of is was 13 games and 3 tackles. There isn’t really much more to say about this pick but given the minimal payoff the Bills saw from this selection Patton had to make the list. In his defense, as feable as it may be, only 10 players selected after Patton made a pro bowl during their NFL career, and this particular draft had 12 rounds. This draft class overall wasn’t really good at all.