Commentar y
Bills should look to Draft '07 as opportunity for change
NICHOLAS PRIMERANO Ken- Ton Editor
As sad as it it, football in Buffalo is over yet again. There will be no more sounds of "click, clack" in Orchard Park - at least not until August.

But we shouldn't hang our heads in shame that we didn't make the playoffs this year, because if you go by the numbers, the Bills had a fairly good season.

Quarterback J.P. Losman, despite the early season scuttlebutt about his performance, finished the season ranked 13th in the league with 3,051 passing yards. He threw 19 touchdowns and ended the year with a quarterback rating of 84.9. Running back Willis McGahee finished the season just shy of 1,000 yards, which is not bad, considering he sat out two games due to injury. But wide receiver Lee Evans and defensive end Aaron Schobel are probably the most promising stats of the year. Evans was sixth in the league this season in receiving yards, with 1,292. He trailed leader Chad Johnson, who had five more receptions, by 74 yards. Schobel finished this season ranked third in sacks with 14 - more than Julius Peppers and Defensive MVP Jason Taylor.

Now, in the off season, the Bills should be focusing on what positions need to be filled in order to make the playoffs next year.

If the Bills were smart, they would use their 12th pick in the draft smartly, by snatching up offensive tackle Levi Brown from Penn State - as long as he is still available.

Brown had an awesome season playing for Lou Paterno's Nittany Lions, having been named first team All-Big 10 and he became a two-time All-American as a senior, landing on various AA lists after the season.

But later in the draft is where Buffalo really shines. Forget the first round and forget another cornerback. You can find a fast 20-something anywhere to knock the ball out of the air. Later in the draft is a game of chess, not checkers, and this is where the Bills should be smart, as they have in the past.

Past late-round draft picks include second round pick Schobel, eighth-round pick Jeff Wright and ninth-round pick Carlton Bailey in 1988. And in 1985, they chose some very obscure picks in the third and fourth round - two guys named Frank Reich and Andre Reed.

So, the new Bills of 2007 should be looking later in the draft and playing the game smarter, not harder. We need another tight end, and unless we pick one up as a free agent in the off-season, perhaps the Bills should take a look at the 6-foot, 7-inch, 265-pound Joe Newton from Oregon State.

Despite the year that Evans had, Peerless Price didn't produce the way they Bills had expected and they need to give Losman another target. The Bills will probably go to free agency for this spot, so they can go after another offensive lineman later. Jerome Pathon and Drew Bennett are both available.

If smarts play any part in the draft, the Bills should get a quarterback later in the draft. Kelly Holcomb isn't getting any younger and I doubt the fans will allow Losman much more leniency. Stanford's Trent Edwards would be a good fit with our offense. If we learned anything from Philadelphia this season, it is that backup quarterbacks are an integral part of an offense.

In the world of football, smart choices could be the difference between winning and losing.

e-mail: nprimerano@beenews.com