Pro Football Weekly and Riddell present ...
2002 NFL draft

Bills beef up, Texas-style

Buffalo stays put, stays conservative and fills a need

By Andy Hanacek, Associate editor
April 20, 2002

Mike Williams is the offensive tackle of the future in Buffalo

It may not be a high-profile, seat-selling move, but the Bills have taken another positive step in the right direction toward fixing their franchise by drafting OT Mike Williams out of Texas.

Williams follows former teammate Leonard Davis as the second big Longhorn to head to the big show in two years. Davis, of course, was drafted by the Cardinals last year. Both are mountain-sized men who should have no problem getting in the way of defensive linemen in the NFL.

Williams joins a team that is working to rebound from massive salary-cap problems over the past few seasons and is only now starting to emerge from that cavern.

After struggling mightily in the running game and making its quarterbacks look like deer in the headlights of an oncoming truck, the Bills put a priority on improving the offensive line. The Bills ranked 22^nd in the league in rushing yards per game, and rookie RB Travis Henry averaged 3.4 yards per rush. Something had to be done.

If there is one thing the Bills need, it’s an offensive lineman. In last year’s draft, they took the first step to fixing an offensive line that continually put quarterbacks in harm’s way and kept running backs from going anywhere. Buffalo selected OT Jonas Jennings, who played well but was banged up. They added to the renovations a few weeks ago, signing OT Trey Teague away from the Broncos. They also added OL Marcus Price from the Saints in free agency.

Look for the Bills to move Jennings inside to guard and start Teague and Williams on the outside.

While those additions will make a difference, the addition of Williams will be a quantum leap of improvement. Head coach Gregg Williams and his staff will, without a doubt, be able to keep Williams motivated, and his body has room for improvement. One of the perceived negatives on Mike Williams is that he isn’t a muscularly cut athlete. But with a motivator like Gregg Williams to guide him, there’s no major concern that Mike will stay motivated.

With a new security fence in the offensive line in place, the Bills can focus on drafting a quarterback later (possibly Patrick Ramsey out of Tulane in Round Two), and/or trading for Patriots QB Drew Bledsoe. Bledsoe’s potential fragility doesn’t seem to be as much of a concern with the new line in front of him.

Whoever throws the ball for the Bills in the near future will be well protected. And there’s no doubt in my mind that former Bills QB Rob Johnson is wondering why Buffalo couldn’t have done this a few years earlier.

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