2011 NFL Redraft: Who should the Bills have taken No. 3 overall?

The 2011 NFL draft class went down as one of the best of all time. NFL.com ranked it as the eighth-best in the league’s history.

The Buffalo Bills had the third overall pick that year. So, they were able to get one of the best players in one of the best classes, right? Well, not exactly.

They selected Marcell Dareus, a defensive tackle out of Alabama. He turned into a great run defender at the NFL level, but in a loaded class, it turned out to be a reach.

Sure, it’s easy to look back in history and let teams know they messed up after the fact, but it’s still a fun exercise nonetheless.

Pro Football Focus recently crafted a 2011 NFL Redraft, and they thought the Bills should have gone in a different direction. They had the Bills taking J.J. Watt at pick number three in the redraft.

Watt, who is most likely a future first-ballot Hall of Famer, would have been a home run choice by the Bills. He was a five-time First-Team All-Pro and he won the Defensive Player of the Year award on three separate occasions. In his 12-year career, he posted 114.5 sacks, having two seasons in which he led the league.

As for Dareus, it’s not like he was a bust. He was just drafted ahead of where he should have been. He was a two-time Pro Bowler with Buffalo (2013 and 2014) and he was a First-Team All-Pro selection in 2014. These accolades came after winning the National Championship with the Crimson Tide in 2010, in which he was named the game’s MVP.

Dareus became a vital part of the Bills defensive line, deemed the “cold front”, which consisted of fellow-defensive tackle Kyle Williams and defensive ends Willams and Jerry Hughes. The d-line was a bright spot on an otherwise underwhelming era of Buffalo Bills football.

PFF had Dareus going 19th overall in the redraft. Here are the 18 players PFF took before him: QB Cam Newton; EDGE Von Miller; DE J.J. Watt; WR Julio Jones; WR A.J. Green; T Tyron Smith; EDGE Cameron Jordan; C Jason Kelce; DT Cam Heyward; CB Richard Sherman; CB Patrick Peterson; QB Andy Dalton; EDGE Ryan Kerrigan; EDGE Justin Houston; EDGE Robert Quinn; CB Chris Harris Jr.; DT Jurrell Casey; LB K.J. Wright.

It was an absolutely loaded class, and the Bills just missed out on Cam Newton, who was the class’ top pick. A couple more losses and the QB situation would have been addressed nearly a decade prior to Josh Allen finally becoming the franchise guy.

But hey, at least the Bills didn’t try to chase a quarterback after Newton was picked. Jake Locker, Blaine Gabbert, and Christian Ponder were all taken in the top 12.

This article originally appeared on Bills Wire: 2011 NFL Redraft: Who should the Bills have taken No. 3 overall?

2011 NFL Redraft: Who should the Bills have taken No. 3 overall?

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