By Tim Graham
Someday, WGR's Joe Buscaglia and I will reunite and star in a buddy-cop movie.
I'll be the curmudgeonly veteran two weeks from retirement. He'll be the wide-eyed idealist, out to save the city from nefarious crime lords, hell bent for action and constantly drawing me into danger. In turn, I'll get drunk a lot.
It'll be something else.
In the meantime, I'll settle for Buscaglia's projected NFL draft order.
His up-to-the-minute forecast shows the Buffalo Bills would be slotted seventh if the season ended today. They moved up from eighth after the Tennessee Titans beat the New York Jets on Monday night.
The Bills could draft as early as third. The Kansas City Chiefs and Jacksonville Jaguars each have locked up one of the first two spots.
Buffalo has drafted seventh only once, taking tight end Paul Seymour in 1973.
The rundown of recent No. 7s is much more impressive: safety Mark Barron, defensive end Aldon Smith, cornerback Joe Hayden, receiver Darrius Heyward-Bey, defensive tackle Sedrick Ellis, running back Adrian Peterson, safety Michael Huff, receiver Troy Williamson, receiver Roy Williams, quarterback Byron Leftwich, tackle Bryant McKinnie, defensive back Andre Carter, running back Thomas Jones, cornerback Champ Bailey and tackle Kyle Turley.
The list (through the six-win teams) is incomplete because where playoff participants finish determines the back end of the order. As such, a couple teams are mathematically alive for the postseason and would alter the order if they got in.
- 1. Kansas City Chiefs
- 2. Jacksonville Jaguars
- 3. Oakland Raiders
- 4. Philadelphia Eagles
- 5. Detroit Lions
- 6. San Diego Chargers
- 7. Buffalo Bills
- 8. Cleveland Browns
- 9. Tennessee Titans
- 10. Carolina Panthers
- 11. Arizona Cardinals
- 12. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- 13. New York Jets
- 14. Miami Dolphins
- 15. New Orleans Saints
- 16. St. Louis Rams
