Usually a team that misses on their first round pick doesn’t have a great draft but the Bills did.  DE/OLB Aaron Maybin (1st round, #11 overall) out of Penn State did not have a good rookie year for the Bills.  He played in all 16 games for the Bills and he made 18 tackles, 2 tackles for a loss and he forced 1 fumble.  C/G Eric Wood was selected in the first round (#28 overall) out of Louisville.  He played in 10 games (all starts) before getting his leg broke which ended his season.  The best pick the Bills made was when they selected safety Jairus Byrd in the 2nd round (#42 overall) out of Oregon.  He played in 14 games for the Bills last season and he made 45 tackles, defensed 11 passes and he had 9 interceptions (118 return yards).  Byrd was picked to the Pro Bowl as a rookie and it won’t be his last one as long as he keeps playing like he did last season.  Guard Andy Levitre was also selected in the 2nd round (#51 overall) out of Oregon State.  He started every game at guard as a rookie last season for the Bills and he is a good one.  In the fourth round (#121 overall) the Bills took TE Shawn Nelson out of Southern Mississippi.  Nelson played in 13 games for the Bills last season and he caught 18 passes for 157 yards (8.7 avg) with 1 TD grab.  He has a nice little upside.  Safety Nic Harris (5th round, #147 overall) out of Oklahoma played in 15 games for the Bills last season and he made 30 tackles three of which went for a loss.  CB Cary Harris (6th round, #183 overall) out of USC played in only 4 games for the Bills in 2009 but he made an impact as he finished the year with 5 tackles, 2 passes defensed and 2 INTs.  CB/S Ellis Lankster (7th round, #220 overall) out of West Virginia played in 10 games for the Bills last season and he finished up with 5 tackles and 1 pass defensed.

GRADE FOR 2009:  A-

GRADE FOR THE FUTURE:  A

The Bills must not have known what they had in 28-year old running back Fred Jackson until this season.  Yesterday he became the first NFL player ever to rush for over 1,000 yards and have over 1,000 yards in kickoff returns.  Jackson finished with the 4th most all-purpose yards in a NFL season with 2,516 yards.  Jackson played in all 16 games for the Bills this season and he carried the ball 237 times for 1,062 yards (4.5 ypc) with 2 TD runs and he also caught 46 passes for 371 yards (8.1 avg) with 2 TD grabs.  On special teams, Jackson returned 41 kickoffs for 1,014 yards (24.7 avg) and he also returned 6 punts for 69 yards (11.5 avg).  Jackson touched the ball a total of 329 times this season for 2,516 yards (7.6 yards per touch) and he had 4 total TDs.  He averaged 157.3 all purpose yards per game for the Bills this season.  With Jackson likely being the main man in the running game in 2010 for the Bills he will likely give up his kick return gig.

23-year old rookie safety Jairus Byrd was selected to the Pro Bowl as a rookie.  Byrd was one of only three rookies (Texans’ LB Brian Cushing and Redskins’ rookie LB Brian Orakpo) to make the Pro Bowl.  Byrd played in 14 games for the Bills this season and he made 45 tackles, defensed 11 passes and he intercepted 9 passes (118 return yards).  Byrd will be a big part of the future of the Bills’ D.

The Buffalo Bills have lost rookie safety Jairus Byrd for the rest of the year due to a undisclosed injury.  Byrd played in 14 games for the Bills this season and he made 45 tackles, defensed 11 passes and he had 9 interceptions which he returned for 118 yards (13.1 avg).  Byrd was a heck of a pick for the Bills last April as they selected him in the 2nd round out of Oregon.  Byrd will be a starter for a long time for the Buffalo Bills and he will be a impact player.

The Bills have lost rookie left guard Eric Wood for the season due to a broken left leg.  He started in all 10 games for the Bills this season before this gruesome injury.  This is a huge loss for the Bills as Wood was playing outstanding for them this season and they hope he will be ready to return next season during training camp.  I have added a video of the injury but only watch it if you have a strong stomach.