Thank You, Carolina…

I’ve always loved Carolina. When I went there a few years back to see the Bills play the Panthers, it felt just like home. You would think the Bills were playing at Ralph Wilson Stadium by the number of Bills fans in attendance. The Charlotte bars had Bills jerseys hanging on the walls, “Let’s Go Buffalo” chants could be heard throughout the town and Panthers fans were actually getting booed in the streets on the way to their “home” game.

I now love Carolina even more for selecting Cam Newton with their first pick in the NFL Draft.

By selecting Newton with the first pick, the Bills couldn’t make the mistake of drafting a quarterback with their first round, No. 3 overall pick….a mistake that I believe would have hurt the Bills not only this season, but for seasons to come.

Instead the Bills selected Alabama DT, Marcel Dareus to fill a desperate need at the Tackle position. Dareus can play all three positions along the Bills defensive line and joins an already young group. The Bills are hoping that he will be part of the solution to stop the run and give them something to build around. He is athletic and fluid with the ability to split double teams, he’ll team with Pro Bowler Kyle Williams to anchor the defensive line and improve the league’s worst run unit.

I mentioned in my column last week that if Denver passed on Dareus, Buffalo should jump on him. In all honesty, I would have been good with pretty much anyone but Newton, but I do love the selection of Dareus with the No. 3 pick.

In other NFL draft notes from last week’s first round, I think that Atlanta gave way too much to Cleveland to pick up Julio Jones. We’ll see how that works out. I think Jones will definitely add another weapon to a dangerous Falcons team, but they just gave up way too much. The Browns can now address the multiple gaps they need to fill. However, I didn’t understand the need for them to trade up to Kansas City later in the round to pick up OT, Phil Taylor.

I also believe that Detroit got a steal with DL, Nick Fairley. He’s an NFL ready player who will compliment Ndamukong Suh, Sammie Lee Hill, and Corey Williams to comprise the best defensive tackle rotation in the NFL.

What do you think about the Bills draft picks and the rest of the picks from this weekend’s NFL draft? Let me know, I’d love to hear your thoughts. You can contact me at sportstwc@aol.com or comment below.

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