The Buffalo Bills are expected to get a high quality player in the upcoming 2014 NFL Draft, but reports indicated that general manager Doug Whaley could make bigger moves on draft night.
Whaley, whose team will pick ninth, said in an interview that anything can happen on draft night, pointing out that they are thinking of moving up in the draft in hopes of drastically improving their playoff chances next season.
"Never say never," Whaley said in an interview. "Not a problem as long as it's not detrimental to our team down the road. It's going to be a calculated risk, but if we think this guy is going to get us over the hump and get us into the playoffs, which is our stated goal, then why not make the deal?"
Whaley pointed out that they are focused on surrounding quarterback EJ Manuel with loaded targets, which means that the team will likely pick a prospect with the best chance of dominating offensively.
Manuel has yet to reach his full potential and is still a work in progress, but Bills executives sounded like they are all set to build the team around the second-year quarterback.
"It's a quarterback-driven league, so we're going to" look at "every avenue and every piece of the puzzle to surround EJ and make him as successful as possible," Whaley said. "What we did this offseason affords us the opportunity to go any way and every way in this draft. Our main focus is making sure EJ progresses."
The Bills are reportedly looking at five to six prospects for their first-round pick, but Whaley hinted at taking 6-foot-5 pass-catcher Mike Evans. The former Texas A&M standout is touted as one of the best athletic receivers in the upcoming draft.
"It would help EJ just because he can find that guy anywhere and also EJ can basically throw up the ball and you've got a 6-5 guy with 35-inch arms and 30-plus vertical, that's a big target that you can have down the field. So that's an exciting thing," Whaley said.
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