Every Buffalo Bills fan knows that the playoff drought at the start of the century was just the beginning of a long stretch of only seeing the Bills play in the regular season. They only had five seasons of not being below .500 in 17 seasons. Long story short, it was a nightmare for a long time for Bills Mafia.
The only great thing about being one of the worst teams in the league for so long is that the Bills had the chance to pick higher in the NFL Draft (unlike now because they are a championship contender). However, even with the higher draft picks, the Bills couldn’t develop them right to become franchise players. Buffalo drafted very talented players, but in the end, it didn’t work out for a lot of them.
One player that Bills fans are very familiar with is cornerback Stephon Gilmore, who the Bills drafted 10th overall in the 2012 draft out of South Carolina. The Bills had a need to find a lockdown corner and Gilmore was drafted to hopefully become a cornerstone player for the franchise.
The thing is, Gilmore did become the best corner in the league at one point in his career, just not with the Bills. After spending the first five seasons in his career in Buffalo, Gilmore signed with the New England Patriots and became the best cornerback in the league throughout his tenure there. He was a three-time Pro Bowler, two-time First-Team All-Pro and won the Defensive Player of the Year award in 2019.
Since then, Gilmore has been a journeyman in his career having played for the Carolina Panthers, Indianapolis Colts, Dallas Cowboys, and Minnesota Vikings. He is still a solid player and any team that needs a cornerback could benefit well to have him.
Latest NFL redraft proves Bills were smart to select Stephon Gilmore in 1st round
Max Chadwick, Dalton Wasserman, and Trevor Sikkema from Pro Football Focus (PFF) recently did a 2012 NFL redraft and they had the Bills sticking with their original pick in Gilmore at No. 10 overall. Here’s what they said about Gilmore:
"Gilmore’s 13-year career included five seasons with an 80.0-plus PFF coverage grade, including his 2019 season when he was named Defensive Player of the Year. From 2017 to 2019, he earned PFF coverage grades of 87.2, 90.8 and 85.4 while playing more than 1,000 defensive snaps in each season."
Chadwick, Wasserman, Sikkema, PFF
When you look at those numbers, Gilmore was clearly a fantastic choice but he never put up those kinds of numbers as a member of the Bills. Near the end of his tenure with the Bills, Gilmore was questioned about his work ethic and whether or not he was putting his best effort forward.
With a new regime coming in when Gilmore was set to hit free agency, it wasn’t a surprise to see Gilmore leave the Bills on bad terms. It’s just unfortunate that he became one of the best in the game for the next four seasons as a member of the team that dominated the Bills for nearly two decades.
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