2011 SB Nation NFL Mock Draft: Round 2, Pick 34

Our annual 2011 NFL Mock Draft, with picks made by each of SB Nation’s NFL team bloggers, is in full swing. The latest pick in to the podium: the Buffalo Bills, at No. 34 overall.

Brian Galliford of BuffaloRumblings.com explains the choice, and our own Dan Kadar reacts to it, after the jump. Make sure you’re grading this pick for the Bills, and checking out Buffalo Rumblings for all of your Bills needs.

Brian Galliford explains: I’ll be up front about this from the start: I don’t think the Bills will take a quarterback in the second round of the NFL Draft in April. They may already have one at that point with the No. 3 pick, and I also don’t expect a unique talent like Locker to be available to them in the second should they go another direction in the first, as I did with Patrick Peterson. “Go big or go home,” as they say.

As such, there were other players that I had penciled in as options ahead of Locker that I’d have taken were they available. Chief among them: Ohio State defensive end Cameron Heyward (gone at No. 28, and a nice five-technique end for Buffalo’s 3-4) and Mississippi State offensive tackle Derek Sherrod (gone at No. 32, and a guy that could have started at right tackle right away). Not necessarily in that order, but there you go.

The way this mock scenario played out, however, I got to have my cake and eat it, too. Beyond Locker, I didn’t see great value at a big positional need with this second-round pick; Jabaal Sheard was the closest contender. After picking a secondary need at No. 3, taking the top guy on my board (TE Kyle Rudolph) didn’t make much positional need sense, either.

When a player as athletically gifted and clean off the field as Locker falls to the second round, there’s probably a good reason. In this case, he really was disappointing as a senior from a development standpoint, has major ball placement and recognition issues, and is generally very raw. He’s got a long way to go on the mental side of the game.

Here’s the thing, though: as much as Cam Newton and Blaine Gabbert are linked to Buffalo because “Chan Gailey likes athletic quarterbacks” and “Ryan Fitzpatrick affords him development time,” the same logic applies to Locker. He’s a Gailey type of quarterback, capable of making plays on the move, and Gailey can scheme around his flaws just as easily as he could Newton’s. (I mean, it’s not like Fitzpatrick is the most accurate guy in the world, and Gailey loves him.) I think you get as much upside in Locker as you do with the other guys, and in this case, you get it at significantly better value (and compared to Newton, much less off-field risk). Locker’s no sure bet, but Buffalo is an ideal developmental situation for him, and it’s a risk worth taking.

Dan Kadar reacts: Even if this pick is unlikely, the reasoning is about as good as it gets. In a scenario where Buffalo doesn’t draft a quarterback third overall, Locker would be a good pick. This is also about the right value for him. Buffalo, by my amateur estimation, won’t be a playoff contender in 2011 (if there is a season). That should afford the team to take players with a high level of talent and hope they develop. There are few players with more talent than Locker. If they hit with him, it would be a home run and help the team get back to the postseason. [Jake Locker Scouting Report]