Last night the Buffalo Bills passed over wide receiver Michael Floyd and instead drafted corner back Stephon Gilmore from the University of South Carolina.
Gilmore has the potential to become and, in my opinion, will become a top 10 corner in the NFL within the next 2-4 years. The reason being is simple – he doesn’t allow completions.
In three full seasons at the USC, Gilmore allowed only 18% of the passes thrown his way to be caught. Which, in a conference like the SEC, is a ridiculously low number.
Gilmore has all the physical tools a team wants in a cover corner. He has the size to match up with bigger receivers and the quickness to stay with smaller, faster ones. He also has the skill and is willing to get involved in run support and join the blitz. The one thing he could really work on is being a bit more consistent as a tackler; wrapping up and not always going for the huge, bone-crushing hits.
For the better part of the last three seasons the defensive backfield has been Buffalo’s only real defensive strong point. By adding another corner to the committee, it should make the backfield that much better.
“We talk about needing corners with some size and adding speed to our team, and I think we did both with this guy,” said Bills General Manager Buddy Nix in the post-pick press conference.
“They love their defensive front. Now they get a very good corner back and a player who has a chance to a shutdown cover corner,” said ESPN Analyst Todd McShay when breaking down the Bills pick.
Head Coach Chan Gailey said that you can never have enough good corners.
“I believed this 10 to 15 years ago, and it’s even more so today. You have to have good corners. This gives us an opportunity to have two good young corners to work with that are athletic. They’re both over 6-foot. They’re fast. They can run. They’re hitters,” said Gailey.
Not only does Buffalo’s front four have the potential to become one of the best in the NFL, but they now have two corners in Gilmore and second year player Aaron Williams that could potentially turn into the next shutdown cornerback tandem in the NFL.
Buffalo Still has plenty of needs to address in the next six rounds of the draft like offensive tackle and wide receiver, but they started of the process with a bang with the pick of Gilmore.
Be sure to come back later today at 7pm for day two of our QCS Live NFL Draft Chat!
