1 - Post-Super Bowl mock goes C, LB for Bills
Now that football is officially over for the season, discussions surrounding the 2018 NFL Draft will start to ramp up. There's been a lot of buzz pertaining to the Bills back-to-back first-round picks in this year's draft.
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Following the final game of the year on Sunday, Matt Miller made his post-Super Bowl predictions for the 2018 draft. With the Bills picks, he had the team taking center Billy Price 21st overall and linebacker Rashaan Evans at No. 22.
Price is a 6-4, 312-pound center out of Ohio State University. He was a two-time All-American and was this year's Dave Rimington Trophy winner as the nation's most outstanding center.
Price set a record of 55 consecutive starts while with the Buckeyes. He started all 14 games as a freshman in 2014 when Ohio State won the College Football Playoff national championship.
Here's why Miller thinks the Bills should pick Price at 21st overall.
The sad and sudden retirement of Eric Wood leaves a massive hole in the middle of an already questionable offensive line in Buffalo. With pick No. 21 overall, the Bills can make one move to quickly solve that problem--draft Billy Price.
A versatile lineman at Ohio State, Price played both center and guard but became a nationally known stud in the last two years manning the middle of the line… Price has all the tools NFL teams want in a starting center and requires little polish to become a Pro Bowl-caliber player.
Meanwhile Evans' four-year career at Alabama proved he's worthy of being the Bills 22nd overall pick. In his tenure at Tuscaloosa, he tallied 150 tackles, 23.5 tackles for a loss, 15 sacks, two forced fumbles, and two fumble recoveries.
Evans' senior season with the Crimson Tide saw career-highs across the board. He recorded single-season highs in tackles (74), tackles for a loss (13), and sacks (6).
This is Miller's take on bringing an athletic LB to Buffalo.
The Bills can use pick No. 22 to get the athletic middle linebacker Sean McDermott needs to run his scheme. Don't confuse Evans with Reggie Ragland, a player the Bills traded away this season because he wasn't a fit. Evans has the agility and quickness to run alleys and get outside the hashes to make plays. And while he's not exactly Luke Kuechly, he is good enough to fill the hole at MIKE linebacker and be a three-down player for Buffalo.
Buffalo still has six selections following their 21st and 22nd overall picks. They have two selections in the second-round, one in the third-round, one in the fourth, and two in the fifth.
Miller projects that the Bills snag quarterback Mason Rudolph with the 53rd overall pick. After that, he had them taking a tight end, outside linebacker, cornerback, running back, and wide receiver to round out the 2018 draft.
Check out photos of the Bills on the scene during the week of Super Bowl LII.
2 - How'd former Bills players perform in the big game?
A handful of former Bills players filled the sidelines of Super Bowl LII on Sunday. Here's how those players performed on the biggest stage of the season.
The Eagles soared past the Patriots by a score of 41-33. Though New England came up short, both sides had big-time performances from past Bills players.
Eagles
Nigel Bradham - Tallied seven tackles and one quarterback hit in his first career Super Bowl appearance.
Ronald Darby - The Bills second-round pick in 2015 had four tackles and two passes defended in Sunday's Super Bowl.
Corey Graham - He recorded eight tackles and that led the bunch of former Buffalo Bills players.
Patriots
Alan Branch - He was inactive for Sunday's game. Branch also missed the AFC Championship due to a knee injury he suffered during the regular season.
Mike Gillislee - He was also inactive for the big game, as he was seven times during the regular season.
Stephon Gilmore - He had a total of four tackles and two passes defended. One of his PDs was pivotal, as it rejected the Eagles Alshon Jeffery of a touchdown.
Chris Hogan - The wide receiver recorded six receptions for 128 yards and one touchdown. It was Hogan's first 100-yard receiving game of the season.
Eric Lee - He was claimed off of Buffalo's practice squad in November and was unable to get on the stat sheet in Sunday's game. However, Lee did play in 21-percent of the defensive snaps.
3 - Buffalo led the nation in Super Bowl ratings
We all knew that Buffalo loved football, but did we know the city craved it this much? Buffalo led the nation in ratings for Super Bowl LII, edging out the two cities that actually had teams playing in the big game.
Buffalo scored a rating of 56.4, according to NBC Sports. The Eagles city, Philadelphia, came in second with a rating of 56.2. The Patriots city, Boston, came in third with a 55.9 rating.
Here are the top-10 metered markets for Super Bowl LII: Buffalo (56.4), Philadelphia (56.2), Boston (55.9), Minneapolis-St. Paul (54.9), Pittsburgh (54.9), Norfolk (53.9), New Orleans (53.0), Providence (52.5), Milwaukee (52.3), Seattle (52.2), and Kansas City (52.2).
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