SB Nation Writers Mock Draft: Round 1, Pick #11

No. 11

BUFFALO BILLS Pick by Buffalo Rumblings Aaron Maybin Defensive end Penn State

Few blog better than Brian Galliford at Buffalo Rumblings. He is up with Toronto's Buffalo's selection.

We're pleased that Aaron Maybin was available with the 11th overall choice. The Bills are in need of playmakers, particularly on the defensive side of the ball (we signed some Owens guy to be our offensive playmaker). Heading into this mock draft, the 10 members of the editorial staff at Buffalo Rumblings had Maybin ranked as the second-best player in this draft class.

Yeah, we're aware of his shortcomings – he only recently added enough weight to be legitimately considered a defensive end prospect; he is very young and only has one year of significant college experience; no one's exactly sure what position he'll end up playing. None of that deterred us from ranking Maybin highly, because the kid's got a killer work ethic (he put on 25 pounds in two months!), is an unusually gifted athlete, and unlike some of his positional peers in this class, he's produced at a very high level whenever he's seen playing time.

We see the 6-foot-4, 252-pound Maybin as a player who could potentially fit the mold of a Jason Taylor. He's long and thin, but has underrated functional play strength. He's got long arms, which will help him force fumbles and tip passes (there's the playmaking). He's got great burst off the line. This kid's potential is through the roof. His athleticism offers the team schematic versatility, something that exactly zero of Buffalo's run-of-the-mill defensive end group does. Maybin doesn't have to start right away - Aaron Schobel and Chris Kelsay can still handle that. Maybin will be a pass rush specialist right out of the gate, and clearly, we believe he has the potential to become one of the league's most dominant sack artists in the very near future.

Maybin is a gamble worth taking at this point in the first round. That doesn't mean it's not a gamble, but we're comfortable limiting his role until he's ready to contribute on a more consistent basis (just as we did with CB Leodis McKelvin last year). We could not be happier with this selection.

MTD thoughts: Other than Andre Smith, there may be no more polarizing player projected in the first round than Maybin. The Buffalo gang have him as the second best player left in the draft, I have as the 53rd best overall. I'm just not sold on him being more than a pass rusher with questionable playing strength. If just a pass rusher is a need, why no wait until later and grab someone like Lawrence Sidbury?

Mocking the Draft's Top Five Remaining Prospects - CB Malcolm Jenkins, RB Knowshon Moreno, MLB Rey Maualuga, WR Jeremy Maclin, CB Vontae Davis