Bills Blurb in MMQB

[Raptor]

9. I think I am so pleased that Bill Nunn, who scouted for the Steelers for 46 years and died last Tuesday night at 89, had his moment in the sun on draft weekend. One of his protégés, Buffalo GM Doug Whaley, used advice from Nunn (“Do not ever be afraid to make a big move if you believe in it strongly”) as one of the spurs to deal his 2015 first- and fourth-round picks to simply move up five spots to take the No. 1 player on the Bills’ draft board, wideout Sammy Watkins of Clemson. Think of the significance. The biggest trade of the 2014 draft happened 48 hours after Nunn died—and it was pulled off by two African-American general managers …. Ray Farmer of the Cleveland Browns and Whaley. Importantly, Nunn mentored Whaley from the time he as a 23-year-old intern in the scouting department of the Steelers in the mid-nineties. “I’m glad you brought that up,’’ Whaley told me when we spoke late Thursday night (http://mmqb.si.com/2014/05/09/bills-draft-sammy-watkins-gutsy-trade/). “I want to talk about how much Bill Nunn meant to my career, and my life.” Whaley knows he has taken a colossal gamble by dealing so much to simply move up five spots. But he’s okay with it. At first, I was not. But here’s how I see it. The number one player on Buffalo’s board was Watkins. Buffalo had the ninth pick in the draft. They used two prime picks next year to move up five spot to get him, and let’s face it—the first-round pick, judging by recent Bills history, could be a top 10 pick. This is not a move I would have made, but if you have to pay two number one picks to get the best player on your draft board at a crucial position for your team, I can see why Whaley did it.

http://mmqb.si.com/2014/05/12/the-2014-nfl-draft-sealed-with-a-kiss/6/