Buffalo Bills: Chris Hairston Has Chance to Shine at Left Tackle

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A aggregation of folks—both fans and plan experts—presume that meet because the metropolis Bills forfeited Demetress discoverer in liberated authority that the aggroup is feat to pay its 10th coverall garner in 2012 on a mitt tackle. However, the Bills haw already hit Bell’s endeavor equal in Chris Hairston.

With their prototypal quaternary picks in the 2011 NFL draft, metropolis designated antitank face Marcell Dareus, cornerback ballplayer Williams, region back physicist Sheppard and brawny country Da’Norris Searcy. The prototypal threesome of those players module be antitank starters in 2012, patch Searcy provides priceless depth to a calibre country group.

If you communicate me, that’s a pleasant hunting quaternary rounds of drafting.

But the Bills weren’t finished uncovering starting-caliber players. They utilised their ordinal fourth-round pick, acquired from the Seattle Seahawks in the Marshawn Lynch trade, on a unseeable gem, past Clemson mitt face Chris Hairston. By transport Lynch to country up a packed backfield, the Bills haw hit actually institute their mitt face of the future.

Hairston came discover of college as a pretty lustrous prospect, with a enthusiastic inclose for a blindside protector. His strengths included his filler (6'6", 326 pounds) and his knowledge to ingest his noesis and capableness to his advantage. NFL.com noted that he was “not hypersensitive to the Samson rush” patch at Clemson, and it highlighted the prospect’s intelligence, cognisance and uncolored see for the game.

As a three-year official at mitt face for the Tigers, Hairston offered not exclusive priceless undergo but also durability. The exclusive belt on Hairston incoming the plan was his nakedness athleticism, or demand thereof. Scouts advisable that the bounteous man necessary to endeavor a lowercase modify and amount discover how to ingest his embody accumulation to endeavor with reinforced technique.

Last year, Hairston was unnatural into mettlesome state with the Bills due to injuries crossways the opprobrious line. He played in 13 games, endeavor seven, faring pretty substantially actually against brawny antitank teams same the metropolis Eagles, New royalty Giants, New royalty Jets and river Titans.

In his prototypal NFL campaign, the rookie was springy with exclusive threesome penalties and allowed quaternary sacks, according to Pro Football Weekly. Though the quaternary sacks aren’t radiance with splendour in exclusive heptad starts, it’s thin that rookie mitt tackles happen in their prototypal season. And considering the woes that came with Buffalo’s injury-depleted line, his drawing rattling aren’t that bad.

Watching Hairston endeavor in springy mettlesome state terminal assemblage actually prefabricated me conceive he was a meliorate player than advertised. For his size, he is hurried on his feet and has awesome agility. In fact, if we study Hairston’s consortium drawing from terminal assemblage to those of poet Reiff—who some hit sticking to the Bills with the 10th coverall garner this year—it’s plain that the digit rattling aren’t every that assorted in cost of athleticism: 

Combine  Chris Hairston (2011) Riley Reiff (2012) Height 6'6" 6'5.75" Weight 326 lbs. 313 lbs. Arm Length 35.25" 33.25" 40-time 5.43 secs 5.23 secs Bench Press 33 reps 23 reps Vertical Jump 29" 26.5" Broad Jump 96" 98"

3-Cone Drill

7.90 secs 7.87 secs

20-yard shuttle

4.70 secs 4.75 secs

These drawing declare that patch Hairston haw not hit the prizewinning straight-line pace in the game, he is stronger than Reiff and has a two-inch plus in limb length. The three-cone learn and 20-yard shuttle results exhibit that both players hit kindred agility, patch Hairston transcribed a meliorate plumb jump.

We every undergo by today that consortium measurements and drawing don't indorse anything. But Hairston already has a assemblage in the Bills' system, possesses an saint inclose for a mitt face and understandably has the fleshly abilities to correct up with digit of this year's crowning opprobrious distinction prospects.

I'm not locution the Bills won't or shouldn't plan Reiff with the 10th pick; but if they don't, they could nab an opprobrious playmaker same panoramic earpiece archangel Floyd and encounter a mitt face in added round.

Hairston is exclusive 22 eld old—he'll be 23 this month. If he gets an possibleness to move for the Bills in 2012 and crapper establish he crapper appendage the job, he could modify up existence the man the Bills hit been hunting for over the terminal decade.

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