In a recent Sports Illustrated article documenting first-person accounts of the 2011 NFL Draft, Buffalo Bills general manager Doug Whaley, who was serving as the Bills' assistant GM that year, revealed what happened to his team's picks.
The Bills took defensive tackle Marcell Dareus from Alabama with the third overall pick, but that wasn't their original plan.
"When we first started the draft process, we thought we'd have a good shot at (Cam) Newton," Whaley told SI. "Andrew Luck, had he come out, would have been the first pick. Denver was at number two, and they didn't need a quarterback. So we thought, we'll get Cam at number three."
Luck was rumored to be available in 2011 and would have been the number one pick, but instead decided to return to Stanford for his senior season. Newton went to the Carolina Panthers first overall and Whaley thought Dareus would be next to go.
"On draft day we were thinking, Denver will probably go with Marcell Dareus, and then we'll get Von Miller," Whaley said. "We thought they'd go with an interior guy instead of an outside guy."
Whaley was wrong about the Denver Broncos' pick and they took future Super Bowl MVP Miller second overall.
"When Von went to Denver, everyone (in our draft room) had big smiles, everyone stood up," Whaley said. "We had Marcell rated over Von. I was like, don't even listen to the [trade offers coming in], just turn that card in.
"With Marcell, you're talking about a big, athletic man: 320 pounds, can run, is instinctive and a playmaker. A rare combination. ... Cam, Von, Marcell—really, we wouldn't have been wrong with any of those guys."
Dareus has been a fine pick for the Bills, making two Pro Bowl appearances and being named an All-Pro in 2014, but Buffalo is still in search of a quarterback. With guys like Luck and Newton coming around every 10-15 years, Whaley and the Bills will be a little bitter about this one for a little while.