By Budd Bailey

Jairus Byrd of the Bills

Taken in Round 2 in 2009

The next pick: Defensive end Everette Brown (Panthers) played five years in the NFL, but only started three games.

Other picks in the round: The Bills did quite well here, adding Byrd and guard Andy Levitre. The biggest star in the bunch is LeSean McCoy, who earned some of his 11,000+ yards with the Bills. Some other good picks that year were linebacker James Laurinaitis of the Cardinals, linebacker Rey Maualuga of the Bengals, defensive end Connor Barwin of the Texans, center Max Unger of the Seahawks, and defensive back Mike Mitchell of the Raiders.

The details: Byrd was a great fit for the Bills right away. He intercepted nine passes in his rookie season to lead the league, and he remained a starter for five seasons. Jarius was picked for three Pro Bowls along the way After the 2013 season, the Saints gave Byrd $54 million over six years to change teams. He only was in New Orleans for three seasons before he was cut, and he finished his career with Carolina in 2017.

Other 42s: Carwell Gardner spent seven seasons as a Bills fullback in the 1990s, but never gained more than 200 yards in a season. Chris Burkett mostly was a reserve wide receiver who split a nine-year career between the Bills and Jets. Bob Nelson was a huge disappointment as a Bills linebacker after he was drafted in 1976, but went on to start for the Raiders. Jim LeMoine played some offensive line for the Bills in 1967, but was gone a year later. Ian Llord was a tough defender for the Bandits (2008-2012). Ian was still playing in the National Lacrosse League in 2020.

(Follow Budd on Twitter @WDX2BB)

Budd Bailey

Budd Bailey has been involved in almost every aspect of the local sports scene for the last 40 years. He worked for WEBR Radio, the Buffalo Sabres' public relations department and The Buffalo News during that time. In that time he covered virtually every aspect of the area's sports world, from high schools to the Bills and Sabres and everything in between. Along the way, Budd served as a play-by-play announcer for the Bisons, an analyst for the Stallions, and a talk-show host. He won the National Lacrosse League's Tom Borrelli Award as the media personality of the year in 2011, and was a finalist for that same award in 2017. Budd's seventh and eighth books, one on the Transcontinental Railroad and the other about Ichiro Suzuki, are scheduled to be released in the fall.

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