I read with amusement over the weekend that Alec Ogletree, one of the best linebackers coming into the NFL and a sure fire first round pick in the upcoming draft, had been arrested for DUI.

Amusement not because it's amusing in any way when someone gets arrested for drunk driving, but amusement in what that arrest would mean for his draft status.  Would teams who might be thinking of picking Ogletree suddenly change their minds, or knock him down their draft boards?  Around these parts, you have to wonder that because one of those teams could very well be the Buffalo Bills.  If it is, they better change their thinking, and quickly.

Ogletree has everything the Bills sorely need.  On their "needs" list, other than a quarterback of the future, a fast, dominant, instinctual tackling machine of a middle linebacker is right up there for the Bills.  Ogletree is the best description of that of any player in this years draft, and could very well be out there when it comes time for the Bills to make their first pick at number eight overall.

Ogletree has it all.  He was among the top recruits in the country coming out of high school after recording 160 tackles, eight blocked punts, and five interceptions in his final two seasons combined.  He is 6'3" and 232 pounds and runs a 4.5 forty.  He had 111 tackles last season for the Bulldogs, despite missing four games due to a ban for failing a drug test, and there is the rub.

For all his positives and upside, Ogletree alse has a track record that NFL teams do NOT like to see.  Other than that ban for drug use, and his recent arrest for DUI over the weekend, he was also arrested in 2010 during his freshman year on a theft charge for stealing a Georgia track athlete's motorcycle helmet.  Despite all that, before this weekends arrest, NFL dot com's Gil Brandt projected Ogletree to be selected with the number eight pick in the draft, and guess who has that pick?  Yes, the Buffalo Bills.

But will it happen?  Should it happen?  Probably not, but absolutely!

The Bills have prided themselves for years, if not decades, for having "quality individuals" playing for their football team.  Rarely have they given troubled NFL players a chance or even a look, and players who they drafted who became lawbreakers, like Marshawn Lynch, were quickly let go.   Lynch of course smiled, winked, and went on to become a superstar in Seattle. 

The thing is though, the Bills haven't the luxury of being able to be choosy anymore.  When you are an NFL franchise that hasn't made the playoffs since the Clinton administration, the need is to win, and win NOW!  I don't care if Ogletree drove a golf cart and caddied for OJ Simpson as a child in Florida and hangs out playing playstation with Chad Ochocinco.  If he is on the board at number eight, I'm taking him if I'm Buddy Nix and Doug Marrone.

Sure there is a chance it could backfire.  Sure there is a chance that Ogletree could become a major head case, law breaker and distraction.  The thing is though, for every Chris Henry, Rae Carruth, Chad Ochocinco, Lawrence Phillips, Jovan Belcher, or Michael Vick, there are dozens if not hundreds of NFL players who learned from their mistakes, grew up, and never had another problem again.  The Bills have to think like that, and NOT rule out a guy like Ogletree. 

For too many years, the Bills have had a team full of choirboys with records of 4-12, 5-11, 6-10, or 7-9.  I'm fine with a Bills team with a few bad apples and a record of 11-5 or 12-4 for a change.  I'm pretty sure most of the Bills fan base would agree.