In this article I begin my 2nd annual Buffalo Bills mock draft. This year the Bills will be working with 7 draft picks & GM Brandon Beane mentioned the possibility exists where a trade up in round 1 could happen if a player falls. Beane also mentioned that it will make sense to trade up in the later rounds instead of round 3 as it will take less capital to move up. Buffalo had a good FA, bringing back their top guys, along with adding players such as Emmanuel Sanders, Mitchell Trubisky, Matt Breida, and the return of Star Lotulelei, who opted out of last season.
- Pick 30: Najee Harris, RB, Alabama. The Bills run game was sub par last year to put it nicely. Some blamed it on the RBs, others put the blame on the OL itself. Well, they didn’t make a lot of additions to the OL, so you’d have to think they like it how it is. Buffalo drafted Zack Moss last year with hopes that he would compliment Devin Singletary nicely, but that wasn’t the case. GM Brandon Beane mentioned in his pre draft press conference that none of the RBs on the team are really home run hitters, and that the capital spent on RBs in previous drafts won’t affect his draft plans, which leads us to believe RB is very much in play. Last season with Bama, Harris totaled 1,466 yards, 26 rushing TDs, and 4 receiving TDs.
- Pick 61: Joseph Ossai, Edge, Texas. The Bills pass rush wasn’t great last year, with the leading sack number being 5. The team spent a 2nd round pick on AJ Epenesa last year, and basically counted made that a red-shirt season. With Mario Addison & Jerry Hughes getting up there in age, and their contracts about to expire, we could see another edge rusher at 61. Coach McDermott & Leslie Frazier like to have a deep rotation of DL as well. Ossai totaled 5.5 sacks, 15.5 tackles for loss, and 55 tackles last season.
- Pick 93: Shaun Wade, CB, OSU. The Bills secondary has had a hard time stopping the tall and big receivers in the AFCE (mainly DeVante Parker) the last couple of years. Bringing in a tall corner like Wade will allow Tre White & Levi Wallace to cover more receivers of the same build. Buffalo has tried to fix the secondary depth in recent years, bringing in Vontae Davis & Josh Norman. However, none have really worked out like they had hoped, some more than others. Wade totaled 34 tackles & 2 INTs last season.
- Pick 161: Dazz Newsome, WR, North Carolina. The Bills WR core is aging, with Cole Beasley & Emmanuel Sanders both in their 30s with expiring contracts. Drafting a WR this year where the draft class is deeper than any year in recent memory, the Bills are setting themselves up long term. Newsome totaled 684 yards & 2 TDs last year.
- Pick 174: Tommy Kraemer, IOL, Notre Dame. The Bills added multiple OL in FA this offseason (Bobby Hart & Forrest Lamp) to go along with Cody Ford returning this season. But nobody to set them up for the future, and could be a good developmental player for the future.
- Pick 213: KJ Britt, LB, Auburn. The Bills added a couple LBs in Free Agency, along with Matt Milano returning, but the need for more competition this year is still there. Pairing Britt with Dodson, Marquel Lee, and Tyrell Adams fighting for the backup role in training camp will be interesting.
- Pick 236: Demetric Felton, WR, UCLA. The Bills love having their gadget players on offense as we saw with Isaiah McKenzie & John Brown last season. Now with Brown gone, the Bills are missing another piece. Felton can step in and play a little HB, end arounds, and step in at the slot position if needed. He also stepped in and made a name for himself Senior Bowl in February. Felton totaled 668 rushing yards, 5 TDs, and 3 receiving TDs on 159 receiving yards last season.
Round 1 of the draft begins this Thursday at 8:00 PM EST.
