Buffalo Bills 2021 NFL Draft preview: 3 ideal first round targets
By Brad Vos
The NFL Draft chaos begins on Thursday night with the Buffalo Bills slated to pick 30th after a strong 2020 season.
The Bills made it to the AFC Championship game a season ago and as such do not have a ton of needs in the NFL Draft.
The top areas to fill for Buffalo are likely cornerback, edge rusher and linebacker. Should an offensive skill player drop that they like, quarterback Josh Allen could also get a new weapon.
While a lot can change before Thursday night and during the NFL Draft, the team has to be thinking defence after Patrick Mahomes shredded them in the AFC Championship Game.
Mock drafts are a lot of fun to read but are ultimately very inaccurate especially when trying to project who a team will take with the 30th pick.
This is more about highlighting a few players that would fill a need for the Bills and help them towards winning their first Super Bowl title.
General manager Brandon Beane is not going to tip his hand ahead of draft night but it is clear that Mahomes and the Chiefs are on his mind.
"“You’re always looking for guys who are explosive off the ball. You’d love to have the prototype size, length to long arm these tackles, an array of pass rush moves, the instincts,” said Beane, to reporters. “Some guys, you see all the physical tools but maybe they haven’t been coached, you say, ‘hey, we get him in our system and we can get that fixed.’ They have one move in college, the offensive lineman stalls him and they don’t know how to counter out of it. Some of those things can be taught but you’re trying to grade the physical tools. What is their speed, what’s their explosiveness, can they change direction, can they re-direct? They’re rushing hard to their left and all of a sudden the ball goes out to their right — how quickly can they re-direct and get out there to at least force a throw? Maybe they don’t make the sack but force a guy to throw it or get him down before it becomes a wide-open loose play behind them.”"
Pass rushers and corners are going to be needed to slow down Mahomes and some of the NFL’s other elite arms. Let’s take a look at some options for Buffalo in the first round of the NFL Draft.