No matter how a team’s season ended, whether they finished in last place in the league, like the Tennessee Titans, or won the Superbowl, like the Philadelphia Eagles, they all can benefit and improve themselves through the draft.
Granted, some teams need less help than others. A team like the Buffalo Bills, who made it to the AFC Championship game, doesn’t need much. They have their generational QB, Josh Allen, and all else sprinkled around him. Last season, they ended the year with a 13-4 record, winning the AFC East. They had a +9.3 pt. differential for the season, averaging nearly 31 pts per game.
All teams have a laundry list of initials after their name heading into the draft, which represents the positions they need. Some teams may say QB, S, DL, LB, TE, or RB, while others are completely reversed. The Bills main needs are DL, CB, S, and Edge. They have five picks in the first four rounds. They have the no. 30, 56, 62, 109, and 132 picks in the draft.
Just about everybody is saying this is a lousy draft. But I think all drafts are much more nuanced. A few years ago, Trevor Lawrence and all the QBs were supposed to be elite. After four seasons, none of them have proven to be anything…including Lawrence. This is my subtle way of saying even the experts often get it wrong. In a draft of about 250 players, there will surely be some studs that are chosen.
With their first pick, they will target either a DL or CB, and based on how the first round shakes out, it appears the CB will be where they target first. Rasul Douglas is a free agent and will need to be replaced. They will grab Kentucky’s Maxwell Hairston. He has the size/speed combination to challenge NFL WRs.
With either the no.56 or 62 they will surely address their DL needs. There are actually four D-linemen they could target, but all four are projected to go early in the second round, in the late 30s or early 40s. Alfred Collins of Texas, Shemur Turner of Texas A&M, JT Tuimoloa of Ohio St, or Landen Jackson of Arkansas would all fit in nicely. The Bills could very well package no.56 and 62 to move up to snag one of these four men…or hope one of them slips to them.
If they decide to stand pat and try patience, they may find fortune by getting one of them with the no.56 pick if they slide, and then get the help they need in the secondary by getting safety Xavier Watts from Notre Dame.
With their two fourth-round picks ,they have a ton of flexibility. They can have teams come to them with trades to stockpile future picks or package the picks themselves to target a specific player they like.
