Six Players Per Draft Pick for Buffalo Bills -February 2026 Edition
Below is a list of six players I’m suggesting for each of the Bills’ projected 2026 draft picks, focusing Brandon Beane’s early selections on these identified needs: Bigger, Pressuring Defensive Ends, NT depth, Versatile Free Safety opposite Cole Bishop, WR#1 With Separation (WR), Linebackers (OLB, ILB), and Left Guard/Center (LG<->OC). I think your WR#1 will be Waddle in from Free Agency, so you’re really looking at a WR#2, #3, or #4 from the draft (I’m high on Khalil Shakir and Brandin Cooks’ fit for this offense). I understand you’ll want to look at CB and QB, too. Don’t get hung up on player rankings just yet; we still have Free Agency, film, Combine drills and interviews, Pro Days, and oodles of mocks to do before April 23-25 rolls around!
RD1 #26
The first round of 32 picks might be too early to get your big ugly for the NT position, and Beane tends to avoid Big12 selections on Day 1 and Day 2, but @IC_Draft calls Lee Hunter “the most dynamic pass-rushing nose tackle in the class, with uncanny agility and initial burst.” Pressures cause QBs to ad lib, and as you saw in the Super Bowl, that forced Pats QB Drake Maye into bad decisions. Linebacker depth considered the Bills’ most-critical defensive need due to aging veterans and impending contract situations. CJ Allen‘s experience as an OLB in the 3-4, his densely-built physique, his sideline-to-sideline range, and ouchy hit power will help BillsMafia say adieu to Matt Milano. Anthony Hill Jr. is one of the best ILBs from a tackling perspective (4 solos, 4 asst, and a sack in a 2024 scouted game vs Georgia), and tackling is a concern on the Bills. My eyes will be on Dillon Thieneman at the Combine, because he’s been the most productive Safety (6+ solos per game over his career). He won the scouted PSU game with his late INT, and also had 3 solo tackles, 1 assist against the Nittany Lions. Davison Igbinosun is my extra pick, as I see him as an ultra-flexy corner-safety playing piece that would help Jim Leonhard disguise coverages. Igbinosun shouldn’t be an afterthought, but “Pick Seven” doesn’t roll off the tongue.
OLB C.J. Allen. Credit: © Joshua L. Jones/Athens / via Imagn.com, LLC.
RD2 #60
If the Bills decide to take a wide receiver, RD2 is a great time to do it. My pet cat, Malachi Fields is a solid “X” receiver. Fields put up a 3-65 (21.7) and 1 TD stat line at No. 10 Clemson, vs. the likes of Avieon Terrell. Fields is strong in YPC (15.3 against AP-ranked teams this year) and excels at YAC. Fields was less noticeable vs USC (and S Kamari Ramsey) for 2 Bills scouts, Terrence Gray and Brian Fisher, catching only 1 pass for 9 yards (9.0). Perhaps most important Bills WRs need to block in the run game, and Malachi’s one of the best blockers in the WR class. He was scouted in four games this season, in contrast to the 20-pounds-lighter Chris Brazzell, who had a scout at only one game. Germie Bernard (4 games scouted) is actually a better fit for the Bills, both as a blocker and route runner. In scouted games, Bernard logged 8 -146 (18.3) vs FSU, 3-79 (26.3) vs LSU, 7-71 (10.0) on 14 targets vs OK, and then showed versatility vs GA, 5 for 35 (7.0) receiving and 4 for 20 yards rushing (4.0). He also threw a 4 yard pass. Take Bernard if Malachi Fields is gone. The new 3-4 defense might get their guy in LT Overton, who gets you the size and production (4 solos, 1 asst, .5 sack in 2025 scouted game vs GA), but he’s inconsistent (only 1 solo 2 asst vs FSU and only one assist in the 2024 Bills-scouted game vs USF). Besides, Overton and Qua Russaw had the lowest 2024 “Get Home” rates in the EDGE class (sacks plus TFLs divided by games played). Gabe Jacas has experience in the 3-4 defense. Though smaller than Overton, Jacas ranked #69 on The Athletic Freaks List, and second to the legendary Simeon Rice in Illinois history for sacks by a true freshman. A wrestler in HS, Jacas’s high-pressure gameplay places him in the top 6 for career pressures per game, even surpassing well-known players like the Bills’ Rousseau and Epenesa. “Big Citrus” Dominique Orange, while he’s a premier NT run-stuffer with a 91 BlockShed score on EA Sports, he has only 7 TFLs and 1 Career Sack in 50 games, and zero Bills visits in 2025. Orange’s “Get Home” rate is bottom four in the class, primarily playing Big12 offenses. Dominique’s forty time is tied for second-lowest among the defensive linemen, and the other two aren’t going to be drafted.
WR ‘X’ Malachi Fields. Credit: © Charles LeClaire – Imagn.com, LLC.
RD3 #91
Darrell Jackson Jr. likely won’t be on the board when the Bills pick in RD3, but he’s the highest-ranked FSU player in the draft with archetypal height and weight for the nose, and his 5.05 forty time compares favorably with Deone Walker’s 5.35. His 35″ arms and 11″ hands made him just dominant at the Shrine Bowl practices. Daylen Everette, a cornerback in Georgia’s 3-4 defense, notched 5 solos, 1 asst in this year’s scouted game vs Bama, and matched his output in 2 other games in 2025: 3 solos 2 asst vs Texas and 6 solos 2 asst vs KY. Jahmile Addae, ex-DB Coach for Bills, was Everette’s 2021 DB coach for Georgia, and Addae was key in recruiting Everette there. Everette’s closing speed and In-Game Athleticism are his calling-cards, two skills that helped against top-shelf SEC wideouts. Antonio Williams is a nice complement to Malachi Fields, and depending on what you’ve done in Free Agency and RD1-2, would create nice competition at slot, but he’s not slot-only. Williams is noted as an “elite route runner” who places in the 94th percentile in separation rate against single coverage. Two safeties made my list with Zakee Wheatley (more a true FS) and Jalon Kilgore (a FS-SS-NCB chameleon, a “glue guy” who erases mid-range separation and punishes ball carriers in run support). Kilgore played with TJ Sanders and made 3 solos and 7 assists in the scouted game I saw. Kilgore tied for the SEC lead in 2024 with 5 interceptions last season and logged 8 over his career. Jalon’s noted for his keen football radar, versatility, and my best-of-position interview grade on the Big Board. He’s actually a better Taron Johnson than Taron Johnson in Jim Leonhard’s defense. Dani Dennis -Sutton would be lighter than I’d like at DE, but his 21.5 career sacks get the Bills going in a direction they need to go. The Bills ranked 26th in sacks in 2025.
RD4 #126
Rayshaun Benny and Louis Moore top my list of fits for the Bills in early Day 3. Moore isn’t the biggest safety on my board, but he is a playmaker: in the scouted game, Louis Moore made 6 tackles and intercepted Hank Brown in Indiana territory in the fourth quarter vs Iowa. I want sure tacklers in the backfield, and Moore’s 12% missed tackle rate is pretty low, especially in the Big10. He is tied for No. 31 in FBS and No. 10 in the Big Ten in interceptions (7). Rayshaun Benny is the confluence of draft spot and positional need. Most attractive to me would be Benny’s ability to game you from the DE or 3-tech spot. ILB-OLB Jimmy Rolder‘s 9 solos, 1 sack, and the fumble recovery vs Michigan State were all seen by Bills scouts. So were Rolder’s 5 solo tackles each vs Duke and ECU, and his 2 solo tackles and PBU vs Wake. Mikail Kamara isn’t an archetypal fit at all, but Kamara’s burst and hands will remind you of Javon Solomon (who also may not be a fit in a 3-4). But can you say, “Effective”? Kamara’s insane “Get Home” rate (1.56 per game) is tops among the 91 EDGEs I charted. His 2 solo, 3 asst, and PBU vs Michigan was scouted, but Ohio State schemed heavily against him (3 assists) with double-teams and a powerful OL. Kamara had 12 sacks and led the nation in QB pressures for much of the 2024 season.
DT3T EDGE Rayshaun Benny. Credit: © Kirthmon F. Dozier / Imagn.com, LLC.
RD5 #166
The temptation here is to add the need positions you haven’t filled yet, but there are tempting options on the RD5 buffet. Aiden Fisher led the Hoosier defense vs Jim Leonhard’s Wisconsin Badgers with 7 tackles, 3 of them solo. He may have bettered that with 5 solos, 2 assists in the 2025 scouted win over Iowa. I consider Fisher one of the draft’s 3 best best run defender LBs, with 326 career tackles. I love Adam Randall as a gadget player. He’s a running back/slot receiver hybrid who crushed his auditions for scouts in 2 games, rushing for 16-130 (8.1 ypc) along with 7 receptions for 44 and a TD vs Syracuse, and 15 carries for 80 (5.3) and a TD in the 2025 scouted loss to Georgia Tech. I like the fit of Hezekiah Masses, a 1st Team All-ACC this year, who had 7 forced incompletions this year to lead the FBS. His 16.5 QB rating allowed is impressive, too. Strong Safety Deshon Singleton isn’t the FS the Bills are likely after, and he will have to post a faster forty at the Combine, but Singleton’s play in a 3-3-5 gives him a head start. He posted 8 solos, 3 assists, 1 sack, and 1 PBU vs UCLA when scouted, and 3 solos, 4 assists, and .5 TFL vs a tough Cincinnati defense. Two “X” WRs are listed here, but I think you’ve already signed or drafted one before now.
RB/WRS Adam Randall. © Jamie Rhodes-Imagn.com, LLC.
RD7A and 7B, #220 / #228 (PICK TWO)
I’m providing you with 14 options here in RD7, and you get to pick two. The two listed interior DTs, Deven Eastern and Cameron Ball, had the best interviews of the 74 IDLs I listened to. Fun fact: Ball played his 2022 and 2023 season with Buffalo Joe. Now, OLB/EDGE Trey Moore might be worth taking a lot earlier than this. His 1.44 “Get Home” rate is third among outside pass rushers (only Kamara and David Bailey are higher), his 98 EA Sports Tackling score is second to only Mesidor, and his 30.5 career sacks is second to Mesidor. Take both Moore and Mesidor. Mason Reiger, the Shrine Bowl MVP who played under Jim Leonhard in 2025, missed the entire 2024 year with a knee injury, but returned to become a vital cog in Leonhard’s defense. In his final season at Wisconsin, Reiger recorded 45 QB pressures, ranking him in the top 25 of all edge rushers nationally. There is no more fun player to watch than waterbug weapon Kaden Wetjen of Iowa. He’s your backup slot, kick returner, and punt returner for a decade. I also like his downfield blocking, which was surprisingly effective at his size. If you still need reinforcements at “X” receiver, look no further than the Bulldogs’ Noah Thomas. He put up 4-32 (8.0) and 2 TD vs Texas. I like Thomas’s Lofton-esque fluidity and vertical ability, with excellent blocking skills. Noah as a freshman had three TD receptions in the first half in his 2023-season-opening win, the first time an Aggie receiver caught 3 TD passes in a first half since Mike Evans ten years before. Red Murdock is slower than his Buffalo counterpart, Joe Andreesen (6-1, 231, 4.65), but Murdock leads all LBs in the draft class with 11.8 tackles per game. The All-MAC linebacker has an NCAA-record 17th career forced fumbles, supplanting a guy you’ve heard of, former Buffalo Bulls Khalil Mack. In fact, Red’s given name is Khalil.
OLB Trey Moore. Credit: © Michael Chow via Imagn.com, LLC.
Editor’s babble: The University at Buffalo is like a linebacker factory for the NFL and that says something coming from the MAC. Many thanks to Dean Kindig for all his incredible work getting us ready for the NFL Draft in April. You can also find Dean on X @TCBILLS_Astro.
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